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[01] WHAT IS GOPHER AND GOPHERSPACE?
GOPHER is a network protocol that enables multiple servers
to create a single, uniform filesystem that transcends system
architecure and operating systems (GOPHERSPACE). With GOPHER,
information holds the most value. Since presentation is uniform
across GOPHERSPACE, the user does not encounter any challenges
in 'learning' a new site. Because of its simplicity and its
emphasis on the importance of informational texts, GOPHER is
ideal for those who are visually impared.
A GOPHER client can be called from SDF by typing 'gopher'. A URL
(Uniform Resource Locator) can be given as an argument. The client
itself is a document examiner. You can use it to search text documents
or download files. Clients under X11, Macintosh and other systems
can view pictures, and stream audio / video.
Many people think the http protocol has deprecated gopher, but that
just isn't true. Where do you think GOPHERs live? underground.
When you build your GOPHERSPACE on SDF, you are contributing to an
underground network of systems that still believe in the gopher
protocol. There is no commercialism, no banner ads, no spam, no
pop-up ads. GOPHER gives you what you want: information and files
(in any form) without the silliness of HTML and clumsiness of websites.
No HTML development is needed to contribute to GOPHERSPACE.. since
sites are uniform, all you need to do is upload or create your files.