Here we go, boys and girls! Volume II of my FTP Listing for Macintosh files. Thanks to all of the great people out there who were kind enough to e-mail me with praises, criticisms and additions; I was amazed at the response I've gotten and I’ve tried to incorporate all of your suggestions into this new file.
Please note that I have removed the GIF portion of my listing. I apologize, but I've quickly learned that there are tons of good sites and it would take more time than I can spare to compile an accurate listing. However, be sure to check out the information on the Archie service that is provided further on in this document. Archie can be invaluable to those of you looking for specific GIF files. If I ever get the time, I may come back to it and work on a complete GIF site listing.
BACKGROUND
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For those of you new to this: A while back, I learned that I was able to connect to other mainframes through the mainframe account that I held at college. This is possible because of a worldwide network called InterNet which connects primarily university mainframes together. I soon learned that many of these other mainframes (called "sites") contained large libraries of software for just about any computer you could think of. Being a rabid Mac-o-phile, I was anxious to find new programs. The problem is that there are so many sites on InterNet that it's almost impossible to find these libraries! Through a little research and fiddling, I have set out to compile a listing of sites which contain major Macintosh software libraries; what you are reading is the result of that effort.
INSTRUCTIONS
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The program that makes file transferring over InterNet possible is called "ftp" (File Transfer Program?). By running it on your mainframe, you can gain access to these other sites by logging into them as an anonymous user (since you don't actually have an account on that remote mainframe). From there you can locate a file you want, send it to your mainframe account directory and then "Kermit" it to your PC. By the way, if you find that a sites name is not working, try logging in using its IP address, instead (which is the reason why I've included them).
All of the sites in this listing are available via anonymous ftp. That is, you may log into these host sites by using the login name "anonymous" or "ftp" along with your complete InterNet address as your password (mine, for example, is swabjob@aol.com).
IMPORTANT NOTES
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It has been brought to my attention that some of these sites are for overseas locations and that FTPing these sites costs a lot of money and puts additional workload on them. Although I did not feel it appropriate to eliminate them altogether from my list (since they do have considerable software libraries), I did mark them with an '(OS)' for overseas. I ask that you not call these sites until you've first thoroughly searched all of the national sites. All of the listed national sites (i.e. those that don't have '(OS)' before them) have considerable software libraries and the chances of you finding unique software in one of the overseas sites is probably next to nothing. You have my personal thanks for your consideration.
Please remember to use sites during off-peak (1800-0600 or 6pm-6am). If they
have regional access or limited links, respect their restrictions. Access
1) There's a really neat service out there that enables you to search ALL of the sites connected to InterNet for files of interest. This service is called "Archie." Needless to say, this could save you considerable searching time when you're looking for something in particular. To use Archie, first run the "telnet" program on your mainframe (instead of "ftp"). From there, the Archie program is reachable at any of the following sites:
archie.rutgers.edu 128.6.18.15
archie.sura.net 128.167.254.179
archie.ans.net 147.225.1.2
archie.unl.edu 129.93.1.14
You login as "archie" and follow the instructions from there! Special thanks to Mark Ewell for this information.
2) I've received a number of questions from people who would like to access InterNet but don't have mainframe accounts. Up until recently, I was under the impression that you could only access InterNet through an account. However, a recent upload to America OnLine by 'R Snyder' has proven me wrong! It turns out that you CAN dial into InterNet from private modems! Oh, joy! This document is called "pdial" and can be found in AO's Mac Communications forum. It can also be retrieved on InterNet by sending e-mail with the subject "Send PDIAL" to "info-deli-server@netcom.com".
3) I recently found the "InterNet User's Manual" at some site. This document can be invaluable to both new and experienced users. I've uploaded it to AO's Mac Communications forum and, once I'm able to figure out where on InterNet I found the darned thing, I'll let you know where to find it there!
4) Finally, I've found a listing of ALL ftp sites that can be accessed via anonymous ftp. This listing can be found at ftp.uwp.edu (131.210.1.4) in the directory /pub/ftp.list/ftp-list and the file itself is called "sites.Z".
As always, if anyone out there has any additions, questions or comments, PLEASE feel free to e-mail them to me.
