9.3  ADDRESSING A PROBLEM


One feature Lynx has that gophers do not is the ability to go directly to 
a service by typing in its address.  You get to this function by hitting 
a lower-case g at any point in Lynx.  Here's where you run into the mess 
that is Uniform Resource Locators (URLs).  The idea behind URLs is 
actually a good one: to create a universal system for accessing 
information on the Internet, no matter if it's a single file on an 
anonymous-FTP site, an entire gopher server, or a Web image.  
Unfortunately, that means that, in WWW, you're going to have to get used 
to seeing, and typing, things like: 

     http://www.germany.eu.net/books/eegtti/eegtti.html

(which is actually the Web address for an enhanced version of Everybody's 
Guide to the Internet).  Ack!  The "http" means you're dealing with a WWW 
resource -- it stands for "HyperText Transport Protocol," which is the 
particular way the Web moves information around the world.  Lynx needs 
that information to be able to figure out how to connect to the system. 

Next comes the name of the site on which the resource is located, followed 
by the directory path. URLs are case sensitive, so be careful! 

In the above example, notice how the last item ends in ".html."  That 
stands for "HyperText Markup Language," which is the coding used to 
create hyperlinks.  You'll often find Web addresses ending in that, 
because they will be pointers to main pages for particular resources.  
Sometimes, if you are trying to reach a service without a main HTML page 
(a gopher, for example), you may have to end the address with a /, for 
example: gopher://gopher.eff.org/  

Fortunately, in many cases, you will have to type these long names only 
once.  Recall how hitting your backspace or delete key creates a list of 
hyperlinks to services you've tried in a particular session. You can also 
create a list of "bookmarks" to speed you to particular services in the 
future.  To add a page to your list, hit a lower-case a while on that 
page.  You'll be asked if you want to add the document or the hyperlink 
to your bookmark page.  Choose the document option and it'll be added. 

To see your bookmark list, hit v.  You'll then be able to zoom to 
any services in the list by moving your cursor to its highlighted name 
and hitting enter.