Gopher is a protocol designed for distributing, searching, and retrieving documents over the Internet. It predates the World Wide Web and provides a hierarchical, menu-driven interface to access text documents and other files on remote web servers.
Gopher is an Internet protocol and a client-server architecture designed in 1991 at the University of Minnesota. Named after the school’s mascot, the Gopher system allows users to browse a series of hierarchical menus to access various types of documents and data. It was a popular tool for retrieving information before the rise of the HTTP protocol and the World Wide Web.
The Gopher protocol was developed as a straightforward means of accessing Internet resources that did not require knowledge of networking commands and could be used efficiently even over slow modem connections. Although largely supplanted by the Web, Gopher still has a niche user base that appreciates its simplicity and low bandwidth requirements.
Yes, Gopher is still in use today, though its user base is small compared to the World Wide Web. It has a niche community that appreciates its simplicity and minimalistic approach to content delivery.
Gopher is primarily text-based and menu-driven, while the Web uses a graphical interface and supports multimedia content, hyperlinks, and more complex interactions.
Most modern web browsers do not support Gopher natively. However, there are plugins and dedicated Gopher clients available that allow users to access Gopher content.
Gopher’s main advantages are its simplicity and efficiency, making it more suitable for slow internet connections and for users who prefer a straightforward, text-based way of accessing information.
Setting up a Gopher server requires relatively simple software that can be hosted on most basic server infrastructures. There are several open-source Gopher server applications available that can be configured with minimal technical knowledge.
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