Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
depending on the number of phone lines (Kientzle,
1995; Wolfe, 1994).
There were a few software 'packages' that
allowed virtually anyone with a computer and a
phone line or two to set up a BBS. GAP, PCBoard,
Spitfire, Wildcat!, and Searchlight all contained
some of the essential features, most did not fully
support graphics, and most were compiled to
support 2400 or 9600 baud communications
(Kientzle, 1995). Host computers in the early
90s ranged from an old XT, up to the latest 386.
Larger services such as Prodigy (discussed below)
had better support for graphics, and with a larger
subscriber base, better support, more powerful
servers, and a plethora of open phone ports, these
services soon took over and the age of the private
BBS eventually ended.
posted on a server in some unnamed location, so
that others could access it freely.
GOPHER essentially allowed someone to find
information on any given topic simply by typing in
some commands to a remote server (Krol, 1994).
Developed at the University of Minnesota, home
of the Golden Gophers, GOPHER was a very
popular tool on the internet in the early 1990s.
In essence, the moniker represented the function
as the computer would essentially “go-for” some
information. Some issues surrounding licens-
ing may have hindered some implementations;
however, the ease of use of the WWW after 1994
effectively supplanted GOPHER-space. Many, but
not all modern day browsers offer legacy GOPHER
support, and there is limited development for the
protocol today.
GOPHER requires some ancillary tools. The
primary search engine, VERONICA (Very Easy
Rodent Oriented Net-wide Index to Computerized
Archives), was developed at the University of Ne-
vada. The user enters key words and is presented
with a series of hits. JUGHEAD (Jonzy's Universal
Gopher Hierarchy Excavation and Display) pretty
much does the same thing as Veronica but usu-
ally allows you to limit the range of the search to
specific machines (Engst, 1994).
Information Sharing Protocols
Information transfer was not always an easy task.
Prior to 1984, with the commercial introduction of
the Graphical User Interface (GUI), all computers
were primarily Command Line Interface (CLI),
meaning that the user had to type in arcane com-
mands in order to make something happen. There
were few central repositories of stored information
that were easily accessible, and persons outside
academia, business or research facilities had
little access to the fledgling internet. In order to
find something, one had to know where to look.
There were no real 'search engines' or indexes
such as we have today. What information there
was typically consisted of text-only data, and on
a rare occasion, an image, but never embedded.
Researchers needed a better way to share informa-
tion, and out of this need sprang several ways to
search for and obtain information. Among these,
a protocol known as GOPHER was developed
and it incorporated the ability to search through a
considerable amount of information by using other
existing tools. Although it has been supplanted
by our World Wide Web, GOPHER represents a
quantum leap in the way we access information,
Recollection: My elementary-age daughter had
to do a report on whales. She had been home for
a few days with the flu, and could not get to the
library. I logged on, found a GOPHER server,
performed my search, and within seconds, was
presented with over 100 'hits', many of which
were dead, but eventually, I found the motherload:
SeaWorld! I entered the command to download
the text, and in just a minute or so, I had over 25
pages of all kinds of really great scientific data.
Since not all information is text-based, there
was also a need for a way to locate and retrieve
files, including images and applications. The
File Transfer Protocol (FTP) was developed and
implemented in order to permit the exchange of
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