What is Gopher?
Gopher is a tool developed at University of Minnesota for setting up
information rich resources behind a menu-driven interface. Gopher
servers incorporate text and graphics, file transfer using
FTP, links to remote services via
Telnet, and other gopher servers.
Many sites offer a large and varied selection of services and files, and
the contents of gopher servers are often searchable using
Veronica.
- 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
Software
- UNIX: gopher
- Macintosh: TurboGopher, Blue-Skies
Other Notes
Gopher is the first tool to successfully integrate several of the popular
Internet services into a consistent interface. Recent additions to the
Gopher protocol include interactive dialogs and forms, or "Ask Boxes",
and interactive images, which use graphical interfaces rather than text
menus.
Getting More Information
Here are some places to look for more information on using Gopher:
This document was created at the University of Michigan
School of Information and Library
Studies (SILS), but it has been designed for public use. Permission is
hereby granted for unlimited print and electronic redistribution. Your
feedback is encouraged.
fprefect@umich.edu - 12/17/94