#! rnews 32097 Path: pravda.aa.msen.com!news1.best.com!news.texas.net!newshost.comco.com= !newsfeed.concentric.net!news-master!mariner.cris.com!Gaelyne From: Gaelyne@cris.com (Gaelyne Moranec) Newsgroups: comp.sys.cbm Subject: COMP.SYS.CBM: General FAQ, v3.1 Part 5/9 Supersedes: Followup-To: comp.sys.cbm Date: 5 Jul 1996 06:22:28 GMT Organization: Brain Innovations, Inc. Lines: 708 Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.EDU Message-ID: Reply-To: brain@mail.msen.com NNTP-Posting-Host: mariner.cris.com Summary: This posting contains answers to questions that commonly surface= in comp.sys.cbm. This posting will tell you enough to get your computer connected to a network, fixed, and/or enhanced. This f= ile should be read by new users of comp.sys.cbm before posting to th= e group. It should also be proofread by users who are currently active in comp.sys.cbm. Keywords: CBM FAQ Help List C64 C128 VIC Modem X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2] Archive-name: cbm-main-faq.3.1.p5 Comp-answers-archive-name: commodore/main-faq/part5 News-answers-archive-name: commodore/main-faq/part5 Comp-sys-cbm-archive-name: main-faq/part5 Version: 3.1 Last-modified: 1996/06/05 -----------------------------------------------------------------------= ---- Table of Contents (for this file) --------------------------------- 6.5. What is electronic mail? 6.5.1. What are mailing lists and how do I join one? 6.5.2. What is a Mail Server? How do I use one? 6.5.3. How do I contact people on Compuserve, Genie, etc.? 6.6. What is USENET or NetNews? What is a USENET newsgroup? 6.6.1. What news groups cater to Commodore 8-bit machines? 6.6.2. What types of discussions belong in comp.sys.cbm? 6.6.3. Which issues does comp.sys.cbm discuss regularly? 6.6.4. How do I post in comp.sys.cbm? | 6.6.5. How can I read comp.sys.cbm through email? + 6.6.6. How can I read comp.sys.cbm through WWW? 6.7. What is a FidoNET echo? 6.7.1. What echoes cater to Commodore 8-bit machines? 6.7.2. How do I post in an echo? 6.8. What is the World Wide Web? 6.8.1. What WWW sites have Commodore information? 6.8.2. What Sites have Telnet WWW Browsers? 6.9. What is File Transfer Protocol (FTP)? 6.9.1. What FTP sites have Commodore Information? 6.9.2. What is an FTP Mail Server? How do I use one? 6.9.3. How do I send files to an FTP site? 6.10. What is Internet Relay Chat (IRC)? 6.11. What else is available online? -----------------------------------------------------------------------= ---- 6.5. What is electronic mail? Electronic mail is the online equivalent of post office mail. Although email is a general term, its use is usually meant to mean "Internet ema= il". To use email, you must have access to an internet email program. On UN= IX, these programs are called mail, elm, or pine. BBS systems usually have= a special message area for Internet email. You address a message to a us= er by using his or her internet email address, which is usually of the for= m name@machine_name.doamin_name.type_of_institution_or_country. An examp= le would be brain@mail.msen.com, which would be user "brain" at machine "m= ail" in doamin "msen" and the type "com" which means company or commercial. After addressing the message and choosing a sutiable subject, the body = of the message is written with information meaningful to the addressee. Usually this information is textual in nature and reads much like a personal letter. It is possible to mail people binary files. To do this, you need acces= s to a program called uuencode. Most, if not all UNIX machines have this command available, and there are versions available for IBM, Amiga, and Macintosh. There is also a version of uuencode available for the Commodore 64 and 128 as part of the ACE 128/64 OS replacement. (See sec= tion 8.3) The uuencode program takes a binary file and expands it so that it only contains 7-bit ASCII characters. This resulting file can then = be mailed to a recipient, who then uses a similar program called uudecode that will transform the uuencoded file into the resulting binary file. This encoding technique is a standard one used across multiple platform= s. If you want to send a file to another Commodore owner, you can use bcod= e, which is a Commodore-specific encoding available in ACE 128/64. 6.5.1. What are mailing lists and how do I join one? A mailing list is similar to a USENET newsgroup like comp.sys.cbm, in t= hat it provides a place for people to talk among each other and ask questio= ns. The difference is that the mechanism used is mail. You mail a message = off to the list, the message then gets sent out to all members of that list= , they read and reply to the list, and the process repeats. It is used f= or topics that are considered temporary or topics that have a limited scop= e and may not sustain an entire newsgroup being devoted to them. It may also be used when people want to privately discuss some issue. There are a number of Commodore 8-bit mailing lists for you to join: cbm-unix - This is a list devoted to the discussion of alternate operat= ing systems for the Commodore line that have the familiar UNIX shell look-and-feel. You can join this one by sending mail t= o mailserv@lists.funet.fi with the message: subscribe cbm-unix Jim Brain review cbm-unix help you can then send mail to the list by addressing it to: cbm-unix@lists.funet.fi. old-cbm - This is a list devoted to discussions of older Commodore equipment. Typically, this list discusses issues concerning PETs, the VIC-20, Plus 4 and C16, and other lesser used machines. You can join this one by sending mail to mailserv@lists.funet.fi with the message: subscribe old-cbm Jim Brain review old-cbm help you can then send mail to the list by addressing it to: old-cbm-unix@lists.funet.fi. c64-hackers - I do not know much about this list other than it is used = to discuss issue realting to timing and special opcodes used in Commodore programs. You can join this list by sending mail t= o mailserv@lists.funet.fi with the message: subscribe c64-hackers Jim Brain review c64-hackers help you can then send mail to the list by addressing it to: c64-hackers@lists.funet.fi. commodor - This is a list that is for all Commodore 8-bit computer discussion. This list mirrors most of the discussion on comp.sys.cbm, so I would post to both places. You subscribe by sending a mail msg to: listserv@ubvm.cc.buffalo.edu with the message: subscribe commodor Jim Brain review commodor help you can then send mail to the list by addressing it to: commodor@ubvm.cc.buffalo.edu c65 - This is a list that discusses the various aspects of the Commodore C65 Prototype system. There are files and information available through this list to C65 owners. Note that this is NOT the list to ask where a C64 can be purchase= d from, since the C65 is not a product, per se, as all availab= le units were in-house prototypes liquidated at a warehouse. You can subscribe by sending a mail msg to: c65list-request@dce.vic.gov.au with the subject: subscribe You can then send mail to the list by address it to: c65@dce.vic.gov.au c=3Dhacking - This list is set up to automatically mail out the latest = copy of Commodore Hacking Online Magazine upon publication. It i= s run through Jim Brain's mailserver. You can subscribe by sendin= g a mail message to: brain@mail.msen.com with a subject line of: MAILSERV with a message of: subscribe c=3Dhacking Jim Brain help trivia - This list is set up to automatically mail out the latest cop= y of the Commodore Trivia as soon as it is published on USENET. through Jim Brain's mailserver. You can subscribe by sendin= g a mail message to: brain@mail.msen.com with a subject line of: MAILSERV with a message of: subscribe trivia Jim Brain help cbm-main-faq - This list is set up to automatically mail out any major updates to this Frequently Asked Questions List. It is run through Jim Brain's mailserver. You can subscribe by sendin= g a mail message to: brain@mail.msen.com with a subject line of: MAILSERV with a message of: subscribe cbm-main-faq Jim Brain help c64coders - This list is for Commodore 64 coders. Not much is known ab= out the list, but here is how to join. Send a mail message to: c64coders-request@uclink2.berkeley.edu with a subject line = of: subscribe. 6.5.2. What is a Mail Server? How do I use one? A couple of people are running servers that will respond to email reque= sts. Each have a limited amount of files available. To access them send the following email: To: brain@mail.msen.com Subject: MAILSERV Message Body: help quit That will return a list of commands. Currently the following commands are supported: help retrieves a list of available commands. catalog retrieves a list of files currently available. send retrieves the file subscribe list_name Firstname Lastname subscribes the user to a mailing list. 6.5.3. How do I contact people on Compuserve, Genie, etc.? These online services have gateways to the Internet. To send a message= to someone on the following services, make sure they can receive Internet = mail and address the message as follows: Service Username Internet Address Compuserve 12345,678 12345.678@compuserve.com GEnie j.smith2 j.smith2@genie.geis.com Delphi jsmith jsmith@delphi.com FidoNet is special, since there are many fidonet nodes, so you need the specific node information for the system that the recipient is on. Ass= ume that Jim Brain is on a fido BBS that is node 115 on network 233 in zone 1. (denoted in FIDO as 1:233/115) The address would be: FidoNet Jim Brain Jim.Brain@f115.n233.z1.fidonet.org If the fido address is a point on a FIDO network (denoted as 1:233/115.= 200), then the address would be: FidoNet Jim Brain Jim.Brain@p200.f115.n233.z1.fidonet.org 6.6. What is USENET or NetNews? What is a USENET newsgroup? USENET is a service on the Internet that presents the user with a vari= ety of forums in which to place messages. It can be viewed as the online equivalent of a set of bulleting "corkboards", like those in a hallway. Each corkboard or "newsgroup" caters to a different topic. Users can place or "post" messages to the newsgroup for others to read, or follo= wup to posts on the newsgroup. 6.6.1. What news groups cater to Commodore 8-bit machines? The first thing to discuss here is the dividing line between Commodore models. All Commodore computers up to, but not including, the Commodor= e Amiga or the Commodore line of IBM PC Compatible computers, are discussed in comp.sys.cbm, which is what this FAQ covers. The Amiga li= ne of computers is covered in the separate newsgroups comp.sys.amiga.*, where the '*' indicates that there are a number of groups that match th= at name. The IBM PC Compatible computers are discussed in comp.sys.ibm-pc.= *. comp.sys.cbm - This unmoderated newsgroup discusses all topics concerning Commodore 8-bit machines, including everything from the KIM-1 to the Commodore 65. This is the flagship USENET newsgroup. comp.binaries.cbm - This moderated groups permits the distribution of uuencoded binary file= s for the Commodore 8-bit computers. The moderator is Mike Miller (mmmiller3@gac.edu). If you have a favorite program you wish to put up= for distribution, please download and read the comp.binaries.cbm FAQ (poste= d in its respective group). comp.emulators.cbm - This unmoderated newsgroup was created in 1994 for those who wish to run one of the many emulation programs available on other machines that emulate the C64. This forum seems to be more appropriate for questions concerning operation on "foreign" hardware and file types. zer.z-netz.rechner.c64+c128.allgemein - This is a German newsgroup that discusses much of the same topics as comp.sys.cbm. "allgemein" =3D general. zer.z-netz.rechner.c64+c128.binaer - This German newsgroup parallels the function of comp.binaries.cbm. "binaer" =3D "binary". zer.t-netz.c64 - This is a general discussion group for the c64 computer. It has the description 'Der am weitesten verbreitete Rechner', which means "The mo= st widely used/most popular computer." zer.z-netz.rechner.c64+c128.hardware This German newsgroups discusses hardware topics relating to the C64 an= d C128. 6.6.2. What types of discussions belong in comp.sys.cbm? Any discussions about Commodore machines excluding the Commodore Amiga line, the Commodore IBM PC Clone line are encouraged in comp.sys.cbm These machines are commonly referred to as the Commodore 8-bit line, whereas the Amiga and PC line is not 8-bit. Please make sure any quest= ion you intend on posting is not already answered in this FAQ. Also, when posting a troubleshooting question about inoperative equipment, please = give as much detail as possible. Be considerate of others in the group and = keep questions not pertaining to some aspect of Commodore 8-bit machines and= peripherals out of comp.sys.cbm. The group does realize, however, that= a large percentage of Commodore 8-bit owners also own another computer sy= stem and might have questions about interfacing or emulations. Just use you= r own good judgement. 6.6.3. Which issues does comp.sys.cbm discuss regularly? Although comp.sys.cbm discusses all Commodore 8-bit machines at times, the C64 and C128 get most of the attention. An overview of the subjects discussed in comp.sys.cbm is available at http://qiclab.scn.rain.com/pub1/overview/comp/sys/cbm/.overview 6.6.4. How do I post in comp.sys.cbm? You first need to access the newsgroup comp.sys.cbm through the use of newsreader. There are many available in UNIX with names like rn, nn, t= in, and trn. I can't begin to tell you what command each uses to construct a posting, but your machine administrator should be able to tell you. All posts should contains relevant Summary and Keyword info, as well as a descriptive title. If you are posting a followup to an existing arti= cle, and are quoting the article, please only quote the relevant portions of= the existing article. If you find that you cannot post to a newsgroup via your newsreader, bu= t do have Internet electronic mail capabilities, you can post to the newsgro= ups via e-mail. For example, to posts a message to COMP.SYS.CBM, simply ma= il the message to either comp.sys.cbm@anon.penet.fi , comp.sys.cbm@news.demon.= co.uk, comp.sys.cbm-news@newsbase.cs.yale.edu. It is probably best to use the= latter two addresses, since the other is an anonymous posting service, = so people won't know who originated the post. Such disguises are unnecessary in the CBM newsgroups. | 6.6.5. How can I read comp.sys.cbm through email? If you do not have access to the USENET newsgroup comp.sys.cbm and do h= ave access to Internet email, Allen Smith has graciously set up a list serv= er that will mail each day's postings to you. To use this service, email listserv@compsmth.soonet.ca with NO subject and ONLY SUBSCRIBE comp-sys-cbm in the body (no leading spaces, no signature) to use this service. + Jim Brain has graciously set up a server for those without USENET acces= s + to read the three main CBM newsgroups: comp.sys.cbm, comp.emulators.cbm= , + and comp.binaries.cbm. Again, this service is ONLY for those without + other means to read USENET. To use this service, email brain@mail.msen= .com + with the subject of MAILSERV and the following in the message: + subscribe comp.sys.cbm Firstname Lastname msglen* + msglen is the maximum number of lines you can receive in an email messa= ge. + All fields MUST be filled in. + To subscribe to one of the other 2 CBM newsgroups, substitute the + newsgroup's name for comp.sys.cbm in the above line. | 6.6.6. How can I read comp.sys.cbm through WWW? + (See Section 6.8 for a definition of WWW) + You can view articles and articles titles through the DejaNews service: + http://dejanews.dejanews.com/ 6.7. What is a FidoNET echo? FidoNET is a "grass roots" network that originated to link bulletin boa= rd systems across the country together. Unlike the Internet, which uses dedicated phone lines at high speeds to implement its network, FidoNET = uses regular phone lines at normal modem speeds that are not dedicated to providing networking to link the machine on FidoNET together. FidoNET allows the exchange of messages in message bases called "echoes" among various boards. To use the FidoNET echoes, you must connect to a syste= m that has FidoNET access. It is not possible to describe all the featur= es of FidoNET in this FAQ, so you should consult your local User Group or = BBS sysop for more info. The FidoNET echoes are similar to USENET newsgroups, although the echoe= s have more strict rules about content and topics. 6.7.1. What echoes cater to Commodore 8-bit machines? The relevant echoes for Commodore users are: CBM Commodore 64 and 128 News and Discussions CBM128 Commodore 128 specific News and Discussions GEOS GEOS News and Discussions PCWRITE Cross Platform Computing, including C64 emulators CBM.GER German Fido area for CBM discussion. R20_8BITAR Sweden echo for all 8-bit CBMs. 6.7.2. How do I post in an echo? Echoes are usually posted in the same way that you would mail a BBS message in any other area, although the BBS may operate differently. It is best to follow any online directions or consult the local BBS sys= op for more details. 6.8. What is the World Wide Web? The World Wide Web (WWW or W3) is a Internet-wide Hypertext document retrieval and display system. To use WWW, you must have access to a WWW HyperText Markup Language (HTML) browser. Typical examples include= lynx, which is a ASCII browser available on UNIX, and Mosaic, a GUI browser available for UNIX, Windows, Mac, and other platforms. There are others, but these are a few. Once in a browser program, point it a= t some of these WWW "pages". If you do not have WWW access to the Web, you can request pages be mail= ed to by sending mail to webmail@curia.ucc.ie with the subject help. The return mail should tell you how to request a WWW page. However, if you do have access to telnet on the Internet, you can acces= s the Web. Instructions on how to do this, in a file called wwwtelnet.tx= t, can be retrieved from Jim Brain's MAILSERV server. See Section 5.X for= information on how to access the server. 6.8.1. What WWW sites have Commodore information? There are a number of WWW sites that provide Commodore content. Most of these sites are tailored to the Commodore 8-bit community as well. A complete listing of sites is available at http://www.msen.com/~brain/cbmlinks.html. 6.8.1. What Sites have Telnet WWW Browsers? If you do not have access to a WWW browser program, but do have access = to Internet telnet, you can access the WWW through the following sites: fatty.law.cornell.edu www.njit.edu lynx.cc.akans.edu login: www 6.9. What is File Transfer Protocol (FTP)? to access some machines, the special user "anonymous" or "ftp" is used to log into another machine for ftp. These machine, which hold public domain (PD), shareware, and freeware files, are called "anonymous ftp" sites. To get files from these sites, you use (on most systems) a pro= gram called ftp. A typical ftp session (assuming you are running from a Un= ix system) would be as follows: SAMPLE SESSION: %ftp ccnga.uwaterloo.ca Connected to ccnga.uwaterloo.ca. 220 punisher FTP server (SunOS 4.1) ready. Name (cco.caltech.edu:rknop): anonymous 331 Guest login ok, send ident as password. Password: 230 Guest login ok, access restrictions apply. ftp> cd /pub/cbm/utilities <"cd" changes direct= ory> 250 CWD command successful. ftp> dir z* <"dir" alone lists whole direct= ory> 200 PORT command successful. 150 ASCII data connection for /bin/ls (131.215.48.57,2084) (0 bytes). -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 15427 Apr 13 15:42 zed-128.070 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 14107 Apr 13 15:42 zed-128.doc 226 ASCII Transfer complete. remote: z* 134 bytes received in 0.44 seconds (0.3 Kbytes/s) ftp> binary 200 Type set to I. ftp> get zed-128.070 200 PORT command successful. 150 Binary data connection for zed-128.070 (131.215.48.57,20) (15427 by= tes) 226 Binary Transfer complete. local: zed-128.070 remote: zed-128.070 15427 bytes received in 0.1 seconds (1.5e+02 Kbytes/s) ftp> quit 221 Goodbye. % To submit files to an ftp site, you use the command "put". Again, make= sure to first specify "binary" for programs and other binary files. Typical= ly, ftp sites will only accept submissions in an "INCOMING" directory. To download software (files) from an anonymous ftp sites, one has to be aware that there are two connections to be concerned about. The first connection is from your Commodore to you host computer and then the connection from your host to the ftp site. In addition you need to= be be aware of the nature of the information in the desired file, particul= arly if you are downloading programs. If the file is not known to be in printable ASCII form, consider it a binary file. It may also be be in = an archived form, i.e. a form where it is packed with many files or in a shortened format. Consider these to be binary unless it is of the "uu" type which is an ASCII format. 6.9.1. What FTP sites have Commodore Information? A number of sites on Internet have areas for Commodore files. The list of current Internet FTP sites can be retrieved from the Jim Brain's mail server as file cbm-ftp-sites.MM.YY where MM is the Month and YY is= the year that the list is for. (See Section 6.5.2 for directions on how to use the mail server). The FTP List is maintained by Howard Herman and = a copy of the latest file can be obtained from him at 72560.3467@compuserve.com. 6.9.2. What is an FTP Mail Server? How do I use one? If your service provider does not allow access to FTP directly, there are some systems that will perform the FTP session on your behalf. The= se systems are called "ftp mail servers". These allow the user to request files to be retrieved by electronically mailing a message to the server. To use the service, you must first learn how the service works. This i= s done by mailing the server address with the word "help" in the body of the message This will result in the directions being sent in a message = to you. Then, following the directions, you can request files from any FTP sites through the server. The server will send both the retrieved files and a message detailing the execution of your request. Here is a sample request message: To: ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com Subject: Body: connect ccnga.uwaterloo.ca anonymous brain@msen.com chdir /pub/cbm/comp.sys.cbm ls -l quit Please note the following: This service is only for retrieving files. Binary files will usually be uuencoded. They must be decoded before us= e. Large files may be split into smaller pieces. The resulting pieces mus= t be editted back into one piece, and decoded if necessary. Potential ftpmail servers include: ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com bitftp@pucc.princeton.edu Craig Bruce has set up a ftp mail server off his regular email address. Here is how you would utilize it: To: csbruce@little.uwaterloo.ca Subject: ftpmail Body: help bcode ftp ccnga.uwaterloo.ca cd /pub/cbm/os/ace dir get ace12.doc quit All of the regular FTP commands are supported, with the addition of the following commands: help - gives help information. bcode - requests the data be sent as bcoded files. hexcode - requests the data be sent as hexcoded files. + replyto - gives email address to reply to for broken email clients. + maxlines n - Returns files in messages of at most n lines.