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Thread: what does "file://localhost/" mean?

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    what does "file://localhost/" mean?

    When i'm using lynx, i see "file://localhost/[a bunch of other stuff]" everytime it goes to a new webpage. Is this path in regards to my machine or the telnet server where I am using lynx?

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    Fanatic Member CodedFire's Avatar
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    Re: what does "file://localhost/" mean?

    Localhost is your machine
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    Re: what does "file://localhost/" mean?

    It's called a loopback. "localhost" is the DNS name for http://127.0.0.1.

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    Re: what does "file://localhost/" mean?

    Ok, so when I use lynx, it says "using file://localhost/[a bunch of other stuff]/file.html", does this mean "file.html" is saved to my local machine? I don't understand how that could be. I've always thought that telnet client is simply a socket program that connect to a port, which in turn sends and receives data. When I send a keystroke, such as left arrow key, it sends that data to the telnet server (ie. freetelnet.org), which in turns, processes that data then decides what to do with it. THen it sends data back to my machine and simply displays it on my DOS window; I assumed there are no data being saved as files (at least in my machine). Is it possible that the "localhost" is actually the telnet server because I'm assuming that the telnet server is the one that's actually requesting the webpage; what i'm doing by typing "lynx http://somesite.com" is telling the telnet server which site to go to. Does this make sense?
    Last edited by jimbowaxo; Sep 12th, 2007 at 01:28 PM.

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    Re: what does "file://localhost/" mean?

    It could very well be a cached page.

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    Re: what does "file://localhost/" mean?

    cached page? you mean only in memory? I would assume it is just in memory since it has to be in memory for me to actually see something in my dos window. If it's a file, that would mean that my machine is actually doing some processing on that file, which doesn't make sense since my machine doesn't have lynx program, thus would not know what to do with those files, if they are saved as files.

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    I'm about to be a PowerPoster! mendhak's Avatar
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    Re: what does "file://localhost/" mean?

    When you telnet, you are connecting to a machine and using its resources. So when you issue a command such as lynx http://mendhak.com you are executing lynx on their server.

    That lynx shows you file://localhost/[a bunch of other stuff]/file.html may very well be lynx's own browsing mechanism. You request a page, it downloads it and shows it to you via localhost... where localhost in this case is the server that you are telnetting to.

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    Fanatic Member kregg's Avatar
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    Re: what does "file://localhost/" mean?

    I belive the file://localhost/ is just your home directory, from what I can remember.

    All the files displayed are on your computer. Lynx just allows you to browse them.

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    Frenzied Member tr333's Avatar
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    Re: what does "file://localhost/" mean?

    Code:
    lynx file://localhost/
    This will show the contents of the root directory '/'.

    Code:
    lynx file://localhost
    This will show the contents of your home directory (run without the '/' on the end).
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