RFC 1402
There's Gold in them thar Networks! or Searching for Treasure in all the Wrong Places
There's Gold in them thar Networks! 💖
or Searching for Treasure in all the Wrong Places ✨
Okay bestie, the paperwork first 🎀. This is RFC 1402, part of the Network Working Group, filed as FYI: 10. It was written by J. Martin of Ohio State University, dated January 1993, and it obsoletes RFC 1290 🫶.
Status of this Memo 📜
Okay, the status vibe: this RFC just provides information for the Internet community 🧠. It does not specify an Internet standard, so it's not a rulebook, ngl. Distribution of this memo is unlimited 🌈, so share away!
Abstract 🦋
A wealth of information lives on the network. Like, there's SO much of it that you could spend your entire life just browsing 😭. This paper is going to show you some of the "gold nuggets" of information and file repositories on the network that could be super useful 💎.
The ultimate goal is to make the route to these sources invisible to you. Rn that's not easy 🙈. I'll explain some techniques that can make these nuggets easier to pick up so that we can all be richer 💰.
Table of Contents 🗂️
1.0 Introduction................................................ 2
2.0 Lists and Indexes of Network Resources/Bibliographies/
Information Available over the Network...................... 7
3.0 Libraries Available over the Network........................ 14
4.0 Anonymous FTP Sites......................................... 14
5.0 Network Information Centers - NICs.......................... 17
6.0 Network Statistics.......................................... 19
7.0 Campuswide Information Systems - CWISes..................... 20
8.0 Internet Bulletin Board System/Interactive
Databases/Freenet........................................... 28
9.0 WHOIS - E-mail white pages.................................. 32
10.0 Books....................................................... 35
11.0 Free Periodicals/Tabloids/Magazines......................... 36
12.0 Glossary.................................................... 37
Security Considerations.......................................... 39
Author's Address................................................. 391.0 Introduction 🌸
This paper is a list of the essential things, in my view, that people who are responsible for providing network information should have in their hands as reference material 📚. One of the basic problems with information is making it easily available to those who need the data 🔍. Libraries have been doing the cataloging job for many centuries. Information flow is now moving so fast that it's hard to keep up with it, even partially 🏃♀️💨. Computer networks have only added to the problem by opening up access to even more information 😵💫.
Trying to make this wealth of information available to those who would find it useful poses some problems 🧩.
First, we need to know it exists 👀. To that end, this paper provides an index to the vast realm of network information. Most of the documents listed here are POINTERS to the final information 👉.
Second, even if you know a document exists, you may not know if it's important or relevant 🤔. Few of us are knowledgeable in more than a limited area, so we need to rely on others to make us aware of the importance of databases in a specific discipline. Librarians can be a huge help here 🫶. They're familiar with the research databases that people search in law, mathematics, and many other fields 📖✨.
Finally, once existence and importance are known, the information needs to be indexed so that researchers can find it. This is the most difficult task to accomplish 😩. Information on the network is rarely static. It's always moving, growing, changing, and dying 💀. Computers should be able to help us manage this ever-changing environment 🤖. Right now, we have to catalog the information as it passes through the network. In my case, I generally save it in a file somewhere and spend far too much time trying to retrieve it again when I need it 🙈💔.
1.5 Access to the Internet ✨
okay so the big question everyone asks is how the average mortal actually gets onto the Internet 🌸 The most common way is e-mail! With e-mail you can talk to anyone on the Internet and on other networks too, and there are tons of "gateways" linking the Internet to other networks and systems. For example, with CompuServe (a big commercial electronic information and communication service) you can send e-mail to and from people on the Internet. literally so easy 💌
A direct connection to the Internet gives you extra powers that e-mail can't 💅 One is being able to set up a connection to a remote computer that's on the Internet, from your own personal computer or from one that's already on the Internet. The program that does this is called Telnet 🧚 Lots of universities and big research companies have Internet connections. They pay pretty big fees for these high speed (more than one million bits per second) connections. If you're part of a big university or company, you may already have access, or you can get access through one of their computers. iykyk 🎀
A direct connection also lets you transfer a file from a remote computer. That program is called FTP (file transfer protocol). Section 4.0 covers the many places that have files and programs you can grab with FTP 📁✨
The next bit was taken from a Frequently Asked Question posting by Aydin Edguer to the alt.bbs newsgroup 💜
If you don't have access to a service connected to the Internet, you can still get access for a fee 💸 The companies below give Internet access to individuals or companies at different rates, depending on the time of access, the speed you want, and a few other factors.
The first method is getting an account on a public access bulletin board system that's connected to the Internet. There are a growing number of these systems out there 🦋 For info on some of them, send an e-mail to:
info@world.std.com
info@netcom.com
info@concert.net
info@panix.com
info@holonet.net
info@msen.com
info@csn.org
sysadmin@ids.comAny of these systems is open to the public for a monthly access fee.
A second method is getting an account with a network service provider that offers a dial-in service. See the "How do I get connected to the Internet?" section for more info 🌈
How do I get connected to the Internet? 🍓
Traditionally, connections to the Internet were dedicated connections, and that's still the most common type 👑 Monthly costs for the connection can range anywhere from $250 per month [plus line charges] for a dialup 9600-bps connection up to $4,000 [plus line charges] for a T1 [1.44-Mbps] connection. There's also an initial one-time startup fee of anywhere from $100 to $8,000 [plus equipment charges]. wild prices, no cap 😭
Some service providers also offer part-time dialup connections 📞 Customers share a set of phone lines and dial up when they need to. This is usually cheaper than dedicated dialup connections for customers who only need a connection for less than 80 hours per month. Monthly costs range from $40-100 per month [plus line charges] plus an hourly charge of $2-4.
Some service providers have started offering a new dial-in service. The name for it varies from vendor to vendor 🫶 The dial-in service is usually there so Internet-connected users can connect back to their home sites from remote locations. But most service providers don't limit it to that crowd. It's also open to people who aren't already on the Internet! The dial-in service gives you either a terminal server connection [with password] or an account on the service provider's equipment [with password], which lets you use Telnet to connect to other sites on the Internet. This is different from normal dialup IP services because you don't have to run any IP software like PPP (Point-to-Point protocol) or SLIP (serial line IP) 🧠 The cost usually ranges from $35 to $250 per month [plus line charges], plus an initial $35 to $500 connection fee [plus equipment charges].
Next up is a list of known Internet service providers, with the services they offer, an e-mail address to contact for more info, a phone number to contact for more info, or an FTP archive for more info 📚
ALTERNET:
ALTERNET
Full time connections
speed 9.6K 14.4K 56K T1 T3
Leased Line y y y y n
Dialup Line y y - - -
note: T1=1.544Mbs T3=45Mbps
Part time connections: no
Dial-in Service: none
Region: national (USA)
Contact: alternet-info@uunet.uu.net
Phone: (800)4UUNET3
FTP: ftp.uu.net:/uunet-info/PSINet:
PSINet
Full time connections
speed 9.6K 14.4K 56K T1 T3
Leased Line y y y y n
Dialup Line y y - - -
note: T1=1.544Mbs T3=45Mbps
Part time connections: yes
Dial-in Service: Global Dialup Service (GDS)
Region: national (USA)
Contact: info@psi.com
Phone: (800)82PSI82
FTP: ftp.psi.com:/press.releases/CERFnet:
CERFnet
Full time connections
speed 9.6K 14.4K 56K T1 T3
Leased Line n y y y n
Dialup Line y y - - -
note: T1=1.544Mbs T3=45Mbps
Part time connections: yes
Dial-in Service: DIAL'n'CERF (nationwide USA)
Region: California
Contact: help@cerf.net
Phone: (800)876-CERF
FTP: nic.cerf.net:/cerfnet/ANSNET:
ANSNET
Full time connections
speed 9.6K 14.4K 56K T1 T3
Leased Line n n y y y
Dialup Line n n - - -
note: T1=1.544Mbs T3=45Mbps
Part time connections: no
Region: national (USA)
Contact: info@ans.net
Phone: (914)789-5300 or (313)663-2482
FTP: nis.ans.net:/pub/info/MSEN:
MSEN
Full time connections
speed 9.6K 14.4K 56K T1 T3
Leased Line y y n n n
Dialup Line y y - - -
note: T1=1.544Mbs T3=45Mbps
Part time connections: yes
Dial-in Service: yes [*note* it is a local call from any 313 #]
Region: Michigan
Contact: info@msen.com
Phone: (313)741-1120
FTP: ftp.msen.com:/pub/vendor/msen/OARnet:
OARnet
Full time connections
speed 9.6K 14.4K 56K T1 T3
Leased Line y y y y y
Dialup Line y y - - -
note: T1=1.544Mbs T3=45Mbps
Part time connections: yes
Dial-in Service: none
Region: Ohio
Contact: nic@oar.net
Phone: (614)292-0700Heads up: although this is a Frequently asked Question, the newsgroup alt.bbs.internet is NOT for discussing how to get connected to the Internet. It's the right place to talk about your bulletin board system and what it offers once you're already connected to the Internet 🙈
The excerpt above comes from a frequently asked questions Usenet posting to alt.bbs.internet, which was crossposted to news.answers. news.answers is a really good group to subscribe to if you want to read the FAQs sent to lots of newsgroups 💖 For more on newsgroups, see the 12.6 Usenet entry in the Glossary 🦋
If you dig into the groups above, you'll find a ton of info about techniques and rates for getting onto the Internet 🔥 And of course, one common question is about getting free access. As mentioned before, if you're associated with a university, a large company, or a research group, you may very well have access through one of their computers. If you're a student or faculty member and you're away from your local campus, you might be able to get a guest account from the local university 🎓
Some campuswide information systems may give you limited access to the network in a read-only mode 👀 Also, some communities (such as Cleveland) run a FREENET, which lets you read newsgroups and, if you register, send mail at no charge 💸 See section 8.0 for more info.
For example, you can Telnet to Holonet to get an idea of how it works 🧚 This is not an endorsement of that system, but it does give you a good sense of how this type of access to an Internet BBS works.
1.7 Holonet (Commercial access to Internet) 💫
Source:
Telnet holonet.net
Login with userid of guest2.0 Lists and Indexes of Network Resources/Bibliographies/ Information Available over the Network ✨
2.01 Internet Resource Guide (document) 📚
okay this one is an absolute must-read 💖 It's a super excellent guide to the major resources on the network. The table of contents has chapters on Computational Resources, Library Catalogs, Archives, White Pages, Networks, Network Information Centers, and Miscellaneous. So much to explore 🫶
Source:
Anonymous ftp to NNSC.NSF.NET
cd resource-guide
get resource-guide.ps.tar.Z (PostScript) or
get resource-guide.txt.tar.Z (ASCII text)Search:
Telnet to pac.carl.org (Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries)
Select terminal type.
Choose Item 3 (Information Databases).
Choose Item 65 (Internet Resource Guide).
You can then browse or do a keyword search.
To quit type //EXIT2.02 Anonymous FTP Sites (document) 🧚
this doc is giving a full list of every site on the Internet that supports anonymous FTP. iconic 🦋
Source:
Anonymous ftp to pilot.njin.net
cd pub/ftp-list
get ftp.listSearch:
Telnet to archie.ans.net
Login as user archie
Type help to get a list of commands
Type prog topic - where topic is the keyword for the search of a
program topic.See section 4.05 for more information about using Archie. 🌸
2.03 INDEX - Index of all RFCs - (document) 🗂️
this is the index of all the RFCs, and it's giving very "start here, bestie" energy. Here's what's in the list so far:
RFC-1118- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the InternetRFC-1175- A Bibliography of Internetworking InformationRFC-1173- Responsibilities of Host and Network ManagersRFC-1325- Answers to Commonly Asked "New Internet User" QuestionsRFC-1207- Answers to Commonly Asked "Experienced Internet User" QuestionsRFC-1208- Networking Glossary of TermsRFC-1359- Connecting to the InternetRFC-1392- Internet Users' GlossaryRFC-1402- Gold in the Network (this file) ✨
Source:
Anonymous FTP to nis.nsf.net
cd documents/rfc
get INDEX.rfc
get rfc1118.txt
get rfc1175.txt
get rfc1173.txt
get rfc1206.txt
get rfc1207.txt
get rfc1208.txt
get rfc1359.txt
get rfc1392.txt
get rfc1402.txt2.04 Interest Groups List-of-Lists (document) 💌
this one is a list of existing mailing lists and groups, so you can find your people 🫶 If you want to get on the list to receive updates, send an e-mail to Interest-groups-request@nisc.sri.com.
Source:
Anonymous ftp to ftp.nisc.sri.com
cd netinfo
get interest-groups2.05 Regional network policies (documents) 🌐
a lot of regional networks have written policies about responsible use of their network, and they're honestly so good to read. You can grab copies of them online by anonymous FTP 💅
Source:
Anonymous ftp to ftp.nsic.sri.com
cd netinfo
dir
get ???.policywhere ??? is the name of the regional network. The dir command will give you a directory of the filenames. 🍓
2.06 Campus ethics/policy statements (documents) 🎓
many universities have made even more complete policies based on the regional network policies. If you want to look at some to use as guidelines for your own campus, you can get them through anonymous FTP. main character energy for your campus 👑
Source:
Anonymous ftp to ariel.unm.edu
cd ethics
dir
get ???.policywhere ??? is the name of the university or college. The dir command will give you a directory of the filenames. 💜
2.07 VAX Book (document) 📖
Joe St. Sauver of the University of Oregon wrote a complete guide to the network information available via anonymous FTP, and it is so thorough 😭 Here's a quote from the README file: "While it is tailored to the University of Oregon's VAX8000 system, the skills it illustrates are general enough to be of interest to users at most other VAX sites, and even users at many non-VAX sites connected to the national networks." The major section on Network Topics is excellent. It is a large document, more than 300 pages, so grab a snack first 🍿
Source:
Anonymous ftp to decoy.uoregon.edu
cd pub/vaxbook
get vms.ps (PostScript format)
get vms.mem (lineprinter format)2.08 Network Tidbits COMPUNET BIBLIO (document) 🫧
this is a "Network Bibliography" by Elliott Parker from the Journalism Department of Central Michigan University. It has a bibliography of network-related documents he finds helpful 💖
Source:
Listserv
Send e-mail to comserve@rpiecs (BITNET). The message should contain the following one-line request:
SEND COMPUNET BIBLIOYou will receive the file "COMPUNET BIBLIO" by return mail, along with a "Welcome to Comserve" message and a "Getting Started with Comserve" message. If you're new to how Listserv works on BITNET, these documents are a really good place to start 🌈
2.09 Internet Tour Macintosh HyperCard 2.0 Stack (program) 🍎
this is a Macintosh HyperCard 2.0 stack that does a super nice job of describing some of the functions of the Internet. It has a section you can modify for your own institution's needs 🎀
Source:
Anonymous ftp to nnsc.nsf.net
cd internet-tour
get Internet-Tour-README
get Internet-Tour.sit.hqxHeads up: this is a stuffed and binhexed file. You must have the program Stuffit to convert it to an executable file on the Macintosh. ⚠️
2.10 A Survey of Educational Computer Networks (document) 🏫
this is a fact-finding project that looks at the current status of computer networks in K-12 education, including the ways networking links are impacting educational tasks. It's a good summary for educators 🍎
Source:
Anonymous ftp to ariel.unm.edu
cd library
get networks survey2.11 Internet Resource Directory 🧑🏫
a group of teachers put together an Internet Resource Directory that's especially useful for teachers, and it's so thoughtful 🥹 It comes in four parts: Listservers, Telnet sites, FTP sites, and general infusion-ideas.
Source:
Anonymous ftp to ftp.virginia.edu
cd public_access
get IRD-listservs.txt
get IRD-Telnet-sites.txt
get IRD-FTP-sites.txt
get IRD-infusion-ideas.txt2.12 Network Managers' Reading List (document) 📚
this document is an annotated list of books and other resources for network managers who are working with TCP/IP, UNIX, and Ethernet technologies 🤓
Source:
Anonymous ftp to ftp.utexas.edu
cd pub/netinfo/docs
get net-read.txt2.13 Network Resources List (document) 🦋
this one lists many resources available on the network, including weather, online databases, book reviews, a ham radio callbook, and so much more. The author is Scott Yanoff (yanoff@csd4.csd.uwm.edu), who routinely posts lists to the newsgroups alt.bbs.internet, news.lists, alt.bbs.ads, and biz.comp.services. Iconic behaviour 👑
Source:
Anonymous ftp to csd4.csd.uwm.edu
cd pub
get inet.services.txt2.14 Zen and the Art of the Internet (document; version 1) 🧘
this is the first version of what became a book (see section 10 for information on version 2). It's in book format now, and this first version has some really good information on the Internet and is written for the beginning user 🌸
Source:
Anonymous ftp to ashley.cs.widener.edu
cd pub/zen
get README
get zen-1.0.PS2.15 Hytelnet (Program) 💻
Hytelnet is a must-have program, and it's available for UNIX, Macintoshes, and PCs. It's designed to help you reach all of the Internet-accessible libraries, freenets, CWISes, library BBSs, and other information sites by Telnet. Peter Scott developed it, and he also maintains a list if you want the latest updates on network information 🫶
Contact: scott@sklib.usask.ca
Source:
Anonymous ftp to access.usask.ca
cd pub/hytelnet
get READMEChange directory to the computer you want to run hytelnet from:
cd pub/hytelnet/pc
cd pub/hytelnet/amiga
cd pub/hytelnet/mac
cd pub/hytelnet/pc
cd pub/hytelnet/unix
cd pub/hytelnet/vms2.16 World Wide Webb 🕸️
the WWW project merges information retrieval and hypertext to make an easy but powerful global information system. It's giving pure visionary energy 🌍
The project is based on the philosophy that academic information should be freely available to anyone. Its aim is to permit information sharing within internationally dispersed teams and the dissemination of information by support groups. It was originally aimed at the High Energy Physics community, but it has spread to other areas and attracted a lot of interest in user support, resource discovery, and collaborative work areas 💜
Reader View 👀
The WWW world consists of documents and links. Indexes are special documents which, rather than being read, can be searched. The result of such a search is another ("virtual") document containing links to the documents found. A simple protocol ("HTTP") is used to allow a browser program to request a keyword search by a remote information server.
The web contains documents in many formats. Hypertext documents (real or virtual) contain links to other documents or places within documents. All documents, whether real, virtual or indexes, look similar to the reader and are contained within the same addressing scheme.
To follow a link, you either click with a mouse or type in a number. To search an index, give keywords or other search criteria. These are the only operations necessary to access the entire world of data. Wild 🤯
You can try the simple line mode browser by Telnetting to info.cern.ch (no user or password). From UK JANET, use the gateway. You also can find out more about WWW this way. This is the least sophisticated browser, so remember that the window-oriented ones are much smarter ✨
It is much more efficient to install a browser on your own machine. The line mode browser is currently available in source form by anonymous FTP from node info.cern.ch (currently 128.141.201.74) as:
/pub/www/src/WWWLineMode_v.vv.tar.Z(v.vv is the version number, so take the latest.) Also available is a hypertext editor for the NeXT (WWWNeXTStepEditor_v.vv.tar.Z), the ViolaWWW browser for X11, and a skeleton server daemon (WWWDaemon_v.vv.tar.Z). 🛠️
Documentation is readable using www. A plain text version of the installation instructions is included in the tar file. Printable (PostScript) documentation and articles are in /pub/www/doc 📄
Source:
Telnet to info.cern.ch
No login required.
Telnet to eies2.njit.edu
Login as www3.0 Libraries Available over the Network ✨
Hundreds of libraries are reachable over the network, which is way too many to list here 📚 Several documents list the Internet-accessible libraries, including two major ones. The first is Internet-Accessible Library Catalogs and Databases, coauthored by Dr. Art St. George of the University of New Mexico (stgeorge@bootes.unm.edu [Internet] or stgeorge@unmb [BITNET]) and Dr. Ron Larsen of the University of Maryland. The second is UNT's Accessing On-Line Bibliographic Databases by Billy Barron (billy@vaxb.acs.unt.edu [Internet]). 🦋
3.1 Internet-Accessible Library Catalogs and Databases (document)
Here's where to grab it:
Source:
Anonymous ftp to ariel.unm.edu
cd library
get library.ps (PostScript format)
get internet.library (ASCII text version)3.2 UNT's Accessing On-Line Bibliographic Databases (document)
And here's the UNT one:
Source:
Anonymous ftp to ftp.unt.edu
cd pub/library
get libraries.ps (PostScript format)
get libraries.txt (ASCII text version)
get libraries.wp5 (WordPerfect 5.1 source)4.0 The Mother Lode of Anonymous FTP Sites ✨
Okay bestie, this is the treasure chest 💎 Throughout this document, sites are listed for specific documents, but most of them are just indexes that point you to more info. The big problem is searching through all of that to find what you actually want, and one of the best search methods is Archie, which I'll cover below. 🔍
Some sites hold huge repositories of files, and other sites are the source for specific programs, like Kermit, the public domain file transfer program. 🌸
4.05 archie
Honestly one of the best ways to hunt for a program on anonymous FTP is with archie (Archive Server Listing Service). Several of these servers are scattered around the world, but the fastest one I've found is the Advanced Network & Services, Inc. one, located in the United States. 🚀
Here's how it works: archie visits every site that offers anonymous FTP files, collects the file structure from that site, and puts it into a database it can search. Iconic. 💅
Now for a real-life example. I was reading an article about Windows in the July 1992 issue of PC World, and it mentioned a shareware program called ZiPaper on page 212. The name of the program is zipapr.zip, so I used Archie to track it down. 🕵️♀️
Source:
telnet archie.ans.net
login as archie
At the archie prompt type
prog zipapr.zipThe response is:
Host wuarchive.wustl.edu (128.252.135.2)
Last updated 17:22 13 July 1992
Location: /mirrors3/archive.umich.edu/msdos/mswindows/desktop
FILE rw-rw-r-- 41984 Jan 30 1991 zipapr.zipThis tells you the file is available via anonymous FTP to wuarchive.wustl.edu, in the directory mirrors3/archive.umich.edu/msdos/mswindows/desktop, and the file is zipapr.zip. Serving detective realness 🔥
4.1 Washington University (anonymous FTP)
Washington University is basically the most popular software site on the network 🍓 Its Mirrors directory holds a copy of all of the wsmr-simtel20.army.mil files. Wsmr-simtel20-army.mil is the originator and keeper of major amounts of public domain software, but their site is often overloaded and hard to connect to, so the mirror is the move. 🙈
The Mirrors directory has enough software to keep you busy for the rest of your life 😭 The MS-DOS and Macintosh subdirectories hold files for those specific machines.
Anonymous FTP to wuarchive.wustl.edu
cd mirrors
cd msdos
For income tax time cd taxes
For unzipping files cd zip, type binary, and get pkz110eu.exe
For education software cd education
For graphics files cd giff, tiff or graphics
cd macintoshFor the Macintosh, there are directories for applications, inits, sounds, reviews, and many more. 🍎
4.2 KERMIT (anonymous FTP)
Kermit is a public domain file transfer protocol available for just about all microcomputers, minicomputers, and mainframes. It's very popular and has been used at computer facilities everywhere, so it's a certified classic 👑
Anonymous FTP to watsun.cc.columbia.edu
cd kermit
get read.me
For executable versions of kermit:
cd bin
get READ.ME file and read for specifics of what file to get.For the IBM PC, the move is to get msvibm.exe after typing binary to activate the binary transfer mode. 💖
4.3 NCSA Software for Network Access from PCs (anonymous FTP)
Need telnet software for your computer? NCSA has you covered 🦋
Source:
Anonymous ftp to ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu
cd NCSA_Telnet
cd PC/Telnet (for IBM PC Software)
get telxxbin.zip where xx is the current version number
(in binary format; I also suggest getting readme files)
cd Mac/Telnet
get telnet.x.sithqx where x is the current version number
(in binary format; I also suggest getting readme files)4.4 Other Popular Ftp Sites (anonymous FTP)
Here's the lineup of other popular FTP sites, and yes, the virus ones are part of the list 💀
Name of Site What's there
ftp.apple.com Macintosh system software/technical
notes
ftp.cayman.com Gatorbox archive site
dragonfly.wri.com Mathematica archive site
mac.archive.umich.edu Macintosh software
sumex-aim.stanford.edu Macintosh software
rascal.ics.utexas.edu Macintosh software
ftp.acns.nwu.edu Disinfectant archive site
(virus software)
microlib.cc.utexas.edu GateKeeper archive site
(virus software)
bert.cs.byu.edu NCSA Telnet archive site (BYU version)
ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu NCSA Telnet archive site
beach.gal.utexas.edu F-Prot/Scan & Clean archive site
(virus software)
cert.sei.cmu.edu Virus Documentation
msdos.archive.umich.edu MS-DOS software
ux1.cso.uiuc.edu MS-DOS software (PC-SIG CD)
oak.oakland.edu MS-DOS software
wuarchive.wustl.edu MS-DOS software
cica.cica.indiana.edu MS-DOS software (Windows software)
archive.cis.ohio-state.edu UNIX software5.0 Network Information Centers - NICs ✨
Contact a NIC if you want to learn what networking is all about and how to connect 🌈 They can hook you up with people in your area who can help you get a network connection. If you don't know who else to ask about network topics, they can help with that too. 🫶
5.1 Goverment Systems, Inc. (GSI) (Internet NIC)
Government Systems, Inc. (GSI)
Attn: Network Information Center
14200 Park Meadow Drive
Suite 200
Chantilly, VA 22021
(800) 365-3642 or (703) 802-4535
FAX: (703) 802-8373
NIC@NIC.DDN.MILThis is the main NIC on the Internet, and the source for network numbers, domain names, and much more. ⭐
5.2 NSF Network Service Center (NNSC) (NIC)
NSF Network Service Center
Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc.
10 Moulton St.
Cambridge, MA 02138
(617) 873-3400
NNSC@NNSC.NSF.NETThey publish a newsletter called NSF Network News. To subscribe, contact them at the address above. 📰
5.3 NSFNET Information Services (NIS)
NSFNET Information Services
Merit Network, Inc.
ITI Building
2901 Hubbard, Pod G
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2016
(313) 936-3000 or (800) 66MERIT
NSFNET-INFO@MERIT.EDUThey publish a newsletter called Linkletter. To subscribe, send e-mail to NSFNET-Linkletter-request@merit.edu. 💌
5.4 SRI International Network Information Systems Center (NISC)
SRI International
Network Information Systems Center
333 Ravenswood Avenue, Room EJ291
Menlo Park, CA 94015
(415) 859-6387 or (415) 859-3695
Fax: (415) 859-6028
NISC@NISC.SRI.COM5.5 BITNET (NIC)
BITNET Network Information Center
Corporation for Research and Educational Networking (CREN)
1112 16th Street, N.W.
Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 872-4200
INFO@BITNIC
Lisa Covi, BITNET Support5.6 NASA Science Internet Network Information Center (NIC-NSI)
NASA NSI
Goddard Space Flight Center
Code 930.4
Greenbelt, MD 20771
Hotline: (303) 286-7251
FAX: (301) 286-5152
help@nic.nsi.nasa.govNSI is an international dual-protocol network (TCP/IP and DECnet) that supports scientists and engineers worldwide 🛰️ The NSI-NIC runs a help desk, online services, anonymous FTP, and interoperability gateways, along with other services.
Their contact is Bill Yurick, NSI-NIC Staff.
6.0 Network Statistics ✨
If you want to publish statistics in your newsletter about your institution's network traffic into and out of the NSFNET backbone, you can get info on either the packets or the bytes sent. Personally, I prefer bytes, because they translate into a figure people can actually understand 📊
6.1 Files containing monthly information on NSF Internet backbone traffic by packets or bytes (document)
Source:
Anonymous FTP to nis.nsf.net
cd statistics/nsfnet
get INDEX.statistics
cd 19?? where ?? is the year you are interested in.The files cover traffic by ports, country, delay, bytes and packets for T1 and T3 networks. 💜
7.0 Campuswide Information Systems - CWISes ✨
This section is mainly for people who are providing access methods from their own computing environments 🧚 Standards have been proposed, but there's no "package" that gives you access to all of the information covered here. What The Ohio State University and several other universities did was provide a menu that accesses these services and databases behind the scenes. Honestly, I had to dig through the shell scripts to look up the network addresses of these machines, because I rely on the menu for access too 😭
Information systems give you access to information when you already know exactly how to get to it. That's the magic part, because the network becomes invisible to end users. All they need to know is what they want, not the command structure needed to actually get it 💅
At present, the menu system seems to be the easiest way in. In the background is a knowbot, a program that knows how to go out and locate services on the network using a keyword search. Such a main character 🦋
You can connect to the following sites for a demonstration of their capabilities. 🌸
Many CWIS systems are converting to Gopher (see section 8.96). Hytelnet (see section 2.15) also has complete listings of CWIS systems. 📚
7.1 Appalachian State University
conrad.appstate.edu (152.10.1.1)
Login as info
Emulate a VT100.
Hardware/software: DEC/VTX
Contact: Ernest Jones (jonesel@appstate.bitnet)7.2 Arizona State University PEGASUS and ASEDD
asuvm.inre.asu.edu
Login as helloasu
Use tn3270.
Hardware/software: Running PNN News Network Software under
VM/CMS (with Profs and FOCUS)
Contact: Joy Kramer (iejxk@asuvm.inre.asu.edu)This one contains two databases: the Personal Guide to ASU Stuff (PEGASUS) and the Arizona State Economic Development Database (ASEDD). 🎀
7.3 Clemson University
eureka.clemson.edu
Login as public
Emulate a VT100.
Hardware/software: DEC/VTX
Contact: Amy Slankard (amy@clust1.clemson.edu)This system has info on weather for South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia, plus economics, plants, animals, engineering, food, home, health, family, and youth. It's giving encyclopedia energy 🌈
7.4 Columbia University
cal.cc.columbia.edu Login as calendarSteve, sorry, I mean David Millman's contact info is up top from the last part, so here we go: 💌
Contact: David Millman (dsm@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu) 🎀
7.5. Cornell CUINFO 🌸
Okay so CUINFO lives at cuinfo.cornell.edu and you connect to port 300. Use Telnet or tn3270. Different Telnet and tn3270 clients want the port typed in different ways, so here are the most common versions:
TELNET cuinfo.cornell.edu 300
TELNET cuinfo.cornell.edu::300
TELNET cuinfo.cornell.edu..300Hardware/software: VM/CMS; IBM S/370 assembler; locally written Contact: Steve Worona (slw@cornella.bitnet)
Here's what CUINFO has that people outside Cornell will actually care about ✨
- Uncle Ezra: The electronic counselor, and the first program of its kind. Literally a must read 📖
- Directories: Student and staff directories, including staff electronic addresses 📇
- Ski Reports: Up-to-the-minute upstate New York ski reports ⛷️
- Jobs (Seasonal): Listings and descriptions of jobs at Cornell 💼
- Cornell Computing: Extensive online information about computing at Cornell 💻
- Cornell Patents: Descriptions of current patents held by Cornell 🦋
- Various Newsletters: Newsletters from numerous campus groups 🗞️
- Weather: Up-to-the-minute local weather forecast 🌤️
7.6. Lafayette Integrated, Networked Campus - LINC 🧚
Lafayette's LINC box is lafibm.lafayette.edu (139.147.8.4), and you use Telnet or tn3270 to get in. Heads up: when you see the LINC logo, ignore the ALT-L advice and clear the logo by pressing Enter. On the next screen, don't log on. Instead, type DIAL MUSIC (case does not matter). On the login screen that shows up, use GUEST as the ID and GUEST as the password. Easy peasy 💅
Hardware/software: IBM 9375 running MUSIC/SP Contact: Patrick Ciriello (ciri@lafayacs.bitnet)
7.7. Lehigh 🦋
The Lehigh one is ibm1.cc.lehigh.edu, and you use tn3270. At the VM prompt, type DIAL MUSIC, and then at the /ID prompt, type LUNA. That's the whole thing 🙈
Hardware/software: IBM 4381 running MUSIC. Planning to move to AIX on RS/6000s. Contact: Timothy J. Foley (tjf0@ns.cc.lehigh.edu)
7.8. Mississippi State University (MSUinfo) 🍓
isis.msstate.edu (130.18.164.2) is the host. Log in as msuinfo. For terminal type, enter yours, because most are supported. Iconic of them to be so accommodating 🥰
Hardware/software: UNIX/TechInfo Contact: Bennet George (George_Bennet@admin.msstate.edu)
This one has announcements, campus events, community events, continuing education offerings, jobs, recent press releases, research funding opportunities, and more 📣
7.9. MIT TechInfo 👑
This one is accessible either through Telnet, or through a native Macintosh application that uses the MacTCP drivers to reach the TechInfo server. For the Mac app, you need a MacPlus with one Meg of memory or better, System 6.0.3 or better, and licensed MacTCP drivers. Respect the hardware requirements, bestie 💀
Source code is freely available to other schools that want to get started quickly. Contact the folks listed below for it ✨
For Telnet access:
telnet techinfo.mit.edu (18.72.1.146)No username or password is required. Once you're in, you can use upper- or lower-case commands. To exit the system, use the QUIT command 🚪
For native Macintosh access:
anonymous FTP to net-dist.mit.edu, look in the /pub/techinfo directory, and fetch techinfo.hqx. Binhex (a public domain tool) is required to decode the binary 🔓
Contact: Tim McGovern (tjm@mit.edu), (617) 253-0505 Bugs: bug-techinfo@mit.edu Comments: comment-techinfo@mit.edu Administration: admin-techinfo@mit.edu
7.10. New Mexico State University NMSU/INFO 🌵
The host is info.nmsu.edu. Login as info, and emulate a VT100.
Hardware/software: DEC/VTX Contact: D. Brian Ormand (bormand@nmsuvm1.bitnet) or (bormand@nmsu.edu)
7.11. North Carolina State University Happenings! 🎉
The host is ccvax1.cc.ncsu.edu (128.109.153.4). Login as info, and emulate a VT100.
Hardware/software: DEC/VTX Contact: Harry Nicholos (hmn@ncsuvax.bitnet)
7.12. NYU ACF INFO system 🗽
The host is info.nyu.edu (information.nyu.edu) (128.122.138.142). Emulating a VT100 or better unlocks some extra suboptions, so go for it 💜
Contact: Stephen Tihor (tihor@ACFcluster.nyu.edu) or (tihor@nyuacf.bitnet)
7.13. Pima Community College 🌞
The host is pimacc.pima.edu. Login as pimainfo, and emulate a VT100.
Hardware/software: DEC/VTX Contact: Terry Loftus (tloftus@pimacc.pima.edu) or Al Camberos (acamberos@pimacc.pima.edu)
7.14. Princeton News Network PNN 📰
The host is pucc.princeton.edu. Use Telnet or tn3270. When you see the VM 370 logo, clear it. Then, instead of logging on, enter pnn (case does not matter). Clear the information screen that appears 🧹
Hardware/software: VM/CMS; locally written. A UNIX version and a Mac HyperCard version are up, running, and available. All versions (CMS, UNIX, and HyperCard) are available to universities at no cost. 🎁
Contact: Rita Saltz (rita@pucc.bitnet) System and Development: Howard Strauss (howard@pucc.bitnet)
7.15. Rutgers University 🐯
The host is info.rutgers.edu on port 98. No password is required. It can be accessed from any microcomputer or terminal 💖
Hardware/software: written in lush (a public domain program); runs on any SUN workstation. Contact: Leny Struminger (struming@zodiac.rutgers.edu)
INFO has universitywide activities, graduate course catalogs, a faculty/taff phone directory, computer services, a library online catalog, weather, news, bus schedules, and more 🚌
7.16. San Diego State University 🌊
The host is wintermute.sdsu.edu. Login as sdsuinfo, and emulate a VT100.
Hardware/software: pnn & nmm Contact: Richard Caasi (caasi@sdsu.edu)
7.17. University of Arkansas 🐗
The host is uafsysb.uark.edu. Login as info.
Hardware/software: IBM 4381-14, VM/HPO 6.0, Cornell's CUINFO module Contact: Susan Adkins (sa06037@uafsysb.bitnet) or (sa06037@uafsysb.uark.edu)
This system has information on the calendar of events, the campus e-mail directory, and hours and services 🗓️
7.18. University of Colorado at Boulder 🏔️
The host is culine.colorado.edu 852 (128.138.129.2 852). Login as CULINE.
Contact: Donna Pattee (pattee@spot.colorado.edu)
7.19. University of Denver 🦬
The host is du.edu. Login as atdu.
Contact: Bob Stocker (bstocker@ducair.bitnet)
7.20. University of Minnesota at Duluth ❄️
The host is ub.d.umn.edu. Login as info, and emulate a vt100.
Contact: Frank Simmons (fsimmons@ub.d.umn.edu)
This system contains more than 700 documents, ranging from athletic schedules to microcomputer prices to art gallery showing schedules. All commands are displayed at the bottom of each screen, and separate online help is available. Keyword searching is available too, although at this time only words in the titles of documents are used 🔍
7.21. University of New Brunswick, Canada, INFO 🍁
The host is unbmvs1.csd.unb.ca (131.202.1.2). Login with application ID INFO. No password is required. INFO is a full-screen CICS application running under MVS.
tn3270 emulation.
Contact: Bonita Mockler (bgm@unb.ca)
This system has the university calendar, class timetables, phone and fax numbers for faculty, staff, and students, faculty and staff e-mail IDs, seminar schedules, minutes, a newsletter, and more 📅
7.22. University of New Hampshire VideoTex 📺
The host is unhvtx.unh.edu (132.177.128.58). USERNAME: student (no password required). Control-z to log off. VT100/VT200 terminal emulation.
Hardware/software: DEC/VTX Contact: Robin Tuttle (r_tuttle1@unhh.unh.edu)
This system includes phone directories, the campus calendar, job listings, an off-campus housing list, the undergraduate catalog, class schedules, newsletters, services and programs, rights and rules of conduct, athletics and recreation information, activities, and workshops 🏀
7.23. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill INFO 🐏
The host is info.oit.unc.edu (128.109.157.1). Login as info, and emulate a VT100.
Hardware/software: DEC/VTX Contact: Judy Hallman (hallman@unc.bitnet)
This system has the campus directory, job openings, "TheIndependent Study" catalog (correspondence courses), the undergraduate catalog, continuing education classes, and several campus newsletters, including "Newsbrief," the weekly campus computing newsletter 🗞️
7.24. University of North Carolina at Greensboro MINERVA 🦉
The host is steffi.acc.uncg.edu. Login as info or MINERVA, and emulate a VT100.
Hardware/software: DEC/VTX Contact: Norman Hill (hillnr@uncg.bitnet)
7.25. University of North Carolina at Wilmington SEABOARD 🌊
The host is vxc.uncwil.edu (128.109.221.3). Log in as info, and emulate a VT100.
Hardware/software: DEC/VTX Contact: Eddy Cavenaugh (cavenaughd@uncwil.bitnet) or (cavenaughd@vxc.uncwil.edu)
This system includes class schedule listings, institutional statistics, library services, faculty and staff publications, current university news releases, phone directories, and facilities schedules 📋
7.26. University of Northern Iowa 🌽
The host is infosys.uni.edu. Log in as public. It prefers a vtxxx terminal, but works with unknown terminal types 🖥️
Hardware/software: The program uses UNIX tput clear, tput mc4, and tput mc5 (for printing). Contact: Mike Yohe (yohe@iscsvax.uni.edu)
7.27. University of Pennsylvania PennInfo 🔔
The host is penninfo.upenn.edu. (No login ID is needed.) Emulate a VT100.
Hardware/software: MIT's Techinfo; type HELP for directions Contact: Valerie Glauser (glauser@dccs.upenn.edu) Comments: penninfo-comments@dccs.upenn.edu Bugs: penninfo-bugs@dccs.upenn.edu Contact: Valerie Glauser (glauser@dccs.upenn.edu)
PennInfo can also be accessed through MIT's TechInfo Mac client program. Penn slightly modified the Mac client, because Penn has different contact information than MIT does 🫶
7.28. Ohio State University 🌰
The host is oasis.acs.ohio-state.edu. Login as oasis, and emulate a VT100.
Hardware/software: DEC 5500 using Ultrix, shell scripts and modified Gopher code to allow Gopher access. Contact: Clifford Collins (collins+@osu.edu) Comments: oasis@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Bugs: oasis@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
8.0 Internet Bulletin Board System/Interactive Databases/Freenet ✨
okay so these are systems you connect to through an anonymous Telnet session to get all kinds of services and info 💖 In some ways they're giving campuswide information systems, and in other ways they're more like bulletin boards or interactive databases 🌸
there's a file with the most frequently asked questions about bulletin board systems, and you can grab it via anonymous FTP 🎀
Source:
Anonymous FTP to polyslo.calpoly.edu
cd pub
get alt.bbs.faqHere are some of these types of systems, bestie 🦋
8.1. Cleveland Freenet - Case Western Reserve University 👑
Telnet to freenet-in-a.cwru.eduFollow the menu driven instructions.
8.2. Heartland Freenet 🍓
heartland.bradley.edu (136.176.10.10)
Login as fnguest8.3. Youngstown Freenet - Youngstown State University 🌈
Telnet yfn.ysu.eduType visitor at userid prompt and follow menu driven instructions.
8.4. Ocean Network Information Center 🌊
Telnet delocn.udel.eduWhen the Userid: prompt appears, type INFO and press Enter/Return key.
8.5. Geographic Name Server 🗺️
Telnet martini.eecs.umich.edu 3000For information on a place, type the name of the city and state as you would on the last line of a postal address. Example:
Zanesville, OH8.6. ISAAC 🖥️
ISAAC, the Information System for Advanced Academic Computing, serves as a clearinghouse for information about the use of IBM-compatible hardware and software as aids to instruction and research in higher education. Membership is free to all students, faculty, and staff at institutions of higher education.
For more information call (206) 543-5604.
ISAAC requires that you register before you can access the system. To register, type register for the userid and password and fill in the information using the tab key to go from field to field. Once registered, you will be assigned a userid and password; then you must reconnect, this time typing your assigned userid and password.
To access ISAAC, you need to establish a Telnet connection over the network. If you do not have network access, you also can call over phone lines. Call (800) 237-5551 in the United States or, within the local Seattle area or outside the United States, call (206) 543-3761.
telnet isaac.engr.washington.edu or 128.95.32.618.7. FEDIX 🏛️
FEDIX is an online information service that links the higher education community and the federal government to facilitate research, education, and services. The system provides accurate and timely federal agency information to colleges, universities, and other research organizations. There are no registration fees and no access charges for using FEDIX. The only cost is for the phone call.
FEDIX provides daily information updates on:
- Federal education and research programs (including descriptions, eligibility, funding, and deadlines).
- Scholarships, fellowships, and grants.
- Used government research equipment available.
- New funding for specific research and education activities from the Commerce Business Daily, Federal Register, and other sources.
- Minority assistance research and education programs.
- News and current events within participating agencies.
- General information such as agency history, budget, organizational structure, and mission statement.
For more information, contact the HELPLINE at (301) 975-0103 Monday-Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm EST, except on federal holidays.
telnet 192.111.228.1
At the login: prompt type fedix8.8. STIS 🔭
STIS is the Science and Technology Information System at the National Science Foundation.
Information includes the NSF Bulletin, guide to programs, grants booklet (including forms), program announcements, press releases, NSF telephone book, reports of the National Science Board, descriptions of research projects funded by NSF (with abstracts), and analytical reports and news from the International Programs Division.
Publications may be searched by using a keyword, such as japan or volcano; using a phrase, such as exchange of scientists and soviet union; or by selecting a broad topic like biosciences.
For more information, contact the National Science Foundation, Phone (202) 357-7555, FAX (202) 357-7745, TDD (202) 357-7492 or via e-mail to stis@nsf.gov (Internet), or stis@nsf (BITNET).
telnet stis.nsf.gov
At the login: prompt type public
At the terminal type prompt, type vt100nkp
Enter your terminal type [blank=vt100]: vt100nkpYou are asked for a userid of up to eight characters. If you are a new user, you will be asked to supply your name and address for record keeping. You can search the NSF publications for information and have the information sent to your e-mail address if you wish. STIS provides a menu system. To get back to the main menu, press the esc key until you have the main menu on the screen. Press the arrow key until Exit is highlighted, and press enter to exit STIS.
8.9. Weather ⛅
Source:
Telnet madlab.sprl.umich.edu 30008.93 NASA Spacelink 🚀
A space-related information database provided by the NASA Educational Affairs Division.
Source:
Telnet spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov
Login with userid newuser
and password newuser8.95 WAIS 🔍
Wide Area Information Server; this system uses a standard query system for access to information databases on the Internet. It is a client server model with clients available for Macintoshes, NeXTs, UNIX and PCs.
Source:
Telnet quake.think.com
Login as waisFiles available via anonymous FTP to quake.com
cd wais8.96 Gopher 🐹
Gopher is a client server system that accesses information on the Internet. Clients exist for Macintoshes, PCs, NeXTs, X Windows, and UNIX terminals. The use of Gopher as Campus Wide Information Systems has been exploding in the past year. If you have not tried Gopher I would highly recommend giving it a try. It is truly a golden Gopher. 🌈✨ literally iconic ✨🌈
Source:
Telnet to consultant.micro.umn.edu
Login as gopherFiles available via anonymous FTP to boombox.micro.umn.edu
cd pub/gopher9.0 WHOIS - E-mail white pages ✨
okay so WHOIS is this program that lots of workstation, mini, and mainframe computers have, and it can connect to another computer 💌 You give it a person's name and it tells you whatever info it has on them. finger is a similar vibe, except it only knows about people who have an account on that one specific computer. A WHOIS database usually has info on most of the people at a university, not just the machine you dialed into 🎀
In a bigger sense, WHOIS is a technique for finding someone's e-mail address 🦋 There is no master list of e-mail addresses on the network, lowkey shocking I know 💀 There are standards for supplying e-mail addresses, but it's gonna take a minute before they're implemented everywhere. Until then, the easiest way to find out is to call and ask!
I can literally hear the gasps 😭 using the phone for anything other than talking to your mom, sacrilege! There are obviously lots of ways to find someone's e-mail address. But the thing you don't know is whether the person even reads their e-mail, and if they have more than one address, which one is the right one. A simple phone call the first time answers all of that super fast 📞✨
The following documents and resources will help you find someone's e-mail address 🫶
9.03 College E-mail Address
Mark Kantrowitz (mkant@cs.cmu.edu) of Carnegie-Mellon University has put together an extensive list of techniques for locating e-mail addresses at many universities 🎓 This document is an alphabetical listing of universities, with searching techniques unique to each one. It's giving research queen 👑
Source:
Anonymous ftp to a.gp.cs.cmu.edu Note: for password you must use your e-mail address in the form of name@computer. cd /afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/mkant/Public/Email
Note: you must cd to this directory as above, because intermediate directories are protected. get college-email.-#.text.## Note: the files are separated into several sections and you need to specify the sections you want by replacing the # shown above with a number 1, 2, 3 etc.
You also can send mail to mail-server@pit-manager.mit.edu with no subject and the body of the text message (with no signature) 📨
send usenet/soc.college/FAQ:_College_Email_Addresses
_1_2_[Monthly_posting]
send usenet/soc.college/FAQ:_College_Email_Addresses
_2_2_[Monthly_posting]Note the above commands should be all on one line 🙈
9.05 Netfind
Netfind is a program that goes out and queries the network in an organized way to find e-mail addresses 🔍 so smart, no notes
Source:
Telnet bruno.cs.colorado.edu
Login is netfind9.07 Inter-Network Guide
When you're mailing from one network to another, you need to know what address to use to get to the gateway 🌉 For example, if you want to send a message from the Internet to someone on CompuServe, you address it to 12345.1234@compuserve.com, where 12345.1234 is the person's CompuServe ID written in the form 12345,1234.
The Inter-Network Mail Guide by John Chew gives you all of this info 📚
Source: Send a mail message to listserv@unmvm.unm.edu with no subject. Message body of: GET NETWORK GUIDE
9.09 WHOIS List
The following is a list of universities that have a WHOIS service working 🏫 A more complete list was collected by Matt Power of MIT (mhpower@athena.mit.edu).
Source:
Anonymous ftp to sipb.mit.edu
cd pub/whois
get whois-servers.listThe following is a short list of WHOIS servers 💜
9.1 The Ohio State University
Telnet to osu.edu
Use WHOIS command whois -h osu.edu
Enter firstname.lastname
Example: whois -h osu.edu jerry.smith9.2 University of Oregon
Use WHOIS command whois -h oregon.uoregon.edu
Enter firstname.lastname
Example: whois -h oregon.uoregon.edu Rose.Smith9.3 University of Virginia
Use WHOIS command whois -h whois.virginia.edu
Enter lastname, firstname middlename
Example: whois -h whois.virginia.edu Smith, John James9.4 University of Pennsylvania
Use WHOIS command whois -h whois.upenn.edu
Enter lastname, firstname
Example: whois -h whois.upenn.edu Smith, Judy9.5 University of Wisconsin
Use WHOIS command whois -h wisc.edu
Enter firstname lastname
Example: whois -h wisc.edu Jane Smith9.6 MIT
Use WHOIS command whois -h mit.edu
Enter firstname_lastname
Example: whois -h mit.edu Robert_Smith9.7 Indiana University
Use WHOIS command whois -h iugate.ucs.indiana.edu
Enter firstname_lastname
Example: whois -h iugate.ucs.indiana.edu Gerald_Smith9.8 Stanford University
Use WHOIS command whois -h stanford.edu
Enter firstname lastname
Example: whois -h stanford.edu "shirley smith"9.9 University of California at Davis
Use WHOIS command whois -h ucdavis.edu
Enter lastname,firstname
Example: whois -h ucdavis.edu smith,sandra9.95 Directory of ERNET users in India 🇮🇳
Use WHOIS command whois -h sangam.ernet.in help
(will give the help screen with examples)
Enter city name
Example: whois -h sangam.ernet.in bombay
(will list all computer names at bombay)
Enter name@computer
Example: whois -h sangam.ernet.in joshi@shakti
(will match all users on shakti matching the pattern "johsi")10.0 Books 📚
For a more complete listing, see sections 2.08 and 2.11 🤓
- Internetworking with TCP/IP Principles, Protocols, and Architecture by Douglas Comer, Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-13-470154-2.
- The Matrix, Computer Networks and Conferencing Systems Worldwide by John S. Quarterman, Digital Press, ISBN 0-13-565607-9.
- !%@:: A Directory of Electronic Mail Addressing and Networks, by Donnalyn Frey and Rick Adams, O'Reilly & Associates, Inc., ISBN 0-937175-39-0.
- The User's Directory of Computer Networks, Edited by Tracy L. LaQuey, Digital Press, ISBN 0-13-950262-9.
- Zen and the art of the Internet: A Beginner's Guide, Second Edition, by Brendan Kehoe, Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-13-010778-6.
11.0 Free Periodicals/Tabloids/Magazines 🗞️
Below are just a few of the periodicals available to qualified subscribers 💅
The first four, PCWeek, MacWeek, Info World, and Network World, are the ones I try to skim routinely. The others are dedicated to specific network, LAN, or UNIX topics, which are super useful if you need that kind of info 🌈
PC Week
P.O. Box 1767
Riverton, NJ 08077-9767
MacWEEK
P.O. Box 1764
Riverton, NJ 08077-9764
Info World
P.O. Box 3013
Northbrook, IL 60065-3013
Network World
161 Worchester Road
Framingham, MA 01701
Computer System News
Circulation Dept.
P.O. Box 2030
Manhasset, NY 11030-7030
Network Management
Circulation Department
Box 2417
Tulsa, OK 74101-2417
Unix Review
Circulation Department
P.O. Box 7439
San Francisco, CA 94120-7439
Communication News
2504 North Tamiami Trail
Nokomis, FL 34275-9987
LAN Times
P.O. Box 652
Hightstown, NJ 08520
Communications Week
Circulations Dept.
P.O. Box 2070
Manhasset, NY 11030
LAN Computing
101 Witmer Road
O.O. Box 322
Horsham, PA 19044-0322
Midrange Systems
P.O. Box 445
Horsham, PA 19044-0445
Unix Today!
Circulation Dept.
P.O. Box 2170
Manhasset NY 11030-437612.0 Glossary 🧚
I use some terms here that may not be familiar to everyone, so here's a quick explanation 💖
12.1 BITNET
A network of mainframes or minicomputers 🖥️ BITNET connects many universities and colleges. It provides e-mail and file transfer capabilities, but it can't do remote login (Telnet session capability), so no logging in from afar 🙅♀️
12.2 Internet
A very large network that connects just about any types of computers 🌐 It supports e-mail, file transfer (FTP), and remote login (Telnet). the main character of the networking world, honestly ✨
12.3 Anonymous FTP
The ability to transfer a file from a remote computer connected to the Internet without having an account on that remote computer 🦋 The program that does the transfer is normal FTP. To connect to a remote computer offering anonymous FTP, you can use the following commands from a computer connected to the Internet:
FTP Internet computer name
When prompted for a userid, type anonymous
When prompted for a password, type your e-mail address
To get a listing of files type dir
To change directory, type cd directory name
To get a file, type get filename
To get a binary file, type binary then get filename
To end session, type quitExample:
FTP pilot.njin.net
Username: anonymous
Password: yourname@computer.edu
cd pub/ftp-list
get ftp.list
quit12.4 Telnet
The ability to establish a connection to a remote computer connected to the Internet 🔌 Two types of programs do this. One, usually called Telnet, sets up a VT100-type terminal emulation to the remote computer. The second, TN3270, sets up a full-screen IBM 3270-type terminal connection 🖥️
12.5 Listserv
A program available on many BITNET-connected computers that can act as a mail forwarding system and as a file repository 📬 BITNET is another network that links many colleges and universities. It does not normally link to military or government institutions the way the Internet does. To subscribe to a listserv, you usually send mail to the machine that has the mailing list, with the command to subscribe in it. For example, to subscribe to a list for discussing topics relevant to mechanical engineering, send e-mail to listserv@utarlvml with a message containing the one-line command to subscribe:
SUB MECH-1 John Doe (Where John Doe would be your full name)12.6 Usenet/Read News
Newsgroups are like public bulletin boards where you can post and read messages from other people worldwide 🌍 More than 1500 groups cover topics ranging from arts and recreation to more research-oriented things like physics, philosophy, microbiology, and many, many others 🔬 Normally you gain access through a computer that has lots of disk space and is connected directly to the Internet. You can read many of the newsgroups from the Cleveland Freenet (section 8.1) or from commercial providers of Internet access, for example Holonet (section 1.7) 💅
Disclaimer
The information provided in the previous sections has been put together from multiple sources acquired from the network 🧃 Much of it came from reading newsgroups and trying things out to see how they worked. The information is as accurate as I have been able to determine, as of July 17, 1992 ✨
I used a DEC5500 system running Ultrix to check most of these sources. Most of the information is oriented toward the Internet, since it has remote login (Telnet) and file transfer (FTP) 💖
Security Considerations 🙈
Security issues are not discussed in this memo. (Bestie, this one is a whole vibe check, so please be careful out there 😭)
Author's Address
Jerry Martin
Leader, Network Information Center
Ohio State University
Academic Computing Services
1971 Neil Ave.
Columbus, OH 43210-1210
Phone: (614) 292-4843
EMail: nic@osu.edu (Internet)
nic@ohstmail (BITNET)📦 where this page comes from
- ietf: rfc1402 1993-01
- 💖 girlified by claude-haiku-5-5 on : a language model's rewrite of the original, under its terms