New Gopher Indexing Service
Alan Emtage <bajan@bunyip.com> Wed, 19 January 1994 20:44 UTC
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From: Alan Emtage <bajan@bunyip.com>
Date: Wed, 19 Jan 1994 12:18:11 -0500
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To: gopher-news@boombox.micro.umn.edu
Subject: New Gopher Indexing Service
Cc: us-wg@nic.near.net, PACS-L@uhupvm1.uh.edu, uri@bunyip.com, iafa@bunyip.com, iiir@merit.edu, www-talk@www0.cern.ch, wais-talk@quake.think.com, srs@merit.edu, nir@mailbase.ac.uk, ietf-wnils@ucdavis.edu, archie-people@bunyip.com
[ This mail is being cross-posted to several groups... please excuse the possible multiple copies ] As you might know, the archie Internet service indexes the contents of anonymous FTP sites that wish to have their information advertised to the Internet community. Each archie server is owned and operated by individual volunteer sites around the Internet, using server software originally developed at McGill University in Montreal. There are already well over 30 archie servers installed around the world and continued support for the service is now provided through Bunyip Information Systems, a company formed to ensure the availability of quality operational and software support for Internet services. Over the past year we have made a number of improvements to the archie system. In particular we've added support for a range of additional information collections. With these new capabilities, it will be possible in the coming months for archie server operators to offer a range of additional useful information. Perhaps the single most important addition we have planned for the near future is a fully supported index of Gopher menu items. The code for this new collection has been written and tested and will soon be made available as a free upgrade to all existing archie servers. This upgrade will be accompanied by a new direct Gopher frontend onto both the original archie anonymous FTP database and the new Gopher menu item collection (and the other collections we are planning as they become available). It is our hope that a number of archie operators will choose to offer this new Gopher index collection, bringing a new level of availability and operational support to such services. We are attempting to reach as many Gopher site operators as possible, because we would like permission to include an index of their gopher tree in the new collection. It has been our policy with the anonymous FTP database to not include a site unless we have positive acknowlegement from the site operator, and we intend to continue the policy with this new collection. We have already contacted several hundred operators and have had very positive feedback from them (2 refusals in 400 responses so far). At the same time, we intend to follow existing practice in gopher indexing where possible. Thus, we will try to work with site administrators and tool builders to use existing indexing files where possible, rather than place any additional load on the server by scanning the entire tree. We will be working in concert with the community to develop and open standard for such indices. If you are a Gopher site operator, and if you give us your permission, we will access your gopher site on a periodic basis to create an index of the menu items accessible from your site. The index will be built by one of the cooperating archie sites, that will in turn make it available to all the other archie sites. Note that the archie system permits this sharing of collected information in a predigested format, lowering the load we place on the network and also minimizing the interactions needed at your site. We hope that this new index will be of use both to gopher site administrators (in advertising the existence and contents of your site) and other members of the Internet community (in providing a localized, reliable directory of gopherspace which enjoys full operational support). Your comments and feedback on the service as we bring it up are most welcome. TO SAY YES (OR ASK QUESTIONS): ----------------------------- If you would like to have your site indexed, please send the particulars of your gopher site to: gopher-index-ack@bunyip.com We're looking for the following information: <gopher name> Host: <fully qualified internet address> Port: Path: Admin: <name, e-mail address> TO SEND COMMENTS: ---------------- If you have any particular concerns with this concept and/or would like to let us know why you don't want your gopher site indexed, please feel free to send comments to gopher-index-concern@bunyip.com Thanks in advance! The Gang at Bunyip Information Systems
- New Gopher Indexing Service Alan Emtage