What is Gopher?

Purdue Engineering Computer Network

Gopher allows you to browse for resources using menus. When you find something you like, you can read or access it through Gopher without having to worry about domain names, IP address, changing programs, etc. Rather than looking up an address and telneting to it, you find an entry in a Gopher menu and select it. Gopher then "goes fer" it.

Using Gopher At ECN

With the emergence of Mosaic and Lynx, many gopher servers are exiting the Internet. There are a few gopher servers left on campus, but as Mosaic, Netscape, and Lynx become more popular, the gopher population will be decreasing. ECN no longer provides the gopher software because of user access to Mosiac and Lynx (it's sort of redundant).

Gopher and WAIS, WWW and FTP

Gopher is intimately entwined with these other systems. As shipped the Unix gopher has the capability to:

• Search local WAIS indices.
• Query remote WAIS servers and funnel the results to gopher clients.
• Query remote ftp sites and funnel the results to gopher clients.
• Be queried by WWW (World Wide Web) clients either using built in gopher querying or using native http querying.

Since ECN does not provide gopher software, you will want to access gopher via native http querying. Using Mosaic, Open File > Open URL ..., and in the URL dialog box, insert the gopher access site you want to view. For example, to access the Gopher - FAQ (as in the above hypertext link), in your URL dialog box type:

	gopher://mudhoney.micro.umn.edu/00/Gopher.FAQ  Then press the Open button. 

Attributes

• Interface: Menu-driven hierarchy
• Form: Integrated
• Medium: Simple Text or Binary
• Distribution: Public
• Administration: Moderated
• Similar Tools: World Wide Web
• Dependent Tools: Telnet, FTP, Veronica