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 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.
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 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!