What is Lynx?

Lynx is a web browser, a software program used by people to navigate the World Wide Web. The Web is a part of the global Internet, a network of computers. By using Lynx (or another web browser like Netscape, Internet Explorer, Mosaic, Chimera, etc.) you can retrieve a variety of information from computers all over the world.

Lynx is possibly the most widely used text mode browser on the Internet. It runs on a wide variety of platforms, including Unix, VMS, Macintosh and Windows. Lynx is a full-featured browser, there is almost no content on the web that Lynx cannot retreive and display, either by itself or by calling on other software designed for the purpose.

Lynx is distributed under the GNU Public License. This means it is free for all to use, modify and redistribute as long as it is kept in the public domain. Many people have tweaked Lynx and adapted it for use in their particular environment.

So who uses Lynx anyway?

It sometimes surprises people that there is a text-mode browser preferred by many over graphical browsers. This is especially surprising for those who have had the web thrust upon them as a "multimedia" environment. Nevertheless, people do use Lynx productively in a variety of ways for a variety of purposes. Some of these are listed below:

• On "shell" accounts. Lynx is used by people who are not directly connected to the Internet, but can dial-in or otherwise connect to a host that is. If the host computer runs Lynx, you can browse the web in "terminal" mode. This is a low-cost connectivity option for many. For years, I worked with a $40 VT220 terminal and a $30 2400bps modem (a shell account costs as little as $7 a month). In fact, this site was almost entirely developed using that terminal.
• The visually impaired find Lynx is ideal for use with their braille or screen reading software. In addition it offers convenient navigational functions.
• Some people find Lynx more comfortable than a bulky graphical browser that uses a large amount of their computer's resources. Lynx starts up and exits quickly, when compared to most desktop browsers. It is also quicker at rendering documents.
• Web authors combine Lynx with a text editor, using Lynx's local cgi execution functions and its hypertext browsing functions to create an environment in which they can develop complex web-sites and Internet applications.
• Various organizations use Lynx to provide a menu based, hyperlinked interface to databases and other resources like help files. In fact, this was Lynx's original function at the University of Kansas.
• Lynx has reportedly been ported to PDAs. It is ideal for use on hand-held machines which do not have large displays.
• Lynx is used as a back-end for vocal web-browsers which can be accessed via the telephone.
• Lynx is used by people in shell scripts to perform various tasks, though wget is better for some.