This is a file in the 'howto' directory, named 'howto_file'.

NAME

The name of the entry is the name of the directory.
It can be changed by using the 'mkgopher' TITLE command.
(I suspect this is changed in /ftp/pub/users/.links)

TITLE

There is a file named '.links', mirrored in '_dot_links', which
contains the title of the directory (in an entry which begins
'Name=').  This shows up under the name when you surf up this dir.
*what do the other entries in .links do?*

FILES

Files show up as an indexed list (along with directories).  When
selected, the name, size, and framed contents of the file are
shown in the gopher client.
*how to give descriptions to the files and directories?*

DIRECTORIES

Directories are listed as files, but with a trailing '/'.  When
selected, they display their contents.  The 'howto_dir/' subdirectory
is empty, eliciting an error.

PERMISSIONS

Here is a directory listing:

drwxr-xr-x  2 droyko  nobody  512 Nov 21 17:57 ./    [<GOPHERDIR>/howto]
drwxr-x---  5 droyko  nobody  512 Nov 21 17:54 ../   [<GOPHERDIR>]
-rw-r-x---  1 droyko  nobody   77 Nov 21 17:54 .links*
lrwxr-xr-x  1 droyko  nobody    6 Nov 21 17:57 _dot_links@ -> .links
-rw-r--r--  1 droyko  nobody  247 Nov 21 17:57 howto_file

*which of these are necessary?*