Gopher Proxy
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= 2026-08-28 Friday =
"This week I are mostly been wrangling C"
I've decided to start again in my quest to learn enough C to write
small programs for things I find useful. I want to know enough to
find it comfortable, and to make simple tools that I can use.
I also read a phlog post from Matto (dated several years ago)
extolling the virtues of RCS as a version control system, rather
than git or mercurial etc.
I've used both Mercurial and Git before, but since I'm not a
"coder" and not writing code for a job, and not writing large
projects spread over multiple files, and with multiple
contributors, I find them over-complex and largely mystifying. They
deal with concepts and situations I'm not familiar with and will
never need to be familiar with.
RCS on the other hand does just enough, and in an obvious and
understandable and relatable way.
So I'm going to use RCS from now on - I need to learn to code
(primary objective) and also I need to use some form of version
control (and have it become an integral part of my "workflow").
Learning RCS seems straightforward. Adding it to my workflow while
also wrestling with learning to code doesn't seem like too much of
an additional burden (low friction, in today's jargon).
Thanks Matto for the suggestion!
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= 2026-08-21 Friday =
I'm running FreeBSD on an old Samsung N150 netbook. No X-windows.
Just Virtual Terminals an Tmux.
I'm using this to experience the current state of Gopherspace as it
appears to a basic low-spec user machine in console-mode.
I have available for gopher:
UMN gopher
bombadillo
vf1
lynx
It's interesting to see how some sites are largely unusable on the
original UMN Gopher due to the use of "gophermaps as content"... a
poor attempt to replicate the behaviour of web-pages.
I'm also exploring avoiding using SSH from this netbook and only
accessing my LAN boxes via Telnet and FTP. It feels refreshing, in
a strange way.
I've added a Type 8 "Telnet" selector to the gophermap menu of the
Raspberry Pi gopherhole to see how Gopher could/would have been used
back in the day to give remote access. It's quite a fun thing to try.
Of course some people will cry in horror "TELNET...!!!!!??? You
should NEVER run Telnet....!????!! You MUST upgrade now to SSH...!
!!!???"
well, it's my LAN and my experiment.
So, FTP and Telnet are absolutely ok with me.
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