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article-tgtimes-most-minimal-gopher-client.mw - tgtimes - The Gopher Times |
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git clone git://bitreich.org/tgtimes git://enlrupgkhuxnvlhsf6lc3fziv5h2hhfrinws65d7roiv6bfj7d652fid.onion/tgtimes (git://bitreich.org) |
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README |
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article-tgtimes-most-minimal-gopher-client.mw (3667B) |
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1 .SH tgtimes |
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2 Most minimal gopher client |
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3 . |
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4 .PP |
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5 Gopher is a protocol allowing browsing text, images interactively, |
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6 reach telnet interfaces, and download any file, or open any URL, |
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7 for custom action to be chosen by the user. |
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8 . |
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9 .IP "Network" |
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10 One reliable way to fetch the content from internet would be Ethernet, |
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11 but convenience and price would push toward using radio transmission |
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12 such as WiFi. |
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13 .FS |
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14 Ethernet would require an extra transceiver chip, while wifi takes mostly |
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15 just a wire acting as antenna, which partly explains its low cost. |
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16 .FE |
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17 . |
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18 .IP "Processing" |
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19 One inexpensive family of processors featuring a high cost-to-performance |
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20 ratio, which also features WiFi, is the ESP32. The C3 iteration even uses |
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21 the open-source architecture RISC-V. The speed is decent enough for |
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22 decoding JPEG an PNG, or support TLS as used in gophers://. |
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23 . |
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24 .IP "Display" |
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25 The cost of displays have dropped considerably as they invaded the market. |
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26 Economy of scale made small color displays even cheaper than |
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27 character-based displays. |
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28 . |
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29 .IP "Input" |
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30 Browsing content is a lot about scrolling. Since we do custom hardware, |
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31 capacitive touch buttons can be used for little to no extra cost. |
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32 This could permit a smooth scrolling through the content. |
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33 .FS |
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34 Once again, mostly requiring wires, this cuts the price and explain |
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35 their popularity. |
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36 .FE |
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37 . |
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38 .IP "Text" |
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39 Text is compact and efficient, and bitmap font requires a bit of storage |
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40 for all the common non-ASCII characters, but ESP32 have 16MB of flash |
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41 storage enough for the entire uncompressed Unifont: |
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42 .LK http://unifoundry.com/unifont/ |
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43 . |
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44 .IP "Audio" |
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45 Producing sound does not cost much more than a small audio amplifier, |
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46 software for decoding MP3, and a 3.5mm Jack connector. |
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47 Very small cost added. |
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48 . |
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49 .IP "Extension" |
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50 an USB interface would allow plugging the device to a computer for |
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51 either automation or using a full keybaord. |
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52 . |
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53 .IP "Power" |
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54 A small dedicated battery could be included increasing the cost, |
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55 but getting all power from USB would also preserve the choice to |
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56 the user, free to chose a wall charger or portable power bank. |
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57 . |
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58 .IP "Enclosure" |
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59 A custom 3D printed case would allow keeping the cost very low |
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60 even at small volume production. |
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61 . |
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62 .PP |
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63 There exist boards around 5 USD which would provide all of the above |
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64 except audio and a few wires, typically the size of an MP3 player. |
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65 The grand total bill of material could realistically approach 10 USD. |
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66 An actual product could eventually reach as low as 15 USD if keeping |
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67 only a small margin for the seller, and eventually lower if produced |
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68 on a larger scale. |
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69 . |
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70 .PP |
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71 The support of TLS does not bring any cost in this example: an ESP8266 |
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72 could be used at around 0.85 USD instead of 1.25 USD for the ESP32-C3, |
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73 but is also capable of TLS. |
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74 Image decoding would then probably be much slower. |
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75 By far the most resource hungry part of this project. |
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76 . |
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77 .PP |
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78 Writing the software for such a product from the ground up could take |
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79 typically an entire week, including JPEG and PNG decoding libraries, |
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80 image and font rendering, writing driver for all the parts involved, |
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81 integrating the TCP/IP stack and TLS stack. |
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82 . |
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83 .PP |
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84 While an XML parser able to fetch content over HTTP would be relatively |
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85 as difficult to build, this would not permit the same level of user |
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86 experience as the Gopher-based project: CSS and JavaScript are becoming |
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87 an increasingly frequent requirement to access the Web, and reimplementing |
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88 a new compatible rendering engine is not feasible to a single person. |
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89 . |
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90 .PP |
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91 This requirement would in turn affect the minimal performance of the |
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92 processing unit used: a processor in the GHz range with RAM in the |
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93 GB range, in particular if anticipating future needs of the Web |
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94 software system. |
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