The Internet guide for new users

Description

An accessible beginner's guide to Internet unravels the mysteries of this massive international network communications system for first-time users, discussing accessibility, features, applications, and more. Original. Contents Foreword xixPreface xxi Parti. Ramping Up, Getting Started 1 Chapter 1. Internet History and Technology: A Brief Introduction 3 Meet the Internet—A Little Net History 3 The Electronic Taffy-Pull 4 Line, Links, and Cables 4 Dialing for Data: Boop Boop a Doop 5 The Limits of Phone Networking 6 Multiplexing: Time, Space, and Packets 6 Packet Switching 7 Enter the ARPAnet 8 Networking for Success 9 TCP/IP—Protocols, the Next Generation 10 From ARPAnet to Internet 11 NREN, the U.S. "Government Information Highway" 13Commercialization and Appropriate Usage: Respecting and Getting Around the Government Rules 14 The Internet Today 16 Conclusion: The ARPAnet Legacy, the Internet Promise 18 Chapter 2. The Internet on a Dollar a Day: How to Get a User Account and Plug In 19 So You Want to Join the Internet: What You Need, Who to Call, Where to Start 19 Who Ya Gonna Call? 20 To Use the Internet, You Need an Account 22 What's a Computer Account? 22 Terminal/Shell End-User Accounts—The Easy-to-Do, Inexpensive Way to Start 24 Anyone Can Get An Internet Account 25Getting an Internet Account as an Individual: Public-Access Internet Sites, Hurrah 27 Connecting as a Terminal-Style User 28 Terminal Accounts, a.k.a. Shell Accounts 30 How to Get a Terminal, or Shell, Account 31 How Much Does an Internet Account Cost? 32 Vli viii Contents If You Don't Need Full Internet Access—Other Ways to Access Internet Accounts and Services 35 Networking-Style Connections to thie Internet: TCP/IP and PPP/SLIP for Dial-Up 39 A Network Connection to the Internet: IP, PPP, and SLIP Service 40 Benefits of Direct IP Access to the Internet 40 What You Need to Connect as an IP User 41 E-IVIail Queuing 45 Other Ways to Access the Internet 45 Internet Access Lists and Tips 46 Criteria for Picking an Appropriate Type of Account or Service 46 Getting List(s) of Internet Access and Service Providers 49 Summary of Internet Accounts and Providers by Account Category 51 Internet Access and Service Provider Lists and How to Get Them 56 Tips for Getting Connected 59 Conclusion 61 Chapter 3. Internet Naming and Addressing 63 Is This More Information About Naming Than You Really Need? 64 Names Are Important 65 Internet Names Must Be Unique 65 Addresses: They're Important, Too—They Help You Locate Things and Differentiate Among Similarly Named Things 66 Is Something a Name or an Address? 67 Uniqueness in Addresses 68 Internet Names and Address: Domain Names and IP Addresses 69 IP Addresses: Address-Like Naming 69 Telling Someone an Internet IP Address 70 Domain Names: Something More Convenient Than Numbers 71 The Structure of Domain Names 73 Top-Level Domains 73 Domain Names Are Unique 75 Other Things You Should Know Regarding Domain Names 75 Your Internet Name, Address, and Other Essential Information 77 Why You May Want to Know Your IP Address and a Few Other Key IP Addresses 78 Other Things Worth Knowing About Internet Names and Addresses 79 Summary and Conclusion 79 Chapter 4. Enough Unix to Survive as an Internet User 81 Why You (Should) Care About Unix 81 Why Do I Need to Know Unix? 82 What's an Operating System? 83 What Is Unix? 84 Why Unix Is Popular 86 Unix and Networking 86 Basic Unix Concepts 86 File Systems: Putting Information in Its Place 87 Files: Where the Data Is (and Programs Are) 87 Directories: Putting Files in Their Places 87 Directory Listings: What's in a Directory 88 Directories and Subdirectories 88 Directories and the Directory Tree: Organizing Files into a Hierarchical Structure 89 The "Root" of a Unix File System 90 Filename and Pathname 90 Current Directory, Working Directory 90 Relative Patliname 91 Setting and Resetting the Current Directory 92 Multiple Current Directories 92 Rules for Unix Filenames 93 The Root of the Unix File System and Its Major Branches 94 Naming Conventions in the Unix World 94 Those "Dot" Files 96 Using Unix 98 Giving Commands to Unix 98 Talking with Unix: You and the Shell 99 Input, Output 101 Command Lines and Syntax 101 Environment and Environment Variables 105 A Dozen Useful Unix Commands 105 The more Command: To Read Files and Output Easily 106 The caf Command: To Display Files, Output Continuously 106 The grep Command: To Search Files, Output for Text Strings 106 The echo Command: To Display a Text String or Message 107 The cd Command: To Change Current Directory 107 The pivd Command: To Display Current Directory 107 The man Command: To See the Manual Page for a Unix Command 107 The mv Command: Move a File to a New Place or Name 107 The c/7/77od Command: Modify File Read/Write/Execute Permissions 108 The cp Command: Copy File(s) 108 The pr/nf Command: Send Files to a Printer 108 The c/ear Command: Clear the Screen 108 The /ogouf Command: End Session and Log Out 108 Getting On-Line Help: Manpages and Other Facilities 109 Ten (or So) Common Mistakes that Unix Users Make 109 Spacing Out and Other Digital Dexterity 109 Just Say Yes—Error Messages and Responses 110 Environmental Impact and Other Childish Behavior 110 Trading Options 110 Accounts 11 Double, Double: The Wages of Syntax 11 It Ain't the Computer, It's the Network 11 The Path Not Taken 11 Blowing Away Files 11 Running Out of Environment Space 112 Potpourri 112 Programming in Unix: Shellscripts 112 Some Simple Unix Shellscripts 112 Part 2. Electronic Mail, Usenet, Remote Login, and File Transfer: The Four Basic Internet Food Groups 117 General Things to Know About Internet Tools 118Ensuring Interoperability: Similarities and Differences Among Different Versions of TCP/IP, telnet, FTP, etc. 118 Client-Server: The Front and Back Ends of Tools 120 Chapter 5. Electronic Mail—How to Exchange Messages with Other Internet Users and Other Exciting Things You Can Do 129 Contents Electronic Mail: What It's All About 129 What Is E-Mail? 130 What Can You Use E-Mail For? 131 E-Mail Can Save Time and Money 133 How E-Mail Works 134 Your E-Mail User Agent Program 134 The Mail Delivery Agent: The Electronic Post Office 135 E-Mail: It Works by Store and Forward 136 Fifty Ways to Get Your E-Mail 138 A Few Other Thoughts Regarding E-Mail 140 Information Overload, Underload: Automating and Organizing Your E-Mail 140 Using E-Mail Doesn't Necessarily Mean You're Using the Internet 140 Legal Aspects of E-Mail 141 Can Companies Do Business by E-Mail? 141 Using Your E-Mail Program(s) 142 Software for Working with E-Mail: Many Choices Available 142 Your E-Mail Curriculum 144 Mail Messages and Files 144 The Components of an E-Mail Message 146 What Types of Data Can Go into an E-Mail Message? 151Important Files for E-Mail Users: Configuration File, Mailbox file(s), .signature file, "dead letter" 152 Invoking Your E-Mail Program 152 What You See When Your E-Mail Program Starts Up 154 Typical E-Mail Functions, Capabilities, and Commands 154 Examine, Read, File, Forward, Delete, etc.: Common E-Mail Management Tasks 155 Creating and Sending Messages: New, Replies, Forwarding 158 A Quick E-Mail Self-Test Checklist 161 How to Determine E-Mail Addresses 163 Determining Your Mail Address 163 Locating Other Network Users 166 Other Useful Things to Know About and Do with E-Mail 181 Netiquette and Other Tips for E-Mail Users 182 Exchanging E-Mail with People Outside the Internet 184Message Data Format: 7-Bit/8-Bit, Multimedia, Encoding, and Other Message Content Issues 188Internet Services Based on E-Mail: Access to Archives, Documents, Programs, and More 191 E-Mail Enabled Applications 192 Chapter 6. Usenet—The Bulletin Board of the Interest 195 What Is Usenet? 196 Some Definitions of What Usenet Is 197 And Some Definitions of What Usenet Is Not 198 The Many Ways to Participate in Usenet 199 The Origins of Usenet 200 Basic Concepts of Usenet and BBSs 201 Electronic Bulletin Boards: An Effective Way to Share Information 201 Newsgroups: Organizing Articles into Topical Groups 202 Unmoderated, Moderated, Digest 202 Threads: Organizing Articles within Newsgroups into Discussions 203 Expiration, Archiving, and Periodic Posting: No Message Lives Everywhere Forever 204 How Usenet Works, at the Cosmic Level 205 What Usenet Newsgroups Are There? 205 The Seven Basic Usenet Groups 206 Alternative Newsgroups: Alt and Others 208 BITNET, K12, DDN, and Other "Gatewayed" and Relayed Groups 209 Regional Hierarchies 210 Other Specialized and Commercial Hierarchies 210 Using Usenet 211 How to Access the Usenet 211 Software for Being a Usenet User: What's Available 213 Typical Usenet Newsreader Software 213 Important Files for Usenet Users 215 Required Reading for New Usenet Users: "Periodic Postings" 219Using Your Usenet Newsreader Program: Joining, Selecting, Reading, Posting, etc. 223 What You'll Want to Learn to Do as a Usenet User 224 Beginner's Activities 224 Intermediate 225 Start Your Newsreader Program 225 Newsgroup Level 227 Selecting the Next Current Newsgroup 227 Thread and Article Levels 229 Thread Selection Level 229 Article Selection Level 230 Article Pager Level 233 Posting (Submitting) Articles to Usenet 235 Canceling Articles 236 Required, Recommended, and Suggested Usenet Groups to Follow 237 Required Newsgroups for New Users 237 Required Newsgroups for All Users 237 Recommended Newsgroups 237 Usenet Netiquette: Usenet Dos and Don'ts 238 Summary of Points to Remember as a Usenet User 238 Some Other Usenet Netiquette and Appropriate-Usage Issues 239 Rules from a Usenet Site: The Ways of the World 240 Tips, Advice, and Suggestions for New Usenet Users 242 Bobbi Fox's Rules for Sensible Usenet Use: One User's Advice 242 Before You Post! Read the FAQs and Other Advice 243 Basic Usenet Vocabulary 244 For More Information About Usenet, Usenet Software, etc. 245 Chapter 7. Remote Login with telnet 247 Astral Projection for Computers 247 Remote Login: Getting There from Here 248 To Connect, Emulate a Terminal 250 What Remote Login Lets You Do 250 telnet: Remote Login for TCP/IP Users on the Internet 251 How fe/nef Works 252 Do You Need to Learn Every System's Version of telnet? 253 Using telnet 253 Things You'll Need to Know to Use telnet 253 Invoking telnet 254 telnet Command Synopsis 256 Essential telnet Commands to Know 257 open 258 close 258 quit 258 z, Control-Z 258 display 258 ? [help command] 258 fe/nef-Variable Value 258 Other telnet Commands 259 Popular Uses for telnet 259 Using telnet to "Phone Home" to Read E-Mail, etc. 259 Anonymous-fe/nef 260 Using telnet to Reach Public-Access Accounts for internet Services 261 "telnet-Through": Doing IVIultiple telnets 262 Netiquette for Using Remote Login (telnet) 263Tieing Up the Computer Resources Required for a TCP/IP Connection (for too long) 264 Network Bandwidth 264 CPU Cycles and Storage on the Remote System 265 Netiquette for Anonymous-fe/nef 266 Warnings Regarding Privacy and Remote Login 266 Summary 266 Chapter 8. Transferring Files with FTP 269 Introduction: Why Transfer/Share Files 270 The Importance of File Transfer 270 What Is File Transfer? 271 Why Use File Transfer? 271 File Transfer Programs and Protocols 274 Error Correction and Reliability 274 What Is FTP? 275 Starting Up an FTP Session 276 What Kind of Files Can FTP Be Used to Transfer? 277 Using FTP 277 Things You'll Need to Know to Use FTP 277 Invoking FTP 280 FTP Command Synopsis 281 FTP'S Commands: You Don't Need to Know Them All 281 Specifying Filenames to FTP 282 Basic FTP Commands You Should Know 283 ! [command] 283 ascii 284 binary, image 284 bye, close, exit, quit, and , such as Control-D 284 cd 284 dir 284 get 284 hash 285 help 286 led 286 Is 286 mget remote-files 286 mput local-files 286 open remote-systems 287 put 287 pwd 287 quit 287 type 287 ? [help command] 287 Other FTP Commands You May Want to Learn About 287 Aborting a File Transfer 288 FTP Gotcha's and Tips 288 Beware of Using Existing Filenames When Copying 288 fe/nef-Througli for FTP Access 288 File Transfer Netiquette 289 Getting Help, Resources, and For More Information 290 Part 3. Navigating the Internet 291 Chapter 9. The Internet Dashboard: Navigating the Internet Rapids 293 Tools for Internet Users: What's What? 294 User Interface Front Ends: Making the Internet Easy(ier) to Use 296 Internet Navigators: Discovering and Getting to Services and Resources 297Internet Navigator Servers and Their Data: What Gopher. WAIS. and Other Front Ends Do 299 Single-Purpose Information-Finding Tools: People-Locators, Mostly 299 That's/Vof All, Folks 300 Customizing: Building Your Personal View of the Internet 300 Using Internet Navigators: A Generic Overview 300 Navigators Tend to Be Made of a Client and a Server 301 Think Globally. Look for Clients Locally 301 Common Commands for Internet Navigators and Front Ends 301 Accessing Internet Navigators 303 Accessing a Locally Installed Program 303 Try Other Internet Navigators 304 Find a Public-Access Copy of the Program You Can Access via Remote Login 304 Try Finding and Using an E-Mail Interface 305 Internet Navigation Tool Netiquette 306 To Learn More About and Try Internet Tools 306 Chapter 10. Gopher, archie, WAIS, and Others: Meet the Navigators 309 Gopher: Living on Burrowed Time 309 Duct Tape for the Internet 311 Using Gopher 317 Basic Gopher Commands 319 To Learn More and Try Gopher 321 Techlnfo: The M.I.T. CWIS for Its Public Information 322 WorldWideWeb: A Hypertext View of the Internet 323 Other Front Ends, Navigators, CWISsAVWISs, etc. 327 HYTELNET 327 LIBS, Columbus. COMPASS, and More 328 Resource Discovery and Indexing: Finding Files, Resources, Services, People, and Other Things on the Internet 328 Indexing the Internet: Go Ask archie 330 archie: Born to Collect and Catalog 330 What archie Consists Of 331 Another Grass Roots Internet Success Story 332 Tens of Millions of User Queries Answered 333 From Toy to Tools: The Business of Internet Services 334 archie's Next Jobs 335 Not Just for Internet Uses or Users 336 How to Use archie 337 Things to Know About Using archie: Searching, Sorting, Scrolling, and Stopping 340 archie Netiquette 344 To Learn More About and Try archie 345 WAIS: Finding Information Needles in Networit Haystacks 346 WAIS: Developed for Super-Searching 347 Designed for Use on Networks: WAIS Is a Client-Server Tool 348 Natural Language and Relevance Feedback: Now You're Querying 348 Find Me More Like This: Relevance Feedback Querying 349 WAIS Users Report: They Like It 350 WAIS and the Internet 350 Putting WAIS to Work 352 Using WAIS 355 The Future of WAIS 358 To Learn More About and Try Wais 358 A Few Closing Thoughts on Navigating the Internet 360 Part 4. Help, Problems, Security, and Other Aspects of Being an Internet Citizen 361 Chapter 11. Being an Internet Citizen 363 Rules for Being a "Good Internet Citizen" 363 Appropriate Usage, or Hey, You Can't or Can Do That on the Internet 364 Appropriate Use Policies, Procedures, and Politics 366 Sample AUP Excerpts 369 Finding AUPs and Other Agreements 377 Hackers, Crackers, Snoops, and Spies—Internet Security: Why You Care and What You Can Do 377 Internet Security: Threats and Sources 378 Why Is Internet Security a Special Challenge? 380 Qui Custodiat iPsos Networks—Who Guards the Networks? 381 Becoming a Secure Internet User 383 Legal Aspects of Security 384Electronic Privacy: The Trail of Virtual Breadcrumbs, or, the Mother of All Big Brothers May Watch You After the Fact 384 Netiquette 388 Being a Good User 389 Cost—Who Pays for What on the Internet 391 Use of "Internet Account" 392 Your Organization's Local Network and Computing Infrastructure 392 Your Organization's Connection to the Internet 392 Internet Networks 393 Internet Technology and Infrastructure 393 Use of Internet Services and Resources 394 "Free" Services and Resources 394 Pay-for-Use Resources and Services 395 Chapter 12. Help! 397 Internet Help—Like the Internet, It's Abundant But Not Always Organized 397 Internet Help Comes in Many Forms and Sources 398 Think Globally, Seek Locally—Getting Help Sensibly 399 On-Line Internet Help 399 Help and Error Messages Built-in to Programs: Getting Help from a Program 399 "Manpages" and Other On-Line Standard Program Reference Documentation 402 Local and Other Help Facilities and Information 405 On-Line Help Information via E-Mail, File-Transfer, and Other Methods 406 "Finger" Information 410 "Tours" and Other Hypertext Help Information 411 Organizations and People Who Know About the internet and Answer Questions 411 Office Neighbor or Classmate 412 System Administrator 412 Local Internet, Unix, Network, or Whatever Wizards 412 Internet Service Provider Network Information Centers (NICs) and Network Operation Centers (NOCs) Operations and Support Staff 413 The InterNIC (NSFnet Network Information Center) 413 CNIDR Clearinghouse for Networked Information Discovery and Retrieval 416 Other Network Information Centers (NICs) and Network Operations Centers (NOCs) 418 Other Internet Groups and Resources 418 Electronic Mailing Lists and Usenet Newsgroups 418 User Groups 418 Training, Classes, Tutorials, Conferences, Exhibitions, and Other Events 418 Guidelines and Suggestions When Calling for Help 418 Problems—and Solutions: When Bad Things Happen to Good Networks 419 Quick Things to Try 420 Where Problems Can Arise and Things to Try 420 Typical Problems, Symptoms, and Indications of Problems 424 Part 5. Commercial Services, Archives, Communities, and IVIiscellany 427 Chapter 13. Communities of Interest: A Look at Who's Using the Internet 429 Research by Network: Reaching for Information 429 Educational Networking: From Kindergarten through College, and Community, Too 431 K-12 Networking Courtesy of Usenet and FidoNet 432 AskERIC-—People to Ask and Piles of Files 433 Networking Schools on a Shoestring 435 Examples of Internet Educational Activities—"On-Line Olympics," Talking with Aliens, and Pen-Pals 435 Role-Playing Educational Games on the Internet 437 Big Mac Prices, Global Village Newspaper, and Antigravity 438 Big Sky Telegraph: In Support of K-12 and Community Networking 439 Libraries: Catalogs and Contents Go On-Line 441 Business, Government Stuff, Free-Nets, and Just Plain End Users 444 Business Solutions via the Internet 444 The Internet as Marketplace and "Delivery Tool" 446 Individuals on the Internet 446 Chapter 14. Commercial and Other Information Services on the Internet: Databases, Libraries, and Other Info-Mongers 449 Background on On-Line Information Services 450 What's an On-Line Information Service? 450 What Information Is Available? 451 Who Uses Commercial On-Line Information Services? 453 Accessing On-Line Services: The Internet Way 453 Pre-lnternet Access Methods 453 Plugging into the Internet 454 The Advantages of Offering Access via the Internet 456 xvi Contents Access, Internet Style 457 Sample Information Services Available on the Internet 458 Commercial Services Offering Internet Access 458 Library Catalog, References, and Related Services 460 Internet-Style Information Services: New Information and Internet Methods 463 Things to Think About: Service and Reachability 466 Chapter 15. Anonymous-FTP and Other Archives on the Internet: Gigabytes for the Taking 467 What's an Archive Site? 468 Don't Be Misled by the Term Archives 469 Archive Sites and Files—Lots and Lots of Them 470 O.K., So What's in Internet Archives? 471 A Sampling of Popular Internet Archive Sites 471 A Taste of Archives—Samples of What's in the Internet Archives 472 Who Uses Archives? 473 Is What You Want Available? 473 Accessing the Archives: By File Transfer, E-Mail, and More 474 Locally Available Archives 474 Anonymous-FTP File Transfer 475 Usenet ^.sources Newsgroups 475 Via E-Mail 476 Other Ways to Get Internet Archives 476 Before You Install or Use Retrieved Software 477 Compressing, Decompressing, etc.: Packing Files for Storage and Transfer 477 Retrieval Tips from the Anonymous-FTP FAQ 478 Mac Archiving 479 One User's Learning Experiences Accessing Internet 480 Chapter 16. Electronic Mailing Lists: How to Join, Read, and Participate in Them 481 E-Mail Lists: Groups of Interested Parties 481 The Internet's Got Lots of Mailing Lists 482 How Mailing Lists Work: Unmoderated, Moderated, Digest 483 E-Mail Distribution Methods for Efficient Use of Network and Computer Resources 484 Keep Track of Your E-Mail Subscriptions 485 Using Mailing Lists: Finding, Joining, Contributing to. Learning 485 Finding Out About a List 485 The E-Mail Subscriber's Challenge: Keeping Track of What You Get and Remembering Who, Where, and How to Contact 490 The Move to Moderation and Newsgroups 490 Receiving Current Messages 490 Contributing (Posting) to a Mailing List 491 Replying to an Individual Regarding a Mailing List Posting 493 Mailing List Netiquette 493 Mailing List Tips 493 Chapter 17. BITNET: Another Network Worth Knowing About 497 BITNET: Origins and Today 497 The BITNET-lnternet Connection: By Gateways 499 Addressing E-Mail to BITNET 499 If You Use .bitnet Instead of a Top-Level Domain Name 499 Contents xvii Addressing via a BITNET Gateway 500 BITNET ListServ E-l\/lail Discussion Lists 500 Sending IVIessages to a ListServ Facility 501 Sending IVIessages to a ListServ-Based Mailing List 502 Using ListServ 502 Basic Rules for ListServ 502 Essential ListServ Commands 502 Subscribing and Unsubscribing to BITNET ListServ Mailing Lists 504 Posting to ListServ Lists 505 Other Ways to Get ListServ Lists and Information About Them 505 Where and How to Get Lists of BITNET ListServ Discussions 506 For More Information 506 Chapter 18. And Away You Go—Tips, Toys, and Suggestions 507 nslookup, ping, and Other Useful Tools 508 nslookup 508 ping 508 Conversational Facilities: talk and the Internet Relay Chat (IRC) 508 talk—Talking with Another User 509 IRC—The Internet Relay Chat: Real-Time "CB Radio" Conferencing 510 Multiuser Games—Go, Chess, MUDs, and More 511 Go, Chess, Backgammon, and Other Board Games 512 MUDS—Multiuser Role-Playing Games 513 Other Interesting UNIX Facilities 513 The fortune command 513 Cookie Servers 514 Adventure—Exploring the Colossal Caves 514 Nethack—Exploring the Mazes of Menace 514 Other Miscellaneous Internet Services 514 Lists of Resources and Services 515 Scott Yanoff's "Special Internet Connections" List 515 "Zamfield's Internet BBS List" 515 The Maaslnfo Files 515 Where You Can Go from Here—Some Final Comments from the Author 516 Appendix A Third-Party TCP/IP Software for Your Computer 519 Appendix B Common Editors on Unix Systems and How to Exit Them 521 Appendix C InterNIC Access Information 525 Appendix D Free! A Simple Internet Front-End Unix Shellscrlpt 529 Appendix E Internet-Related Organizations Worth Knowing About 533 Bibliography 535 Glossary 539 Index 545