From: brendan@cs.widener.edu (Brendan Kehoe)
Newsgroups: misc.books.technical
Subject: Re: How Does The Net Work?
Date: 23 Jul 1992 09:34:30 -0400
Organization: Widener University Computer Science Dept, Chester PA
NNTP-Posting-Host: betty.cs.widener.edu
Keywords: internet, email

stong@ariel.its.unimelb.EDU.AU wrote:
>In article <10214@scott.ed.ac.uk> holger@cogsci.ed.ac.uk (Holger Hank) writes:
>>are there any books around which explain how computer-networks (like
>>this one) function?
>
>_Zen and the Art of the Internet : A Beginner's Guide to the Internet_  1st ed.
>
>Send e-mail to brendan@cs.widener.edu to ask for a copy.

Before I get deluged, below are the instructions for retrieving the
first edition.  Also appended is the announcement of the second
edition (it's dated, it talks in perspective of the beginning of this
month).  The book began to ship this past Friday.

--
These instructions are for retrieving the Postscript or TeX DVI
versions of the first edition of Zen.  There are no officially
released (by me) ASCII versions yet.

If you're on BITNET, you'll want to send mail to bitftp@pucc with the line
	help
in the body of your message, to get instructions on FTPing it thru mail.
If you're not on BITNET, but are limited to email, write to
ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com with a similar body, to receive instructions.

If you don't have access to FTP or don't feel comfortable with bitftp
and ftpmail, write to info-server@nnsc.nsf.net with the body of your
message containing

   request: nsfnet
   topic: zen-1.0.PS
   topic: zen.readme

and it'll return the selected files.

For FTP, here's whatcha need to do: first, type

	ftp ftp.cs.widener.edu

and when it gives you the 'Name:' prompt, type

	anonymous

If the name ftp.cs.widener.edu failed, try 147.31.254.132 instead.
Then, with the Password: prompt, just give it your email address;
it doesn't really matter what you type here...using your addr is just
the tradition.  Anyway, you'll get in and be left sitting at the
prompt.  Type

	cd pub/zen

and do `dir'; you'll see the files listed there.  If you want the
PostScript version, type

	get zen-1.0.PS

If you're on a system that only allows one period in a filename, use

	get zen-1-0.PS

for example.  If you want the .DVI (a TeX dvi file) file, type

	binary
	get zen-1.0.dvi

(binary so it doesn't monkey with anything in the file).  The .tar.Z
file has the TeX source to the book, as well as the two other files
(PS and dvi); to get that, type

	binary
	get zen-1.0.tar.Z

instead.  Once the file's finished transferring, type

	quit

to get out.
-- cut --

-- cut --
Zen and the Art of the Internet: A Beginner's Guide---your navigator's
guide to the many twists and turns that come with being comfortable
with the Internet.  Published by Prentice Hall, its Second Edition is
due to begin shipping in the middle of July (a couple of weeks).  It
has an ISBN of 0-13-010778-6, and it costs $22.  There are discounts
available for large quantity and educational orders.

Zen is primarily written for people that're comfortable with
computers, but may not have had much (if any) exposure to networks in
general.  No one operating system is targeted; it's purposely
"Operating System-neutral."  Whether you use VM, VMS, Unix, DOS, or
Billy's Virtual Machine, you should find this information useful.
Even if you've been using the Net for years, you'll probably find
something in Zen that you hadn't realized existed before.

Zen discusses how to decypher domain names; use email well; what
telnet is and what's available using it; Usenet news (including a lot
on proper netiquette) ; FTP & archie; the various services that're out
there, in their many forms; and a variety of other topics.

It also features a chapter (my personal favorite) called ``What You'll
Hear About''.  Therein are described the different organizations that
are concerned with or active on the Net, happenings like the Internet
Worm and Cliff Stoll's wily hacker, and discussions of other net lore
as well.  I think you'll find Zen to be a good read, and not anything
like the dry technical manuals that so often proliferate our book
shelves.  The first edition was received incredibly well by the Net in
the past few months.  (Send mail to archive-server@cs.widener.edu with
the command `send zen hints' in the body of your message to get
instructions on how to get the first edition.  It will continue to be
distributed, irregardless of what future editions may come out.)

Opened with a foreword by Ed Vielmetti, Vice President of MSEN, the
second edition offers roughly 30 pages of new information, and has
been completely "refinished" front to back, with every page rewritten
or changed in some way.  You'll find it to be much cleaner and more
complete than the first; everything in the first edition has been
supplemented or improved.  It sports a more complete glossary, an
extensive bibliography, and a number of other reference features.
I've directly incorporated the suggestions of dozens of folks on the
net, in the hopes of making it exactly the kind of book you need.

Let Zen be your guide through Cyberspace.  Comments on either edition
are welcome; please send them to guide-bugs@cs.widener.edu.
-- cut --
-- 
Brendan Kehoe, Sun Network Manager                      brendan@cs.widener.edu
Widener University                                                 Chester, PA
                                              At Bennigan's, EVERYONE gets it!
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