Searchengines from the command line

[redterminal-org]

Something I find important is to integrate support for Gemini and Gopher search engines and other services, probably best over the command line.

They could be configured with a prefix for the commandline like this:

{
    "search": {
        "ken": "gemini://kennedy.gemi.dev/search?{}",
        "tlgs": "gemini://tlgs.one/search?{}",
        "fg": "gopher://gopher.floodgap.com/1/v2/vs?{}"
    }
}

Where {} is replaced by the search term, when running on the commandline for example tlgs: redterminal would open the page gemini://tlgs.one/search?redterminal. I think if using spaces in the search term, it must be URL encoded. For gopher, floodgap is the only search engine I know of, but there may be other services on gopher as well.

The advantage of using the command line is that you could also add searches for example for "Gemipedia" with "gp": "gemini://gemi.dev/cgi-bin/wp.cgi/view?{}", which would search for a wikipedia article and put it in Gemtext format and probably other services, without the need to find a keyboard shortcut for every service. And by using the command line you can choose the abreviation as you wish.

Maybe it's not that wise to use the ":" colon as a separator, because it also separates the protocol from the domain, but you could make a space after the colon mandatory (and somehow I like it :).

EDIT: The ":" colon could also be completely omitted and the abbreviation separated from the search term just by a space.

[davep]

I like the idea. And, yeah, I don't think the colon would be necessary really. Also, this could be made a little more generic, where actually it's a simple alias system for the command line in Rogallo. The parameters might be something like {q} for "command tail quoted for use in a URI" or {r} for "raw command tail". So then we end up with things like:

{
    "aliases": {
        "ken": "gemini://kennedy.gemi.dev/search?{q}",
        "tlgs": "gemini://tlgs.one/search?{q}",
        "fg": "gopher://gopher.floodgap.com/1/v2/vs?{q}",
        "bm": "!add_location_to_bookmarks",
        "!poke": "!finger {r}",
        "dev": "~/capsules/cool-site/index.gmi"
    }
}

and so on. Now, sure, it would give the user the ability to add commands that clash with otherwise normal input into the command line... but that's on them.

[davep]

Raised #253 as a TODO item.

[redterminal-org]

I think it's a great idea to make this even more generic and give even more possibilities! You should maybe just add a warning and some hints what NOT to do in the docs, maybe also give some correct examples and some docs.

Most of the Smolnet users are relatively tech savvy, and should find out, what alias is causing a problem.

And the whole thing will even work with future additions you like to add.

[davep]

Work is under way in #254. The defaults that will be written into the config file borrow from what you gave:

    "aliases": {
        "ken": "gemini://kennedy.gemi.dev/search?{q}",
        "tlgs": "gemini://tlgs.one/search?{q}",
        "fg": "gopher://gopher.floodgap.com/1/v2/vs?{q}"
    }

[redterminal-org]

You're so effing fast! I mean I can write and read working python code, but the pace in which you progress is a miracle!

[davep]

Heh, that's mostly down to a) I write a lot of Python code, b) I spend a lot of spare time messing with code and c) it just so happened that this was simple and slots in nice and easily. ;-)

[redterminal-org]

I just read your About page, and it seems you started your computer and development history round the time when I did, I'm not sure if I was 10 years or a little less old when I got my first Commodore64. And as many of my friends we were very enthusiastic about it. I learned to program it in Assembler and was also active in the Demo Scene, although I never was one of the best, but nonetheless!

But unlike me, you made your nerdiness your profession ;). I'm still an amatateur who never worked in the IT field. All I know I've learned in autodidactic and self-educating way. But I still have fun in programming, tinkering and hacking, although I first really started learning about linux (which I used before from CDROM distributions, but not to that degree) around 2001 when I got permanent internet, which I could affort. And I'm still learning new things nearly everyday in 2026! And it's a lot of fun!

Have fun!

[davep]

Sounds like you kicked off around a similar time. I started with a ZX81 in around 1982, I think it was. Followed by a Vic 20, and on from there. But, yeah, got caught up in coding as a thing to do to make a living. Kicked off with GNU/Linux around 1994, having picked up on it because I was an OS/2 user and I'd grab the odd Walnut Creek CD for OS/2 stuff, and I noticed they were doing Slackware CDs and it sounded fun. (this is also how I first got started with GNU Emacs on OS/2, oddly enough).