gopher is irreplaceable

i've been on gopher since 2018. sometimes i post a lot. 
sometimes i lurk a lot. sometimes i make a new name and try 
out other forms of sharing information.

the web, gemini, nex, spartan, they are all cute and cool, 
but they aren't gopher. there's a vibe i get using gopher 
that isn't the same anywhere else,

and a part of that is "it's weird". gopher was designed back 
before we had a clearcut understanding of what the demands 
of web-like culture would be. it's not particularly complex, 
but it has oddities that are fun

gophermaps are fine, and fun to work with. i don't mind the 
way they are. it's pretty cute actually. depending on the 
server software, writing a gophermap can feel really crusty, 
but in a good way. in a way that is the software equivalent 
to being gifted an old dresser with doors that squeek and 
don't close straight, and chips taken off of it from people 
bumping other furniture against it.

it feels like it has history. its got a smell to it.
that's what i like about it

and that's a weird feeling, a nostalgia towards software 
that is reminiscent of a nostalgia towards something 
physical. missing a certain color, or font, or toolkit. 
missing a specific length of delay from keypress to 
character display, as though it's burned into you somewhere.