GOPHER(1)

NAME
gopher - connect to gopher document server

SYNOPSIS
gopher [-sSbDr] [-t title] [-p path] [-T type] [-i searchterm] [hostname port]

DESCRIPTION
The gopher client is used to talk to gopher servers.

The Internet Gopher is a distributed document delivery service. It allows a neophyte user to access various types of data residing on multiple hosts in a seamless fashion. This is accomplished by presenting the user a hierarchical arrangement of documents and by using a client-server communications model. The Internet Gopher Server accepts simple queries, and responds by sending the client a document.

-b starts the client on the bookmark page.

The next few options are for more advanced users who want to start at a location other than the default, or to set up special aliases or shell-scripts to point the gopher client to seperate places.

Use the -p option to specify a specific selector string to send to the root level server on startup.

Use the -T option to let the client know what type of object the -p option is pointing at.

Use the -i option to tell the client what to search for in the object defined by the -p and -T 7 options

Use the -t option to set the title of the initial screen for the gopher client.

The last few options aren't really of interest to regulat users, but are provided for system administrators who waht to provide a secure client, or who need to debug a client.

-s and -S means "secure mode" which means that you can't save or print the files that you browse. -s is for users without an account, while -S assumes the user has an account on this machine.

-r tells the client that its user is remote.

-D turns on the copius debugging output

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

The client checks for environment variables for its configuration information. The following variables can be used:
      GOPHER_MAIL:
        The program to send mail with (must understand -s option)
      GOPHER_TELNET:
        The program to contact telnet services with.
      GOPHER_PLAY:
        The program to play sound from a pipe.
      GOPHER_PRINTER:
         The program to print from a pipe.

FILES
~/.gopherrc bookmarks, and configuration information...