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Gopher/Gopherd FAQ
$Id: FAQ,v 1.5 2002/03/19 17:51:18 jgoerzen Exp $

This is the FAQ for gopher and UMN gopher.

The latest version may be found at:

gopher://quux.org/1m/devel/gopher/Downloads/LiveSource/gopher/doc/FAQ

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What is Gopher?

Well, it's a bit complicated.  Gopher is all of these:

1. A protocol for an Internet world-wide hierarchial filesystem;

2. A client for using that protocol;

3. A site containing information in that protocol.

Let's elaborate:

#1.  Gopher is a way to exchange information, similar to 
HTTP that is used for the web.  Unlike HTTP, Gopher is simple and
flexible yet rigid.  Gopher mandates a hierarchial view of things --
just like you get on your own system with files and folders.
Gopher extends your desktop file/folder concept to include the
entire Internet.  You could have a folder whose contents come from
20 different countries, and it would all be transparent.  Modern
gopher browsers such as Nautilus support this very feature.

#2.  The "UMN Gopher" client was developed at the University of Minnesota,
the home of gopher.  Currently, the UMN Gopher client and UMN Gopherd server
are maintained by John Goerzen and the Gopher Project; see
gopher://quux.org/ for details.

#3.  When you publish information with Gopher, you're said to run a
"gopher site" similar to running a "web site".

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Where can I find gopher software?

gopher://gopher.quux.org/11/Software/Gopher/Downloads

If you do not already have Gopher, try:

http://quux.org/hurg/hurg?selector=1%2FSoftware%2FGopher%2FDownloads&port=70&type=1&host=gopher.quux.org&username=Clients%2C+Servers%2C+and+Downloads

Downloads of UMN gopher and other gopher projects hosted at quux.org are
available at:

gopher://gopher.quux.org/11/devel/gopher/Downloads
http://quux.org/give-me-gopher/

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Is there a mailing list?

Yes.

See gopher://gopher.quux.org/00/devel/gopher/Mailing%20List.txt for details. 
Or:

To subscribe, send the text "Subscribe" in the subject of a mail to
gopher-request@complete.org.  To post, send the message to
gopher@complete.org.

Archives are at http://www.complete.org/mailinglist/archives/ and at
gopher://gopher.quux.org/1/Archives/Mailing%20Lists/gopher.

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[UMN] I'm having trouble compiling gopher(d)

Where's gopherd?

As of version 3.0.6, gopherd is deprecated.  Please use PyGopherd instead. 
Information about PyGopherd is at http://quux.org/devel/gopher/pygopherd

