Re: What's the status of Mostognir?
Hi Peter, Nice to discover that client...
On 8/22/2019 6:00 AM, Peter Smith wrote:
> I have a Windows Gopher client, too:
> https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/simple-gopher-client/9p5j5ggq2fg2?activetab=pivot:overviewtab
>
>From what I've seen and read it looks rather interesting, except that
the only repo I can see it at is the Microsoft Store, which for me
personally, is a full on nogo.
I looked but couldn't find a choco for it (chocolatey), which is how I
would prefer to install/manage it and really check it out. Is there one,
or perhaps a git, gopher, or other repo resource to obtain it from?
I do have some additional questions and concerns however, after reading
your blanket privacy policy at the application's official website.
1.) Your Gopher client actually phones home, transmitting the user's IP
address to you.
2.) Does the client include Microsoft Advertising network ads or other
advertising network ads? I tried to follow your link to
https://choice.microsoft.com/AdvertisementChoice/ but was bounced in
lynx - I stopped counting the number of rejected cookies Microsoft was
trying to get me to accept at 25 and then just chose *neVer*, at which
point I was unable to view those public policies or information.
3.) Nowhere could I locate the license for your gopher client. Can you
provide me a copy?
4.) I couldn't find any literature related to your Gopher client at its
official website: https://shipwrecksoftware.wordpress.com/
5.) Downloading the application from your link in the Microsoft Store
apparently requires using or creating a Microsoft Live account. Even on
the VM I spun up to test the sandboxed app I wasn't about to create even
a dummy Microsoft account to do so, for a couple of reasons:
a.) First, if I'm not mistaken, doing so would destroy the local
account and convert the logged on user's account to a Microsoft account.
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but even when I am forced to build a
business network with Microsoft boxes as client workstations, I never do
so without incorporating local user accounts or user accounts based on
an accounts database tied to anything other than a UNIX machine
operating as a SAMBA server DC.
b.) After many years as a member of this community, with many of the
most active members extremely protective over their privacy, some to the
point of enforcing that which approaches anonymity, I am quite aware
that part of the impetus motivating the adoption, development, and usage
of the Gopher protocol boils down to respect for the user's privacy, but
moreover, after so many years of working with these good folks, those
most protective of their identities and privacy have come to be, at
least to me, colleagues of a sort and not anonymous to me - meaning that
I know them to be who they represent themselves to be in a way that is
familial to me, from my personal perspective.
The general consensus around the world is that many of the standard
practices of Microsoft flies in the face of that respect, so much so,
that perhaps a big part of the reason that many German municipalities
and governmental institutions there, for example, have legislated
mandates precluding the use of anything but FOSS in schools and the
enterprise.
c.) I'm not suggesting anything is amiss with respect to the above
where your (good looking, from the screenshots) Gopher client is
concerned, but considering that I spent a good amount of time trying to
learn more about it (and you, you're in Redmond?), coming up short in
many respects, along with the fact that so far I can only find it
available from the Microsoft store, makes it a bit of a hard sell when
the audience members I seek to inform are so quite commonly concerned
with the concepts of *libre*, and the vehement protection of their privacy.
5.) According to the page at the Microsoft Store for your Gopher client,
there is also a mobile version available - is it available in the Google
Play Store or F-Droid? Or is that mobile version only for Windows phones?
>
> Directory entry says what? Current Gopher type fie...
> <https://sunriseprogrammer.blogspot.com/2019/03/directory-entry-says-what-current.html>
>
> Gopher: Carriage Returns, Line Feeds and Tabs (oh ...
> <https://sunriseprogrammer.blogspot.com/2019/03/gopher-carriage-returns-line-feeds-and.html>
>
> Dots, more dots, most dots
> <https://sunriseprogrammer.blogspot.com/2019/03/dots-more-dots-most-dots.html>
>
> All my character sets
> <https://sunriseprogrammer.blogspot.com/2019/03/all-my-character-sets.html>
>
> Any port in a storm!
> <https://sunriseprogrammer.blogspot.com/2019/03/any-port-in-storm.html>
>
I really enjoyed reading each of those blogspot posts, and your detailed
forensic analysis of the gopher space - especially with regards to
selectors, CRLF, and UTF8 :)
One thing that stood out that I don't understand though - Does OneNote
really have support for Gopher in some way (other than, as you mention,
not supporting it on high ports under TLS)?
What about other MS Office related products? That implication was kind
of a shocker to me, as IIRC, Internet Exploder dropped gopher support on
the Windows platform somewhere around version 3.01b, yet I think the
port of Exploder for Solaris had Gopher support for some time after that
until all UNIX support was EOL'd.
>
> Lastly, I’ve also created a “gopher of things” programming system using
> the BC BASIC language that’s built into my calculator program
>
>
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTjm-jCI9dI
I'm not really sure what that is, and have to watch my bandwidth up here
on the mountain for the next couple of days until next months billing
cycle begins lol, but I'm definitely interested in looking further into
this :)
Some of us here wear our identities on our sleeves, like an open book,
for example, one prominent member of the community is a fellow alumnus
of mine, while others choose to zealously protect their privacy, perhaps
their identities, and such is perfectly acceptable too, although most of
that latter group do ensure that their software is easily and openly
audited by virtue of the git or other repos they make it available from.
I'm sure that you can appreciate such concerns, especially given recent
delivery chain exploits with VestaCP Webmin, RubyGems, and even upstream
libraries that many of those projects depend upon.
I want to include coverage of as many servers, clients, and tools
available for the public where gopherspace is concerned in the series of
articles I'm working on, but doing so requires that I, in serving to
promote the virtues of such software, ensure that any level of privacy
afforded the participants and readers, or lack thereof, is fully
disclosed by me.
I've been on this list for a long time, and I've even been flamed (more
than once lol) for my utter disdain for, and refusal to promote, the
navigation of gopherspace via HTTP proxies. But we all have our little
pet peeves, and that's just my personal opinion about ways in keeping
Gopher pure and unadulterated :)
Finally, and in closing, can you tell me a little bit more about
yourself? Offlist would be fine, and I respect your choice if you're not
comfortable with revealing any additional information about yourself.
Kindest regards,
--
Bradley D. Thornton
Manager Network Services
http://NorthTech.US
TEL: +1.310.421.8268
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