7 ms·

I don't know, Gopher being removed from Firefox and Chrome over the last few years kinda disagrees with that sentiment.

distcs 3y ago
You can still connect to Gopher server using "proper" Gopher clients, so the parent commenter is still right that Gopher is not going away. But then Gemini too is not going away. These niche protocols will always have their niche communities using their niche clients so they are probably going to survive even if they remain obscure.
kristopolous 3y ago
FTP was even removed 2 years ago. Really, look that up.
- lolinder 3y ago
  The fact that we'd have to look it up is why it was removed. I haven't used FTP in at least a decade—scp does the trick for my server management needs, HTTP is sufficient for download-only use cases, and Dropbox-style applications have supplanted FTP for shared files. FTP is more general than any of these three replacements, but it isn't ideal for any one of the use cases.
  - Minor49er 3y ago
    I only use X, YouTube, Insta, and TikTok. Browsers should just refuse to connect to any other site besides those
    - lolinder 3y ago
      I take it you have a use case for FTP still that's not yet been supplanted by other, more specialized tools? Please share, rather than snarking.
      - Minor49er 3y ago
        To name a few, I interact with a number of sites on shared hosting that have been using FTP for years. I also work with a data server that primarily interfaces with its data store through FTP. It also used to be easier to just host an FTP server and manage its access independent of a website, but still link to it in a browser where people who are not technically inclined could browse and interact with files without needing a separate dedicated client. Even for me, it would be simpler to just see an FTP file listing in a browser sometimes The point is that browsers used to be able to browse the Internet, but major players such as Google have been working hard to limit all of these things to just HTTPS. Excusing things away by saying "well I don't use it, so it's useless" has only helped to narrow this path
        mattl 3y ago
        Web browsers aren't internet browsers and shouldn't be. There's way too many things on the internet for them to do a good job anyway.
        Minor49er 3y ago
        Exactly right. This is why we must continue to fight for our FAANG-only locked-down future!
        mattl 3y ago
        Netscape used to come with a browser, a mail client, a newsreader, an HTML editor. We've moved beyond that now, why worry about a browser being able to read Gopherspace or Gemini pages? Putting those into dedicated browsers of their own has been the perceived action for some time.
        kristopolous 3y ago
        The reason is to connect them together in one experiential flow. That was the purpose of hypermedia, the interconnection of platforms and data sources. People aren't doing that, I realize it, but maybe we should fix that instead of abandon the dream.
    - mattl 3y ago
      Web browsers should stick to web browsing and other tools should handle other protocols at this point in time.

You can still connect to Gopher server using "proper" Gopher clients, so the parent commenter is still right that Gopher is not going away. But then Gemini too is not going away. These niche protocols will always have their niche communities using their niche clients so they are probably going to survive even if they remain obscure.

kristopolous 3y ago

FTP was even removed 2 years ago. Really, look that up.

lolinder 3y ago
The fact that we'd have to look it up is why it was removed. I haven't used FTP in at least a decade—scp does the trick for my server management needs, HTTP is sufficient for download-only use cases, and Dropbox-style applications have supplanted FTP for shared files. FTP is more general than any of these three replacements, but it isn't ideal for any one of the use cases.
- Minor49er 3y ago
  I only use X, YouTube, Insta, and TikTok. Browsers should just refuse to connect to any other site besides those
  - lolinder 3y ago
    I take it you have a use case for FTP still that's not yet been supplanted by other, more specialized tools? Please share, rather than snarking.
    - Minor49er 3y ago
      To name a few, I interact with a number of sites on shared hosting that have been using FTP for years. I also work with a data server that primarily interfaces with its data store through FTP. It also used to be easier to just host an FTP server and manage its access independent of a website, but still link to it in a browser where people who are not technically inclined could browse and interact with files without needing a separate dedicated client. Even for me, it would be simpler to just see an FTP file listing in a browser sometimes The point is that browsers used to be able to browse the Internet, but major players such as Google have been working hard to limit all of these things to just HTTPS. Excusing things away by saying "well I don't use it, so it's useless" has only helped to narrow this path
      - mattl 3y ago
        Web browsers aren't internet browsers and shouldn't be. There's way too many things on the internet for them to do a good job anyway.
        Minor49er 3y ago
        Exactly right. This is why we must continue to fight for our FAANG-only locked-down future!
        mattl 3y ago
        Netscape used to come with a browser, a mail client, a newsreader, an HTML editor. We've moved beyond that now, why worry about a browser being able to read Gopherspace or Gemini pages? Putting those into dedicated browsers of their own has been the perceived action for some time.
        kristopolous 3y ago
        The reason is to connect them together in one experiential flow. That was the purpose of hypermedia, the interconnection of platforms and data sources. People aren't doing that, I realize it, but maybe we should fix that instead of abandon the dream.
  - mattl 3y ago
    Web browsers should stick to web browsing and other tools should handle other protocols at this point in time.