[gopher] Question

[Kevin Veroneau]

I'm sorry Kim but that's not a good explanation to someone who knows HTTP server.  These days most HTTP servers including Apache provide directory views.

Here is my personal distinction and why I like using Gopher.  Gopher is more similar to FTP than it is to HTTP.  Gopher is like a power user's FTP server.  Where FTP falls flat, gopher shines.  FTP cannot perform database queries, remote searches, run server-side code, or accept input from the user.  Sure a custom built FTP server could be made to query a database, but it cannot request a string of text from the user.

Gopher is also vastly more lightweight than the likes of HTTP.  Gopher doesn't use headers or content types.  Gopher is overall a much simpler protocol to implement and can be used to say fetch lightweight status reports and logs from a server.  I use Gopher to view server logs without needing to configure and run either a full fledged HTTP or FTP server.  And since there are clients on mobile, it's a cinch to read this info.

To me, Gopher still has it's place and I feel it's way under used for what it can do in this day and age.

On February 11, 2015 2:32:24 PM MST, Kim Holviala <kim at holviala.com> wrote:
>> On 11 Feb 2015, at 17:29, NN NN <aepedia at yandex.ru> wrote:
>> 
>> For what reasons is Gopher needed if there are FTP and HTTP?
>
>
>FTP provides directories but no hyperlinks. HTTP provides hyperlinks
>but no directories. Gopher provides both hyperlinks and directories
>combining both FTP and HTTP. Of course no one uses Gopher, but that’s
>another story :-) 
>
>
>
>- Kim
>
>
>
>
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Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.
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