From bronze!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!apple!bionet!CSC.FI!Rob.Harper Wed Jul 31 11:39:04 EST 1991
Article: 1855 of bionet.general
Path: bronze!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!apple!bionet!CSC.FI!Rob.Harper
From: Rob.Harper@CSC.FI ("Robert Harper  Finland", CSC)
Newsgroups: bionet.general
Subject: BioBit No 20 ( Free-net session )
Message-ID: <39154C8FC81F41305F@CSC.FI>
Date: 31 Jul 91 18:13:00 GMT
Sender: daemon@genbank.bio.net
Distribution: bionet
Lines: 621


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                                 No 20
    %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
                          BIO-NAUT NEWSLETTER
                     << EDITED BY ROBERT HARPER >>
    %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
 
When I write about newsreaders and usenet it seems to stir up the appetite 
of people on bitnet or internet who want to taste the delights of usenet 
but who do not have a usenet feed to their computer centre.

Here is a recent letter that I received which outlines the problem.

"Hi I am a great fan of yours (seriously).
I am on bitnet and Internet and I can telnet and ftp, but unfortunately
our computer centre does not have a usenet feed. Is there any place that
I could telnet to that would allow me to read Usenet newsgroups"

There seems to be need for people to be given the chance to experience
how a big well organised computer centre works. Life can be rather restricted
if your view of the outside world is only seen through what happens in your
E-mail box. I have long wondered how would it be possible to remove the 
blinkers from the eyes of the E-mail user and show them something of 
the "big picture".

It is all very well to talk about newsreading software, and give 
descriptions of how it works. Perhaps it is like spreading a table for 
a feast, and inviting E-mail users to look at all the goodies but never 
providing them with the opportunity to eat and enjoy themselves. 
I can imagine how frustrating that could be. 

So what can be done to provide access to the "moveable feast" that is enjoyed
by usenetters? Well I wrote about Cleveland Free-net in Bionauts about three
months ago, basically because some Finns were involved in some projects there
and when I received the above letter it suddenly clicked that access to 
Cleveland Free-net could be the way to open the window on the world to anyone
who is on Internet and has access to telnet.

So this edition of BioBit is a demo on how to use the Cleveland Free-net
using telnet. I will punctuate the text the comments proceeded with
exclamation marks which will serve as explanations of what is going on.
Here it goes.

! To get into the system you have to give the command telnet 129.22.8.82
! I logged on from our local VAX where the prompt is a $ sign.
 
$ telnet 129.22.8.82
Trying...
Connected to 129.22.8.82.
Escape character is '^X'.
Interrupt remote process character is '^C'.
CWRU INS 4.3 BSD (cwns16) (ttyp1)
                         /
 WELCOME TO THE...     _!  !_
                     _!__  __!_
      __            !          !
    _!  !_          !   !  !   !
   !      !   /    !   !  !   !
   !      !  !  !   !   !  !   !___
   !      ! !   !   !   !  !   !   !
   !      !_!_  !   !   !  !   !   !
   !      !   ! !   !   !  !   !   !
  _!      !   !_!_  !          !   !_
 !        !       !_!          !     !
!                                    !
!         CLEVELAND FREE-NET         !
!      COMMUNITY COMPUTER SYSTEM     !
!____________________________________!
          brought to you by
    Case Western Reserve University
  Community Telecomputing Laboratory

Are you:
        1. A registered user
        2. A visitor

Please enter 1 or 2: 2

! You then get some welcome from the system and the first question that
! is asked is if you are a registered user or a visitor. Since mostly
! everyone who reads this will never have used the system before then you
! would reply with a "2"

Would you like to:
        1. Apply for an account
        2. Explore the system
        3. Exit the system

! Now registered user are given privileges that visitors do not have,
! so if you want to apply for an account and become a registered user
! then you would choose option "1". In which case you will be asked for 
! your name and address and an application form will be sent to you
! which outlines the charter of Cleveland Free-net and informs you of
! your responsibilities as a registered user. But since this is only
! a demo I chose option "2" so that I could explore the system.

Please enter 1, 2 or 3: 2

! Now comes the WELCOME text which explains what you can do on the system
! when you are logged in as a visitor... and some disclaimers for Free-net's
! legal protection.

WELCOME:

  As a visitor to the Cleveland Free-Net you are allowed to
go anywhere and read anything on the system.  However, to
post messages, and send or receive electronic mail, use the
Cafe (chat area) and other features, you must be a REGISTERED
USER.  To register, simply use the "Apply for an account"
option from the visitors menu, leave us your name and address
and we'll send you the forms.

  The registration process and all system usage is FREE.
You are limited to one hour per visit but there is no limit
to the number of visits you can have per day.

  Before you enter the system however, there are two things
we need to tell you.

  First we need to tell you that: By entering this system,
in consideration for the privilege of using the Cleveland
Free-Net and in consideration for having access to the free
information contained on it, that you hereby release Case
Western Reserve University, the National Public Telecomputing
Network, the Cleveland Free-Net Project, its operators, and
any institutions with which they are affiliated for any and
all claims of any nature arising from your use of this system.
(See, aren't you glad we told you that?)

  Second, once you are in the system you may want to try
some of these commands from any arrow ==> prompt:

      who - who is online with you.  The Cleveland Free-Net
            handles as many as 2200 logins a day.  You might
            want to see who else is online at the same time
            you are.

     time - tells you the date and time ('case ya don't know),
            how long you have been online, and how much time
            you have remaining in your session.

go <name> - takes you to the place on the system you name
            (like a building or an area).  See the Index in
            the Administration Building for a (more or less)
            complete list of the features available.

        x - logs you off the system from any arrow prompt


   Thank you for visiting the Free-Net.  We hope you will become
a registered user and that we'll see you online often.

   Enjoy and Learn!

! It would appear that what you are loging into is a BBS system 
! called CWRUbbs which is menu driven.

CWRUbbs Software copyright 1991 Case Western Reserve University
        All rights reserved

    <<< FROM THE ADMINISTRATOR >>>

FREE-NET INTERNATIONAL:  We would like
to extend a greeting to two international
groups who will be on the Free-Net during
the next few days.

First, a welcome to some 200 Swedish and
Finnish teachers who are coming in from
LAPPEENRANTA, FINLAND as part of a three-
day educational conference.

Second, a welcome to the students and
teachers from the WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND
area who are participating in the Welling-
ton Young Person's Festival.

Welcome to the Cleveland Free-Net.
Enjoy and learn!!

There is a 60 minute time limit on this connection.

! There is then some news from the administrator which announces local
! "happenings" on the campus. ( Why is it that these Finns have their
! fingers in everything. ED) The Bulletin board is laid out as though it 
! were a campus and you can visit different buildings where different
! activities occur. So lets start out at the communications centre
! which is option 14. 

<<< CLEVELAND FREE-NET DIRECTORY >>>

  1 The Administration Building
  2 The Post Office
  3 Public Square
  4 The Courthouse & Government Center
  5 The Arts Building
  6 Science and Technology Center
  7 The Medical Arts Building
  8 The Schoolhouse (Academy One)
  9 The Community Center & Recreation Area
 10 The Business and Industrial Park
 11 The Library
 12 University Circle
 13 The Teleport
 14 The Communications Center
 15 NPTN/USA TODAY HEADLINE NEWS
------------------------------------------------
h=Help, x=Exit Free-Net, "go help"=extended help

Your Choice ==> 14

! When you choose 14 you then get a new menu and different options.
! OK lets see what the "User services" are like with option 5 
! There might be other options that are of more interest to you,
! so you can choose where you want to go rather than follow this demo.
! As you might imagine it could prove cumbersome to have to wade
! through menus so Free-net also provides you with some short cuts
! for example <go cc> is a command that would take you quickly to
! the communications centre.

<<< THE COMMUNICATIONS CENTER >>>
           <go cc>

  1 About the Communications Center
  2 Chat with other users
  3 Directory Services
  4 File Transfer Services
  5 User Services
  6 The Post Office
  7 The Teleport
------------------------------------------------
h=Help, x=Exit Free-Net, "go help"=extended help

Your Choice ==> 5

! Here you see that <go usrv> is the quick command to get to the
! User Services... and in here you could tailor your environment
! by constructing a nifty/neat personalized signature for yourself
! once you become a registered user. As you can see there even exists
! the possibility to moderate your own newsgroup if you are a SYSOP
! Don't ask me how you get to be a sysop. But since we are only a visitor
! at the moment then lets look and see how many users are logged
! into the system at the moment by selecting option 10
! ( There is more than one way to skin a cat... why didn't you just 
! do "who"... talk about being long winded. ED).

<<< USER SERVICES >>>
      <go usrv>

  1 Help Desk
  2 The Free-Net Index
  3 Administration Q & A
  4 Change your Password
  5 Set your System Parameters
  6 Edit your signature file.
  7 Set access to logon/mail-read times
  8 Moderate a newsgroup (Sysops Only)
  9 The Sysops Area
 10 Who's on the Free-Net?
 11 Display the Message of the Day
------------------------------------------------
h=Help, x=Exit Free-Net, "go help"=extended help
Your Choice ==> 10


rnf       Rochelle N. Fleming
am626     Ian Thomson
qxz2      Qinghong Zhao
aa431     Doug Gillespie
fnguest   Freenet Guest User
sxg12     Sukru Gultop
as237     Brian T. Chan
fnguest   Freenet Guest User
ac721     Aron Gamman
ag097     Z. Horodysky
al342     Becky Bilyk
aa540     Jinny Williamson
al212     Ken Blasczak
ah467     Marlene J. Miller
mes10     Mark E. Smith
ai989     Darby Dixon III
ah007     Frederick O. Jacobson
ae264     Patti Braggs
ar785     James W. Miller
maf7      Michael A. Feldman
ah138     Joby Williams
af416     Lee Peters
an421     Kathleen Richards
xx206     The Horror Sig
aa666     Dan Krumlauf
aa679     Daniel Hernandez
aa632     David Gondek

27 users online

! Looks like most of the users are local users and a couple "visitors"
! are coming in over telnet. At the moment we are down in the lower reaches
! of the User Services so to quickly get up to the help desk we can type
! go help.  And since "Bulletin Boards" is what the boy from the bitnet 
! backwoods would be most interested in, we select option 7

Your choice ==> go help

    <<< THE HELP DESK >>>
         <go help>

  1 About the Help Desk
  2 Help Directory (Who to Contact)
  3 Hints on using Free-Net
  4 Help with Free-Net Version 2.3
  5 Help with Editors
  6 Help with Mail
  7 Help with Bulletin Boards
  8 Help with Voting
  9 Help with Chat
 10 Help with Searching
 11 Help with Directory Services
 12 Help with File Transfer
 13 How to change to your sysop ID
 14 Free-Net Bug Reports
------------------------------------------------
h=Help, x=Exit Free-Net, "go help"=extended help

Your Choice ==> 7

! You are then give some instructions on how to behave in the
! Bulletin Board system. It is not rn or nn but it gives the idea
! of how newsgroups function... some of the commands are similar
! to those that you would find on your common or garden newsreader.
! For example the f "followup" r "reply" and n "next" are the same,
! as are many others.
 
   The Bulletin Board System

   When you enter a Bulletin Board you will see the message;
"Initializing connection to Bulletin Board Server, please wait..."
possibly followed by some numbers.  This can take up to 45 seconds
for Bulletin Boards that have many articles in them. (Some have several
thousand)  Once the initialization is complete, you will see the main
Bulletin Board menu.  Here you can see the titles given to each article
and select among them.  To read an article you can type the number
next to the title or, if you wish, you can read the articles in order
by typing `n' (for next article).  After you have read an article the
system will mark the article with an `R' to show that you have read it.
(NOTE: The current article is always marked with a `*' even if you have
read it)  When you leave the Bulletin Board the system will record which
articles you have read so that the next time you read that board you
will not have to read the same articles again.

   When you start up the Bulletin Board System you will begin with the
current article set to the first unread article on that board.

   There are many optional commands that you can use while in the
Bulletin Board system.

        `t' -- Type out the current article.

        `n' -- Read the next unread article.  This will skip any
                articles that you have already read.

        `b' -- Read the previous article. (Back up)  This will
                not skip unread articles.

        `v' -- Read (view) the next article.  This will not skip unread
                articles.

        `T' -- Type out the current article without stopping for page breaks.
                This is useful for downloading messages to your PC.

        `N' -- Read the next unread message without stopping for page breaks.

        `B' -- Read the previous article without stopping for page breaks.

        `V' -- Read the next article without stopping for page breaks.

        `d' -- Delete the current article from the system.  This
                is only allowed if you are the author of the article
                or you are the Sysop for that board.

        `h' -- Prints a list of all the possible commands. (Help)

        `q' (or `x') -- Quit (or exit) the Bulletin Board System.

        `c' -- Contribute an article.  This is how you get an article
                onto the system.

        `s' -- Read the next unread article with the same subject.
                This is a handy way to follow a single thread of
                discussion within a board.

        `l' -- List all the titles of all the articles on the board.

        `u' -- List only the unread articles on the board.

        `r' -- Send an electronic mail message (reply) to the author
                of the current article.  If you have chosen an editor
                the article will be included in the edit buffer.

        `f' -- Post a follow-up to the current article to the board.
                If you have chosen an editor the article will be
                included in the edit buffer.

        `j' -- Jump to a specified article without reading it.  This
                is one way to move around in the message headers window.

        `e' -- Jump to the end of the message headers window.

        `+' (or `-') -- moves you forward (or back) one screenful in
                the message headers window.

        `/' -- Search the titles for a given pattern.  This sets the
                current article to the next article that contains the
                pattern in its title.

        `>' -- Save the current article into a file in your work directory.
                You will be prompted for a filename.  If the file you name
                already exists, the article will be appended, otherwise the
                file will be created.

        `!' -- Mark the current article as still unread.

        `k' -- Mark all articles up to and including the current article
                as read. (kill all previous articles)

        `z' -- Mark all articles with the same title as the current article
                as read. (zap this subject)

        `w' -- Write out the current state of the system.  This saves the
                information about what articles you have read.  You only
                need to do this if you don't trust the system to do it
                for you.

h=Help, x=Exit Free-Net, "go help"=extended help

! But lets get back to the main menu by doing a go main just to show
! that you can always jump back to the beginning no matter where you are.
! For there was a Science and technology Center that might be an interesting
! place to look at. We select it with option 6.

Your Choice ==> go main

<<< CLEVELAND FREE-NET DIRECTORY >>>

  1 The Administration Building
  2 The Post Office
  3 Public Square
  4 The Courthouse & Government Center
  5 The Arts Building
  6 Science and Technology Center
  7 The Medical Arts Building
  8 The Schoolhouse (Academy One)
  9 The Community Center & Recreation Area
 10 The Business and Industrial Park
 11 The Library
 12 University Circle
 13 The Teleport
 14 The Communications Center
 15 NPTN/USA TODAY HEADLINE NEWS
------------------------------------------------
h=Help, x=Exit Free-Net, "go help"=extended help

! The menu changes once again and I find that I have walked my way 
! over the electronic Campus to the Science and Technology Centre

<<< SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CENTER >>>

  1 About the Science and Technology Ctr.
  2 USA TODAY: Science and Technology News
  3 The Museum of Natural History
  4 NASA Air and Space SIG
  5 The Computer Corner
  6 The Skeptics SIG
  7 IEEE (Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineers)
  8 Solid waste SIG
------------------------------------------------
h=Help, x=Exit Free-Net, "go help"=extended help

! The computer corner looks quite interesting so I go there with option 5

Your Choice ==> 5

<<< THE COMPUTER CORNER >>>

  1 About the Computer Corner
  2 Cleveland Computer Society
  3 Cleveland Area Bulletin Boards
  4 Cleveland Area Bulletin Boards, Version 2
  5 Computer Special Interest Groups
------------------------------------------------
h=Help, x=Exit Free-Net, "go help"=extended help

! And I look at the special Interest groups option 5 
! (This is getting boring and repetitious... can't you liven it up 
! with a few jokes. ED). Patience ED the punch line is coming.
! By giving all these menus it gives a panoramic view of how big the
! system is, and you never now there just might be someone who is
! desperately in need of information about Texas Instruments 99
! heheheheheheheh... sorry about that. But since we are big boys
! lets go for that cryptic wonder of wonders the UNIX SIG, option 9.

Your Choice ==> 5

<<< COMPUTER SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS >>>

  1 The Adam Forum
  2 The Apple Core
  3 The Atari SIG
  4 The Commodore/Amiga SIG
  5 The IBM-PC SIG
  6 The Tandy SIG
  7 Texas Instruments 99/4A/9640 SIG
  8 Timex/Sinclair SIG
  9 The UNIX SIG
------------------------------------------------
h=Help, x=Exit Free-Net, "go help"=extended help

Your Choice ==> 9

! And since we need to get the FAQ's on unix then option 4
! ( Sheeeesh.... Go unix would have got you there a whole lot faster 
!  without all this messing about with menus... get on with it. ED).

 <<< Unix Sig Menu >>>
       (go unix)

  1 About The Unix Sig
  2 Unix Sig General Newsgroup
  3 Unix Sig Q&A Newsgroup
  4 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)
  5 Directory Services
------------------------------------------------
h=Help, x=Exit Free-Net, "go help"=extended help

Your Choice ==> 4

! OK this is the last menu I promise... and the take home pay is just 
! about to be delivered. We will go for option 4 since there might be
! something about Xview under Windows V 3.0 ( About time too. ED )

 <<< Frequently Asked Questions Menu >>>

  1 About FAQ Files
  2 Frequently Asked Questions about UNIX
  3 Frequently Asked Questions about UNIX on 386 and 486 PC's
  4 Frequently Asked Questions about the X Window System
  5 Frequently Asked Questions about NeXT Computers
  6 Frequently Asked Questions about Minix
  7 Minix 1.5 Information Sheet
  8 Common UNIX Abbreviations and Acronyms
  9 The Hacker's Dictionary (Second Edition)
------------------------------------------------
h=Help, x=Exit Free-Net, "go help"=extended help

Your Choice ==> 4

! There it is the take home pay... a usenet feed. The bulletin boards on
! free-net is syphoning off articles from usenet and making them available
! to people with telnet access. ( But wasn't it a long way down? ED ).
! I suppose it would be an easy job to make a building on the campus
! called the "BioLab" and then feed all of the Bionet newsgroups into it.
! Now that would be a good task for an aspiring bionaut.

>From usenet.ins.cwru.edu!magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!qt.
cs.utexas.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!lta!xug Mon Jul  8 15:28:40 EDT 1991

Last changed: 30 Jun 91

This article and three following contain the answers to some Frequently Asked
Questions (FAQ) often seen in comp.windows.x. It is posted to help reduce
volume in this newsgroup and to provide hard-to-find information of general
interest.

                Please redistribute this article!

This article includes answers to the following questions, which are loosely
grouped into categories. Questions marked with a + indicate questions new to
this issue; those with significant changes of content since the last issue are
marked by *:

  0)  TOPIC: BASIC INFORMATION SOURCES AND DEFINITIONS
  1)  What books and articles on X are good for beginners?
  2)* What courses on X and various X toolkits are available?
  3)* What conferences on X are coming up?
  4)  What X-related public mailing lists are available?
  5)  How do I ask a net-question so as to maximize helpful responses?

! ( You could have said that in the first place. ED ).
! What!!!!! I go to all the trouble of finding out this information... 
! log the session to disk... edit the damned thing, putting in comments here 
! and there... give a panoramic view... exude enthusiasm from every pore,
! and all you do is bitch. That's it. I've had it. I quit. I'm going to 
! find myself another EDITOR. 

h=Help, x=Exit Free-Net, "go help"=extended help
Your Choice ==> x
Are you sure you want to exit Freenet? (y/n) y
Thank you for using the Free-Net.  Bye.

( Regretfully Mr. Harper did not finish this this edition of BioBit, and since
it is already rather verbose and overlength I will make a succint summary 
which will outline the main points of the text.

   1) telnet 129.22.8.82 will take you into the system.
   2) The Cleveland Free-net system has Usenet feeds.
   3) The system uses a campus analogy to navigate to different 
      places of interest.
   4) It is menu driven, but provides shortcuts through the "go" command.
   5) It is FREE.  

I wonder why he didn't say that in the first place? ED).

Rob "when you have a split personality you can always talk to yourself" Harper


.
