Resolving Problems with LYNX

(The following is a summary of Email exchanges on the Commodore MaiLink exchange list, edited for
this article.)

Question: 

Richard: When using LYNX, when I go to certain web sites, I get the following message:

"Alert!: This client does not contain support for HTTPS URLs."

Any idea what this means, and is there anything I can do about it to gain access to the site?

Answers: 

Ed: HTTPS denotes a secure site. Unless you're using Billy's Bonus pkg (or similar) you won't be able
to access it.  In fact, the other day I hit such a site and couldn't get in. (Probably didn't pay my dues.)

Gaelyne: What it means is that the version of Lynx you're using doesn't have the added ability to visit
secure web pages (as Ed stated).

Lynx can be compiled so that it will let you visit secure pages, but it involves having an additional library
online (Open SSL), and patching Lynx before compiling it.  Every time I update Lynx I do this for our
users, and while it used to seem quite involved, the people making Lynx keep making this part easier
and easier.

To access the pages, you'll either need to ask your system administrator to update Lynx so it will work
with secure pages, or find a provider that offers Lynx in this format. (Of course, you could also use
either Netscape or MS Internet Explorer, but I'm assuming you want to access the pages with your
Commodore, not with another computer).

It was because not all browsers have this ability that I set up our web store so instead of only offering
secure orders, it has two buttons - one for normal orders, and one for secure. That way if the secure
doesn't work, there's always something to fall back on. 

From The Interface, newsletter of Fresno Commodore User Group, via the Commodore Information
Center, http://home.att.net/~rmestel/commodore.html