From: Ulmo@Armory.Com (Brad Allen)
Subject: ba.internet Frequently Asked Questions vDRAFT
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 1992 22:42:44 -0700
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              ba.internet Frequently Asked Questions vDRAFT

This is a template of what will eventually be fleshed out into a full FAQ.

0.  Contents
1.  Purpose of ba.internet
2.  Purpose of FAQ
3.  What is the Internet?  Defined
4.  What resources are available on the Internet?  Programs
5.  How do I connect to the Internet?  Service providers
6.  What is USENET?  Defined
7.  What resources are available on USENET?
8.  What USENET programs are there?  USENET Software
9.  Where can I read USENET from?  USENET Sites
10. How do I connect to USENET?  USENET Feeds
    Good Books to Read
11. more faq answered ...
12. FAQ FTP Archive @ WireTap.Spies.Com:/ba.internet
13. (FTP via Mail)
14. FAQ updates

1.  Purpose of ba.internet

/*  If someone has the original ba.internet newgroup posting (probably
    from Eric E. Fair <fair@apple.com> (past fair@ucbvax.berkeley.edu)
    at some point), then please pass it along here.  Although the
    current purpose is probably more important than this older
    message, if the historical creation reason is the same as the
    current reason, then it's nice to have the original to post.
    Anyway, it would be a piece of history ... Ulmo */

    The newsgroup ba.internet is for networking resources, discussion,
    questions, answers and announcements for the (Greater) San Francisco
    Bay Area.  The focus tends to be on the Internet, USENET, UUCP, and
    related matters.

2.  Purpose of FAQ

    This FAQ is meant to guide people to whatever networking goal they
    wish to obtain.  It is meant to be complete, and as such I need
    people to send me <ulmo@armory.com> updates to this information as I
    can not possibly find out everything on my own, and this FAQ
    obviously will never be complete (therefore you must mail me).

    Before posting to ba.internet, one should typically know everything
    contained in this FAQ as well as most of the referenced archives.
    People should avoid posting questions which are answered adequately
    in this FAQ if at all possible.  However, discussion on ba.internet
    may and probably should happen whenever someone wishes to discuss
    things not congruent with this FAQ.  If people come up with
    something new which should be added or changed in the FAQ and the
    associated archives, someone please contact me to make sure I do so.

3.  What is the Internet?  Defined

    The Internet proper has two to three major scopes of meaning.
    Context of the word usually can reveal which meaning is being used,
    but those who can figure this out usually don't need to read what
    they're reading (-:.  The definition of `Internet' can be considered
    fuzzy, getting fuzzier all the time.

    <Global Internet>: Most broadly, `Internet' or `internet' implies
    all the data networks in the world which are interconnected (via
    gateways) to the large global network, along with the connected
    computing resources and all of its users.  The most supported
    function of this global Internet is communication between people via
    `electronic mail' or `email'.  In addition, many other derivations
    are supported, including information databases, the associated need
    for file transfer, etc.  This includes Internet DNS, BITNET, UUCP,
    FREEnet, X.400, and much more.  Average point-to-point communication
    times can be anywhere from instant to a few days, depending on the
    setup.

    <IP Internet>: Most narrowly, `The Internet' or `Internet' is the
    set of computing hardware and software which run the protocols
    derived from the ARPAnet, now known as the Internet protocols,
    which currently revolve heavily around IP (Internet Protocol), TCP
    (Transmission Control Protocol), UDP (Unreliable Datagram
    Protocol), the DNS (Domain Naming System), and usually support
    SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol), and FTP (File Transfer
    Protocol).  This does not include hosts only running BITNET, UUCP,
    X.400 or other networks running non-Internet protocols.  Average
    point-to-point packet delivery times on this network can be
    anywhere from a few nanoseconds to ten seconds during extremely
    busy parts of the day, but usually is less than half a second for
    most links.  Mail usually takes less than a minute per hop.

    [DNS Internet]: Less narrowly, `The Internet' or `Internet' is all
    the computers and mailable names with proper `Internet Domain
    Names', for example ucbvax.Berkeley.Edu, NISC.SRI.COM,
    AMES.ARC.NASA.Gov, Well.SF.CA.US, SCO.Com, IGC.Org, FUUG.FI,
    Someplace.SU, and Armory.Com.  These names are stored within the
    Internet Domain Naming System (DNS), and most names translate to
    computers which can receive email for users on that host with a
    simple address of the form "User@Mail.Domain.Name", e.g.
    "Ulmo@Armory.Com".  Average point-to-point mail delivery times on
    this network can be anywhere from a few seconds for quick IP
    sections to a few days for the slowest of MX (Mail Exchanger
    connected) hosts.

    In general, <IP Internet> is a subset of <DNS Internet>, and <DNS
    Internet> is a subset of <Global Internet>.

4.  What resources are available on the Internet?  Programs

    WAIS (Wide Area Information Server) allows a common access point
    for doing index searches and data retrieval for a heterogeneous
    set of databases.  [I find this program difficult to use and
    rather slow from the TELNET client on Quake.Think.Com, but that
    may be just the poor interface.]  Many people claim it is useful.
    [When I can find that hard-to-find discussion about a certain
    study on topic XYZ that I'm particuarily interested in, then I'll
    agree.  Anyone have a couple extra gig I can put some mailing list
    archives on with WAIS servers?]  This service looks like it will
    soon be indespensible in many ways.  Available from many hosts on
    the <IP Internet> via a `client program' and/or `telnet
    quake.think.com' login wais.

    Gopher - a hierarchical menu based retrieval system.  Similar to
    Info in Emacs but works across host boundaries.  Static database
    design makes interaction difficult.  It has many interesting
    databases in it.  It looks like you have to explore it for a while
    before you know where anything useful is.

    WHOIS: The Internet NIC maintains a database of contacts and people.
    TELNET NIC.DDN.MIL, mail server@nic.ddn.mil, or FTP NIC.DDN.MIL.
    FTP.NISC.SRI.COM also has much of this information locally,
    which is useful to avoid using the national backbone networks.

    Archie - a great way to look for filenames available by anonymous ftp.

    FTP - a whole lot of files available across the internet, many
    hosts with login `anonymous' password `user@mail.domain.name'.
    Available from many hosts connected to the <IP Internet> with the
    FTP protocol, and from all hosts on the <Global Internet> with
    FTP->Mail gateways (see section 13 below).
-----
    <IP Internet> technical? reference: ``Zen and the Art of Internet''
    by Brenden Kehoe (Prentice Hall, 1992)

    <Global Internet> Email reference: ``A Directory of Electronic Mail
    !%@:: Addressing and Networks'', Frey and Adams (O'Reilly & Assoc.,
    Sebastipol, CA) updated yearly and sometimes more often.  ISBN
    0-937175-15-3 $27.95

    UUCP (Unix-to-Unix-Copy-Protocol): Perhaps the most common and oldest
    transport protocol for sending files between machines on a Unix
    network [plagarized from <GaryG@Netcom.Com>]

    Another very well thought of book is John Quartermain's The
    Matrix.  I do not have the details handy the way I did with the
    O'Reilly book.  Quartermain's book is expensive though, about $58.
    Look before you buy.

    All the books I mention can likely be found in the Stanford Book
    Store and I know they can be found at any branch store of Computer
    Literacy.

[plagarized from Gary Greene <GaryG@Netcom.Com>]
-----

    BioNet

    See also USENET below for information on USENET.

5.  How do I connect to the Internet?  Service providers

    I once wrote the following message to USENET in answer to
    someone's question about finding an Internet account:

	> I'm looking for an internet account [...]

	What do you mean by `Internet'?  Does that include TCP/IP
	(i.e. FTP, TELNET, WAIS, etc.)?  Does it include USENET (NNTP,
	or UUCP?  Do you need all the `alt' or `clari' groups?)  Or
	does it just include mail (UUCP, MXs, and the like)?  Do you
	have your own computer?  Do you have lots of money?
	Obviously, there are a million variables.

	What it comes down to, I think, is the more money, time and
	knowledge you have, the more you can get; just about everyone,
	if they had all the money, time and knowledge possible to a
	human, would probably go for the really most spectacular thing
	down here.  As soon as you start to limit those things (time,
	money or knowledge), so many variables set in it's hard to
	really select the best one in a snap.  That's usually the
	case.  Unfortunately, in many cases it's hard to know what to
	ask for until you know what's available.

	I suggest you try to get the combination which offers you the
	absolute most, in terms of options.  After you have
	familiarized with what is available, you can then make a more
	refined choice of which systems to use.

	Use The Well, a2i, Netcom, or most good University systems
	for an introduction into what's available -- I personally
	think these would be good choices for novices trying to learn
	the most from scratch.  If you already have a home computer
	which you want to network at home, then there's even more to
	learn about (but the net product, if stable, would probably be
	much nicer and more convenient (especially if you have
	dedicated IP like hoptoad or something!))  Ask people -- what
	things are available for you to use?  Have someone demonstrate
	their use; some things may seem really useless until someone
	shows you a good use; then again, some things are fairly
	intuitive (although the programs may have steep learning
	curves).

    There are quite a few ways to connect to the Internet, each
    involving varying amounts of each of the above multiple
    definitions of the word `Internet'.  Because of this ambiguity, I
    will not attempt to seperate service providers into different
    sections; instead, I will list each one and what specific services
    they offer.  I will not list anything not part of the <Global
    Internet> (e.g. Prodigy).

    Legend:

      I = <DNS Internet> communications	i = <IP Internet> communications
      B = Connected to IP Backbone	b = IP backbone (regional or bigger)
      C = Can reach CIX	w/o AUP		c = connected to CIX (member/agrmnt)
      S = SLIP IP			s = dedicated IP datapipes >=56kbps
      T = Method of inexpensive access	t = TELNET
      U = USENET reading & writing	u = USENET feeds (* = special service)
      E = Email reading & writing	e = email feeds (MX, UUCP, X.400, etc.)
      V = email within 5 minutes	v = email within 30 seconds
      D = Local discussions		d = High quality local discussions
      F = File transfer programs	f = FTP archives (~ = not by FTP)
      X = X.400 gateway supported	x = Runs some ISO/OSI j..stuff

    Service Abbr.	Offerings		Contact or Automated Info
    -------------------	IiBbCcSsTtUuEeVvDdFfXx	-------------------------
    a2i (Rahul)		IiB C   TtUuEeVv? Ff	info@rahul.net
    ANS			 iBbCc s             ?	Susan <eldred@ans.net> ?
    Anterior (Fernwood)	IiB C S*TtUuEeVv  F ?	info@fernwood.mpk.ca.us
    AT&T Mail		I   C   ?   Ee??    Xx	?
    AlterNet (UUNET)	IiBbCcSs   u eV~  Ff x	Andrew P. <asp@uunet.uu.net> ?
    BARRNet		 iBbC Ss		?
    CerfNet		?
    BioNet		IiB C   T  *		?
    CIX			 iBbCc s             ?	info@cix.org
    ClariNet		IiB C   T  *		info@clarinet.com ?
    CompuServe		I   ?       E ??Dd ~	?
    FidoNet BBSs	I   ~   T UuEe  D~F~	see USENET comp.org.fidonet ?
    MCI Mail		I   C   T   Ee~ D F Xx	phone 1+800-MCI-MAIL ?
    Netcom		IiBb  SsTtUuEeVvD Ff	Dina@Netcom.Com /1408533UNIX
    PSI			IiBbCcSsTtUuEeV?	?
    PeaceNet (IGC)	I B C   Tt? Ee??Dd?~?	?
    SCruz.UCSC.EDU	I B     T  ~ eV ~~	info@scruz.ucsc.edu
    Spies		IiB C   TtUuE?VvD F	Andy <ARubin@Apple.Com>
    SprintLink		 iBbCcSs   ?EeV??   ??	Marti <mkiser@icm1.icp.net>
    The Well		IiB C   TtUuE VvDdF~	info@Well.SF.CA.US
    UCSC		IiB ?   TtUuE VvD~Ff	call UC Santa Cruz CATS office
    UCSF		IiBb?   TtUuE Vv??F?	call UC San Fran. computing
    Wet			I   C   T U E   DdF	?
    Zorch		I   C   T UuEe  ?	Scott@Zorch.SF-Bay.Org

    For further information, see section 12 below, where there is a
    file for each one of the above entities.  This is a quicker way to
    get a review of the organizations than calling each one
    individually, although it may be a slight bit less reliable & up
    to date.

6.  What is USENET?  Defined
7.  What resources are available on USENET?
8.  What USENET programs are there?  USENET Software
9.  Where can I read USENET from?  USENET Sites
10. How do I connect to USENET?  USENET Feeds
11. more faq answered ...

12. FAQ FTP Archive @ WireTap.Spies.Com:/ba.internet

    The ba.internet FTP archive contains two collections of
    information.  In directory "Services" is information about each
    Internet Service available to the Greater SF Bay Area (summarized
    in section 5 above).  In directory "Documentation" is general
    useful Internet documentation, very useful for someone new to or
    coming up to date with the Internet at large.  Most of this
    information is a sampling of files from various other FTP
    archives; I have tried to include pointers to the sources of all
    the information, so that you can track down the most up-to-date
    and complete information yourself.
    
    The ba.internet FTP archive is at Wiretap.Spies.Com [130.43.3.3].
    To access it from a Unix machine with unrestricted access to the
    <IP Internet>, type:

      ftp wiretap.spies.com
       or
      ftp 130.43.3.3

    When the system asks for login, answer with "anonymous", and when
    it asks for password, answer with your email address.

    If you don't have the ability to FTP to Wiretap.Spies.Com, then
    you can use the ftpmail gateway described below (section 13).

13. (FTP via Mail)

    To get files from the ba.internet FTP archive, compose an email
    message addressed to ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com with the contents of
    the message patterned after a variation of the following:

       connect wiretap.spies.com
       chdir ba.internet
       ls
       get README
       ls Services
       ls Services/Well
       get Services/Well/Brochure
       ls Documentation
              
14. FAQ updates