NetNews Usenet Archive 1993 #3/NN_1993_3.iso/spool/bit/listserv/seasial/4660

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Date:         Sat, 23 Jan 1993 09:22:56 EST
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Subject:      SG: Computing & Newsletter (long), Pt. I
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                   Ohio University Electronic Communication


   Date:  23-Jan-1993 09:22am EST

     To:  Southeast Asia Listers               ( _MX%"[e-mail]" )

   From:  Kent Mulliner                              Dept:  Library
          MULLINER                                 Tel No:  614-593-2707

Subject:  SG: Computing & Newsletter (long), Pt. I


[The following is forwarded from the Technet Gopher in Singapore, with full
credit to the authors.  A few articles (250 lines have been deleted as
being largely reprints of international aritcles.  The full text is
available from the technet gopher -- 850 lines plus.  Because of
length, it is divided into two still very long parts here].

HITCHHIKER
 [Produced by Technet Unit, Singapore]
*******************************************************************************
CONTENTS
*******************************************************************************

EDITORIAL
Updates : Archive Sites
Not for Science Only [Omitted]
Special Internet Connections - [Omitted]
Technet Members
INTERNETional
WAIS through Gopher
Dow Jones News [Omitted]
Netfind [Omitted]
personnally speaking - yu chien siang
Singapore Informatics '92
SIFlash
comments welcome!

EDITOR
Michelle Chiang

CONTRIBUTORS
Milton Choo
Wilson Leong
Yu Chien Siang

The HITCHHIKER is published by:
The Technet Unit
c/o NUS Computer Centre
10 Kent Ridge Cresent
Singapore 0511
Tel : [phone]
Fax : [phone]

The views expressed in Hitchhiker are those of the authors and do not
necessarily
reflect those of of the Unit and NUS.  Copyright 1992 by Technet Unit.  All
rights
reserved.  All correspondence should be addressed to the Editor, Hitchhiker.

****************************************************************************
From the Editorial desk
******************************************************************************

Technet Unit is stepping into its second year of operation.  Technet
Membership has increased by almost 22% since the last quarter and the
circulation of Hitchhiker has gone up by twofold!  It was exhilarating to
receive requests for additional copies of the Hitchhiker from our members
and non members too.  Technet Unit is fully appreciative of your support and
we look forward to more organizations joining this magnificent network.

The focus of this issue of Hitchhiker is a whole range of new services
available on Technet.  We will surprise you with another way of reading the
netnews - the Chinese way!  Read on to find out how you could get this
interesting program to work on your computer.  Singapore International
Foundation (SIF) has recently joined Technet as an Information Provider,
bringing you the latest and freshest news on Singapore right at your
fingertips.  SIFlash is read by local and overseas internet users and it was
a 'roaring success' when it was first announced in the soc.culture.asean
newsgroup.  Also, find out in 'INTERNETional' an overview of Internet and
how these amazing packets of data travels and touches our lives.

The dream of a global network became a reality when the Internet users
worldwide share a common experience on an international scale.  This
wonderful spirit of sharing in Internet transcends international boundaries
and time.  And now, you will find the fruits of the Internauts' labour in
this issue of Hitchhiker.  Read on and discover the wonders of this global
phenomena that is still growing, and growing ...

Corrections
=========

Mr. Mah Bow Tan is the Minister for Communications, not Minister for
Education as shown on page 7 of the first issue.  The local source archives
are found on page 3, not page 10 as shown on the cover page.

Zen and the Art of the Internet
=======================

Many users have requested for a proper documentation on using the network.
As we are always improving and enhancing our system, it would not be
feasible for us to produce a bound workbook.  Even the 'Technet Users'
Guide' that we used for our monthly training is updated before each lesson.

However, you could get a good documentation of a beginner's guide to
Internet (called 'Zen and the Art of the Internet') in solomon.  It is in
the ~ftp/goliath/pub/msdos/books/zen10.zip directory.  Read it!

*****************************************************************************
Good News! No increase in subscription fee
******************************************************************************

"Technet monthly subscription fee for the Small Users is $200 for the 1st
account and $20 for subsequent accounts.  For the Large Users, the range is
from $1,500 to $2,500, depending on the speed of the leased line."

You will continue to hear me chant the above 'financial-report' for another
year.  Yes! Technet Unit is NOT going to raise its subscription fee in its
second year of operation.  The Technet Steering Committee has decided to
maintain the present fee for 1993 even though it was orginally planned to be
increased yearly. This move was prompted by the growth of our Technet
membership.  Since Technet Unit is a non-profit making organization, we are
channelling our subscription revenue back to you.  So you will be getting
more services at the same price!

******************************************************************************
Merging of Dialup Lines
******************************************************************************

Since 28 November 1992, we have merged the 2 Technet Dialup hunting numbers
(with 8 lines each) into 1 hunting number with 16 lines.  This means that
you need only dial 1 hunting number, 7751660 and you are connected to any of
its 16 lines.

******************************************************************************
UPDATED LIST OF ARCHIVES MIRRORED LOCALLY
******************************************************************************

Technet Unit and NTU have mirrored a list of archives located in Internet
into our local systems.  The files stored are updated daily so that the
local archives are replicas of the orginals.

Users are encouraged to use the local archives as the first step in
searching for software.  By transferring files locally, you will get faster
response time than from transferring them from overseas.  The location of
the software sources obtained from their respective archives are as follows
:

Technet Unit
-----------------
Archive                 Type                    Directory by anonymous ftp to
                                                solomon.technet.sg

agkcus.org              Chinese                 /goliath/pub/chinese
ntuix.ntu.ac.sg         RFC                     /goliath/internet/rfc
oak.oakland.edu         UNIX-C                  /goliath/pub/unix-c
oak.oakland.edu         misc                    /goliath/pub/misc
sumex-aim.stamford.edu  macintosh               /goliath/pub/macintosh
wuarchive.wustl.edu     msdos                   /goliath/pub/msdos

Nanyang Technological University
----------------------------------------------
Archive                 Type                    Directory by anonymous ftp to
                                                ntuix.ntu.ac.sg

ftp.cica.indiana.edu    ms-windows              /mirror/msdos/windows3
export.lcs.mit.edu      X11R4/R5                /mirror/X11/R5
prep.ai.mit.edu         GNU                     /mirror/gnu
wsmr-simtel120.army.mil msdos                   /mirror/msdos

[Not for Science Only and Special Internet Connections articles
Omitted]

******************************************************************************
Technet Members
*******************************************************************************

Asia Matsushita Electric
Aztech Systems Pte Ltd.
Creative Technology Pte Ltd.
DBS Bank
Defence Materials Organisation
Defence Science Organization
Economics Development Board
Electronic Documents Systems Pte Ltd.
Everex Singapore R&D Centre
Fujitsu (S) Pte Ltd.
GINTIC Institute of CIM
Human Interface Engineering
Information Technology Institute
Institute of Microelectronics
Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology
Intelligence Logicielle
Information Communication Institute of Singapore
Institute of Systems Science
IPACS Computer Service Pte Ltd.
Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Education
Ministry of Ebvironment
Ministry of Home Affairs
Ngee Ann Polytechnic
National Computer Board
Nanyang Technological University
National Library
National Science & Technology Board
National University of Singapore
Natsteel Ltd.
Norplex Oak Singapore Inc.
Polycore Optical Pte Ltd.
Powermatic Data Systems Pte Ltd.
Primefield Company Pte Ltd.
Professional Information Programmes Management Services
Prosof (S.E.A) Pte Ltd.
Reuters Singapore Pte Ltd.
SISIR
SRI International
Sony Precision Engineering Pte Ltd.
Systems & Computer Organisation
SW International Systems Pte Ltd.
Siemens Pte Ltd.
Singapore Aerospace
Singapore Computer Systems
Singapore Engineering Software Pte Ltd.
Singapore Institute of Management
Singapore International Foundation
Singapore Network Services Pte Ltd.
Singapore Polytechnic
Singapore Petroleum Company Ltd
Singapore Telecom
The British Council
Wearnes R&D Centre
Xorian Technologies Pte Ltd.
Yokogawa Electric Asia Pte Ltd.

*******************************************************************************
INTERNETional
******************************************************************************

Reprinted article from NUS Computing News by Choo Heng Kek

It has been here for almost a year now.... but how many of us truly
understand what it is, what it was, and what it's all about?  Probably 4,032
of us, but that's not going to stop me from skipping meals and losing sleep
to bring you the following bits of enlightenment.  It'll improve my karma.
However, I do not intend to cover ALL aspects of the Internet (as there are
books doing that), but those which I think will give readers a better idea
and grasp of certain mechanisms of this monster of a computer network.
(Readers are assumed to be neophyte users of the Internet.)

History
---------

Long long time ago (1968, actually), in a country far far away (America,
actually), an organisation called ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency -
of the U.S. Department of Defense) noticed that its contractors tended to
clamour for the same resources (e.g. databases, powerful CPUs, graphics
facilities).  This led to a decision to develop a nice little network which
would allow the contractors to share such resources.  Hence, a computer
network called ARPANET came into being in 1969.

The ARPANET started out as an experiment in long-haul networking.  Meaning,
connecting computers much much further apart than the hands of the guy in
the Eveready advertisement. Its goals (the network, not the Eveready ad)
were to facilitate networking research and resource sharing.  Researchers
took to it like Singaporeans to buffets and immediately used the network for
collaboration through electronic mail and other network services.  This was
so successful that ARPANET became a research utility.

The Internet was formed in 1983 when ARPANET was divided into 2 networks,
ARPANET and MILNET.  The Defense Communications Agency (DCA), which managed
both networks, also imposed the requirement that the TCP/IP protocol suite
be used for all hosts connected to either network.  At that time, the number
of hosts was about 500.  From then on, the Internet just grew and grew and
GREW.  Today, there are no less than (gasp) 700,000 host computers on the
Internet.

Definition
-------------

The term internet is actually a generic term referring to any group of
smaller computer networks (like Technet).  But Internet (note thecapital
`I') refers to the whole mass of interoperating networks that use the TCP/IP
protocol.  One might even venture to call it the `Mother of all computer
networks' (with apologies to Saddam).

The Internet is defined as an internetwork of many networks all running the
TCP/ IP protocol suite.  Just what IS TCP/IP?  On second thoughts, what is a
protocol?  The general definition of protocol is `the rules or formalities
of any procedure'.  But in the context of networking, it is `a standard set
of rules and procedures for the control of communications in a network'.
The postal system, for example, also has a sort of communications protocol:
To send a letter, the sender first puts it in an envelope; the stamp and
address then goes onto the envelope before it is mailed to its destination
where the sending process is reversed in order for the recipient to read the
letter.  In between sending and receiving, the post offices act as routers,
which read the address to see where and whom to deliver the letter to.  This
analogy effectively illustrates the way in which bits of information is
transmitted across computer networks, except that the `envelope', `stamp'
and `address' are in the form of itty-bitty bytes.

Hence, one might say that TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet
Protocol) is just a name for the protocol suite.  `Suite' is used here
because it refers to a family of protocols.  The specific protocols include
UDP, TCP, RDP, IP, ICMP ... and others ending with `P's.

Usenet
---------

Within the Internet is another network called the Usenet which refers to the
network of computers on Internet which support the News service.  (Yes,
there are computers on Internet which don't have News.) While current
statistics regarding the number of hosts on the Usenet are unavailable, I
would hazard that it is at least 400,000. It originated at Duke University
in 1979 when 2 graduate students decided "to give every UNIX system the
opportunity to join and benefit from a computer network." In other words, to
allow people to come together to argue about nothing.

Sometimes the terms Usenet and Netnews are used interchangeably. Its name is
usually taken to mean "User's Network".  But I bet you already knew that.
Almost all of you must be familiar with News by now.  It's what you get when
you use programs called newsreaders like tin or rn.  For all intents and
purposes, one may imagine News to be a mega-mother of a notice board on
which every Usenet user in the world may `pin up' their questions, answers,
jokes, aunt's photos etc for all to behold. In Usenet terms, these elements
of information are called articles.  These articles are grouped according to
topics in newsgroups, of which there are about 1000 currently.  Topics
discussed range from the latest softwares to the art of discreet
nose-picking.

How are these articles distributed?  Traditionally on the Internet, news is
distributed via mailing lists, not unlike the LISTSERV lists on the BITNET.
These mailing lists operate by re-mailing articles to every subscriber on
the mailing list.  Such a scheme becomes inefficient when the number of
subscribers exceed a dozen, since sending a separate copy of an article to
each subscriber obviously consumes much network bandwidth, CPU resources,
and occupies significant amounts of disk storage on the destination host.
Maintaining the list, too, becomes a problem: when subscribers move or
change names; when host computers come in and out of service.

Under the Usenet news system, a worthwile reduction in the use of the
 resources of the network and the hosts, is achieved by flooding. When an
 article is posted to a newsgroup, the article is sent to neighbouring
 Usenet hosts.  The process is repeated at each host until every host
 receives just one copy of that article which is then stored in a central
 database, instead of in each subscriber's mailbox. From this repository of
 articles, users may then use whatever newsreaders at their disposal, to
 select whichever articles they wish to read.

Just imagine .... one article being distributed to the hundreds of thousands
of hosts throughout the world.  This global broadcast usually imposes a load
on the participating hosts.  It is therefore not surprising that most news
posting software usually asks the user if such a post is really intended.

Experienced Usenet users are usually conscientious about what they post.
I.e. nothing frivolous nor unnecessarily lengthy.  If a worldwide
distribution of the article is not intended, the `Distribution:' field in
the article header may be modified for, say, local distribution.  For
example, `Distribution: Singapore' may be used if advertising for a used
car, which probably would not be of interest elsewhere.

Other Services
-------------------

Apart from electronic mail (e-mail), which we areso very familiar with, the
other two popular basic network services are file transfer (ftp) and remote
login (telnet).

Ftp (File Transfer Protocol) is used to transfer files to and from a remote
host computer.  Material obtainable through this service ranges from free
software to song lyrics to images of naked ducks.

While most of us know how to use the ftp command, the file transfer
mechanism should be understood, so that we can use fancy sentences like,
"The ftp server seems to be gobbling the packets," or "Can we tweak the ftp
client to glob on the remote filenames?" and actually know what we are
talking about. For this, the terms client and server are discussed.

To understand what a server and a client is, take phonebanking as an
analogy.  When you make the call, YOU are the client.  The machine handling
your requests is the server.  If the machine is not operating, your call
won't be answered.  Similarly for ftp, when you enter the command,
ftp ahbeng.ahlian.ahter, you are requesting for a connection to the ftp
server on the remote machine called ahbeng.ahlian.ahter. Once the ftp
connection is established, the server is then ready to accept further
commands from the client (which is you using the ftp command).  If the
server is not functioning, you will not get a connection.  A server is thus
an entity which just sits around, waiting for requests from clients and
processing the requests.

Remote login allows one to login to a remote host to which one has access.
Telnet is the command to use and its mechanism also follows the
client-server model.  This facility is typically used to access services
like: interactive databases, library catalogs, thesauruses, dictionaries,
and even chess games. If one looks hard enough, one might even find access
to an electronic Bible or Quran.

Endnote
-----------

While information and network services are plentiful on the Internet, every
effort must be made not to abuse such services in order that they may be
kept viable.  `Abuse' includes: transferring zillions of bytes of stuff from
anonymous ftp sites in one ftp session; posting an article to zillions of
irrelevant newsgroups on the Usenet; using the network for commercial gain;
introducing germs into the network; and generally not observing netiquette
(network etiquette).  Be nice, and the Internet will be ours forever.




Received:  23-Jan-1993 09:22am