Hacker 2/HACKER2.mdf/cud/cud462e.txt

Text File | 1995-01-03 | 7KB | 113 lines

Date: Tue, 23 Nov 92 11:21:21 CDT
>From:  Jim Thomas <[e-mail]>
Subject: File 5--Krol's Whole Internet User's Guide (Review #1)

The Whole Internet:  User's Guide and Catalogue.  By Ed Krol.  1992:
O'Reilly & Associates, Inc.  376 pp.  $24.95 (paper).  ISBN:
1-56592-025-2.

I'm sitting at my computer trying to figure out how to telnet into a
west coast UNIX system then back into a VMS on the east-coast and use
the nn mail reader and get access to a WAIS site to find some
information on locating internet user addresses when I spill coffee
over the desk. I pick up The Whole Internet (TWI), and although it
can't do much about the spilled coffee (other than direct me to
sources of information that can), its index, appendices, and
info-laden chapters guide me through the rest of the problems.

The Whole Internet is a step-by-step how-to guide that takes the
reader on a grand tour of some of simplest to the most complex
UNIX/VMS internet features. Whether a first-time user or an
experienced explorer, Krol provides tricks and identifies traps in
accessing telnet, ftp, remote systems' (varieties of DOS, VMS, or
UNIX) different and occasionally conflicting commands, and the
intricacies of Inter-relay Chat, file transfer, tricks for compression
and faster file exchange, and much more.

Krol begins by reminding readers that the Internet is a fairly
standardized collection of systems and networks with a council of
guiding elders, but no significant chain of command or authority.  He
also reminds readers that any clear definition or description of
Internet is of necessity vague, because it changes as both technology
changes and as access spreads.  For non-technical readers, the third
chapter, "How the Internet Works," provides an analogy-filled,
figure-laden description of the technology easily understood by the
most techno-illiterate reader. For those unsure of how to access
internet or how to figure out mailing addresses, chapter three
summarizes domains and explains how they can be found.  Not sure  how
to act when entering new terrain where strangers may seem threatening?
Chapter four explains all you need to know about ethics, courtesy, and
basic norms of communication. Krol recognizes that everything cannot
be explained in a single volume, and where more detail is needed, he
identifies the source and details how to access it.

Experienced net-roamers know that, although ftp file transfer in most
cases is simple, they also know that not all systems respond as
requested. One of the most valuable features of TWI is the explicit,
comprehensible, and example-filled chapters on accessing remote
systems and transferring files.  Each chapter provides screen displays
that a user confronts on log-in, and clearly illustrates the proper
commands to be used.  Krol provides commands for browsing remote
machines and explains how to set remote commands to save time.  For
those who are too impatient to list the remote help screen, Krol
provides summary descriptions of basic ftp commands and how (and when)
they should be used.  Especially helpful is the suggestion that, when
retrieving a large number of files or an entire directory, users
should invoke the tar program that combines the files, and a
compression program, such as Z, to speed up the transfer.

Not all remote systems are UNIX based, and Krol includes a substantial
discussion on accessing VMS and other sites that often create problems
because of unusual commands or system incompatibility.

Krol's chapters on electronic mail and network news include the basic
summaries found elsewhere. However, especially helpful for new or
intermediate users, he includes a number of suggestions for building
.newsrc and mailer "profile" files, aliases, and other shortcuts to
simplify tasks. The tutorial on the nn mail reader includes
instructions both on how to set it up and how to use it.
Unfortunately, he (intentionally) ignores rn, which users on systems
which it is the only available reader might find objectionable.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of ftp is cruising the nets
searching for and playing with software. TWI includes substantial and
thorough instructions on where to look for software (or where to look
for information on how to look for it), how to obtain it, and tricks
for using it once obtained.  Those who have yet to try Archie, WAIS or
Gopher because they seemed complicated and intimidating, several
chapters provide more than sufficient information that explains what
they are, how they function, and how their power can be used.  Archie,
a system of indexes that directs users other public files, is one of
the most useful services for finding particular programs or texts that
would otherwise take mega-hours of hit-and-miss searching through
various systems.  Gopher's handy menu-driven autopilot for exploring
is as nicely detailed as a London tour guide, and the WAIS
(pronounced, Krol reminds us, "wayz") utility for text searches
throughout files on the Internet is made almost too simple.

Krol provides far more information than can be detailed here.  He
describes accessible games, illustrates how to use various "white
pages" utilities for finding information about other users, tells us
how to engage in on-line talk/chat, and in nearly all cases attempts
to identify and overcome many of the idiosyncratic problems that occur
on systems that might disrupt full use or enjoyment of the internet.
Despite the technological descriptions, the volume is written with
considerable humor and occasional levity. Like Brendan Behan's Zen and
the Art of the Internet (ZAI), TWI illustrates that technologically
detailed volumes (and their authors) need not be staid or boring.

As a bonus, he inlcudes a substantial appendix that lists by topic and
address special-interest groups or systems that attract, for example,
users with academic interests, hobbies, sports, or technology.  TWI is
valuable because it is handy--very, very handy. But, it is also
valuable because it is likely to expand awareness of and proficiency
with using the Internet.  This volume does not replace other such
helpful works as Quarterman's technologically-dense The Matrix or
Kehoe's more underground oriented ZAI.  Rather, it supplements them.
It, like the others, should have it on the bookshelf.

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