Internet and TCP/IP Tools Primer                              Gary C. Kessler
INTERNET DRAFT                                   BBN Systems and Technologies
Expires March 27, 1997                                      Steven D. Shepard
                                                        Hill Associates, Inc.
                                                           September 27, 1996


             A Primer On Internet and TCP/IP Tools and Utilities
                      <draft-kessler-primer-v2-00.txt>


Status of this Memo

  This document is an Internet-Draft.  Internet-Drafts are working
  documents of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), its areas,
  and its working groups.  Note that other groups may also distribute
  working documents as Internet-Drafts.

  Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
  and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
  time.  It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
  material or to cite them other than as ``work in progress.''

  To learn the current status of any Internet-Draft, please check the
  ``1id-abstracts.txt'' listing contained in the Internet-Drafts Shadow
  Directories on ftp.is.co.za (Africa), nic.nordu.net (Europe),
  munnari.oz.au (Pacific Rim), ds.internic.net (US East Coast), or
  ftp.isi.edu (US West Coast).


Table of Contents

  1. Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2
  2. Nomenclature  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2
  3. Finding Information About Internet Hosts and Domains. . . . . . . . . .3
  3.1. NSLOOKUP  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
  3.2. Ping  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
  3.3. Finger  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
  3.4. Traceroute  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
  4. The Two Fundamental Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
  4.1. TELNET  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
  4.2. FTP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
  5. User Database Lookup Tools  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
  5.1. WHOIS/NICNAME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
  5.2. KNOWBOT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
  6. Information Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
  6.1. Archie  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
  6.2. Gopher  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
  6.3. VERONICA, JUGHEAD, and WAIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
  7. The World Wide Web. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
  7.1. Uniform Resource Locator Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
  7.2. User Directories on the Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
  7.3. Other Service Accessible Via the Web. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
  8. Discussion Lists and Newsgroups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
  8.1. Internet Discussion Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
  8.2. LISTSERV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
  8.3. Majordomo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
  8.4. Usenet  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
  8.5 Finding Discussion Lists and Newsgroups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
  9. Internet Documentation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
  9.1. Request for Comments (RFCs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
  9.2. Internet Standards  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
  9.3. For Your Information Documents  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
  9.4. RARE Technical Reports  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
  10. Perusing the Internet  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
  11. Acronyms and Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
  12. Security Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
  13. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
  14. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
  15. Authors' Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45


1. Introduction

  This memo is an introductory guide to some of the TCP/IP and Internet
  tools and utilities that allow users to access the wide variety of
  information on the network, from determining if a particular host is
  up to viewing a multimedia thesis on foreign policy. It also
  describes discussion lists accessible from the Internet, ways to
  obtain Internet and TCP/IP documents, and some resources that help
  users weave their way through the Internet. This memo may be used as
  a tutorial for individual self-learning, a step-by-step laboratory
  manual for a course, or as the basis for a site's users manual. It is
  intended as a basic guide only and will refer to other sources for
  more detailed information.


2. Nomenclature

  The following sections provide descriptions and detailed examples of
  several TCP/IP utilities and applications, including the reproduction
  of actual sessions using these utilities (with some extraneous
  information removed). Each section describes a single TCP/IP-based
  tool, it's application, and, in some cases, how it works. The text
  description is usually followed by an actual sample session.

  The sample dialogues shown below were obtained from a variety of
  systems, including AIX on an IBM RS/6000, Linux on an Intel 486,
  Multinet TCP/IP on a VAX running VMS, and FTP Software's OnNet
  (formerly PC/TCP) running on a DOS/Windows PC. While the examples
  below can be used as a guide to using and learning about the
  capabilities of these tools, the reader should understand that not
  all of these utilities may be found at all TCP/IP hosts nor in all
  commercial software packages. Furthermore, the user interface for
  different packages will be different and the actual command line may
  appear differently than shown here; this will be particularly true
  for graphical user interfaces running over Windows, X-Windows, OS/2,
  or Macintosh systems. Windows-based sessions are not shown in this
  RFC because of the desire to have a text version of this document; in
  addition, most GUI-based TCP/IP packages obscure some of the detail
  that is essential for understanding what is really happening when you
  click on a button or drag a file. The Internet has many exciting
  things to offer but standardized interfaces to the protocols is not
  yet one of them!  This guide will not provide any detail or
  motivation about the Internet Protocol Suite; more information about
  the TCP/IP protocols and related issues may be found in RFC 1180
  [18], Comer [22], Feit [23], Kessler [30], and Stevens [aa].

  In the descriptions below, commands are shown in a Courier font
  (Postscript only); items appearing in square brackets ([]) are
  optional, the vertical-bar (|) means "or," parameters appearing with
  no brackets or within curly brackets ({}) are mandatory, and
  parameter names that need to be replaced with a specific value will
  be shown in italics (Postscript version) or within angle brackets
  (<>, text version). In the sample dialogues, user input is in bold
  (Postscript version) or denoted with asterisks (**) in the margin
  (text version).


3. Finding Information About Internet Hosts and Domains

  There are several tools that let you learn information about Internet
  hosts and domains. These tools provide the ability for an application
  or a user to perform host name/address reconciliation (NSLOOKUP),
  determine whether another host is up and available (PING), learn
  about another host's users (Finger), and learn the route that packets
  will take to another host (Traceroute).

3.1. NSLOOKUP

  NSLOOKUP is the name server lookup program that comes with many
  TCP/IP software packages. A user can use NSLOOKUP to examine entries
  in the Domain Name System (DNS) database that pertain to a particular
  host or domain; one common use is to determine a host system's IP
  address from its name or the host's name from its IP address. The
  general form of the command to make a single query is:

       nslookup [<IP_address>|<host_name>]

  If the program is started without any parameters, the user will be
  prompted for input; the user can enter either an IP address or host
  name at that time, and the program will respond with the name and
  address of the default name sever, the name server actually used to
  resolve each request, and the IP address and host name that was
  queried. Exit is used to quit the NSLOOKUP application.

  Three simple queries are shown in the example below:

  1  Requests the address of the host named www.hill.com, the World Wide
     Web server at Hill Associates). As it turns out, this is not the
     true name of the host, but an alias. The full name of the host and
     the IP address are listed by NSLOOKUP.

  2  Requests the address of host syrup.hill.com, which is the same host
     as in the first query. Note that NSLOOKUP provides a "non-
     authoritative" answer. Since NSLOOKUP just queried this same
     address, the information is still in its cache memory. Rather than
     send additional messages to the name server, the answer is one that
     it remembers from before; the server didn't look up the information
     again, however, so it is not guaranteed to still be accurate
     (because the information might have changed within the last few
     milliseconds!).

  3  Requests the name of the host with the given IP address. The result
     points to the Internet gateway to Australia, munnari.oz.au.

  One additional query is shown in the dialogue below. NSLOOKUP
  examines information that is stored by the DNS. The default NSLOOKUP
  queries examine basic address records (called "A records") to
  reconcile the host name and IP address, although other information is
  also available. In the final query below, for example, the user wants
  to know where electronic mail addressed to the hill.com domain
  actually gets delivered, since hill.com is not the true name of an
  actual host. This is accomplished by changing the query type to look
  for mail exchange (MX) records by issuing a set type command (which
  must be in lower case). The query shows that mail addressed to
  hill.com is actually sent to a mail server called mail.hill.com. If
  that system is not available, mail delivery will be attempted to
  first mailme.hill.com and then to netcomsv.netcom.com; the order of
  these attempts is controlled by the "preference" value. This query
  also returns the name of the domain's name servers and all associated
  IP addresses.

  The DNS is beyond the scope of this introduction, although more
  information about the concepts and structure of the DNS can be found
  in STD 13/RFC 1034 [12] and RFC 1591 [13]. The help command can be
  issued at the program prompt for information about NSLOOKUP's more
  advanced commands.

  TECHNICAL NOTE: There are other tools that might be available on your
  system or with your software for examining the DNS. Alternatives to
  NSLOOKUP include HOST and DIG.

  ====================================================================
**   SMCVAX$ nslookup

  Default Server:  ns1.ner.bbnplanet.net
  Address:  192.52.71.5

**   > www.hill.com
  Name:    syrup.hill.com
  Address:  199.182.20.3
  Aliases:  www.hill.com

**   > syrup.hill.com
  Non-authoritative answer:
  Name:    syrup.hill.com
  Address:  199.182.20.3

**   > 128.250.1.21
  Name:    munnari.OZ.AU
  Address:  128.250.1.21

**   > set type=MX
**   > hill.com
  hill.com  preference = 20, mail exchanger = mail.hill.com
  hill.com  preference = 40, mail exchanger = mailme.hill.com
  hill.com  preference = 60, mail exchanger = netcomsv.netcom.com
  hill.com  nameserver = nameme.hill.com
  hill.com  nameserver = ns1.noc.netcom.net
  hill.com  nameserver = ns.netcom.com
  mail.hill.com  internet address = 199.182.20.4
  mailme.hill.com     internet address = 199.182.20.3
  netcomsv.netcom.com internet address = 192.100.81.101
  ns1.noc.netcom.net  internet address = 204.31.1.1
  ns.netcom.com  internet address = 192.100.81.105

**   > exit
  SMCVAX$
  ====================================================================

3.2. Ping

  Ping, reportedly an acronym for the Packet Internetwork Groper, is
  one of the most widely available tools bundled with TCP/IP software
  packages. Ping uses a series of Internet Control Message Protocol
  (ICMP) [bb] Echo messages to determine if a remote host is active or
  inactive, and to determine the round-trip delay in communicating with
  it.

  A common form of the Ping command, showing some of the more commonly
  available options that are of use to general users, is:

     ping [-q] [-v] [-R] [-c <Count>] [-i <Wait>] [-s <PacketSize>]
<Host>

  where:
  -q   Quiet output; nothing is displayed except summary lines
       at startup and completion

  -v   Verbose output, which lists ICMP packets that are
       received in addition to Echo Responses

  -R   Record route option; includes the RECORD_ROUTE option in
       the Echo Request packet and displays the route buffer on
       returned packets

  -c Count  Specifies the number of Echo Requests to be sent before
            concluding test (default is to run until interrupted with
            a control-C)

  -i Wait   Indicates the number of seconds to wait between sending
            each packet (default = 1)

  -s PacketSize  Specifies the number of data bytes to be sent; the
                 total ICMP packet size will be PacketSize+8 bytes
                 due to the ICMP header (default = 56, or a 64 byte
                 packet)

  Host IP address or host name of target system

  In the first example below, the user pings the host
  thumper.bellcore.com, requesting that 6 (-c) messages be sent, each
  containing 64 bytes (-s) of user data. The display shows the
  round-trip delay of each Echo message returned to the sending host;
  at the end of the test, summary statistics are displayed.

  In the second example, the user pings the host smcvax.smcvt.edu,
  requesting that 10 messages be sent in quite mode (-q). In this case,
  a summary is printed at the conclusion of the test and individual
  responses are not listed.


  TECHNICAL NOTE: Older versions of the Ping command, which are still
  available on some systems, had the following general format:

       ping [-s] {<IP_address>|<host_name>} [<PacketSize>] [<Count>]

  In this form, optional "-s" string tells the system to continually
  send an ICMP Echo message every second; the optional PacketSize
  parameter specifies the number of bytes in the Echo message (the
  message will contain PacketSize-8 bytes of data; the default is 56
  bytes of data and a 64 byte message); and the optional Count
  parameter indicates the number of Echo messages to send before
  concluding the test (the default is to run the test continuously
  until interrupted).

  ====================================================================
**   syrup:/home$ ping -c 6 -s 64 thumper.bellcore.com
  PING thumper.bellcore.com (128.96.41.1): 64 data bytes
  72 bytes from 128.96.41.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=240 time=641.8 ms
  72 bytes from 128.96.41.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=240 time=1072.7 ms
  72 bytes from 128.96.41.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=240 time=1447.4 ms
  72 bytes from 128.96.41.1: icmp_seq=4 ttl=240 time=758.5 ms
  72 bytes from 128.96.41.1: icmp_seq=5 ttl=240 time=482.1 ms

  --- thumper.bellcore.com ping statistics ---
  6 packets transmitted, 5 packets received, 16% packet loss
  round-trip min/avg/max = 482.1/880.5/1447.4 ms

**   syrup:/home$ ping -q -c 10 smcvax.smcvt.edu
  PING smcvax.smcvt.edu (192.80.64.1): 56 data bytes

  --- smcvax.smcvt.edu ping statistics ---
  10 packets transmitted, 8 packets received, 20% packet loss
  round-trip min/avg/max = 217.8/246.4/301.5 ms
  ====================================================================

3.3. Finger

  The Finger program may be used to find out who is logged in on
  another system or to find out detailed information about a specific
  user. This command has also introduced a brand new verb; fingering
  someone on the Internet is not necessarily a rude thing to do!  The
  Finger User Information Protocol is described in RFC 1288 [20]. The
  most general format of the Finger command is:

       finger [<username>]@<host_name>

  The first example below shows the result of fingering an individual
  user at a remote system. The first line of the response shows the
  username, the user's real name, their process identifier,
  application, and terminal port number. Additional information may be
  supplied at the option of the user in "plan" and/or "project" files
  that they supply; these files are often named PLAN.TXT or
  PROJECT.TXT, respectively, and reside in a user's root directory (or
  somewhere in an appropriate search path).

  The second example shows the result of fingering a remote system.
  This lists all of the processes currently running at the fingered
  system or other information, depending upon how the remote system's
  administrator set up the system to respond to the Finger command.

  ====================================================================
**   C:\> finger kumquat@smcvax.smcvt.edu
  [smcvax.smcvt.edu]
  KUMQUAT  Gary Kessler            KUMQUAT not logged in
  Last login Fri 16-Sep-1996 3:47PM-EDT

  Plan:

  ===================================================================
  Gary C. Kessler
  Adjunct Faculty Member, Graduate College

  INTERNET:  kumquat@smcvt.edu
  ===================================================================

**   C:\> finger @smcvax.smcvt.edu
  [smcvax.smcvt.edu]
  Tuesday, September 17, 1996 10:12AM-EDT   Up 30 09:40:18
  5+1 Jobs on SMCVAX  Load ave  0.16 0.19 0.21

   User    Personal Name     Subsys       Terminal  Console Location
  GOODWIN  Dave Goodwin      LYNX           6.NTY2  waldo.smcvt.edu
  JAT      John Tronoan      TELNET         1.TXA5
  HELPDESK System Manager    EDT         2:08.NTY4  [199.93.35.182]
  SMITH    Lorraine Smith    PINE            .NTY3  [199.93.34.139]
  SYSTEM   System Manager    MAIL          23.OPA0  The VAX Console
                              *DCL*     SMCVX1$OPA0  The VAX Console
  ====================================================================

3.4. Traceroute

  Traceroute is another common TCP/IP tool, this one allowing users to
  learn about the route that packets take from their local host to a
  remote host. Although used often by network and system managers as a
  simple, yet powerful, debugging tool, traceroute can be used by end
  users to learn something about the ever-changing structure of the
  Internet.

  The classic Traceroute command has the following general format
  (where "#" represents a positive integer value associated with the
  qualifier):

     traceroute [-m <#>] [-q <#>] [-w <#>] [-p <#>]
            {<IP_address>|<host_name>}

  where     -m   is the maximum allowable TTL value, measured as the
                 number of hops allowed before the program terminates
                 (default = 30)
       -q   is the number of UDP packets that will be sent with each
            time-to-live setting (default = 3)
       -w   is the amount of time, in seconds, to wait for an answer
            from a particular router before giving up (default = 5)
       -p   is the invalid port address at the remote host (default =
            33434)

  The Traceroute example below shows the route between a host at St.
  Michael's College (domain smcvt.edu) and a host at Hill Associates
  (www.hill.com), both located in Colchester, VT but served by
  different Internet service providers (ISP).

  1  St. Michael's College is connected to the Internet via BBN Planet;
     since the mid-1980s, BBN operated the NSF's regional ISP, called
     the New England Academic and Research Network (NEARNET), which was
     renamed in 1994. The first hop, then, goes to St. Mike's BBN Planet
     gateway router (smc.bbnplanet.net). The next hop goes to another
     BBN Planet router (denoted here only by IP address since a name was
     not assigned to the device), until the packet reaches the BBN
     Planet T3 backbone.

  2  The packet takes two hops through routers at BBN Planet's Cambridge
     (MA) facility and is then forwarded to BBN Planet in New York City,
     where the packet takes four more hops. The packet is then forwarded
     to BBN Planet in College Park (MD).

  3  The packet is sent to BBN Planet's router at MAE-East, MFS
     Datanet's Network Access Point (NAP) in Washington, D.C. MAE stands
     for Metropolitan Area Exchange, and is a Fiber Distributed Data
     Interface (FDDI) ring interconnecting routers from subscribing
     ISPs. The packet is then forwarded to NETCOM, Hill Associates' ISP.

  4  The packet now travels through NETCOM's T3 backbone, following
     links from Washington, D.C. to Chicago to Santa Clara (CA), to San
     Jose (CA).

  5  The packet is now sent to Hill Associates router (again, a system
     designated only by an IP address since the NETCOM side of the
     router was not named) and then passed to the target system. Note
     that the host's real name is not www.hill.com, but syrup.hill.com.

  TECHNICAL NOTE: The original version of Traceroute works by sending a
  sequence of User Datagram Protocol (UDP) datagrams to an invalid port
  address at the remote host. Using the default settings, three
  datagrams are sent, each with a Time-To-Live (TTL) field value set to
  one. The TTL value of 1 causes the datagram to "timeout" as soon as
  it hits the first router in the path; this router will then respond
  with an ICMP Time Exceeded Message (TEM) indicating that the datagram
  has expired. Another three UDP messages are now sent, each with the
  TTL value set to 2, which causes the second router to return ICMP
  TEMs. This process continues until the packets actually reach the
  other destination. Since these datagrams are trying to access an
  invalid port at the destination host, ICMP Destination Unreachable
  Messages are returned indicating an unreachable port; this event
  signals the Traceroute program that it is finished!  The Traceroute
  program displays the round-trip delay associated with each of the
  attempts. (Note that some current implementations of Traceroute use
  the Record-Route option in IP rather than the method described
  above.)

  As an aside, Traceroute did not begin life as a general-purpose
  utility, but as a quick-and-dirty debugging aid used to find a
  routing problem. The code (complete with comments!) is available by
  anonymous FTP in the file traceroute.tar.Z from the host
  ftp.ee.lbl.gov. (See Section 4.2 for a discussion of anonymous FTP.)

  ====================================================================
**   SMCVAX$ traceroute www.hill.com
  traceroute to syrup.hill.com (199.182.20.3), 30 hops max, 38 byte
  packets
   1  smc.bbnplanet.net (192.80.64.5)  10 ms  0 ms  0 ms
   2  131.192.48.105 (131.192.48.105)  0 ms  10 ms  10 ms
   3  cambridge1-cr4.bbnplanet.net (199.94.204.77)  40 ms  40 ms  50 ms
   4  cambridge1-br1.bbnplanet.net (4.0.1.205)  30 ms  50 ms  50 ms
   5  nyc1-br2.bbnplanet.net (4.0.1.121)  60 ms  60 ms  40 ms
   6  nyc2-br2.bbnplanet.net (4.0.1.154)  60 ms  50 ms  60 ms
   7  nyc2-br2.bbnplanet.net (4.0.1.154)  60 ms  40 ms  50 ms
   8  nyc2-br1.bbnplanet.net (4.0.1.54)  70 ms  60 ms  30 ms
   9  collegepk-br2.bbnplanet.net (4.0.1.21)  50 ms  50 ms  40 ms
  10  maeeast.bbnplanet.net (4.0.1.18)  200 ms  170 ms  210 ms
  11  fddi.mae-east.netcom.net (192.41.177.210)  60 ms  50 ms  70 ms
  12  t3-2.was-dc-gw1.netcom.net (163.179.220.181)  70 ms  60 ms  50 ms
  13  t3-2.chw-il-gw1.netcom.net (163.179.220.186)  70 ms  80 ms  80 ms
  14  t3-2.scl-ca-gw1.netcom.net (163.179.220.190)  140 ms  110 ms  160
  ms
  15  t3-1.sjx-ca-gw1.netcom.net (163.179.220.193)  120 ms  130 ms  120
  ms
  16  198.211.141.8 (198.211.141.8)  220 ms  260 ms  240 ms
  17  syrup.hill.com (199.182.20.3)  220 ms  240 ms  219 ms
  SMCVAX$
  ====================================================================


4. The Two Fundamental Tools

  The two most basic tools for Internet applications are TELNET and the
  File Transfer Protocol (FTP). TELNET allows a user to login to a
  remote host over a TCP/IP network, while FTP, as the name implies,
  allows a user to move files between two TCP/IP hosts. These two
  utilities date back to the very early days of the ARPANET.

4.1. TELNET

  TELNET [17] is TCP/IP's virtual terminal protocol. Using TELNET, a
  user connected to one host can login to another host, appearing like
  a directly-attached terminal at the remote system; this is TCP/IP's
  definition of a virtual terminal. The general form of the TELNET
  command is:

       telnet [<IP_address>|<host_name>] [<port>]

  As shown, a TELNET connection is initiated when the user enters the
  telnet command and supplies either a host_name or IP_address; if
  neither are given, TELNET will ask for one once the application
  begins.

  In the example below, a user of a PC uses TELNET to attach to the
  remote host smcvax.smcvt.edu. Once logged in via TELNET, the user can
  do anything on the remote host that would be possible if connected
  via a directly-attached terminal or via modem. The commands that are
  subsequently used are those available on the remote system to which
  the user is attached. In the sample dialogue below, the user attached
  to SMCVAX will use basic VAX/VMS commands:

  o  The dir command lists the files having a "COM" file extension.
  o  The mail command enters the VMS MAIL subsystem; the dir command
     here lists waiting mail.
  o  Ping checks the status of another host.

  When finished, the logout command logs the user off the remote host;
  TELNET automatically closes the connection to the remote host and
  returns control to the local system.

  It is important to note that TELNET is a very powerful tool, one that
  may provide users with access to many Internet utilities and services
  that might not be otherwise available. Many of these features are
  accessed by specifying a port number with the TELNET command, in
  addition to a host's address, and knowledge of port numbers provides
  another mechanism for users to access information with Telnet.

  This guide discusses several TCP/IP and Internet utilities that
  require local client software, such as Finger, Whois, Archie, and
  Gopher. But what if your software does not include a needed client?
  In some cases, Telnet may be used to access a remote client and
  provide the same functionality.

  This is done by specifying a port number with the TELNET command.
  Just as TCP/IP hosts have a unique IP address, applications on the
  host are associated with an address, called a port. Finger (see
  Section 3.3 above), for example, is associated with the well-known
  port number 79. In the absence of a Finger client, TELNETing to port
  79 at a remote host may provide the same information. You can finger
  another host with TELNET by using a command like:

                            telnet <host_name> 79

  Other well-known TCP port numbers include 25 (Simple Mail Transfer
  Protocol), 43 (whois), 80 (Hypertext Transfer Protocol), and 119
  (Network News Transfer Protocol).

  Some services are available on the Internet using TELNET and special
  port numbers. A geographical information database, for example, may
  be accessed by TELNETing to port 3000 at host martini.eecs.umich.edu
  and current weather information is available at port 3000 at host
  downwind.sprl.umich.edu.

  ====================================================================
**   C:\> telnet smcvax.smcvt.edu
  FTP Software PC/TCP tn 3.10 01/24/95 02:40
  Copyright (c) 1986-1995 by FTP Software, Inc. All rights reserved

  - Connected to St. Michael's College -

**   Username: kumquat
**   Password:

  St. Michael's College VAX/VMS System.
  Node SMCVAX.

      Last interactive login on Monday, 16-SEP-1996 15:47
      Last non-interactive login on Wednesday,  6-MAR-1996 08:19

              You have 1 new Mail message.

  Good Afternoon User KUMQUAT.  Logged in on 17-SEP-1996 at 1:10 PM.

  User [GUEST,KUMQUAT] has 3225 blocks used, 6775 available,
  of 10000 authorized and permitted overdraft of 100 blocks on $1$DIA2

  To see a complete list of news items, type: NEWS DIR
  To read a particular item, type NEWS followed by
  the name of the item you wish to read.

**   SMCVAX$ dir *.com
  Directory $1$DIA2:[GUEST.KUMQUAT]
  BACKUP.COM;24         24  16-JUL-1990 16:22:46.68  (RWED,RWED,RE,)
  DELTREE.COM;17         3  16-JUL-1990 16:22:47.58  (RWED,RWED,RE,)
  EXPANDZ.COM;7          2  22-FEB-1993 10:00:04.35  (RWED,RWED,RE,)
  FTSLOGBLD.COM;3        1  16-JUL-1990 16:22:48.57  (RWED,RWED,RE,)
  FTSRRR.COM;2           1  16-JUL-1990 16:22:48.73  (RWED,RWED,RE,)
  LOGIN.COM;116          5   1-DEC-1993 09:33:21.61  (RWED,RWED,RE,)
  SNOOPY.COM;6           1  16-JUL-1990 16:22:52.06  (RWED,RWED,RE,)
  SYLOGIN.COM;83         8  16-JUL-1990 16:22:52.88  (RWED,RWED,RE,RE)
  SYSTARTUP.COM;88      15  16-JUL-1990 16:22:53.21  (RWED,RWED,RE,)
  WATCH_MAIL.COM;1     173  10-MAY-1994 09:59:52.65  (RWED,RWED,RE,)
  Total of 10 files, 233 blocks.

**   SMCVAX$ mail
  You have 1 new message.
**   MAIL> dir
  NEWMAIL
    # From                 Date        Subject
    1 IN%"ibug@plainfield. 25-SEP-1996 ANNOUNCE: Burlington WWW
Conference
**   MAIL> exit

**   SMCVAX$ ping kestrel.hill.com /n=5
  PING HILL.COM (199.182.20.24): 56 data bytes
  64 bytes from 199.182.20.24: icmp_seq=0 time=290 ms
  64 bytes from 199.182.20.24: icmp_seq=1 time=260 ms
  64 bytes from 199.182.20.24: icmp_seq=2 time=260 ms
  64 bytes from 199.182.20.24: icmp_seq=3 time=260 ms
  64 bytes from 199.182.20.24: icmp_seq=4 time=260 ms

  ----KESTREL.HILL.COM PING Statistics----
  5 packets transmitted, 5 packets received, 0% packet loss
  round-trip (ms)  min/avg/max = 260/266/290

**   SMCVAX$ logout
    KUMQUAT      logged out at 12-JUN-1994 15:37:04.29

  Connection #0 closed
  C:\>
  ====================================================================

4.2. FTP

  FTP [16] is one of the most useful and powerful TCP/IP utilities for
  the general user. FTP allows users to upload and download files
  between local and remote hosts. Anonymous FTP, in particular, is
  commonly available at file archive sites to allow users to access
  files without having to pre-establish an account at the remote host.
  TELNET might, in fact, be used for this purpose but TELNET gives the
  user complete access to the remote system; FTP limits the user to
  file transfer activities.

  The general form of the FTP command is:

       ftp [<IP_address>|<host_name>]

  An FTP session can be initiated in several ways. In the example shown
  below, an FTP control connection is initiated to a host (the Defense
  Data Network's Network Information Center) by supplying a host name
  with the FTP command; optionally, the host's IP address in dotted
  decimal (numeric) form could be used. If neither host name nor IP
  address are supplied in the command line, a connection to a host can
  be initiated by typing open host_name or open IP_address once the FTP
  application has been started.

  The remote host will ask for a username and password. If a bona fide
  registered user of this host supplies a valid username and password,
  then the user will have access to any files and directories to which
  this username has privilege. For anonymous FTP access, the username
  anonymous is used. Historically, the password for the anonymous user
  (not shown in actual use) has been guest, although most systems today
  ask for the user's Internet e-mail address (and several sites attempt
  to verify that packets are coming from that address before allowing
  the user to login).

  The help ? command may be used to obtain a list of FTP commands and
  help topics available with your software; although not always shown,
  nearly all TCP/IP applications have a help command. An example of the
  help for FTP's type command is shown in the sample dialogue. This
  command is very important one, by the way; if transferring a binary
  or executable file, be sure to set the type to image (or binary on
  some systems).

  The dir command provides a directory listing of the files in the
  current directory at the remote host; the UNIX ls command may also
  usually be used. Note that an FTP data transfer connection is
  established for the transfer of the directory information to the
  local host. The output from the dir command will show a file listing
  that is consistent with the native operating system of the remote
  host. Although the TCP/IP suite is often associated with UNIX, it can
  (and does) run with nearly all common operating systems. The
  directory information shown in the sample dialogue happens to be in
  UNIX format and includes the following information:

  o  File attributes. The first character identifies the type of file
     entry as a directory (d), link or symbolic name (l), or individual
     file (-). The next nine characters are the file access permissions
     list; the first three characters are for the owner, the next three
     for the owner's group, and the last three for all other users.
     Three access privileges may be assigned to each file for each of
     these groups: read (r), write (w), and execute (x).

  o  Number of entries, or hard links, in this structure. This value
     will be a "1" if the entry refers to a file or link, or will be the
     number of files in the listed directory.

  o  File owner

  o  File owner's group.

  o  File size, in bytes.

  o  Date and time of last modification. If the date is followed by a
     timestamp, then the date is from the current year.

  o  File name.

  After the directory information has been transferred, FTP closes the
  data transfer connection.

  The command cd is used to change to another working directory, in
  this case the rfc directory (note that file and directory names may
  be case-sensitive). As in DOS, cd .. will change to the parent of the
  current directory. The CWD command successful is the only indication
  that the user's cd command was correctly executed; the show-directory
  (may be truncated to fewer characters, as shown) command, if
  available, may be used to see which working directory you are in.

  Another dir command is used to find all files with the name
  rfc173*.txt; note the use of the * wildcard character. We can now
  copy (download) the file of choice (RFC 1739 is the previous version
  of this primer) by using the get (or receive) command, which has the
  following general format:

     get <remote_file_name> <local_file_name>

  FTP opens another data transfer connection for this file transfer
  purpose; note that the effective data transfer rate is 93.664 kbps.

  FTP's put (or send) command allows uploading from the local host to
  the remote. Put is often not available when using anonymous FTP.

  Finally, we terminate the FTP connection by using the close command.
  The user can initiate another FTP connection using the open command
  or can leave FTP by issuing a quit command. Quit can also be used to
  close a connection and terminate a session.

  TECHNICAL NOTE: It is important to note that different FTP packages
  have different commands available and even those with similar names
  may act differently. In the example shown here (using MultiNet for
  VMS), the show command will display the current working directory; in
  FTP Software's OnNet), show will display a file from the remote host
  at the local host. Some packages have nothing equivalent to either of
  these commands.

  ====================================================================
**   SMCVAX$ ftp nic.ddn.mil
  SMCVAX.SMCVT.EDU MultiNet FTP user process 3.4(111)
  Connection opened (Assuming 8-bit connections)
  <*****Welcome to the DOD Network Information Center*****
  <    *****Login with username "anonymous" and password "guest"
**   Username: anonymous
  <Guest login ok, send "guest" as password.
**   Password: guest                                      <--- Not
displayed
  <Guest login ok, access restrictions apply.

**   NIC.DDN.MIL> help type
  TYPE
       Set the transfer type to type.

       Format
         TYPE   type

    Additional information available:
    Parameters Example    Restrictions

**   TYPE Subtopic? parameters
  TYPE
    Parameters

      type

         Specify a value of ASCII, BACKUP, BINARY, IMAGE or
LOGICAL-BYTE.

         Use TYPE ASCII (the default) for transferring text files.

         Use TYPE BACKUP to set the transfer type to IMAGE and write
the
         local file with 2048-byte fixed length records. Use this
command
         to transfer VAX/VMS BACKUP save sets.

         Use TYPE BINARY to transfer binary files (same as TYPE IMAGE).

         Use TYPE IMAGE to transfer binary files (for example, .EXE).

         Use TYPE LOGICAL-BYTE to transfer binary files to or from a
       TOPS-20 machine.

**   TYPE Subtopic?
**   Topic?

**   NIC.DDN.MIL> dir
  <Opening ASCII mode data connection for /bin/ls.
  total 58
  drwxr-xr-x  2 nic      1             512 Sep 16 23:00 bcp
  drwxr-xr-x  2 root     1             512 Mar 19  1996 bin
  drwxr-xr-x  2 nic      1            1536 Jul 15 23:00 ddn-news
  drwxr-xr-x  2 nic      1             512 Mar 19  1996 demo
  drwxr-xr-x  2 nic      1             512 Mar 25 14:25 dev
  drwxr-xr-x  2 nic      10            512 Mar 19  1996 disn_info
  drwxr-xr-x  2 nic      1             512 Sep 17 07:01 domain
  drwxr-xr-x  2 nic      1             512 Mar 19  1996 etc
  lrwxrwxrwx  1 nic      1               3 Mar 19  1996 fyi -> rfc
  drwxr-xr-x  2 nic      10           1024 Sep 16 23:00 gosip
  drwxr-xr-x  2 nic      1             512 Mar 19  1996 home
  drwxr-xr-x  2 nic      1             512 Mar 19  1996 lost+found
  lrwxrwxrwx  1 nic      1               8 Mar 19  1996 mgt -> ddn-news
  drwxr-xr-x  2 nic      1            1024 Sep 13 12:11 netinfo
  drwxr-xr-x  4 nic      1             512 May  3 23:00 netprog
  drwxr-xr-x  2 nic      1            1024 Mar 19  1996 protocols
  drwxr-xr-x  2 nic      1             512 Mar 19  1996 pub
  drwxr-xr-x  3 140      10            512 Aug 27 21:03 registrar
  drwxr-xr-x  2 nic      1           29696 Sep 16 23:00 rfc
  drwxr-xr-x  2 nic      1            5632 Sep  9 23:00 scc
  drwxr-xr-x  2 nic      1            1536 Sep 16 23:00 std
  drwxr-xr-x  2 nic      1            1024 Sep 16 23:00 templates
  drwxr-xr-x  3 nic      1             512 Mar 19  1996 usr
  <Transfer complete.
  1437 bytes transferred at 33811 bps.
  Run time = 20. ms, Elapsed time = 340. ms.

**   NIC.DDN.MIL> cd rfc
  <CWD command successful.

**   NIC.DDN.MIL> show
  <"/rfc" is current directory.

**   NIC.DDN.MIL> dir rfc173*.txt
  <Opening ASCII mode data connection for /bin/ls.
  -rw-r--r--  1 nic      10         156660 Dec 20  1994 rfc1730.txt
  -rw-r--r--  1 nic      10          11433 Dec 20  1994 rfc1731.txt
  -rw-r--r--  1 nic      10           9276 Dec 20  1994 rfc1732.txt
  -rw-r--r--  1 nic      10           6205 Dec 20  1994 rfc1733.txt
  -rw-r--r--  1 nic      10           8499 Dec 20  1994 rfc1734.txt
  -rw-r--r--  1 nic      10          24485 Sep 15  1995 rfc1735.txt
  -rw-r--r--  1 nic      10          22415 Feb  8  1995 rfc1736.txt
  -rw-r--r--  1 nic      10          16337 Dec 15  1994 rfc1737.txt
  -rw-r--r--  1 nic      10          51348 Dec 15  1994 rfc1738.txt
  -rw-r--r--  1 nic      10         102676 Dec 21  1994 rfc1739.txt
  <Transfer complete.
  670 bytes transferred at 26800 bps.
  Run time = 10. ms, Elapsed time = 200. ms.

**   NIC.DDN.MIL> get rfc1739.txt primer.txt
  <Opening ASCII mode data connection for rfc1739.txt (102676 bytes).
  <Transfer complete.
  105255 bytes transferred at 93664 bps.
  Run time = 130. ms, Elapsed time = 8990. ms.

**   NIC.DDN.MIL> quit
  <Goodbye.
  SMCVAX$
  ====================================================================


5. User Database Lookup Tools

  Finding other users on the Internet is an art, not a science.
  Although there is a distributed database listing all of the 10+
  million hosts on the Internet, no similar database yet exists for the
  tens of millions of users. While many commercial ISPs provide
  directories of the users of their network, these databases are not
  yet linked. The paragraphs below will discuss some of the tools
  available for finding users on the Internet.

5.1. WHOIS/NICNAME

  WHOIS and NICNAME are TCP/IP applications that search databases to
  find the name of network and system administrators, RFC authors,
  system and network points-of-contact, and other individuals who are
  registered in appropriate databases. The original NICNAME/WHOIS
  protocol is described in RFC 954 [4].

  WHOIS may be accessed by TELNETing to an appropriate WHOIS server and
  logging in as whois (no password is required); the most common
  Internet name server is located at the Internet Network Information
  Center (InterNIC) at rs.internic.net. This specific database only
  contains INTERNET domains, IP network numbers, and domain points of
  contact; policies governing the InterNIC database are described in
  RFC 1400 [19]. The MILNET database resides at nic.ddn.mil and PSI's
  White Pages pilot service is located at psi.com.

  Many software packages contain a WHOIS/NICNAME client that
  automatically establishes the TELNET connection to a default name
  server database, although users can usually specify any name server
  database that they want.

  The accompanying dialogues shows several types of WHOIS/NICNAME
  information queries. In the session below, we request information
  about an individual (Denis Stratford) by using WHOIS locally, a
  specific domain (hill.com) by using NICNAME locally, and a network
  address (199.182.20.0) and high-level domain (com) using TELNET to a
  WHOIS server.

  ====================================================================
**   SMCVAX$ whois stratford, denis
  Stratford, Denis (DS378)      denis@@SMCVAX.SMCVT.EDU
     St. Michael's College
     Jemery Hall, Room 274
     Winooski Park
     Colchester, VT 05439
     (802) 654-2384

     Record last updated on 02-Nov-92.
  SMCVAX$


**   C:\> nicname hill.com
  [198.41.0.5]
  Hill Associates (HILL-DOM)
     17 Roosevelt Hwy.
     Colchester, Vermont 05446
     US

     Domain Name: HILL.COM

     Administrative Contact:
        Kessler, Gary C.  (GK34)  g.kessler@HILL.COM
        802-655-0940
     Technical Contact, Zone Contact:
        Monaghan, Carol A.  (CAM4)  c.monaghan@HILL.COM
        802-655-0940
     Billing Contact:
        Parry, Amy  (AP1257)  a.parry@HILL.COM
        802-655-0940

     Record last updated on 11-Jun-96.
     Record created on 11-Jan-93.

     Domain servers in listed order:

     SYRUP.HILL.COM            199.182.20.3
     NS1.NOC.NETCOM.NET        204.31.1.1


**   C:\> telnet rs.internic.net
  SunOS UNIX 4.1 (rs1) (ttypb)


***********************************************************************
  * -- InterNIC Registration Services Center  --
  *
  * For wais, type:                    WAIS <search string> <return>
  * For the *original* whois type:     WHOIS [search string] <return>
  * For referral whois type:           RWHOIS [search string] <return>
  *

**********************************************************************
  Please be advised that use constitutes consent to monitoring
  (Elec Comm Priv Act, 18 USC 2701-2711)

**   [vt220] InterNIC > whois
  InterNIC WHOIS Version: 1.2 Wed, 18 Sep 96 09:49:50

**   Whois: 199.182.20.0
  Hill Associates (NET-HILLASSC)
     17 Roosevelt Highway
     Colchester, VT  05446

     Netname: HILLASSC
     Netnumber: 199.182.20.0

     Coordinator:
        Monaghan, Carol A.  (CAM4)  c.monaghan@HILL.COM
        802-655-0940

     Record last updated on 17-May-94.

**   Whois: com-dom
  Commercial top-level domain (COM-DOM)
     Network Solutions, Inc.
     505 Huntmar park Dr.
     Herndon, VA 22070

     Domain Name: COM

     Administrative Contact, Technical Contact, Zone Contact:
        Network Solutions, Inc.  (HOSTMASTER)  hostmaster@INTERNIC.NET
        (703) 742-4777 (FAX) (703) 742-4811

     Record last updated on 02-Sep-94.
     Record created on 01-Jan-85.

     Domain servers in listed order:

     A.ROOT-SERVERS.NET           198.41.0.4
     H.ROOT-SERVERS.NET           128.63.2.53
     B.ROOT-SERVERS.NET           128.9.0.107
     C.ROOT-SERVERS.NET           192.33.4.12
     D.ROOT-SERVERS.NET           128.8.10.90
     E.ROOT-SERVERS.NET           192.203.230.10
     I.ROOT-SERVERS.NET           192.36.148.17
     F.ROOT-SERVERS.NET           192.5.5.241
     G.ROOT-SERVERS.NET           192.112.36.4

**   Would you like to see the known domains under this top-level domain?
n

**   Whois: exit

**   [vt220] InterNIC > quit

  Wed Sep 18 09:50:29 1996 EST

  Connection #0 closed
  C:\>
  ====================================================================

5.2. KNOWBOT

  KNOWBOT is an automated username database search tool that is related
  to WHOIS. The Knowbot Information Service (KIS), operated by the
  Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI) in Reston,
  Virginia, provides a simple WHOIS-like interface that allows users to
  query several Internet user databases (White Pages services) all at
  one time. A single KIS query will automatically search the InterNIC,
  MILNET, MCImail, and PSI White Pages Pilot Project; other databases
  may also be included.

  KNOWBOT may be accessed by TELNETing to host info.cnri.reston.va.us.
  The help command will supply sufficient information to get started.
  The sample dialogue below shows use of the query command to locate a
  user named "Steven Shepard"; this command automatically starts a
  search through the default set of Internet databases.

  ====================================================================
**   C:\> telnet info.cnri.reston.va.us

                  Knowbot Information Service
  KIS Client (V2.0).    Copyright CNRI 1990.    All Rights Reserved.

  KIS searches various Internet directory services
  to find someone's street address, email address and phone number.

  Type 'man' at the prompt for a complete reference with examples.
  Type 'help' for a quick reference to commands.
  Type 'news' for information about recent changes.

  Please enter your email address in our guest book...
**   (Your email address?) > s.shepard@hill.com

**   > query shepard, steven
  Trying whois at ds.internic.net...
  The ds.internic.net whois server is being queried:
  Nothing returned.

  The rs.internic.net whois server is being queried:

  Shepard, Steven (SS2192)
  708-810-5215
  Shepard, Steven (SS1302)        axisteven@AOL.COM               (954)
  974-4569

  The nic.ddn.mil whois server is being queried:

  Shepard, Steven (SS2192)
     R.R. Donnelley & Sons
     750 Warrenville Road
     Lisle, IL 60532
  Trying mcimail at cnri.reston.va.us...
  Trying ripe at whois.ripe.net...
  Trying whois at whois.lac.net...
  No match found for .SHEPARD,STEVEN

**   > quit
  KIS exiting
  Connection #0 closed
  C:\>
  ====================================================================


6. Information Servers

  File transfer, remote login, and electronic mail remained the primary
  applications of the ARPANET/Internet until the early 1990s. But as
  the Internet user population shifted from hard-core computer
  researchers and academics to more casual users, easier-to-use tools
  were needed for the Net to become accepted as a useful resource. That
  means making things easier to find. This section will discuss some of
  the early tools that made it easier to locate and access information
  on the Internet.

6.1. Archie

  Archie, developed in 1992 at the Computer Science Department at
  McGill University in Montreal, allows users to find software, data,
  and other information files that reside at anonymous FTP archive
  sites; the name of the program, reportedly, is derived from the word
  "archive" and not from the comic book character. Archie tracks the
  contents of several thousand anonymous FTP sites containing millions
  of files. The archie server automatically updates the information
  from each registered site about once a month, providing relatively
  up-to-date information without unduly stressing the network. Archie,
  however, is not as popular as it once was and many sites have not
  updated their information; as the examples below show, many of the
  catalog listings are several years old.

  Before using archie, you must identify a server address. The sites
  below all support archie; most (but not all) archie sites support the
  servers command which lists all known archie servers. Due to the
  popularity of archie at some sites and its high processing demands,
  many sites limit access to non-peak hours and/or limit the number of
  simultaneous archie users. Available archie sites include:

     archie.au                       archie.rediris.es
     archie.edvz.uni-linz.ac.at archie.luth.se
     archie.univie.ac.at             archie.switch.ch
     archie.uqam.ca                  archie.ncu.edu.tw
     archie.funet.fi            archie.doc.ic.ac.uk
     archie.th-darmstadt.de          archie.unl.edu
     archie.ac.il                    archie.internic.net
     archie.unipi.it            archie.rutgers.edu
     archie.wide.ad.jp               archie.ans.net
     archie.kr                       archie.sura.net
     archie.sogang.ac.kr

  All archie sites can be accessed using archie client software. Some
  archie servers may be accessed using TELNET; when TELNETing to an
  archie site, login as archie (you must use lower case) and hit
  <ENTER> if a password is requested.

  Once connected, the help command assists users in obtaining more
  information about using archie. Two more useful archie commands are
  prog, used to search for files in the database, and whatis, which
  searches for keywords in the program descriptions.

  In the accompanying dialogue, the set maxhits command is used to
  limit the number of responses to any following prog commands; if this
  is not done, the user may get an enormous amount of information.  In
  this example, the user issues a request to find entries related to
  "dilbert"; armed with this information, a user can use anonymous FTP
  to examine these directories and files.

  The next request is for files with "tcp/ip" as a keyword descriptor.
  These responses can be used for subsequent prog commands.

  Exit archie using the exit command. At this point, TELNET closes the
  connection and control returns to the local host.

  Additional information about archie can be obtained by sending e-mail
  to Bunyip Information Systems (archie-info@bunyip.com). Client
  software is not required to use archie, but can make life a little
  easier; some such software can be downloaded using anonymous FTP from
  the /pub/archie/clients/ directory at ftp.sura.net (note that the
  newest program in this directory is dated June 1994). Most shareware
  and commercial archie clients hide the complexity described in this
  section; users usually connect to a pre-configured archie server
  merely by typing an archie command line.

  ====================================================================
**   C:\> telnet archie.unl.edu
  SunOS UNIX (crcnis2)

**   login: archie
**   Password:

   Welcome to the ARCHIE server at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln

  # Bunyip Information Systems, 1993

**   unl-archie> help
  These are the commands you can use in help:

            .    go up one level in the hierarchy

            ?    display a list of valid subtopics at the current level

  <newline>
  done, ^D, ^C  quit from help entirely

       <string>  help on a topic or subtopic
  Eg.
        "help show"

  will give you the help screen for the "show" command

        "help set search"

  Will give you the help information for the "search" variable.

  The command "manpage" will give you a complete copy of the archie
  manual page.
**   help> done

**   unl-archie> set maxhits 5


**   unl-archie> prog dilbert
  # Search type: sub.
  # Your queue position: 2
  # Estimated time for completion: 00:20

  Host ftp.wustl.edu    (128.252.135.4)
  Last updated 10:08 25 Dec 1993

      Location: /multimedia/images/gif/unindexed/931118
        FILE    -rw-r--r--    9747 bytes  19:18 17 Nov 1993
dilbert.gif

**   unl-archie> whatis tcp/ip
  RFC                       1065          McCloghrie, K.; Rose, M.T.
  Structure and identification of management information for
TCP/IP-based
  internets. 1988 August; 21 p. (Obsoleted by RFC 1155)
  RFC                       1066          McCloghrie, K.; Rose, M.T.
  Management Information Base for network management of TCP/IP-based
  internets. 1988 August; 90 p. (Obsoleted by RFC 1156)
  RFC                       1085          Rose, M.T. ISO presentation
  services on top of TCP/IP based internets. 1988 December; 32 p.
  RFC                       1095          Warrier, U.S.; Besaw, L.
Common
  Management Information Services and Protocol over TCP/IP (CMOT). 1989
  April; 67 p. (Obsoleted by RFC 1189)
  RFC                       1144          Jacobson, V. Compressing
TCP/IP
  headers for low-speed serial links. 1990 February; 43 p.
  RFC                       1147          Stine, R.H.,ed. FYI on a
  network management tool catalog: Tools for monitoring and debugging
  TCP/IP internets and interconnected devices. 1990 April; 126 p. (Also
  FYI 2)
  RFC                       1155          Rose, M.T.; McCloghrie, K.
  Structure and identification of management information for
TCP/IP-based
  internets. 1990 May; 22 p. (Obsoletes RFC 1065)
  RFC                       1156          McCloghrie, K.; Rose, M.T.
  Management Information Base for network management of TCP/IP-based
  internets. 1990 May; 91 p. (Obsoletes RFC 1066)
  RFC                       1158          Rose, M.T.,ed. Management
  Information Base for network management of TCP/IP-based internets:
  MIB-II. 1990 May; 133 p.
  RFC                       1180          Socolofsky, T.J.; Kale, C.J.
  TCP/IP tutorial. 1991 January; 28 p.
  RFC                       1195          Callon, R.W. Use of OSI IS-IS
  for routing in TCP/IP and dual environments. 1990 December; 65 p.
  RFC                       1213          McCloghrie, K.; Rose,
M.T.,eds.   Management Information Base for network management of
TCP/IP-based
  internets:MIB-II.  1991 March; 70 p. (Obsoletes RFC 1158)
  log_tcp                   Package to monitor tcp/ip connections
  ping                      PD version of the ping(1) command. Send
ICMP
  ECHO requests to a host on the network (TCP/IP) to see whether it's
  reachable or not

**   unl-archie> exit
  # Bye.

  Connection #0 closed

  C:\>
  ====================================================================

6.2. Gopher

  The Internet Gopher protocol was developed at the University of
  Minnesota's Microcomputer Center in 1991, as a distributed
  information search and retrieval tool for the Internet. Gopher is
  described in RFC 1436 [1]; the name derives from the University's
  mascot.

  Gopher provides a tool so that publicly available information at a
  host can be organized in a hierarchical fashion using simple text
  descriptions, allowing files to be perused using a simple menu
  system. Gopher also allows a user to view a file on demand without
  requiring additional file transfer protocols. In addition, Gopher
  introduced the capability of linking sites on the Internet, so that
  each Gopher site can be used as a stepping stone to access other
  sites and reducing the amount of duplicate information and effort on
  the network.

  Any Gopher site can be accessed using Gopher client software (or a
  WWW browser). In many cases, users can access Gopher by TELNETing to
  a valid Gopher location; if the site provides a remote Gopher client,
  the user will see a text-based, menu interface. The number of Gopher
  sites grew rapidly between 1991 and 1994, although growth tapered due
  to the introduction of the Web; in any case, most Gopher sites have a
  menu item that will allow you to identify other Gopher sites. If
  using TELNET, login with the username gopher (this must be in
  lowercase); no password is required.

  In the sample dialogue below, the user attaches to the Gopher server
  at the Internet Network Information Center (InterNIC) by TELNETing to
  ds.internic.net. With the menu interface shown here, the user merely
  follows the prompts. Initially, the main menu will appear. Selecting
  item 3 causes Gopher to seize and display the "InterNIC Registration
  Services (NSI)" menu; move to the desired menu item by typing the
  item number or by moving the pointer (-->) down to the desired entry
  using the DOWN-ARROW key on the keyboard, and then hitting ENTER. To
  quit the program at any time, press q (quit); ? and u will provide
  help or go back up to the previous menu, respectively. Users may also
  search for strings within files using the / command or download the
  file being interrogated using the D command.

  Menu item 1 within the first submenu (selected in the dialogue shown
  here) is titled "InterNIC Registration Archives." As its submenu
  implies, this is a place to obtain files containing the InterNIC's
  domain registration policies, domain data, registration forms, and
  other information related to registering names and domains on the
  Internet.

  ====================================================================
**   SMCVAX$ telnet ds.internic.net

  UNIX(r) System V Release 4.0 (ds2)

**   login: gopher

  ********************************************************************
           Welcome to the InterNIC Directory and Database Server.
  ********************************************************************

                   Internet Gopher Information Client v2.1.3
                          Home Gopher server: localhost

   -->  1.  About InterNIC Directory and Database Services/
        2.  InterNIC Directory and Database Services (AT&T)/
        3.  InterNIC Registration Services (NSI)/
        4.  README

  Press ? for Help, q to Quit                                   Page:
1/1
**   View item number: 3


                   Internet Gopher Information Client v2.1.3
                        InterNIC Registration Services (NSI)

   -->  1.  InterNIC Registration Archives/
        2.  Whois Searches (InterNIC IP, ASN, DNS, and POC Registry)
<?>

  Press ? for Help, q to Quit, u to go up a menu                Page:
1/1
**   View item number: 1


                   Internet Gopher Information Client v2.1.3
                           InterNIC Registration Archives

   -->  1.  archives/
        2.  domain/
        3.  netinfo/
        4.  netprog/
        5.  policy/
        6.  pub/
        7.  templates/

  Press ? for Help, q to Quit, u to go up a menu                Page:
1/1
**   q
**   Really quit (y/n) ? y

  Connection closed by Foreign Host
  SMCVAX$
  ====================================================================

6.3. VERONICA, JUGHEAD, and WAIS

  The problem with being blessed with so much information from FTP,
  archie, Gopher, and other sources is exactly that - too much
  information. To make it easier for users to locate the system on
  which their desired information resides, a number of other tools have
  been created.

  VERONICA (Very Easy Rodent-Oriented Net-wide Index to Computerized
  Archives) was developed at the University of Nevada at Reno as an
  archie-like adjunct to Gopher. As the number of Gopher sites quickly
  grew after its introduction, it became increasingly harder to find
  information in gopherspace since Gopher was designed to search a
  single database at a time. VERONICA maintains an index of titles of
  Gopher items and performs a keyword search on all of the Gopher sites
  that it has knowledge of and access to, obviating the need for the
  user to perform a menu-by-menu, site-by-site search for information.
  When a user selects an item from the menu of a VERONICA search,
  "sessions" are automatically established with the appropriate Gopher
  servers, and a list of data items is returned to the originating
  Gopher client in the form of a Gopher menu so that the user can
  access the files. VERONICA is available as an option on many Gopher
  servers.

  Another Gopher-adjunct is JUGHEAD (Jonzy's Universal Gopher Hierarchy
  Excavation And Display). JUGHEAD supports key word searches and the
  use of logical operators (AND, OR, and NOT). The result of a JUGHEAD
  search is a display of all menu items which match the search string
  which are located in the University of Manchester and UMIST
  Information Server, working from a static database that is re-created
  every day. JUGHEAD is available from many Gopher sites, although
  VERONICA may be a better tool for global searches.

  The Wide Area Information Server (WAIS, pronounced "ways") was
  initiated jointly by Apple Computer, Dow Jones, KMPG Peat Marwick,
  and Thinking Machines Corp. It is a set of free-ware, share-ware, and
  commercial software products for a wide variety of hardware/software
  platforms, which work together to help users find information on the
  Internet. WAIS provides a single interface through which a user can
  access many different information databases. The user interface allow
  a query to be formulated in English and the WAIS server will
  automatically choose the appropriate databases to search. Further
  information about WAIS can be obtained by reading the WAIS FAQ, from
  host rtfm.mit.edu in file /pub/usenet/news.answers/wais-faq.


7. The World Wide Web

  The World Wide Web (WWW) is thought (erroneously) by many to be the
  same thing as the Internet. But the confusion, in many ways, is
  justified; as of early 1996, the WWW accounted for over 40% of all of
  the traffic on the Internet. In addition, the number of hosts on the
  Internet named www has grown from several hundred in mid-1994 to
  17,000 in mid-1995 to 212,000 in mid-1996; and not all WWW servers
  are named www. The Web has made information on the Internet
  accessible to users of all ages and computer skill levels. It has
  provided a mechanism so that nearly anyone can become a content
  provider. According to some, growth in the number of WWW users is
  unparalleled by any other event in human history.

  The WWW was developed in the early 1990s at the CERN Institute for
  Particle Physics in Geneva, Switzerland. The Web was designed to
  combine aspects of information retrieval with multimedia
  communications, unlike archie and Gopher, which were primarily used
  for the indexing of text-based files. The Web allows users to access
  information in many different types of formats, including text,
  sound, image, animation, and video. WWW treats all searchable
  Internet files as hypertext documents. Hypertext is a term which
  merely refers to text that contains pointers to other text, allowing
  a user reading one document to jump to another document for more
  information on a given topic, and then return to the same location in
  the original document. WWW hypermedia documents are able to employ
  images, sound, graphics, video, and animations in addition to text.

  To access WWW servers, users must run client software called a
  browser. The browser and server use the Hypertext Transfer Protocol
  (HTTP) [cc]. WWW documents are written in the Hypertext Markup
  Language (HTML) [dd, ee], a simple text-based formatting language
  that is hardware and software platform-independent. Users point the
  browser at some location using a shorthand format called a Uniform
  Resource Locator (URL), which allows a WWW servers to obtain files
  from any location on the public Internet using a variety of
  protocols, including HTTP, FTP, Gopher, and TELNET.

  Mosaic, developed in 1994 at the National Center for Supercomputer
  Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-
  Champaign, was the first widely-used browser. Because it was
  available at no cost over the Internet via anonymous FTP, and had a
  version for Windows, Mac, and UNIX systems, Mosaic was probably the
  single reason that the Web attracted so many users so quickly. The
  most commonly used browsers today include the Netscape Navigator
  (http://www.netscape.com), Microsoft's Internet Explorer
  (http://www.microsoft.com), and NCSA Mosaic
  (http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/SDG/Software/Mosaic/).

  The WWW is ideally suited to a windows environment, or other point-
  and-click graphical user interface. Nevertheless, several text-based
  Web browsers do exist, although their usefulness is limited if trying
  to obtain graphical images, or audio or video clips. One text-based
  Web browser is Lynx, and an example of its use is shown below. Items
  in square brackets in the sample dialogue are Lynx's way of
  indicating an image or other display that cannot be shown on an ASCII
  terminal.

  ====================================================================
**   gck@zoo.uvm.edu> lynx www.hill.com
  Getting http://www.hill.com/
  Looking up www.hill.com.
  Making HTTP connection to www.hill.com.Sending HTTP request.
  HTTP request sent; waiting for response.Read 176 bytes of data.
  512 of 2502 bytes of data.
  1024 of 2502 bytes of data.
  536
  2048
  502
  Data transfer complete

                 Hill Associates

     [INLINE] Hill Associates, Inc.

  Leaders in Telecommunications Training and Education Worldwide
  _________________________________________________________________

  Hill Associates is an international provider of voice and data
  telecommunications training and education. We cover the full breadth
  of the field, including telephony, computer networks, ISDN, X.25 and
  fast packet technologies (frame relay, SMDS, ATM), wireless, TCP/IP
  and the Internet, LANs and LAN interconnection, legacy networks,
  multimedia and virtual reality, broadband services, regulation,
  service strategies, and network security.

  Hill Associates' products and services include instructor-led,
  computer-based (CBT), and hands-on workshop courses. Courseware
  distribution media include audio tape, video tape, CD-ROM, and 3.5"
  disks (PC).
  _________________________________________________________________

  Hill Associates products, services, and corporate information

  * About Hill Associates
  * HAI Products and Services Catalog
  * Datacomm/2000-ED Series
  * HAI Personnel Home Pages
  * Contacting Hill Associates
  * Employment Opportunities

  On-line information resources from Hill Associates

  * HAI Telecommunications Acronym List
  * "A Tour of TCP/IP and the Internet" (HTML Presentation)
  * GCK's Miscellaneous Sites List...
  * "Commerce on the Internet: A Technology Update" (HTML Presentation)
  * Articles and Papers by HAI Staff

  Hill Associates is host to the:

  * IEEE Local Computer Networks Conference Home Page...
  * Town of Colchester (Vermont) Home Page  (Still under development
with     the Colchester schools, but you're welcome to browse...)
  * Vermont Telecommunications Resource Center
  ________________________________________________________________

  Please send any comments or suggestions to the HAI Webmaster. Come
  back again soon!

  Information at this site (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 Hill Associates.


  Arrow keys: Up and Down to move. Right to follow a link; Left to go
  back.
  H)elp O)ptions P)rint G)o M)ain screen Q)uit /=search
  [delete]=history list

**   G
**   URL to open: http://www.bbn.com
  Getting http://www.bbn.com/
  Looking up www.bbn.com.
  Making HTTP connection to www.bbn.com.Sending HTTP request.
  HTTP request sent; waiting for response.Read 119 bytes of data.
  500
  1000 bytes of data.
  2
  5
  925
  Data transfer complete

  BBN On The World Wide Web

  [LINK]
   BBN Reports Fourth-Quarter and Year-End 1996 Results

  [INLINE]
  [ISMAP]
  [ISMAP]
  [LINK]
  [INLINE]

  Who Won Our Sweepstakes
  How The Noc Solves Problems
  Noc Noc Who's There
  BBN Planet Network Map

  [LINK][LINK][LINK][LINK][LINK][LINK]
  [LINK]
  Contact BBN Planet
  Directions to BBN
  Text only index of the BBN Web site
  |
  Corporate Disclaimer
  Send questions and comments about our site to Webmaster@bbn.com
  (c) 1996 BBN Corporation


  Arrow keys: Up and Down to move. Right to follow a link; Left to go
  back.
  H)elp O)ptions P)rint G)o M)ain screen Q)uit /=search
  [delete]=history list
**   Q

  gck@zoo.uvm.edu>
  ====================================================================

7.1. Uniform Resource Locator Format

  As more and more protocols have become available to identify files,
  archive and server sites, news lists, and other information resources
  on the Internet, it was inevitable that some shorthand would arise to
  make it easier to designate these sources. The common shorthand
  format is called the Uniform Resource Locator. The list below
  provides information on how the URL format should be interpreted for
  the protocols and resources that will be discussed in this document.
  A complete description of the URL format may be found in [2].

  file://<host/directory/file-name>
     Identifies a specific file. E.g., the file htmlasst in the edu
     directory at host ftp.cs.da would be denoted, using the full URL
     form: <URL:file://ftp.cs.da/edu/htmlasst>.

  ftp://<user:password@host:port/directory/file-name>
     Identifies an FTP site. E.g.:
     ftp://ftp.eff.org/pub/EFF/Policy/Crypto/*.

  gopher://<host:port/gopher-path>
     Identifies a Gopher site and menu path; a "00" at the start of the
     path indicates a directory and "11" indicates a file. E.g.:
     gopher://info.umd.edu:901/00/info/Government/Factbook92.

  http://<host:port/directory/file-name?searchpart>
     Identifies a WWW server location. E.g.:
     http://info.isoc.org/home.html.

  mailto:<e-mail_address>
     Identifies an individual's Internet mail address. E.g.:
     mailto:s.shepard@hill.com.

  telnet://<user:password@host:port/>
     Identifies a TELNET location (the trailing "/" is optional). E.g.:
     telnet://envnet:henniker@envnet.gsfc.nasa.gov.

7.2. User Directories on the Web

  While finding users on the Internet remains somewhat like alchemy if
  using the tools and utilities mentioned earlier, the Web has added a
  new dimension to finding people. Since 1995, many telephone companies
  have placed national white and yellow page telephone directories on-
  line, accessible via the World Wide Web.

  For a while, it seemed that the easiest and most reliable approach to
  finding people's e-mail address on the Internet was to look up their
  telephone number on the Web, call them, and ask for their e-mail
  address! More recently, however, many third parties are augmenting
  the standard telephone directory with an e-mail directory. These
  services primarily rely on users voluntarily registering, resulting
  in incomplete databases because most users don't know about all of
  the services. Nevertheless, some of the personal directory services
  available via the Web with which e-mail addresses (and telephone
  numbers) can be found include Four11 Directory Services
  (http://www.Four11.com/), Excite
  (http://www.excite.com/Reference/locators.html), and Yahoo! People
  Search (http://www.yahoo.com/search/people/).

  In addition, the Knowbot Information Service (KIS), CNRI's automated
  username database search tool described earlier in this document, is
  also available on the Web, at http://info.cnri.reston.va.us/kis.html.
  Users can select several options for the KIS search, including the
  InterNIC, MILNET, MCImail, and Latin American Internic databases;
  UNIX finger and whois servers; and X.500 databases.

7.3. Other Service Accessible Via the Web

  Many of the other utilities described earlier in this document can
  also be accessed via the WWW. In general, the Web browser acts as a
  viewer to a remote client rather than requiring specialized software
  on the user's system.

  Several sites provide DNS information, obviating the need for a user
  to have a local DNS client such as NSLOOKUP. The hosts
  http://ns1.milepost.com/dns/ and
  http://sh1.ro.com/~mprevost/netutils/dig.html are among the best DNS
  sites, allowing the user to access all DNS information. The site
  http://www.bankes.com/nslookup.htm allows users to do multiple,
  sequential searches at a given domain. Other Web sites providing
  simple DNS name/address translation services include
  http://rhinoceros.cs.inf.shizuoka.ac.jp/dns.html,
  http://www.engin.umich.edu/htbin/DNSquery,
  http://www.lublin.pl/cgi-bin/ns/nsgate, and
  http://www.trytel.com/cgi-bin/weblookup.

  Ping is another service available on the Web. The
  http://sh1.ro.com/~mprevost/netutils/ping.html page allows a user to
  select a host name, number of times to ping (1-10), and number of
  seconds between each ping (1-10), and returns a set of summary
  statistics. Other Web-based ping sites include
  http://www.net.cmu.edu/bin/ping (sends ten pings, and reports the
  times and min/max/avg summary statistics) and
  http://www.uia.ac.be/cc/ping.html (indicates whether the target host
  is alive or not).

  Traceroute is also available on the Web. Unfortunately, these servers
  trace the route from their host to a host that the user chooses,
  rather than from the user's host to the target. Nevertheless,
  interesting route information can be found at
  http://www.net.cmu.edu/bin/traceroute. Traceroute service and a list
  of a number of other traceroute sites on the Web can be found at
  http://www.lublin.pl/cgi-bin/trace/traceroute.

  Access to archie is also available via the WWW, where your browser
  acts as the graphical interface to an archie server. To find a list
  of archie servers, and to access them via the Web, point your browser
  at
  http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Internet/FTP_Sites/Search
  ing/Archie/.

  Finally, even Finger can be found on the World Wide Web; check out
  http://sh1.ro.com/~mprevost/netutils/finger.html.


8. Discussion Lists and Newsgroups

  Among the most useful features of the Internet are the discussion
  lists that have become available to allow individuals to discuss
  topics of mutual concern. Discussion list topics range from SCUBA
  diving and home brewing of beer to AIDS research and foreign policy.
  Several, naturally, deal specifically with the Internet, TCP/IP
  protocols, and the impact of new technologies.

  Most of the discussion lists accessible from the Internet are
  unmoderated, meaning that anyone can send a message to the list's
  central repository and the message will then be automatically
  forwarded to all subscribers of the list. These lists provide very
  fast turn-around between submission of a message and delivery, but
  often result in a lot of messages (including inappropriate junk mail,
  or "spam"). A moderated list has an extra step; a human list
  moderator examines all messages before they are forwarded to ensure
  that the messages are appropriate to the list and not needlessly
  inflammatory!

  Users should be warned that some lists generate a large number of
  messages each day. Before subscribing to too many lists, be sure that
  you are aware of local policies and/or charges governing access to
  discussion lists and e-mail storage.

8.1. Internet Discussion Lists

  Mail can be sent to almost all Internet lists at an address with the
  following form:

       <list_name>@<host_name>

  The common convention when users want to subscribe, unsubscribe, or
  handle any other administrative matter is to send a message to the
  list administrator; do not send administrivia to the main list
  address!  The list administrator can usually be found at:

       <list_name>-REQUEST@<host_name>

  To subscribe to a list, it is often enough to place the word
  "subscribe" in the main body of the message, although a line with the
  format:

       subscribe <list_name> <your_full_name>

  will satisfy most mail servers. A similar message may be used to get
  off a list; just use the word "unsubscribe" followed by the list
  name. Not every list follows this convention, but it is a safe bet if
  you don't have better information!

8.2. LISTSERV

  A large set of discussion groups is maintained using a program called
  LISTSERV. LISTSERV is a service provided widely on BITNET and EARN,
  although it is also available to Internet users. A LISTSERV User
  Guide can be found on the Web at http://www.earn.net/lug/notice.html.

  Mail can be sent to most LISTSERV lists at an address with the
  following form:

       <list_name>@<host_name>

  The common convention when users want to subscribe, unsubscribe, or
  handle any other administrative matter is to send commands in a
  message to the LISTSERV server; do not send administrivia to the main
  list address!  The list server can usually be found at:

       LISTSERV@<host_name>

  LISTSERV commands are placed in the main body of e-mail messages sent
  to an appropriate list server location. Once you have found a list of
  interest, you can send a message to the appropriate address with any
  appropriate command, such as:

     subscribe  <list_name>  <your_full_name>  Subscribe to a list
     unsubscribe  <list_name>                       Unsubscribe from a
list
     help                                      Get help & a list of
commands
     index                                Get a list of LISTSERV
files
     get  <file_name>                     Obtain a file from the
server

8.3. Majordomo

  Majordomo is another popular list server for Internet discussion
  lists. The Web site http://www.greatcircle.com/majordomo/ has a large
  amount of information about Majordomo.

  Mail is sent to Majordomo lists using the same general address format
  as above:

       <list_name>@<host_name>

  The common convention when users want to subscribe, unsubscribe, or
  handle any other administrative matter is to send a message to the
  Majordomo list server; do not send administrivia to the main list
  address!  The Majordomo server can usually be found at:

       MAJORDOMO@<host_name>

  Majordomo commands are placed in the main body of e-mail messages
  sent to an appropriate list server location. Available commands
  include:

     help                                 Get help & a list of commands
     subscribe  <list_name>  <your_e-mail>          Subscribe to a list
     unsubscribe  <list_name> <your_e-mail>    Unsubscribe from a list
     info <list>                     Send introduction about the list
     lists                      Get a list of this server's lists

8.4. Usenet

  Usenet, also known as NETNEWS or Usenet news, is another information
  source with its own set of special interest mailing lists organized
  into newsgroups. Usenet originated on UNIX systems but has migrated
  to many other types of hosts. Usenet clients, called newsreaders, use
  the Network News Transfer Protocol [ff] and are available for
  virtually any operating system; several web browsers, in fact, have
  this capability built in.

  While Usenet newsgroups are usually accessible at Internet sites, a
  prospective Usenet client host must have appropriate newsreader
  software to be able to read news. Users will have to check with their
  local host or network administrator to find out what Usenet
  newsgroups are locally available, as well as the local policies for
  using them.

  Usenet newsgroup names are hierarchical in nature. The first part of
  the name, called the hierarchy, provides an indication about the
  general subject area. There are two types of hierarchies, called
  mainstream and alternative; the total number of newsgroups is in the
  thousands. The news.announce.newusers newsgroup is a good place for
  new Usenet users to find a detailed introduction to the use of
  Usenet, as well as an introduction to its culture.

  Usenet mainstream hierarchies are established by a process that
  requires the approval of a majority of Usenet members. Most sites
  that receive a NETNEWS feed receive all of these hierarchies, which
  include:

       comp      Computers
       misc      Miscellaneous
       news      Network news
       rec       Recreation
       sci       Science
       soc       Social issues
       talk      Various discussion lists

  The alternative hierarchies include lists that may be set up at any
  site that has the server software and disk space. These lists are not
  formally part of Usenet and, therefore, may not be received by all
  sites getting NETNEWS. The alternative hierarchies include:

       alt       Alternate miscellaneous discussion lists
       bionet         Biology, medicine, and life sciences
       bit       BITNET discussion lists
       biz       Various business-related discussion lists
       ddn       Defense Data Network
       gnu       GNU lists
       ieee      IEEE information
       info      Various Internet and other networking information
       k12       K-12 education
       u3b       AT&T 3B computers
       vmsnet    Digital's VMS operating system

8.5 Finding Discussion Lists and Newsgroups

  Armed with the rules for signing up for a discussion list or
  accessing a newsgroup, how does one find an appropriate list given
  one's interests?

  There are tens of thousands of e-mail discussion lists on the
  Internet. One List of Lists may be found using anonymous FTP at
  ftp://sri.com/netinfo/interest-groups.txt; the List of Lists can be
  searched using a Web browser by going to
  http://catalog.com/vivian/interest-group-search.html. Other places to
  look are the Publicly Accessible Mailing Lists index at
  http://www.neosoft.com/internet/paml/byname.html and the LISZT
  Directory of E-Mail Discussion Groups at http://www.liszt.com.

  To obtain a list of LISTSERV lists, send e-mail to
  listserv@bitnic.cren.net with the command lists global in the body of
  the message. Alternatively, look on the Web at
  http://www.tile.net/tile/listserv/index.html. The Web site
  http://www.liszt.com has a Mailing Lists Database of lists served by
  LISTSERV and Majordomo.

  There are also thousands of Usenet newsgroups. One Usenet archive can
  be found at gopher://rtfm.mit.edu/11//pub/usenet/news.answers; see
  the /active-newsgroups and /alt-hierarchies subdirectories. Usenet
  news may also be read at gopher://gopher.bham.ac.uk/11/Usenet. A good
  Usenet search facility can be found at DejaNews at
  http://www.dejanews.com/; messages can also be posted to Usenet
  newsgroups from this site.

  Note that there is often some overlap between Usenet newsgroups and
  Internet discussion lists. Some individuals join both lists in these
  circumstances or, often, there is cross-posting of messages. Some
  Usenet newsgroup discussions are forwarded onto an Internet mailing
  list by an individual site to provide access to those users who do
  not have Usenet available.


9. Internet Documentation

  To fully appreciate and understand what is going on within the
  Internet community, users might wish to obtain the occasional
  Internet specification. The main body of Internet documents are
  Request for Comments (RFCs), although a variety of RFC subsets have
  been defined for various specific purposes. The sections below will
  describe the RFCs and other documentation, and how to get them.

  The Internet standardization process is alluded to in the following
  sections. The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is the guiding
  body for Internet standards; their Web site is http://www.ietf.org.
  The IETF operates under the auspices of the Internet Society (ISOC),
  which has a Web site at http://www.isoc.org. For complete, up-to-date
  information on obtaining Internet documentation, go to the InterNIC's
  Web site at http://ds.internic.net/ds/dspg0intdoc.html.

9.1. Request for Comments (RFCs)

  RFCs are the body of literature comprising Internet protocols,
  standards, research questions, hot topics, humor (especially those
  dated 1 April), and general information. Each RFC is uniquely issued
  a number which is never reused or reissued; if a document is revised,
  it is given a new RFC number and the old RFC is said to be obsoleted.
  Announcements are sent to the RFC-DIST mailing list whenever a new
  RFC is issued; anyone may join this list by sending e-mail to rfc-
  dist-request@isi.edu.

  RFCs may be obtained through the mail (i.e., postal service), but it
  is easier and faster to get them on-line. One easy way to obtain RFCs
  on-line is to use RFC-INFO, an e-mail-based service to help users
  locate and retrieve RFCs and other Internet documents. To use the
  service, send e-mail to rfc-info@isi.edu and leave the Subject: field
  blank; commands that may go in the main body of the message include:

     help                       (Help file)
     help: ways_to_get_rfcs          (Help file on how to get RFCs)

     RETRIEVE: RFC
        Doc-ID: RFCxxxx              (Retrieve RFC xxxx; use all 4 digits)

     LIST: RFC                  (List all RFCs...)
       [options]                     (...[matching the following options])
       KEYWORDS: xxx            (Title contains string "xxx")
       AUTHOR: xxx                   (Written by "xxx")
       ORGANIZATION: xxx             (Issued by company "xxx")
       DATED-AFTER: mmm-dd-yyyy
       DATED-BEFORE: mmm-dd-yyyy
       OBSOLETES: RFCxxxx       (List RFCs obsoleting RFC xxxx)

  Another RFC e-mail server can be found at the InterNIC. To use this
  service, send an e-mail message to mailserv@ds.internic.net, leaving
  the Subject: field blank. In the main body of the message, use one or
  more of the following commands:

     help                            (Help file)
     file /ftp/rfc/rfcNNNN.txt  (Text version of RFC NNNN)
     file /ftp/rfc/rfcNNNN.ps        (Postscript version of RFC NNNN)
     document-by-name rfcNNNN        (Text version of RFC NNNN)

     -------------------------------------------------------------------
            TABLE 1. Primary RFC Repositories.

            HOST ADDRESS        DIRECTORY

            ds.internic.net     rfc
            nis.nsf.net         internet/documents/rfc
            nisc.jvnc.net       rfc
            ftp.isi.edu         in-notes
            wuarchive.wustl.edu info/rfc
            src.doc.ic.ac.uk    rfc
            ftp.ncren.net       rfc
            ftp.sesqui.net      pub/rfc
            nis.garr.it         mirrors/RFC
            funet.fi            rfc
            munnari.oz.au       rfc
     -------------------------------------------------------------------

  To obtain an RFC via anonymous FTP, connect to one of the RFC
  repositories listed in Table 1 using FTP. After connecting, change to
  the appropriate RFC directory (as shown in Table 1) using the cd
  command. To obtain a particular file, use the get command:

     GET RFC-INDEX.TXT  <local_name> (RFC Index)
     GET RFCxxxx.TXT  <local_name>        (Text version of RFC xxxx)
     GET RFCxxxx.PS  <local_name>         (Postscript version of RFC xxxx)

  The RFC index, or a specific reference to an RFC, will indicate
  whether the RFC is available in ASCII text (.txt) or Postscript (.ps)
  format. By convention, all RFCs are available in ASCII while some are
  also available in Postscript where use of graphics and/or different
  fonts adds more information or clarity. Be aware that the index file
  is very large, containing the citing for over 2,000 documents. Note
  that not all RFCs numbered below 698 (July 1975) are available on-
  line.

  Finally, the InterNIC's Web site at
  http://ds.internic.net/ds/dspg1intdoc.html contains the RFC index and
  a complete set of RFCs. More information about Web-based RFC servers
  can be found at http://www.isi.edu/rfc-editor/rfc-sources.html for

  The sample dialogue below, although highly abbreviated, shows a user
  obtaining RFC 1594 (Answers to Commonly asked "New Internet User"
  Questions) using e-mail and anonymous FTP.

  ====================================================================
**   SMCVAX$ mail
**   MAIL> send
**   To: in%"rfc-info@isi.edu"
  Subject:
  Enter your message below. Press CTRL/Z when complete, CTRL/C to quit
**   retrieve: rfc
**   doc-id: rfc1594
**   ^Z
**   MAIL> exit

**   SMCVAX$ ftp ds.internic.net
**   Username: anonymous
**   Password:
**   NIC.DDN.MIL> cd rfc
**   NIC.DDN.MIL> get rfc1594.txt rfc-1594.txt
**   NIC.DDN.MIL> exit
  SMCVAX$
  ====================================================================

9.2. Internet Standards

  RFCs describe many aspects of the Internet. By the early 1990s,
  however, so many specifications of various protocols had been written
  that it was not always clear as to which documents represented
  standards for the Internet. For that reason, a subset of RFCs have
  been designated as STDs to identify them as Internet standards.

  Unlike RFC numbers that are never reused, STD numbers always refer to
  the latest version of the standard. UDP, for example, would be
  completely identified as "STD-6/RFC-768."  Note that STD numbers
  refer to a standard, which is not necessarily a single document; STD
  19, for example, is the NetBIOS Service Protocols standard comprising
  RFCs 1001 and 1002, and a complete citation for this standard would
  be "STD-19/RFC-1001/RFC-1002."

  The availability of new STDs is announced on the RFC-DIST mailing
  list. STD-1 [14] always refers to the latest list of "Internet
  Official Protocol Standards". The Internet standards process is
  described in RFC 1602 [6] and STD notes are explained in RFC 1311
  [15].

  STDs can be obtained as RFCs via anonymous FTP from any RFC
  repository. In addition, some RFC sites (such as ds.internic.net)
  provide an STD directory so that STD documents can be found in the
  path /STD/xx.TXT, where xx refers to the STD number.

  STD documents may be obtained as RFCs using the methods described in
  Section 9.1. STDs may also be obtained via the RFC-INFO server using
  the RETRIEVE: STD  and Doc-ID: STDxxxx commands. Also, check out the
  InterNIC's Web site at http://www.internic.net/std/ for the STD index
  and a complete set of STDs.

9.3. For Your Information Documents

  The For Your Information (FYI) series of RFCs provides Internet users
  with information about many topics related to the Internet. FYI
  topics range from historical to explanatory to tutorial, and are
  aimed at the wide spectrum of people that use the Internet. The FYI
  series includes answers to frequently asked questions by both
  beginning and seasoned users of the Internet, an annotated
  bibliography of Internet books, and an explanation of the domain name
  system.

  Like the STDs, an FYI number always refers to the latest version of
  an FYI. FYI 4, for example, refers to the answers to commonly asked
  questions by new Internet users; its complete citation would be "FYI-
  4/RFC-1594."  The FYI notes are explained in FYI 1 [9].

  FYIs can be obtained as RFCs via anonymous FTP from any RFC
  repository. In addition, some RFC sites (such as ds.internic.net)
  provide an FYI directory so that FYI documents can be found in the
  path /FYI/xx.TXT, where xx refers to the FYI number.

  FYI documents may be obtained as RFCs using the methods described in
  Section 9.1. FYIs may also be obtained via the RFC-INFO server using
  the RETRIEVE: FYI and Doc-ID: FYIxxxx commands. Also, check out the
  InterNIC's Web site at http://www.internic.net/fyi/ for the FYI index
  and a complete set of FYIs.

9.4. RARE Technical Reports

  RARE, the Reseaux Associes pour la Recherche Europeenne (Association
  of European Research Networks), has a charter to promote and
  participate in the creation of a high-quality European computer
  communications infrastructure for the support of research endeavors.
  RARE member networks use Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) protocols
  and TCP/IP. To promote a closer relationship between RARE and the
  IETF, RARE Technical Reports (RTRs) have also been published as RFCs
  since the summer of 1993.

  RTR documents may be obtained as RFCs using the methods described in
  Section 9.1. RTRs may also be obtained via the RFC-INFO server using
  the RETRIEVE: RTR  and Doc-ID: RTRxxxx commands. Also, check out the
  InterNIC's Web site at http://www.internic.net/rtr/ for the RTR index
  and a complete set of RTRs. Finally, RTRs may be obtained via
  anonymous FTP from ftp://ftp.rare.nl/rare/publications/rtr/.


10. Perusing the Internet...

  This guide is intended to provide the reader with a rudimentary
  ability to use the utilities that are provided by TCP/IP and the
  Internet. By now, it is clear that the user's knowledge, ability, and
  willingness to experiment are about the only limits to what can be
  accomplished.

  There are several books that will help you get started finding sites
  on the Internet, including The INTERNET Yellow Pages [28]. But much
  more timely and up-to-date information can be found on the Internet
  itself, using such search tools as Yahoo! (http://www.yahoo.com),
  Excite (http://www.excite.com), Lycos (http://www.lycos.com),
  WebCrawler (http://www.webcrawler.com), and AltaAvista
  (http://altavista.digital.com).

  There are several other sources that cite locations from which to
  access specific information about a wide range of subjects using such
  tools as FTP, Telnet, Gopher, and WWW. One of the best periodic
  lists, and archives, is through the Scout Report, a weekly
  publication by the InterNIC's Net Scout Services Project at the
  University of Wisconsin's Computer Science Department. To receive the
  Scout Report by e-mail each week, join the mailing list by sending
  email to listserv@lists.internic.net; place the line subscribe
  scout-report your_full_name in the body of the message to receive the
  text version or use subscribe scout-report-html your_full_name to
  receive the report in HTML. The Scout Report is also available on the
  Web at http://www.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report and
  http://rs.internic.net/scout/report, or via anonymous FTP at
  ftp://rs.internic.net/scout/.

  Another list is Yanoff's Internet Services List, which may be found
  at http://www.spectracom.com/islist/  or
  ftp://ftp.csd.uwm.edu/pub/inet.services.txt. Gary Kessler, one of the
  co-author's of this document, maintains his own eclectic
  Miscellaneous Sites List at
  http://www.together.net/~kessler/gck_site.html.

  If you are looking for Internet-specific information, one good
  starting point is
  http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Internet/. The InterNIC
  is another valuable resource, with their Scout Report and Scout
  Toolkit (http://rs.internic.net/scout/toolkit).

  There is also a fair amount of rudimentary tutorial information
  available on the Internet. The InterNIC cosponsors "The 15 Minute
  Series" (http://rs.internic.net/nic-support/15min/), a collection of
  free, modular, and extensible training materials on specific Internet
  topics. ROADMAP96 (http://www.ua.edu/~crispen/roadmap.html) is a
  free, 27-lesson Internet training workshop over e-mail.

  More books and specialized articles came out about the Internet in
  1993 and 1994 than in all previous years (squared!), and that trend
  has nearly continued into 1995, 1996, and beyond. Three books are
  worth notable mention because they do not directly relate to finding
  your way around, or finding things on, the Internet. Hafner and Lyon
  [gg] have written Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins of the
  Internet, a history of the development of the Advanced Research
  Projects Agency (ARPA), packet switching, and the ARPANET, focusing
  primarily on the 1960s and 1970s. While culminating with the
  APRANET's 25th Anniversary in 1994, its main thrusts are on the
  groups building the ARPANET backbone (largely BBN) and the host-to-
  host application and communication protocols (largely the Network
  Working Group). Salus' book, Casting The Net: From ARPANET to
  INTERNET and beyond... [hh], goes into the development of the network
  from the perspective of the people, protocols, applications, and
  networks. Including a set of "diversions," his book is a bit more
  whimsical than Hafner & xx's. Finally, Carl Malamud has written a
  delightful book called Exploring the Internet: A Technical Travelogue
  [32], chronicling not the history of the Internet as much as a subset
  of the people currently active in building and defining  it. This
  book will not teach you how to perform an anonymous FTP file transfer
  nor how to use Gopher, but provides insights about our network (and
  Carl's gastro-pathology) that no mere statistics can convey.


11. Acronyms and Abbreviations

  ASCII          American Standard Code for Information Interchange
  BITNET         Because It's Time Network
  DDN       Defense Data Network
  DNS       Domain Name System
  EARN      European Academic Research Network
  FAQ       Frequently Asked Questions list
  FTP       File Transfer Protocol
  FYI       For Your Information series of RFCs
  HTML      Hypertext Markup Language
  HTTP      Hypertext Transport Protocol
  ICMP      Internet Control Message Protocol
  IP   Internet Protocol
  ISO       International Organization for Standardization
  NetBIOS        Network Basic Input/Output System
  NIC       Network Information Center
  NICNAME   Network Information Center name service
  NSF       National Science Foundation
  NSFNET         National Science Foundation Network
  RFC       Request For Comments
  RARE      Reseaux Associes pour la Recherche Europeenne
  RTR       RARE Technical Reports
  SMTP      Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
  STD       Internet Standards series of RFCs
  TCP       Transmission Control Protocol
  TTL       Time-To-Live
  UDP       User Datagram Protocol
  URL       Uniform Resource Locator
  WAIS      Wide Area Information Server
  WWW       World Wide Web


12. Security Considerations

   Security issues are not discussed in this memo.


13. Acknowledgements

  Our thanks are given to all sites that we accessed or otherwise used
  system resources in preparation for this document. We also appreciate
  the comments and suggestions from our students and members of the
  Internet community, particularly after the last version of this
  document was circulated, including Mark Delany and the rest of the
  gang at the Australian Public Access Network Association, Margaret
  Hall (BBN), John Martin (RARE), Tom Maufer (3Com), Carol Monaghan
  (Hill Associates), Michael Patton (BBN), N. Todd Pritsky (Hill
  Associates), and Brian Williams. Special thanks are due to Joyce
  Reynolds for her continued encouragement and direction.


14. References

   [1] Anklesaria, F., M. McCahill, P. Lindner, D. Johnson, D. Torrey,
       and B. Alberti, "The Internet Gopher Protocol," RFC 1436,
       University of Minnesota, March 1993.

  [dd] Berners-Lee, T. and D. Connolly, "Hypertext Markup Language -
       2.0," MIT/W3C, November 1995.

  [cc] Berners-Lee, T., R. Fielding, and H. Frystyk, "Hypertext Transfer
       Protocol - HTTP/1.0," MIT/LCS, UC Irvine, MIT/LCS, May 1996.

   [2] Berners-Lee, T., L. Masinter, and M. McCahill, Editors, "Uniform
       Resource Locators (URL)," CERN, Xerox Corp., University of
       Minnesota, December 1994.

  [22] Comer, D. Internetworking with TCP/IP, Vol. I: Principles,
       Protocols, and Architecture, 2/e. Englewood Cliffs (NJ):
       Prentice-Hall, 1991.

  [23] Feit, S. TCP/IP, 2/e. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1997.

  [gg] Hafner, K. and M. Lyon. Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins
       of the Internet. new York: Simon & Schuster, 1997.

  [28] Hahn, H. and R. Stout. The Internet Yellow Pages, 3/e. Berkeley
       (CA): Osborne McGraw-Hill, 1996.

   [4] Harrenstien, K., M. Stahl, and E. Feinler, "NICNAME/WHOIS," RFC
       954, SRI, October 1985.

   [6] Internet Architecture Board, Internet Engineering Steering Group,
       "The Internet Standards Process -- Revision 2," RFC 1602, March
       1994.

  [ff] Kantor, B. and P. Lapsley. "Network News Transfer Protocol," RFC
       977, 1986.

  [30] Kessler, G.C. "An Overview of TCP/IP Protocols and the Internet."
       URL:
       http://flower.comeng.chungnam.ac.kr/comeng/curri/Network/tcp-ip-
       overview. Last accessed: 26 September 1996.

  [32] Malamud, C. Exploring the Internet: A Technical Travelogue.
       Englewood Cliffs (NJ): PTR Prentice Hall, 1992.

   [9] Malkin, G.S. and J.K. Reynolds, "F.Y.I. on F.Y.I.: Introduction
       to the F.Y.I. notes," FYI 1/RFC 1150, Proteon, USC/Information
       Sciences Institute, March 1990.

  [12] Mockapetris, P., "Domain Names - Concepts and Facilities," STD
       13/RFC 1034, USC/Information Sciences Institute, November 1987.

 [ee]  National Center for Supercomputer Applications (NCSA). "A
       Beginner's Guide to HTML."
       http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/General/Internet/WWW/HTMLPrimer.html.
       Last accessed: 19 September 1996.

  [13] Postel, J., "Domain Name System Structure and Delegation,"
       USC/Information Sciences Institute, RFC 1591, March 1994.

  [bb] Postel, J., "Internet Control Message Protocol," USC/Information
       Sciences Institute, RFC 792, September 1981.

  [14] Postel, J., Editor, "Internet Official Protocol Standards," STD
       1/RFC 1920, Internet Architecture Board, March 1996.

  [15] Postel, J., "Introduction to the STD Notes," RFC 1311,
       USC/Information Sciences Institute, March 1992.

  [16] Postel, J. and J. Reynolds, "File Transfer Protocol (FTP), STD
       9/RFC 959, USC/Information Sciences Institute, October 1985.

  [17] Postel, J. and J. Reynolds, "TELNET Protocol Specification," STD
       8/RFC 854, USC/Information Sciences Institute, May 1983.

  [hh] Salus, P.H. Casting The Net: From ARPANET to INTERNET and
       beyond... Reading (MA): Addison-Wesley, 1995.

  [18] Socolofsky, T.J. and C.J. Kale, "TCP/IP Tutorial," RFC 1180,
       Spider Systems Ltd., January 1991.

  [aa] Stevens, W.R. TCP/IP Illustrated, Volume 1: The Protocols.
       Reading (MA): Addison-Wesley, 1994.

  [19] Williamson, S., "Transition and Modernization of the Internet
       Registration Service," RFC 1400, Network Solutions, Inc., March
       1993.

  [20] Zimmerman, D., "The Finger User Information Protocol," RFC 1288,
       Rutgers University, December 1991.


15. Authors' Address

  Gary C. Kessler
  5 Creek Glen
  Colchester, VT  05446-3641
  Phone:  +1 802-879-3375
  Fax:  +1 802-879-3375
  E-mail:  kessler@together.net

  Steven D. Shepard
  Hill Associates
  17 Roosevelt Highway
  Colchester, VT  05446
  Phone:  +1 802-655-8646
  Fax:  +1 802-655-7974
  E-mail:  s.shepard@hill.com