RFC 1580






Network Working Group                                         EARN Staff
Request for Comments: 1580                              EARN Association
FYI: 23                                                       March 1994
Category: Informational


                    Guide to Network Resource Tools

Status of this Memo

   This memo provides information for the Internet community. This memo
   does not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of
   this memo is unlimited.

Table of Contents

    1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
    2. GOPHER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
      2.1. What is Gopher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
      2.2. Who can use Gopher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
      2.3. How to get to Gopher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
      2.3.1. Local clients  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
      2.3.2. Remote clients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
      2.4. Using Gopher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
      2.5. VERONICA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
      2.6. Learning more about Gopher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
    3. WORLD-WIDE WEB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
      3.1. What is World-Wide Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
      3.2. Who can use World-Wide Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
      3.3. How to get to World-Wide Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
      3.3.1. Local clients  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
      3.3.2. Remote clients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
      3.3.2.1. E-mail access  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
      3.4. Using World-Wide Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
      3.5. Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
      3.6. Learning more about World-Wide Web . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
    4. WAIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
      4.1. What is WAIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
      4.2. Who can use WAIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
      4.3. How to get to WAIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
      4.4. Using WAIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
      4.4.1.  E-mail access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
      4.5. Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
      4.6  Learning more about WAIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
    5. ARCHIE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
      5.1. What is ARCHIE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
      5.2. Who can use ARCHIE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
      5.3. How to get to ARCHIE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28



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      5.4. Using ARCHIE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
      5.4.1. Using a local client . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
      5.4.1.1. Archie client command and parameters . . . . . . . . . 29
      5.4.2. Using Telnet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
      5.4.3. Using electronic mail  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
      5.5. Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
      5.6. Learning more about ARCHIE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
    6. WHOIS  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
      6.1. What is WHOIS  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
      6.2. Who can use WHOIS  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
      6.3. How to get to WHOIS  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
      6.4. Using WHOIS  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
      6.4.1. Using a local client . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
      6.4.2. Using Telnet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
      6.4.3. Using electronic mail  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
      6.5. Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
      6.6. Learning more about WHOIS  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
    7. X.500  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
      7.1. What is X.500  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
      7.2. Who can use X.500  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
      7.3. How to get to X.500  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
      7.4. Using X.500  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
      7.4.1. Using a local client . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
      7.4.2. Using Telnet or X.25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
      7.4.3. Using electronic mail  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
      7.5. Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
      7.6. Learning more about X.500  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
    8. NETFIND  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
      8.1. What is NETFIND  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
      8.2. Who can use NETFIND  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
      8.3. How to get to NETFIND  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
      8.4. Using NETFIND  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
      8.4.1. Local access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
      8.4.2. Remote access  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
      8.5. Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
      8.6. Learning more about NETFIND  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
    9. TRICKLE  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
      9.1. What is TRICKLE  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
      9.2. Who can use TRICKLE  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
      9.3  How to get to TRICKLE  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
      9.4. Using TRICKLE  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
      9.5. Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
      9.6. Learning more about TRICKLE  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
   10. BITFTP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
     10.1. What is BITFTP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
     10.2. Who can use BITFTP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
     10.3. How to get to BITFTP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
     10.4. Using BITFTP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66



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     10.5. Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
     10.6. Learning more about BITFTP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
   11. LISTSERV (Version 1.7f). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
     11.1. What is LISTSERV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
     11.2. Who can use LISTSERV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
     11.3. How to get to LISTSERV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
     11.4. Using LISTSERV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
     11.4.1. Commands for LISTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
     11.4.2. Commands for FILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
     11.4.3. LISTSERV DATABASE Functions  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
     11.4.4. Commands for INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
     11.5. Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
     11.6. Learning more about LISTSERV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
   12. NETNEWS (USENET) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
     12.1. What is NETNEWS  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
     12.2. Who can use NETNEWS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
     12.3. How to get to NETNEWS  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
     12.4. Using NETNEWS  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
     12.5. Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
     12.6. Learning more about NETNEWS  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
   13. OTHER TOOLS OF INTEREST  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
     13.1. ASTRA  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
     13.1.1. What is ASTRA  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
     13.1.2. How to get to ASTRA  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
     13.1.3. Learning more about ASTRA  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
     13.2. NETSERV  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
     13.2.1. What is NETSERV  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
     13.2.2. How to get to NETSERV  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
     13.2.3. Learning more about NETSERV  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
     13.3. MAILBASE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
     13.3.1. What is MAILBASE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
     13.3.2. How to get to MAILBASE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
     13.3.3. Learning more about MAILBASE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
     13.4. PROSPERO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
     13.4.1. What is PROSPERO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
     13.4.2. How to get to PROSPERO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
     13.4.3. Learning more about PROSPERO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
     13.5. IRC  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
     13.5.1. What is IRC  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
     13.5.2. How to get to IRC  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
     13.5.3. Learning more about IRC  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
     13.6. RELAY  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
     13.6.1. What is RELAY  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
     13.6.2. How to get to RELAY  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  100
     13.6.3. Learning more about RELAY  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  101
   14. Security Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  101
   15. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  101
   16. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  102



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   17. Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  102
   18. Appendix A - Freely available networking software  . . . . .  103
     18.1. Gopher clients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  103
     18.2. World-Wide Web clients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  104
     18.3. WAIS clients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  105
     18.4. Netnews - news reader software . . . . . . . . . . . . .  106

1. Introduction

   As the worldwide academic computer network grows and expands far
   beyond its previous confines, so the resources and services available
   on the network evolve and multiply at a dizzying rate. The typical
   user is hardpressed to keep up with this explosive growth.
   Fortunately, a number of tools are available to facilitate the task
   of locating and retrieving network resources, so that users anywhere
   can utilize texts, data, software and information for public access.
   Facilities to explore public domain software repositories, to consult
   mailing list archives and databases, to retrieve directory
   information and to participate in global group discussions are now
   available to all.

   The key to exploiting these resources is a server, special software
   on a computer somewhere in the network which accepts requests (or
   queries or commands) and sends a response automatically. The
   requestor does not have to be working on the same computer (or even
   in the same part of the world) in order to use the server. Many
   servers accept requests via electronic mail, so that often the
   requestor needs not even be on the same computer network as the
   server. In many cases, servers are interconnected so that once you
   have established contact with one server, you can easily communicate
   with other servers as well.

   Today, many users have powerful computers on the desktop, with
   advanced graphical, audio and storage capabilities, which are
   connected to the network. This fact has given rise to what is known
   as the client-server model. Users can have special software on their
   local computer called a client which can utilize the capabilities of
   that computer and can also communicate with a server on the network.
   These clients provide an easy-to-use, intuitive user interface, allow
   use of pointing devices such as a mouse, and exploit other local
   features. The client sends the user's requests to a server using a
   standardized format (called a protocol) and the server sends its
   response in a condensed format which the client displays to the user
   in a more readable way.

   Several of the tools described herein have several different
   functions.  However they could be classified in functional areas
   according to their main purpose. Sections two and three cover two



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   services, Gopher and World-Wide Web, which use the client-server
   model to explore the network providing a means of moving through a
   wide range of network sources and resources in a uniform and
   intuitive way.  A tool for searching in a wide range of different
   databases located throughout the network, WAIS, is documented in
   section four. The problem of knowing where to find network resources
   (files and programs) is addressed in section five, which deals with
   archie. Three tools for finding people, computers and their network
   addresses, WHOIS, X.500 and Netfind, are discussed in sections six,
   seven and eight. While just about all of these network tools can be
   used to get files of one sort or another, there are a few servers
   available for getting files easily and efficiently from various
   repositories in the network. Two of these servers, TRICKLE and
   BITFTP, are covered in sections nine and ten. Sections eleven and
   twelve deal with what is perhaps the most popular of all the network
   resources, discussion groups on every imaginable topic. The two tools
   discussed there are LISTSERV and Netnews (Usenet). Section thirteen
   gives brief descriptions and pointers for a number of tools which
   were not mainstream enough to get a full description. Some are still
   in the developmental stage (Prospero), some are relatively unknown
   outside a particular network (ASTRA and Netserv from EARN/Bitnet and
   Mailbase from JANET) and some are meant for chatting rather than work
   (Relay and IRC).

   The purpose of this guide is to supply the basic information that
   anyone on the network needs to try out and begin using these tools. A
   basic knowledge of networking terminology has been assumed, as well
   as familiarity with the basic tools of networking: electronic mail
   (often referred to as e-mail or simply mail throughout this guide)
   and, for those connected to the Internet, FTP (file transfer
   protocol) and Telnet (remote login). It is beyond the scope of this
   guide to describe these basic tools. The example in the BITFTP
   section of this guide shows how one can use BITFTP to get guides to
   these tools over the network.

2. GOPHER

2.1. What is Gopher

   The Internet Gopher, or simply Gopher, is a distributed document
   delivery service. It allows users to explore, search and retrieve
   information residing on different locations in a seamless fashion.

   When browsing it, the information appears to the user as a series of
   nested menus. This kind of menu structure resembles the organization
   of a directory with many subdirectories and files. The subdirectories
   and the files may be located either on the local server site or on
   remote sites served by other Gopher servers. From the user point of



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   view, all information items presented on the menus appear to come
   from the same place.

   The information can be a text or binary file, directory information
   (loosely called phone book), image or sound. In addition, Gopher
   offers gateways to other information systems (World-Wide Web, WAIS,
   archie, WHOIS) and network services (Telnet, FTP). Gopher is often a
   more convenient way to navigate in a FTP directory and to download
   files.

   A Gopher server holds the information and handles the users' queries.
   In addition, links to other Gopher servers create a network wide
   cooperation to form the global Gopher web (Gopherspace).

2.2. Who can use Gopher

   Gopher uses the client-server model to provide access to the Gopher
   web.  You must be on the international TCP/IP network (the Internet)
   in order to use a client on your computer to access Gopher.

2.3. How to get to Gopher

   Users explore the Gopher menus  using various local clients or
   accessing a remote client via an interactive Telnet session.

   2.3.1. Local clients

      Public domain clients for accessing a Gopher server are available
      for: Macintosh, MS-DOS, OS/2, VM/CMS, VMS, NeXT, Unix, X-Windows.
      The clients are available for anonymous FTP from many FTP sites
      (e.g., boombox.micro.umn.edu in the directory /pub/gopher). See
      the list of freely available client software in Appendix A.

   2.3.2. Remote clients

      Some sites allow public access to a client. To access such a
      remote client, telnet to one of these sites:

      +---------------------------------------------------------------+
      |  info.anu.edu.au                 Australia (login: info)      |
      |  tolten.puc.cl                   Columbia                     |
      |  ecnet.ec                        Ecuador                      |
      |  gopher.chalmers.se              Sweden                       |
      |  consultant.micro.umn.edu        USA                          |
      |  gopher.uiuc.edu                 USA                          |
      |  panda.uiowa.edu                 USA (login: panda)           |
      |  sunsite.unc.edu                 USA                          |
      +---------------------------------------------------------------+



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      At the login: prompt type gopher (unless specified otherwise) and
      the top-level Gopher menu for that site will be displayed.

      Users are requested to use the site closest to them.

   2.4. Using Gopher

      The implementations of the Gopher clients on various platforms are
      slightly different to take advantage of the platforms'
      capabilities (mouse, graphic functions, X-Windows server) and to
      offer the popular look and feel. Even with different
      implementations, the same set of functions and commands is
      available.

      When issuing the gopher command, you will be connected
      automatically to the default Gopher server specified at the
      installation. The format of the command is:

      +---------------------------------------------------------------+
      |                                                               |
      |  gopher                                             |
      |                                                               |
      +---------------------------------------------------------------+

      where hostname is an optional alternative Gopher server you want
      to talk to.

      When connected to a Gopher server, it is still possible to access
      another server by exploring the Other Gopher servers in the rest
      of the world branch. To locate them more easily, the Gopher
      servers are distributed in geographical regions:

         * Africa
         * Europe
         * Middle East
         * North America
         * Pacific
         * South America

      and then by countries.

      Access to a Gopher server is identical whether using a local or a
      remote client: a simple menu-driven interface which doesn't
      require any special training or knowledge from the user.

      Here is a sample menu:





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      -----------------------------------------------------------------

                       Internet Gopher Information Client v1.1

                            Information About Gopher

          1.  About Gopher.
          2.  Search Gopher News 
          3.  Gopher News Archive/
          4.  comp.infosystems.gopher (Usenet newsgroup)/
          5.  Gopher Software Distribution/
          6.  Gopher Protocol Information/
          7.  University of Minnesota Gopher software licensing policy.
          8.  Frequently Asked Questions about Gopher.
          9.  gopher93/
          10. Gopher| example server/
          11. How to get your information into Gopher.
      --> 12. New Stuff in Gopher.
          13. Reporting Problems or Feedback.
          14. big Ann Arbor gopher conference picture.gif 


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

      -----------------------------------------------------------------

      In the example above, any item can be selected by typing its line
      number or by moving the cursor (-->) next to it.

      An item could be:

         * a subdirectory
         * a text file
         * a binary file
         * a sound file
         * an image file
         * a phone book (directory information)
         * an index-search
         * a Telnet session

      Items are displayed with an identifying symbol next to them. In
      the example above, "" means a full text index-search, "/" means
      a subdirectory, "" means an image file and no symbol
      means a text file.

      Some Gopher clients are not able to handle certain file types
      (e.g., sound files). Some clients display only files of types they
      can handle or files they suppose you are interested in. Others



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      display all types of files.

      Most Gopher clients allow you to create, view and select
      bookmarks. A bookmark keeps track of the exact location of a
      Gopher item, regardless of where it resides. It is useful when you
      often need to reach a file or a service located far from the
      top-level directory. A collection of bookmarks is like a
      customized Gopher menu.

      Some capabilities of a local Gopher client are bound to the
      capabilities of your own computer. In fact, for sound files, image
      files and Telnet sessions, the Gopher client looks for the
      appropriate software on your computer and passes control to it to
      perform the requested task. When the task is completed, control is
      returned to the Gopher client.

      At any time, it is possible to terminate the session (quit
      command), to cancel the current processing or to get the on-line
      help (help command).

      An item is processed according to its type:

      a subdirectory
         its contents are displayed. To go up one level, use the up
         command.

      a text file
         the file is displayed. Then you can browse it, search for a
         particular string, print it on a local printer or copy (save)
         it onto your local disk space in a user-specified file (the
         last 2 functions may not be available to you).

      a binary file
         the remote file is simply copied onto your local disk space in
         a user-specified file. Binary files are binhexed Macintosh
         files, archives (.zip, .tar,...), compressed files, programs,
         etc.

      a sound file
         the remote file is played through your local audio device if it
         exists, as well as the appropriate utility. Only one sound file
         can be active at a time; you will be warned if you try to play
         a sound before a previous one is done.

      an image file
         the remote file is displayed on your computer screen if an
         image viewer exists on your computer.




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      a phone book
         you are prompted for a search string to look up people
         information through the selected phone book. Since different
         institutions have different directory services, the queries are
         not performed in the same fashion.

      an index-search
         you are prompted for a search string which may be one or more
         words, plus the special operators and, or, and not. The search
         is case-insensitive. Usually, an index is created to help users
         locate the information in a set of documents quickly. E.g.:

              terminal and setting or tset

         will find all documents which contain both the words terminal
         and setting, or the word tset. or is nonexclusive so the
         documents may contain all of the words.

         The result of the index-search looks like any Gopher menu, but
         each menu item is a file that contains the specified search
         string.

      a Telnet session
         Telnet sessions are normally text-based information services,
         for example, access to library catalogs.

2.5. VERONICA

   Veronica was designed as a solution to the problem of resource
   discovery in the rapidly-expanding Gopher web, providing a keyword
   search of more than 500 Gopher menus. Veronica helps you find
   Gopher-based information without doing a menu-by-menu, site-by-site
   search. It is to the Gopher information space, what archie is to the
   FTP archives.

   Veronica is accessible from most top-level Gopher menus or from the
   Other Gopher servers... branch. There is no need for opening another
   connection or another application.

   When you choose a veronica search , you will be prompted to enter a
   keyword or keywords. The simplest way to search with veronica is to
   enter a single word and hit the RETURN key. It does not matter
   whether the word is upper-case or lower-case. The veronica server
   will return a gopher menu composed of items whose titles match your
   keyword specification. Items can be accessed as with any Gopher menu.
   E.g.:

        eudora



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   will give you a list of menu titles that contain eudora, such as:

        Electronic Mail: Eudora on Macintosh, Micro-08
        Modem Setting Eudora Slip.
        A UNIX-based Eudora reader for those that ...
        Eudora:  Popmail for the Macintosh.
        Eudora.

   etc.

   The search string may contain keywords optionally separated by and,
   or and not. If there is no operator between 2 keywords, and is
   assumed. E.g.:

        eudora and macintosh

   will give you a list of menu titles that contain both eudora and
   macintosh, such as:

        Eudora:  Popmail for the Macintosh.
        v4.1 EUDORA: E-MAIL FOR THE MACINTOSH.
        Micro News:  Eudora - A Mailer for the Macintosh.
        Eudora: Electronic Mail on Your Macintosh.
        ACS News - Eudora Mail Reader for Macintosh.

   etc.

   "*" is the wildcard character. It can replace any other character or
   characters at the end of a keyword. E.g.:

        desk*

   will give you a list of menu titles, such as:

        The Help Desk.
        Keene State College Press Release COMPUTER ON EVERY DESK.
        DESKQview/X... An alternative to Windows???.
        Ethernet at Your Desktop/

   etc.

2.6. Learning more about Gopher

   The Internet Gopher is developed by the Computer and Information
   Services Department of the University of Minnesota. Bug reports,
   comments, suggestions, etc. should be mailed to the Gopher
   development team at: gopher@boombox.micro.umn.edu.




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   Mailing list: gopher-news@boombox.micro.umn.edu
   To subscribe send a mail to:
   gopher-news-request@boombox.micro.umn.edu

   Usenet newsgroup: comp.infosystems.gopher

   A comprehensive description of veronica search methods is available
   from the veronica menus.

   Veronica is being developed by Steve Foster and Fred Barrie at the
   University of Nevada. Bug reports, comments, suggestions, etc. should
   be addressed to: gophadm@futique.scs.unr.edu

3. WORLD-WIDE WEB

3.1. What is World-Wide Web

   World-Wide Web (also called WWW or W3) is an information system based
   on hypertext, which offers a means of moving from document to
   document (usually called to navigate) within a network of
   information.

   Hypertext documents are linked to each other through a selected set
   of words. For example, when a new word, or a new concept, is
   introduced in a text, hypertext makes it possible to point to another
   document which gives more details about it. The reader can open the
   second document by selecting the unknown word or concept and the
   relevant section is displayed. The second document may also contain
   links to further details. The reader need not know where the
   referenced document is, and there is no need to type a command to
   display it, or to browse it to find the right paragraph.
   Cross-references may be defined in the same document. A collection of
   documents is a database.

   If you were reading this document on a hypertext system, instead of
   this all too short explanation about hypertext, you would have a
   selectable pointer to a complete hypertext information web with
   examples and more pointers to other definitions.

   For instance, in the first document you might read:

   -----------------------------------------------------------------

   The  WorldWideWeb (W3)  is a  wide-area "hypermedia"  information
   retrieval initiative aiming  to give universal access  to a large
   universe of documents.

   -----------------------------------------------------------------



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   Selecting hypermedia will display the following explanation for you:

   -----------------------------------------------------------------

                          WHAT IS HYPERTEXT
   Hypertext is text which is not constrained to be linear.

   Hypertext is text which contains "links" to other texts. The term
   was coined by "Ted Nelson" around 1965 (see "History").

   HyperMedia is a term used  for hypertext which is not constrained
   to  be text:  it can  include  graphics, video  and "sound",  for
   example. Apparently Ted Nelson was the first to use this term too.

   -----------------------------------------------------------------

   Then you can learn more about links and Nelson. Indeed, the links in
   WWW are not confined to text only, so the term hypermedia is more
   accurate.  For example, the link to Nelson might point to a file
   containing a picture of Ted Nelson. The picture would be displayed on
   your screen if you have a suitable configuration.

   Also, special documents (indexes) in the WWW information space can be
   search for given keyword(s). The result is a document which contains
   links to the documents found.

   World-Wide Web uses hypertext over the network: the linked documents
   may be located at various sites. WWW can handle different text
   formats and various information organizations. WWW also provides
   access to many of the other tools described in this guide.

3.2. Who can use World-Wide Web

   WWW uses the client-server model to provide access to the information
   universe. You must be on the international TCP/IP network (the
   Internet) in order to use a client on your computer to access WWW. If
   you are on the Internet, but don't have a WWW client on your
   computer, you can still enter the World-Wide Web. Several sites offer
   public interactive access to WWW clients (see the Remote clients
   section under How to get to World-Wide Web below).

   If you have e-mail access only, or if you are not on the Internet
   then you can not fully exploit the vast potential of WWW. However, a
   mail-robot is available at the address: listserv@info.cern.ch which
   gives e-mail access to WWW-accessible listserv@info.cern.ch files.
   (see E-mail access section under How to get to World-Wide Web below).





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3.3. How to get to World-Wide Web

   Users access the World-Wide Web facilities via a client called a
   browser. This interface provides transparent access to the WWW
   servers.  If a local WWW client is not available on your computer,
   you may use a client at a remote site. Thus, an easy way to start
   with WWW is to access a remote client.

   3.3.1. Local clients

      Usage of a local client is encouraged since it provides better
      performance and better response time than a remote client.

      Public domain clients for accessing WWW servers are available for:
      Macintosh, MS-DOS, VMS, VM/CMS, MVS, NeXT, Unix, X-Windows. The
      clients are available for anonymous FTP from info.cern.ch in the
      directory /pub/www. All these platforms support a simple line mode
      browser. In addition, graphical clients are available for:
      Macintosh, Windows, X-Windows, NeXT and Unix. See the list of
      freely available client software in Appendix A.

   3.3.2. Remote clients

      To access a remote WWW client, telnet to the client site. If you
      are new to WWW, you should telnet to info.cern.ch. No login is
      needed. You will immediately enter the WWW line mode browser. Some
      publicly accessible clients feature locally developed clients.
      Most remote clients are at sites with WWW servers with information
      on specific areas. After you telnet to the client site, at the
      login: prompt enter www, no password is needed. The following
      remote client sites are available:

      +---------------------------------------------------------------+
      |                                                               |
      |  Site                   Country          Server Specialization|
      |                                                               |
      +---------------------------------------------------------------+
      |  vms.huji.ac.il         Israel            Environment         |
      |  info.cern.ch           Switzerland (CERN) High-energy physics|
      |  fatty.law.cornell.edu  USA               Law                 |
      |  ukanaix.cc.ukans.edu   USA               History             |
      |  www.njit.edu           USA                                   |
      |                                                               |
      +---------------------------------------------------------------+

      CERN is the entry point to find information about WWW itself and
      to have an overview of the Web with a catalogue of the databases
      sorted by subject.



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      3.3.2.1. E-mail access

         In order to get a file, send mail to listserv@info.cern.ch with
         a SEND command. The SEND command returns the document with the
         given WWW address, subject to certain restrictions. Hypertext
         documents are formatted to 72 character width, with links
         numbered. A separate list at the end of the file gives the
         document-addresses of the related documents.

         If the document is hypertext, its links will be marked by
         numbers in brackets, and a list of document addresses by number
         will be appended to the message. In this way, you can navigate
         through the web, more or less. A good file to start with would
         be:
      http://info.cern.ch./hypertext/DataSources/bySubject/Overview.html

         Note that, despite the name listserv in the address of this
         mail robot, it is not a LISTSERV server.

         A note of caution from the WWW developers and maintainers:

         "As the robot gives potential mail access to a *vast* amount of
         information, we must emphasise that the service should not be
         abused.  Examples of appropriate use would be:

         * Accessing any information about W3 itself;
         * Accessing any CERN and/or physics-related or network
           development related information;

         Examples of INappropriate use would be:

         * Attempting to retrieve binaries or tar files or anything more
           than directory listings or short ASCII files from FTP archive
           sites;
         * Reading Usenet newsgroups which your site doesn't receive;
         * Repeated automatic use.

         There is currently a 1000 line limit on any returned file. We
         don't want to overload other people's mail relays or our
         server. We reserve the right to withdraw the service at any
         time. We are currently monitoring all use of the server, so
         your reading will not initially enjoy privacy.

         Enjoy!"

         The W3 team at CERN (www-bug@info.cern.ch)





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3.4. Using World-Wide Web

   When using a graphical interface, you access the WWW functions by
   pressing mouse buttons. In particular, references are highlighted or
   underlined words. To follow a link, click on the associated
   reference.

   The line mode browser is a more simple user interface: references are
   numbers in square brackets next to words. Type the number and hit the
   RETURN key to follow a reference. For example, here is the beginning
   of the Subject Catalogue you get on the CERN server:

   -----------------------------------------------------------------

         The World-Wide Web Virtual Library: Subject Catalogue
                         WWW VIRTUAL LIBRARY

   This is  the subject catalogue.  See also arrangement  by service
   type[1]. Mail  www-request@info.cern.ch to  add pointers  to this
   list.

   Aeronautics     Mailing list archive index[2]. See also NASA LaRC[3]

   Agriculture[4]  Separate list, see also Almanac mail servers[5].

   Astronomy and Astrophysics
                   Abstract Indexes[6] at NASA, Astrophysics work at
                   FNAL[7],   Princeton's[8]   Sloane  Digital   Sky
                   Survey,  the  STELAR   project,  Space  Telescope
                   Electronic Information System[9], the Southampton
                   University  Astronomy   Group[10],  the  National
                   Solar Observatory[11],  Astrophysics work  at the
                   AHPCRC[12]. See also: space[13].

   Bio Sciences[14] Separate list.

   Computing[15]   Separate list.

   1-81, Back,  for more, Quit, or Help:

   -----------------------------------------------------------------

   The following commands are available within WWW. Some are disabled
   when not applicable (e.g., Find is enabled only when the current
   document is an index). Angle brackets (<>) indicate an optional
   parameter.





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   Help
      gives a list of available commands depending on the context, and
      the hypertext address of the current document.

   Manual
      displays the on-line manual.

   Quit
      exits WWW.

   Up, Down
      scrolls up or down one page in the current document.

   Top, BOttom
      goes to the top or the bottom of the current document.

   Back
      goes back to the document you were reading before.

   HOme
      goes back to the first document you were reading.

   Next, Previous
      goes to the next or previous document in the list of pointers from
      the document that led to the current one.

   List
      gives a numbered list of the links from the current document. To
      follow a link, type in the number.

   Recall 
      if number is omitted, gives a numbered list of the documents you
      have visited.

      To display one specific document, re-issue the command with
      number.

    keyword
      queries the current index with the supplied keyword(s). A list of
      matching entries is displayed with possibly links to further
      details.  Find can be omitted if the first keyword does not
      conflict with another WWW command. Multiple keywords are separated
      by blanks.

   Go docaddress
      goes to the document represented by the given hypertext address,
      which is interpreted relatively to the current document.




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   Extra command available on Unix versions only:

   Print
      prints the current document, without the numbered document
      references.  The default print command is lpr, but it may be
      defined in your local working environment by the variable
      WWW_PRINT_COMMAND.

   To access WWW with the line mode browser, type: www. The default
   first document will appear on your screen. From this point, you
   should be able to navigate through the WWW universe by reading the
   text and following the instructions at the bottom of the screen. If
   you want to start with a first document other than the default, or if
   you want to change some other aspect of the usual interaction, there
   are a number of command line parameters and options available. The
   full format of the www command to invoke the line mode browser is:

   +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   |                                                               |
   |   www        >                  |
   |                                                               |
   +---------------------------------------------------------------+

   where:

   docaddress
      is the hypertext address of the document at which you want to
      start browsing.

   keyword
      queries the index specified by docaddress with the supplied
      keyword(s).  A list of matching entries is displayed. Multiple
      keywords are separated by blanks.

   Options are:

   -n
      non-interactive mode. The document is formatted and displayed to
      the screen. Pages are delimited with form feed characters (FF).

   -listrefs
      adds a list of the addresses of all documents references to the
      end.  Non-interactive mode only.

   -pn
      sets the page length to n lines. Without a number, makes the page
      length infinite. Default is 24.




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   -wn
      sets the page width to n columns. The default is 78, 79 or 80
      depending on the system.

   -na
      hides references in the text. Useful, when printing out the
      document.

   -version
      displays the version number of the software.

   The commands listed above should be available in all clients. They
   may be abbreviated (CAPITAL letters indicate acceptable
   abbreviation). Case is not significant. Special characteristics of
   the line mode browser interface are:

   number
      type in a number given in [] and hit the RETURN key to follow the
      link associated to the reference.

   RETURN
      hit the RETURN key to display the next page of the current
      document (without a reference number).

3.5. Examples

   WWW gives you access to an information universe. Let's say you want
   to know how many film versions of The Three Musketeers there have
   been. You browse the WWW Subject Catalogue and select Movies:

   -----------------------------------------------------------------

                                    Movie database browser (Cardiff)
   A Hypertext movie database browser

   Sep 2nd... Your help is needed..[1]

   Aug 29th.. Images, sounds, mpegs & reviews[2]


   Select the type of search you'd like to perform:-

      Movie people[3].....(multi Oscar winners)[4] or

      Movie titles[5] .....(multi Oscar winners)[6]

   Searches the "rec.arts.movies" movie database system, maintained
   by Col Needham et-al.



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   Here[7] is some information on list maintainers.

   If you have a comment or suggestion, it can be recorded here[8]

   HERE[9] is a pre-1986 movie information gopher server. (at
           Manchester UK)

   1-13, Back, Up,  for more, Quit, or Help: 5

   -----------------------------------------------------------------

   You select Movie titles, and then type three musketeers as keywords:

   -----------------------------------------------------------------

                                                 Movie title queries
                          MOVIE TITLE QUERY

   Enter a movie title or substring.

   Example,  to search  for movies  with the  word "alien"  in their
   title, type "alien".

   This will return details on several movies, including Aliens[1]

   Note: if the title begins with A  or The, leave it out. If you're
   determined to include it, then put ', A' or ', The' at the end of
   the of the substring e.g.

      Enforcer, The

      Gauntlet, The

   Searching is case insensitive.

    search menu[2] Fun and Games page[3] COMMA home page[4]

   FIND , 1-5, Back, Up,  for more,
   or Help: three musketeers

   -----------------------------------------------------------------

   You find that there have been six film versions of the story:








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   -----------------------------------------------------------------

                                                          Movie Info
   Here are the results from the search for "three musketeers"

         Three Musketeers, The (1921)[1]

         Three Musketeers, The (1933)[2]

         Three Musketeers, The (1935)[3]

         Three Musketeers, The (1939)[4]

         Three Musketeers, The (1948)[5]

         Three Musketeers, The (1974)[6]

       search menu[7] Fun and Games page[8] COMMA home page[9]


                                                           Rob.H[10]

                                          Robert.Hartill@cm.cf.ac.uk


   FIND , 1-10, Back, Up, Quit, or Help: 1

   -----------------------------------------------------------------

   You decide to look for more information on the 1921 version:

   -----------------------------------------------------------------

                                                          Movie Info
   Here are the results from the search for "Three Musketeers, The (1921)"

                         THREE MUSKETEERS, THE (1921)

   1921

     Cast           Belcher, Charles[1] ......Bernajoux
                    De Brulier, Nigel[2] ......Cardinal Richelieu
                    De La Motte, Marguerite[3] ......Constance Bonacieux
                    Fairbanks, Douglas[4] ......D'Artagnan
                    Irwin, Boyd[5] ......Comte de Rochefort
                    MacLaren, Mary[6] ......Queen Anne of Austria
                    Menjou, Adolphe[7] ......Louis XIII
                    Pallette, Eugene[8] ......Aramis



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                    Poff, Lon[9] ......Father Joseph
                    Siegmann, George[10] ......Porthos
                    Stevens, Charles[11] ......Planchet

     Directed by    Niblo, Fred[12]

     Music by       Gottschalk, Louis F.[13]

   1-21, Back, Up,  for more, Quit, or Help: 7

   -----------------------------------------------------------------

   You're hooked! You decide to look for more information on Adolphe
   Menjou, search more titles, find Oscar winners, etc.

3.6. Learning more about World-Wide Web

   World-Wide Web is being developed at CERN (European Particle Physics
   Laboratory) by the World-Wide Web team leaded by Tim Berners-Lee. Bug
   reports, comments, suggestions, etc. should be mailed to:
   www-bug@info.cern.ch

   On-line documentation is available from info.cern.ch, for anonymous
   FTP or using the remote WWW client.

   Mailing lists: www-talk@info.cern.ch
   To subscribe send a mail to www-talk-request@info.cern.ch

   Usenet newsgroup: comp.infosystems.www

4. WAIS

4.1. What is WAIS

   WAIS, Wide Area Information Server,  is a distributed information
   retrieval system. It helps users search databases over networks using
   an easy-to-use interface. The databases (called sources) are mostly
   collections of text-based documents, but they may also contain sound,
   pictures or video as well. Databases on topics ranging from
   Agriculture to Social Science can be searched with WAIS.

   The databases may be organized in different ways, using various
   database systems, but the user isn't required to learn the query
   languages of the different databases. WAIS uses natural language
   queries to find relevant documents. The result of the query is a set
   of documents which contain the words of the query: no semantic
   information is extracted from the query.




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4.2. Who can use WAIS

   WAIS uses the client-server model to provide access to databases. You
   must be on the international TCP/IP network (the Internet) in order
   to use a client on your computer to access WAIS.

   If you have e-mail access only, or if you are not on the Internet you
   can still exploit some of the potential of WAIS. An e-mail interface
   is available at the address: waismail@quake.think.com which gives
   e-mail access to WAIS databases (see E-mail access section under
   Using WAIS below).

4.3. How to get to WAIS

   There are many WAIS servers throughout the network. A
   directory-of-servers database is available at several sites. You can
   address a query to it, e.g., to find out what databases are available
   on a particular subject. This database is also available via
   anonymous FTP from Think.com in the directory /wais as file
   wais-sources.tar.Z.

   If you do not have access to a WAIS client, (at least) two
   demonstration sites are available to allow you to get acquainted with
   WAIS. You can telnet to:

   +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   |                                                               |
   |  quake.think.com   (login: wais)                              |
   |  sunsite.unc.edu   (login: swais)                             |
   |                                                               |
   +---------------------------------------------------------------+

   The two demonstration sites above run swais (Screen WAIS), a simple
   WAIS client for Unix.

4.4. Using WAIS

   There are many freely available client software programs for various
   operating systems (Unix, VMS, MVS, MS-DOS, OS/2 and Macintosh) and
   for specific environments (GNU Emacs, X-Windows, Openlook, Sunview,
   NeXT, and MS-Windows). See the list of freely available client
   software in Appendix A.

   The client interface differs slightly on different platforms.
   However, the queries are performed in the same way, whatever the
   interface.





EARN Staff                                                     [Page 23]

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   * Step 1: The user selects a set of databases to be searched from
     among the available databases.

   * Step 2: The user formulates a query by giving keywords to be
     searched for.

   * Step 3: When the query is run, WAIS asks for information from each
     selected database.

   * Step 4: Headlines of documents satisfying the query are displayed.
     The selected documents contain the requested words and phrases.
     Selected documents are ranked according to the number of matches.

   * Step 5: To retrieve a document, the user simply selects it from the
     resulting list.

   * Step 6: If the response is incomplete, the user can state the
     question differently or feed back to the system any one or more of
     the selected documents he finds relevant.

   * Step 7: When the search is run again, the results will be updated
     to include documents which are similar to the ones selected,
     meaning documents which share a large number of common words.

4.4.1. E-mail access:

   You can query WAIS databases and retrieve documents by sending
   commands in the body part of an e-mail message to
   waismail@quake.think.com. The Subject: line is ignored. The important
   commands are (a vertical bar (|) indicates a choice of parameters):

   help
      to get the help file

   maxres number
      to set the maximum number of results to be returned.

   search source-name | "source-name1 source-name2 ..." keywords

      where:

      source-name
         is a source name as found in the directory-of-servers (with or
         without the .src ending). Use double-quotes (") to group
         several sources to be searched.

      keywords
         are the words you would normally type into a query.



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      You may specify several search requests in a mail message. If you
      don't know what sources you can search, just try anything. If the
      source name is not recognised, you'll get a list of sources.

   retrieve docid
      to retrieve a document from a database. docid is a DocID as
      returned by a search above. You may put more than one retrieval
      request in a mail message, but you must leave a blank line between
      requests. The docid must be written exactly as returned by a
      search request, including any spaces. You can retrieve non-text
      documents as well as text. If the document is of type TEXT or WSRC
      you will get the result directly. Other types will be UUENCODED.

      DocID: docid
      same as retrieve. This form is identical to the form which is
      returned by a search request. It makes it easy to use the reply
      mail function to retrieve results.

4.5. Examples

   When you log in to the demonstration site at quake.think.com, you
   have immediate access to the directory-of-servers database via the
   swais client software. To find recipes using papaya, you would select
   the recipes database and give papaya as the keyword. Here are the
   results of the search:

   -----------------------------------------------------------------

     #  Score Source                  Title                    Lines
   001: 1000 (recipes) arielle@ta Re: Dawn's Muffins, Pt III     339
   002: 1000 (recipes) arielle@ta Re: Muffins 3                  632
   003: 1000 (recipes) arielle@ta Re: Pineapple                  678
   004:  750 (recipes) arielle@ta Re: Pork and Papaya Salad       33
   005:  750 (recipes) arielle@ta Re: Bread                      681
   006:  500 (recipes) roder@cco. Re: NONFAT BAKERY COLLECTION   423
   007:  500 (recipes) shiva@hoss Re: Juice Recipes               65
   008:  250 (recipes) arielle@ta Re: Prawn Salad                 49
   009:  250 (recipes) arielle@ta Re: COLLECTION: Lots of Avoca  447
   010:  250 (recipes) mecca@acsu Re: REQUEST: blender-made fru   29
   011:  250 (recipes) Ann.Adamci Re: Re: REQUEST: blender-made   38
   012:  250 (recipes) patth@Pani Re: Re: REQUEST: blender-made   49
   013:  250 (recipes) arielle@ta Re: Avocados                   459
   014:  250 (recipes) red_trek@d Re: VEGAN: red beans and rice   78

   -----------------------------------------------------------------

   You can then select any of the above documents for viewing, for
   example, the Pork and Papaya Salad recipe:



EARN Staff                                                     [Page 25]

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   -----------------------------------------------------------------

   Newsgroups: rec.food.recipes
   From: arielle@taronga.com (Stephanie da Silva)
   Subject: Pork and Papaya Salad
   Message-ID: <5BBP2SB@taronga.com>
   Date: Mon, 29 Mar 1993 06:51:47 GMT
   Lines: 23

   1/4 cup dried currants
   1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
   1/4 cup walnut oil
   1/4 cup chicken broth
   1 tablespoon honey
   1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
   1 pound cooked boneless pork loin roast
   1 head Belgian endive
   Bibb lettuce leaves
   2 papayas, seeded, peeled and sliced lengthwise
   2 avocados, seeded, peeled and sliced lengthwise
   1/4 cup broken walnut pieces

   In a small bowl pour enough boiling water over currants to cover.
   Let stand 5 minutes; drain. For dressing, in a screw-top jar
   combine vinegar, oil, chicken broth, honey, and cinnamon. Cover;
   shake well. Trim fat from pork; slice thinly. Separate leaves of
   Belgian endive. Line 6 salad plates with lettuce leaves. Arrange
   pork, endive, papaya, and avocado on plates. Sprinkle with
   currants and walnuts. Drizzle dressing over salads.

   Stephanie da Silva                            arielle@taronga.com

   -----------------------------------------------------------------

   If you give more than one keyword, then all documents containing any
   of the keywords will be listed.

4.6. Learning more about WAIS

   A bibliography of documents, services and sources for WAIS is
   maintained by Barbara Lincoln Brooks of WAIS Inc. The bibliography is
   available from ftp.wais.com in the directory /pub/wais-inc-doc along
   with many other WAIS documents.

   There are currently four main FTP sites for WAIS documentation and
   software:





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      * ftp.cnidr.org
      * ftp.wais.com
      * quake.think.com
      * sunsite.unc.edu

   For information on free WAIS software contact freewais@cnidr.org

   Mailing list: wais-discussion@wais.com
   To subscribe send a mail to wais-discussion-request@wais.com

   Usenet newsgroup: comp.infosystems.wais

   WAIS was developed at Thinking Machines Corporation.

5. ARCHIE

5.1. What is ARCHIE

   Archie is an information system. It offers an electronic directory
   service for locating information in the international TCP/IP network
   (the Internet).

   The best known use of archie is for scanning a database of the
   contents of more than 1000 anonymous FTP sites around the world.
   Currently, this database contains more than 2,100,000 file names from
   anonymous FTP sites. This database is known as the archie database.

   The files made available at anonymous FTP sites are software packages
   for various systems (Windows, MS-DOS, Macintosh, Unix, etc.),
   utilities, information or documentation files, mailing list or Usenet
   group discussion archives. At most FTP sites, the resources are
   organized hierarchically in directories and subdirectories. The
   database tracks both the directory path and the file names.

   The archie database is automatically updated, thereby ensuring that
   the information is accurate. Using this database, users can easily
   find the the location of files they need without logging onto several
   machines.

5.2. Who can use ARCHIE

   Users on any network can access the archie database by electronic
   mail.  Other means of access are available to users on the Internet
   (see the section Using ARCHIE below for details).

   You are requested to respect a few basic rules when you request
   information from an archie server:




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      * avoid connecting during working hours; most of the archie
      servers are
        not dedicated machines, they have local functions as well.

      * make your queries as specific as possible; the response will be
        quicker and shorter.

      * user interfaces installed on your computer contribute to reduce
      the
        load on the server sites, please use them.

      * use the archie server closest to you and, in particularly, don't
        overload the transatlantic lines.

5.3. How to get to ARCHIE

   The archie database is maintained in the following locations:

   +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   |                                                               |
   |  Host                               Country                   |
   |                                                               |
   +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   |  archie.au                          Australia                 |
   |  archie.edvz.uni-linz.ac.at         Austria                   |
   |  archie.univie.ac.at                Austria                   |
   |  archie.uqam.ca                     Canada                    |
   |  archie.funet.fi                    Finland                   |
   |  archie.th-darmstadt.de             Germany                   |
   |  archie.doc.ic.ac.uk                Great-Britain             |
   |  archie.ac.il                       Israel                    |
   |  archie.unipi.it                    Italy                     |
   |  archie.wide.ad.jp                  Japan                     |
   |  archie.kyoto-u.ac.jp               Japan                     |
   |  archie.hana.nm.kr                  Korea                     |
   |  archie.sogang.ac.kr                Korea                     |
   |  archie.nz                          New Zealand               |
   |  archie.rediris.es                  Spain                     |
   |  archie.luth.se                     Sweden                    |
   |  archie.switch.ch                   Switzerland               |
   |  archie.ncu.edu.tw                  Taiwan                    |
   |  archie.ans.net                     USA                       |
   |  archie.internic.net                USA                       |
   |  archie.rutgers.edu                 USA                       |
   |  archie.sura.net                    USA                       |
   |  archie.unl.edu                     USA                       |
   |                                                               |
   +---------------------------------------------------------------+



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   There are three ways to access the archie database: via a local
   client, interactive Telnet session or electronic mail. Each type of
   access is described below in the Using ARCHIE section.

5.4. Using ARCHIE

   The format of the parameters is given at the end of this section.
   Angle brackets (<>) indicate an optional parameter; a vertical bar
   (|) indicates a choice of parameters.

   Note: A new version of the archie server (3.0) is now available. Some
   of the commands for interactive access and the e-mail interface are
   slightly different from previous versions of the server (2.11 and
   before). Command formats marked with a (+) are valid in version 3.0
   only, those marked with a (*) are acceptable only in previous
   versions.  To find out which version is installed at the server you
   wish to use, issue the version command.

   5.4.1. Using a local client:

      Usage of these clients is encouraged since they provide quick and
      easy non-interactive access to the archie servers, and thus,
      better performance of the servers and better response time for the
      user.

      Public domain clients for accessing archie servers are available
      for: Macintosh, MS-DOS, OS/2, VMS, NeXT, Unix and X-Windows. The
      clients are available for anonymous FTP from the archie sites in
      the directories /pub/archie/clients or /archie/clients. All these
      platforms support a simple command line client. In addition, a
      graphical interface (called xarchie) is available for X-Windows.

      5.4.1.1. Archie client command and parameters

      When using a graphical interface, you access the archie functions
      by pressing mousse buttons. The results are displayed with
      selectable fields for further explorations.

      The basic archie client is a command with parameters that you
      enter on your local machine. With most versions of the archie
      client, if you type archie with no parameters, you will get a list
      of the possible parameters and a short description of each. The
      format of the command is:








EARN Staff                                                     [Page 29]

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      +---------------------------------------------------------------+
      |                                                               |
      |  archie    <-options> string | pattern                        |
      |                                                               |
      +---------------------------------------------------------------+

      where the options are:

      o
         specifies an output file name to store the results (not
         available with all clients).

      l
         lists the result one match per line. This form is suitable for
         parsing by programs.

      t
         sorts the result inverted by date

      m#
         specifies maximum number of matches to return (# within the
         range 0 to 1000). The default value is 95.

      h archie-server
         specifies an archie server to send the query to; if this
         parameter is not given, then the query will be sent to the
         default archie server, if one is defined.

      L
         lists known servers and current default server.

      The following group of options determines the kind of search
      performed on the database. They are mutually exclusive.

      s
         a match occurs if the file/directory name contains string. The
         search is case insensitive.

      c
         as above, but the search is case sensitive.

      e
         string must EXACTLY match (including case) the file/directory
         name in the database. This is the DEFAULT search method.

      r
         searches the database using pattern. It contains special
         characters which must be interpreted before performing the



EARN Staff                                                     [Page 30]

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         search.

      There may be some slight differences in the options available with
      different clients on different platforms.

      The result is a list of FTP site addresses with files or
      directories matching the argument, the size of the file, its last
      modification date and its directory. By default, the list is
      sorted by host address. See the Examples section below for an
      example of archie output.

   5.4.2. Using Telnet:

      To access an archie server interactively, telnet to one of the
      existing servers (see the list of servers in the section How to
      get to ARCHIE above). At the login: prompt enter archie, the login
      procedure ends leaving the user at a archie> prompt. The server is
      ready for user requests. The following commands are available:

      exit, quit, bye
         exits archie.

      help  
         invokes the on-line help. If issued with commandname, the help
         request is restricted to the specified topic. Pressing the
         RETURN key exits from the on-line help.

      list  
         provides a list of the sites in the database and the time at
         which they were last updated. The optional parameter limits the
         list to sites matching pattern. The result is a list of site
         names, sites IP address and date of the last update in the
         database. The command list with no pattern will list all sites
         in the database (more than 1000 sites!). E.g.,

              list \.de$

         will list all German sites

      site(*)  site-name
         lists the directories and, recursively, the subdirectories, of
         site-name in the database. The result may be very long.

      whatis  string
         searches the database of software package descriptions for
         string. The search is case-insensitive.





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      prog  string  |  pattern
      find(+)  string  |  pattern
         searches the database for string or pattern which represents
         the name of the resource to be found in the database. Searches
         may be performed in a number of different ways specified in the
         variable search (set command) which also decides the
         interpretation of the parameter as string or pattern. The
         result is a list of FTP site addresses with matching entries,
         the size of the resource, its last modification date and the
         directory to find it. The number of hits is limited by the
         maxhits variable (set command). The result of prog can be
         sorted in different ways, depending on the value of the sortby
         variable (set command). By default, the variables search,
         maxhits and sortby are set to, respectively, exact match search
         on string, 1000 hits and unsorted resulting list. Typing the
         keyboard interrupt character during a search will abort it. The
         results up to that time are displayed. See the Examples section
         below for an example of the prog command and its results.

      mail    <,email2...>
         sends the result of the last command in a mail message to the
         specified e-mail address(es). If issued with no argument, the
         result is sent to the address specified in the variable mailto
         (set command).

      show  
         displays the value of the given variable name. If issued with
         no argument, it displays all variables. See the set command
         below for the possible variables.

      set  variable  value
         sets one of the archie's variables. Values of these variables
         affect how archie interacts with the user.

      Variables and values are:

      compress(+)  compress-method
         specifies the compression method (none or compress) to be used
         before mailing a result with the mail command. The default is
         none.

      encode(+)  encode-method
         specifies the encoding method (none or uuencode) to be used
         before mailing a result with the mail command. This variable is
         ignored if compress is not set. The default is none.






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      mailto  email  <,email2 ...>
         specifies the e-mail address(es) to mail the result of the last
         command when mail is issued with no arguments.

      maxhits  number
         specifies the maximum number of matches prog will generate
         (within the range 0 to 1000). The default value is 1000.

      search  search-value
         determines the kind of search performed on the database by the
         command: prog string | pattern. search-values are:

         sub
            a parttial and case insensitive search is performed with
            string on the database, e.g.:

                 "is" will match "islington" and "this" and "poison"

         subcase
            as above but the search is case sensitive, e.g.:

                 "TeX" will match "LaTeX" but not "Latex"

         exact
            the parameter of prog (string) must EXACTLY match (including
            case) the string in the database. The fastest search method
            of all, and the default.

         regex
            pattern is interpreted before performing a search on the
            database.

         sortby  sort-value
            describes how to sort the result of prog. sort-values are:

            hostname
               on the FTP site address in lexical order.

            time
               by the modification date, most recent first.

            size
               by the size of the found files or directories, largest
               first.

            filename
               on file or directory name in lexical order.




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            none
               unsorted (default)

            The reverse sorting orders from those described here are
            obtained by prepending r to the sortby value given. (e.g.,
            reverse hostname order hostname is rhostname).

         term  terminal-type   >
            tells  the archie  server what  type of  terminal  you are
            using, and optionally its size in rows and columns, e.g.:

                 set term xterm 24 100

   5.4.3. Using electronic mail:

      Users limited to electronic mail connectivity can access the
      archie servers by sending mail to the domain address of one of the
      servers listed in the section How to get to ARCHIE (e.g.,
      archie@archie.ac.il).  The commands are sent in the body part of
      the mail.

      The electronic mail interface to an archie server recognizes a
      subset of the commands described in Using Telnet. Most useful
      commands and particularities to the e-mail interface are described
      below. If an empty message, or a message containing no valid
      requests is received, it will be considered to be a help request.

      Command lines begin in the first column. All lines that do not
      match a valid command are ignored. The Subject: line is processed
      as if it were part of the message body.

      help
         sends you the help file. The help command is exclusive, ie,
         other commands in the same message are ignored.

      path  return-address
         set mailto(+)  return-address
         specifies a return e-mail address different from that which is
         extracted from the message header. If you do not receive a
         reply from the archie server within several hours, you might
         need to add a path command to your message request.

      list  pattern  
         provides a list of the sites in the database that match pattern
         and the time at which they were last updated. The result is a
         list with site names, sites IP address and date of the last
         update in the database.




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      site(*)  site-name
         lists the directories and, recursively, the subdirectories, of
         site-name in the database.

      whatis  string  
         searches the database of software packages descriptions for
         each string.  The search is case insensitive.

      prog  pattern  
         find(+)  pattern  
         searches the database for each interpretation of pattern which
         represents the name of a resource to be found in the database.
         If multiple patterns are placed on one line, in that case, the
         results will be mailed back in one message. If multiple prog
         lines appear, then multiple messages will be returned, one for
         each prog line. Results are sorted by FTP site address in
         lexical order. If pattern contains spaces, it must be quoted
         with single (') or double (") quotes. The search is case
         insensitive.

      compress(*)
         causes the result of the current request to be compressed and
         uuencoded. When you receive the reply, you should run it
         through uudecode. This will produce a .Z file. You can then run
         uncompress on this file and get the result of your request

      set compress(+)  compress-method
         specifies the compression method (none or compress) to be used
         before mailing the result of the current request. The default
         is none.

      set encode(+)  encode-method
         specifies the encoding method (none or uuencode) to be used
         before mailing the result of the current request. This variable
         is ignored if compress is not set. The default is none.

         Note: set compress compress and set encode uuencode would
         produce the same result as the former compress command.

      quit
         nothing past this point is interpreted. Useful when a signature
         is automatically appended at the end of your mail messages.

      Description of pattern

      A pattern describes a character string including characters which
      take a special meaning. The special meaning is lost when "\" is
      put before the character. The special characters are:



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       .
         (period) this is the wildcard character that replaces any other
         character, e.g., "...." will match any 4 character string.

      ^
         (caret) if "^" appears at the beginning of the pattern, then
         the searched string must start with the substring following the
         "^". If it occurs anywhere else in the pattern it is regarded
         as non-special, e.g.:

              "^efghi" will match "efghi" or "efghijlk" but not
              "abcefghi"

      $
         (dollar) if "$" appears at the end of the pattern, then the
         searched string must end with the substring preceding the "$".
         If occurring anywhere else in the pattern, it is regarded as
         non-special, e.g.:

              "efghi$" will match "efghi" or "abcdefghi" but not
              "efghijkl"

5.5. Examples

   If you are using an archie client, and enter the command:

        archie -s eudora

   or if you send, by e-mail or during a Telnet session, the command:

        prog eudora

   or

        find eudora

   then archie will send you the following results:

   Host ftp.ascii.co.jp    (133.152.1.1)
   Last updated 03:38  8 Aug 1993

    Location: /pub/MAC
      DIRECTORY  drwxrwxr-x 2048 bytes 00:00  6 May 1992  eudora

   Host ftp.ascii.co.jp    (133.152.1.1)
   Last updated 03:38  8 Aug 1993





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    Location: /pub/MAC/eudora
     FILE  -r--r--r-- 281139 bytes 00:00 21 Oct 1991 eudora1.2.2.sit.hqx

   Host ftp.ci.ua.pt    (192.80.21.201)
   Last updated 04:53  9 Aug 1993

    Location: /pub/NetNews/comp.binaries.mac
      FILE  -rw-r--r-- 438 bytes 12:04 10 Jul 1993  Eudora1.3.readme

   Host ftp.ci.ua.pt    (192.80.21.201)
   Last updated 04:53  9 Aug 1993

    Location: /pub/NetNews/comp.binaries.mac
      FILE  -rw-r--r-- 278912 bytes 12:04 10 Jul 1993  Eudora1.3.sit.bin

   etc.

   If you send the command list \.de$ by e-mail or in a Telnet session,
   then you will get the following results:

   alice.fmi.uni-passau.de          132.231.1.180  12:31  8 Aug 1993
   askhp.ask.uni-karlsruhe.de       129.13.200.33  12:25  8 Aug 1993
   athene.uni-paderborn.de           131.234.2.32  15:21  6 Aug 1993
   bseis.eis.cs.tu-bs.de             134.169.33.1  00:18 31 Jul 1993
   clio.rz.uni-duesseldorf.de        134.99.128.3  12:10  8 Aug 1993
   cns.wtza-berlin.de                141.16.244.4  16:08 31 Jul 1993

   etc.

   If you send the command whatis compression by e-mail or in a Telnet
   session, then you will get the following results:

   RFC 468      Braden, R.T. FTP data compression 1973 March 8; 5p.
   arc          PC compression program
   deltac       Image compression using delta modulation
   spl          Splay tree compression routines
   squeeze      A file compression program
   uncrunch     Uncompression program
   unsqueeze    Uncompression programs

5.6. Learning more about ARCHIE

   However you communicate with the archie server, on-line help is
   available.

   If you have any questions about archie, write to the Archie Group,
   Bunyip Information Systems Inc. at info@bunyip.com.




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   Bug reports, comments, suggestions, etc. should be mailed to
   archie-group@bunyip.com. In addition, the database administrator at a
   particular archie server can be contacted at
   archie-admin@address.of.archie.server, e.g.:
   archie-admin@archie.ac.il.

   Mailing list: archie-people@bunyip.com
   To subscribe send a mail to: archie-people-request@bunyip.com

   Archie was developed by Alan Emtage, Peter Deutsch, and Bill Heelan
   from the McGill University Computing Center, Canada. Now archie is
   supported by Bunyip Information System Inc., Canada.

6.1. WHOIS

6.1. What is WHOIS

   WHOIS provides directory service to network users. This service is a
   way of finding e-mail addresses, postal addresses and telephone
   numbers. It may also deliver information about networks, networking
   organizations, domains and sites.

   The main database of networking-related names (organizations, sites,
   networks, people, etc.) is maintained by the Internet Registration
   Service (InterNIC). Actually, the names of the administrative and
   technical contacts for registered domains are automatically entered
   into the database when domain or IP number applications are processed
   by the Internet coordination authority. Each entry of the database
   has a handle (a unique identifier), a name, a record type, and
   various other fields depending on the type of record. This database
   will be used as an example in the descriptions below.

   Before April 1, 1993, the Network Information Center (NIC) of the
   Defense Data Network (DDN) was the Internet coordination authority
   and, therefore, maintained the database (known as the NIC database).
   The NIC database is now restricted to information about the .mil
   domain. Many documents still refer to these names.

   Many academic sites maintain their own database to offer information
   about their staff members and students.

   In its current implementation, WHOIS has some limitations which
   prevent it from becoming an efficient directory service for a large
   volume of information and numerous requests: the various WHOIS
   servers have no knowledge of each other, a database is maintained at
   each server site, and, finally, new functionalities have been
   implemented locally at various sites and not propagated. A new
   extended protocol, WHOIS++, is being specified to improve the current



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   service. WHOIS++ will include local enhancements to the WHOIS
   service, an improved query syntax and its architecture will allow a
   real distributed directory service for the entire Internet.

   This new protocol for directory services will be made available
   shortly.

6.2. Who can use WHOIS

   WHOIS is available to users on the international TCP/IP network (the
   Internet).

   A WHOIS server is accessible across the network from a user program
   running on local machines or via an interactive Telnet session to the
   site which hosts the server.

   In addition, the InterNIC offers an electronic mail interface to the
   database it maintains, allowing users not on the Internet or users
   with electronic mail only to access this information. This type of
   access is described below in the Using WHOIS section.

   In general, WHOIS servers should only be used for isolated queries
   about specific information. Typically, it is not acceptable to make
   an extended series of queries to obtain large sections of the
   directory.  Such a strategy is unfair both because of excessive
   consumption of server resources, and because the directory
   information belongs to individuals. In particular, extracting lists
   of people for commercial purposes is strictly prohibited.

6.3. How to get to WHOIS

   There are many WHOIS servers throughout the network and a
   comprehensive list would be too long to be included here. A WHOIS
   server offers information about the organization to which it belongs:
   it doesn't share a common directory with other WHOIS servers and
   doesn't know either where to find information about other
   institutions.

6.4. Using WHOIS

   WHOIS has become the familiar name of the user program for accessing
   a WHOIS database, although NICNAME is the original name.

   In the following, angle brackets (<>) indicate an optional parameter.







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   6.4.1. Using a local client:

      Unix computers have a native whois command. On non-Unix machines,
      ask your system administrator whether your computer has it or not.
      This command searches the database on the specified site for entry
      which contains identifier. The format is:

      +---------------------------------------------------------------+
      |                                                               |
      |  whois     <-h site-name> identifier                          |
      |                                                               |
      +---------------------------------------------------------------+

      where:

      site-name
         is the domain address of the site which hosts the database you
         want to query (e.g., whois.internic.net). On some
         installations, the default value is still set to the old NIC
         database site (nic.ddn.mil).

      identifier
         is a name (person, host, domain or network), an IP number or a
         handle.

      Special characters may be used in identifier to specify the
      search:

       .
         before identifier will cause a name-only search.

      !
         before identifier will cause a handle-only search.

       ... or .
         after identifier will cause a partial search: everything
         starting with identifier will match.

      @
         in identifier will cause a search on the e-mail addresses.

      *
         before identifier will return the entire membership list of the
         entry that matches identifier (e.g., a site and its registered
         users).






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      %
         before identifier will return only the membership list of the
         entry that matches identifier (e.g., the registered users of a
         site).

      The special characters may be used together.

      The results are displayed in one of 2 ways:

         * a full detailed display for a single match,
         * a list of summary lines for multiple matches.

      In both cases, the handle is shown in parentheses after the name.

   6.4.2. Using Telnet:

      To access the InterNIC database interactively, telnet to the
      InterNIC site (whois.internic.net). No login is required.

      Other WHOIS databases may have a Telnet access and offer most of
      the functions below (e.g., whois.ripe.net which hosts the WHOIS
      database of the European IP Networks).

      In the following, CAPITAL letters indicate acceptable
      abbreviation; angle brackets (<>) indicate an optional parameter.

      WHOIS
         invokes the information retrieval program.

      ?
         displays a short on-line help.

      HElp
         accesses the full on-line help.

      Q, QUIT, RETURN key
         exits WHOIS

       identifier
         searches the database for an entry which contains identifier.
         The default action is to do a broad search, looking for matches
         in many fields: handle, name, nicknames, hostname, IP number,
         etc, and finding all record types. keyword may be used to
         narrow the search to a specific record type.

      keyword may be one of:





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      PErson
         limits the search to persons.

      DOmain
         limits the search to domains (e.g., DO EARN.NET).

      HOst
         limits the search to hosts (e.g., HO PRINCETON).

      NEtwork
         limits the search to networks (e.g., NE EBONE).

      Organization
         limits the search to organizations (e.g., O CREN).

      NAme
         same as leading '.' in identifier.

      HAndle
         same as '!' in identifier.

      PArtial
         same as trailing '.' in identifier.

      Mailbox
         same as '@' in identifier.

      EXPand
         same as '*' in identifier.

      SUBdisplay
         same as '%' in identifier.

      Full or '='
         shows detailed display for each match.

      SUMmary or '$'
         shows summary always, even if just one match.

      Special characters may be used in identifier to specify the
      search:

       .
         before identifier will cause a name-only search.

      !
         before identifier will cause a handle-only search.




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       ... or .
         after identifier will cause a partial search: everything
         starting with identifier will match.

      @
         in identifier will cause a search on the e-mail addresses.

      *
         before identifier will return the entire membership list of the
         entry that match identifier (e.g., a site and its registered
         users).

      %
         before identifier will return only the membership list of the
         entry that matches identifier (e.g., the registered users of a
         site).

      ~
         before identifier will return the entry that matches identifier
         only, no membership list.

      The special characters may be used together.

      Except if  Full or SUMmary are  specified, the results are
      displayed in one of 2 ways:

         * a full detailed display for a single match,
         * a list of summary lines for multiple matches.

      In all cases, the handle is shown in parenthesis after the name.

   6.4.3. Using electronic mail:

      Users limited to electronic mail connectivity can send requests to
      the database maintained at the InterNIC by sending mail to
      mailserv@internic.net. The commands are sent in the Subject:
      field. The body part of the mail is ignored except if the Subject:
      line is empty.  In that case, only the first line is interpreted.

      This electronic mail interface recognizes all commands described
      in Using Telnet. Requests should be prefixed with the word WHOIS.
      Requests are processed automatically once a day.









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6.5. Examples

   If you are using a local client, and enter the command:

        whois \!EARN...       (remark: "\" is an escape character)

   or if you send by e-mail the command:

        whois !EARN...

   then you will get the following results:

        EARN (EARN-HST)   SEINE.EARN.NET                193.52.216.1
        European Academic Research Network (EARN-DOM)       EARN.NET

        To obtain detailed information on the second item, enter or send
        the command:

             whois EARN-DOM

        then you will get the following result:

             European Academic Research Network (EARN-DOM)
                EARN Office
                PSI - Batiment 211
                91405 Orsay CEDEX
                FRANCE

                Domain Name: EARN.NET

                Administrative Contact:
                   Bovio, Daniele  (DB355)  hi@EARNCC.EARN.NET
                   +33 1 6941 2426 (FAX) +33 1 6941 6683
                Technical Contact, Zone Contact:
                   Grange, Nadine  (NG4)  grange@EARNCC.EARN.NET
                   +33 1 6941 2426 (FAX) +33 1 6941 6683

                Record last updated on 15-Dec-93.

                Domain servers in listed order:

                SEINE.EARN.NET               193.52.216.1
                DNS.NIS.GARR.IT              192.12.192.5,131.114.2.5
                LUMIERE.CIRCE.FR             130.84.8.14

        For a partial search, enter:

             whois hi@ear...



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        then you will get the following result:

             Bovio, Daniele (DB355)          hi@EARNCC.EARN.NET
                EARN
                EARN Office
                PSI - BP Batiment 211
                91405 ORSAY CEDEX, France
                FR
                +33 1 6941 2426 (FAX) +33 1 6941 6683

6.6. Learning more about WHOIS

   The WHOIS service is documented in an Internet Request For Comments
   (RFC 1400).

   If you have any questions about WHOIS write to action@internic.net.

   Bug reports, comments, suggestions, etc. should be mailed to
   action@internic.net.

7. X.500

7.1. What is X.500

   X.500 is an OSI (Open System Information) based directory services
   protocol designed by the CCITT (International Telegraph and Telephone
   Consultative Committee).

   X.500 provides distributed directory services to network users. The
   X.500 directory specifies a model for connecting directory services
   to form one distributed global directory. Each directory service
   holds a part of the global database and the directory information is
   made available via a server (called a Directory System Agent - DSA).
   The database is maintained locally. From the user point of view, the
   entire directory is accessible from the local server.

   While most of the information available today via X.500 is about
   people and organizations, the design of the X.500 directory is also
   suitable for storing information about other entities (or objects),
   such as network resources, applications or hardware. Several projects
   are underway which utilize these directory capabilities (e.g., the
   Internet RFCs (Request For Comments) are listed in the global
   directory).

   Each item (entry) in the X.500 directory describes one object (e.g.,
   a person, a network resource, an organization) and has a
   Distinguished Name - DN (a unique identifier). It consists of a
   collection of attributes (e.g., last name, organization name, e-



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   mail,...- for a person).  The information held in the X.500 directory
   (or Directory Information Base - DIB) is arranged hierarchically.
   This organization is called the Directory Information Tree (DIT). At
   the top-level is the root entry (the World), then the country level,
   then the organization level, and, eventually, the people, the
   resources, etc., at the bottom-level of the hierarchy.

7.2. Who can use X.500

   Although X.500 is part of the OSI standard definition, OSI access is
   not necessary to use the directory services. Many X.500 services are
   available on the Internet. In addition, users on any network can
   access the X.500 directory by electronic mail. See the section Using
   X.500 below for details.

7.3. How to get to X.500

   There are three ways to access the X.500 services: via a local
   client, interactive session (Telnet or X.25 access) or electronic
   mail. Each type of access is described below in the Using X.500
   section.

   In addition, other network tools (e.g., WWW and Gopher) provide
   access to X.500 directory services through gateways.

   Accessing a remote client is an easy way to start querying the X.500
   directory. Some sites allow public access via Telnet or X.25 to a
   client. Public access user interfaces are available at:























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   +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   |                                                               |
   |  Telnet (login)               Public X.25 (login)  Country    |
   |                                                               |
   +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   |  jethro.ucc.su.oz.au (fred)                        Australia  |
   |  elem4.vub.ac.be (dua)          222100611          Belgium    |
   |  login.dkuug.dk (ds)                               Denmark    |
   |  nic.funet.fi (dua)                                Finland    |
   |                                 20800603053201     France     |
   |                    (login: dua, password: ucom.x)  France     |
   |                                 26245050230303     Germany    |
   |  ashe.cs.tcd.ie (de)                               Ireland    |
   |  jolly.nis.garr.it (de or fred) 22225010083212     Italy      |
   |  zoek.nic.surfnet.nl (zoek)                        Netherlands|
   |  elc1.mat.torun.edu.pl (de or dish)                Poland     |
   |  chico.rediris.es (directorio)  2142160234013      Spain      |
   |  hypatia.umdc.umu.se (de)       240374810306       Sweden     |
   |  nic.switch.ch (dua)            22847971014540     Switzerland|
   |  paradise.ulcc.ac.uk (dua)      23421920014853     Paradise   |
   |                                                               |
   +---------------------------------------------------------------+

   Paradise is a European project to encourage the use of X.500 in
   European countries.

   To connect to one of these sites, select an access method (Telnet or
   X.25) and at the login: prompt type the specified login, if required.

7.4. Using X.500

   X.500 supports data management functions (addition, modification and
   deletion of entries) and powerful lookup capabilities. The use of
   X.500 is primarily for its lookup capabilities, ie, querying a
   database for information on a person (postal address, telephone
   number, e-mail address, etc.). The basic fields for searching are the
   person's name, the name of the person's organization (and department
   within the organization) and the country.

   In the following, angle brackets (<>) indicate an optional parameter;
   a vertical (|) indicates a choice of parameters.

   7.4.1. Using a local client:

      In the X.500 world, a local client is called a Directory User
      Agent (DUA) Public domain and commercial DUAs are available for
      numerous platforms ranging from mainframes to personal computers.
      For a comprehensive list of DUAs, their description and where to



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      find them, consult the Internet document RFC 1292 - A Catalog of
      Available X.500 Implementations.

      Available DUAs range from simple line commands to sophisticated
      graphical user interfaces which require a pointing device.

   7.4.2. Using Telnet or X.25:

      3 categories of user interfaces might be available at the remote
      site:

         * line-oriented: de, dish, fred
         * menu-driven: sd (formerly known as widget)
         * X-Windows-based: Xdi, Xlookup (or xlu), pod

      Capabilities of these DUAs range from basic search facilities to
      full X.500 functionality.

      de (directory enquiries) is recommended for novice users since it
      is a very simple user-interface. It has been designed to run as a
      public access DUA and is accessible from any kind of terminal. It
      supports the basic X.500 functions: read, search, list. The Simple
      query mode is suitable for those who are new to querying the X.500
      directory.

      de
         invokes the X.500 interrogation user-interface.

      q
         exits de.





















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      ?
         displays the on-line help on the specified topic or general
         help.

      ^C
         (Ctrl-C) is the interrupt character. It aborts a search in
         progress or resets the current query specification.

      *
         (asterisk) will list all entries of the specified field. It is
         also the wildcard character and can replace any other character
         in a name. It can appears anywhere in the name, e.g.: smit* or
         *smit* are valid string formats.

      -
         resets the default value to a blank string.

      When de is invoked, the user is requested to fill in 4 fields to
      specify a request. In all fields, the value from the previous
      request is the default value. Press the RETURN key to accept it,
      or enter a new value.  All searches are case insensitive.

      The four fields to be filled in are:

      Person's name
         Wildcard characters may be used anywhere in the name. All
         matching names will be listed. Typing only "*" will match all
         people of the specified department or organization. If this
         field is blank, the search will be on department or
         organization only.

      Department name
         the name (or an acronym) of the department in the organization
         where the person works. Wildcard characters may be used
         anywhere in the name.  Typing only "*" will match all
         departments. If no person's name has been entered, details on
         the department are displayed, otherwise, the search is carried
         out with the selected name. If no department name is given, all
         departments will be searched. This field could be omitted in
         small organizations.

      Organization name
         the name  (or an acronym)  of the  organization where the
         person works.  Wildcard characters  may be used anywhere  in
         the name. Typing  only "*" will match all organizations. If no
         person's name or department name has been entered, details on
         the organization are displayed, otherwise, the search is
         carried out with the selected name.



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      Country name
         the name of the country where the person works. Typing "*" will
         list all countries. The country name could be the 2-letter
         country code (e.g., DK stands for Denmark), the name or a part
         of it without wildcards (e.g., nether instead of The
         Netherlands).

      If a large number of matching entries are found, they are listed
      so that the user can select one entry to get further details.

   7.4.3. Using electronic mail:

      The Norwegian networking organization (UNINETT) offers an e-mail
      interface to X.500. To use it, send a mail message to:
      Directory@UNINETT.NO with the word find in the Subject: field. The
      body part contains the search request, one per message.

      The format of the search request is:

      +---------------------------------------------------------------+
      |                                                               |
      |  find        <: org-name  <;  country-name>>  |  |
      |            <; country-name>                                   |
      |                                                               |
      +---------------------------------------------------------------+

      If org-name and country-name are omitted, the sender's
      organization name and country name are used as default values. The
      mail interface guesses these values from the From: field of your
      mail, so the results can be surprising if your address ends with
      .bitnet!

      "*" (asterisk) is the wildcard character and can replace any other
      characters in any name. It can appear anywhere in the name.

      The result of the query is sent back in a mail message. The search
      is case insensitive.

      Note: To avoid overloading the directory service, users are not
      allowed to search for a person without selecting an organization.
      To receive a help file, send the word help instead of a find
      command.

7.5. Examples

   Using de, you can search for the Anthropoloy department of the
   University College of London in United Kingdom, with the following
   request:



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        Person's name, q to quit, * to browse, ? for help
        :-
        Department name, * to browse, ? for help
        :- a*
        Organisation name, * to browse, ? for help
        :- ucl
        Country name, * to browse, ? for help
        :- uk

   A few entries match the selected department, all are listed for
   further selection:

        United Kingdom
          University College London

        Got the following matches.  Please select one from the list
        by typing the number corresponding to the entry you want.

        United Kingdom
          University College London
              1 A.U.T. Office
              2 American Institute for Foreign Study
              3 Anatomy and Developmental Biology
              4 Anthropology
              5 Audio Visual Centre
        Department name, * to browse, ? for help
        :- 4
        United Kingdom
          University College London
            Anthropology
                Telephone Number      +44 71-387-7050 x2455
                fax                   +44 71 380 7728

   If you are looking for Erik Lawaetz from UNI-C in Denmark, you can
   enter the following request (default values come from a previous
   request):

        Person's name, q to quit, * to browse, ? for help
        :- law*
        Department name, * to browse,  to search all depts, ?
        for help
        :-
        Organisation name, * to browse, ? for help
        :- uni-c
        Country name, * to browse, ? for help
        :- dk

   One entry matches the selected criteria, details are displayed:



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        Denmark
          UNI-C
              Erik Lawaetz
                postalAddress         UNI-C
                                      DTH
                                      Bygning 305
                                      DK-2800 Lyngby
                Telephone Number      +45 45 93 83 55
                                      +45 42 88 39 99 x2018
                fax                   +45 45 93 02 20
                electronic mail       Erik.Lawaetz@uni-c.dk

   If you send mail to   Directory@UNINETT.NO   with the request:
        find geir ped* : *oslo ; no

   you'll get the following result:

   -----------------------------------------------------------------

   This message is in response to your request to the directory to
   find

                            geir ped* : *oslo ; no

   This is  interpreted as a  request to find  a person with  a name
   matching  "geir  ped*"  in  an organisation  with  name  matching
   "*oslo" in a country with a name matching "no".

   There   were   8  organisations   with   a   name  matching   the
   organizational  name you  specified.  Within those  organisations
   there were 7  persons that had a name matching  the personal name
   you specified.  Directory information for the  located persons is
   shown below.

   Geir Pedersen : Universitetet i Oslo ; Norway

     Alternate        Geir Kenneth Pedersen
     Alternate        Geir K. Pedersen
     E-Mail (RFC)     Geir.Pedersen@usit.uio.no
     E-Mail (X.400)   /G=geir/S=pedersen/OU=usit/O=uio/PRMD=uninett/
                      ADMD= /C=no/
     Postal Address   Postboks 1059 - Blindern
                      0316 Oslo 3
                      NORWAY
     Phone            +47-22-852478
     Phone            +47-22-852470 (front-office)
     Fax-phone        +47-22-852730
     Description      Project leader for UNINETTs X.500 projects



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     User ID          geirp
     Favorite Drink   Farris
     Street Address   Gaustadalleen 23
     Home Address     Gaustadveien 17A
                      0372 Oslo 3
                      NORWAY
     See also         Geir Pedersen : UNINETT ; Norway
     Entry updated    Tue Jun 15 11:51:31 1993

   -----------------------------------------------------------------

   and 6 other entries.

7.6. Learning more about X.500

   Several Internet RFC documents deal with X.500:

      RFC 1292  A Catalog of Available X.500 Implementations.

      RFC 1308  Executive Introduction to Directory  Services Using the
                X.500 Protocol,

      RFC 1309  Technical  Overview  of Directory  Services  Using  the
                X.500 Protocol,

   The official source of information on X.500 is the X.500
   recommendation published by the CCITT (Blue Book, Volume VIII -
   Fascicle VIII.8, Data Communication Networks Directory,
   Recommendations X.500-X.521, CCITT, 1988, ISBN 92-61-03731-3). This
   document is also available electronically: send the command GET
   ITU-5233 to itudoc@itu.ch or consult the ITU document store via
   Gopher to gopher.itu.ch. This is not intended for the casual user!

8. NETFIND

8.1. What is NETFIND

   NETFIND is an Internet user directory tool. It provides a simple
   Internet white pages directory facility.

   Given the name of a person on the Internet and a rough description of
   where the person works, Netfind attempts to locate telephone and
   electronic mailbox information about the person. It does so using a
   seed database of domains and hosts in the network.

   Netfind finds information about people through the Internet protocols
   SMTP and finger. If the person being sought is at a site that is not
   directly connected to the Internet (e.g., the site is connected only



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   through a mail forwarding gateway), Netfind informs the user that the
   person can not be found.

   Due to the dynamic nature of Netfind's search procedures and
   variations in Internet availability, different results can be
   obtained for the same search on different occasions.

   The Netfind software can only run on Suns running SunOS 4.0 or more
   recent.

8.2. Who can use NETFIND

   You must be on the international TCP/IP network (the Internet) in
   order to use Netfind. Moreover, Netfind can only find information on
   users who are on the Internet.

   There is no e-mail access to Netfind.

8.3. How to get to NETFIND

   You can access Netfind through software at your site (local access),
   or you can use Telnet to access it at one of the following hosts
   (remote access) and log in as netfind, no password is needed.

   +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   |                                                               |
   |  Host                            Country                      |
   |                                                               |
   +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   |  archie.au                       Australia                    |
   |  netfind.anu.edu.au              Australia                    |
   |  netfind.ee.mcgill.ca            Canada                       |
   |  malloco.ing.puc.cl              Chile                        |
   |  netfind.vslib.cz                Czech Republic               |
   |  monolith.cc.ic.ac.uk            England                      |
   |  nic.nm.kr                       Korea                        |
   |  lincoln.technet.sg              Singapore                    |
   |  nic.uakom.sk                    Slovakia                     |
   |  bruno.cs.colorado.edu           USA                          |
   |  ds.internic.net                 USA                          |
   |  mudhoney.micro.umn.edu          USA                          |
   |  netfind.oc.com                  USA                          |
   |  redmont.cis.uab.edu             USA                          |
   |  dino.conicit.ve                 Venezuela                    |
   |                                                               |
   +---------------------------------------------------------------+





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8.4. Using NETFIND

   To use Netfind, you give it the name of a person and keywords
   indicating where that person works. After you specify a search,
   Netfind looks in its seed database to find domains matching the
   specified keywords. If there is more than one matching domain,
   Netfind displays the list of matching domains, and asks you to select
   up to three to search. If the keys you specified match more than 100
   domains, Netfind will list some of the matching domains/organizations
   and ask you to form a more specific search. You can use any of the
   parts of an organization's name (or any of the components of its
   domain name) as keys in searches. Using more than one key implies the
   logical AND of the keys. Specifying too many keys may cause searches
   to fail.

   When it completes the search (or when interrupted by C),
   Netfind summarizes the search results. The summary includes problems
   searching remote domains, information about the most promising e-mail
   address for the person being sought (if available), and information
   about when and where the person most recently/is currently logged in
   (if available).  If more than one person is located by a search, the
   summary does not include information about e-mail targets and most
   recent/current logins (since only the user can decide which person
   was the correct one)

   8.4.1. Local access:

      The format of the Netfind command is:

      +---------------------------------------------------------------+
      |                                                               |
      |  netfind     name-keyword  place-keywords            |
      |                                                               |
      +---------------------------------------------------------------+

      where the options are:

      -h
         tells Netfind to skip the domain search phase, and immediately
         begin searching individual machines found in the seed database.
         This option exists for measurement purposes. It is not of much
         use to casual users.

      -s
         will disable usage of the SMTP protocol during searches. This
         option is mainly useful for measurement purposes. Without this
         protocol, searches will begin producing finger output slightly
         sooner, but will often search less useful machines, generate



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         more Internet load, and fail to find information for users at
         sites that do not support finger (such as many companies).

      -t
         will report how many timeouts occurred. The -T option will set
         the timeout interval to the specified number of seconds. It may
         be necessary to use this option to increase the timeout value
         for intercontinental searches.

      -D
         sets the maximum number of domains that Netfind will search at
         once. The default is 3. While it may seem convenient to set a
         high value for this number, we suggest you do not do this. The
         search will actually proceed faster (and waste less Internet
         bandwidth) if a small number of well chosen domains are
         searched.

      -H
         sets the maximum number of machines that will be searched by
         Netfind.  The default value is 50. Again, we suggest that you
         do not set this value higher.

      -m
         displays measurement information. If no filename is specified,
         measurements are output to stderr. The packet count estimates
         are usually exaggerated, because they make pessimistic
         assumptions about the state of the Domain Naming System.

      -d
         allows you to turn on various classes of debugging output (all
         of which are output to stderr), using a letter corresponding to
         each one.  Debugging output is enabled using the -d option with
         a list of letters, e.g., -dslf. The following classes/letters
         exist:

         c:
            display control messages (check if the program has reached a
            specified point)

            f: display finger related messages

         h:
            list machine names found in the seed database

         l:
            display lock related messages (when entering monitors)





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         m:
            display messages about mail protocol (SMTP)

         n:
            display messages about network failures

         r:
            display hosts matched from the seed database that were
            rejected from searches because of search scope selection

         s:
            display system call related messages

         t:
            display thread related messages

         A:
            convert the above flags to mean their complement (example
            -dAt means produce all debug output except that for
            threads).

         The letters that are most likely to be of interest to the
         casual user are f, m, and n. By default, these options are
         enabled. Specifying any of these three flags with -d on the
         command line will disable them (hence, the -d option toggles
         the default behavior of each of the flags).

         The name keyword specifies the person being sought by first,
         last, or login name (only one name can be specified).

         The place keywords describe where the person works, by either
         the name of the institution or the city/state/country. If you
         know the institution's domain name (e.g., cs.colorado.edu,
         where there are host names like brazil.cs.colorado.edu) you can
         specify it as keys without the dots (e.g., cs colorado edu).
         The host parts of domain names (brazil) cannot be used as
         keywords. Keys are case insensitive and may be specified in any
         order, although using a very common key (like university) first
         will cause internal buffers to overflow and some domains to be
         missed.

         Using more than one key implies the logical and of the keys.
         Specifying too many keys may cause searches to fail. If this
         happens, try specifying fewer keys.







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   8.4.2. Remote access:

      Telnet to one of the remote Netfind sites (see How to get to
      NETFIND, above) and log in as netfind. No password is necessary.
      You will get the following menu:

           Top level choices:
                   1. Help
                   2. Search
                   3. Seed database lookup
                   4. Options
                   5. Quit (exit server)

      If you select Search, you will be given an opportunity to enter a
      name keyword and place keywords.

8.5. Examples

   To find the address of e-mail address of Nadine Grange, who works at
   the EARN office at CIRCE in France, you could try the keywords:

        nadine circe france

   Since there are more than three domains that fit the place keywords,
   you are asked to pick a few. The search proceeds, using the domains
   of your choice:

   -----------------------------------------------------------------

   Please select at most 3 of the following domains to search:
   0. circe.fr (centre national de la recherche scientifique, orsay ce
   1. ciripa.circe.fr (centre inter-regional de calcul electronique, c
   2. dnet.circe.fr (centre national de la recherche scientifique, ors
   3. ibmmail.circe.fr (centre national de la recherche scientifique,
   4. obspm.circe.fr (centre national de la recherche scientifique, or
   5. oecd.circe.fr (centre national de la recherche scientifique, ors
   6. phy.circe.fr (centre national de la recherche scientifique, orsa
   7. ups.circe.fr (centre national de la recherche scientifique, orsa
   8. cth.ups.circe.fr (centre national de la recherche scientifique,
   9. lure.ups.circe.fr (centre national de la recherche scientifique,
   10. lps.cth.ups.circe.fr (centre national de la recherche scientifi

   Enter selection (e.g., 2 0 1) --> 0
   ( 1) check_name: checking domain circe.fr.  Level = 0
   Search of domains completed.  Proceeding to search of hosts.
   ( 3) check_name: checking host loire.circe.fr.  Level = 0
   ( 4) check_name: checking host solrt.circe.fr.  Level = 0
   ( 5) check_name: checking host groucho.circe.fr.  Level = 0



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   ( 1) check_name: checking host rsovax.circe.fr.  Level = 0
   ( 2) check_name: checking host ventura.circe.fr.  Level = 0
   ( 1) do_connect: Finger service not available on host rsovax.circe.
   ( 1) check_name: checking host earn-ng.circe.fr.  Level = 0
   ( 4) check_name: checking host luregate.circe.fr.  Level = 0
   SYSTEM: loire.circe.fr
     Login name: nadine                    In real life: Nadine Grange
     Directory: /home/nadine               Shell: /bin/csh
     On since Sep  7 08:48:05 on ttyp0     4 days 21 hours Idle Time
     New mail received Sun Sep 12 00:00:08 1993;
       unread since Fri Sep 10 11:53:17 1993
     No Plan.

     Login name: nadine                    In real life: Nadine Grange
     Directory: /home/nadine               Shell: /bin/csh
     On since Sep  7 09:17:09 on ttyp6     1 day 12 hours Idle Time

   SUMMARY:
   - "nadine" is currently logged in from
     loire.circe.fr, since Sep  7 09:17:09.
   - The most promising email address for "nadine"
     based on the above search is
     nadine@loire.circe.fr.

   ----------------------------------------------------------------

   Note that Netfind found only an Internet address on a Unix machine.

8.6. Learning more about NETFIND

   The remote access version of Netfind has a large Help section. There
   is also a set of frequently asked questions available with the
   software release, in the Doc directory. These questions cover
   Functionality, Methodology, Network and Remote Site Load, Privacy,
   Future Directions, and Related Work.

   A noteworthy article on Netfind is:

   Experience with a Semantically Cognizant Internet White Pages
   Directory Tool, by M. F. Schwartz and P. G. Tsirigotis, Journal of
   Internetworking Research and Experience, March 1991, pp. 23-50.

   This publication discusses the research principles, performance, and
   scope measurements of Netfind, and compares it with other white pages
   facilities.

   There is a mailing list for Netfind users (for software updates and
   other discussions). To be added to the list, send an e-mail message



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   to netfind-users-request@cs.colorado.edu with the body (not subject
   line) subscribe netfind-users

9. TRICKLE

9.1. What is TRICKLE

   TRICKLE is a service which will send you files on request or by
   subscription. TRICKLE works with various anonymous FTP sites
   (computers in the Internet network that allow public access and
   retrieval of software and files). It provides a quick and easy
   alternative to FTP, whether or not you have access to the Internet.

   There are several TRICKLE servers throughout the world that cooperate
   to distribute the files efficiently. To request files, the user
   issues commands to the nearest TRICKLE server, which delivers the
   software either from its local cache disk, from the cache of another
   TRICKLE server, or from an FTP site that holds the software.

9.2. Who can use TRICKLE

   There are currently TRICKLE servers at the following addresses:

   +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   |                                                               |
   |  Location    EARN/BITNET        Internet                      |
   |                                                               |
   +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   |  Austria     TRICKLE@AWIWUW11   TRICKLE@awiwuw11.wu-wien.ac.at|
   |  Colombia    TRICKLE@UNALCOL    TRICKLE@unalcol.unal.edu.co   |
   |  France      TRICKLE@FRMOP11    TRICKLE@frmop11.cnusc.fr      |
   |  Germany     TRICKLE@DEARN      TRICKLE@vm.gmd.de             |
   |  Israel      TRICKLE@TAUNIVM    TRICKLE@vm.tau.ac.il          |
   |  Italy       TRICKLE@IMIPOLI    TRICKLE@imipoli.cdc.polimi.it |
   |  Netherlands TRICKLE@HEARN      TRICKLE@hearn.nic.surfnet.nl  |
   |  Poland      TRICKLE@PLEARN     TRICKLE@plearn.edu.pl         |
   |  Sweden      TRICKLE@SEARN      TRICKLE@searn.sunet.se        |
   |  Turkey      TRICKLE@TREARN     TRICKLE@ege.edu.tr            |
   |  Turkey      TRICKLE@TRMETU     TRICKLE@3090.cc.metu.edu.tr   |
   |                                                               |
   +---------------------------------------------------------------+

   When you send a command to a TRICKLE server, it either executes the
   command or sends you a message with the address of the TRICKLE server
   for your area.

   The files which are available from TRICKLE are organized in main
   directories which contain many subdirectories. The main directories



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   which are currently available are:

   +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   |                                                               |
   | Directory Source FTP Site        Contents                     |
   |                                                               |
   +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   | MSDOS     oak.oakland.edu        Large MS-DOS software archive|
   | MISC      oak.oakland.edu        Software for VM, VMS, Unix   |
   | SIGM      oak.oakland.edu        SIG/M CP/M archive           |
   | PC-BLUE   oak.oakland.edu        PC-BLUE MS-DOS archive       |
   | CPM       oak.oakland.edu        CP/M software archive        |
   | ARCHIVES  oak.oakland.edu        Various discussion group arc.|
   | UNIX-C    oak.oakland.edu        Unix and C code software arc.|
   | MACINTOS  oak.oakland.edu        Apple Macintosh software arc.|
   | OS2       2tp-os2.nmsu.edu       Large archive of OS/2 sw     |
   | AMIGA     nic.funet.fi           Large Amiga collection       |
   | KERMIT    watsun.cc.columbia.edu Kermit network software      |
   | TEX       rusinfo.rus.uni-stuttgart.de TeX software and fonts |
   | WUARCHIVE wuarchive.wustl.edu    MS-DOS and others            |
   | EXPO-MIT  export.lcs.mit.edu     Unix and others              |
   | UUNET     ftp.uu.net             Unix and others              |
   | SUMEX-AIM sumex-aim.stanford.edu Macintosh and others         |
   | GARFIELD  garfield.catt.ncsu.edu Multimedia (pictures/sounds) |
   | X11       export.lcs.mit.edu     X-Windows software distrib.  |
   | LINUX     nic.funet.fi           Linux system software dist.  |
   | VM-CMS    ubvm.cc.buffalo.edu    VM/CMS utilities             |
   |                                                               |
   +---------------------------------------------------------------+

   Not all directories are available at all servers. If your closest
   server does not provide the directory of your choice, you can use any
   other TRICKLE for the missing directory. If your closest server is
   temporarily unavailable, you can use any other TRICKLE instead.

9.3. How to get to TRICKLE

   You send commands to TRICKLE by electronic mail. The commands should
   be in the body of the mail message, one command per line. Any number
   of commands (up to your daily command limit) may be placed in one
   message.  Users on the EARN/Bitnet network may also send commands to
   TRICKLE by interactive message.

9.4. Using TRICKLE

   All commands begin with a slash (/). Note that the angle brackets
   (<>) are part of the command, not an indication of an optional
   parameter.



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   Use the /PDDIR command to obtain directory listings.

   +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   |                                                               |
   |  /PDDIR                                                       |
   |                                                               |
   |  /PDDIR                                              |
   |                                                               |
   |  /PDDIR    pattern                        |
   |                                                               |
   +---------------------------------------------------------------+

   where:

   dirname
      is the name of a main directory,

   subdirname
      is the name of a subdirectory,

   pattern
      is part of a filename.

   Use /PDDIR without any parameters to get a listing of the main
   directories. With PDDIR  you will get a listing of the
   subdirectories under that directory. If you specify both directory
   and subdirectory, it will list the files that are available in that
   subdirectory. With pattern, you will get a listing of only those
   files that match or begin with that pattern. Wildcards "?" and "*"
   may be imbedded into subdirname and pattern ("?" matches any single
   character; "*" matches any number of characters).

   Use the /PDGET command to get files.

   +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   |                                                               |
   |  /PDGET    filename ( delivery-option     |
   |                                                               |
   +---------------------------------------------------------------+

   where:

   dirname
      is the name of a main directory,

   subdirname
      is the name of a subdirectory,




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   filename
      is the name of a file.

   delivery-option
      specifies the format to which the file(s) should be translated
      before being sent to you. The possible values are:

           EBC80  UUE  XXE  HEX  BTOA

      The option EBC80 should be used to get text files if you work on
      an IBM mainframe system. The other options are formats for
      translating binary files so that they can be sent via electronic
      mail. You will need a program to translate the file back to its
      original form. The default for EARN/Bitnet users is to send the
      file as-is. The default for others is UUE.

   Wildcards "?" and "*" may be imbedded into subdirname and filename
   ("?" matches any single character; "*" matches any number of
   characters) to get several files.

   The /SUB command is used to subscribe to directories or to individual
   files.

   +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   |                                                               |
   |  /SUB                                                |
   |                                                               |
   |  /SUB      pattern                        |
   |                                                               |
   |  /SUB      QUERY                                              |
   |                                                               |
   +---------------------------------------------------------------+

   where:

   dirname
      is the name of a main directory,

   subdirname
      is the name of a subdirectory,

   pattern
      is part of a filename.

   If you subscribe to a directory, you will get a summary of added
   files about once a week, depending on how active the FTP site is.
   This listing shows the names, sizes and dates of each file added. If
   you subscribe to a file, as soon as TRICKLE is informed that a new



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   version of the file has been stored at its FTP site, a copy of the
   file will be sent to you.

   Note that since filenames usually reflect the version number of the
   file, it is a good idea to omit the number when specifying a pattern.
   For example, it is better to send the command:

        /SUB SCANV

   rather than

        /SUB SCANV106

   since, as new versions of the file are stored, the name might change
   to SCANV107, SCANV108, etc.

   Wildcards are not allowed with the /SUB command.

   The /SUB QUERY command allows you to get a list of the files you are
   subscribed to.

   The /UNSUB command may be used to cancel a subscription.

   +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   |                                                               |
   |  /UNSUB                                              |
   |                                                               |
   |  /UNSUB    pattern                        |
   |                                                               |
   +---------------------------------------------------------------+

   where:

   dirname
      is the name of a main directory,

   subdirname
      is the name of a subdirectory,

   pattern
      is part of a filename.

   The command /UNSUB * may be used to terminate all your directory and
   file subscriptions.







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9.5. Examples

   For a listing of the files in the VIRUS subdirectory of (the MSDOS
   directory, send the command:

        /PDDIR 

   To get the file 00-INDEX.TXT from  in EBCDIC format,
   send the command:

        /PDGET 00-INDEX.TXT ( EBC80

   If you are not sure of the exact name of the file, you can use
   wildcards:

        /PDGET *INDEX* ( EBC80

   To subscribe to  automatically get new versions of the  SCANV
   software from , send the command:

        /SUB SCANV

   To unsubscribe from all files in the VIRUS subdirectory, send the
   command:

        /UNSUB *

9.6. Learning more about TRICKLE

   The /HELP command may be sent to any TRICKLE server to obtain a very
   detailed help file from the server.

   A brief guide to TRICKLE is available from the EARN documentation
   filelist. Send mail to LISTSERV@EARNCC.EARN.NET (or
   LISTSERV@EARNCC.BITNET). In the body of the message, write:

        GET TRICKLE MEMO

10. BITFTP

10.1. What is BITFTP

   BITFTP, BITNET FTP Server, allows users of EARN, Bitnet and
   associated networks to access FTP sites on the Internet.

   The BITFTP server provides a mail interface between a user on the
   EARN/Bitnet network to FTP sites on the Internet. BITFTP handles this
   task by passing the commands specified in the mail message from the



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   user to another server that actually makes the connection to the FTP
   sites.  When the server finishes the interaction with the FTP site,
   or fails due to an error, a transcript of the result is sent back to
   the user, as well as the requested file(s), if any.

   The format of the files sent to the user can be defined within the
   mail message. BITFTP can deliver files in netdata and uuencode
   formats.

10.2. Who can use BITFTP

   BITFTP is currently available only to users on EARN, Bitnet and other
   regional NJE networks. BITFTP does not support multiple file requests
   via the mget command nor does it support sending files to FTP sites
   (the put command).

10.3. How to get to BITFTP

   There are BITFTP servers currently running at:

   +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   |                                                               |
   |  BITFTP@DEARN.BITNET  or  BITFTP@VM.GMD.DE           Germany  |
   |  BITFTP@PUCC.BITNET   or  BITFTP@PUCC.PRINCETON.EDU  USA      |
   |                                                               |
   +---------------------------------------------------------------+

   Users on the EARN/Bitnet international network only may use the US
   server. Only users from EARN member countries may use the server in
   Germany. Servers at other locations are planned.

   BITFTP accepts requests via electronic mail, including IBM NOTE and
   PROFS-format messages, as well as by NJE file transfer.

10.4. Using BITFTP

   BITFTP implements a large subset of the FTP commands of the IBM's
   TCP/IP for VM, using the same syntax. This software is documented in
   the IBM manual TCP/IP for VM User's Guide. In the following, angle
   brackets (<>) indicate an optional parameter.

   Use the ftp command to specify which host to connect to. This command
   must be the first command in your mail file. You can also specify the
   file format that you wish BITFTP to use to deliver files to you.







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   +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   |                                                               |
   |  ftp       hostname                               |
   |                                                               |
   +---------------------------------------------------------------+

   where:

   hostname
      is either the IP address or the domain name of the host to connect
      to,

   fileformat
      is the format in which BITFTP should deliver files to you. It can
      be either netdata or uuencode.

   Use the user command to tell the host the username and the password
   to be used for the FTP connection. Note that on many FTP sites, both
   username and password are case-sensitive.

   +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   |                                                               |
   |  user      username password                                  |
   |                                                               |
   +---------------------------------------------------------------+

   where:

   username
      is the user-id to use for the FTP connection,

   password
      is the password for the username you specified. It can be omitted
      if you specified anonymous for the userid.

   Use the  cd command to select  a particular directory  as current
   directory.

   +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   |                                                               |
   |  cd        directory-name                                     |
   |                                                               |
   +---------------------------------------------------------------+

   where:

   directory-name
      is the name of the directory to be selected.



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   Use the dir command to display a list of the files in the current, or
   specified, directory. The file names, and depending on the site, the
   file size, file creation date and other information will be listed.

   +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   |                                                               |
   |  dir                                                 |
   |                                                               |
   +---------------------------------------------------------------+

   where:

   pattern
      is a pattern that defines which file names should be displayed.
      Many FTP sites are case-sensitive, thus care must be used with the
      pattern. The pattern may contain any number of characters, and the
      wildcard character "*" (asterisk) may be used to represent any
      characters.

   The ls command is similar to the dir command, except that with most
   FTP sites, it only displays the filenames, without any other
   information.  The pattern specification is identical to dir.

   +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   |                                                               |
   |  ls                                                  |
   |                                                               |
   +---------------------------------------------------------------+

   Use the get command to obtain a file from the current host.

   +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   |                                                               |
   |  get       foreignname                             |
   |                                                               |
   +---------------------------------------------------------------+

   where:

   foreignname
      is the filename of the file, as stored at the FTP site. With many
      sites, the case of the filename must be respected.

   localname
      is an optional local filename. If you specify a localname, it must
      be in the form:  filename.filetype where neither part is  longer
      than eight characters.




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   Use the binary command to set the FTP transfer mode. If this option
   is set then no EBCDIC-ASCII translation will take place. This should
   be used for non-text files.

   +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   |                                                               |
   |  binary                                                       |
   |                                                               |
   +---------------------------------------------------------------+

   Use the quit command to close the connection to the host, and to
   terminate the BITFTP session.

   +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   |                                                               |
   |  quit                                                         |
   |                                                               |
   +---------------------------------------------------------------+

10.5. Examples

   To get the file how.to.ftp.guide from the directory
   /pub/nic/network.service.guides at the anonymous FTP site
   nic.sura.net, and to get a listing of the files in that directory,
   you could send the following commands by e-mail to BITFTP:

        ftp nic.sura.net
        user anonymous
        cd pub/nic/network.service.guides
        get how.to.ftp.guide
        dir
        quit

   In response you will receive an e-mail containing the following lines
   (some lines have been removed for brevity):

   > ftp nic.sura.net
   > user anonymous
   >> OPEN NIC.SURA.NET
   >> USER anonymous

   > cd pub/nic/network.service.guides
   >> CD pub/nic/network.service.guides

   > get how.to.ftp.guide
   >>>> "how.to.ftp.guide" sent as "HOWTO FTPGUIDE".

   > dir



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   total 60
   -rw-rw-r--  1 mtaranto 120   344 Apr 14  1992 README
   -rw-rw-r--  1 mtaranto 120 12759 Oct 30  1992 how.to.email.guide
   -rw-rw-r--  1 mtaranto 120  6327 Mar 24 13:28 how.to.ftp.guide
   -rw-rw-r--  1 root     120  2818 Mar  4  1992 how.to.telnet.guide
   -rw-rw-r--  1 mtaranto 120  6136 Oct 30  1992 how.to.use.vi.guide
   -rw-r--r--  1 1086     120     0 Aug 18 21:23 plane.

   The above directory listing is typical of the format of Unix FTP
   sites.  There is information on file permissions and ownership as
   well as the size of the file in bytes, the time and date of its last
   change, and the file name.

   You could request the first two files by once again sending mail to
   BITFTP with the following commands:

        ftp nic.sura.net
        user anonymous
        cd pub/nic/network.service.guides
        get README
        get how.to.email.guide
        quit

10.6. Learning more about BITFTP

   A four-page instruction to the BITFTP service can be obtained by
   sending a help command in the body of a mail message to either BITFTP
   server.

   Additional information on BITFTP may be obtained from EARN
   (NETHELP@EARNCC.EARN.NET or NETHELP@EARNCC.BITNET). More information
   about TCP/IP and FTP in general can be obtained from a wide variety
   of sources, such as the documents mentioned in the example above.

11. LISTSERV (Version 1.7f)

11.1. What is LISTSERV

   LISTSERV is a distribution list management package. It runs on IBM
   VM/CMS systems in the international NJE network (EARN/ Bitnet). It
   allows groups of computer users with a common interest to communicate
   among themselves, while making efficient use of computer and network
   resources. It makes it easy for even novice users to discover, join,
   and participate in these interest group mailing lists. LISTSERV also
   provides facilities for logging and archiving of mail traffic, file
   server functions, and database searches of archives and files.





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   There are LISTSERV lists on every subject under the sun, with names
   ranging from AARPUB-L (AAR Electronic Publication list) to Z3950IW
   (Z39.50 Implementors Workshop). LISTSERV lists are international and
   eclectic. You will find lists in every imaginable field, for every
   audience, in many different countries and in many different
   languages.  See the description of the List command in the section
   Using LISTSERV section for instructions on getting an up-to-date list
   of lists.

11.2. Who can use LISTSERV

   Anyone who can send electronic mail to an EARN/Bitnet address can
   participate in a mailing list and access other LISTSERV facilities,
   as long as the e-mail format is valid (according to the RFC822
   standard), and has a usable return address. Every day, people use
   LISTSERV from HEPnet, Internet, Compuserve, MCIMail and many other
   networks throughout the world.

   If you don't know how to send electronic mail to EARN/Bitnet, ask
   your local support people for help.

11.3. How to get to LISTSERV

   To use LISTSERV facilities, send electronic mail with your LISTSERV
   commands to: LISTSERV@host-id where host-id is the host computer's
   NJE address (for example, TAUNIVM.BITNET) or its Internet domain name
   (in this case, VM.TAU.AC.IL). There may be some local variation on
   the format needed to send mail to Bitnet or Internet addresses. Check
   with your local support personnel.

   More than one command can be sent to LISTSERV in the same mail
   message.  Each command must be on a separate line. LISTSERV will
   ignore the Subject: line of the mail header, so ensure that your
   commands are in the body of the e-mail.

   For EARN/Bitnet users, interactive messages are the fastest and most
   convenient way to send commands to LISTSERV, but bear in mind that
   interactive messages only work when the links between your computer
   and LISTSERV are up; if the message fails, you can always send your
   command via mail.

   To facilitate communications with the LISTSERV servers on the
   EARN/Bitnet network, a special LISTSERV computer node has been
   defined.  This means that any EARN/Bitnet user can address their
   commands to the userid LISTSERV at the special node LISTSERV.

   All non-EARN/Bitnet users may address their command mail to the
   userid LISTSERV at the special node LISTSERV.NET. Note that if this



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   node is not yet defined on your network, you may also try
   LISTSERV%LISTSERV.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU. For example, if you wanted
   to join the 3D-L mailing list that discusses 3D computer graphics but
   are not sure of the address of the LISTSERV server hosting this list.
   You could send a subscription request to either of the following
   addresses:

        LISTSERV@LISTSERV.NET
        LISTSERV@LISTSERV (on BITNET)


   Your subscription request will be automatically forwarded on to the
   LISTSERV server hosting the 3D-L mailing list (in this case, at the
   computer node ARIZVM1 or ARIZVM1.CCIT.ARIZONA.EDU).

   You may also utilize the special LISTSERV address to send e-mail to
   any LISTSERV mailing list if you are unsure of its address. For
   example, if you wanted to send mail to the BITFTP-L mailing list to
   request a copy of the BITFTP product, you could do so by addressing
   your e-mail to BITFTP-L@LISTSERV.NET. It will automatically be
   forwarded to the list's real address (in this case,
   BITFTP-L@EARNCC.EARN.NET) when it reaches the LISTSERV node. Once you
   know the real address of a list, it should be used for all future
   mail sent to that list.

   There are more than 250 sites in over 30 countries throughout the
   world running LISTSERV as part of the world-wide network. Here are a
   few of the LISTSERV sites:

   +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   |                                                               |
   | NJE     Domain                 Site                    Country|
   | Host    Address                                               |
   |                                                               |
   +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   | EARNCC  EARNCC.EARN.NET                                       |
   |                EARN Office, Paris                       France|
   | DEARN   VM.GMD.DE                                             |
   |                GMD, Bonn                               Germany|
   | HEARN   HEARN.NIC.SURFNET.NL                                  |
   |                Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen    Netherlands|
   | SEARN   SEARN.SUNET.SE                                        |
   |                Kungliga Tekniska Hoegskolan, Stockholm  Sweden|
   | BITNIC  BINTIC.CREN.NET                                       |
   |                BITNET Network Information Center           USA|
   | PUCC    PUCC.PRINCETON.EDU                                    |
   |                Princeton University, New Jersey            USA|
   +---------------------------------------------------------------+



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11.4. Using LISTSERV

   The commands given here are available for everyone and require no
   special LISTSERV command privileges. Only the most common commands
   are described. For a complete list of non-privileged LISTSERV
   commands, retrieve the LISTSERV User Guide in the DOC FILELIST from
   LISTSERV@EARNCC.EARN.NET (or LISTSERV@EARNCC.BITNET).

   Commands are presented in a particular format: CAPITAL letters
   indicate acceptable abbreviation, angle brackets (<>) indicate an
   optional parameter, and vertical bar (|) indicates a choice of
   parameters. All parameters are fully explained in each command
   description.

   There is a standard set of command keywords available for use in some
   LISTSERV commands. They may be used with any commands where they
   appear as optional parameters in the command description. The
   important standard keywords are:

   PW= password
      This keyword is used to specify a password in a command. If you
      have registered a personal password on a LISTSERV server, you will
      then have to validate certain commands by using the PW= command
      keyword in the command text. This feature is designed to prevent
      impostors from issuing commands while using your e-mail address.
      The use of passwords is strongly recommended for this reason. See
      the PW command for details on registering personal passwords. Once
      you have registered a personal password at a LISTSERV server, you
      will be obliged to include the PW= command keyword in all commands
      where it appears as an option.

   F= format
      This keyword controls the file format (or internal file structure)
      in which files will be sent to you. If you are not a member of the
      EARN/Bitnet network, then LISTSERV will always use the default
      file format of MAIL. Otherwise, the default file format is
      dependent upon the information held in the BITEARN NODES file
      regarding your computer. The BITEARN NODES file is a special
      network definition file used in the EARN/Bitnet network. Any user
      may ask for a file format other than their default by specifying
      it in the F= command keyword in the commands where it appears as
      an option. Note that this will not permanently change your default
      file format, its effect is only for those commands where it is
      specified. Following is a list of file formats that are valid for
      all users:

           XXE  UUe  MIME/text  MIME/Appl  MAIL




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      In addition, EARN/Bitnet users may specify:

           Netdata  Card  Disk  Punch  LPunch  VMSdump

      Contact your local support personnel for more information about
      the file formats supported on your computer.

   11.4.1. Commands for LISTS:

      The primary function of LISTSERV is to operate mailing lists (also
      referred to as distribution lists). Mailing lists are used to
      distribute the e-mail sent to them to a list a recipients. They
      provide the means for a group of users to establish an e-mail
      forum on any topic or area of common interest. This service
      provides an extremely convenient means for the exchange of ideas
      and information between list members since LISTSERV (and not the
      mail sender) manages the distribution of e-mail to all of its
      final recipients. Users need only to remember one list address to
      which they send their mail in order to communicate to a
      potentially large number of users. Due to the efficiency with
      which LISTSERV distributes e-mail to list members, discussions or
      debates with a world-wide audience may be conducted.

      The following commands are designed for use with LISTSERV mailing
      lists.  With them you may do things such as finding the names and
      addresses of lists, signing on to or off lists, reviewing lists or
      changing your personal options for any mailing list to which you
      are subscribed.

      +---------------------------------------------------------------+
      |                                                               |
      |  SUBscribe list-name                               |
      |                                                               |
      +---------------------------------------------------------------+

      Use the SUBscribe command to join a mailing list. You can also use
      this command to alter the name (but not e-mail address) by which
      you are known on a mailing list you have already joined. The
      list-name parameter is the name of the list to which you want to
      subscribe. For example, the EARN User Group list located at the
      node IRLEARN has a list name of EARN-UG. Do not confuse this with
      the list's address (EARN-UG@IRLEARN) which should not be used. The
      optional full-name parameter allows you to give a name by which
      you want to be known on a mailing list. If specified, it should be
      your full, real name (at least your first name and last name) and
      not your e-mail address. If you send this command to LISTSERV via
      command mail, the name for the full-name option will be taken from
      the name given in the From: mail header should it be omitted from



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      the command text. If you send a SUBscribe command for a list to
      which you already belong, then LISTSERV will interpret the command
      as a request to change your full-name on the list.

      A request to join a mailing list can be processed in three ways:
      subscription to a list may be OPEN, CLOSED, or BY-OWNER. If it is
      OPEN, you will be automatically added to the list and sent
      notification. If it is CLOSED, you will not be added to the list,
      and LISTSERV will send you a message telling you that your request
      has been rejected. If it is BY-OWNER, your subscription request
      will be forwarded to the list owner(s), who will decide whether or
      not to add you to the list (LISTSERV will inform you to whom your
      request has been forwarded). To see what kind of subscription a
      list has, use the REView command.

      +---------------------------------------------------------------+
      |                                                               |
      |  UNSubscribe list-name  |  *  <(NETWIDE>                      |
      |                                                               |
      +---------------------------------------------------------------+

      Use the UNSubscribe command to leave a mailing list. The listname
      parameter is the name of a mailing list from which you want to
      remove your subscription. You can signoff all the lists to which
      you are a member at any particular LISTSERV site by using the "*"
      (asterisk) character in the place of a list name. If you want your
      UNSubscribe command to be propagated to all LISTSERV servers on
      the network, include the (NETWIDE option. Use this option if you
      are changing your e-mail address or are leaving your computer for
      an extended period.

      +---------------------------------------------------------------+
      |                                                               |
      |  List                                     |
      |                                                               |
      +---------------------------------------------------------------+

      Use the List command to get a listing of available mailing lists
      at a LISTSERV server. The options parameter may be any of the
      following:

      Short
         This option displays a summary of all the lists managed by a
         LISTSERV in a brief, one line description. This is the default.







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      Long
         The Long (or Detailed) option will send a file (called
         node-name LISTS) to you that contains a comprehensive
         description of the lists managed by a LISTSERV server.

      Global 
         This option gives a complete list of all known LISTSERV mailing
         lists at all servers at the time the command is issued. A file
         (called LISTSERV LISTS) will be sent to you containing the
         names, titles and e-mail addresses of these lists. This is a
         very large file, so make sure you have the necessary disk space
         to accommodate its size before you use the Global option. The
         optional pattern parameter can be used to match any string in
         the list name, list title or list address.

      +---------------------------------------------------------------+
      |                                                               |
      |  REView    list-name  <(>                            |
      |                                                               |
      +---------------------------------------------------------------+

      Use the REView command to receive a listing of a mailing list. It
      will be sent to you as a file called list-name LIST (or list-name
      node-name for peered lists). A mailing list is comprised of two
      parts: a control section and a subscription section. The control
      section holds the definition parameters for a list which includes
      information such as who is authorized to review or join a list and
      whether or not it is archived. The subscription section holds the
      e-mail addresses and names of all list members. The REView command
      allows you to receive a listing of either or both of these
      sections (the default is both) for any list, provided you are
      authorized to do so. Note that at the discretion of the list
      owner(s), the REView command can be restricted in use to list
      members only. In this case, you will not be authorized to review a
      mailing list if you are not a member of that list yourself. Also,
      individual list members can restrict the appearance of their
      e-mail address and name in response to a REView command if they
      have set the CONCEAL mailing list option (see the SET command for
      more details). The list-name parameter is the name of the LISTSERV
      list you wish to review.  The important options are:

      Short
         This option restricts the information you receive to the
         control section of a list (giving its definition parameters)
         and does not return the subscription section of a list (giving
         the list members).





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      Countries
         If you use this option, the list of members will be by the
         nationality given in their e-mail.

      LOCal
         If the list is peered (that is, it is linked to other mailing
         lists of the same name but on different LISTSERV servers), you
         will receive listings of all of these mailing lists in response
         to a REView command.  The LOCal option can be used to suppress
         the propagation of the REView command to the LISTSERV servers
         hosting these peered mailing lists. In this case, you will
         receive a listing only from the server to which you send the
         REView command and not the others.

      +---------------------------------------------------------------+
      |                                                               |
      |  Query     list-name  |  *                                    |
      |                                                               |
      +---------------------------------------------------------------+

      When you join any mailing list, you will be assigned a default set
      of list options that control such things as way you received mail
      when it is distributed and the type of notification LISTSERV will
      give you when it distributes mail you have sent to a list. These
      are the personal list options that may be altered on any mailing
      list to which you are subscribed to suite your circumstances. See
      the SET command for a complete descriptions of these options. The
      Query command can be used to review the personal list options you
      have in effect at any mailing list.  The listname parameter is the
      name of a list to which you are subscribed. If you use an "*"
      (asterisk) character instead of a list name, you will receive
      information about your personal options for all lists to which you
      belong at the LISTSERV to which you send the command.

      +---------------------------------------------------------------+
      |                                                               |
      |  SET       list-name  |  *   options                          |
      |                                                               |
      +---------------------------------------------------------------+

      Use the SET command to change your personal options for a mailing
      list.  These options will remain in effect until they are
      explicitly changed.  The Query command can be used to display your
      current optional settings for any list to which you are
      subscribed. The list-name parameter is the name of the mailing
      list for which you are changing your options. You may change your
      options for a specific list or for all the lists you belong to at
      a particular LISTSERV by using the "*" (asterisk) character in



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      place of a list name. After processing your SET command, LISTSERV
      will send you conformation of the successful alteration of your
      mailing list options via e-mail. The important options are:

      Mail | DIGests | INDex | NOMail
         These options of the SET command alter the way in which you
         receive mail from a mailing list. The Mail option means that
         you wish to have list mail distributed to you as mail. This is
         the default. The DIGests and INDex options are available only
         if a list has had these features enabled by its owner(s).
         Digests hold all the mail messages sent to a list over a
         certain period of time. Instead of receiving each mail
         individually as it is distributed to list members, you will
         receive all the mail in one batch for a given day, week or
         month. You may then browse through these mail messages at your
         leisure. Note that mail is not edited with the DIGests option,
         you will receive copies of all the mail messages in their
         entirety. The INDex option will provide you with only the date,
         time, subject, number of lines and the sender's name and
         address for all mail messages sent to a list. The text of the
         mail message will not be included. You may then select and
         retrieve any mail that interests you from the list archive.
         Both the DIGests and INDex options provide a means of listening
         in to discussions on mailing lists without having to deal with
         large quantities of incoming mail messages.  The NOMail option
         means that mail sent to the list will not be distributed to
         you. This is useful when you are leaving your computer for an
         extended period of time and you do not want mail from the list
         to fill your mailbox. When you return, you can send the SET
         command with the Mail option to restore mail service.

      SHORThdr | FULLhdr | IETFhdr | DUALhdr
         All mail messages are comprised of header and body sections.
         The header section provides details such as the recipients, the
         original sender and the date and time a mail message was sent.
         The mail body section contains the text of a mail message.
         These options of the SET command indicate the type of mail
         headers you want to receive in the mail distributed from a
         mailing list. SHORThdr means that the mail header will include
         only the essential informational headers (for instance the
         Date:, To:, From:, Subject:, Sender: and Reply-to: headers).
         This is the default. You may change this to FULLhdr, which
         means that all (including non-essential) mail headers will be
         present in e-mail. The IETFhdr option means that LISTSERV will
         not change the headers of a mail message it distributes to you
         other than to add a Received: mail header (and also a
         Message-id: and Sender: headers if either of these were not
         already present). This option is designed specifically for



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         compatibility with SMTP exploders (as used, for instance, on
         the Internet network).  Lastly, DUALhdr is very similar to the
         SHORThdr option except that LISTSERV will also insert mail
         headers at the beginning of the mail body. Therefore, when the
         mail is received and read by a recipient using this option, it
         will start with this information (for instance, the first three
         lines of a mail message may contain the To:, From: and Subject:
         mail headers). This option is useful for users of some PC based
         mail packages that will not display this information from the
         real mail headers.

      CONCEAL | NOCONCEAL
         Indicates whether or not you want your name and mail address to
         appear in the display of list members which is given in
         response to a REView command. The default is NOCONCEAL. Note
         that a complete list of members is always given to list owners
         and LISTSERV administrators regardless of this option.

         +-------------------------------------------------------------+
         |                                                             |
         |  CONFIRM   list-name                                        |
         |                                                             |
         +-------------------------------------------------------------+

         Use  the CONFIRM  command to  renew your  subscription to  a
         list.  Some mailing lists require subscription renewal at
         regular intervals (usually once  a year).  A mail  message is
         automatically sent  to list  members indicating that they  must
         send a CONFIRM command within  a given number of days or they
         will be removed from the list. This command must be sent from
         the same e-mail address  that received the confirmation notice.
         The list-name parameter  is the name  of the mailing  list to
         which  you are confirming your  subscription. LISTSERV  will
         send  a message  that your subscription has been confirmed.

   11.4.2. Commands for FILES:

      LISTSERV also functions as a file server. That is, files can be
      stored at a LISTSERV server and made available for retrieval by
      users upon their request. These files are stored in LISTSERV under
      a hierarchical system of filelists. As the name suggests, a
      filelist is a special file that holds a list of files. Each entry
      in a filelist describes a file that is available for retrieval and
      gives details such as the file's name and size and also a file's
      access code (also known as a FAC) which describes who is
      authorized to retrieve it. These files may themselves be
      filelists, in which case they too will hold information about
      available files or further filelists. In this way, filelists are



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      organized in a hierarchical or tree structure.

      There are two basic types of filelists on LISTSERV servers. The
      first type holds files that have been specifically placed there by
      file owners or LISTSERV administrators. These files may be
      documents, maps or diagrams, or even programs. The second type of
      filelist is associated with a LISTSERV mailing list. These are
      referred to as list filelists and retain copies of all e-mail
      distributed on a particular mailing list. They consist of a series
      of files, each of which holds a copy of the mail messages
      distributed on a list over an interval of time (usually, one
      month). These files may then be retrieved to recover any list mail
      distributed during a specific period. Note that e-mail distributed
      on a mailing list may also be retrieved via the database functions
      of LISTSERV. Not all mailing lists have an associated list
      filelist; this is enabled at a list owner's discretion.

      A further aspect of the file server functions of LISTSERV is the
      concept of packages. A package consists of one or more files that
      appear in a filelist. These may be, for example, a series of files
      that go to make up a software package. A package is declared in a
      LISTSERV filelist through a file that has the special name of
      package-name $PACKAGE.  Within it will be a list of all the files
      that comprise the package.  This list can be reviewed by sending a
      retrieval request for that file.  However, all the files that
      comprise the package may also be retrieved through a request for
      the file: package-name PACKAGE. Note that in this case, the "$"
      (dollar) symbol is dropped from the name. The files that go to
      make up the package will then automatically be sent to the
      requestor. This enables users to retrieve an entire set of files
      that belong to a package with only one command, instead of having
      to retrieve each of these files individually through a series of
      commands.

      The following LISTSERV commands enable general users to manipulate
      files that are stored at a server. This includes commands to
      search for, retrieve and subscribe to files. When sending file
      server commands to LISTSERV, you must address them to the server
      and not to any mailing lists. Note that where the PW= keyword
      appears in a command description, this need only be included in
      the command text if you have defined a personal password at the
      server to which you are sending file server commands. Otherwise,
      it need not be used. The optional F= command keyword may included
      as desired.







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      +---------------------------------------------------------------+
      |                                                               |
      |  INDex                                   |
      |                                                               |
      +---------------------------------------------------------------+

      Use the INDex command to get a listing of the files in a
      particular filelist. The filelist parameter specifies the name of
      the filelist you wish to get. If no name is specified, an index of
      the root filelist (called LISTSERV FILELIST) will be sent to you.

      +---------------------------------------------------------------+
      |                                                               |
      |  GET       filename  filetype            |
      |                                                               |
      +---------------------------------------------------------------+

      The GET command is used to retrieve a specific file or package
      from a filelist, provided you are authorized to do so. The
      filename and filetype parameters identify the file or package you
      wish to retrieve.  The optional filelist parameter identifies the
      filelist within which the file or package resides. If it is not
      supplied in the command, LISTSERV will determine the filelist
      through a search of its own internal filelist index.

      +---------------------------------------------------------------+
      |                                                               |
      |  AFD       options                                            |
      |                                                               |
      +---------------------------------------------------------------+

      AFD is an acronym for Automatic File Distribution. This command
      enables you to subscribe to a file or package in a filelist. Every
      time this file or package is updated in its filelist, you will
      then automatically be sent of copy of it by the LISTSERV server.
      You may subscribe to any number of files for packages from any
      filelist with the AFD command. You may also review or delete your
      subscriptions at any LISTSERV server. The options must be one of
      the following:

      ADD  filename  filetype    
      
         The ADD option allows you to subscribe to a file or package.
         This means that a copy will henceforth be sent to you
         automatically by LISTSERV when it is updated on its filelist.
         The filename and filetype parameters identify a file or package
         to which you want to subscribe. The filelist option allows you
         to specify the name of the filelist in which it is located. If



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         this is not specified in the command, LISTSERV will locate the
         filelist through a search of its own internal filelist index.
         Also, if you wish to have an informational text message
         inserted automatically at the top of the file or package when
         it is sent to you, you may use the text parameter. Note that if
         you omit the filelist option, the text you provide in the text
         parameter must be enclosed in double quotes (").  This
         parameter is most commonly used by network server applications
         that subscribe to files at a LISTSERV on behalf of users. If
         you are subscribing to files directly from LISTSERV yourself,
         you should not need to use this option.

      DELete  filename  filetype    
         Remove your subscription to a file or package for which you
         have an AFD.  The filename and filetype parameters identify a
         file or package to which you wish to remove an AFD. These names
         may also include the "*" (asterisk) wildcard character so that
         multiple files or packages may be removed with one DELete
         command. The filelist option allows you to specify the name of
         the filelist in which it is located. If this is not specified
         in the command, LISTSERV will locate the filelist through a
         search of its own internal filelist index.

      List <(FORMAT>
         The List option shows the files or packages to which you are
         currently subscribed at a LISTSERV. If you include the (FORMAT
         option, then the file format to be used when a file or package
         is sent to you will also be displayed.

      +---------------------------------------------------------------+
      |                                                               |
      |  FUI       options                                            |
      |                                                               |
      +---------------------------------------------------------------+

      FUI is an acronym for File Update Information. It enables you to
      subscribe to a file or package in a filelist. Every time this file
      for package is updated in its filelist, you will then
      automatically be informed of this by the LISTSERV server. This
      command is similar to the AFD command, except you will only be
      sent notification of an update rather than the updated file or
      package itself. You may subscribe to any number of files for
      packages from any filelist with the FUI command. You may also
      review or delete your subscriptions at any LISTSERV server. The
      options parameter must be one of the following:






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      ADD filename  filetype  
         The ADD option allows you to subscribe to a file or package by
         adding an FUI to it. The filename and filetype parameters
         identify a file or package to which you want to add an FUI
         subscription. The filelist option allows you to specify the
         name of the filelist in which it is located. If this is not
         given in the command, LISTSERV will locate the filelist through
         a search of its own internal filelist index.

      DELete  filename  filetype    
         Remove your subscription from a file or package for which you
         have an FUI. The filename and filetype parameters identify a
         file or package to which you want to delete an FUI. The
         filelist option allows you to specify the name of the filelist
         in which it is located. If this is not specified in the
         command, LISTSERV will locate the filelist through a search of
         its own internal filelist index.

      List
         The List option shows the files or packages for which you
         currently have an FUI subscription at a LISTSERV server.

      +---------------------------------------------------------------+
      |                                                               |
      |  Query File filename  filetype    <(FLags>          |
      |                                                               |
      +---------------------------------------------------------------+

      This command can be used to get update information on various
      files.  Update information about the file or package specified in
      the filename and filetype parameters will be given. Optionally,
      you may include a filelist name in the filelist parameter. If it
      is omitted, LISTSERV will locate the filelist through a search of
      its own internal filelist index.  You may also specify the (FLags
      option to display additional technical data about the file (which
      can be useful when reporting problems to LISTSERV administrators).

      +---------------------------------------------------------------+
      |                                                               |
      |  PW        options                                            |
      |                                                               |
      +---------------------------------------------------------------+

      The PW command enables you to add, change or delete a personal
      password on any LISTSERV server. A personal password is designed
      to give you added command security on a LISTSERV since it helps
      prevent impostors using your e-mail address. The use of personal
      passwords is strongly encouraged for this reason. Every server



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      will accept a password registration request from you at any time.
      Passwords are comprised of one to eight alphanumeric characters.
      You may change or delete your password at any time. The options
      parameter must be one of the following:

      ADD  new-password
         Add a new personal password on the LISTSERV processing your
         command.  Once you have registered a password on a LISTSERV
         server, you will be obliged to use the PW= command keyword in
         the commands where it appears as an option.

      CHange  old-password  new-password
         Change your personal password on a LISTSERV server where you
         already have one.

      DELete  old-password
         Remove your personal password from a LISTSERV where you already
         have one. Once you have removed a password from a LISTSERV
         server, you will no longer be obliged to use the PW= command
         keyword in the commands where it appears as an option.

   11.4.3. LISTSERV DATABASE Functions

      LISTSERV provides the facility for users to retrieve old mail that
      has been distributed on mailing lists. Each mailing list has an
      associated database (called a notebook or list archive database)
      in which list mail is stored. Note that databases may not be
      maintained for every mailing list, this is done at the discretion
      of a list owner. The notebook databases are the most commonly used
      of the LISTSERV databases. However, every LISTSERV server also has
      a database of all the EARN/Bitnet computer nodes (called the
      BITEARN database). This is available to all LISTSERV users. The
      backbone LISTSERV servers also have a database of all the LISTSERV
      computer nodes (called the PEERS database). In addition to these
      databases, a LISTSERV server may have any number of different
      databases that have been created locally. To find out what
      databases are accessible at a particular LISTSERV site, send
      following command to that server:

                DATABASE LIST

      To perform a database search, you can send mail to LISTSERV
      containing a batch database job which contains your database
      query. In addition, EARN/Bitnet users on VM or VMS systems can
      access the database facilities interactively via the LDBASE
      program. For more details on the LISTSERV database facilities,
      send an Info DATABASE command to your nearest (or any) LISTSERV
      server (see the section Commands for INFORMATION) or consult the



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      LISTSERV DATABASE Functions chapter in the LISTSERV User Guide.

   11.4.4. Commands for INFORMATION:

      The LISTSERV server can provide a diverse range of information to
      the general user. This includes help files, release levels of the
      server and important configuration files, statistics and
      information pertaining to the EARN/Bitnet network. When sending
      these commands to LISTSERV, they must be addressed to the server
      and not to any mailing lists it may manage. For those commands
      that result in files being sent to the requestor (for example the
      Info command), the format of the file can be specified by the
      optional command keyword F= in the command text (see the section
      LISTSERV Command Keywords for more information).

      +---------------------------------------------------------------+
      |                                                               |
      |  Help                                                         |
      |                                                               |
      +---------------------------------------------------------------+

      Use this command to get a brief description of the most commonly
      used LISTSERV commands and also the name and e-mail address of the
      server's postmaster.

      +---------------------------------------------------------------+
      |                                                               |
      |  Info                                       |
      |                                                               |
      +---------------------------------------------------------------+

      Use this command to get an informational (or help) file from a
      LISTSERV server. The topic option should specify the topic for
      which an informational file will be sent to you. You may get a
      list of valid topics by sending the Info command with no
      parameters to your nearest (or any) LISTSERV.

11.5. Examples

   You wish to subscribe to the EARNEWS list which is located at the
   node FRMOP11. Your full name is Mark P. Waugh. Send the following
   command to LISTSERV@FRMOP11.CNUSC.FR (or LISTSERV@FRMOP11.BITNET):

        SUBSCRIBE EARNEWS Mark P. Waugh

   You wish to leave the INFO-MAC mailing list (to which you have
   already subscribed) at the node CEARN (or CEARN.CERN.FR). The
   command:



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        UNSUBSCRIBE INFO-MAC

   should be sent to the LISTSERV server at CEARN (or CEARN.CERN.FR)
   which manages the INFO-MAC list. To leave all the LISTSERV lists you
   belong to throughout the network, send the following command to your
   nearest (or any) LISTSERV:

        UNSUBSCRIBE * (NETWIDE

   You wish to receive a listing of all mailing lists that have the text
   europe in their name or title. Send the following command to your
   nearest (or any) LISTSERV server:

        LIST GLOBAL EUROPE

   You want to stop receiving mail from all the lists at SEARN (or
   SEARN.SUNET.SE) to which you belong. Send the following command to
   the LISTSERV server at SEARN (or SEARN.SUNET.SE):

        SET * NOMAIL

   You have received a message from the LISTSERV server at IRLEARN (or
   IRLEARN.UCD.IE) asking you to confirm your subscription to the EARN-
   UG list. Send the following command to that server:

        CONFIRM EARN-UG

   You wish to receive a listing of the files in the DOC FILELIST The
   command:

        INDEX DOC

   should be sent to the LISTSERV server at EARNCC (or EARNCC.EARN.NET)
   where this filelist is located. Note that the above command is the
   same as issuing a GET DOC FILELIST command.

   You wish to retrieve the file PCPROG ZIP from a filelist and have it
   sent to you in XXE file format. Send the following command to the
   LISTSERV server that holds this file:

        GET PCPROG ZIP F=XXE

   You want to retrieve all the files that make up a package called
   PROGRAM (as listed in a file called PROGRAM $PACKAGE) from a filelist
   called SAMPLE. Send the command:

        GET PROGRAM PACKAGE SAMPLE




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   You wish to subscribe to a file called BUGDET MEMO in a filelist
   called EXPENSES with an AFD:

        AFD ADD BUDGET MEMO EXPENSES

   To subscribe to a file called VM EMAIL in the DOC FILELIST with an
   FUI, you would send the following command to LISTSERV at node EARNCC
   (or EARNCC.EARN.NET):

        FUI ADD VM EMAIL DOC

11.6. Learning more about LISTSERV

   A standard set of help files are available upon request from each
   LISTSERV server. To get a copy of these files, use the INFO command
   (see the section Commands for INFORMATION).

   Detailed documentation on LISTSERV (and related services) is
   available from the DOC FILELIST at LISTSERV@EARNCC.EARN.NET (or
   LISTSERV@EARNCC.BITNET). This includes the LISTSERV User Guide which
   is available in both postscript and plain text formats. To obtain a
   list of available documents use the INDex command (see the section
   Commands for FILES).

   There are several mailing lists for discussion of technical LISTSERV
   issues. They are not intended for casual users, but they should be of
   interest to advanced users. They are:

        LSTSRV-L  Technical forum on LISTSERV

        LSTOWN-L  LISTSERV list owners' forum

        LDBASE-L  Forum on LISTSERV database search capabilities

12. NETNEWS (USENET)

12.1. What is NETNEWS

   Netnews, or Usenet as it is more commonly called, is a message
   sharing system that exchanges messages electronically around the
   world in a standard format. Messages exchanged on Usenet are arranged
   by topic into categories called newsgroups. Netnews is, thus, a huge
   collection of messages, being passed from machine to machine. The
   messages may contain both plain text and encoded binary information.
   The messages also contain header lines that define who the message
   came from, when the message was posted, where it was posted, where it
   has passed, and other administrative information.




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   The major, hierarchical categories of Usenet newsgroups which are
   distributed throughout the world are alt, comp, misc, news, rec, sci,
   soc, and talk. There are many other major categories which may be
   topical (e.g., bionet, biz, vmsnet) and are usually distributed
   worldwide as well, or geographical and even organizational (e.g.,
   ieee) or commercial (e.g., clari). The latter categories are usually
   distributed only with their area of interest. The messages of many
   Bitnet LISTSERV mailing lists are also distributed in Usenet under
   the major category bit.

   The major categories are further broken down into more than 1200
   newsgroups on different subjects which range from education for the
   disabled to Star Trek and from environmental science to politics in
   the former Soviet Union. The quality of the discussion in newsgroups
   is not guaranteed to be high. Some newsgroups have a moderator who
   scans the messages for the group before they are distributed and
   decides which ones are appropriate for distribution.

   Usenet was originally developed for Unix systems in 1979. Within a
   year, fifty Unix sites were participating. Now, there are thousands
   of sites running a number of operating systems on a variety of
   hardware platforms communicating via Usenet around the globe.

12.2. Who can use NETNEWS

   Usenet newsgroups can be read at thousands of sites around the world.
   In addition, there are several sites that provide public dial-up
   service so that people who are not at a Usenet site can have access
   to newsgroups as well. If you don't know if your site has Usenet
   access, check with your local computer support people.

   Protocols and software for the distribution of news are in use in
   several networks, such as the Internet, UUCP, EARN/Bitnet and
   Fidonet.

   If you have e-mail service only, then you can not access Usenet.
   However, many newsgroups are connected to mailing lists which you
   could join. For a list of these newsgroups and their associated
   mailing lists, send mail to LISTSERV@AMERICAN.EDU with the line: GET
   NETGATE GATELIST.  Moreover, many of the documents which appear
   periodically in newsgroups are available by e-mail from
   mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu. For instructions, send a message with the
   subject: HELP.








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12.3. How to get to NETNEWS

   If your site provides Usenet access, then you just need to use one of
   the many software packages available for reading news (at least one
   is probably available on your computer). These packages either access
   a local news spool, or use the Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP)
   to access the news spool on some other computer in the network.

   Within EARN, a network of Netnews distribution has been developed,
   providing efficient distribution of Usenet traffic while minimizing
   the load on the network for the participating countries.

   If Usenet is not available to you and you would like to arrange
   access for your site, contact your system administrator. You should
   also read the article How to become a USENET site which is posted
   periodically to the news.answers newsgroup. It is also available by
   anonymous FTP from rtfm.mit.edu as
   /pub/usenet/news.answers/site-setup or by mail to:
   mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu with the line: send
   usenet/news.answers/site-setup.

12.4. Using NETNEWS

   There are many software packages available for reading and
   distributing Netnews on a variety of operating systems (Unix, VMS,
   VM/CMS, MVS, Macintosh, MS-DOS and OS/2) and environments (Emacs,
   X-Windows, MS-Windows). See the list of freely available news reader
   software packages in Appendix A. Note that the number of software
   packages available to run news, especially on PCs, is increasing.

   In addition to the software packages specifically designed to be news
   readers, many other communications programs, particular mail
   interfaces, provide the possibility for Usenet access in addition to
   their main function.

   Most, if not all, of the news readers provide the same basic
   abilities:

      * Subscribing to newsgroups: This means that your news reading
        software will make these groups immediately accessible, so that
        you can choose to read the postings of groups that interest you
        quickly and easily.

      * Unsubscribing from newsgroups: Removing groups from your easy
        access list.






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      * Reading newsgroup postings: Your news reader presents postings
        to you and keeps track of which postings you have and have not
        read.

      * Threads of discussion: You can follow groups of postings that
        deal with the same subject easily.

      * Posting to news groups: You can participate in group
        discussions; your news reader knows where to send your posting.

      * Responding to a posting: You can send a response to the
        newsgroup (often called follow-up) or to the author of a posting
        (often called reply).






































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12.5. Examples

   When you enter the tin news reader, you get a listing of the
   newsgroups to which you are subscribed:

   -----------------------------------------------------------------

                            Group Selection (9)              h=help

      1 30637 bit.listserv.novell   local list
      2  1106 comp.mail.misc        General discussions about compu
      3  8031 comp.protocols.tcp-ip TCP and IP network protocols.
      4   840 comp.sys.mac
      5  8789 news.answers          Repository for periodic USENET
   -> 6    29 news.lists            News-related statistics and lis
      7 15056 rec.woodworking       Hobbyists interested in woodwor
      8  7094 sci.psychology        Topics related to psychology.
      9 13093 soc.culture.celtic    Celtic, Irish, & Welsh culture


                            *** End of Groups ***

   ----------------------------------------------------------------

   In tin, selecting a newsgroup is done with the arrow keys. When you
   select a group, you get a listing of the articles:

   ----------------------------------------------------------------

                       comp.mail.misc (41T 64A 0K 0H)         h=help

       1 +   RIPEM Frequently Noted Vulnerabilities  Marc VanHeyningen
       2 +   RIPEM Frequently Asked Questions        Marc VanHeyningen
       3 +   Mail Archive Server software list       Jonathan I. Kamen
       4 + 1 UNIX Email Software Survey FAQ          Chris Lewis
       5 + 2 PC Eudora and Trumpet Winsock problem   Jim Graham
       6 +   X11 mail reader                         Dominique Marant
       7 +   MIME supporting e-mail                  Tim Goodwin
       8 + 1 IBM User name and Address Server        Wes Spears
       9 + 5 Newbie needs MHS/SMTP question answered Chris Pearce
      10 +   FAQ - pine                              Bruce Lilly
      11 +   FAQ: International E-mail accessibility Olivier M.J. Crep
   -> 12 +   PC E-Mail and Dial-in                   Edward Vielmetti
      13 +   Prodigy Mail Manager "01/07"            an33127@anon.pene
      14 +   Prodigy Mail Manager "02/07"            an33127@anon.pene
      15 +   Prodigy Mail Manager "03/07"            an33127@anon.pene

   ----------------------------------------------------------------



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   tins is a threaded news reader: replies to a posting are grouped
   together with the original posting, so that the reader can follow a
   thread of discussion. Above, you see the threads, the number of
   replies in each thread, the subject and the author. The plus sign (+)
   indicates that not all postings in the thread have been read. Other
   news readers show other details. When you select an item, it appears
   on your screen:

   ----------------------------------------------------------------

   Wed, 01 Sep 1993 07:05:49     comp.mail.misc     Thread  13 of 41
   Lines 27          Re: PC E-Mail and Dial-in          No responses
   emv@garnet.msen.com  Edward Vielmetti at Msen, Inc. --  Ann Arbor

   Sherry H. Lake (slake@mason1.gmu.edu) wrote:

   :    I am looking for an email package that will allow a user to
   : dial-in to his mail machine download any messages to his local
   : PC, delete the messages from the server and then automatically
   : sign him off. The user can then use his client software (local)
   : to read, compose and reply. He then would have to dial-in again
   : to so his outgoing mail will be uploaded to the server.
   Various POP clients for PCs or Windows Sockets will do roughly
   this. You should look at:

   -  NUPOP (MS-DOS)
   -  Eudora for Windows (Windows)
   -  WinQVT/Net (Windows)
   -  various commercial POP clients listed in the 'alt.winsock'
      directory of commercial Windows systems

   You'll want to look particularly for dial up IP software (SLIP or
   PPP) that makes the process of connecting minimally onerous, e.g.
   by scripting the session so that the users don't have to type
   anything, perhaps by automatically dialing for you when you go to
   read or otherwise open a network connection, and offering a
   reasonable way to disconnect.

   Edward Vielmetti, vice president for research, Msen Inc.
   emv@Msen.com Msen Inc., 628 Brooks, Ann Arbor MI 48103
   +1 313 998 4562 (fax: 998 4563)

   ----------------------------------------------------------------








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12.6. Learning more about NETNEWS

   News programs communicate with each other according to standard
   protocols, some of which are described by Internet Request For
   Comments (RFC). Copies of RFCs are often posted to the network and
   obtainable from archive sites. Current news-related RFCs include the
   following:

        RFC 977   specifies NNTP, the Network News Transfer Protocol,

        RFC 1036  specifies the format of Usenet articles.

   Some newsgroups carry articles and discussions on the use of Usenet,
   notably: news.announce.newusers, news.answers and
   news.newusers.questions.

   Many of the articles which appear periodically in these newsgroups or
   in others are also available from rtfm.mit.edu by anonymous FTP or by
   mail to: mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu

13. OTHER TOOLS OF INTEREST

13.1. ASTRA

13.1.1. What is ASTRA

   The ASTRA service allows users to retrieve documents from databases
   known by ASTRA throughout the network. Users can send their queries
   to the ASTRA server which in turn forwards the query to the related
   database servers. This provides an easy-to-use uniform access method
   to a large number of databases.

   ASTRA provides the same user interface for all databases it can
   access, even if the database servers have different access languages,
   such as STAIRS, ISIS or SQL.

   Each database defined in ASTRA has an abstract which holds
   information about the database: title, name of the maintainers, a
   brief description of the database, the main topics of the database
   and its language. Users are advised to look at the abstracts before
   sending requests, to avoid sending requests to the wrong databases.

   Some databases actually combine several different databases that deal
   with the same topics. When a user sends a request for such a
   database, the request is forwarded to all related databases.






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13.1.2. How to get to ASTRA

   Anyone who can send electronic mail to EARN/Bitnet can access ASTRA.
   Interactive user interfaces (clients) to ASTRA are available for VM
   and VMS systems on the EARN/Bitnet network. For all other users,
   there is a batch language that permits batch queries using e-mail.

   Currently there are five ASTRA servers installed at the following
   addresses:

   +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   |                                                               |
   |  ASTRADB@ICNUCEVM.BITNET   or   ASTRADB@VM.CNUCE.CNR.IT       |
   |  ASTRASQL@ICNUCEVM.BITNET  or   ASTRASQL@VM.CNUCE.CNR.IT      |
   |  ASTRADB@IFIBDP.BITNET                                        |
   |  ASTRADB@IFIIDG.BITNET     or   ASTRADB@IDG.FI.CNR.IT         |
   |  ASTRADB@IRMKANT.BITNET    or   ASTRADB@IRMKANT.RM.CNR.IT     |
   |                                                               |
   +---------------------------------------------------------------+

13.1.3. Learning more about ASTRA

   An extensive help file is available by sending the command HELP to
   ASTRADB@VM.CNUCE.CNR.IT (or ASTRADB@ICNUCEVM.BITNET).

   The LISTSERV list ASTRA-UG is used for the distribution of a
   newsletter about new databases or new versions of the current
   databases. To subscribe, send the command:

        SUB ASTRA-UG Your Name

   to LISTSERV@VM.CNUCE.CNR.IT (or LISTSERV@ICNUCEVM.BITNET).

   An ASTRA newsletter is also available by sending the command NEWS to
   ASTRADB@VM.CNUCE.CNR.IT (or ASTRADB@ICNUCEVM.BITNET).

   The developers of the ASTRA service may be contacted at:
   ASTRA@ICNUCEVM.CNUCE.CNR.IT (or ASTRA@ICNUCEVM.BITNET).

13.2. NETSERV

13.2.1 What is NETSERV

   NETSERV is a server, which allows fast access to data files and
   programs of interest to the EARN/Bitnet community. NETSERV provides a
   file repository consisting of information files and programs. It
   allows users to retrieve files, to store files and to subscribe to
   the files of their choice. The latter two functions however, require



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   that the user have a password for NETSERV (this is called a
   privileged user).

   In order to achieve a balanced load on the network and a faster
   response time to users, NETSERV uses a distributed server concept:
   this is achieved by the installation of a large number of servers on
   the network to ensure that the user can locate a nearby server. All
   servers communicate with each other to distribute updated information
   and make it available from each copy of the server.

   NETSERV's file server functions include retrieving any file present
   in its filelists, storing new versions of a file, and subscribing to
   files stored on the server. Its file directories are arranged in an
   hierarchical method, with NETSERV FILELIST being on top or at the
   root of the filelists. This filelist can be obtained by sending a GET
   NETSERV FILELIST command to any NETSERV. Filelists contain short
   descriptions of the files, and two access codes for each file. These
   codes represent the get and put privileges required for that file.
   These codes are explained at the beginning of the NETSERV FILELIST
   file.

13.2.2 How to get to NETSERV

   The server is available in almost every country. To find the closest
   server for your area send a QUERY SERVICE command to a server. The
   following are examples of NETSERV server addresses:

   +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   |                                                               |
   |   NETSERV@FRMOP11.BITNET   or   NETSERV@FRMOP11.CNUSC.FR      |
   |   NETSERV@HEARN.BITNET     or   NETSERV@HEARN.NIC.SURFNET.NL  |
   |   NETSERV@BITNIC.BITNET    or   NETSERV@BITNIC.CREN.NET       |
   |                                                               |
   +---------------------------------------------------------------+

   In EARN, there is only one NETSERV permitted for one country.
   However, in some limited cases, such as when the country has a large
   number of nodes, additional servers may be installed. In any case,
   the user is not required to run NETSERV to be able to access and use
   the server.

   NETSERV accepts e-mail access from users on any network. Commands to
   NETSERV should be placed in the body of the mail file, and not in the
   Subject: line.

   For users in the EARN/Bitnet network, NETSERV is accessible via
   interactive message. Commands from privileged users requiring a
   password must be sent this way.



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   NETSERV does not have delivery limitations, except that a file
   ordered from NETSERV cannot be ordered again on the same day.

13.2.3. Learning more about NETSERV

   The server provides a large helpfile  which can be obtained by
   sending a GET NETSERV HELPFILE command to any NETSERV.

   A list for NETSERV maintainers is available as
   NETSRV-M@HEARN.NIC.SURFNET.NL (or NETSRV-M@HEARN.BITNET).

   Additional information can be obtained from the NETSERV maintainer,
   Ulrich Giese at U001212@HEARN.NIC.SURFNET.NL (or
   U001212@HEARN.BITNET).

13.3. MAILBASE

13.3.1. What is MAILBASE

   MAILBASE is an electronic information service with much of the same
   functionality as LISTSERV. It allows United Kingdom groups to manage
   their own discussion topics (Mailbase lists) and associated files.
   The Mailbase service is run as part of the JANET Networked
   Information Services Project (NISP) based at Newcastle University.

13.3.2. How to get to MAILBASE

   Commands should be sent in an electronic mail message to
   mailbase@mailbase.ac.uk. More than one command may appear in a
   message to Mailbase. Commands may be in any order, in UPPER, lower,
   or MiXeD case.

13.3.3 Learning more about MAILBASE

   For a summary of Mailbase commands, send the command help in an
   e-mail message to mailbase@mailbase.ac.uk. For a list of on-line
   documentation about Mailbase, send the command: index mailbase.

   You can then use the send command to retrieve those documents that
   interest you. E.g., to retrieve a file of frequently asked questions,
   send the following command: send mailbase user-faq.

   User support is also available by sending queries in an e-mail
   message to: mailbase-helpline@mailbase.ac.uk

   Public files on Mailbase are also available by anonymous FTP to
   mailbase.ac.uk




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13.4. PROSPERO

13.4.1. What is PROSPERO

   PROSPERO is a distributed file system. It differs from traditional
   distributed file systems in several ways. In traditional file
   systems, the mapping of names to files is the same for all users.
   Prospero supports user centered naming: users construct customized
   views of the files that are accessible. A virtual system defines this
   view and controls the mapping from names to files. Objects may be
   organized in multiple ways and the same object may appear in
   different virtual systems, or even with multiple names in the same
   virtual system.

   In Prospero, the global file system consists of a collection of
   virtual file systems. Virtual file systems usually start as a copy of
   a prototype. The root contains links to files or directories selected
   by the user.

   The Prospero file system provides tools that make it easier to keep
   track of and organize information in large systems. When first
   created, your virtual file system is likely to contain links to
   directories that organize information in different ways. As the
   master copy of each of these directories is updated, you will see the
   changes. You may customize these directories. The changes you make to
   a customized directory are only seen from within your own virtual
   system, but changes made to the master copy will also be visible to
   you.

   Users are encouraged to organize their own projects and papers in a
   manner that will allow them to be easily added to the master
   directory.  For example, users should consider creating a virtual
   directory that contains pointers to copies of each of the papers that
   they want made available to the outside world. This virtual directory
   may appear anywhere in the user's virtual system. Once set up, a link
   may be added to the master author directory. In this manner, others
   will be able to find this directory. Once added to the master
   directory, any future changes will be immediately available to other
   users.

13.4.2. How to get to PROSPERO

   In order to use Prospero, you must be on the international TCP/IP
   network (the Internet) and you must have Prospero running on your
   computer.

   Before you can begin using the Prospero file system a virtual system
   must be created for you. However, Prospero, as shipped, is configured



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   so that once you compile the clients you can type: vfsetup guest and
   start working right out of the box using a guest virtual system at
   the USC Information Sciences Institute.

   The latest version of PROSPERO is available as file prospero.tar.Z
   for anonymous FTP from prospero.isi.edu in the directory
   /pub/prospero.

13.4.3. Learning more about PROSPERO

   Prospero is being developed by Clifford Newman. Several documents and
   articles describing Prospero by Newman and others are available.

   The following files are available via anonymous FTP from
   prospero.isi.edu. They are also available through Prospero.

        * Anonymous FTP: /pub/papers/prospero/prospero-oir.ps.Z,

        * Prospero:
        /papers/subjects/operating-systems/prospero/prospero-oir.ps.Z.

   This is a useful first paper to read. It gives a good overview of
   Prospero and what it does. It also describes a bit about the Virtual
   System model, of which Prospero is a prototype implementation. It
   describes what Prospero does, not how it does it.

        * Anonymous FTP: /pub/papers/prospero/prospero-bii.ps.Z,

        * Prospero:
        /papers/subjects/operating-systems/prospero/prospero-bii.ps.Z.

   This paper describes how Prospero can be used to integrate Internet
   information services, including Gopher, WAIS, archie, and World-Wide
   Web.

13.5. IRC

13.5.1. What is IRC

   IRC, Internet Relay Chat, is a real-time conversational system. It is
   similar to the talk command which is available on many machines in
   the Internet. IRC does everything talk does, but it allows more than
   2 users to talk at once, with access throughout the global Internet.
   It also provides many other useful features.

   IRC is networked over much of North America, Europe, and Asia. When
   you are talking in IRC, everything you type will instantly be
   transmitted around the world to other users who are connected at the



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   time. They can then type something and respond to your messages.

   Topics of discussion on IRC are varied. Technical and political
   discussions are popular, especially when world events are in
   progress.  IRC is also a way to expand your horizons, as people from
   many countries and cultures are on, 24 hours a day. Most
   conversations are in English, but there are always channels in
   German, Japanese, and Finnish, and occasionally other languages.

13.5.2. How to get to IRC

   Clients and servers for IRC are available via anonymous FTP from
   cs.bu.edu. A few sites offer public access to IRC via Telnet. Two
   such sites are wbrt.wb.psu.edu and irc.demon.co.uk. At both sites,
   you should log in as irc.

   The many server hosts of Internet Relay Chat throughout the network
   are connected via a tree structure. The various servers relay control
   and message data among themselves to advertise the existence of other
   servers, users, and the channels and other resources being occupied
   by those users.

   Fundamental to the operation of IRC is the concept of a channel. All
   users are on a channel while inside IRC. You enter the null channel
   first. You cannot send any messages until you enter a chatting
   channel, unless you have set up a private conversation in some way.
   The number of channels is essentially unlimited.

13.5.3. Learning more about IRC

   To get help while in IRC, type /help and follow the instructions.

   If you have problems, you can contact Christopher Davis (ckd@eff.org)
   or Helen Rose (hrose@eff.org) - known on IRC as ckd and Trillian,
   respectively. You can also ask for help on some of the operator
   channels on IRC, for example #twilight_zone and #eu-opers.

   Various documents on IRC, and the archives of IRC-related mailing
   lists, are available via anonymous FTP from ftp.kei.com.

13.6. RELAY

13.6.1. What is RELAY

   The RELAY server system is a set of servers in the global EARN/Bitnet
   network which broadcast interactive messages from one user to other
   users signed on to the same channel of the RELAY system. A user
   signed on to the closest available RELAY is also virtually signed on



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   to all RELAYs which are linked to it. Most RELAYs are closed during
   peak hours.  Only some RELAYs are up 24 hours a day.

   Each RELAY server provides service to a specific collection of one or
   more nodes designated as a service area. The functions of RELAY are
   available to EARN/Bitnet users with access to interactive messages
   who have not been expressly excluded from the system by RELAY
   management.

   RELAY is a program which allows several people to talk at the same
   time.  In order to start, you must sign on to a RELAY to place your
   ID in the current user list. You communicate with RELAY through
   messages just as you would send messages to a user. RELAY commands
   start with a slash (/) character; anything not beginning with a slash
   is considered a message and is sent back out to all other current
   users.

13.6.2. How to get to RELAY

   RELAY is available at the following EARN/Bitnet addresses, and
   others.  The nickname of the RELAY machine is in parentheses.

   +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   |                                                               |
   |  RELAY@ASUACAD    (Sun_Devils)   RELAY@PURCCVM  (Purdue)      |
   |  RELAY@AUVM       (Wash_DC)      RELAY@SEARN    (Stockholm)   |
   |  RELAY@BEARN      (Belgium)      RELAY@TAMVM1   (Aggieland)   |
   |  RELAY@BNANDP11   (Namur)        RELAY@TAUNIVM  (Israel)      |
   |  RELAY@CEARN      (Geneva)       RELAY@TECMTYVM (Monterrey)   |
   |  RLY@CORNELLC     (Ithaca_NY)    RELAY@TREARN   (EgeRelay     |
   |  RELAY@CZHRZU1A   (Zurich)       MASRELAY@UBVM  (Buffalo)     |
   |  RELAY@DEARN      (Germany)      RELAY@UFRJ     (RioJaneiro)  |
   |  RELAY@DKTC11     (Copenhagen)   RELAY@UIUCVMD  (Urbana_IL)   |
   |  RELAY@FINHUTC    (Finland)      RELAY@USCVM    (LosAngeles)  |
   |  RELAY@GITVM1     (Atlanta)      RELAY@UTCVM    (Tennessee)   |
   |  RELAY@GREARN     (Hellas)       RELAY@UWAVM    (Seattle)     |
   |  RELAY@HEARN      (Holland)      RELAY@VILLVM   (Philadelph)  |
   |  RELAY@ITESMVF1   (Mexico)       RELAY@VMTECQRO (Queretaro)   |
   |  RELAY@JPNSUT00   (Tokyo)        RELAY@VTBIT    (Va_Tech)     |
   |  RELAY@NDSUVM1    (No_Dakota)    RELAY@WATDCS   (Waterloo)    |
   |  RELAY@NYUCCVM    (NYU)          RELAY@YALEVM   (Yale)        |
   |                                                               |
   +---------------------------------------------------------------+

   RELAY is available to users on the EARN/Bitnet network via
   interactive message (e.g., the TELL command of VM or the SEND command
   of VMS/JNET).  All RELAY server machines are on IBM VM/CMS systems,
   but you do not have to be a VM user in order to use RELAY. If you are



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   not in the EARN/Bitnet network, you can not use RELAY.

   CHAT, a full-screen interface to send and receive TELL messages for
   VM systems, is particularly useful for users of RELAY. CHAT is
   available from any NETSERV.

13.6.3. Learning more about RELAY

   Upon registration, the files RELAY INFO and RELAY USERGUIDE are sent
   to the user. These two files give a comprehensive description of
   RELAY.

   A  brief  guide  to  RELAY  is available  from  the  EARN
   documentation filelist. Send mail to LISTSERV@EARNCC.EARN.NET (or
   LISTSERV@EARNCC.BITNET). In the body of the message, write: GET RELAY
   MEMO.

14. Security Considerations

   Security issues are not discussed in this memo.

15. References

   Blue Book, Volume VIII - Fascicle VIII.8, Data Communication Networks
   Directory, Recommendations X.500-X.521, CCITT, 1988, ISBN 92-61-
   03731-3

   Schwartz, M., and P. Tsirigotis, "Experience with a Semantically
   Cognizant Internet White Pages Directory Tool", Journal of
   Internetworking Research and Experience, March 1991, pp. 23-50.

   Kantor, B., and P. Lapsley, "Network News Transfer Protocol: A
   Proposed Standard for the Stream-Based Transmission of News", RFC
   977, UC San Diego & UC Berkeley, February 1986.

   Horton, M., and R. Adams, "Standard for interchange of USENET
   messages", RFC 1036, AT&T Bell Laboratories, Center for Seismic
   Studies, December 1987.

   Lang, R., and R. Wright, "A Catalog of Available X.500
   Implementations", FYI 11, RFC 1292, SRI International, Lawrence
   Berkeley Laboratory, January 1992.

   Weider, C., and J. Reynolds, "Executive Introduction to Directory
   Services Using the X.500 Protocol", FYI 13, RFC 1308, ANS, ISI, March
   1992.





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   Weider, C., Reynolds, J., and S. Heker, "Technical Overview of
   Directory Services Using the X.500 Protocol", FYI 14, RFC 1309, ANS,
   ISI, JvNC, March 1992.

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

16. Acknowledgements

   The work of many people is reflected here, but we owe our greatest
   debt of thanks to the developers and authors of the network tools and
   documentation. Their work serves as the basis for this guide.

17. Author's Address

   EARN Staff
   Daniele Bovio
   Ulrich Giese
   Nadine Grange
   Turgut Kalfaoglu
   Greg Lloyd
   David Sitman
   EARN Office
   PSI - Batiment 211
   91405 Orsay CEDEX
   France

   Phone: +33 1 6941 2426
   Fax: +33 1 6941 6683
   EMail: earndoc@earncc.earn.net





















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18. Appendix A - Freely available networking software

   Below you will find the location of client software for several of
   the tools described in this guide (Gopher, WWW, WAIS and Netnews).
   This is not a complete listing of available software for any of these
   tools.

18.1 Gopher clients

Environment   FTP site & directory     Comments

Unix          boombox.micro.umn.edu
               /pub/gopher/Unix

VMS           boombox.micro.umn.edu
               /pub/gopher/VMS

              job.acs.ohio-state.edu
               XGOPHER_CLIENT.SHARE    for Wollongong or UCX

VM/CMS        boombox.micro.umn.edu
               /pub/gopher/Rice_CMS

              boombox.micro.umn.edu
               /pub/gopher/VieGOPHER

MVS           boombox.micro.umn.edu
               /pub/gopher/mvs

Macintosh     boombox.micro.umn.edu
               /pub/gopher/Macintosh-TurboGopher

              ftp.cc.utah.edu
               /pub/gopher/Macintosh    requires MacTCP

              ftp.bio.indiana.edu
               /util/gopher/gopherapp   requires MacTCP

OS/2          boombox.micro.umn.edu
               /pub/gopher/os2

MS-DOS        boombox.micro.umn.edu
               /pub/gopher/PC_client    requires packet driver

              oac.hsc.uth.tmc.edu
               /public/dos/misc         dosgopher, for PC/TCP





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              bcm.tmc.edu
               /nfs/gopher.exe          for PC-NFS

              lennon.itn.med.umich.edu
               /dos/gopher              for LAN Workplace for DOS

MS-Windows    sunsite.unc.edu
               /pub/micro/pc-stuff/ms-windows/winsock/apps  Gopherbook

X-Windows     boombox.micro.umn.edu
               /pub/gopher/Unix         xgopher (Athena widgets)

              boombox.micro.umn.edu
               /pub/gopher/Unix         moog (Motif)

              boombox.micro.umn.edu
               /pub/gopher/Unix/xvgopher     or Xview

NeXT          boombox.micro.umn.edu
               /pub/gopher/NeXT

18.2. World-Wide Web clients

Environment   FTP site & directory     Comments

Unix          info.cern.ch
               /pub/www/src            WWW line-mode browser

              ftp2.cc.ukans.edu
               /pub/WWW/lynx           Lynx browser for vt100 terminals

              archive.cis.ohio-state.edu
               /pub/w3browser          tty-based browser written in perl

VMS           info.cern.ch
               /pub/www/bin/vms        port of NCSA Mosaic for X

Macintosh     info.cern.src
               /pub/www/bin/mac        requires MacTCP












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MS-Windows    fatty.law.cornell.edu    Cello
               /pub/LII/Cello

Emacs         moose.cs.indiana.edu
               /pub/elisp/w3

X-Windows     info.cern.ch
               /pub/www/src            tkWWW Browser/Editor

              info.cern.ch
               /pub/www/src            MidasWWW Browser for X/Motif

              info.cern.ch
               /pub/www/src            ViolaWWW Browser for X11

              ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu
               /Web                    NCSA Mosaic Browser for X11/Motif

NeXT          info.cern.ch
               /pub/www/bin/next       Browser and Editor

18.3. WAIS clients

Environment   FTP site & directory     Comments

Unix          ftp.wais.com
               /pub/freeware/unix-src  swais

VMS           ftp.wais.com
               /pub/freeware/vms

MVS           ftp.wais.com
               /pub/freeware/ibm-mvs

Macintosh     ftp.wais.com
               /pub/freeware/mac

OS/2          ftp.wais.com
               /pub/freeware/os2

MS-DOS        sunsite.unc.edu
               /pub/wais/DOS

              hilbert.wharton.upenn.edu
               /pub/tcpip              PCWAIS

MS-Windows    ftp.wais.com
               /pub/freeware/windows   WNWAIS



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              ftp.cnidr.org
               /pub/NIDR.tools/wais/pc/windows

Emacs         ftp.wais.com
               /pub/freeware/unix-src  gwais

X-Windows     ftp.wais.com
               /pub/freeware/unix-src  xwais

NeXT          ftp.wais.com
               /pub/freeware/next

18.4. Netnews - news reader software

Environment   FTP site                 Name & Comments

Unix          lib.tmc.edu              rn also available via e-mail to:
                                       archive-server@bcn.tmc.edu

              ftp.coe.montana.edu      trn

              dkuug.dk                 nn

              ftp.germany.eu.net       tin

VMS           kuhub.cc.ukans.edu       ANU-NEWS

              arizona.edu              VMS/VNEWS

VM/CMS        psuvm.psu.edu            NetNews
                                       also available from LISTSERV@PSUVM

              ftp.uni-stuttgart.de     NNR

              cc1.kuleuven.ac.be       VMNNTP

MVS           ftp.uni-stuttgart.de     NNMVS

Macintosh     ftp.apple.com            News

MS-DOS        ftp.utas.edu.au          Trumpet

MS-Windows    ftp.utas.edu.au          WTrumpet

X-Windows     many FTP sites           xrn

              export.lcs.mit.edu       xvnews




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Emacs         most GNU sites           GNUS
                                       for use with GNU Emacs editor

              most GNU sites           Gnews
                                       for use with GNU Emacs editor














































EARN Staff                                                    [Page 107]