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Gopher ProtocolHandler for Apache2 Released

Posted by michael on from the go-fer-it dept.

hardburn writes "One of the stated goals of the Gopher Manifesto (previously mentioned on Slashdot) was to create a Gopher plugin for Apache. That goal has now been realized with the release of Apache::GopherHandler. Get it off Gopher itself or off CPAN."

4 of 51 comments (clear)

  1. the gopher url worked! by mzs · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I really cannot believe it. The last time I must have used gopher was probably sometime in the first half of the '90s. I did not even think that anyone was still using gopher, let alone the protocol was supported in the browser!!! I clicked the link in Safari and up popped IE and there were the files. It is somewhat eire that MS IE supports gopher though....

    (Just so that you all do not think I am some sort of freak, maybe the fact that I seem so excited in this post has something to do that I have been here at work since 6:30 and I am in the middle of 32 oz of coffee, or maybe I am just a freak after all.)

    Are there still any good places to check out with gopher?

    1. Re:the gopher url worked! by hardburn · · Score: 4, Interesting

      gopher.quux.org is a huge repository (many of the quotes you see at the top of my site came out of QUUX's fortune files). I eventually plan on expanding gopher.wumpus-cave.net into a repository for weird or historical technology (Trebuchets built out of Legos, PDP-11 assembler opcodes, etc.), but right now it just has some Gopher implementations and some pictures of a burning stuffed Barney doll :)

      --
      Not a typewriter
  2. Any advantage? by crow · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Is there really any advantage to using Gopher?

    The manifesto cites huge speed improvements, but I don't buy it. The manifesto assumes that people use gopher using web browsers as clients, so obviously they're not expecting any improvement in speed on the client side. They point out that gopher is a minimalist system; well, you can acheive that with HTML as well by using minimal markup (e.g., HTML 1.0 with no images).

    It seems that what they want is content without the fluff, and are therefore advocating a system that doesn't allow for the fluff instead of advocating using the more prevalent system and opting not to use the fluff.

    1. Re:Any advantage? by AKnightCowboy · · Score: 0, Interesting
      Is there really any advantage to using Gopher?

      Are there any advantages to taking the guts of your X-Box out of it's original case and putting it into some tricked out custom transparent case with neon lighting? No, not really. Bored people do odd things. Gopher has zero use anymore with HTTP and other protocols. It's obsolete.