Zen and the Art of Internet by Brendan P. Kehoe (best books to read .TXT) 📖

and to exchange the changes with others.

For more information on the Free Software Foundation and the status of the GNU Project, or for a list of the current tasks that still need to be done, write to gnu@prep.ai.mit.edu.

The IEEE

Need IEEE...

The League for Programming Freedom

The League for Programming Freedom is a grass-roots organization of professors, students, businessmen, programmers and users dedicated to ``bringing back'' the freedom to write programs, which they contend has been lost over the past number years. The League is not opposed to the legal system that Congress intended--copyright on individual programs. Their aim is to reverse the recent changes made by judges in response to special interests, often explicitly rejecting the public interest principles of the Constitution.

The League works to abolish the new monopolies by publishing articles, talking with public officials, boycotting egregious offenders, and in the future may intervene in court cases. On May 24, 1989, the League picketed Lotus headquarters because of their lawsuits, and then again on August 2, 1990. These marches stimulated widespread media coverage for the issue. They welcome suggestions for other activities, as well as help in carrying them out.

For information on the League and how to join, write to

League for Programming Freedom 1 Kendall Square #143 P.O. Box 9171 Cambridge, MA 02139 league@prep.ai.mit.edu

Networking Initiatives

Research and development are two buzz words often heard when discussing the networking field---everything needs to go faster, over longer distances, for a lower cost. To ``keep current,'' one should read the various trade magazines and newspapers, or frequent the networking-oriented newsgroups of Usenet. If possible, attend trade shows and symposia like Usenix, Interop, et. al.

ISDN

NREN

The National Research and Education Network (NREN) is a five-year project approved by Congress in the Fall of 1991. It's intended to create a national electronic ``super-highway.'' The NREN will be 50 times faster than the fastest available networks (at the time of this writing). Proponents of the NREN claim it will be possible to transfer the equivalent of the entire text of the Encyclopedia Britannica in one second. Further information, including the original text of the bill presented by Senator Al Gore (D--TN), is available through anonymous FTP to nis.nsf.net, in the directory nsfnet. In addition, Vint Cerf wrote on the then-proposed NREN in RFC-1167, Thoughts on the National Research and Education Network. RFCs for information on obtaining RFCs.

A mailing list, nren-discuss@uu.psi.com, is available for discussion of the NREN; write to nren-discuss-request@uu.psi.com to be added.

``To talk in publick, to think in solitude, to read and to hear, to inquire, and to answer inquiries, is the business of a scholar.'' Samuel Johnson Chapter VIII The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia

Finding Out More

Internet Resource Guide

The NSF Network Service Center (NNSC) compiles and makes available an Internet Resource Guide (IRG). The goal of the guide is to increase the visibility of various Internet resources that may help users do their work better. While not yet an exhaustive list, the guide is a useful compendium of many resources and can be a helpful reference for a new user.

Resources listed are grouped by types into sections. Current sections include descriptions of online library catalogs, data archives, online white pages directory services, networks, network information centers, and computational resources, such as supercomputers. Each entry describes the resource, identifies who can use the resource, explains how to reach the local network via the Internet, and lists contacts for more information. The list is distributed electronically by the NNSC. To receive a guide, or to get on a mailing list that alerts you to when it is updated, send a message to resource-guide-request@nnsc.nsf.net.

The current edition of the IRG is available via anonymous FTP from nnsc.nsf.net, in the directory /resource-guide.

Requests for Comments

The internal workings of the Internet are defined by a set of documents called RFCs (Request for Comments). The general process for creating an RFC is for someone wanting something formalized to write a document describing the issue and mailing it to Jon Postel (postel@isi.edu). He acts as a referee for the proposal. It is then commented upon by all those wishing to take part in the discussion (electronically, of course). It may go through multiple revisions. Should it be generally accepted as a good idea, it will be assigned a number and filed with the RFCs.

The RFCs can be divided into five groups: required, suggested, directional, informational and obsolete. Required RFCs (e.g., RFC-791, The Internet Protocol) must be implemented on any host connected to the Internet.

Suggested RFCs are generally implemented by network hosts. Lack of them does not preclude access to the Internet, but may impact its usability. RFC-793, Transmission Control Protocol, is a must for those implementing TCP.

Directional RFCs were discussed and agreed to, but their application has never come into wide use. This may be due to the lack of wide need for the specific application (RFC-937, The Post Office Protocol) or that, although technically superior, ran against other pervasive approaches (RFC-891, Hello). It is suggested that, should the facility be required by a particular site, an implementation be done in accordance with the RFC. This ensures that, should the idea be one whose time has come, the implementation will be in accordance with some standard and will be generally usable.

Informational RFCs contain factual information about the Internet and its operation (RFC-990, Assigned Numbers).

There is also a subset of RFCs called FYIs (For Your Information). They are written in a language much more informal than that used in the other, standard RFCs. Topics range from answers to common questions for new and experienced users to a suggested bibliography.

Finally, as the Internet has grown and technology has changed, some RFCs become unnecessary. These obsolete RFCs cannot be ignored, however. Frequently when a change is made to some RFC that causes a new one to obsolete others, the new RFC only contains explanations and motivations for the change. Understanding the model on which the whole facility is based may involve reading the original and subsequent RFCs on the topic.

RFCs and FYIs are available via FTP from many sources, including:

The nic.ddn.mil archive, as /rfc/rfc-xxxx.txt, where xxxx is the number of the RFC.

from ftp.uu.net, in the directory /RFC.

They're also available through mail by writing to service@nic.ddn.mil, with a Subject: line of send RFC-xxxx.TXT, again with xxxx being the RFC number.

``Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it.'' Samuel Johnson Letter to Lord Chesterfield February, 1755 a book of quotes said April 18, 1775 .. the book of Johnson's works said it's 1755; I'll go with the latter.

Conclusion

This guide is far from complete---the Internet changes on a daily (if not hourly) basis. However, this booklet should provide enough information to make the incredible breadth and complexity of the Internet a mite less imposing. Coupled with some exploration and experimentation, every user has the potential to be a competent net citizen, using the facilities that are available to their fullest.

You, the reader, are strongly encouraged to suggest improvements to any part of this booklet. If something was unclear, left you with doubts, or wasn't addressed, it should be fixed. If you find any problems, inaccuracies, spelling errors, etc., please report them to:

Brendan Kehoe Department of Computer Science Widener University Chester, PA 19013

Internet: guide-bugs@cs.widener.edu UUCP: ...!widener!guide-bugs

If you are interested in future updates to this guide (aside from normal new editions), discussion about information to be included or removed, etc., write to guide-request@cs.widener.edu to be placed on a mailing list for such things.

@dots is actually `. . . .' ``I've seed de first an de last @dots I seed de beginnin, en now I sees de endin.'' William Faulkner The Sound & The Fury April 8, 1928

Getting to Other Networks

Inter-connectivity has been and always will be one of the biggest goals in computer networking. The ultimate desire is to make it so one person can contact anyone else no matter where they are. A number of ``gateways'' between networks have been set up. They include:

AppleLink Quantum Services sells access to AppleLink, which is similar to QuantumLink for Commodore computers and PCLink for IBM PCs and compatibles. It also provides email access through the address user@applelink.apple.com.

ATTMail AT&T sells a commercial email service called ATTMail. Its users can be reached by writing to user@attmail.com.

BIX Users on BIX (the Byte Information eXchange) can be reached through the DAS gateway at user@cibix.das.net.

CompuServe (CI$) To reach a user on the commercial service CompuServe, you must address the mail as xxxxx.xxx@compuserve.com, with xxxxx.xxx being their CompuServe user ID. Normally CompuServe ids are represented as being separated by a comma (like 71999,141); since most mailers don't react well to having commas in addresses, it was changed to a period. For the above address, mail would be sent to 71999.141@compuserve.com.

EasyNet Digital sells a service called EasyNet; users that subscribe to it can be reached with the addresses user@host.enet.dec.com or user%host.enet@decwrl.dec.com.

FidoNet The FidoNet computer network can be reached by using a special addressing method. If John Smith is on the node 1:2/3.4 on FidoNet, his or her email address would be john.smith@p4.f3.n2.z1.fidonet.org (notice how the numbers fall in place?).

MCI Mail MCI also sells email accounts (similar to ATTMail). Users can be reached with user@mcimail.com.

PeaceNet Users on the PeaceNet network can be reached by writing to user@igc.org.

The Well Users on the service The Well can be reached by writing to user@well.sf.ca.us. The Well is directly connected to the Internet.

This table is far from complete. In addition to sites not being listed, some services are not (nor do they plan to be) accessible from the ``outside'' (like Prodigy); others, like GEnie, are actively investigating the possibility of creating a gateway into their system. For the latest information, consult a list called the Inter-Network Mail Guide. It's available from a number of FTP sites, including UUNET; Anonymous FTP, for more information on getting a copy of it using anonymous FTP.

Retrieving Files via Email

For those who have a connection to the Internet, but cannot FTP, there do exist a few alternatives to get those files you so desperately need. When requesting files, it's imperative that you keep in mind the size of your request---odds are the other people who may be using your link won't be too receptive to sudden bursts of really heavy traffic on their normally sedate connection.

Archive Servers

An alternative to the currently well over-used FTPmail system is taking advantage of the many archive servers that are presently being maintained. These are programs that receive email messages that contain commands, and act on them. For example, sending an archive server the command help will usually yield, in the form of a piece of email, information on how to use the various commands that the server has available.

One such archive server is service@nic.ddn.mil. Maintained by the Network Information Center (NIC) in Chantilly, VA, the server is set up to make all of the information at the NIC available for people who don't have access to FTP. This also includes the WHOIS service (Whois). Some sample Subject: lines for queries to the NIC server are:

Subject: help Describes available commands. Subject: rfc 822 Sends