Internet Starter Kit for Macintosh

1003 Pages·1994·187.943 MB·English

by  Adam C. Engst

•
1
for Macintosh
2nd Edition
I n t e r n e t
S t a r t e r
. Kit for
M a c i n t o s h
2nd Edition
Adam C. Engst
~
Hayden
Books
Internet Starter Kit for Macintosh, 2nd Edition
©1994 Hayden Books, a division of Macmillan Computer Publishing
AU rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be
used or reproduced in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval
system, without prior written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Making copies of any part of this
book for any purpose other than your own personal use is a violation of United States
copyright laws. For information, address Hayden Books, 201 W. 103rd Street,
Indianapolis, IN, 46290.
Library of Congress Catalog No.: 94-75944
ISBN: 1-56830-111-1
This book is sold as is, without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied. While
every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and
authors assume no responsibi.lity for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed
for damages resulting from the use of the information or instructions contained herein. It
is further stated that the publisher and authors are not responsible for any damage or loss
to your data or your equipment that results directly or indirectly from you.r use of this
book.
96 95 94 4 3 2
Interpretation of the printing code: the rightmost double-digit number is the year of the
book's printing; the rightmost single-digit number the number of the book's printing. For
example, a printing code of 94-1 shows that the first printing of the book occu.rred in
1994.
Trttdemark Acknowledgments: All products mentioned in this book are either trademarks
of the companies referenced in this book, registered trademarks of the companies
referenced in this book, or neither. We strongly advise that you investigate a particular
product's name thoroughly before you use the name as your own.
Apple, Mac, Macintosh, PowerBook, and Duo are registered trademarks of Apple
Computer, Inc.
The Hayden Books Team
Publisher Illustrators
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Managing Editor Cover Designer
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Indexers
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Composed in Pnlatino nnd Futurn
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To Our Readers
Dear Friend,
Thank you on behalf of everyone at Hayden Books for choosing Internet Starter
Kit for Macintosh to enable you to explore the Internet. The Internet is the fastest
growing, and most exciting, aspect of our modern society. Without the right
guide, participating on the Internet can be difficult. We have carefully crafted
this book and disk to enable you to both learn about the Internet and actually
get on it. We wish you the best in your explorations and hopefully, we'll meet
you there soon!
What you think of this book is important to our ability to better serve you in the
future. If you have any comments, no matter how great or small, we'd appreci
ate you taking the time to send us email or a note by snail mail. Of course, we'd
love to hear your book ideas.
Sincerely yours,
-v~~
David Rogelberg
Publisher, Hayden Books and Adobe Press
You can reach Hayden Books at the following:
Hayden Books
201 West 103rd Street
Indianapolis, IN 46290
[phone] voice
[phone] fax
Email addresses:
America Online: Hayden Bks
AppleL ink: hayden.books
CompuServe: 76350,3014
Internet: [email protected]
Dedication
To my lovely and talented wife, Tanya, without whose patience and editing
skills I would certainly have gone stark raving mad.
About the Author
Adam C. Engst
Adam C. Engst is the editor and publisher of TidBITS, a free electronic newslet
ter distributed weekly on the world-wide computer networks. After graduating
from Cornell University with a double-major in Hypertextual Fiction and
Classics, he worked as an independent consultant in Tthaca, New York, where he
started TidBITS in April of 1990. He now lives in Renton, Washington, with his
wife, Tanya, and cats, Tasha and Cubbins, but seems to spend most of his time
corresponding via electronic mail with friends and associates around the globe.
After writing the first edition of l11temet Starter Kit for Macintosh (released in
September of 1993), he was somehow rooked into co-authoring Intemet Explorer
Kit for Macintosh with Bill Dickson, and l11temet Starter Kit for Windows with Cory
Low and Mike Simon. These titles were published in April of 1994.
Like anyone who attempts to condense the immensity of the Internet into a
single book, he is certifiably crazy. His favorite quote (which reportedly comes
from Alan Kay, an Apple Fellow and Xerox PARC alumnus) is: "The best way to
predict the future is to invent it."
Contents at a Glance
Part I: Introduction and History 1
1 Welcome ........................................................................................... 3
2 Why Is the Internet Neat? ............................................................ 11
3 What Is the Internet? ..................................................................... 17
4 The Internet Beanstalk ................................................................. .41
5 Exploring the Internet ................................................................... 57
Part II: Internet Foundations 119
6 Addressing and Email ................................................................ 121
7 Usenet Ne\.YS ................................................................................ 159
8 Internet Services .......................................................................... 177
Part III: Connecting to the Internet 225
9 Commercial Services ................................................................... 231
10 Shell Access .................................................................................. 279
11 UUCP Access ............................................................................... 385
12 MacTCP, PPP, and SLIP ............................................................. 453
13 MacTCP-based Software ............................................................ 513
14 Step-by-Step Internet .................................................................. 689
Part IV: Appendixes 751
A £nternet Resources ....................................................................... 755
B Ne\-vsgroup List ........................................................................... 821
C PDIAL List .................................................................................... 859
D Supplementary PDIAL List ........................................................ 901
E Glossary ........................................................................................ 905
F Special Internet Access Offer ..................................................... 929
G Disk Contents ............................................................................... 961
Index ........................................................................................................ 971
Xll Internet Starter Kit for Macintosh
Table of Contents
Introduction .............................................................................. XXVI
Part 1: Introduction and History 1
1 Welcome ............................................................................................ 3
Who Al'e You? ........................................................................... 3
What Do You Need? ................................................................. 4
Who Am I? ................................................................................. 5
Changes ...................................................................................... 6
Thanks ........................................................................................ 7
2 Why Is the Internet Neat? ............................................................ 11
Electronic Mail ........................................................................ 12
Discussion Groups .................................................................. 12
Softwrue ................................................................................... 13
lniormation at Your Electronic Fingertips .......................... 13
The Lemming Factor .............................................................. 14
The Internet is What You Make of It .................................... 15
Champing at the Bit ............................................................... 16
3 What Is the Internet? ..................................................................... 17
Size ............................................................................................ 17
People ................................................................................ 17
Machines ........................................................................... 18
lniormation ....................................................................... 18
Geographic Size ............................................................... 19
People-Doing What They Do Best ..................................... 20
Hardware ................................................................................. 22
Computers ........................................................................ 22
Networks .......................................................................... 23
Modems and Phone Lines .............................................. 24
Software ................................................................................... 27
Information .............................................................................. 29
The Internet Post Office .................................................. 30
Electronic Mail ................................................................. 32
Usenet News .................................................................... 33
Telnet ................................................................................. 34
File Transfer Protocol (FTP) ........................................... 35
WAIS ................................................................................. 37
Gopher .............................................................................. 37
World-Wide Web ............................................................. 38
Summing Up ........................................................................... 39