http from command line

[andi payn]

On Thu, 2003-10-30 at 16:38, Gregory Stearns wrote:
> I hate to be a pest but is there a utility to do http web 
> browsing from the command line, and how would I use it?

As othes have mentioned, there are many choices--but you probably just
want to know which one to use, and how to get started.

You probably want elinks. Install it from /usr/ports/www/elinks. Run it
like this: 'elinks http://www.google.com'.

If you want a graphical browser that works without X, and you have
SVGAlib set up, you might want links' graphic mode. Install it from
/usr/ports/www/links, and run it like this: 'links -g
http://www.google.com'. Or try wb0, or w3m-img. There are a few better
options out there, too, but none have been ported to FreeBSD.

Here's a brief survey of each of the choices:

telnet (or nc, or w3c, wget, or curl): If you can speak http and read
html, you can talk directly to the server, if you really want to.

www: If you're stuck with a console without curses/ANSI support--or it's
1989--this is pretty spiffy; otherwise, stay away.

lynx: The first decent text browser; you want the ssl-patched version.
But you probably want elinks instead.

links: Essentally lynx plus frames, tables, image maps, ssl, cache
management, background downloading, etc. You want 2.1, not 0.98. Or,
better, elinks.

elinks: Links enhanced with even more cool features.

links -g: Adds inline images to links. Works in SVGAlib as well as X.

wb0: A graphical browser for SVGAlib, which sometimes works better than
links -g, although it's not nearly as complete.

netrik: The only real alternative to the links family for text browsing;
not as good (especially since it doesn't quite get cons25 or xterm), but
if elinks won't work with some site, try netrik.

w3m: This is what web browsing would have been like on an Apple ][ or
C=64. It does look nice, but it's low on features and has a weird
interface.

w3m-img: This is w3m with inline image support.

emacs-w3m: If you believe that the editor is the operating system, and
never leave emacs, you can run w3m from inside emacs.

w3: If you really love emacs, wouldn't you rather use a web browser
built in emacs-lisp?

retawq: Quite cool in some ways, but not complete, not exactly designed
for novices, and not up-to-date on features. Oh, and dark blue on black
can be a bit hard to read.

surfraw: Not a web browser itself, but very handy for text browsing.
Instead of navigating to the Webster dictionary site and filling in the
forms to look up "free," just type "webster free" and it'll launch your
favorite text browser with the answer.