Well, I've added several sites to Web2Gopher and a few resources and fun gopher services. I've also added links to two new gopher server programs: jgopherd, which is written in Java and plays nice with Java applets, and sgopherd, written in Bash. I've added links to three new gopher/gopher-capable browsers: Classilla, a websuite for Mac OS 8 and 9, HyperLink, a browser for Commodore 64, and GopherBrowse for iOS devices. I've also added the application gophcatch. I've added links to two services, retro-net.org and gopher.su, that offer free gopher hosting. Also, Gopherproxy.org has been resurrected by Evert Meulie, so it's been returned to the proxy list.
I hope to go through the links in the next few weeks and cull dead links as well as scrounge about the net for any new gopher sites or software that I've missed.
Alas, it appears that Stephen Morley's fine, sleek gopher proxy has gone to the great gopher hole in the sky. Because of this, I've updated Web2Gopher's URL redirection service to use the Floodgap gopher proxy.
I've also updated the browser user-agent screening to allow newer versions of the OmniWeb browser to view gopher sites natively. OmniWeb dropped a "v" out of their user-agent string which made Web2Gopher shunt newer OmniWebs through a proxy.
posted at: 05:52 | path: | permanent link to this entry
Added a link to show your public IP address via gopher. It's free of all the kruft that comes along with similar web services.
Added three new gopher sites. I also added Nmap a newtork security and exploration tool, which recently added gopher support. Finally, there are two new links to gopherlog software. The first is germ, a blosxom-like gopherlog authored by yours truly. The second is Nb2Gopher, which is uses nanoblogger to generate a static gopherlog. Of course, there are several more gopherlog generators you can find by following the link to wt's gopher software archive on the main page.
Happy gophering!
posted at: 17:36 | path: | permanent link to this entry
I've added a few more links to Web2Gopher in How-to, Other Resources, and Fun.
One of the things I've noticed of interest in gopherspace is the rise of games. Some of implemented classic text-based games like Adventure and Hunt the Wumpus through gopher. Others have immitated such games with things like Gopher Getaway and Robot Finds Kitten. There's also Hangman (which I play with some regularity) which has a challenging and delightful set of words to play against. It's author has picked a diverse set of words (with some leaning toward tech terms) that eskews more common words and letter combinations. As an English major, I still have trouble not getting myself hanged.There's also a handful of trivial games like Tic-Tac-Toe, Matchsticks, and the surprisingly delightful Rock, Paper, Scissors, that all have their own charm.
I'd recommend trying out some of these games to any visitor to Web2Gopher. They're one of the more obvious areas, where content-wise gopher shows itself to be an arena that is more than merely historical. There is still room for innovation this simple, elegant little protocol. I just hope gopherspace's game writing community can maintain its vitality, unlike the brief boom in gopherlogging at sdf.org in late 2009 and early 2010.
To be honest, in spite of Firefox 4's intentionally introduced bug of dropping gopher support, I'm heartened by these games, new gophers, and active software projects that have cropped up in recent years. It seems like gopherspace is expanding and may have a viable if (thankfully) underground future.
Added a link to gopher tic-tac-toe and some more how-to information. Also added a link for a ROT13 translator.
The promised new, dynamic Web2Gopher is here. It features a cleaner interface: single-site proxies have been removed as they are no longer necessary and the pesky clutter of "(gopherlink)" has been removed for the same reason. The site should recognize all gopher friendly browsers and let them browse gopher natively, while channelling all others through gopherproxy.org.
The current list of browsers that are friendly to gopher are Omniweb, Lynx, Firefox prior to 5.0, SeaMonkey prior to 2.0 (most versions of Iceweasel and Iceape probably won't work yet, due to an oversite that should soon be corrected), Camino, Classilla, Vonkeror, HyperLink, Mosaic, and versions of Netscape prior to version 6. Compatibility with Vonkeror and HyperLink have not been tested, and I had to guess HyperLink's user agent string, so its compatibility is questionable. Also, because OmniWeb uses its build number and not its version number in its user agent string and because I can't find what the build number was for the first gopher-compatible OmniWeb (5.9.2), only versions 5.10.1 and up are currently supported. Once I find out the build number for 5.9.2, that should be fixed.
The main flaw of the current system is that it does not account for browsers that have been modified to be gopher friendly like Firefox 5 with OverbiteFF or Konqueror with kio_gopher. If I figure out an elegant way to do that, I'll add an option to allow these browsers to use gopher natively as well.
Something Awesome This Way Comes
Well, I'm working on a new site for Web2Gopher. It will look essentially the same, except for perhaps a little cleaner. The exciting part about it is that the new page will be able to detect what browser is being used and automatically translate gopherlinks to route them through a proxy for non-gopher-friendly browsers.
Also, in news that may matter to no one, the new page also validates to strict HTML 4.01. Rock.
After a nearly year-long hiatus in updating, I've finally gotten around to adding some new links, pruning some dead ones, and generally making Web2Gopher more reflective of the current state of gopherspace.
I think there are still some dead links hanging around on the page, but most should now work. I'm keeping an eye on the dead links to see if the sites are truly gone, or if they are just suffering a temporary loss of service.
Merry Gophering!
Added a link to the server kgopherd and its author's gopherspace.
Just discovered a new gopher proxy. Added it to the proxy list. In the future I will add a few more proxies that just serve their hosting site, like quux seems to and seanm.ca.
Well, let's see...what's been changed? There's been a major overhaul of the site's appearance (which is hardly noticible if browsing in lynx, but makes the site look much better in fancy browsers.) This design change is incomplete as I still have to go through the rather messy code the transition has left and finish cleaning it up. This should result in only minor cosmetic changes.
I have also added a lot of new links. These are mostly in the gopher sites sections, although I did add a link to OpenNIC's ".gopher" domain registrar. That last link is in the "Miscellaneous" section.
Three Awesome New Links!
Added several links to Gopher information system: "The Gopher Protocol" from Medius Rete, "Digging Up Info on Gopher" from Six Apart, and "Gopher: Underground Technology" from Wired.
posted at: 23:21 | path: | permanent link to this entry
Super Dimension Fortress Links
Added SDF-Europe User Gopherspace and changed sdf.lonestar.org link to go directly to its hosted user pages.
posted at: 03:46 | path: | permanent link to this entry
Surprise! More new links...
Added two links to personal section of Gopher sites: pha.se and nickmaslon.com.
Also added a link in the Gopher Information section to a new article on gopher
from Ars Technica.
posted at: 00:11 | path: | permanent link to this entry
More New Links
Added elrond.schoenleber.com to Personal and moo.ca to Specific Topics, both
under Gopher sites.
posted at: 04:58 | path: | permanent link to this entry
New link in technical section of Gopher Information, Protocol: Gopher.
Added a new webproxy, WikkaGopher, to the Http:// Gopher Proxies section and the article "Down the Gopher Hole" to the Gopher Information section.