A Beginner's Guide to the Internet

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<NIC.MERIT.EDU> 26 January 1993 /introducing.the.internet/access.guide Merit Network Information Center Services NIC.MERIT.EDU FTP.MERIT.EDU FTP.MICHNET.NET NIS.NSF.NET (35.1.1.48) ACCESS GUIDE TO INTRODUCING.THE.INTERNET by Ellen Hoffman Merit Network Information Services and Co-chair, User Documents Working Group Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Version Date: 26 January 1993 You probably found this document because you saw a bibliography called "FYI on Introducing the Internet--A Short Bibliography of Introductory Internetworking Readings for the Network Novice." This guide is a basic introduction to obtaining files that are described in the FYI bibliography. (And if you didn't see the bibliography, it's one of the files you can get using the access methods described here.) There are several computers (servers) on the Internet which have on- line collections (archives) containing the introductory documents in the bibliography. While you can use any of the servers listed, we recommend picking a site near you to get the documents. All the servers listed here will have the same files, although there may be some minor differences in which directory the files have been stored. If you need more help in obtaining files on the Internet, your best resource is your Internet network provider. WHAT ARE THE FILES IN THIS DIRECTORY? This is a list of the files that are available in the archive, introducing.the.internet. The files in this directory are updated as new materials become available that are helpful to new Internet users. Be sure you look at the date on the front of this document and if it isn't current, you may want to check to see if a newer version of the Access Guide is available. File Name Full Citation ---------- --------------- access.guide Access Guide to Introducing.the.Internet (The document you are now reading.) Hoffman, Ellen Jan 1993 answers.to.new.user.questions FYI on Questions and Answers: Answers to Commonly asked "New Internet User" Questions. Malkin, G.S., A. Marine (RFC 1325) May 1992 how-to-get.companion How to Get LaQuey and Ryder "The.Internet. Companion" from the Online Bookstore Jan 1993 how-to-get.resource.guide How to Get and Use the INTERNET RESOURCE GUIDE. NSF Network Service Center Jul 1992 intro.to.ip Introduction to the Internet Protocols. Hedrick, C. Jul 1987 intro.internet.biblio FYI on Introducing the Internet--A Short Bibliography of Introductory Internetworking Readings for the Network Novice. Hoffman, E., Jackson, L. Jan 1993 network.gold There's Gold in them thar Networks! Searching for Treasure in all the Wrong Places. Martin, J. (RFC 1402) Jan 1993 users.glossary Internet Users' Glossary Malkin, G. & T. LaQuey (RFC 1392) Jan 1993 where.to.start FYI on Where to Start: A Bibliography of Internetworking Information. Bowers, K.L. et al. (RFC 1175) Aug 1990 zen.ps Zen and the Art of the Internet. Brendan P. Kehoe (on-line edition) [PS. means postscript--you can print this file on a postscript printer but you can't read it this way on your screen. Or see next file for plain text version!] PostScript--Feb 1992 zen.txt Zen and the Art of the Internet. Brendan P. Kehoe (on-line edition) Text--Feb 1992 GETTING FILES WITH ANONYMOUS FTP If you are on a machine connected to the Internet and can use FTP (file transfer protocol), you can access the files in this directory from any of the listed servers. If your VM/CMS, VAX/VMS, UNIX, DOS, Macintosh, or other system has FTP capability, you can probably use the sample commands as they are listed. If your machine doesn't work using the sample commands, you may still have FTP access. You will need to ask your system administrator or local network consultant. If you don't know about FTP, one of the other methods listed below may work for you so FTP isn't required. If you are using a UNIX machine, you can use FTP directly from a system prompt. For other machines, there are commercial and public domain programs that will allow you to use FTP. (For the Macintosh, a very easy-to-use shareware program is called "Fetch"; for DOS machines you can use a program such as NCSA Telnet.) Once you establish that you have FTP access, you will need to send a series of commands to reach the specific machine, change to the appropriate directory, and have the file transferred to your machine. A typical FTP session is described here, but not all software is exactly alike. If you have problems, check your software's documentation (man page) or contact your local help-desk. (1) Tell your computer what address you are trying to reach: ftp ftp.hawaii.edu [see server sites above for correct Internet names] (2) Signon to the machine and give it a password: anonymous guest [Passwords vary but most machines will make a suggestion after you've spelled anonymous correctly and hit return!] (3) Navigate through the directory to find the file you need. Two useful commands for this are the one to change directory: cd mirrors/introducing.the.internet [see directory names above] or check to see what's in any given directory: dir (4) Give a command to have the file sent to your machine: get filename [pick the file you want from the list] (5) Be polite and signoff from the machine: quit WHAT SERVERS HAVE THE INTRODUCING.THE.INTERNET DIRECTORY VIA FTP Location Internet names Directory --------- -------------- ------------------ Michigan nic.merit.edu introducing.the.internet Minnesota nic.mr.net pub/introducing.the.internet California ftp.nisc.sri.com introducing.the.internet Hawaii ftp.hawaii.edu mirrors/introducing.the.internet GETTING FILES VIA E-MAIL If you can send to and receive mail from the Internet, you can get introducing.the.internet files sent to you. Many e-mail systems interconnect to the Internet, including Compuserve, MCIMail, SprintMail, BITNET mail, and others. You may need to check with your user help contact if you don't know how to send mail to the Internet. Generally, Internet mail addresses look something like this: username@nic.merit.edu Merit provides an e-mail service for the introducing.the.internet files. To get a file, send a message to nis-info@nic.merit.edu. If you are having trouble using the mail service, you can get a longer help file by sending mail to nis-info@nic.merit.edu with the text section having just the word help. Send message to Text of message ---------------- ---------------- nis-info@nic.merit.edu send filename GETTING FILES USING CLIENT-BASED INFORMATION TOOLS You can also use Internet information retrieval tools such as Gopher, Archie, or WAIS to access the files in this list. These are tools designed to make it easier to find and use information resources on the Internet. They are client-server based, which means there is software on your machine (the client) that is designed to access "servers" on the Internet. These servers have many kinds of information, including documents, software, publications, graphics, and other kinds of files. The client does lots of the work for you to locate files without the user needing to remember specific Internet addresses or complicated command sets. To use one of these tools usually means having a client for one of the information tools installed on your machine. All the information tools have clients that are public domain software, which means you can get them free from servers on the Internet. Since this guide isn't intended to be a detailed tutorial, if you want to know more about Gopher, WAIS, or Archie, you might try reading about them in "Zen and the Art of the Internet" or one of the books listed in this bibliography. With the client installed, you can easily get any of the documents. Merit has put introducing.the.internet into Gopher and WAIS servers which makes it possible to not only retrieve the files, but also search them for specific information. ACCESSING FILES USING TELNET Telnet is an Internet application for logging on to another machine. While you can't use telnet to directly log into the machines with the introducing.the.internet directory, there are various sites on the Internet that allow you to access Gopher or Archie using telnet. From these, you can get to the introductory documents. However, since Gopher and Archie are designed for using clients on your own machine, this is probably not the method you will want to use unless other ways described here won't work for you. (1) Telnet access to Gopher servers--you can telnet to any of these locations and access other servers. At present, only the Merit server has the introducing.the.internet directory so you will need to choose one of the listed servers and find the Merit Gopher in their menus. Follow through the menus to Other Servers then North America until you get to the Merit Gopher Server. Telnet to: Login Place Choose server --------------- ------ ----- ------------------- consultant.micro.umn.edu gopher MN Other/NAmer/Merit gopher.uiuc.edu gopher IL Other/NAmer/Merit panda.uiowa.edu VT-100 IA Online/Oth/Oth/NA/Merit hermes.merit.edu um-gopherblue MI Gopher on Campus/Merit info.anu.edu.au info Australia Other/Other/NA/Merit gopher.chalmers.se gopher Sweden Other/Other/NAmer/Merit (2) Telnet access to Archie--several locations have telnet access to Archie, which is a tool for finding files on the Internet. Telnet to the site and login as archie. When you see the opening screen for the Archie service, type help to find out how to use the system. You can get information about Archie by sending e-mail to archie@archie.sura.net with the word help as the text of the message. Telnet to: Location ------------------- ----------- archie.sura.net Maryland archie.rutgers.edu New Jersey archie.ans.net New York archie.unl.edu Nebraska archie.au Australia archie.funet.fi Finland archie.doc.ic.ac.uk United Kingdom cs.huji.ac.il Middle East ACCESSING FILES WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE E-MAIL OR AN INTERNET CONNECTION It is possible to view the files listed here if you have a modem and a communications package as long as you are willing to make a long- distance telephone call. This is not the easiest way to get to the information, but will work if you do not have direct Internet access. Given the drawbacks, this probably should be used only as a last resort. This access method will get you into a Gopher service from which you can reach the Merit Gopher. Merit has a number of dial-in locations which allow modem access in Michigan (US). But you don't have to live in Michigan to access Merit's dial in. Several modem speeds are possible. Once you are connected, you will see a "Which Host?" prompt. At the prompt, type UM-gopherblue [this gets you the University of Michigan Gopher] and then select Other gopher servers on campus, followed by Merit Network Information Services. Modem speed Access number ----------- ------------- 1200 313/763-6520 2400 313/764-4800 9600 (v.32) 313/747-3400 WHAT IF I WANT OTHER INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET? Some of the access methods, such as FTP, telnet, or client-based information tools, can get you to other information documents as well. When you access a service, try exploring. If you got there, you already have a key to using the Internet for finding resources. Or read the introducing.the.internet documents to find out more about what you can do! .