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- DIGITAL FREE PRESS
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
- Volume 1.0 Issue 5.0
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- * A Publication of The Underground Computing Foundation (UCF) *
-
- * Send Subscription Requests to: dfp-req@underg.ucf.org *
-
- * Send Submissions to: hackers@underg.ucf.org *
-
- * Editor: Max Cray (max@underg.ucf.org) *
-
- Back issues can be found in the CUD archives at ftp.eff.org
-
- * Underground Computing Foundation BBS *
-
- (512) 339-8221
-
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Statement of Purpose and Disclaimer
-
- The Digital Free Press is an uncensored forum to document the
- exploration of the world of modern technology. It is published
- under the premise that it is better to know, rather than not know, so
- no attempt is made to hide any information. Information is a double
- edged sword. It is neither good nor bad, and can be used for either.
- Use any information provided at your own risk. Articles are the
- opinion of the authors listed, and not of the editor (unless of
- course the editor wrote it). Information is not always verified
- for accuracy.
-
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- In this Issue:
-
- 1. Mail to Max
- 2. Excerpt from 'The Hacker Crackdown' by Bruce Sterling
- 3. Letter from Famous Hacker to Not So Famous Cracker
- 4. (USL vs. BSDI) & CMU (Mach) by Max Cray
- 5. Windows NT Info by Max Cray
- 6. Game Cracking FTP Site
- 7. New Cypherpunks Mailing List
- 8. How to get software via Mail by Ram Raider
-
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
- #####################################################################
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Mail to Max:
- -----------
-
- From: gator.rn.com!sara (Sara Gordon)
- Subject: vx bbs in sofia
- To: underg!max@iuvax (Max Cray)
- Date: Thu, 21 May 92 0:16:44 EST
- X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL11]
-
- you have incorrect information. todor's system is down due to
- loss of hardware at last report. if you dial, you will get
- only the satellite noise. he has not any new viruses anyway.
-
- --
- _____________________________________________________________________
- well its too late, tonite, to drag the past out into the light. we're
- one, but we're not the same...
- ________________________sara@gator.rn.com____________________________
-
- [Editor's comment: Who is Sara really, and how come the dudes at
- Phrack do not like her? - Max]
-
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
- #####################################################################
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- [Editor's note: I got a book cover from Bruce when I met him at an
- EFF-Austin CyberDawg Event last month. The following excerpts come
- from that cover. The book should be released by the time you read
- this: Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York, 10103.]
-
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- THE HACKER CRACKDOWN
- Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier
- by Bruce Sterling
-
- --
-
- The AT&T long distance network crashes, and millions of calls go
- unanswered. A computer hacker reprograms a switching station, and
- calls to a Florida probation office are shunted to a New York
- phone-sex hotline. An underground computer bulletin board publishes a
- pilfered BellSouth document on the 911 emergency system, making it
- available to anyone who dials up. How did so much illicit power reach
- the hands of an undisciplined few - and what should be done about it?
-
- You are about to descend into a strange netherworld - one that
- sprang into existence when computers were first connected to
- telephones. This place has no physical location; it exists only in
- the networks that bind together its population. Like any frontier,
- it is home to a wide range of personalities, from legitimate computer
- professionals to those known only by their _noms de net_: denizens
- like Knight Lightning, Leftist, Compu-Phreak, Major Havoc, and
- Silver Spy; groups like the Lords of Chaos, Phantom Access
- Associates, Shadow Brotherhood, and the Coalition of Hi-Tech Prates.
- This is not normal space, but "cyberspace." And if you use a
- computer, cyberspace is moving inexorably closer to you with each
- passing day.
-
- --
-
- This is a book about cops, and wild teenage whiz-kids, and
- lawyers, and hairy-eyed anarchists, and industrial technicians, and
- hippies, and high-tech millionaires, and game hobbyists, and security
- experts, and Secret Service agents, and grifters, and thieves.
- This book is about the electronic frontier of the 1990s. It
- concerns activities that take place inside computer and over tele-
- phone lines - "Cyberspace."
- People have worked on this "frontier" for generations now. Some
- people became rich and famous from their efforts there. Some just
- played in it, as hobbyists. Others soberly pondered it, and wrote
- about it, and regulated it, and negotiated over it in international
- forums, and sued one another about it in gigantic, epic court battles
- that lasted for years. And since the beginning, some people have
- committed crimes in this place.
- This is the story of the people of cyberspace.
-
- --
-
- The Computer Fraud and Abuse Task Force, led by federal prosecutor
- William J. Cook, had started in 1987 and swiftly became one of the
- most aggressive local "dedicated computer-crime units." Chicago was a
- natural home for such a group. The world's first computer bulletin-
- board system had been invented in Illinois. The state of Illinois had
- some of the nation's first and sternest computer crime laws. Illinois
- State Police were markedly alert to the possibilities of white-collar
- crime and electronic fraud.
- Throughout the 1980s, the federal government had given prosecutors
- an armory of new, untried legal tools against computer crime. Cook
- and his colleagues were pioneers in the use of these new statutes in
- the real-life, cut-and-thrust of the federal courtroom.
- On October 2, 1986, the U.S.Senate passed the Computer Fraud and
- Abuse Act unanimously, but there had been pitifully few convictions
- under this statute. Cook's group took their name from this statute,
- because they were determined to transform this powerful, but rather
- theoretical act of Congress into a real-life engine of legal
- destruction against computer fraudsters and scofflaws.
- It was not a question of merely discovering crimes, investigating
- them and then trying to punish their perpetrators. The Chicago unit,
- like most everyone else in the business, already _knew_ who the bad
- guys were: the Legion of Doom, and the writers and editors of PHRACK.
- The task at hand was to find some legal means of putting these
- characters away.
- Fry Guy had broken the case wide open and alerted telco security
- to the scope of the problem. But Fry Guy's crimes would not put the
- Atlanta Three behind bars - much less the whacko underground
- journalist of PHRACK. So on July 22, 1989, the same day that Fry Guy
- was raided in Indiana, the Secret Service descended upon the Atlanta
- Three.
- Likely this was inevitable. By the summer of 1989, law enforcement
- was closing in on the Atlanta Three from at least six directions at
- once. First, there were the leads from Fry Guy, which had led to the
- DNR registers being installed on the lines of the Atlanta Three. The
- DNR evidence alone would have finished them off, sooner or later.
- But second, the Atlanta lads were already well known to Control-C
- and his telco security sponsors. LoD's contacts with telco security
- had made its members overconfident and even more boastful than usual;
- they felt that they had powerful friends in high places, and that
- they were being tolerated openly by telco security. But BellSouth's
- Intrusion Task Force were hot on the trail of LoD and sparing no
- effort or expense.
- The Atlanta Three had also been identified by name and listed on
- the extensive antihacker files maintained, and retailed for pay, by
- private security operative John Maxfield of Detroit. Maxfield who had
- extensive ties to telco security and many informants in the under-
- ground, was a bete noire of the PHRACK crowd, and the dislike was
- mutual.
- The Atlanta Three themselves had written articles for PHRACK. This
- boastful act could not possibly escape telco and law enforcement
- attention.
- "Knightmare," a high school-age hacker from Arizona, was a close
- friend and disciple of Atlanta LoD, but he had been nabbed by the
- formidable Arizona Organized Crime and Racketeering unit. Knightmare
- was on some of LoD's favorite boards - "Black Ice" in particular -
- and was privy to their secrets. And to have Gail Thackeray, the
- assistant attorney general of Arizona, on one's trail was a dreadful
- peril for any hacker.
- And perhaps worst of all, Prophet had committed a major blunder by
- passing an illicitly copied BellSouth computer file to Knight
- Lightning, who had published it in PHRACK. This as we will see, was
- an act of dire consequence for almost everyone concerned.
- On July 22, 1989, the Secret Service showed up at Leftist's house,
- where he lived with his parents. A massive squad of some twenty
- officers surrounded the building: the Secret Service, federal
- marshals, local police, possibly BellSouth telco security; it was
- hard to tell, in the crush. Leftist's dad, at work in his basement
- office, first noticed a muscular stranger in plain clothes crashing
- through the backyard with a drawn pistol. As more strangers poured
- into the house, Leftist's dad naturally assumed there was an armed
- robbery in progress.
- Like most hacker parents, Leftist's mom and dad only had the
- vaguest notions of what their son had been up to all this time.
- Leftist had a day job repairing computer hardware. His obsession with
- computers seemed a bit odd, but harmless enough, and likely to
- produce a well paying career. The sudden, overwhelming raid left
- Leftist's parent traumatized.
- Leftist himself had been out after work with hos co-workers,
- surrounding a couple of pitchers of margaritas. As he came trucking
- on tequila numbed feet up the pavement, toting a bag full of floppy
- disks, he noticed a large number of unmarked cars parked in his
- driveway. All the cars sported tiny microwave antennas.
- The Secret Service had knocked the front door off its hinges,
- almost flattening his mom.
- Inside, Leftist was greeted by Special Agent James Cool of the
- U.S. Secret Service, Atlanta office. Leftist was flabbergasted. He'd
- never met a Secret Service agent before. He could not imagine that
- he'd ever done anything worthy of federal attention. He'd always
- figured that if his activities became intolerable, one of his
- contacts in telco security would give him a private phone call and
- tell him to knock it off.
- But now Leftist was pat-searched for weapons by grim pro-
- fessionals, and his bag of floppies was quickly seized. He and his
- parents were all shepherded into separate rooms and grilled at length
- as a score of officers scoured their home for anything electronic.
- Leftist was horrified as his treasured IBM AT personal computer,
- with its forty-meg hard disk, and his recently purchased 80386 IBM
- clone with a whopping hundred-meg hard disk both went swiftly out the
- door in Secret Service custody. They also SEIZED all his disks, all
- his notebooks, and a tremendous booty of dog eared telco documents
- that leftist snitched from trash Dumpsters.
- Leftist figured the whole thing for a big misunderstanding. He'd
- never been into _military_ computers. He wasn't a spy or a
- Communist_. He was just a good ol'Georgia hacker, and now he just
- wanted all these people out of the house. But it seemed they wouldn't
- go until he made some kind of statement.
- And so, he leveled with them.
- And that, Leftist said later from his federal prison camp in
- Talladega, Alabama, was a big mistake.
-
- --
-
- Your guide on this journey is bestselling science fiction author
- and longtime computer user Bruce Sterling, who was galvanized into
- action following the massive "hacker crackdowns" of 1990, in which
- law enforcement officers executed search warrants across the country
- against law breakers - and suspected lawbreakers - in the computer
- underground. In THE HACKER CRACKDOWN, Sterling - respected by
- hackers, law officers, and civil libertarians alike - uses his unique
- reportorial access and his considerable powers as a novelist to weave
- a startling narrative that informs, compels, and appalls.
-
- Sterling has researched all corners of this challenging and contro-
- versial new world for this book. In it we meet outlaws and cops,
- bureaucrats and rebels, geniuses and grifters: all denizens of a
- dazzling electronic land, a vast and fascinating new frontier
- equally threatened by outlawry and government intervention. THE
- HACKER CRACKDOWN is a laser-sharp dispatch from the edge of tech-
- nology - and the edge of freedom.
-
- BRUCE STERLING is the bestselling co-author (with William Gibson) of
- THE DIFFERENCE ENGINE. His solo novels include INVOLUTION OCEAN, THE
- ARTIFICIAL KID, SCHISMATRIX, and ISLANDS IN THE NET. He edited
- MIRRORSHADES, the definitive "cyberpunk" anthology. He lives with his
- family in Austin, Texas.
-
- --
-
- "Sterling artfully separates myth from fact and does justice to both
- in the chaotic world of the electronic frontier. You must read this
- for the real story about hackers, cops, and the opening of cyber-
- sapce."
-
- Mitch Kapor
- Founder of Lotus Development Corp
- President of Electron Frontier Foundation
-
- --
-
- "A fascinating evaluation of high-tech crime."
-
- Steven R. Purdy
- Retired U.S. Secret Service (Fraud Division, Electronic Crimes)
- Former Chairman, Federal Computer Investigation Committee
-
- --
-
- "I learned a lot of things I didn't know from this book."
-
- "Lex Luthor"
- Founder "Legion of Doom"
-
- --
-
- "Is that really Knight Lighting on the cover?"
-
- "Max Cray"
- Editor Digital Free Press
-
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
- #####################################################################
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- LETTER FROM FAMOUS HACKER TO NOT SO FAMOUS CRACKER
-
-
- The password file on an ordinary UNIX is called /etc/passwd.
- However, Suns have another separate file which is shared. People
- have been moving that file around, and I'm not sure under what name
- it would appear these days except on the server, where (I believe)
- only root can log in.
-
- I don't know the details of how the machines share their passwd file.
- That software is proprietary, and I don't look inside it because I
- don't want to be sued someday for writing free software to do such a
- thing.
-
- I can't help you get into MIT. I don't have any connection with MIT.
- MIT lets me and the other GNU people use their offices and machines
- because they like the free software that we write.
-
- I can make a legitimate account for you, on the AI lab machines at
- least.
-
- However, it seems to me that you may not really understand what to do
- with an account once you have one. Judging from the files you have,
- the only thing you have been doing with my account is looking for
- other accounts whose passwords you can guess. I don't think this is a
- good sign.
-
- Please don't misunderstand. I don't think it is evil to break
- security. You can see from the way I set my password how much I care
- about security. However, I think it is bad for your own head to be
- focused on security breaking. What I'm worried about is whether you
- can get your head out of there and into a better place to be.
-
- The security breaking game is something that you "play" against other
- people. They try to keep you out, and you try to get in. Playing
- this game, you can get stuck in thinking in terms of conflict and of
- who is going to win. This isn't good for your head. It also causes
- you not to see the interest in all the other things you can do with a
- computer. Like a master spy sneaking through the Grand Canyon and
- being too obsessed with spying to notice the beauty of the place.
-
- Collecting passwords is also futile. You seem to get someplace--such
- as, a machine you couldn't get to before--but one machine is much
- like another, and each place you go is no better than where you were
- before. Why try hard to get to someplace if it is only a way station
- to another way station to ..., and there is no destination, no goal?
- In a way, you are like a person who has one new car but can never
- drive to visit his friends or to go to work because he is constantly
- driving around looking for another similar car to buy as a
- replacement.
-
- I might try to break security if I had a constructive reason to, but
- it has been many years since I had one. So I don't think about
- breaking security, because I have so much else to do (writing free
- software).
-
- Anyway, I'm willing to make an account for you, but I'd like you to
- look into something to do with it besides look for other accounts to
- use.
-
- Also, if we are to be users together, then we need to start
- developing trust. For example, you could tell me how to phone you,
- so we can talk directly. (No danger in this, since you haven't
- broken any laws by logging in on my account or Puzo's. We both let
- you do it.)
-
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
- #####################################################################
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- (USL vs BSDI) & MACH
-
- by Max Cray
-
-
- Unix System Laboratories, the spinoff of the phone giant ATT has
- sued BSDI, a software company that has been creating a commercial
- version of unix from the free University of California at Berkeley
- source code. This lawsuit was a big discussion item in comp.org.eff
- .talk. I am not sure what to think of this lawsuit and I do not
- think it is clear what ATT is claiming.
-
- I do know that even if ATT is way off base with their claims
- that damage is being done to the computer community. For example
- Carnegie Mellon University makes a free operating system microkernal
- called MACH. A microkernal is just the core of an operating system;
- you also need a file system, etc. CMU also created a server from the
- free BSD unix code to provide unix services on top of MACH. The
- Free Software Foundation (FSF) was going to use the BSD server on
- top of MACH for its project GNU (GNUs Not Unix, recursive acronym,
- an MIT gimmick) operating system. The server was never officially
- released to the masses, because it was not easily installed, since
- there was no boot disk, etc.
-
- Anyway this is where the underground scene comes in. Just as it
- looked like we were all going to have a very sophisticated free
- operating system CMU decided to not continue the BSD server project
- for MACH, and to no longer make it available, because of the lawsuit
- over BSD code. Those that have the code are free to continue to use
- it. The code itself is difficult to get a hold of, since it was never
- actually officially released. For a while it was in the /tmp of
- ftp.uu.net (always interesting stuff to be found there...) in a file
- called xyzzy.tar.Z where I was able to get a copy of it. I uploaded
- it to the Unix forum on CompuServe, but it got deleted. You can still
- get it from the UCF BBS. There does seem to be a small cadre of
- hackers who want to continue to develop it into a viable operating
- system. Unfortunately the FSF is no longer going to be involved. Read
- comp.os.mach for the latest developments. Also when they call to ask
- you to change your phone service back to ATT be sure to give them a
- piece of your mind, and tell them Max sent ya.
-
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
- #####################################################################
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-
- -= Microsoft Windows (New Technology) =-
-
- by Max Cray
-
-
- Why not use be the first one on your block to use Windows NT?
- Where else can you get a high performance 32-bit OS with TCP/IP and
- development tools for only $69? If you have the hardware, you can't
- miss this deal! Read on.
-
- Here are the facts:
-
-
- -= MINIMUM CONFIGURATION =-------------------------------------------
-
-
- - 80386 or R4000 CPU.
- (No mention of 386SX, I assume because they would prefer you to
- use a faster CPU to make the new OS shine, a 33 MHz CPU is
- recommended for software development).
-
- - 8 Meg of RAM (12 Meg recommended for software development).
- This does not include space for applications.
-
- - 55 Meg Hard Drive Space (20 Meg for Swap File, 100 MB recommended
- for software development).
-
- It only comes on CD-ROM, so you will need a CD-ROM device to at least
- install it. You can get away with borrowing a friend's. You do not
- need the CD-ROM to run it.
-
-
- -= FEATURES =--------------------------------------------------------
-
-
- - Portable (at source code level for R4000 CPU now, DEC Alpha CPU
- promised).
- - 32 bit flat address space.
- - Basically the same Application Programming Interface (API) as
- MS Windows 3.1.
- - Multi-Threaded
- - Preemptive Multitasking.
- - Built-in Network Support (Remote Procedure Calls (RPC), named
- pipes)
- - Symmetric multi-processing (If your app uses threads, it will
- automatically take advantage of multiple CPUs).
- - Security (Editor's note: Noooooo...)
- - Memory protection.
- - Fault tolerance.
- - Win32 GDI drawing API.
- - Structured exception handling, memory mapped files, and
- Unicode (?).
- - Will run 32 bit win apps, ms-dos apps, win apps, posix, and OS/2
- 16 bit character based apps.
-
-
- -= SDK =-------------------------------------------------------------
-
-
- - Comes with C/C++ compiler, and same documentation as C/C++ 7.0.
- - WinDbg (Windows Debugger).
- - Microsoft Editor.
- - Macro Assembler for both Intel and R4000 architectures.
- - Comes with the usual Windows SDK tools (Resource editors and
- compilers, etc).
- - SDK docs include:
- The Windows Interface: An application guide.
- Win32 Programmer's Reference - Overview
- Win32 Programmer's REFERENCE - API Part 1
- Win32 Programmer's REFERENCE - API Part 2
- RPC Programmer's Guide and REFERENCE
-
-
- -= SUPPORT =---------------------------------------------------------
-
-
- There is a forum on Compuserve for support (GO WINNT). You can down-
- load the latest list of compatible systems, and devices there. There
- is also a programming forum called (MSWIN32).
-
- Also there a a newsgroup on Usenet:
-
- comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.win32
-
-
- There are some files available at ftp.uu.net:
-
- ~ftp/vendor/microsoft/...
-
-
- -= COST =------------------------------------------------------------
-
-
- - $69 + $20 (freight) + state sales tax
- CD Rom disk (postscript docs on disk)
-
- - $399 + $40 (FREIGHT) + state sales tax
- CD Rom disk and hardcopy docs
-
- Call 1-800-227-4679 to order. I had to tell them that I received a
- mailing, and that there was a code above my name: QA7FA which means
- that I am a unix developer. I was told that there would be up to 4
- releases before the final production. The advertisement clearly
- states that I would receive a copy of the final Win NT SDK, and
- Operating system, but not the compiler.
-
- By purchasing the Win32 SDK you will receive preliminary and final
- versions of the Windows NT operating system and SDK tools in addition
- to preliminary versions of a C/C++ compiler.
-
- The cost of the Win32 SDK with printed documentation is $399. A
- CD-only version containing the documentation in PostScript format is
- also available for $69. (If you later decide that you want the
- hard-copy documentation from Microsoft, there is a coupon in the box
- for you to order it for $359 plus freight.) To order from within the
- U.S, please call Microsoft Developer Services at (800) 227-4679. In
- Canada, call (800) 563-9048. In all other countries, contact your
- local Microsoft representative.
-
- There will be a very broad Beta program in the early fall that is
- intended for end-users. The beta release will include full support
- for MS-DOS, 16-bit Windows and POSIX applications. Further informa-
- tion about the beta program will be posted to the WINNT forum on
- CompuServe when it becomes available.
-
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
- #####################################################################
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- FTP SITE FOR GAME CRACKS
-
- >From the rec.ibm.pc.games FAQ:
-
- Okay, I now have an anonymous ftp site for cracks, cheats, etc.
- Currently, my entire database of cracks is there in one big ugly
- file. Eventually, I will break it up into individual entries. Also,
- a fairly recent wanted list is in /pub/incoming/cracks/wanted, so if
- you have any cracks that are on the want list, please upload them to
- /pub/incoming/cracks. I will check all of the stuff that I can that
- comes into incoming, but I make no guarantees. Please read the
- README file for more details.
-
- The name?
-
- romulus.mercury.andrew.cmu.edu
- aka
- 128.2.35.159
-
- Have fun...
-
- P.S. For now, I'll just deal with IBM stuff. Please don't upload
- non-ibm-related things. Perhaps later, I'll consider it.
-
-
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
- #####################################################################
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-
- CYPHERPUNKS MAILING LIST
-
-
- The cypherpunks list is a forum for discussion about technological
- defenses for privacy in the digital domain.
-
- Cypherpunks assume privacy is a good thing and wish there were more
- of it. Cypherpunks acknowledge that those who want privacy must
- create it for themselves and not expect governments, corporations, or
- other large, faceless organizations to grant them privacy out of
- beneficence. Cypherpunks know that people have been creating their
- own privacy for centuries with whispers, envelopes, closed doors, and
- couriers. Cypherpunks do not seek to prevent other people from
- speaking about their experiences or their opinions.
-
- The most important means to the defense of privacy is encryption. To
- encrypt is to indicate the desire for privacy. But to encrypt with
- weak cryptography is to indicate not too much desire for privacy.
- Cypherpunks hope that all people desiring privacy will learn how best
- to defend it.
-
- Cypherpunks are therefore devoted to cryptography. Cypherpunks wish
- to learn about it, to teach it, to implement it, and to make more of
- it. Cypherpunks know that cryptographic protocols make social
- structures. Cypherpunks know how to attack a system and how to
- defend it. Cypherpunks know just how hard it is to make good
- cryptosystems.
-
- Cypherpunks love to practice. They love to play with public key
- cryptography. They love to play with anonymous and pseudonymous mail
- forwarding and delivery. They love to play with DC-nets. They love
- to play with secure communications of all kinds.
-
- Cypherpunks write code. They know that someone has to write code to
- defend privacy, and since it's their privacy, their going to write
- it. Cypherpunks publish their code so that their fellow cypherpunks
- may practice and play with it. Cypherpunks realize that security is
- not built in a day and are patient with incremental progress.
-
- Cypherpunks don't care if you don't like the software they write.
- Cypherpunks know that software can't be destroyed. Cypherpunks know
- that a widely dispersed system can't be shut down.
-
- Cypherpunks will make the networks safe for privacy.
-
- To subscribe send mail to:
-
- cypherpunks-request@toad.com
-
-
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
- #####################################################################
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-
- SNARFING FILES BY MAIL
-
- by Ram Raider
- (rr@underg.ucf.org)
-
- Okay, that great text file on Internet dialouts by mail is only
- available by ftp from ftp.foobar.org. You can no longer use the MIT
- Terminus server to get to your account at the Free Software
- Foundation. Your only remaining alternative is to sneak into the
- university computer center. This time you will get caught for sure.
-
- Wait a minute. Before you leave let me tell you how to do it with
- your mail account. Actually it is pretty easy to do using a combina-
- tion of an archie server, and the ftpmail service. Remember:
-
- Archie + ftpmail = files
-
- OK, now that you have the essential formula down, you may be
- wondering what archie, and ftpmail are. Before I go on, I must
- confess: all this info was taken directly from the help files of
- these services.
-
- Also DO NOT stop reading this article just because you do not
- have an Internet mail account. If you have a mail account almost
- ANYWHERE you can use this technique. This means from your Compu$erve
- account, or MCI mail account, or whatever, but not Prodigy. For the
- complete information on mail gateways send mail to:
-
- mail-server@pit-manager.mit.edu
-
- with the line:
-
- send usenet/comp.mail.misc/Inter-Network_Mail_Guide
-
- There. Now, not only can you get files from the Internet, but by
- mixing and matching mail gateways you can send mail to just about
- anyone with a computer and modem. For example from your MCI mail
- account you could send mail to someone on a fidonet node, by routing
- it through the Internet, etc.
-
- Getting back to snarfing files, I would also like to point out that
- by using the archie + ftpmail combination you can get binary files,
- too, not just text files. There are A LOT of files out there
- available on the Internet. Let us hope that you do not pay much for
- your mail account.
-
- ARCHIE
-
- Archie is a file locator service. To get a file you must know the
- exact location and name of your file. An archie server maintains a
- database of files available by anonymous ftp from Internet sites.
-
- To use it send mail to archie@<site.name> where site.name is one
- of the following sites:
-
- archie.mcgill.ca (Canada)
- archie.funet.fi (Finland/Eur.)
- archie.au (Aussie/NZ)
- archie.cs.huji.ac.il (Israel)
- archie.doc.ic.ac.uk (UK/Ireland)
- archie.sura.net (USA [MD])
- archie.unl.edu (USA [NE])
- archie.ans.net (USA [NY])
- archie.rutgers.edu (USA [NJ])
-
- To use the archie server you list commands in your mail message.
- Command lines begin in the first column. All lines that do not match
- a valid commands are ignored. If a message not containing any valid
- requests or an empty message is received, it will be considered to be
- a 'help' request. The server recognizes six commands:
-
- help Send this command to get a help textfile. Note that
- the "help" command is exclusive. All other commands
- in the same message are ignored.
-
- path <path> This lets the requester override the address that
- would normally be extracted from the header. If you
- do not hear from the archive server within oh, about
- 2 days, you might consider adding a "path" command to
- your request. The path describes how to mail a
- message from the archie server to your address.
- Archie servers are fully connected to the Internet.
-
- BITNET users can use the convention
-
- user@site.BITNET
-
- UUCP user can use the convention
-
- user@site.uucp
-
- This is actually quite useful. For example, I have an
- account that most of my mail goes to and comes from
- that I pay for, and another account from the local
- unix user group that I do not pay for. Using this
- command I can route the mail through the free
- account.
-
- prog <reg expr1> [<reg exp2> ...]
-
- A search of the "archie" database is performed with
- each <reg exp> in turn, and any matches found are
- returned to the REQUESTER. Note that multiple
- <reg exp> may be placed on one line.
-
- <reg exp> stands for "regular expression". Another
- name for it in the DOS world is wildcard. All it
- means is that you can search for files without
- knowing the exact name. '*' matches all occurrences,
- and '?' matches a single character.
-
- For example: prog dfp* would send a listing of all
- files and directories that begin with the letters
- 'dfp'.
-
- Any regular expression containing spaces must be
- quoted with single (') or double (") quotes.
-
- The searches are CASE SENSITIVE. The ability to
- change this will hopefully be added soon to the
- archie software.
-
- site <site name> | <site IP address>
-
- A listing of the given <site name> will be returned.
- The fully qualified domain name or IP address may be
- used.
-
- This command is used to limit your search to one
- particular site. Unfortunately it can not be used to
- get a listing of all the files at a site.
-
- compress ALL of your files in the current mail message will be
- "compressed" and "uuencoded". When you receive the
- reply, remove everything before the "begin" line and
- run it through "uudecode". This will produce a .Z
- file. You can then run "uncompress" on this file and
- get the results of your request.
-
- You can use this command to compress your return
- info. Again, useful if you pay for your mail.
-
- If you do not have uncompress, and/or uudecode
- program, you can get source code files in ascii
- format, and then compile them. For example, use the
- command 'prog uncompress.c', and use the ftpmail
- service to get the file. and then compile the source
- file to get the binary program. If you are unable
- to compile the program, see your local guru.
-
- Compress files are files that have been run through
- an algorithm to (you guess it) compress the file.
- This makes the file into a binary file. That is where
- the uudecode program comes in. This program converts
- a binary file into an ascii file so that it can be
- mailed. As a minimum you must get the uudecode
- utility to decode binary files if you want to get
- programs from the Internet, as well as text files.
-
- quit Nothing past this point is interpreted. This is
- provided so that the occasional lost soul whose
- signature contains a line that looks like a command
- can still use the server without getting a bogus
- response.
-
- Results are sorted by archive hostname in lexical order. You will get
- a listing back that looks like this:
-
- --
-
- Sorting by hostname
-
- Search request for 'Internet-Mail-Dialouts'
-
- Host ftp.foobar.org (130.43.2.3)
- Last updated 01:04 5 Sep 1992
-
- Location: /pub/G-Files/Hacking4$
- FILE rw-r--r-- 36466 Jun 30 18:12 Internet-Mail-Dialouts
-
- Host tmrc.mit.edu (128.23.2.4)
- Last updated 01:02 9 Sep 1992
-
- Location: /pub/Mirrors/foobar/G-Files/Hacking4$
- FILE rw-r--r-- 36466 Jun 30 18:12 Internet-Mail-Dialouts
-
- --
-
- FTPMAIL
-
- Anonymous FTP may be performed through the mail by various ftp-mail
- servers. Send mail to one of the sites listed below:
-
- bitftp@pucc.princeton.edu
- ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com
-
- These servers work exactly like the archie servers: you list the
- commands in the body of your mail message.
-
- Commands:
-
- reply <MAILADDR> set reply addr, since headers are usually
- wrong
-
- connect [HOST [USER [PASS]]] You must give a "connect" command,
- default host is the local ftpmail system,
- default user is anonymous, default password
- is your mail address.
-
- ascii files grabbed are printable ascii
-
- binary files grabbed are compressed, tar, both, or
- executable binaries, etc.
-
- chdir PLACE "get" and "ls" commands are relative to PLACE
- (only one CHDIR per ftpmail session, and it
- executes before any LS/DIR/GETs)
-
- compress compress binaries using Lempel-Ziv encoding
-
- compact compress binaries using Huffman encoding
-
- uuencode binary files will be mailed in uuencode
- format
-
- btoa binary files will be mailed in btoa format
-
- chunksize SIZE split files into SIZE-byte chunks
- (def: 64000)
-
- ls (or dir) PLACE short (long) directory listing
-
- get FILE get a file and have it mailed to you
- (max 10 GET's per ftpmail session)
-
- quit terminate script, ignore rest of mail message
- (use if you have a .signature or are a
- VMSMAIL user)
-
- Notes:
-
- You should send complaints to an ftpmail-request address. The
- postmaster of the ftpmail site does not handle ftpmail problems and
- you can save him or her the trouble of forwarding your complaints by
- just mailing them to the right address. The address for the ftpmail
- server sponsored by DEC is:
-
- ftpmail-request@uucp-gw-2.pa.dec.com
-
- The "Subject:" of your request will be contained in the "Subject:" of
- all of ftpmail's responses to you regarding that request. You can
- therefore use it to "tag" different requests if you have more than
- one outstanding at any given time.
-
- Binary files will not be compressed unless 'compress' or 'compact'
- command is given; use this if possible. Note that many files are
- already compressed. If you use any of the binary-file qualifiers
- (compress, compact, uuencode, btoa) without setting 'binary' first,
- your session will abort in error.
-
- Binary files will always be formatted into printable ASCII with
- "btoa" or "uuencode" (default is "btoa"). If you don't use the
- "binary" command, ftpmail will cheerfully try to mail you the binary
- data, which will absolutely, positively fail.
-
- All retrieved files will be split into chunks and mailed. The size
- of the chunk is 50000 characters unless you change it with the
- "chunksize" command. CompuServe users will need to set this to
- 49000.
-
- If you ask for more than 10 files in a session, you will receive an
- error message and your entire request will be rejected.
-
- There is no way to ask for only certain parts of a file to be sent.
- If you receive output from ftpmail that seems to be missing some
- parts, it is likely that some mailer between here and there has
- dropped them. You can try your request again, but chances are fairly
- good that if it is dropped once it will be dropped every time.
-
- There is no way to find out the status of things in the queue.
-
- There is no way to delete a request, so be sure that it has failed
- before you resubmit one or you will receive multiple copies of
- anything you have requested.
-
- There is no way to specify that your request should be tried only
- during certain hours of the day. If you need a file from a time-
- restricted FTP server, you probably cannot get it via ftpmail.
-
- Note that the "reply" or "answer" command in your mailer will not
- work for any mail you receive from FTPMAIL. To send requests to
- FTPMAIL, send an original mail message, not a reply.
-
- --
-
- Examples:
-
- -> connect to the local ftpmail system and get a root directory
- listing:
- connect
- ls
- quit
-
- -> connect to the local ftpmail system and get the README.ftp file
- that is located in the root directory:
- connect
- get README.ftp
- quit
-
- -> connect to local ftpmail system and get the gnuemacs sources:
- connect
- binary
- uuencode
- chdir /pub/GNU
- get emacs-18.58.tar.Z
- quit
-
- (Note: I do not recommend getting file this big using this method,
- but if its all ya got, its all ya got)
-
- -> connect to ftp.uu.net as anonymous and get a root directory list:
- connect ftp.uu.net
- dir
- quit
-
-
- You should expect the results to be mailed to you within a day or so.
-
- If all goes well you will get a message back like the one below:
-
- --
-
- We processed the following input from your mail message:
-
- reply underg.ucf.org!rr
- connect ftp.foobar.org
- chdir /pub/G-Files/Hacking4$
- get Internet-Mail-Dialouts
- quit
-
- We have entered the following request into our job queue
- as job number 716623942.5012:
-
- reply underg.ucf.org!rr
- connect ftp.foobar.org anonymous ftpmail/underg.ucf.org!rr
- chdir /pub/G-Files/Hacking4$
- get Internet-Mail-Dialouts uncompressed
- quit
-
- There are 841 jobs ahead of this one in our queue.
-
- [Misc notes deleted, or reproduced above...]
-
- -- Ftpmail Submission Transcript --
- <<< reply underg.ucf.org!rr
- >>> OK, will reply to <underg.ucf.org!rr>
- <<< connect ftp.foobar.org
- >>> Connect to ftp.foobar.org as anonymous ftpmail/underg.ucf.org!rr
- <<< chdir /pub/G-Files/Hacking4$
- >>> Will chdir to </pub/G-Files/Hacking4$> before I do anything else
- <<< get Internet-Mail-Dialouts
- >>> get Internet-Mail-Dialouts uncompressed
- <<< quit
- >>> Done - rest of message will be ignored
- >>> checking security of host `ftp.foobar.org'
- >>> host `ftp.foobar.org' is ok
- -- End Of Ftpmail Transcript --
- --
-
- And then shortly thereafter you will find the file in your
- mailbox. Note: Do not attempt this example at home. It will not work,
- as this example was totally faked.
-
-
- POSTSCRIPT
-
- You know what would be great? Multi-user play by e-mail games. A
- transcript might look like this:
-
- -- MailDungeon Submission Transcript --
- <<< reply underg.ucf.org!rr
- >>> OK, will reply to <underg.ucf.org!rr>
- <<< character Dirk-Daring
- >>> OK, character to be used: Dirk-Daring
- <<< go north
- >>> OK, Dirk-Daring went north
- <<< look around
- >>> You see a large 30X40 room. It is dark and musty. Boxes are
- >>> all around. It is damp, and you smell the stench of vermin.
- >>> Others Present:
- >>> EVIL WIZARD Haldor
- <<< fight monsters
- >>> No monsters present
- <<< fight enemies
- >>> You surprise Haldor
- >>> You swing short sword
- >>> You kill Haldor
- >>> Sending mail to Haldor's owner. Subject: Bad News...
- <<< get treasure
- >>> OK, get treasure.
- >>> You find small sack with 20 gold coins
- <<< quit
- >>> Done - rest of message will be ignored
- -- End Of MailDungeon Transcript --
-
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
- #####################################################################
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Well that is all for this issue. Please send your contributions.
- I print just about anything! Especially looking for a C++ tutorial
- series, and also guided tours of underground bulletin boards.
-
- --
-
- --
- dfp-req@underg.ucf.org (dfp-req)
-
- X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X
- Another file downloaded from: NIRVANAnet(tm)
-
- &TOTSE 510/935-5845 Walnut Creek, CA Taipan Enigma
- Burn This Flag 408/363-9766 San Jose, CA Zardoz
- realitycheck 415/666-0339 San Francisco, CA Poindexter Fortran
- Governed Anarchy 510/226-6656 Fremont, CA Eightball
- New Dork Sublime 805/823-1346 Tehachapi, CA Biffnix
- Lies Unlimited 801/278-2699 Salt Lake City, UT Mick Freen
- Atomic Books 410/669-4179 Baltimore, MD Baywolf
- Sea of Noise 203/886-1441 Norwich, CT Mr. Noise
- The Dojo 713/997-6351 Pearland, TX Yojimbo
- Frayed Ends of Sanity 503/965-6747 Cloverdale, OR Flatline
- The Ether Room 510/228-1146 Martinez, CA Tiny Little Super Guy
- Hacker Heaven 860/456-9266 Lebanon, CT The Visionary
- The Shaven Yak 510/672-6570 Clayton, CA Magic Man
- El Observador 408/372-9054 Salinas, CA El Observador
- Cool Beans! 415/648-7865 San Francisco, CA G.A. Ellsworth
- DUSK Til Dawn 604/746-5383 Cowichan Bay, BC Cyber Trollis
- The Great Abyss 510/482-5813 Oakland, CA Keymaster
-
- "Raw Data for Raw Nerves"
- X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X
-