From: lionel@quark.enet.dec.com (Steve Lionel)
Subject: Internet access to on-line DEC product information
Reply-To: lionel@quark.enet.dec.com (Steve Lionel)
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation, Nashua NH
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1993 19:10:44 GMT


I just got the following notice with the encouragement to "spread it around",
so here it is.  (Assuming there aren't eleventy-bazillion copies posted
already.) - Steve


Subject: Online, Internet-Accessible Product Information

Digital is pleased to announce the availability of online, Internet-
accessible product information. The available information spans a
diverse range -- from information sheets, to technical overviews,
performance summaries, brochures, software product descriptions (SPD's),
whitepapers, presentations and even the Systems and Options Catalog.  

All information is in either ASCII text or Postscript form. Each
document has an abstract file (.abs) that gives a single paragraph
overview of the document. It also contains the formal document name,
when the document was released and, if in Postscript form, how many
pages of Postscript. 

The information hierarchy is divided into a number of subdirectories and
documents are accessible by either anonymous ftp or Email. An index is 
available for each subdirectory. Besides the index file, all other
files carry an extension of:

	.ps	Postscript
	.txt	ASCII Text
	.abs	Abstract

Postscript file larger than 75k are also available in a compressed
file format with a .ps.Z extension.  

Attached is the high-level index in found in the /pub/DEC/DECinfo
subdirectory and Internet access instructions.

Be sure to check the index file and the README file in the DECinfo directory 
for a current overview of the subdirectories and their contents.

=============================================================================
/pub/DEC/DECinfo/index file
=============================================================================

DECnews-PR
	This subdirectory contains all Digital press releases since 8/01/92.
	The press releases are available as ASCII files. These same press
	releases are posted to the biz.dec newsgroup. If you prefer to have
	press releases send to you directly via e-mail, you can send mail 
	to decnews-pr@pa.dec.com with a subject line as follows:
	Subject: subscribe decnews-pr

DECnews-UNIX
	This subdirectory contains the full text version of articles 
	referenced by the DECnews for UNIX Newsletter, as well as back issues 
	of the newsletter. The newsletter is distributed via e-mail every 
	3 weeks and provides capsule summaries of products and services of 
	relevance to the UNIX market. To subscribe to this newsletter, send 
	mail to decnews-unix@pa.dec.com with a subject line as follows:
	Subject: subscribe abstract

SOC	
	This subdirectory contains all the Digital Systems and Options 
	Catalog (SOC) broken up into smaller files by chapters and/or 
	products. Files are all in Postscript form.

SPD
	This subdirectory contains all of the Digital Software Product 
	Descriptions (SPD). They are all in ASCII text form.

brochure
	This subdirectory contains various brochures. Brochures are 
	typically available as Postscript files. 

document
	This subdirectory contains assorted documents of interest to the
	Digital community - installation guides, compatibility guides,
	porting guides, etc. Most documents are typically in Postscript 
	form.

infosheet
	This subdirectory contains product-specific infosheets for both
	software products and hardware platforms. Infosheets are usually
	available in both text and Postscript form.

misc
	This subdirectory contains assorted charts, graphics, posters, and
	other graphics that can be used to better visualize and understand
	Digital's products.

performance-summary
	This subdirectory contains performance data for both workstation 
	and server products. Performance summaries are typically in 
	Postscript.

presentation
	This subdirectory contains commonly used presentations that can 
	be used with a larger group to explain product functionality, 
	position products and describe strategy. Presentation are in 
	Postscript.

technical-overview
	This subdirectory contains technical overviews of Digital 
	products, both hardware and software. Technical overviews are 
	in Postscript.

whitepaper
	This subdirectory contains whitepapers on Digital products and 
	generic issues in the computer industry. Whitepapers are in both 
	Postscript and text form.

===============================================================================
Internet Access Instructions
===============================================================================

All documents are are kept online at gatekeeper.dec.com in the 
/pub/DEC/DECinfo directory.

These documents can be accessed electronically by either ftpmail 
or anonymous ftp from gatekeeper.

Instructions for using anonymous ftp to copy files:

    1. Use the INTERNET application, FTP, to connect to gatekeeper.dec.com.
       (16.1.0.2 is the address if you don't have it defined)

    2. Login as user: anonymous

    3. Enter a password.  You may use any string as the password, but we
       prefer that you use your e-mail address.

    4. Change to the appropriate DECinfo directory; 
       (for example: cd pub/DEC/DECinfo/infosheet)

    5. Use the get command to get the file DECnsr V2.0 abstract
       (for example: get decnsr-v2p0.abs)

    Note that the username in step 2, the directory in step 4, and the
    filename in step 5 are case sensitive; they must be typed as shown.
    Also, ".txt" must be used instead of " txt" (space txt).

Instructions for using ftpmail to copy files:

    1. Address the mail message to ftpmail@gatekeeper.dec.com. 

    2. Ignore the subject line.

    3. Include in the first line of the body the word "connect".

    4. Include get commands for each document required.
	(for example: get /pub/DEC/DECinfo/infosheet/decnsr-v2p0.ps)

    5. The body of a typical request might look like:

	connect
	get /pub/DEC/DECinfo/SPD/index
	get /pub/DEC/DECinfo/infosheet/decnsr-v2p0.ps
	get /pub/DEC/DECinfo/brochure/unix-from-digital.txt

    Note that results will be mailed to you later in the day as requests 
    are queued up and processed every 30 minutes.  For more timely access, 
    consider using anonymous ftp.


--

Steve Lionel                    lionel@quark.enet.dec.com
SDT Languages Group
Digital Equipment Corporation
110 Spit Brook Road
Nashua, NH 03062