mari's Gopher Repository

Gopher is a highly-structured document retrieval protocol—good at showing you the files you want and need in a speedy, efficient, low overhead manner that skips the hassle of hunting for download links on websites. This means you spend less time getting annoyed, distracted, and tracked, and get on with your work much quicker.

This used to be a section on mariteaux.somnolescent.net, but I've moved it to its own site because there's enough here to warrant it. (Originally, I'd intended it to be hosted in the same place as our actual Gopher server, but my ISP doesn't like port 80 traffic, it turns out...) In any event. hope you find it useful.

(It should be noted that Gopher links naturally exist throughout this site. I'd recommend using some kind of Web/Gopher client client to view this site. It's rather simple HTML 4, so even an older browser should do.)

Pertinent information

If you're new to Gopher or simply curious, you should start here for the low-down on what Gopher is, its history, and why it's so useful.

Document The rise and fall of the Gopher protocol (outgoing link)
Not my writeup, but excellent nonetheless. A look into the leadup to Gopher's creation, its heyday, how UMN kneecapped it in one conference, and its cult status today. (I should mention that the article's "140 Gopher servers" has more than doubled to about 350 servers since it was written—and Somnolescent's one of them once again.)
Document Why Gopher Will Succeed
A manifesto of sorts of what I feel Gopher is still useful for, even in the present day.
Page Structure of a Gopher Menu
Gopher's menus are so simple, you can browse them without a client if you wanted to. Here's what the source to a Gopher menu looks like.
Page Terminology (Maps? Menus? Globbing?)
An overview of the jargon.

Technical references

These are pages dedicated to specific Gopher documents of historical relevance, but mirrored and formatted in HTML (since they were in plain text) for ease of reading. Some are canonical RFC memos that codified Gopher's protocol, while others are less formal but no less important milestones in Gopher's technology.

Document RFC 1436: The Internet Gopher Protocol
This is the gold standard of Gopher reference documents, the memo that described the protocol and its developer's intents.
Document RFC 4266: The gopher URI Scheme
Similar to the above, a formatted mirror of RFC 4266, which codifies Gopher and Gopher+'s URI scheme.
Document Gopher+: Upward compatible enhancements to the Internet Gopher protocol
The original Gopher team's specification for Gopher+, an upgraded Gopher protocol for listing metadata with selectors. While the original text wasn't officially an RFC, it has a very similar structure to it. Given how scarce information on Gopher+ is, I'm mirroring it too.

Client software

Users need special software to access Gopherspace. Some of this software is still useful, recommended, or even maintained, while others are thoroughly obsolete. Like trying out web browsers, much of the fun of Gopherspace is trying out clients—try a bunch!

(The majority of this section consists of reviews—simply my opinions with download links for the curious. Your mileage may vary.)

Page What to Look for in a Gopher Client
A list of must-haves and must-considers that you should keep in mind as you try out clients.
Page Web/Gopher Clients
As they share similar paradigms, web browsers used to fully support Gopher alongside HTTP. This page explores both browser clients and extensions for browsers for accessing Gopher servers.
Menu Standalone Gopher Clients
Of course, standalone Gopher clients also exist, including apps for phones and tablets. Here's my reviews of those.

Digging Gopherholes

Many of Gopher's users are just as interested in maintaining their own space on the network. If that's you, these pages are what you need to know and what snags you might encounter in digging your own Gopherhole.

Page Hosting Considerations
Unlike with the web, Gopherspace has no big name hosting providers. You'll have to either run your server or share someone else's. For the former, keep these in mind.
Menu Gopher Server Software
A surprising amount of Gopher server software packages exist, some even being actively maintained! I've only tried a few, but the few I have tried, these are my experiences with them.
Menu Where to Find an Empty Gopherhole
If you're not savvy enough to run your own Gopher server, don't fret—there do exist Gopher servers that have a space for you if you know where to look.
Page Customizing Menus (.cap, .link, and Gophermaps)
Ready to put things on your Gopher server at long last? In most cases, you can just serve files directly with no additional setup. If you do need to customize your menus, here's how to do it.

The information I've provided above is provided as-is. Errors may be present. You can contact me at mariteaux@somnolescent.net for corrections.

Last updated 1/30/2021.