Lynx Distribution Site at ftp2.cc.ukans.edu To download Lynx look for available pre-compiled version of Lynx for your system, or download the source code distribution and compile Lynx on your site. Pre-compiled versions: ====================== 1. lynx2-5.aix32.exe.Z -- for RS/6000 running AIX 3.2. 2. lynx2-5.bsdi2.exe.Z -- for BSD/OS 2.0. 3. lynx2-5.bsdi2-ncurses.exe.Z -- for BSD/OS 2.0 with ncurses (needs ncurses1.9.4 or later). 4. lynx2-5.linux.exe.Z -- for Linux. 5. lynx2-5.linux-ncurses.exe.Z -- for Linux using ncurses. 6. lynx2-5.osf.exe.Z -- for DEC Alpha running OSF/1. 7. lynx2-5.sun4.exe.Z -- for SUN 4 OS. 8. lynx2-5.ultrix.exe.Z -- for DEC DECStation running Ultrix. Installation ============ 1. Download the pre-compiled version of Lynx for your system. 2. Download the files lynx.cfg, mime.types, mailcap. These files provide system wide configuration of Lynx. 3. Download the file lynx.man. This is the man page for Lynx in troff format. System Wide Installation (needs root access) ------------------------ a) Uncompress the pre-compiled version of Lynx with the command "uncompress " b) Copy this uncompressed file to /usr/local/bin/ with the command "cp /usr/local/bin/lynx" The uncompressed file will be stored in /usr/local/bin directory as "lynx". Change the permissions of this file to 555 with the command "chmod 555 /usr/local/bin/lynx" c) Edit the lynx.cfg file to customize Lynx for your site. d) Copy the file lynx.cfg to /usr/local/lib with the command "cp lynx.cfg /usr/local/lib/lynx.cfg" Change the permissions of this file to 644 with the command "chmod 644 /usr/local/lib/lynx.cfg" e) Copy the files mime.types and mailcap to /usr/local/lib/mosaic/ with the commands "cp mime.types /usr/local/lib/mosaic/mime.types" "cp mailcap /usr/local/lib/mosaic/mailcap" Change the permissions of this files to 644 with the command "chmod 644 /usr/local/lib/mosaic/mime.types /usr/local/lib/mosaic/mailcap" f) Copy the file lynx.man to /usr/man/man1 with the command "cp lynx.man /usr/man/man1/lynx.1" Change the permissions of this file to 644 with the command "chmod 644 /usr/man/man1/lynx.1" g) Read the general information section below. Local Installation ------------------ a) Uncompress the pre-compiled version of Lynx with the command "uncompress " b) Change the uncompressed filename to lynx and give it executable permission with the commands "mv lynx" "chmod 755 lynx" c) Edit the lynx.cfg file to customize Lynx. d) Change the files mime.types and mailcap to .mime.types and .mailcap resp. and copy them to your homedirectory with the commands "cp mime.types ~user/.mime.types" "cp mailcap ~user/.mailcap" where "user" is your login name. e) You can run Lynx with the command "lynx -cfg=" For example if lynx.cfg file is in the same directory as lynx, then you can use the command "lynx -cfg=./lynx.cfg" f) Read the general information section below. General Information ------------------- Lynx uses some environment variables to regulate it's behavior. The variable "NNTPSERVER" is used to specify the host which will be used for news URLs. UNIX setenv NNTPSERVER "news.server.dom" VMS define/system NNTPSERVER "news.server.dom" The environment variable "LYNX_CFG", if set, will override the default location and name of the global configuration file (lynx.cfg) that was defined via the constant "LYNX_CFG_FILE" in userdefs.h. See userdefs.h for more information. The environment variable "LYNX_TEMP_SPACE", if set, will override the default path prefix for temporary files that was defined via the constant "TEMP_SPACE" in userdefs.h. See userdefs.h for more information. The environment variable "LYNX_SAVE_SPACE", if set, will override the default path prefix for files saved to disk that was defined via the constant "SAVE_SPACE" in lynx.cfg. See lynx.cfg for more information. The variable "WWW_HOME", if set, will override the default startup URL specified in any of the configuration files. Lynx still supports use of gateway servers, with the servers specified via the variables "WWW_access_GATEWAY", where "access" is lower case and can be "http", "ftp", "gopher" or "wais". Most of the gateway servers have been discontinued, but "http://www.w3.org:8001" is available for wais searches (note that you do not include a terminal '/' for gateways, but do for proxies; see below). Lynx version 2.2 and beyond supports the use of proxy servers that can act as firewall gateways and caching servers. They are preferable to the older gateway servers. Each protocol used by Lynx can be mapped separately using PROTOCOL_proxy environment variables of the form: UNIX setenv http_proxy "http://some.server.dom:port/" setenv https_proxy "http://some.server.dom:port/" setenv ftp_proxy "http://some.server.dom:port/" setenv gopher_proxy "http://some.server.dom:port/" setenv news_proxy "http://some.server.dom:port/" setenv snews_proxy "http://some.server.dom:port/" setenv nntp_proxy "http://some.server.dom:port/" setenv wais_proxy "http://some.server.dom:port/" setenv finger_proxy "http://some.server.dom:port/" setenv cso_proxy "http://some.server.dom:port/" VMS define "http_proxy" "http://some.server.dom:port/" define "https_proxy" "http://some.server.dom:port/" define "ftp_proxy" "http://some.server.dom:port/" define "gopher_proxy" "http://some.server.dom:port/" define "news_proxy" "http://some.server.dom:port/" define "snews_proxy" "http://some.server.dom:port/" define "nntp_proxy" "http://some.server.dom:port/" define "wais_proxy" "http://some.server.dom:port/" define "finger_proxy" "http://some.server.dom:port/" define "cso_proxy" "http://some.server.dom:port/" (Encase *BOTH* strings in double-quotes to maintain lower case for the PROTOCOL_proxy variable and for the http access type; include /system if you want proxying for all clients on your system.) If you wish to override the use of a proxy server for specific hosts or entire domains you may use the "no_proxy" environment variable. Here is an example use of "no_proxy": UNIX setenv no_proxy "host.domain.dom, domain1.dom, domain2" VMS define "no_proxy" "host.domain.dom, domain1.dom, domain2" You can include a port number in the no_proxy list to override use of a proxy server for the host accessed via that port, but not via other ports. For example, if you use "host.domain.dom:119" and/or "host.domain.dom:210", then news (port 119) URLs and/or any wais (port 210) searches on that host would be excluded, but http, ftp, and gopher services (if normally proxied) would still be included, as would any news or wais services on other hosts. If you wish to override the use of a proxy server completely (i.e., globally override any existing proxy variables), set the value of "no_proxy" to "*". Note that Lynx treats file URLs on the local host as requests for direct access to the file, and does not attempt ftp if that fails. It treats both ftp URLs and file URLs on remote hosts as ftp URLs, and does not attempt direct file access for either. If ftp URLs are being proxied, file URLs on a remote host will be converted to ftp URLs before submission by Lynx to the proxy server, so no special procedure for inducing the proxy server to handle them is required. Other WWW clients may require that the http server's configuration file have "Map file:* ftp:*" in it to perform that conversion. The proxy and no_proxy variables also can be set at run time via lynx.cfg. Copies of the Lynx online help are included in the lynx_help subdirectory tree and should be made accessible in response to the Lynx 'h'elp command by defining HELPFILE in userdefs.h and/or lynx.cfg to an appropriate file://localhost/path URL. If something doesn't work, or you can't get it to compile at all, or you can't figure out what one of the defines means, or if you just want to make a comment, send an email message to the Lynx-Dev mailing list (see the README file about subscribing to Lynx-Dev). Until Lynx has been ported to all the world's operating systems, we expect there will be some compatibility problems, but we'll do our best to help you. Enjoy browsing the Web with Lynx, Ravi Kolli