dict protocol

dict/README.md

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+# Dictionary server protocol
+
+Source:
+
+- <https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/09/http-ftp-and-dict/>
+- <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc2229>
+
+This is the first time I heard about Dictionary Server Protocol. They exist to allow you to query dictionaries over a network.
+
+```text
+For many years, the Internet community has relied on the "webster" protocol for access to natural language definitions. […] In recent years, the number of publicly available webster servers on the Internet has dramatically decreased. Fortunately, several freely-distributable dictionaries and lexicons have recently become available on the Internet. However, these freely-distributable databases are not accessible via a uniform interface, and are not accessible from a single site.
+```
+
+[The (informal) standard was published in 1997](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc2229) but has kept a relatively low profile since then. You can understand why it was invented - in an age of low-size disk drives and expensive software, looking up data over a dedicated protocol seems like a nifty2 idea.
+
+Then disk size exploded, databases became cheap, and search engines made it easy to look up words.
+
+Run this command:
+
+```shell
+# Default database
+curl dict://dict.org/d:Internet
+# If you want to switch database
+curl dict://dict.org/d:Internet:jargon
+```
+
+Perhaps the easiest way to explore the protocol and server is to use telnet:
+
+```shell
+telnet dict.org dict
+
+Trying 199.48.130.6...
+Connected to dict.org.
+Escape character is '^]'.
+220 dict.dict.org dictd 1.12.1/rf on Linux 4.19.0-10-amd64 <auth.mime> <[email protected]>
+HELP
+113 help text follows
+DEFINE database word         -- look up word in database
+MATCH database strategy word -- match word in database using strategy
+SHOW DB                      -- list all accessible databases
+SHOW DATABASES               -- list all accessible databases
+SHOW STRAT                   -- list available matching strategies
+SHOW STRATEGIES              -- list available matching strategies
+SHOW INFO database           -- provide information about the database
+SHOW SERVER                  -- provide site-specific information
+OPTION MIME                  -- use MIME headers
+CLIENT info                  -- identify client to server
+AUTH user string             -- provide authentication information
+STATUS                       -- display timing information
+HELP                         -- display this help information
+QUIT                         -- terminate connection
+
+The following commands are unofficial server extensions for debugging
+only.  You may find them useful if you are using telnet as a client.
+If you are writing a client, you MUST NOT use these commands, since
+they won't be supported on any other server!
+
+D word                       -- DEFINE * word
+D database word              -- DEFINE database word
+M word                       -- MATCH * . word
+M strategy word              -- MATCH * strategy word
+M database strategy word     -- MATCH database strategy word
+S                            -- STATUS
+H                            -- HELP
+Q                            -- QUIT
+.
+250 ok
+```
+
+Cool!