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65 lines
2.7 KiB
65 lines
2.7 KiB
## gosher -- A simple Gopher server in a POSIX shell script
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`gosher` is a Gopher server in a POSIX shell script. It requires only a
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standard `netcat(1)`.
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You start the server using:
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$ ./gosher [<PORT> [<GOPHERDIR>]
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If PORT is not specified, it will bind on port 70. If GOPHERDIR is not
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provided, it defaults to "./". Before starting `gosher` you might need
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to modify the values of the variables `NETCAT` and `STYLE` in `gosher`
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(see "Which netcat?" below).
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If the selector is a directory, `gosher` will look for a file named
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`gophermap` to render the submenu. If a `gophermap` does not exist,
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`gosher` looks for the index.gph gopherfile in the folder and, if it
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exists, renders it as a gophermap.
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## Which netcat?
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There are currently several different implementations of `netcat`, and
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each of them works in a slightly different way and/or offers a different
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set of options. For the sake of using `gosher`, the main issue is
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whether your `netcat` implementation does exit or not when its standard
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input gets closed. Notably, the original `netcat` implementation by
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hobbit@avian.org does **not** exit, while other common implementations
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(OpenBSD `netcat`, `ncat` from the nmap project, and GNU `netcat`)
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normally do. The current version of `gosher` can work with different
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implementations of `netcat`, provided that the variable `NETCAT` points
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to the `netcat` version you want to use, and that the variable `STYLE`
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in `gosher` is set correctly. In particular, `STYLE` can pe set equal to
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either 'pipe' or 'fork'. Please check below what is the recommended
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combination for your version of `netcat`:
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+----------------+--------------+--------------+
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| netcat version | STYLE='fork' | STYLE='pipe' |
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+----------------+--------------+--------------+
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| traditional | YES | NO |
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+----------------+--------------+--------------+
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| OpenBSD | NO | YES |
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+----------------+--------------+--------------+
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| ncat | YES | YES |
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+----------------+--------------+--------------+
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**N.B.: Using STYLE='pipe' is preferable, since the '-c' option used by
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the 'fork' mode is a potential security risk**
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## Why `gosher`?
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Just for fun. There are only a few TCP/IP application protocols left
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that can be implemented in a few dozen lines of POSIX shell script, and
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Gopher (RFC 1436) is one of those.
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## Why calling it `gosher`?
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Well, `gosher` is just `gopher` where the `p` is replaced with an `s`,
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and `sh(1)` is all that you need to run `gosher` (if we leave
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`netcat(1)` out...).
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Also, `gopher` is probably one of the few `kosher` protocols out there.
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According to the Urban Dictionary, `gosher` is "an insult that can mean
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anything", so choose your own.
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