The Gopher network is an Internet Protocol network device for distributing, searching, and retrieving documents. The Gopher system and user interaction are menu-driven, and while it offered an alternative to the World Wide Web in its early phases, it eventually fell out of favor and was replaced by HTTP. The Gopher ecosystem is frequently recognized as the World Wide Web's forerunner. The hierarchical nature of Gopher allowed the first large-scale electronic library links to be made. [4] The Gopher protocol is still used by enthusiasts, and despite the fact that the Web has nearly completely replaced it, there is still a tiny population of actively-maintained servers. In 1991, the World Wide Web was still in its infancy, and Gopher services had already established themselves. Gopher has stopped spreading by the late 1990s. The stagnation of Gopher was caused by a number of factors: Gopher is modeled after a mountable read-only global network file system in terms of functionality and appearance (and software, such as gophers, is available that can actually mount a Gopher server as a FUSE resource). At the very least, anything that can be done with data files on a CD-ROM can be done with Gopher. A Gopher system is made up of a series of hyperlink-able hierarchical menus. The server administrator is in charge of selecting menu items and titles. That’s how gopher differs from our class tidel server. The Gopher protocol, sometimes known as "URL links," allows users to link to any protocol that accepts URLs. Gopher is simple to use. Click on the Gopher icon or type "Gopher" at the command prompt to see whether you have Gopher. If your machine has a Gopher client installed, it will link you to a root menu of resources from which you may browse the world's "library."