section; users usually connect to a pre-configured Archie server
merely by typing an "ARCHIE" command line.
==================================================================
** C:\> TELNET 129.93.1.14
SunOS UNIX (crcnis2)
** login: archie
** Password:
Welcome to the ARCHIE server at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln
# Bunyip Information Systems, 1993
** unl-archie> HELP
These are the commands you can use in help:
. go up one level in the hierarchy
? display a list of valid subtopics at the current level
<newline>
done, ^D, ^C quit from help entirely
<string> help on a topic or subtopic
Eg.
"help show"
will give you the help screen for the "show" command
"help set search"
Will give you the help information for the "search" variable.
The command "manpage" will give you a complete copy of the archie
manual page.
** help> DONE
** unl-archie> SET MAXHITS 5
** unl-archie> PROG MPEG
# Search type: sub.
# Your queue position: 1
# Estimated time for completion: 02:18
Host ftp.germany.eu.net (192.76.144.75)
Location: /pub/applications/graphics
DIRECTORY drwxrwxr-x 512 bytes 00:00 7 Jul 1993 mpeg
Location: /pub/comp/amiga/gfx
DIRECTORY drwxr-xr-x 512 bytes 00:00 7 Sep 1993 mpeg
Host stsci.edu (130.167.1.2)
Location: /stsci/epa
DIRECTORY drwxr-xr-x 512 bytes 12:55 21 Jun 1994 mpeg
Host ftp.nau.edu (134.114.64.70)
Location: /graphics
DIRECTORY drwxr-xr-x 512 bytes 04:51 3 Apr 1994 mpeg
Host gum.isi.edu (128.9.32.31)
Location: /share/in-notes/media-types/video
FILE -rw-r--r-- 15 bytes 18:45 11 Jan 1994 mpeg
** unl-archie> WHATIS SECURITY
RFC1037 Greenberg, B.; Keene, S. NFILE - a file access
protocol. 1987 December; 86 p.
RFC1038 St. Johns, M. Draft revised IP security option.
1988 January; 7 p.
cops System Security analysis tool
forktest Find security holes in shell-escapes
kerberos Host security package
safe-mkdir mkdir() and security hole *****FIX****
** unl-archie> EXIT
# Bye.
Connection #0 closed
C:\>
==================================================================
2.8.2. GOPHER
The Internet Gopher protocol was developed at the University of
Minnesota's Microcomputer Center in 1991, as a distributed
information search and retrieval tool for the Internet. Gopher is
described in RFC1436 [1]; the name derives from the University's
mascot.
Gopher provides a tool so that publicly available information at a
host can be organized in a hierarchical fashion, allowing it to be
perused using a simple menu system. Gopher allows a user to view a
file on demand without requiring additional file transfer protocols.
Gopher also has the capability to "link" gophers on the Internet, so
that each Gopher site can be used as a stepping stone to access other
sites and reducing the amount of duplicate information and effort on
the network.
In many cases, users can access Gopher by TELNETing to a valid Gopher
location; if the site provides a remote Gopher client, the user will
see a text-based, menu interface. The number of Gopher sites is
growing rapidly; as the dialogue below shows, most Gopher sites have
a menu item that will allow you to identify other Gopher sites. If
using TELNET, login with the username "gopher" (this MUST be in
lowercase); no password is required. Note that not all Gopher sites
provide a remote Gopher client; users may need local Gopher client
software on their system.
The Gopher server at "ds.internic.net" has a tremendous amount of
information for the new user, including lists of frequently asked
questions and pointers to various Internet discussion lists. In the
sample dialogue below, the remote Gopher client is accessed by
TELNETing to the host. With the menu interface shown here, the user
merely follows the prompts. Initially, the main menu will appear;
selecting item 2 causes Gopher to seize and display the "InterNIC
Information Services" menu. Move to the desired menu item by typing
the item number or by moving the "pointer" (-->) down to the desired
entry using the <DOWN-ARROW> key on the keyboard, and then hitting
<ENTER>. To quit the program at any time, press "q" (quit); "?" and
"u" will provide help or go back up to the previous menu,
respectively. Users may also search for strings within files using
the "/" command or download the file being interrogated using the "D"
command.
Menu item 7 (selected in the dialogue shown here) is titled
"Beginners: Start Here", an excellent place for new users to obtain
information about the Internet, available tools, terms and concepts,
and, perhaps most importantly, some of the cultural aspects of the
Internet community.
Further information about Gopher can be obtained by contacting the
Internet Gopher Team at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis
(gopher@boombox.micro.umn.edu). This is also the site of the first
Gopher server (consultant.micro.umn.edu). A Gopher-related
discussion list is maintained at gopher-news@boombox.micro.umn.edu
(see Section 3.1 for information on subscribing to Internet
discussion lists). More information on Gopher clients can be found
in the Gopher Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) file, which can be
downloaded using anonymous FTP in file
"/pub/usenet/news.answers/gopher-faq" at the host "rtfm.mit.edu";
this FAQ also lists sources for a number of Gopher clients for a wide
range of hardware/software platforms.
==================================================================
** SMCVAX$ TELNET DS.INTERNIC.NET
SunOS UNIX (ds)
** login: gopher
SunOS Release 4.1.3 (DS) #3: Tue Feb 8 10:52:45 EST 1994
******************************************************************
Welcome to the InterNIC Directory and Database Server.
******************************************************************
Internet Gopher Information Client v1.11
Root gopher server: ds0.internic.net
--> 1. Information About the InterNIC/
2. InterNIC Information Services (General Atomics)/
3. InterNIC Registration Services (NSI)/
4. InterNIC Directory and Database Services (AT&T)/
Press ? for Help, q to Quit Page: 1/1
** View item number: 2
Internet Gopher Information Client v1.11
InterNIC Information Services (General Atomics)
--> 1. README.
2. About the InfoGuide/
3. About InterNIC Information Services/
4. About the Internet/
5. Getting Connected to the Internet/
6. Beginners: Start Here/
7. Using the Internet/
8. Internet Resources/
9. Advanced Users: NIC Staff, System Administrators, Programmer
10. Frequently Asked Questions at InterNIC IS/
11. Scout Report/
12. WAIS search InfoGuide (and elsewhere) by keyword/
13. InfoGuide INDEX.
Press ? for Help, q to Quit Page: 1/1
** View item number: 6
Internet Gopher Information Client v1.11
Beginners: Start Here
--> 1. About This Directory.
2. Introductions to the Internet/
3. Glossaries And Definitions/
4. Network Tools/
5. Further Reading/
6. Collection of Usenet FAQs/
7. Internet Culture and Netiquette/
Press ? for Help, q to Quit Page: 1/1
** q
Really quit (y/n) ?
** y
Connection closed by Foreign Host
SMCVAX$
==================================================================
2.8.3. Other Information Servers
There are a number of other information servers that are growing in
popularity and use. The problem with being blessed with so much
information from Archie, Gopher, and other sources is exactly that -
too much information. To make it easier for users to locate the
system on which their desired information resides, a number of other
tools have been created.
Veronica (Very Easy Rodent-Oriented Net-wide Index to Computerized
Archives) was developed at the University of Nevada in Reno as an
adjunct to Gopher. As the number of Gopher sites continues to grow,
it has become increasingly harder to find information in
"Gopherspace" since Gopher is designed to search a single database at
a time. Veronica maintains an index of titles of Gopher items and
performs a keyword search on all of the Gopher sites that it has
knowledge of and access to, obviating the need for the user to
perform a menu-by-menu, site-by-site search for information. When a
user selects an item from the menu of a Veronica search, "sessions"
are automatically established with the appropriate Gopher servers,
and a list of data items is returned to the originating Gopher client
in the form of a Gopher menu so that the user can access the files.
Veronica is available as an option on many Gopher servers, including
"internic.net".
Another Gopher-adjunct is Jughead (Jonzy's Universal Gopher Hierarchy
Excavation And Display). Jughead supports key word searches and the
use of logical operators (AND, OR, and NOT). The result of a Jughead
search is a display of all menu items which match the search string
which are located in the University of Manchester and UMIST
Information Server, working from a static database that is re-created
every day. Jughead is available from many Gopher sites (including
"internic.net"), although Veronica may be a better tool for global
searches.
Archie and Gopher are primarily used for the indexing of text-based
files. The World Wide Web (WWW or W3) Project, initiated by the CERN
Institute for Particle Physics in Geneva, Switzerland, is designed to
combine aspects of information retrieval with multimedia
communications. The WWW Project is intended to allow users to access
information in many different types of formats, including text,
sound, image, and video. WWW treats all searchable Internet files as
hypertext documents. "Hypertext" is a new term which merely refers
to text that contains pointers to other text, allowing a user reading
one document to jump to another document for more information on a
given topic, and then return to the same location in the original
document. The original WWW site is at CERN and may be accessed via
Telnet at "nxoc01.cern.ch". The user will be automatically logged in
and a help menu can be displayed by entering the "h" command.
To generally access WWW servers, users must run client software
called a "browser". The browser reads documents from WWW servers and
can access files by FTP, gopher, and other methods. WWW can also
handle hypermedia documents; "hypermedia" is another new term,
referring to a file using any medium that contains pointers to
another medium. WWW browsers, then, are able to display images,
sound, or animations in addition to text. WWW sources and additional
information may be accessed via anonymous FTP from the "/pub/WWW"
directory at "info.cern.ch" or the "/Web" directory at
"ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu".
The most commonly used WWW browser is Mosaic, developed at the
National Center for Supercomputer Applications (NCSA) at the
University of Illinois. Mosaic provides a uniform mechanism for
finding the location of information, as well as determining the data
type, presentation method, and linkages to other information. A
large number of shareware Mosaic clients are available at
"ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu". It should be noted that commercial versions of
Mosaic will also become available for a variety of platforms after
the summer of 1994.
The Wide Area Information Server (WAIS, pronounced "ways") was
initiated jointly by Apple Computer, Dow Jones, KMPG Peat Marwick,
and Thinking Machines Corp. It is a set of free-ware, share-ware,
and commercial software products for a wide variety of
hardware/software platforms, which work together to help users find
information on the Internet. WAIS provides a single interface
through which a user can access many different information databases.
The user interface allow a query to be formulated in English and the
WAIS server will automatically choose the appropriate databases to
search. Further information about WAIS can be obtained by reading
the WAIS FAQ, from host "rtfm.mit.edu" in file
"/pub/usenet/news.answers/wais-faq".
2.9. Uniform Resource Locator Format
As more and more protocols have become available to identify files,
archive and server sites, news lists, and other information resources
on the Internet, it was inevitable that some shorthand would arise to
make it a little easier to designate these sources. The common
shorthand that is employed is called the Uniform Resource Locator
(URL) format.
The list below provides information on how the URL format should be
interpreted for the protocols and resources that have been discussed
in this document. A complete description of the URL format may be
found in [2].
file://"host"/"directory"/"file-name"
Used to identify a specific file. E.g., the file "htmlasst" in the
"edu" directory at host "ftp.cs.da" would be denoted with URL as:
<URL:file://ftp.cs.da/edu/htmlasst>
ftp://"user":"password"@"host":"port"/"directory"/"file-name"
Used to identify an FTP site. E.g.:
<URL:ftp://ftp.eff.org/pub/EFF/Policy/Crypto/*>
gopher://"host":"port"/"gopher-path"
Used to identify a Gopher site and menu path. E.g.:
<URL:gopher://info.umd.edu:901/info/Government/Factbook92>
http://"host":"port"/"directory"/"file-name"?"searchpart"
Used to identify a WWW server location. "http" refers to the
HyperText Transport Protocol; file names commonly use the ".html"
extension, indicating use of the HyperText Markup Language. E.g.:
<URL:http://info.isoc.org/home.html>
mailto:"e-mail address"
Identifies an individual Internet mail address. E.g.:
<URL:mailto:sds@hill.com>
telnet://"user":"password"@"host":"port"/
Identifies a TELNET site (the trailing "/" is optional). E.g.:
<URL:telnet//envnet:henniker@envnet.gsfc.nasa.gov>
3. Discussion Lists
Among the most useful features of the Internet are the discussion
lists that have become available to allow individuals to discuss
topics of mutual concern. Discussion list topics range from SCUBA
diving and home brewing of beer to AIDS research and foreign policy.
Several, naturally, deal specifically with the Internet, TCP/IP
protocols, and the impact of new technologies.
Most of the discussion lists accessible from the Internet are
"unmoderated", meaning that anyone can send a message to the list's
central repository and the message will then be automatically
forwarded to all subscribers of the list. These lists provide very
fast turn-around between submission of a message and delivery, but
often result in a lot of messages (including inappropriate "junk
mail"). A "moderated" list has an extra step; a human list moderator
examines all messages before they are forwarded to ensure that the
messages are appropriate to the list and not needlessly inflammatory!
Users should be warned that some lists generate a significant amount
of messages each day. Before subscribing to too many lists, be sure
that you are aware of local policies and/or charges governing access
to discussion lists and e-mail storage.
3.1. Internet Discussion Lists
A list of the known interest groups may be found by Gophering to
"ds.internic.net". Follow the menu path "InterNIC Information
Services" | "Using the Internet" | "Basic Internet Services" |
"Electronic Mail" | "Mailing Lists" to find the 8-part list of lists.
Be careful if you download these files; the list is nearly 1.5 MB in
size, listing over 800 lists! Along the way, you will find a wealth
of other information.
Mail can be sent to an Internet list at an address with the following
form:
list_name@host_name
The common convention when users want to subscribe, unsubscribe, or
handle any other administrative matter is to send a message to the
list administrator; do NOT send administrivia to the main list
address! The list administrator can usually be found at:
list_name-REQUEST@host_name
To subscribe to a list, it is often enough to place the word
"subscribe" in the main body of the message, although a line with the
format:
SUBSCRIBE list_name your_full_name
will satisfy most mail servers. A similar message may be used to get
off a list; just use the word "unsubscribe".
Not every list follows this convention, but it is a safe bet if you
don't have better information!
3.2. Usenet
Usenet, also known as NETNEWS or Usenet news, is another information
source with its own set of special interest mailing lists organized
into "newsgroups". Usenet originated on UNIX systems but has
migrated to many other types of hosts, although most Usenet servers
are still UNIX-based. Usenet clients, called "newsreaders", are
available for virtually any operating system.
While Usenet newsgroups are usually accessible at Internet sites, a
prospective Usenet client host must have appropriate newsreader
software to be able to read news. Users will have to check with
their local host or network administrator to find out what Usenet
newsgroups are locally available, as well as the local policies for
using them.
Usenet newsgroup names are hierarchical in nature. The first part of
the name, called the "hierarchy", provides an indication about the
general subject area. There are two types of hierarchies, called
"mainstream" and "alternative"; the total number of newsgroups is in
the thousands. The "news.announce.newusers" newsgroup is a good
place for new Usenet users to find a detailed introduction to the use
of Usenet, as well as an introduction to its culture.
Usenet mainstream hierarchies are established by a process that
requires the approval of a majority of Usenet members. Most sites
that receive a NETNEWS feed receive all of these hierarchies, which
include:
comp Computers
misc Miscellaneous
news Network news
rec Recreation
sci Science
soc Social issues
talk Various discussion lists
The alternative hierarchies include lists that may be set up at any
site that has the server software and disk space. These lists are
not formally part of Usenet and, therefore, may not be received by
all sites getting NETNEWS. The alternative hierarchies include:
alt Alternate miscellaneous discussion lists
bionet Biology, medicine, and life sciences
bit BITNET discussion lists
biz Various business-related discussion lists
ddn Defense Data Network
gnu GNU lists
ieee IEEE information
info Various Internet and other networking information
k12 K-12 education
u3b AT&T 3B computers
vmsnet Digital's VMS operating system
A list of newsgroups may be found at host "rtfm.mit.edu" in the path
"/pub/usenet/news.answers"; see the "/active-newsgroups" and "/alt-
hierarchies" subdirectories.
There is often some overlap between Usenet newsgroups and Internet
discussion lists. Some individuals join both lists in these
circumstances or, often, there is cross-posting of messages. Some
Usenet newsgroup discussions are forwarded onto an Internet mailing
list by an individual site to provide access to those users who do
not have Usenet available.
Users not connected to Usenet may post messages to a Usenet newsgroup
using Internet e-mail. First, replace the periods in the Usenet
discussion list name with hyphens (e.g., the folk music discussion
list, "rec.music.folk", would become "rec-music-folk"). Then, send
an e-mail message to:
newsgroup_name@CS.UTEXAS.EDU
Usenet news may be read using Gopher. Connect to the host
"gopher.msu.edu" using the path "News & Weather" | "USENET News" or
host "gopher.bham.ac.uk" using the path "Usenet News Reader".
3.3. BITNET/EARN
Another important set of discussion groups is maintained using a
program called LISTSERV. LISTSERV is a service provided widely on
BITNET and EARN (European Academic and Research Network), although it
is also available to Internet users.
LISTSERV commands are placed in the main body of e-mail messages sent
to an appropriate list server location. To find out what lists are
available, send a message to "listserv@bitnic.educom.edu" with the
command "list global" in the main body of the message; whatever you
place in the "Subject:" field will be ignored.
Once you have found a list of interest, you can send a message to the
appropriate address with any appropriate command, including:
HELP Get help & a list of commands
SUBSCRIBE list_name your_full_name Subscribe to a list
UNSUBSCRIBE list_name Unsubscribe from a list
INDEX Get a list of LISTSERV files
GET file_name Obtain a file from the server
4. Internet Documentation
To fully appreciate and understand what is going on within the
Internet community, users might wish to obtain the occasional
Internet specification. The main body of Internet documents are
Request for Comments (RFCs), although a variety of RFCsubsets have
been defined for various specific purposes. The sections below will
describe the RFCs and other documentation, and how to get these
documents.
NOTE: For complete, up-to-date information on obtaining Internet
documentation, users should Gopher to "ds.internic.net" and follow
the path "InterNIC Information Services" | "About the Internet" |
"Internet Documentation", and then select the desired set of
documents. This Gopher path is referred to as the "documentation
root path" in the remainder of this section.
4.1. Request for Comments (RFCs)
RFCs are the body of literature comprising Internet protocols,
standards, research questions, hot topics, humor (especially those
dated 1 April), and general information. Each RFCis uniquely issued
a number which is never reused or reissued; if a document is revised,
it is given a new RFCnumber and the old RFCis said to be
"obsoleted." Announcements are sent to the RFC-DIST mailing list
whenever a new RFCis issued; anyone may join this list by sending e-
mail to "rfc-request@nic.ddn.mil".
RFCs may be obtained through the mail (i.e., postal service), but it
is easier and faster to get them on-line. One easy way to obtain
RFCs on-line is to use RFC-INFO, an e-mail-based service to help
users locate and retrieve RFCs and other Internet documents. To use
the service, send e-mail to "rfc-info@isi.edu" and leave the
"Subject:" field blank; commands that may go in the main body of the
message include:
HELP (Help file)
HELP: ways_to_get_rfcs (Help file on how to get RFCs)
RETRIEVE: RFC
Doc-ID: RFCxxxx (Retrieve RFCxxxx; use all 4 digits)
LIST: RFC(List all RFCs...)
[options] (...[matching the following options])
KEYWORDS: xxx (Title contains string "xxx")
AUTHOR: xxx (Written by "xxx")
ORGANIZATION: (Issued by company "xxx")
DATED-AFTER: mmm-dd-yyyy
DATED-BEFORE: mmm-dd-yyyy
OBSOLETES: RFCxxxx (List RFCs obsoleting RFCxxxx)
An alternative way to obtain RFCs by e-mail is to send an e-mail
message to "service@nic.ddn.mil", leaving the "Subject:" field blank.
In the main body of the message, use one or more of the following
commands. The RFCindex, or a specific reference to an RFC, will
indicate whether the RFCis available in ASCII text or PostScript
format. By convention, all RFCs are available in ASCII while some
are also available in PostScript where use of graphics and/or
different fonts adds more information or clarity. The instructions
below show how to get the index; be aware that this file is very
large, containing the citing for over 1,700 documents. Note that not
all RFCs numbered below 698 (July 1975) are available on-line:
SEND HELP (Help file)
SEND RFC/RFC-INDEX (RFCIndex)
SEND RFC/RFCxxxx.TXT (ASCII version of RFCxxxx)
SEND RFC/RFCxxxx.PS (PostScript version of RFCxxxx)
-------------------------------------------
TABLE 1. Some of the RFCRepositories.
REGION HOST ADDRESS DIRECTORY
U.S. nic.ddn.mil rfc
U.S. nisc.jvnc.net rfc
U.S. ftp.isi.edu in-notes
U.S. wuarchive.wustl.edu info/rfc
U.K. src.doc.ic.ac.uk rfc
Europe funet.fi rfc
Pacific munnari.oz.au rfc
-------------------------------------------
To obtain an RFCvia anonymous FTP, connect to one of the RFC
repositories listed in Table 1 using FTP. After connecting, change
to the appropriate RFCdirectory (as shown in Table 1) using the "cd"
command. To obtain a particular file, use the "get" command:
GET RFC-INDEX.TXT local_name (RFCIndex)
GET RFCxxxx.TXT local_name (ASCII version of RFCXXXX)
GET RFCxxxx.PS local_name (PostScript version of RFCXXXX)
Finally, check out the path "RFC's (Request for Comments)" under the
documentation root path for the RFCindex, complete instructions on
obtaining RFCs, and a complete set of RFCs.
The sample dialogue below, although highly abbreviated, shows a user
obtaining RFC1594 (Answers to Commonly asked "New Internet User"
Questions) using the first three methods described above.
==================================================================
** SMCVAX$ MAIL
** MAIL> SEND
** To: IN%"SERVICE@NIC.DDN.MIL"
** Subject:
Enter your message below. Press CTRL/Z when complete, CTRL/C to quit
** SEND RFC/RFC1594.TXT
** ^Z
** MAIL> EXIT
** SMCVAX$ MAIL
** MAIL> SEND
** To: IN%"RFC-INFO@ISI.EDU"
** Subject:
Enter your message below. Press CTRL/Z when complete, CTRL/C to quit
** RETRIEVE: RFC
** Doc-ID: RFC1594
** ^Z
** MAIL> EXIT
** SMCVAX$ FTP NIC.DDN.MIL
** Username: ANONYMOUS
** Password:
** NIC.DDN.MIL> CD rfc
** NIC.DDN.MIL> GET rfc1594.txt RFC-1594.TXT
** NIC.DDN.MIL> EXIT
SMCVAX$
==================================================================
4.2. Internet Standards
RFCs describe many aspects of the Internet. By the early 1990s,
however, so many specifications of various protocols had been written
that it was not always clear as to which documents represented
standards for the Internet. For that reason, a subset of RFCs have
been designated as STDs to identify them as Internet standards.
Unlike RFCnumbers that are never reused, STD numbers always refer to
the latest version of the standard. UDP, for example, would be
completely identified as "STD-6/RFC-768." Note that STD numbers
refer to a standard, which is not necessarily a single document; an
STD, therefore, might refer to several RFCs. STD 19, for example, is
the NetBIOS Service Protocols standard and comprises RFCs 1001 and
1002; a complete citation for this standard would be "STD-19/RFC-
1001/RFC-1002."
The availability of new STDs is announced on the RFC-DIST mailing
list. STD-1 [14] always refers to the latest list of "Internet
Official Protocol Standards". The Internet standards process is
described in RFC1602 [6] and STD notes are explained in RFC1311
[15].
STDs can be obtained as RFCs via anonymous FTP from any RFC
repository. In addition, some RFCsites (such as "nic.ddn.mil")
provide an STD directory so that STD documents can be found in the
path "/STD/xx.TXT", where "xx" refers to the STD number.
STD documents may be obtained as RFCs using the methods described in
Section 4.1. STDs may also be obtained via the RFC-INFO server using
the "RETRIEVE: STD" and "Doc-ID: STDxxxx" commands. Also, check out
the path "STD's (Standard RFC's)" under the documentation root path
for the STD index, complete instructions on obtaining STDs, and a
complete set of STDs.
4.3. For Your Information Documents
The For Your Information (FYI) series of RFCs provides Internet users
with information about many topics related to the Internet. FYI
topics range from historical to explanatory to tutorial, and are
aimed at the wide spectrum of people that use the Internet. The FYI
series includes answers to frequently asked questions by both
beginning and seasoned users of the Internet, an annotated
bibliography of Internet books, and an explanation of the domain name
system.
Like the STDs, an FYI number always refers to the latest version of
an FYI. FYI 4, for example, refers to the answers to commonly asked
questions by new Internet users; its complete citation would be "FYI-
4/RFC-1594." The FYI notes are explained in FYI 1 [9].
FYIs can be obtained as RFCs via anonymous FTP from any RFC
repository. In addition, some RFCsites (such as "nic.ddn.mil")
provide an FYI directory so that FYI documents can be found in the
path "/FYI/xx.TXT", where "xx" refers to the FYI number.
FYI documents may be obtained as RFCs using the methods described in
Section 4.1. FYIs may also be obtained via the RFC-INFO server using
the "RETRIEVE: FYI" and "Doc-ID: FYIxxxx" commands. Also, check out
the path "FYI's (For Your Information RFC's)" under the documentation
root path for the FYI index, complete instructions on obtaining FYIs,
and a complete set of FYIs.
4.4. RARE Technical Reports
The Reseaux Associes pour la Recherche Europeenne (RARE) is the
Association of European Research Networks and their users. RARE's
charter is to promote and participate in the creation of a high-
quality European computer communications infrastructure for the
support of research endeavors. RARE member networks use Open Systems
Interconnection (OSI) protocols and TCP/IP. Since the summer of
1993, to promote a closer relationship between RARE and the IETF,
RARE Technical Reports (RTRs) are also published as RFCs.
RTR documents may be obtained as RFCs using the methods described in
Section 4.1. RTRs may also be obtained via the RFC-INFO server using
the "RETRIEVE: RTR" and "Doc-ID: RTRxxxx" commands. Also, check out
the path "RTR's (RARE Technical Report RFC's)" under the
documentation root path for the RTR index, complete instructions on
obtaining RTRs, and a complete set of RTRs. They may also be
obtained via anonymous FTP from "ftp.rare.nl".
NOTE: As of December 1994, RARE and EARN have merged to form TERENA
(Trans-European Research and Education Network Association).
5. Perusing the Internet...
This guide is intended to provide the reader with a rudimentary
ability to use the utilities that are provided by TCP/IP and the
Internet. By now, it is clear that the user's knowledge, ability,
and willingness to experiment are about the only limits to what can
be accomplished.
The next step is to explore the nooks and crannies of the network.
One software tool that will users in this quest is the Merit Computer
Center's (Ann Arbor, MI) "Cruise of the Internet", available at no
cost from the host "nic.merit.edu" using FTP. For more information,
read the "readme" files in the directories "internet/resources/
cruise.mac" and "internet/resources/cruise.dos" for Mac and PC
versions, respectively. For general information about resources at
this site, see the READ.ME file in the root directory or send e-mail
to "nic-info@nic.merit.edu".
Several RFCs provide invaluable information about finding things on
the Internet. One of the best such sources is FYI 10/RFC1402,
titled "There's Gold in them thar Networks! -or- Searching for
Treasure in all the Wrong Places" [11], an excellent guide for
someone who wants to look around the Internet for a wide range of
material. Other good sources include the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the
Internet" (RFC1118) [7] and the "Guide to Network Resource Tools"
(FYI 23/RFC1580) [3]. Answers to frequently asked questions for
both new and experienced users of the Internet may be found in FYI
4/RFC1594 [10] and FYI 7/RFC1207 [8], respectively.
There are many other sources that cite locations from which to access
specific information about a wide range of subjects using such tools
as FTP, Telnet, Gopher, and WWW. These include:
o The INTERNET SERVICES LIST, maintained by Scott Yanoff of the
University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee and updated at least once a
month. This list can be obtained at <URL:ftp://ftp.csd.uwm.edu/
pub/inet.services.txt> or <URL:gopher://csd4.csd.uwm.edu/Remote
Information Services/Special Internet Connections>.
o An excellent starting point for searching the World Wide Web is to
point your WWW browser at "http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/SDG/Software
/Mosaic/StartingPoints/NetworkStartingPoints.html".
o The Scout Report is a weekly service by the InterNIC Information
Services team. To subscribe to the Scout Report mailing list, send
e-mail to "majordomo@is.internic.net" and place the line "subscribe
scout-report" in the main body of the message. Optionally, Gopher
to "ds.internic.net" and follow the path "InterNIC Information
Services" | "Scout Report" or point your WWW browser at
"http://www.internic.net/infoguide.html".
o "The INTERNET Yellow Pages" by Harley Hahn and Rick Stout [28].
More books and specialized articles came out about the Internet in
1993 and 1994 than in all previous years (squared!). Some of them
are directly related to finding your way around, or finding things
on, the Internet; a very partial list includes:
o "The Internet Directory" by Eric Braun [21]
o "The MAC Internet Tour Guide", "The PC Internet Tour Guide", and
"The Windows Internet Tour Guide" by Michael Fraase [24, 25, 26]
o "The Internet Navigator" by Paul Gilster [27]
o "Zen and the Art of the Internet" by Brendan Kehoe [29]
o "The Whole Internet User's Guide & Catalog" by Ed Krol [31]
o "INTERNET: Getting Started" by April Marine, Susan Kirkpatrick,
Vivian Neou, and Carol Ward [33]
o "Finding it on the Internet: The Next Challenge for Librarianship"
by Brian Nielsen [34]
o "Navigating the Internet" by Richard Smith and Mark Gibbs [35]
A much more comprehensive list of Internet-related books may be found
in FYI 19/RFC1463 [5].
Finally, Carl Malamud has written a delightful book called "Exploring
the Internet: A Technical Travelogue" [32], chronicling not the
Internet as much as the people who built it and use it. This book
will not teach you how to perform an anonymous FTP file transfer nor
how to use Gopher, but provides insights about our network (and
Carl's gastro-pathology) that no mere statistics can convey.
6. Acronyms and Abbreviations
ASCII American Standard Code for Information Interchange
BITNET Because It's Time Network
DDN Defense Data Network
DNS Domain Name System
EARN European Academic Research Network
FAQ Frequently Asked Questions list
FTP File Transfer Protocol
FYI For Your Information series of RFCs
HTML HyperText Markup Language
HTTP HyperText Transport Protocol
ICMP Internet Control Message Protocol
IP Internet Protocol
ISO International Organization for Standardization
NetBIOS Network Basic Input/Output System
NIC Network Information Center
NICNAME Network Information Center name service
NSF National Science Foundation
NSFNET National Science Foundation Network
RFCRequest For Comments
RARE Reseaux Associes pour la Recherche Europeenne
RTR RARE Technical Reports
SMDS Switched Multimegabit Data Service
SMTP Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
STD Internet Standards series of RFCs
TCP Transmission Control Protocol
TTL Time-To-Live
UDP User Datagram Protocol
URL Uniform Resource Locator
WAIS Wide Area Information Server
W3 World Wide Web
WWW World Wide Web
7. Security Considerations
Security issues are not discussed in this memo.
8. Acknowledgements
Our thanks are given to all sites where we FTPed, TELNETed, GOPHERed,
and otherwise used system resources, particularly St. Michael's
College in Colchester, Vermont (smcvax.smcvt.edu). We also
appreciate the comments and suggestions from our colleagues at Hill
Associates, our students, and other members of the Internet
community, particularly Mark Delany and the rest of the gang at the
Australian Public Access Network Association, Margaret Hall (BBN),
John Martin (RARE), Tom Maufer (NASA), Michael Patton (BBN), and
Brian Williams. Special thanks are due to Joyce Reynolds for her
continued encouragement and direction.
9. References
[1] Anklesaria, F., McCahill, M., Lindner, P, Johnson, D., Torrey,
D., and B. Alberti, "The Internet Gopher Protocol", RFC1436,
University of Minnesota, March 1993.
[2] Berners-Lee, T., Masinter, L., and M. McCahill, Editors, "Uniform
Resource Locators (URL)", RFC1738, CERN, Xerox PARC, University
of Minnesota, December 1994.
[3] EARN Staff, "Guide to Network Resource Tools", FYI 23, RFC1580,
EARN Association, March 1994.
[4] Harrenstien, K., Stahl, M., and E. Feinler, "NICNAME/WHOIS", RFC
954, SRI, October 1985.
[5] Hoffman, E. and L. Jackson, "FYI on Introducing the Internet-- A
Short Bibliography of Introductory Internetworking Readings", FYI
19, RFC1463, Merit Network, Inc., NASA, May 1993.
[6] Internet Architecture Board, Internet Engineering Steering Group,
"The Internet Standards Process -- Revision 2", RFC1602, IAB,
IESG, March 1994.
[7] Krol, E., "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Internet", RFC1118,
University of Illinois Urbana, September 1989.
[8] Malkin, G., Marine, A., and J. Reynolds, "FYI on Questions and
Answers: Answers to Commonly Asked 'Experienced Internet User'
Questions", FYI 7, RFC1207, FTP Software, SRI, USC/Information
Sciences Institute, February 1991.
[9] Malkin, G., and J. Reynolds, "F.Y.I. on F.Y.I.: Introduction to
the F.Y.I. Notes", FYI 1, RFC1150, Proteon, USC/Information
Sciences Institute, March 1990.
[10] Marine, A., Reynolds, J., and G. Malkin, "FYI on Questions and
Answers - Answers to Commonly asked 'New Internet User'
Questions", FYI 4, RFC1594, NASA Ames Research Center,
USC/Information Sciences Institute, Xylogics, March 1994.
[11] Martin, J., "There's Gold in them thar Networks! Searching for
Treasure in all the Wrong Places", FYI 10, RFC1402, Ohio State
University, January 1993.
[12] Mockapetris, P., "Domain Names - Concepts and Facilities", STD
13, RFC1034, USC/Information Sciences Institute, November 1987.
[13] Postel, J., "Domain Name System Structure and Delegation",
USC/Information Sciences Institute, RFC1591, March 1994.
[14] Postel, J., Editor, "Internet Official Protocol Standards", STD
1, RFC1720, Internet Architecture Board, November 1994.
[15] Postel, J., "Introduction to the STD Notes", RFC1311,
USC/Information Sciences Institute, March 1992.
[16] Postel, J., and J. Reynolds, "File Transfer Protocol (FTP), STD
9, RFC959, USC/Information Sciences Institute, October 1985.
[17] Postel, J. and J. Reynolds, "TELNET Protocol Specification", STD
8, RFC854, USC/Information Sciences Institute, May 1983.
[18] Socolofsky, T., and C. Kale, "TCP/IP Tutorial", RFC1180, Spider
Systems Ltd., January 1991.
[19] Williamson, S., "Transition and Modernization of the Internet
Registration Service", RFC1400, Network Solutions, Inc., March
1993.
[20] Zimmerman, D., "The Finger User Information Protocol", RFC1288,
Rutgers University, December 1991.
[21] Braun, E., "The Internet Directory", New York: Fawcett Columbine,
1994.
[22] Comer, D., "Internetworking with TCP/IP, Vol. I: Principles,
Protocols, and Architecture", 2/e. Englewood Cliffs (NJ):
Prentice-Hall, 1991.
[23] Feit, S., "TCP/IP", New York: McGraw-Hill, 1993.
[24] Fraase, M., "The MAC Internet Tour Guide", Chapel Hill (NC):
Ventana Press, 1994.
[25] Fraase, M., "The PC Internet Tour Guide", Chapel Hill (NC):
Ventana Press, 1994.
[26] Fraase, M., "The Windows Internet Tour Guide", Chapel Hill (NC):
Ventana Press, 1994.
[27] Gilster, P., "The Internet Navigator", New York: John Wiley &
Sons, 1993.
[28] Hahn, H., and R. Stout, "The Internet Yellow Pages", Berkeley
(CA): Osborne McGraw-Hill, 1994.
[29] Kehoe, B., "Zen and the Art of the Internet", Englewood Cliffs
(NJ): Prentice-Hall, 1993.
[30] Kessler, G., "An Overview of TCP/IP Protocols and the Internet",
August 1994. <URL:gopher://ds.internic.net/Information
Services/Advanced Users/tcp-ip>.
[31] Krol, E., "The Whole Internet User's Guide & Catalog", Sebastopol
(CA): O'Reilly & Associates, 1992.
[32] Malamud, C., "Exploring the Internet: A Technical Travelogue",
Englewood Cliffs (NJ): PTR Prentice Hall, 1992.
[33] Marine, A., Kirkpatrick, S., Neou, V., and C. Ward. "INTERNET:
Getting Started", Englewood Cliffs (NJ): PTR Prentice Hall, 1993.
[34] Nielsen, B., "Finding it on the Internet: The Next Challenge for
Librarianship." Database, Vol. 13, October 1990, pp. 105-107.
[35] Smith, R., and M. Gibbs, "Navigating the Internet", Carmel (IN):
SAMS, 1994.
10. Authors' Addresses
Gary C. Kessler
Hill Associates
17 Roosevelt Highway
Colchester, VT 05446
Phone: +1 802-655-8633
Fax: +1 802-655-7974
EMail: kumquat@hill.com
Steven D. Shepard
Hill Associates
17 Roosevelt Highway
Colchester, VT 05446
Phone: +1 802-655-8646
Fax: +1 802-655-7974
EMail: sds@hill.com