hello retro fans.

I just found gopher on sdf.org.

I'm trying to figure out howto actually create a gopherhole/site, but I can't find any docs on the subject with examples.

does anyone here know of a resource or could explain how to create the directory structure.

I see a .link file.
I've heard of .cap (files) but those seem to be directories.

what does a basic document directory look like (please tree it).
what does a .link document have in it?

Does anyone have a tgz file of a basic user gopherhole they can share so I
can start mine?

I hope someone likes gopher :) it seems interesting to me.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A45 2020/02/18 (Linux/64)
* Origin: The Bottomless Abyss BBS * bbs.bottomlessabyss.net (21:1/172)

I'm trying to figure out howto actually create a gopherhole/site, but
I can't
find any docs on the subject with examples.

Not exactly what you are asking for, but both Enigma 1/2 BBS and Talisman
BBS contain built-in gopher servers. You can publish right from a BBS!


|08.|05j|13A|08.

--- Talisman v0.48-dev (Linux/x86_64)
* Origin: R3tr0/X BBS :: retrox.us:1992 (21:4/158)

Not exactly what you are asking for, but both Enigma 1/2 BBS and Talisman BBS contain built-in gopher servers. You can publish right from a BBS!

well I'm just trying to figure out how to make the gopher menu and mod that file to link to basic docs that the gopher server renders.

I read in a book Linux Reference Bible (older book) about gopher and for a
user they create .link files and edit it to point various files (data, sound, image) based on the format in the .link file.

I've read of gophermap, but not sure what exactly it is. I've looked over the RFC and haven't noticed a file structure.

so I'm not trying to bring a server online, i'm trying to create the content
on an existing gopher server.

I've never seen someones gopher content directory without it being through gopher like using:
lynx gopher://sdf.org:70/1

then browsing the content.

my access on sdf.org is limited, and I'm still waiting for validation,
although I don't think validation will change my ability to list another
users home directory.

I hope I'm making more sense.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A45 2020/02/18 (Linux/64)
* Origin: The Bottomless Abyss BBS * bbs.bottomlessabyss.net (21:1/172)

Re: gopher howto help
By: bbsing to All on Thu Nov 30 2023 10:18 pm

I hope someone likes gopher :) it seems interesting to me.

Hello,

are you intending to use whatever the sdf uses, or just trying to experiment?

If you just want to experiment, maybe install gophernicus on a local machine and start from there. Gophernicus has enough documentation to get you started.

Gophermaps are just custom directory files. If you use a server such
as Gophernicus and you want to publish a bunch of txt files, you can just place all the txt files under a given directory and Gophernicus will create an index per directory automatically, but it will be a bit ugly. A gophermap is just a custom prettified version.

Example:

!This is the title of my directory

Here I give you come pretty comment, maybe add ASCII art.
Whatever you write in plaintext is included in the directory listing.

Now I add a link. "0" is for regular txt file,

Then I add the listing name, then I add the pach to the file
I want to serve

0MyFile somefile.txt

Now I generate an autoindex from the contents of the directory

*

\\\\\\\\\

More information at:

gopher.gophernicus.org:70/1

--
gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: Palantir * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL * (21:2/138)

Re: gopher howto help
By: bbsing to All on Thu Nov 30 2023 22:18:32

I just found gopher on sdf.org.

Welcome to gopherspace!

I'm trying to figure out howto actually create a gopherhole/site, but I can't find any docs on the subject with examples.
does anyone here know of a resource or could explain how to create the directory structure.

Here is a tutorial from sdf.org

https://sdf.org/?tutorials/gopher

I invite you to follow up with a link to your content after you post it.
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (21:2/101)

well I'm just trying to figure out how to make the gopher menu and mod tha file to link to basic docs that the gopher server renders.

A gopher site, is like any other site... you have directories with files. You can organize your tree structure, as you would like to have your site, but it's not 100% necessary, as you could also have a gopher site, in just a directory, with all the files in it. But for better organization, choose to have directories.

The whole job, is done by the files, called "gophermap". These are text files, with a "special" structure inside them. The pages you are seeing, as browsing a gopher site, are those gophermap files. In gopher, you can also browse the directories, as they are and download files, but if you want to make anything else (write text, have links, use code) you have to have a gophermap file inside that directory.

So a typical gopher site could be like this:

/ gophermap
readme.txt
downloadme.zip
another.txt
files <dir>
+ gophermap
mystic.zip
crack.zip
docs <dir>
+ gophermap
bible.pdf
hacking101.pdf
warez <dir>
+ coreldraw10.zip
win98.zip

Check that the warez dir, doesn't have a gophermap file. ;)
So when you direct your gopher browser at yourdomain.com:70/files, the browser, reads that gophermap and "renders" it, as a web browser would render a html file to see it.

The gophermap file itself, it's not something to explain here. You must read the RFC file or a tutor about it, get some files from other sites and watch what they have written etc. To download gophermap files, you can use lynx or my browser for Android phones (http://andr01d.zapto.org:8080/gophrite/).

Just have in mind, that gopher, uses text lines and is stricted to 70-75 chars per line. Each line, has a special meaning, or it's just text. You can write gophermap files, with just a text editor or you could use my Mystic BBS mod, that creates and "renders" a complete gopher and HTML site, called Gophlog. ;)

Good luck...

.
:: XQTR :: Another Droid BBS :: andr01d.zapto.org:9999 :: xqtr@gmx.com

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2020/11/23 (Raspberry Pi/32)
* Origin: Another Droid BBS # andr01d.zapto.org:9999 (21:1/111)

I'm trying to figure out howto actually create a gopherhole/site, but I

I had someone try and finagle me into opening up a gopher site... Have to
say the learning curve seemed to steep at the time. And although they wanted
a site, it was difficult to get any assist.. So I ended uup sticking in the
too hard basket.

Spec


*** THE READER V4.50 [freeware]
--- SuperBBS v1.17-3 (Eval)
* Origin: A camel is a horse designed by a committee. (21:3/101)

On 01 Dec 2023, Arelor said the following...

Re: gopher howto help
Hello,

are you intending to use whatever the sdf uses, or just trying to experiment?

Yes to both. I do want to use what SDF uses because that is where I intend to publish my gopher files.

I will give gophernicus a try if it will help bring some clarity to my understanding of howto make gopher files and gopher menus.

If you just want to experiment, maybe install gophernicus on a local

I will give gophernicus a try.

Example:

!This is the title of my directory

Here I give you come pretty comment, maybe add ASCII art.
Whatever you write in plaintext is included in the directory listing.

Now I add a link. "0" is for regular txt file,

Then I add the listing name, then I add the pach to the file
I want to serve

0MyFile somefile.txt

Now I generate an autoindex from the contents of the directory

*

Thank you Arelor.

I'll attempt this help.

... "No comment" is a comment.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: The Bottomless Abyss BBS * bbs.bottomlessabyss.net (21:1/172)

Re: Re: gopher howto help
By: bbsing to Arelor on Mon Dec 04 2023 02:16 pm

Yes to both. I do want to use what SDF uses because that is where I intend t

I see SDF uses Gophernicus.

They have a quick setup that will build a gophersite for you under $HOME/gopher. Maybe use the quick setup and start dropping files under $HOME/gopher for testing.

(I am sure you have already seen this but they have docs at

https://sdf.org/?tutorials/gopher

)

--
gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: Palantir * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL * (21:2/138)

On 04 Dec 2023, Arelor said the following...

Re: Re: gopher howto help
I see SDF uses Gophernicus.
They have a quick setup that will build a gophersite for you under $HOME/gopher. Maybe use the quick setup and start dropping files under $HOME/gopher for testing.

Thanks Arelor. I've been reviewing the tutorial and help from users here on fsxnet. I still have stuff to do, but I'll check and make sure I also take your help into things as well.

I originally used SDF gophersetup but the output was not as I expected with files in my gopher directory.

Right now I'm not a validated user, I've been waiting from them to process my donation via snail mail, so I'm hoping that isn't the cause of my problems/confusion.

I'll be back to report success.

Arelor / Anyone , if you are a validated user on SDF can you validate me?

I've been around here for ... long long time.

... A book in the hand is worth two on the shelf!

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: The Bottomless Abyss BBS * bbs.bottomlessabyss.net (21:1/172)

On 01 Dec 2023, Ben Collver said the following...

Re: gopher howto help

I'm trying to figure out howto actually create a gopherhole/site, but can't find any docs on the subject with examples.

Here is a tutorial from sdf.org

https://sdf.org/?tutorials/gopher

I invite you to follow up with a link to your content after you post it.

OK finally I got my gopherhole going! thanks for the help.

gopher://sdf.org:70/1/users/bbsing
or
gopher://sdf.org/1/users/bbsing

Its not pretty yet .... and may never be but its working.

... Read messages, not taglines

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: The Bottomless Abyss BBS * bbs.bottomlessabyss.net (21:1/172)

On 01 Dec 2023, Arelor said the following...

Re: gopher howto help
By: bbsing to All on Thu Nov 30 2023 10:18 pm
Hello,

are you intending to use whatever the sdf uses, or just trying to experiment?

If you just want to experiment, maybe install gophernicus on a local machine and start from there. Gophernicus has enough documentation to

I wanted to install gophernicus on my machine, but ... its not in the repositories, at least not the build I have: raspbian buster.

So I'll have to dig for it, I see reference to it within debian.

... Kids: They're not sleeping, they're recharging!

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: The Bottomless Abyss BBS * bbs.bottomlessabyss.net (21:1/172)

OK finally I got my gopherhole going! thanks for the help. gopher://sdf.org:70/1/users/bbsing
gopher://sdf.org/1/users/bbsing

I get FIle or directory not found when I check. 6:32 EST.


|09S|11hawn


--- Talisman v0.49-dev (Windows/x86)
* Origin: Tiny's BBS - tinysbbs.com:4323/ssh:4322 (21:1/222)

gopher://sdf.org/1/users/bbsing

I get FIle or directory not found when I check. 6:32 EST.

I removed the /1/ and it loaded in gophari

not sure what client you use, but try that :)

Andrew


--- Talisman v0.49-dev (FreeBSD/amd64)
* Origin: Smuggler's Cove - scove.talismanbbs.com:2323 (21:1/182)

Re: gopher howto help
By: bbsing to Ben Collver on Fri Dec 08 2023 00:38:33

gopher://sdf.org/1/users/bbsing
Its not pretty yet .... and may never be but its working.

Congratulations and welcome to gopherspace! I enjoyed reading your
first post about your computing history.

I remember using gopher on DOS, possibly with UMN's client. I mostly
recall using it to find out about new FTP sites and download PC games
and utilities. I wasn't overly impressed with gopher nor with the
early web. I was looking for my computer to gain new functionality,
as opposed to new ease of use.

I have a long and private memoires file about my computing history.
My high school teacher recommended The Cuckoo's Egg and i checked it
out from the local library to read in 1994. I recently re-read it and
it makes more sense to me now than it did then. At some point i lost
interest in computers, but gaining Internet access gave it a social
factor that rekindled my interest. I remember checkout out a book
from the university library on SysV socket programming and learning to
write network code.
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (21:2/101)

Hello bbsing!

** On Friday 08.12.23 - 00:38, bbsing wrote to Ben Collver:

OK finally I got my gopherhole going! thanks for the help.

gopher://sdf.org:70/1/users/bbsing
or
gopher://sdf.org/1/users/bbsing

Its not pretty yet .... and may never be but its working.

As per your story about introduction to unix systems, I thought
the finger was pretty cool too. But I think write or w
fascinated me more.

The part about your spelling mistake for bbsing vs bsing was
pretty funny. Perhaps we are all just BSing afterall.


--- OpenXP 5.0.57
* Origin: Ogg's WestCoast Point (21:4/106.21)

Re: Re: gopher howto help
By: bbsing to Arelor on Tue Dec 05 2023 02:36 pm

Arelor / Anyone , if you are a validated user on SDF can you validate me?

I am afraid I am not at SDF, but thanks for asking :-)

--
gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: Palantir * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL * (21:2/138)

Re: gopher howto help
By: bbsing to Ben Collver on Fri Dec 08 2023 12:38 am

OK finally I got my gopherhole going! thanks for the help.

gopher://sdf.org:70/1/users/bbsing
or
gopher://sdf.org/1/users/bbsing

Its not pretty yet .... and may never be but its working.

It works fine here.

It looks nice for a start. Good work!

--
gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: Palantir * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL * (21:2/138)

On 08 Dec 2023, Tiny said the following...

I get FIle or directory not found when I check. 6:32 EST.

maybe no backslash on the end is the issue.
gopher://sdf.org/1/users/bbsing/

I'm using the lynx browser for testing.

merry x-mas :)

... A program is used to turn data into error messages.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: The Bottomless Abyss BBS * bbs.bottomlessabyss.net (21:1/172)

On 09 Dec 2023, Ogg said the following...

Hello bbsing!
As per your story about introduction to unix systems, I thought
the finger was pretty cool too. But I think write or w
fascinated me more.

Thanks for checking it out.

There are some interesting stories out there.

Gopher is neat but bring the interaction to and from readers/writers I wish was there for people to interact more like the message nets.

There are some really neat gopherholes out there.

The part about your spelling mistake for bbsing vs bsing was
pretty funny. Perhaps we are all just BSing afterall.

:)
My typing and spelling is pretty bad. :) I'm glad you got a laugh.

I think you are correct we are bsing for sure :) Lets keep up the bsing!



Take care and I hope you are having a great holiday.

... A .GIF is worth a thousand .TXT.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: The Bottomless Abyss BBS * bbs.bottomlessabyss.net (21:1/172)

It works fine here.
It looks nice for a start. Good work!

Thanks for checking on it. I'm trying to spruce it up.

gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken

Is the richard falken link yours?

... Tech support is just a busy signal away

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: The Bottomless Abyss BBS * bbs.bottomlessabyss.net (21:1/172)

Re: Re: gopher howto help
By: bbsing to Arelor on Tue Dec 26 2023 01:19 am

gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken

Is the richard falken link yours?

Yes, it is.

I should tidy it up a bit one of these days. Right now it is a clone of my old website, converted to Gopher form.

--
gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: Palantir * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL * (21:2/138)

On Sun, 10 Dec 2023 13:54:43 -0600
"Arelor" (21:2/138) <Arelor@f138.n2.z21.fidonet> wrote:

Re: gopher howto help
By: bbsing to Ben Collver on Fri Dec 08 2023 12:38 am

OK finally I got my gopherhole going! thanks for the help.

gopher://sdf.org:70/1/users/bbsing
or
gopher://sdf.org/1/users/bbsing

Its not pretty yet .... and may never be but its working.

It works fine here.

It looks nice for a start. Good work!

--
gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: Palantir * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL *
(21:2/138)

For sysops using Synchronet, there was an issue with gopher where some
gopher clients that had a leading forward slash in the request where
not getting results. this has been fixed for those following the
current build in git. If you don't want to update your whole system,
you can get the gopherservice.js file which should fix the issue.
--
End Of The Line BBS - Plano, TX
telnet endofthelinebbs.com 23
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (21:2/101)

Is the richard falken link yours?

Yes, it is.
I should tidy it up a bit one of these days. Right now it is a clone of
my old website, converted to Gopher form.

the gopher reddit interface is pretty neat.
I'm not normally a reddit user, but its nice to see an interface to other systems.

f
fj

what are you working on these days?

... A program is used to turn data into error messages.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: The Bottomless Abyss BBS * bbs.bottomlessabyss.net (21:1/172)

Re: Re: gopher howto help
By: bbsing to Arelor on Thu Jan 11 2024 01:28 pm

what are you working on these days?

I am mostly clearing off all the small trivial tasks that have been piling up in my TODO list while I was dong the important things.

Also I had to migrate my email service at $job out of the cloud and back into our premises. An article about the software stack I used to deploy the new email service should hit Linux Magazine or ADMIN Magazine one of these months.

Thanks for asking :-P

--
gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: Palantir * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL * (21:2/138)

Also I had to migrate my email service at $job out of the cloud and back into our premises. An article about the software stack I used to deploy the new email service should hit Linux Magazine or ADMIN Magazine one of these months.

I've done that a few times. All depends where I want my email. Mostly I don't like it out there for too long because .. its just not safe.

Linux Mag, or Admin mag, ... nice! I've made it to linux mag once long ago in early 2000s.

Take care Arelor

... A social life? Where can I download that!?

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: The Bottomless Abyss BBS * bbs.bottomlessabyss.net (21:1/172)

Re: Re: gopher howto help
By: bbsing to Arelor on Tue Feb 06 2024 12:06 am

I've done that a few times. All depends where I want my email. Mostly I don'

I think that, the way it is designed, the contents of email messages themselves are nearly public information :-P

What I like of operating my own email servers is you get access to the logs and to the necessary tools for doing your troubleshooting. It is much better than using a managed email service and having to open a ticket with them every time there is an issue.


--
gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: Palantir * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL * (21:2/138)

On 06 Feb 2024, Arelor said the following...

I think that, the way it is designed, the contents of email messages themselves are nearly public information :-P

What I like of operating my own email servers is you get access to the logs and to the necessary tools for doing your troubleshooting. It is
much better than using a managed email service and having to open a
ticket with them every time there is an issue.

long time ago I used to be able to send email using my own server, but then block lists came out, and I got put on a spam list for not having a proper domain.

Then after awhile my ISP refused to let out the email.

Its become a bit of a mess. I haven't wanted to setup MX records on my domain.

I though I read on the echos someone would let anyone register their domain with them. I'll have to search for that if I feel like self hosting again. Before I do any hosting I need to figure out how to segment my systems. I've been thinking of buying a netfu system with pfsense on it and setup a single raspberrypi on one of the ethernet ports so I can totally keep the rest of my devices off the public networks.

I hope your doing well Arelor.

BBSing.

... Confucius say: "Man who runs behind car gets exhausted"

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: The Bottomless Abyss BBS * bbs.bottomlessabyss.net (21:1/172)

Re: Re: gopher howto help
By: bbsing to Arelor on Fri Apr 26 2024 11:45 am

... Confucius say: "Man who runs behind car gets exhausted"

Also, man who runs in front of car gets tired.

Nightfox
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: Digital Distortion: digdist.synchro.net (21:1/137)