Connecting a bunch of computers together to form a network, even a world wide network, doesn't make a lot sense unless you can actually do something useful with them. Here is a list of basic tools that let you connect to other computers and do useful things like search, browse, and retreive files.
Telnet is a program that allows you to log into other Internet computers and use online databases, library catalogs, various Internet information servers, chat with users, read electronic journals, and use hundreds of valuable resources throughout the world. In practice, there are two kinds of TELNET. Guest TELNET allows you to login to a computer through a special guest account from which you can perform a restricted but useful set of tasks. This is how many Internet databases are accessed. "Full privilege TELNET" allows you to login to a computer on which you have a regular account and do your normal work on this computer, from any other computer connected to the Internet. Most RGFN users use a Guest TELNET session to connect to other computers around the world.
The General Libraries Macintosh Information Stations use telnet to provide menu driven access to thousands of different databases on the Internet and do not require the user to have a password or make an appointment. Information Stations are located in most General Libraries locations.
Select telnet gateway from the menu in RGFN's Teleport area. You will be asked to provide the Host's address. This can be entered in two ways: by name or by numeric address. An example of a name of the Host, is rgfn.epcc.edu.
Some Hosts do not recognize these names and require their numeric address, which is in the form of four groups of digits. An example is the 198.213.188.2 which is the address of the Rio Grande Free-Net.
WAIS stands for Wide Area Information Server. It is a program that uses client/server architecture to search for keywords in specific databases that you select. It then retrieves full text information from the one or more databases that you chose. These databases are located on a variety of different remote computers. Many WAIS databases can also be accessed via gopher or World Wide Web, both are described below.
Gopher is a menu driven way to access a wealth of information. Gopherspace is a word used to described all the Gopher servers on the Internet. Gopher is a powerful tool and gopherspace has a wealth of information. See Gopher section in this guide.
File transfer protocol (FTP) allows you to transfer computer files back and forth between any of the computer sites on the Internet. With more than 2000 FTP sites around the world and several million megabytes of information and goodies, you'll want to visit some of these free-for-taking areas. You don't need an account at the site and you don't need a secret password---, it's all done anonymously. You may need to remember how to spell anonymous. See the FTP section in this guide.
WWW is a Hypertext method used to link information together thorugh text and pages. It provides a convenient means to access the Internet. Fun, easy, and a potent tool, World Wide Web is changing the face of the Internet and how we use it. See World Wide Web section in this guide.
RGFN User's Guide Copyright 1995: You may copy this guide and distribute it for educational purposes only and not for any other purpose.
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