HISTORY OF DEV

March 1993

Lynx 2.0 gains World Wide Web support

Lynx 2.0 shipped in March 1993 with World Wide Web support — turning the University of Kansas text browser into a terminal client for HTMLHyperText Markup Language — the standard markup for structuring web pages. pages.

What it was for

Lynx (web browser)Lynx rendered pages as plain text in a terminal: links listed by number, no images, no JavaScript. It stayed essential on slow connections, blind-accessible browsing, and server-side automationUsing machines or software to perform tasks with minimal human intervention. for decades — and still runs today for scripting and accessibility testing.

Why it's here

Lynx 2.0 brought the early web to text terminals before MosaicAn early graphical web browser — helped popularize the World Wide Web beyond researchers. popularized graphics.

Why it mattered

It made the web usable on UnixAn influential multitasking OS from the 1970s — files, pipes, and C shaped Linux, macOS, and BSD. shells and influenced accessibility and command-line tooling.

What it solved

Researchers and students on UnixAn influential multitasking OS from the 1970s — files, pipes, and C shaped Linux, macOS, and BSD. shells needed a keyboard-driven way to read HTMLHyperText Markup Language — the standard markup for structuring web pages. documents.

Media

  • Lynx (web browser)
    ImageLynx (web browser)

    Screenshot created by User:Aoidh. For attribution of the Lynx software, see https://lynx.invisible-island.net and for the attribution of the Wikipedia article, see the page history of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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