"To Gopher, the world is just one big file system" In other words, Gopher was invented to simplify distributing data files. ========== Brief Background: To understand Gopher we must first talk a little about computer interconnectivity. The concept of stand-alone ("personal") computing is a fluke. At the time of the PCs debt, computer systems were nearly all multi-user systems, and these systems well on their way to interconnecting with each other. Even the personal computer did not remain isolated for long. With the help of Modems, and later Network Interface Cards, PCs were quickly connecting with the big multi-user systems and then forming networks between themselves. When the Internet came to PCs, there were already several competing public networks. In fact to be crude about it, the network known as the "Internet" is nothing more than US military surplus goods, long since superceded and only ubiquitous today due to its libertine acceptance of commercialism. Gopher is a protocol developed for the Internet network. You will not for example find Gopher on most other public networks such as AOL. The protocol uses a "client/server" communication scheme. Information is stored on a central computer called a "server", and other computers referred to as "clients" can connect to this server to retrieve data. This is the method also used by the HTTP protocol to transfer data. The schema used for data storage is a "heirarchal" model. In plain english, this means that data is stored in a way that is similar to the way information is stored in a public library or a computer hard drive. This is why, like the file system on your hard drive, Gopher does not have a need for "MIME" types (adding an "extension" to a Gopher file is a good idea however, as it gives a visual clue as to the files nature). Just like HTTP, Gopher is also a "hyperlinking" protocol. Data held either locally or on other servers operating on the Internet network can be "linked". The big difference between HTTP and Gopher is that HTTP stores these links internally within documents, while Gopher stores these links externally. The external scheme used by Gopher is VERY easy to manage, so hyperlinks rarely remain "broken" on maintained servers. Just like within an HTTP Hyper Text Markup Language document, Gopher can link to any form of media that a "browser" can support, including music, photographs, text, movies, and even "HTML" documents! ========== Gopher in the New Millenium: Today there are two major protocols being used on the Internet, HTTP (commonly referred to as the World Wide Web), and FTP (the File Transfer Protocol). Http is the defacto standard of presenting Internet information today. This is because most casual Internet users prefer to be presented with information as if it were a page from a "magazine". The http protocol cannot effectively distribute files however, whether they be documents (*.txt for example) or programs (*.exe for example). To distribute files, most administrators turn to FTP. FTP is a poor choice though. The protocol was developed in the 1960's, and has both the disadvantages of being convoluted and vulnerable to self-corruption. What FTP can do, Gopher can do far better. Not only can it distribute files fast and effectively, the Gopher protocol makes it easy to organize files. With Gopher you not only can arrainge your files in a manner that makes it easy for end users to find their file easily, but you can include descriptive files and commentary to help them further. Furthermore, you are also no longer forced to have persons log into different servers to download their files, as you can simply add a hyperlink to the server that contains the desired file. Once persons STOP thinking of Gopher as a poor version of HTTP, and START thinking of Gopher as a superior version of FTP (which it was invented to be); Gopher will be seen as a very useful protocol for the modern Internet. ========== Three Falicies that cause misunderstanding of Gopher: It is bad form to refer to Gopher nostalgicly! Gopher is not as popular as it was in times past, but to refer to Gopher only in the past tense is to do the protocol a great disservice. The protocol has NOT degraded over time, and today it actually functions better than it did in its heyday of popularity. Gopher still provides some services that are better, faster, and more efficient than any of the other Internet protocols; and in fact it is often a better choice for many of the recently developed mobile communication devices. Referring to Gopher like something from the stone-age subconciously puts out the message that Gopher is somehow not useful in the new millenium! Gopher is -NOT- dead! A "dead" protocol or technology is one for which there is no longer an infrastructure in place or which has been improved by newer upgrades. Popularity is NOT a criteria for labeling something as "dead". The infrastructure supporting Gopher has never been better than it is today! Gopher has -NOT- been superceded! The Hyper Text Transport Protocol has nothing to do with Gopher. HTTP was developed independently of Gopher and is NOT an extention of Gopher protocols. To claim this to be so would be like saying AM and FM radio are the same, because I can recieve both signals on my car radio; or that one is better than the other, just because one is more popular. Http can do some things better than Gopher, but not because HTTP is inherently better, just only because HTTP and Gopher are DIFFERENT! Gopher is related to FTP (the File Transfer Protocol), -not- HTTP. ========== Compatability Issues: Due to the support of Gopher prior to the dominance of the personal computer using Windows, MacOS, or Linux; there are a number of Gopher clients for Mainframes, DOS PCs, Amigas, Ataris, Risk PCs, etceteras. As such, the Gopher server administrator should consider the fact that their server may be accessed by one of these clients. Of particular possibility is that of a PC using DOS. As such, files of a universal nature (such as informational files like "About.txt") should be limited to an 8.3 file structure. Too many times have there been instances of persons offering files where the associated files cannot be read by the older operating system (such as a DOS game including instructions in the newest PDF file format, or using file names longer than 8.3).