Lynx is a text-based web browser that allows users to browse the internet using only text. It is a command-line tool that is commonly used on Linux systems. Lynx is useful for users who prefer a simple and lightweight web browsing experience, or who need to access web content on systems without a graphical user interface.
Overview
Lynx can be used to browse websites, follow links, and view web content in text format. To use Lynx, simply open a terminal window and type lynx followed by the URL of the website you want to visit. For example, to visit the Google homepage, you would enter:
lynx https://www.google.com
Once you have opened a website in Lynx, you can use the arrow keys to navigate the page, and press the Enter key to follow links. You can also use the g key to go to a specific URL, and the q key to quit Lynx.
Lynx also supports a number of command-line options that can be used to customize its behavior. For example, the -dump option can be used to output the text content of a website to the terminal, rather than opening it in the Lynx browser. This can be useful for scripting and automation tasks.
Options
The following table lists the available options for the Lynx command:
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
-accept_all_cookies |
Accept all cookies without prompting |
-auth=user:password |
Use HTTP authentication with the specified username and password |
-cfg=<filename> |
Use the specified configuration file |
-cookies |
Enable cookie support |
-dump |
Output the text content of a website to the terminal |
-force_html |
Treat all files as HTML |
-image_links |
Display links to images |
-nolist |
Disable list formatting |
-nostatus |
Disable status line |
-source |
Display the source code of a website |
-useragent=<string> |
Set the user agent string |
Troubleshooting tips
If you are having trouble using Lynx, there are a few things you can try:
- Make sure you have a working internet connection.
- Check that you have entered the correct URL for the website you want to visit.
- If Lynx is not displaying images or other content, try using the
-image_linksoption to display links to images, or the-sourceoption to view the source code of the website.
Notes
- Lynx is a lightweight and efficient web browser that is ideal for use on older or low-powered systems.
- Because Lynx is a text-based browser, it does not support JavaScript, CSS, or other advanced web technologies.
- Lynx is often used by web developers and designers to test the accessibility and compatibility of their websites with text-based browsers.