#finger — Public Fediverse posts

Welp, it's official: you can #finger me now.

`$ finger [email protected]`

I'm sharing an Elfeed-inspired reader for the Finger protocol, right inside Emacs.

- Browse a list of finger accounts
- Preview each .plan asynchronously
- Follow user@host links from one profile to the next without leaving the buffer

https://git.andros.dev/andros/efinger.el

#Emacs #OpenSource #Finger

I decided to release my personal #finger server: little-finger

https://git.andros.dev/andros/little-finger

@davep #finger

dang it, do I need to set up a #finger server?

Well, I think this is the dumbest joke that I ever wrote 75 lines of Python for.

But if you ever wanted to put your toots in a .plan file and get fingered, I've got you.

https://ianrenton.com/projects/fedi-got-fingerd/

#finger #smallweb

Finger never had a search engine, so I made one: crossed-fingers

An aggregator that collects .plan files and indexes them for text searching.

$ finger [email protected]

#finger #smallnet #tildeverse

Saw a couple of mentions of the Unix `finger` protocol/command go by in my feed, and thought I'd relate a personal story about using it, because many people using Unix-derived OSes today never experienced it.

The command `finger <username>` would show you information about a user account. Depending on options you used, how other users configured their accounts, and how the system administrator configured things, it could show you the user's real name field, which terminal they were using, whether that terminal was open to writing from other terminals [1], when they logged in, how long their session had been idle, office location and phone number [2], whether they had unread email and when they last read email, and other things.

This was great for determining if someone was using the system at the same time as you, and e.g. what computer lab they were in.

You could even do this if they were on a different machine: `finger <username>@<hostname>`.

More interestingly, you could get a list of all users logged into a machine, with `finger @<hostname>`.

Yes, this was probably a bad idea from a security point of view. It was a different time.

This frequently led to another command: `talk`.

1/x

[1] You could send another user a message, and it would just pop up on their terminal.
[2] Unix really shows its roots in research and educational settings with this sort of thing.

#Unix #finger #talk #terminal #internet

Old good time? 🤔

«Finger Protocol Malware — Python RAT via a 1970s:
The finger protocol is older than the web, disabled on every server that matters, and still a working malware delivery channel on a default Windows install. Here it planted a Python RAT that was alerting the whole time. One genuine compromise, drowned in thousands of benign look-alikes, invisible until something cut through the noise»

📧 https://artemissecurity.com/attack-stories/finger-protocol-python-rat-delivery/

#python #spam #email #malware #finger #protocol #old #web #windows

Finger: A Protocol from 1977 Is Still Delivering Malware in 2026

https://artemissecurity.com/attack-stories/finger-protocol-python-rat-delivery/

Comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49346591

#HackerNews #Finger #Protocol #Malware #Cybersecurity #RetroTech #SecurityThreats

👴🤔 Ah yes, the OG "social network" from 1971—Finger—a text file that nobody under 50 remembers and somehow still gets mentioned on Hacker News. 🎩👨‍💻 Apparently, the pinnacle of tech nostalgia is writing about a primitive #messaging system that John Carmack once used to jot down his grocery list. 🚀📝
https://en.andros.dev/blog/54572bc7/finger-the-1971-social-network-that-never-died/ #technostalgia #Finger #socialnetwork #JohnCarmack #HackerNews #ngated

Finger: Social network that never died

https://en.andros.dev/blog/54572bc7/finger-the-1971-social-network-that-never-died/

Comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49342472

#HackerNews #Finger #SocialNetwork #History #1971 #TechInnovation #OnlineCommunity

With the recent release of SmolServe v1.0, a lightweight server for serving #Gemini, #Gopher, #Finger and #Spartan, and the upcoming release of a Smolnet browser for Android devices which will also support lesser-known/newer protocols such as #Nex, #Text, #Scroll, #Titan, #Guppy, #Scorpion, #Mercury, #FSP, #Molerat and #Terse, it seems like the #smolweb and interest in it is far from having peaked yet.

v1.0.0 of SmolServe, a lightweight local-oriented #SmallWeb server to help with testing and documentation.

https://blog.davep.org/2026/08/09/smolserve-a-lightweight-multi-protocol-small-web-server.html

#python #programming #smolweb #GeminiProtocol #Finger #Gopher #Spartan

#Rogallo v1.5.0 is now available, the main change in this release being custom theme support: https://blog.davep.org/2026/08/05/rogallo-v1-5-0.html

#Gemini #GeminiProtocol #Gopher #Finger #SmallWeb #smolweb #terminal #python #programming

Experimenting with custom user-supplied themes for #Rogallo -- so users can create and use their own themes. Trying to make a variety of monochrome terminal looks.

It's also highlighting a couple of annoyances with the design of Textual's themes that I think are going to work against an ideal solution.

#Terminal #textual #SmallWeb #smolweb #GeminiProtocol #Gemini #Gopher #finger

Right now, the Delightful Pocket Company plays #Finger #Biber #Kapsberger and more in #Pinós https://www.worldconcerthall.com/en/schedule/the_delightful_pocket_company_plays_finger_biber_kapsberger_and_more_in_pinos/93417/ #wch

In 20 minutes, the Delightful Pocket Company plays #Finger #Biber #Kapsberger and more in #Pinós https://www.worldconcerthall.com/en/schedule/the_delightful_pocket_company_plays_finger_biber_kapsberger_and_more_in_pinos/93417/ #wch

Today, the Delightful Pocket Company plays #Finger #Biber #Kapsberger and more in #Pinós https://www.worldconcerthall.com/en/schedule/the_delightful_pocket_company_plays_finger_biber_kapsberger_and_more_in_pinos/93417/ #wch

The world's first social network?

I think the following block will suffice to speak for itself. Most of you reading this will have no idea what's going on, and that's a shame, really.

Anyway, when you 'finger' it out, feel free to finger me at SDF.org or tilde.team ⛵

From [email protected] Mon Feb 19 21:32:35 1990
Received: from cayuga.cs.rochester.edu by sol.cs.rochester.edu (4.0/q) id AA13568; Mon, 19 Feb 90 21:32:33 EST
Received: from Sail.Stanford.EDU by cayuga.cs.rochester.edu (5.59/q) id AA20402; Mon, 19 Feb 90 21:32:26 EST
Message-Id: [email protected]
Date: 19 Feb 90 1831 PST
From: Les Earnest [email protected]
Subject: re: Greetings...
To: [email protected]
Status: R

[In reply to message sent Mon, 19 Feb 90 16:02:17 EST.]

I'm glad that you are enjoying the C3 articles. I need to write another
one soon.

Here is a response to your conjectures, mostly regurgitated from an
article that I posted on Human-nets in 1985. Feel free to forward it to
alt.forklore.computers, or I can post it there if you prefer. I haven't
been reading that newsgroup, but a quick look indicates that maybe I
should.

Finger was named for the act of pointing. I recall that sometime after it
became popular I received a message from a system administrator who
thought that it should be renamed so that users would not have to use a
"dirty" word. I gave his request all the consideration that it deserved.

I created Finger around 1971 to meet a local need at the Stanford
Artifical Intelligence Lab. People generally worked long hours there,
often with unpredictable schedules. When you wanted to meet with some
group, it was important to know who was there and when the others would
likely reappear. It also was important to be able to locate potential
volleyball players when you wanted to play, Chinese food freaks when you
wanted to eat, and antisocial computer users when it appeared that
something strange was happening on the system.

The only tool then available for seeing who was running on our DEC-10
computer was a WHO program that showed IDs and terminal line numbers for
people who were logged in. There was no information available on people
who were not logged in. I frequently saw people running their fingers
down the WHO display saying things like "There's Don and that's Pattie but
I don't know when Tom was last seen." or "Who in hell is VVK and where
does line 63 go?"

I wrote Finger and developed the supporting database to provide this
information in traditional human terms -- real names and places. Because
I preferred to talk face to face rather than through the computer or
telephone, I put in the feature that tells how long the terminal had been
idle, so that I could assess the likelihood that I would find them there
if I walked down the hall.

The program was an instant hit. Some people asked for the Plan file
feature so that they could explain their absence or how they could be
reached at odd times, so I added it. I found it interesting that this
feature evolved into a forum for social commentary and amusing
observations.

Finger was picked up by a number of other groups with DEC-10 computers
that were connected to Arpanet -- software flowed in all directions around
the net in those days. It later migrated to Un*x, probably via U.C.
Berkeley. Somewhere along the line the idea arose to provide a network
Finger service. I don't remember who suggested that but it seemed like a
good idea at the time so I stuck it in. Some other anxious people wanted
to be able to verify that their mail was delivered to specific addressees,
so the Mail feature was also added.

While I was somewhat surprised by the popularity of Finger, it has not
been as successful as an earlier program that I invented -- the spelling
checker. It too was created to fill a personal need that many others
apparently share. We didn't think about commercial development and
software protection in those days, but if we had we probably could have
made something out of it. On the other hand, I enjoyed the comradery
of those gentler times and have no regrets.

-Les Earnest ([email protected])

tl;dr: Yeah, in case you're wondering, and would like to kick the tires and take it for a spin, on Debian it's as simple as:

# apt update
#apt install finger

if you want to play with the daemon, that would be available to you by installing either efingerd or cfingerd. For #Slackware users, finger is already installed HERE, and the daemon is just #fingerd; finger listens on port 79.

Enjoy! 👋🤠

#tallship #FOSS #finger #social_networking

RE: https://social.lol/@brennan/116640822237311953

#gopher #gemini #finger #gopherProtocol #GeminiProtocol #FingerProtocol #protocol #internet

Coming in the next release of #Rogallo -- handling of the `finger` URI and also a finger command in the command line.

#SmallWeb #smolweb #Gemini #GeminiProtocol #finger #python #programming

#Rogallo now has native finger support incoming...

#SmallWeb #smolweb #finger

Does Measurement Site Matter? A Comparison Between Finger, Forehead, and Toe Pulse Oximetry Measurements in Polysomnography

https://1ban.news/measurement-site-finger-forehead-toe-pulse-oximetry-polysomnography/
#1ban #measurement #site #finger #forehead #sleep

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