Links (browser) - Definition and Overview

Links is the plural form of link. It is also a slang term for a golf course.

Links displaying the Wikipedia Main Page

Graphical Links 2 displaying the Wikipedia Main Page

Links is an open source text-only web browser with a pull-down menu system, originally developed by Mikulas Patocka in the Czech Republic. It renders complex pages (partial HTML 4.0 support including tables and frames, support for multiple character sets), supports color and monochrome terminals and allows horizontal scrolling. Unlike Lynx and w3m, it is oriented toward visual users who want to retain many typical elements of graphical user interfaces (pop up windows, menus etc.) in a text-only environment. The focus on intuitive usability makes it suitable as a web browser for low-end terminals in libraries, Internet cafes etc.

Twibright Labs has developed a separate version of the Links browser (called Links 2) that displays graphics, renders fonts in different sizes (with anti-aliasing) and supports JavaScript. The resulting browser is very fast, but it does not display many pages as they were intended. The graphical mode works even on Unix systems without X or any other window environment, but with SVGALib.

ELinks ("Experimental/Enhanced Links") is a fork led by Petr Baudis. It is based on Links 0.9. It has a more open development and incorporates patches from other Links versions and from Internet users.

Links Hacked is another version of the links browser which has merged Elinks features into Links 2.

See also: Comparison of web browsers

External links

• Links umbrella site (http://links.sourceforge.net/)
• Official Links homepage (http://artax.karlin.mff.cuni.cz/~mikulas/links/)
• Twibright Labs Links (http://atrey.karlin.mff.cuni.cz/~clock/twibright/links/)
• ELinks Home Page (http://elinks.or.cz/)
• Links Hacked Web Page (http://xray.sai.msu.ru/~karpov/links-hacked/)