h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

erm... lynx was first & the rest came because people got p***d off with its poor rendering of tables & it's complete inability to handle Frames.
Personaly I tend to use w3m, only switching to lynx for gopher browsing.

w3m history can be found at http://www.w3m.org/story.html

also see links & elinks homepage's
http://artax.karlin.mff.cuni.cz/~mikulas/links/
http://elinks.or.cz/

nice article over at mozilla.org on the posible future of browsers http://www.mozilla.org/browser-innovation.html

for that: I haven't read the links yet, cos I've got coursework I should be getting on with, but I'll check them out in due course...

From what I *have* read, though, I'm inclined to question the idea that "lynx was first" - most platforms had to use text-based web browsers before anyone wrote one with a GUI, whereas lynx was a coincidental project which was extended to incorporate the pre-written LibWWW code. Perhaps a better way of putting it is that lynx provided the inspiration - and, due to its limitations, the motivation - for several more recent projects... [apologies if this is already clarified at the other end of one of those links - as I say, I haven't got time to look right now ]

have looked at w3c's Amaya project

I'm actually pretty pleased that you mentioned Lnyx, I used this a lot on old green-screen unix boxes :> To the extent that I still type in the superflous 'http://' into address bars :>

Hey there,
I read this entry ages ago and liked just forgot to say so. Nice entry!
Oberon2001

some of us still use text browsers

All things considered, I think this entry is ready to go in now. Congratulations.

Your Guide Entry has just been picked from Peer Review by one of our Scouts, and is now heading off into the Editorial Process, which ends with publication in the Edited Guide. We've therefore moved this Review Conversation out of Peer Review and to the entry itself.

If you'd like to know what happens now, check out the page on 'What Happens after your Entry has been Recommended?' at EditedGuide-Process. We hope this explains everything.

Thanks for contributing to the Edited Guide!

Oh, er ok then

I was going to give it some rewriting and sprucing up - honest. Hmm, serves me right for being a procrastinating perfectionist, I guess

but hey - I'm going in the Edited Guide:

Hello there. I will be your sub-editor this evening, and for the next four weeks. Hopefully I wont use all that time though.
I see you mention changes you'd like to make, feel free to polish this further or tell me what you'd like changed. I will be working on A998076 so there is nothing preventing you from doing exactly what you want with this version. Just give me a hint so I can fix it in the edited version as well.

Honestly I don't think any major work is necessary on this entry, especially not after my gentle touch-ups. I'll leave it out of the hands of the towers for a while yet, so you have the time to scream out at any changes you feel I shouldn't have made. I will of course ignore any such screams, but I'll feel better having pretended to listen.

Ooh, right... Actually, it's many weeks since I've even read what I *did* get round to doing on this (coursework being hotly followed by exams, with the rest of life squeezing in somewhere as well...).

And, to be honest, I think you're right - it doesn't need much. I think your touch-ups are more or less the same ones I'd have wanted to do - except perhaps some of the formatting, like for , but that's the official rulings speaking, and all in the name of consistency, I guess.

The only one I'd want to comment on would be the line that (now) reads:
"The most notable of these is probably Opera, which was developed independently. (Originally for the intranet of the Norwegian phone company.)"
Nice point to mention, but it doesn't quite flow, IMHO. If I could be so bold as to SubEd a SubEd, how about:
"The most notable of these is probably Opera, which was developed from scratch for the internal use of the Norwegian phone company."
or something similar?

The only other thing that stands out as needed would be a fairer mention of non-graphical browsers. Toward the end of the last paragraph, we've got "...Lynx is still in wide-spread use today" - I think this should probably say "...Lynx and other text-based browsers are...". But that makes the sentence, with brackets and all, rather long, so instead of the brackets, something like: "Web designers should be particularly aware of this when formatting their pages - so that they work, and look good, for everyone." (I've edited the line on my copy if you want to copy and paste).

Otherwise, thank you very much for your help and patience - and that goes to everyone else in this thread, too. (Even if they're unsubscribed and don't see me thanking them!)

And as for the more elaborate additions I was considering, I think maybe one or two 'companion' entries may one day hit your screens...

I agree with your minor subed subedding, even if I didn't copy your suggestion for the sentence on Opera's origin.

Hi Naita! Nice to see you're getting on fine. Good to see you're making contact with your authors - not everyone does, but I think it's a valuable thing to do.

If I encounter someone who objects to changes I see as absolutely necessary, I will probably tell them 'tough luck, I get to decide'. But I like _trying_ to produce something we'll both be happy to have our names on, and so far it's been easy.

Ooh , I've just spotted another last minute change: you've described Opera as "not free software" - which is true enough, but also arguably true of some of its rivals, since the term "Free Software" is used to mean "freely distributable and modifiable" rather than just "available without payment" (see the GNU definition: http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html ). Obviously this isn't true of Internet Explorer, which is closed source - and subject to all sorts of restrictions, I've no doubt. It's kind of a subtle point, I know, but we might as well get it right while we've got the chance. How about "Unlike its rivals, Opera is a commercial product"?

I'm only checking things quickly, so I haven't put huge amounts of thought into that, but I just spotted it as I reread the last change - which, by the way, thank you for!

[and yes indeed: for keeping discussion open...]

I've sent it off to the towers already, since I'm leaving for the holidays and the editing time runs out soon. But I'll send them any last minute changes. How about replacing: "Unlike its rivals, Opera is not free software - although a free version with built-in advertising is available."
with
"Unlike the main rivals, Opera does not give away their browser. Unless you are willing to put up with a built in advertising banner, you have to pay."
?

sounds good to me - perhaps "...their main rivals..." rather than "the", though...

Well: again for all your help and services, happy holidays, and I'll look forward to my moment of front-page fame!