Internet Services Overview
September, 19. 1996
The following overview will introduce you to the most popular services on the Internet. By clicking the title you will be directly taken to the How to section containing detailed information, techniques and more on how to use each of these services.

* World Wide Web (short: WWW)

This is the most popular service. Information is presented like a newspaper. You'll see text, pictures, sounds, etc.. You need a *web-browser to use this service. The most famous web browsers are *NSCA Mosaic, *Netscape Navigator and *Microsoft Internet Explorer. You can surf; through the web by clicking *hyperlink. This way you can surf through the net, jumping from *server to server. You also can download images, files and, of course, text.

* File Transfer Protocol (short: FTP)

This service is mainly used to transfer files from computer to computer. You need an ftp client to use this service. There are lots of *anonymous FTP *servers, you can connect to, to download files such as shareware or documents. There are two modes to transfer data: An ASCII mode, which is used to transfer plain text files and a binary mode to transfer all other files (executables, pictures, sounds, etc.)

* Electronic Mail (short: E-Mail)

You can use e-mail to communicate with people all over the world - cheap and fast. You need an email *account on a mail server and a mail client to use this service. Optionally you can use a *unix account. There is an interesting service taking advantage of electronic mail. These are *mailinglist. Mailinglists are for discussion of a special topic. You have to subscribe to a mailinglist to participate in this discussion. Mails are being sent to a server (which address (more exactly: e-mail address)) you have to know. The server distributes mail to all subscribers. As for all the other discussion groups, be sure to have read the Netetiquette.

* Gopher

Gopher is a mainly textual oriented service. Information is stored in a hierarchical structure. As with all the others, you need a server to connect to and client software. The information is stored as a file on the gopher server, which also gives you the opportunity to download binary files.

* Usenet Newsgroups

The Newsgroups are a discussion forum, organized in a quasi hierarchical way. A newsgroup name could look like this: alt.binaries.windows.shareware. There also might exist a newsgroup called alt.binaries.mac.shareware. You see, how it is organized: Keywords separated by a point. You need to have access to a newsserver and you need a so called *newsreader Note that newsservers are usually non-public. That means you have to know a *username and/or *password or you only might be able to connect, if you address (computer) has a specific domain name. There are some public newsservers on the Internet, but they are hard to find. Also note, that not each newsserver is carrying the same groups. You might have a server, carrying 10000 groups, while another one carries 23500+ groups. You can also post articles into the *newsgroup. This feature is usually implemented in the client software. Popular *webbrowsers also allow you to view and some even to post into newsgroups.

* Unix Terminal / Telnet

Unix is a multi-user/multitasking operating system often used on workstations. If you have access to a unix account, you often can use several Internet services from there. This can include *ftp, E-Mail, *gopher UNIX is a command line interface. There also exists a graphical environment.

* Internet Relay Chat (short: IRC)

This one is the most fun to use. Its a big online discussion group. Online means, that there are other people connected at the same time and you can chat with them. There are lots of *channel with specific topics for discussion. People are identified by a *nickname. Try it out!


© 1996 Christian Feichtner
Redistribution without prior permission prohibited.
Internet Services sponsored and provided by EUnet International