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Browsing the World Wide Web via E-Mail -- 1990's Style
A look back at "Doctor Bob's Guide to Offline Internet Access".
May 15, 2024
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Back in the 1990s… browsing “The Web” was a distinctly different experience for many people.

Some had a limited amount of time which they could be “On-Line”. Others had access to Internet E-Mail, often through a local dial-up BBS… but not the ability to use a graphical Web Browser. (Yes… “E-Mail” has a dash in it… that’s how it was in the beginning — as it is “Electronic Mail” — and that’s how it shall forever stay.)

Luckily, a solution presented itself:

“Doctor Bob’s Guide to Offline Internet Access”

First published in 1994 by “Doctor Bob” Rankin, the guide to offline Internet access focused on ways you could fetch (and interact with) various types of Internet servers entirely via E-Mail.

The sheer amount of different types of Internet servers that could be used via E-Mail was nothing short of amazing: FTP, Gopher, Jughead, Usenet, Finger, Whois, Nslookup, Traceroute, and (of course) the “World Wide Web” were all usable (to one degree or another).

“Doctor Bob” continued to update and release new versions of the guide until 1999, when he handed duties over to Gerald E. Boyd. The final version (to my knowledge) was released in 2002 and is available in full at faqs.org.

But… HOW?!

The way all of this worked was actually pretty ingenious in its simplicity.

There were servers — quite a lot of them — that you could email. In the body of your email you would include any of a number of different commands. The server would receive your email… and send a response back to you with the result of your command.

You could almost think of these “Web via E-Mail” servers as command line tools… that you use via E-Mail. Most of them even included a “Help” command that would email you an introduction and list of available commands.

One of the most popular (and earliest) servers, known as Agora, was developed by the World Wide Web Consortium — with the final release (0.8b) published in 1997.

Let’s say, for example, you want to read the contents of “Lunduke.com”. Easy peasy! You’d simply email the Agora server of your choice (Doctor Bob’s included several to get people started) with the following in the body of your email:

send http://lunduke.com

You would then get an email response (sometimes quickly… sometimes with a large lag time) with the text-mode version of that webpage.

Fun tidbits: The Agora Web Browser was written in Perl and ran on DEC Alpha servers. It was based (in very large part) on the second Web Browser ever created: the portable “Line Mode Browser” from 1990: a text-mode tool for fetching webpages from a command line.

Searching the Web via a search engine was possible via Agora, and typically was done by including a fully formed URL (with all of the search words) in the email. For example, the following would use the Lycos Search engine to search for “linux sucks”:

https://search.lycos.com/web/?q=linux+sucks

Not the most user-friendly method in the world, but it was functional.

Later, more advanced, “Web via E-Mail” servers would include some additional features to make this all a bit easier.

For example, “GetWeb” and “WWW4MAIL” (two of the most popular, full featured servers) would allow you to perform the same search (for "linux sucks") by sending the following email:

SEARCH LYCOS linux sucks

See? Much nicer.

The Impact of Doctor Bob’s Guide

Many modern Internet users may have never even been aware of Doctor Bob’s Guide to Offline Internet Access”… just the same, its impact was far reaching.

People, across the world, utilized the techniques in the guide to gain some form of “Web Access” in areas with little availability of Internet Access. In fact, its usage was so widespread that various versions of the guide were translated to 32 different languages.

All The Servers are Gone

To my knowledge, no such “WWW via E-Mail” servers (Agora, GetWeb, or WWW4MAIL) are still in operation. In fact, even finding the source code for some of these servers has proven challenging.

There have been a few attempts at writing a new such server over the years — including “newAgora” written in Python. However, none seem to have any longevity to them (newAgora was last updated 11 years ago).

This isn’t terribly surprising, as the “WWW” has become increasingly difficult to use via text-mode browsers over the last 20 years. Add on top of this the continually shifting SSL requirements of most servers… and it has simply become too complex of a task.  Especially considering the lack of interest  in supporting such functionality.

Just the same, it’s sad when these sort of systems are no longer functional. A whole new generation of people will never have the opportunity to experience what it was like to “browse the web” entirely via E-Mail.

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Looking for the Podcast RSS feed or other links?
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4619051/lunduke-journal-link-central-tm

Give the gift of The Lunduke Journal:
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Be sure to subscribe here at Lunduke.Locals.com to get all shows & articles (including interviews with other amazing nerds).

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50% off The Lunduke Journal (including Lifetime Subscriptions) for one more day!

To all of you amazing nerds who have signed up for a new Lunduke Journal subscription today, thank you! You make The Lunduke Journal possible!

If you haven’t snagged yours yet, the “50% off everything, even the Lifetime Subscriptions” deal is available today and tomorrow (through Saturday, May 31st).

  • 50% off Monthly — Now $3 / Month (was $6 / Month)

  • 50% off Yearly — Now $27 / Year (was $54 / Year)

  • 50% off Yearly MP4 Downloads — Now $27 / Year (was $54 / Year)

  • 50% off Lifetime Subscriptions — Now $100 (was $200)

All the details on how to grab each type of subscription is right here. There’s also an audio podcast and video of me rambling about it.

Once again, thank you for all of the support. It truly does make a difference.

-Lunduke

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50% off The Lunduke Journal (including Lifetime Subscriptions) through Saturday!

About 3 weeks back we had a deal where every new subscription to The Lunduke Journal was 50% off. Monthly, Yearly, Lifetime… all of it.

And — holy cow! — was that a success. Broke the record for most new subscribers to The Lunduke Journal in a single day. By a mile. Two days in a row.

Never seen anything like it. The amount of support all of you showed for truly independent Tech Journalism was off the charts.

You know what? Let’s try that again. Now through the end of May (which is Saturday, May 31st — the day after tomorrow):

  • 50% off Monthly — Now $3 / Month (was $6 / Month)

  • 50% off Yearly — Now $27 / Year (was $54 / Year)

  • 50% off Yearly MP4 Downloads — Now $27 / Year (was $54 / Year)

  • 50% off Lifetime Subscriptions — Now $100 (was $200)

Choose whichever option feels right for you. All the details and links are below.

Every one — big or small — directly funds the work of The Lunduke Journal (with zero overhead). Every option includes full access to the community Forum. And, of course, every type of subscription keeps The Lunduke Journal ad-free and Big Tech free.

Remember: 50% off is only through Saturday, May 31st. The next day (Sunday, June 1st) the prices all go back to normal.

50% Off Yearly or Monthly Subscription:

50% off a Yearly or Monthly subscription to The Lunduke Journal are available via both Locals and Substack. (This includes full access to the community Forum.)

That means $3 / Month. Or $27 / Year (which works out to $2.25 / Month).

Via Lunduke.Locals.com:

Via Lunduke.Substack.com:

The Famous Lifetime Subscription:

The "World Famous Lunduke Journal Lifetime Subscription" is exactly what it sounds like. Pay once and get full access to The Lunduke Journal. For life.

Now, through Saturday, May 31st… you can snag one at a crazy discount. Normally these are $200… but you can grab one for $100. (You can also pay more if you’d like to donate a little extra.)

The Lifetime Subscription can be obtained via Locals, Substack, or using Bitcoin. All three options work great and are super easy. Scroll down and choose your option.

How to get a Lifetime Subscription via Locals:

  1. Go to Lunduke.Locals.com/support.

  2. Select "Give Once".

  3. Enter "100" (or more) into the amount field.

  4. After checking out, Lunduke will toss you an email once your account is set to full lifetime status. (This usually happens within a few hours.)

How to get a Lifetime Subscription via Substack:

  1. Go to Lunduke.Substack.com/subscribe.

  2. Select the “Lifetime Subscription” option.

  3. After checking out, Lunduke will toss you an email once your account is set to full lifetime status. (This usually happens within a few hours.)

If you would also like full, Lifetime access to Lunduke.Locals.com (which is included):

  1. Make a free account on Lunduke.Locals.com.

  2. Email “bryan at lunduke.com” with the email address you use on both Substack and Locals (can be different email addresses).

  3. Lunduke will toss you an email once your account is set to full lifetime status on Locals.

How to get a Lifetime Subscription with Bitcoin:

You can also obtain a Lifetime Subscription via Bitcoin.

bc1qyjakve8fywm8pz2v99v57yhjj0vzr2vjze6fcq

  • Email "bryan at lunduke.com" with the following information: What time you made the transaction, how much was sent (in Bitcoin), and the email address you use (or plan to use) on Locals.com or Substack.com (or both).

50% Off DRM-Free, MP4 Downloads:

Want to be able to download every show The Lunduke Journal releases (and watch them on whatever device you like)? Yeah. You can do that. For 50% off.

Note: This DRM-Free download option does not include access to the Forum. This option is strictly for downloading the episodes.

Make a One Time Donation

Subscription not enough (or not your thing)? Want to toss in a one-time donation to The Lunduke Journal? There’s a few great options!

Via BitCoin:

Send any amount of BTC to the following address:

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  • Email "bryan at lunduke.com" with to let us know it was you! You can choose to keep your donation anonymous if you prefer. (Either way, all BTC donations get included in the matching deal.)

Via Locals:

  1. Go to Lunduke.Locals.com/support.

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You Make This Possible

A huge thank you to all of the subscribers who have made The Lunduke Journal possible. Because of you, we have been able to do true Tech Journalism — to tell the stories that no other Tech News outlet has the cajones to touch.

And to all of you new Lunduke Journal subscribers (which, wow, there’s a lot of you): Welcome to the last bastion of truly independent, Big-Tech-Free, ad-free, non-Woke Tech Journalism.

-Lunduke

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50% off Monthly, Yearly Subscriptions! Lifetime Subs for $100! Let's get everyone subscribing to The Lunduke Journal!

The number of free subscribers to The Lunduke Journal has absolutely exploded — across a bunch of platforms — which is truly amazing. The real Tech News is spreading farther than ever.

In fact, the free subscriber growth is so utterly massive, that if even a tiny fraction of you became a paying subscriber… The Lunduke Journal would become comfortably financially set for a very long time. Able to continue reporting on Big Tech — and corrupt Tech Foundations — well into the future.

All without taking a penny from Big Tech.

With that in mind, let’s do something awesome… something that will make Big Tech really grumpy.

Let’s get as many people subscribing to The Lunduke Journal as possible. Right now. This week. Let’s make this Big-Tech-Free, Non-Woke Tech News publication financially set for a good, long time.

To give everyone a kick-in-the-butt to help make that happen, I’m going to discount absolutely every type of subscription in a crazy way — through Friday, May 9th.

  • %50 off Monthly — Now $3 / Month (was $6 / Month)

  • %50 off Yearly — Now $27 / Year (was $54 / Year)

  • %50 off Yearly MP4 Downloads — Now $27 / Year (was $54 / Year)

  • %50 off Lifetime Subscriptions — Now $100 (was $200)

That Lifetime Subscription one is crazy.

Seriously. Make a one-time donation of $100, and be subscribed to The Lunduke Journal… for life. (This includes full access to the community Forum.)

If even 1% of the new free subscribers who have joined in the last month take advantage of this… The Lunduke Journal will be fully funded through the end of this year. And then some.

Let’s make it happen. Scroll down. Pick which ever subscription type works best for you. Then high-five yourself for making Big Tech grumpy.

Just be sure to do it by the end of the day on Friday, May 9th. The prices all go back to normal after that.

50% Off Yearly or Monthly Subscription:

50% off a Yearly or Monthly subscription to The Lunduke Journal are available via both Locals and Substack. (This includes full access to the community Forum.)

That means $3 / Month. Or $27 / Year (which works out to $2.25 / Month).

Via Lunduke.Locals.com:

Via Lunduke.Substack.com:

The Famous Lifetime Subscription:

The "World Famous Lunduke Journal Lifetime Subscription" is exactly what it sounds like. Pay once and get full access to The Lunduke Journal. For life.

And now, through Friday, May 9th… you can snag one at a crazy discount. Normally these are $200… but you can grab one for $100. (You can also pay more if you’d like to donate a little extra.)

The Lifetime Subscription can be obtained via Locals, Substack, or using Bitcoin. All three options work great and are super easy. Scroll down and choose your option.

How to get a Lifetime Subscription via Locals:

  1. Go to Lunduke.Locals.com/support.

  2. Select "Give Once".

  3. Enter "100" (or more) into the amount field.

  4. After checking out, Lunduke will toss you an email once your account is set to full lifetime status. (This usually happens within a few hours.)

How to get a Lifetime Subscription via Substack:

  1. Go to Lunduke.Substack.com/subscribe.

  2. Select the “Lifetime Subscription” option.

  3. After checking out, Lunduke will toss you an email once your account is set to full lifetime status. (This usually happens within a few hours.)

If you would also like full, Lifetime access to Lunduke.Locals.com (which is included):

  1. Make a free account on Lunduke.Locals.com.

  2. Email “bryan at lunduke.com” with the email address you use on both Substack and Locals (can be different email addresses).

  3. Lunduke will toss you an email once your account is set to full lifetime status on Locals.

How to get a Lifetime Subscription with Bitcoin:

You can also obtain a Lifetime Subscription via Bitcoin.

bc1qyjakve8fywm8pz2v99v57yhjj0vzr2vjze6fcq

  • Email "bryan at lunduke.com" with the following information: What time you made the transaction, how much was sent (in Bitcoin), and the email address you use (or plan to use) on Locals.com or Substack.com.

50% Off DRM-Free, MP4 Downloads:

Want to be able to download every show The Lunduke Journal releases (and watch them on whatever device you like)? Yeah. You can do that. For 50% off.

Note: This DRM-Free download option does not include access to the Forum. This option is strictly for downloading the episodes.

Make a One Time Donation

Subscription not enough (or not your thing)? Want to toss in a one-time donation to The Lunduke Journal? There’s a few great options!

Via BitCoin:

Send any amount of BTC to the following address:

bc1qyjakve8fywm8pz2v99v57yhjj0vzr2vjze6fcq

  • Email "bryan at lunduke.com" with to let us know it was you! You can choose to keep your donation anonymous if you prefer. (Either way, all BTC donations get included in the matching deal.)

Via Locals:

  1. Go to Lunduke.Locals.com/support.

  2. Click “GIVE ONCE”.

  3. Enter any amount you like.

You Make This Possible

A huge thank you to all of the subscribers who have made The Lunduke Journal possible. Because of you, we have been able to do true Tech Journalism — to tell the stories that no other Tech News outlet has the cajones to touch.

And to all of you new Lunduke Journal subscribers: Welcome to the last bastion of truly independent, Big-Tech-Free, ad-free, non-Woke Tech Journalism.

-Lunduke

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