
Show HN: Gopher Browser for Windows Client - Jaruzel
http://www.jaruzel.com/apps/gopher-browser-for-windows/
======
delbel
I remember Gopher and another one called WAIS. Then one day, somebody told me
on irc I needed to download 'Mosaic', and I remember thinking how superior
Gopher was at the time and thought this 'www thing' would never catch on
because there was so much information on Gopher and WAIS.

~~~
arethuza
I found out about Mosaic from Usenet (alt.hypertext I think) - I remember
thinking it sounded interesting but also wondering why you'd want to load
hypertext documents over a network. :-)

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phusion
Oh man, I don't think I have much/any use for this today, but my first
internet experience was on Gopher. They had it set up on what I'm assuming
were some kind of *nix machines at the local library. I would search for comic
book related material and generally "surf" around when my mother would drive
me down there. Fortunately the Internet went public in '97, my jr high school
had several networked computers, eventually all on the Internet blah blah
netscape.

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niftich
Oh, this is you! [1] Grats on release!

The last big thread on Gopher here was pretty entertaining, nostalgic, and
informative [2] -- including posts by the creators -- and it's the one where
OP posted that they're working on a new windows client [1].

[1]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12274235](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12274235)
[2]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12269784](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12269784)

~~~
Jaruzel
Yup me! And thanks!

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pimlottc
"Gopher Browser for Windows Client" is rather confusing; why not just "Gopher
Browser for Windows"?

~~~
Jaruzel
Google search friendly title.

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KirinDave
I'm curious: what's still in gopherspace these days? Worthwhile things?

~~~
kingmanaz
Check out sdf.org. Users are encouraged to create their own gopherspace.

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unicornporn
If you use Firefox, you can get Gopher support in an extension:
[https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/overbiteff/](https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/overbiteff/)

Works great.

~~~
Jaruzel
Read more about Cameron Kaiser's Overbite project here:

[http://gopher.floodgap.com/overbite/](http://gopher.floodgap.com/overbite/)

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aninteger
Is there source code I can audit and compile instead of running some random
exe file?

~~~
Jaruzel
I don't hide who I am, a bit of googling will net you my address and phone
number. So I think it's fair to say, that if I was going to release malware,
I'd hardly host it on my own site would I?

I'm not a fan of Open Sourcing my own code, due to bad experiences in the
past, sorry.

~~~
codingdave
> if I was going to release malware, I'd hardly host it on my own site would
> I?

That argument has never held water for me... I'm not saying you are malicious,
not at all. But if someone did want to release malware, it isn't impossible to
create a fake persona, put up fake contact info, or impersonate someone. Or
even hack someone else's site to put up a corrupted download. Admittedly, this
one smells pretty safe... but it is even safer to just set a rule for oneself
not to download executables off the web.

I respect your right to code and deliver it how you see fit. I just also
respect other people's decisions to not download it for security concerns.

~~~
Jaruzel
Likewise. I'm not forcing anyone to download it. :)

I'm also not a fake persona. Or if I am - I've been playing the long game
since before the year 2000...

------
fsiefken
This is great, and it's so fast. Some feature requests:

* map backspace and arrow-left to previous page

* map enter/return to select

* open text files, images and sounds inline

~~~
Jaruzel
Good ideas, I'll add them to the to-do list!

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topbanana
Chrome Warning: This file is not commonly downloaded and may be dangerous.

Nice try Google

~~~
ronilan
So google tracks downloads?

~~~
KirinDave
Seems so, but keep in mind that it can provide that UX without being able to
recover the individual data about who downloaded what.

~~~
ronilan
Actually, they can provide that (somewhat publicly responsible) UX by
extension without tracking at all. It doesn't sound very "googly" to do so,
but who knows, maybe they do... ;)

~~~
KirinDave
> Actually, they can provide that (somewhat publicly responsible) UX by
> extension without tracking at all.

I don't understand what you mean here. How can aggregate long download stats
exist without aggregation?

~~~
ronilan
if (extension === zip || tar || ...) then "This file is not commonly
downloaded and may be dangerous."

Kind of like putting a warning sign at the swamp without poking for alligators
(or yodas)

~~~
dschoppe
> Chrome Warning: This file is not commonly downloaded and may be dangerous.

The warning is about download frequency of a particular file, not filetype.

~~~
LocalH
This. I've gotten it when redownloading old PS2 homebrew stuff that I'd used
in the past and knew was safe, and that's about it. They were mostly zip and
exe files.

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mileycyrusXOXO
I love exploring gopherspace from time to time. Usually I use Lynx but I may
have to give this a try.

