i---------------------------------------- | |
iWhat makes gopher special | |
iMarch 05th, 2018 | |
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i | |
iFirst an apology is due to ckeen [0] who I didn't realize was all | |
iover this gopher thing. He was even kind enough to link to burrow | |
iin a recent phlog. Thanks to jynx for referencing him so I could | |
idiscover what I was missing. | |
i | |
ickeen recently wrote [1] about what makes gopher special to him. | |
iHe and jynx [2] nail it pretty well when they talk about the | |
isimplicity, creator/consumer dynamic, and signal to noise ratio. | |
iI like the intentionality of it all as well. You don't just | |
iaccidentally create a gopher hole. You didn't just click a link to | |
ioAuth somewhere and start posting nonsense. You chose to create an | |
iaccount somewhere that offered a gopher server, or you rolled your | |
iown. You sat there with the text editor crafting your message. | |
iIt's simple, yes, but it's also much more complicated. | |
i | |
iIn a sense, the technology itself and its relatively esoteric and | |
iretro nature create a sort of gatekeeper. Gatekeeping is generally | |
iused in a negative conotation these days, but I think this type of | |
inatural systems gatekeeping is different. It's not prejudiced | |
iagainst a people or person for identity, but for intent, will, and | |
iinterest. The technology hurdles aren't that high to say you have | |
ito be a coder to make it work. Cat [3], for instance, has one of | |
ithe prettiest gopher holes and he does everything by hand using | |
ithe simplest tools. In place of fancy coding proficiency he has | |
idemonstrated excellent interest and will to build Fax Sex. | |
i | |
iI love nerdy communities when they're seething with excitement and | |
iintention. I hate nerdy communities when they're filled with | |
icriticism, angst, and envy. Gopher satisifes the first group well | |
iand avoids the second. Perhaps it is as jynx says, a side effect | |
iof no comments. Perhaps it's just the community by chance. Maybe | |
iit's a side effect of the manual execution? You can't do | |
ia drive-by trolling on gopher, after all. Once you sink in the | |
itime to get set up, you're part of things. | |
i | |
iAt the end of the day, I guess it all boils down to content. | |
iThere's a lot of people on here that are doing interesting things. | |
iSometimes it's computer related and sometimes not, but that | |
iexceptional drive to "do" things is contagious and I love it. | |
i | |
[0] ckeen's gopher hole | |
[1] ckeen - What makes gopher special for me | |
[2] jynx - On the specialness of gopher | |
[3] Fax Sex (cat) |