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Question: What is gopher?

Answer: Described as "the first Internet application that my mom and dad could use," by Project Leader Mark MacCahill. Gopher is a program that is menu driven - simplifying access to remote computers.

Many people steered away from the internet in the early days. Command-line codes to remember - did i want to FTP here or telnet there - how do i search for something? For many people, it just wasn't worth the time and effort it took to get familiar with the systems.

Gopher was the first simple Menu Based Interface that allowed you to search for information, connect you to text files, download binary files, or go to another menu. Gopher also introduced bookmarks - which offered a way to help you remember a new found site or marked locations on the internet that you visit frequently. It was the first time people could look through remote computers without having to know all of the intricacies of several different programs. It is very much like the web we know today - minus the graphics and mouse interface.

It was a major landmark in the development of the World Wide Web.

From a Unix line prompt you can enter gopher gopher.tc.umn.edu - You don't see the nice blue links to click but it was a treat to see a menu like this in its day. Gopher is still accessible these days through most Web Browsers (though it might take you back a few years) by entering a URL something like: gopher://gopher.tc.umn.edu. Take a look - see for yourself. I've clipped a little of what will happen in case you don't want to take the time.

Gopher -Go Fer- was first developed at the University of Minnesota in 1991. Can you guess what their school mascot is?

Answer: Sure! Here is a list of some gopher sites available.

Answer: Veronica is to gopher as Archie is to FTP. What? Archie servers gather directory listings from files on hundreds of anonymous FTP sites around the world - making a search able database. Veronica gathers directory listings from files on hundreds of gopher sites around the world - making a searchable database.

OK - simply put - it was the start of today's search engines.

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