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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:
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’.
AT&T sells a commercial email service called ATTMail. Its users can be reached by writing to ‘user@attmail.com’.
Users on BIX (the Byte Information eXchange) can be reached through the DAS gateway at ‘user@dcibix.das.net’.
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’.
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’.
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 also sells email accounts (similar to ATTMail). Users can be reached with ‘user@mcimail.com’.
Users on the PeaceNet network can be reached by writing to ‘user@igc.org’.
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; @pxref{Anonymous FTP}, for more information on getting a copy of it using anonymous FTP.
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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.
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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 (@pxref{Whois}). Some sample ‘Subject:’ lines for queries to the NIC server are:
Subject: help Describes available commands. Subject: rfc 822 Sends a copy of RFC-822. Subject: rfc index Sends an index of the available RFCs. Subject: netinfo domain-template.txt Sends a domain application. Subject: whois widener Sends WHOIS information on `widener'.
More information on using their archive server can be obtained by
writing to their server address service@nic.ddn.mil
with a
‘Subject:’ of help.
There are different “brands” of archive server, each with its own set of commands and services. Among them there often exists a common set of commands and services (e.g. ‘index’, ‘help’, etc). Be that as it may, one should always consult the individual help for a specific server before assuming the syntax—100K surprises can be hard on a system.
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Some systems offer people the ability to receive files through a mock-FTP interface via email. @xref{Anonymous FTP} for a general overview of how to FTP. The effects of providing such a service varies, although a rule of thumb is that it will probably use a substantial amount of the available resources on a system.
The “original” FTP-by-Mail service, BITFTP, is available to BITNET
users from the Princeton node PUCC
. It was once accessible to
anyone, but had to be closed out to non-BITNET users because of the
heavy load on the system.
In response to this closure, Paul Vixie designed and installed a
system called FTPmail on one of Digital’s gateway computers,
decwrl.dec.com
. Write to ‘ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com’ with
‘help’ in the body of the letter for instructions on its use.
The software is undergoing constant development; once it reaches a
stable state, other sites will be encouraged to adopt it and provide
the service also.
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Everyone has the opportunity to make a Call For Votes on the Usenet and attempt to create a newsgroup that he/she feels would be of benefit to the general readership. The rules governing newsgroup creation have evolved over the years into a generally accepted method. They only govern the “world” groups; they aren’t applicable to regional or other alternative hierarchies.
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A discussion must first take place to address issues like the naming
of the group, where in the group tree it should go (e.g.
rec.sports.koosh
vs rec.games.koosh
?), and whether or
not it should be created in the first place. The formal Request
For Discussion (RFD) should be posted to
news.announce.newgroups
, along with any other groups or mailing
lists at all related to the proposed topic.
news.announce.newgroups
is moderated. You should place it
first in the ‘Newsgroups:’ header, so that it will get mailed to
the moderator only. The article won’t be immediately posted to
the other newsgroups listed; rather, it will give you the opportunity
to have the moderator correct any inconsistencies or mistakes in your
RFD. He or she will take care of posting it to the newsgroups you
indicated. Also the ‘Followup-To:’ header will be set so that the
actual discussion takes place only in news.groups
. If a user
has difficulty posting to a moderated group, he or she may mail
submissions intended for news.announce.newgroups
to the address
‘announce-newgroups@rpi.edu’.
The final name and charter of the group, and whether it will be
moderated or unmoderated, will be determined during the discussion
period. If it’s to be moderated, the discussion will also decide who
the moderator will be. If there’s no general agreement on these
points among those in favor of a new group at the end of 30 days,
the discussion will be taken into mail rather than continued posting
to news.groups
; that way, the proponents of the group can iron out
their differences and come back with a proper proposal, and make
a new Request For Discussion.
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After the discussion period (which is mandatory), if it’s been
determined that a new group really is desired, a name and charter are
agreed upon, and it’s been determined whether the group will be
moderated (and by whom), a Call For Votes (CFV) should be posted
to news.announce.newgroups
, along with any other groups that
the original Request For Discussion was posted to. The CFV should be
posted (or mailed to the news.announce.newgroups
moderator) as
soon as possible after the discussion ends (to keep it fresh in
everyone’s mind).
The Call for Votes should include clear instructions on how to cast a vote. It’s important that it be clearly explained how to both vote for and against a group (and be of equivalent difficulty or ease). If it’s easier for you or your administrator, two separate addresses can be used to mail yes and no votes to, providing that they’re on the same machine. Regardless of the method, everyone must have a very specific idea of how to get his/her vote counted.
The voting period can last between 21 and 31 days, no matter what the preliminary results of the vote are. A vote can’t be called off simply because 400 “no” votes have come in and only two “yes” votes. The Call for Votes should include the exact date that the voting period will end—only those votes arriving on the vote-taker’s machine before this date can be counted.
To keep awareness high, the CFV can be repeated during the vote, provided that it gives the same clear, unbiased instructions for casting a vote as the original; it also has to be the same proposal as was first posted. The charter can’t change in mid-vote. Also, votes that’re posted don’t count—only those that were mailed to the vote-taker can be tallied.
Partial results should never be included; only a statement of the specific proposal, that a vote is in progress on it, and how to cast a vote. A mass acknowledgement (“Mass ACK” or “Vote ACK”) is permitted; however, it must be presented in a way that gives no indication of which way a person voted. One way to avoid this is to create one large list of everyone who’s voted, and sort it in alphabetical order. It should not be two sorted lists (of the yes and no votes, respectively).
Every vote is autonomous. The votes for or against one group can’t be transferred to another, similar proposal. A vote can only count for the exact proposal that it was a response to. In particular, a vote for or against a newsgroup under one name can’t be counted as a vote for or against another group with a different name or charter, a different moderated/unmoderated status, or, if it’s moderated, a different moderator or set of moderators. Whew!
Finally, the vote has to be explicit; they should be of the form ‘I vote for the group foo.bar as proposed’ or ‘I vote against the group foo.bar as proposed’. The wording doesn’t have to be exact, your intention just has to be clear.
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At the end of the voting period, the vote-taker has to post (to
news.announce.newgroups
) the tally and email addresses of the votes
received. Again, it can also be posted to any of the groups listed in
the original CFV. The tally should make clear which way a person
voted, so the results can be verified if it proves necessary to do so.
After the vote result is posted to news.announce.newgroups
,
there is a mandatory five-day waiting period. This affords everyone
the opportunity to correct any errors or inconsistencies in the voter
list or the voting procedure.
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If, after the waiting period, there are no serious objections that
might invalidate the vote, the vote is put to the “water test.” If
there were 100 more valid ‘YES/create’ votes than ‘NO/don't’
create votes, and at least two-thirds of the total number of votes are
in favor of creation, then a newgroup control message can be sent out
(often by the moderator of news.announce.newgroups
). If the 100-vote
margin or the two-thirds percentage isn’t met, the group has failed
and can’t be created.
If the proposal failed, all is not lost—after a six-month waiting
period (a “cooling down”), a new Request For Discussion can be posted
to news.groups
, and the whole process can start over again. If after
a couple of tries it becomes obvious that the group is not
wanted or needed, the vote-taker should humbly step back and accept
the opinion of the majority. (As life goes, so goes Usenet.)
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