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Lynx2.7 for DOS 386+ or Win32

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The current developmental Lynx is being given two new PC ports. The term port means that these versions will be able to follow the development of Lynx as it continues to grow. The ports are for Win32 (95 and NT) and DOS 386+. If you have less than a 386 then you might want to look at other options such as Bobcat or Nettamer.

Someone else has done a slang/cygwin port of lynx.

Lynx screen shot Here is a thumbnail screen shot of the current phase of Lynx for PC's. The screen is exactly the same for the 386 version as it is for the Win32 version. You will notice it now has color. It also demonstrates the fact that although there is a Win32 version it still works in text mode and NOT as a GUI.

NOTE: There is now a RAW_DOS_KEY_HACK in lynx.cfg to control some of the keymapping.

The Win32 version will work on Win95 or WinNT using the standard winsock. Win3.11 will NOT work -- not even with win32s and wolverine installed. This is a console application meaning that it appears to run in a DOS box within Windows, but it accesses the Windows network layer and other kernel functions directly. There are also sample bat and pif files available for interested people. (Updated on 1998.01.18 @16:00 EST with 2-7-1ac-0.108)

The Win32 port does have some mouse support now. Sorry, the 386 version does not have mouse support because it isn't supported yet in the curses library. It is activated by Doubleclicking the left button in the following places:

Links are clickable. The first 5 characters at the top or bottom of the screen go backward. The last 5 characters at the top or bottom of the screen go to the history screen. The middle of the top line will page up. The middle of the bottom line will page down.

The 386+ version runs in DOS and requires a 386 or higher and some sort of packet driver. You might also need csdpmi3b.zip if you get no DPMI, or emu387.dxe if you get coprocessor not available. FTP and NEWS are still not working yet for the 386 version, but they are being looked into. Starting with 0.97 the problem with alert: socket failed should be fixed. (Updated on 1998.01.18 @16:00 EST with 2-7-1ac-0.108)

Bill Schiavo is also creating versions of Lynx for 386. They can be found at ftp://ftp.leb.net/pub/blinux/lynx/blynx386.

At the moment, there isn't a great deal of documentation. If you really want to know what is going on then you can go to the Patch-o-matic and get the source code of the changes. Its actually pretty cool if you have any code reading skills and maybe even if you don't since any additional readme stuff will be there as well. If it REALLY bothers you then you are welcome to jump in and write some docs!

There are a lot of quirks and tricks to using lynx to its fullest on PC's. Please make sure to read the readme.txt to find answers to the most frequent questions.

The source is available but it is very much in flux right now as there are many people trying to add fairly large changes to create the next version of lynx. I used Borland C++ 4.52 to compile the Win32 version. The 386+ version is compiled with DJGPP 2. Anyone interested in compiling their own should check out http://163.51.110.11/lynxdev/INSTALLATION.gz. I have some of my older precompiled libraries and stuff saved here (read the readme!) but people should eventually compile their own per the installation instructions. DJGPP people should check this fix to see if has been applied to their tcplib! It squashes the frequent alert: socket failed problem.

I am sure there will be questions, opinions, flames...they should ALL be sent to lynx-dev@sig.net since this is a real port. If you are not subscribed to lynx-dev then you can read responses from the web archive. Make sure to mention if you are running the 386 or Win32 version and, if there is a problem, the URL in question.

More info on lynx in general can be found starting from the lynx home page.

Happy browsing,
Wayne.

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