What is Gopher (protocol)?
{{IPstack}} [[File:Wikipedia Gopher forg v0.5.1.png|thumb|The Wikipedia article in the English language Wikipedia with the browser forg.]] '''Gopher''' is a [[protocol]]. It was designed for distributing, searching, and retrieving [[Document|documents]] over the Internet. Gopher represented an early alternative to the [[World Wide Web]]. The gopher protocol has some things [[HTTP]]-based clients do not have. It is based on [[menu]]s. An item selected from a menu will either open another menu, or a document. Because of concern over possible [[License|licensing]] fees, and the relative flexibility of the World Wide Web, the protocol did not get much use. There are less than 200 gopher servers still actively maintained.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gopher.floodgap.com/gopher/gw?gopher/0/v2/vstat|title=Veronica 2 Stats|first=|last=|date=2016-04-25|publisher=Floodgap|accessdate=2016-04-25}}</ref> Many of the remaining gopher servers are run by individuals. Most of them are rarely updated except for the ones run by enthusiasts of the protocol. A handful of new servers are set up every year by hobbyists - over 50 have been set up and added to Floodgap's list since 1999. Today Gopher exists as an almost forgotten corner of the [[Internet]]. - one can publish email addresses in plaintext without having to worry about spam, and publish large amounts of data without the risk of the server's bandwidth becoming saturated by overuse. In the early stages of mobile Internet access, some suggested that the simple interface of Gopher would be a good match for [[mobile phone]]s and Personal digital assistants (PDAs).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wired.com/2004/04/gopher-underground-technology/|title=Gopher: Underground Technology|first=Lore|last=Sjoberg|date=12 April 2004|publisher=|via=www.wired.com}}</ref> Web-based solutions also won in the mobile space, with technologies like [[Wireless Markup Language]] (WML)/[[Wireless Application Protocol]] (WAP), DoCoMo i-mode, XHTML Basic or other adaptations of [[HTML]] and [[XML]].