DEMON INTERNET LIMITED ====================== 42 Hendon Lane Finchley London N3 1TT 081-349 0063 (England) 031-552 0344 (Edinburgh) email internet@demon.net WELCOME.TXT - USEFUL INFO ABOUT DEMON INTERNET LTD. Last updated 25th May 1994 Latest version is available from ftp.demon.co.uk:/pub/doc/Welcome.txt Hopefully you are connected successfully by now - if you have any problems, please contact us using the details in item 3) below. Here are some useful pointers to help you explore: 1) There are some frequently asked questions (FAQs) which are answered in the support.faq document which may have been included in your installation. The latest version is available from ftp.demon.co.uk in /pub/doc. See the list below regarding other documents. 2) We suggest you take the demon.* Usenet newsgroups. You are strongly advised to read demon.annoounce. demon.ip.support and demon.ip.support.[pc/unix etc] and demon.ip.support.pc.announce may be of interest. If you are interested in our latest products then demon.sales is a low traffic group. There are several other demon groups from which to choose. A list of all demon groups: demon.announce Demon Internet announcements (Moderated) (Recommended) demon.answers Helpful info files get posted here every week (Moderated) (Recommended for new users) demon.ip.cppnews For users of the Cppnews package demon.ip.developers Developers of software for use with Demon demon.ip.discoveries Discoveries on the Net demon.ip.support General issues for which you require support demon.ip.support.pc PC support issues demon.ip.support.pc.announce PC related announcements (Moderated) (Recommended for DOS users) demon.ip.support.unix Unix support issues demon.ip.support.mac Mac support issues demon.ip.support.amiga Amiga support issues demon.ip.support.atari Atari support issues demon.ip.support.archimedes Archimedes support issues demon.ip.support.other Support issues specific to other platforms demon.ip.winsock For users of Microsoft Windows software demon.ip.winsock.dics Specifically for the DICS software demon.local Local chatter demon.news Discussion/proposals for Demon groups demon.adverts Personal and commercial adverts by Demon members demon.adverts.d Discussion area for demon.adverts demon.sales Demon sales announcements (Moderated) demon.sales.d Discussion area for demon.sales demon.test Test messages demon.pops For discussion of Points of Presence (Note this is not a support group and so we don't give support in it) demon.security Security/encryption related issues demon.security.keys For posting public keys (e.g. PGP) demon.service Group for posting service faults and discussing all aspects of the Demon Service (Note this is not a support group and so we don't give support in it) Groups with (moderated) in the comments mean that you may not make postings to them. You may make a posting to a group and someone replies that you should have used a different group. Do not be upset by this as it is in everybody's interest that information is as focused as is reasonable. It is a little more difficult to define exactly what is reasonable but you will soon get the hang of things after a week or so of reading groups. 3) If you require more personal attention, please mail internet@demon.net or phone the support line. Details: Monday - Friday (excluding Bank holidays) 9am - 12:30 2pm-9pm 081-343 3881 Saturdays 10am - 5pm 081-343 3881 Emergencies Only at all other times 081-343 3881 - this gets put through to a pager service. Please note that we cannot accept support queries by other methods (fax, posted mail etc.). If you want to contact us by email then please email internet@demon.net and use the problem template available from /pub/doc/problem.txt or included in your installation. 4) If you are reporting a problem via mail it would help us if you would use the problem template which is available from ftp.demon.co.uk:/pub/doc/problem.txt. 5) There is a host of information available to you on our ftp server which is available via anonymous ftp. To do anonymous ftp to here (these instructions are the same for anonymous ftp in general), connect in your normal way and then: ftp ftp.demon.co.uk ftp you@yourmc.demon.co.uk type ? for help. Note that some older ftp servers don't allow you to type ftp at the login prompt but insist you type anonymous. Also most will allow you to abbreviate your password to you@. For the more technically minded, this is because they can do a reverse name lookup and work out the yourmc.demon.co.uk part for themselves. You may not see Login: - it might say Username or similar. This depends on the software you are using. Change directory using cd (remember to use forward slashes /// as you are connected to a unix box ftp.demon.co.uk although not all ftp servers run on unix computers). Use dir for directory listing etc. Please bear in mind that filenames on unix are case sensitive and that the cd command, like all others, must have a space after it to be recognised. Use get and mget (multiple get) for retrieving files. Type hash to get 1024 byte hash marks so that you get some screen feedback whilst fetching files. You are welcome to download any of the files in /pub and its sub-directories. Note that files with the extension .zip require unzip or pkunzip to uncompress. .Z requires uncompress .tar requires tar. .z requires gzip (the new GNU compression tool). Utililities for uncompressing are available on ftp,demon.co.uk. For the PC look in /pub/ibmpc/zip. When using ftp on binary files (such as .zip) you should ensure that you are in binary mode. You are normally told what mode you are in when your ftp session. If in any doubt you can always reset it - bin for binary and ascii for ascii. The following files are of particular interest: /pub FTPVIEW.TXT Overview of the layout of our ftp server /pub/doc *.txt,DISDOC.ZIP Useful Demon docs, modems etc. Demon.txt Background on Demon and logging on instructions Modem.txt Advice on configuring your modem Welcome.txt This document Services.txt List of services and prices Pop.faq FAQ for PoPs (Points of Presence) (FAQ Frequently asked questions) Pop3.faq POP server Post Office Protocol server FAQ WWW.faq FAQ on our Web services. support.faq FAQ for general support /pub/doc/modems modem.prices.txt Modem prices and stock situation /pub/doc/books *.txt Book prices and catalogues /pub/doc/general netinfo.txt provides an organised list of the most pertinent RFCs (Request For Comments). big-dummys-guide.txt A non technical discussion of the Internet /pub/doc/irc irctut.zip Internet relay chat tutorial /pub/doc/mailgate gateways.txt Mail gateways to other networks mailingl.txt List of mail list servers /pub/doc/rfc RFC's Request For Comments (see below) rfc1462.txt & rfc1463.txt beginners info /pub/doc/uksites uksites.zip List of UK sites on the internet /pub/doc/usenet.lists usenet.lists Info regarding usenet groups etc /pub/doc/ftpsites ftpsites.lst Long list of sites offering ftp access yanoff.txt Scott Yanoff's list of Internet sites (also available from alt.bbs.internet) /pub/doc/zen various Zen and the Art of the Internet book (recommended) /pub/simtel20 SIMTEL20 mirror vast DOS software repository 6) Usenet news There is a certain amount of "nettiquette" that you should follow when posting to Usenet newsgroups. Read Zen and the Art of the Internet available from /pub/doc.zen (see 5)) for some guidance. In particular avoid: USING ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. This makes your messages difficult to read and it appears as if you are shouting. Do not post a mail shot to users without their permission. Junk email is hated as much as junk snail mail Posting methods of getting rich quick. We all know they don't work Quoting large amounts of people's messages. Try to use enough of the person's message to which you are commenting so that your message makes sense. Do not quote all the headers of the message or all of the text. Using very long signatures. The recommended maximum length ignoring any signature start line ("-- ") is 4 lines. 7) Internet Relay Chat Known as IRC - enables you to hold online discussions with people from all over the world. There are a number of these around and they connect up to each other. We have one on our local Ethernet. telnet irc.demon.co.uk Another can be found here: telnet ircclient.itc.univie.ac.at 6668 Can be useful for cheap rate conversations with friends and business colleagues as well as general chat. Details can be found in /pub/doc/irc and /pub/doc/rfc/rfc1459.txt 8) Archive servers Also known as archie servers (pronounced R Chee). These servers hold information about large numbers of files and can tell you where the programs can be found on the net. Date and time information will help you determine where the latest version of a file is. example: telnet archie.doc.ic.ac.uk login as archie [you can use help and follow the instructions - an example:] prog cars [etc] You can use these by mail. Send a mail message to one containing just the word help for more info. NOTE: we have a 64K Leased line directly to the Department of Computing, Imperial College which is the leading ftp and archie site in Europe. Thus you should get a very good response from the above archie server. Their ftp site is ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk. 9) Gophers Go for this - go for that. Menu driven searching servers. Try telnetting to: consultant.micro.umn.edu bigcheese.math.scarolina.edu ftp.sprintlink.net gopher-srv.acs.cmu.edu gopher.sunet.se and at the login: prompt type gopher. This requires a VT100/102 screen emulation as it sends special control characters intended to make your screen work in a particular way. Please see your software documentation on how to implement this. 10) World Wide Web Our World Wide Web server is on www.demon.co.uk. This provides a convenient way of viewing our documentation and accessing some of our services. You can take space on this server, possibly for free. Details are in /pub/doc/Www.faq or email sales@demon.net 11) Request for comments (RFCs) The RFCs are the documents which define the various protocols used on the Internet. These are world-wide standards - not Demon specific ones. They are available in /pub/doc/rfc on ftp.demon.co.uk together with an index of them. /pub/doc/general/netinfo.txt provides an organised contents listing for the most pertinent ones. 12) Changing your password It is a good policy to change your password every now and again. To do so, log in as normal and then: telnet password.demon.co.uk login using your nodename (without the .demon.co.uk) and your current password. A password change program will automatically start. Don't forget to change your dial in script or configuration program afterwards! For advice on selecting a sensible password please see /pub/doc/password/password.txt 13) Seeing incoming mail To see mail that is waiting to be delivered to your site, held in a queue on our mail machine type: finger @post.demon.co.uk where is your 4-8 character nodename. 14) Resolving domain names and mail records A domain name may have an associated Internet (I.P.) address. Some older software, notably NetMAC for the Apple Macintosh, does not run a nameserver client. To convert FQDNs (fully qualified domain names) into IP (Internet) addresses type: finger @gate.demon.co.uk e.g. for ftp.uu.net finger ftp.uu.net@gate.demon.co.uk to get the following output ftp.uu.net has address 192.48.96.9 ftp.uu.net mail is handled by ftp.UU.NET ftp.uu.net mail is handled by relay1.UU.NET ftp.uu.net mail is handled by relay2.UU.NET You would then add ftp.uu.net 192.48.96.9 into your hosts.net (or similar) file. 15) X.400 to Internet and vice versa A handy server for info on X.400/Internet addresses and utilities for converting between the two is: telnet funet.fi 2719 16) InterNIC Registration Services Center Gopher, WAIS, WHOIS servers etc. including information of Internet domains, IP network numbers, Autonomous System Numbers (ASN) and points of contact. telnet rs.internic.net Try whois demon 17) Jargon and abbreviations. Internet messages are often informal and some writers enjoy using jargon and abbreviations. You may come across various symbols and words which you find confusing. Here are some you are likely to see: :-) Smiley face - don't take the message seriously :-) Same :( Miserable face - the writer is none too pleased Grin N.B. a document containing lots of "smilies", as the above are referred to, can be found on ftp.demon.co.uk in /pub/ibmpc/misc called netsmile.zip. TLA's Three Letter Acronyms (see TLA's :-)) AIUI As I understand it AFAIK As far as I know BTW By the way FAQ Frequently asked question RTFM Read the (Flaming) Manual. I know its 4 letters but you get the idea :-) IMHO In my humble opinion IYSWIM If you see what I mean AIUI As I understand it ROFL Rolls on the floor laughing YHM You have mail YMMV Your mileage may vary PoP Point of Presence You will now understand the following conversation: A: What's an FAQ? B: Its a TLA. A: What's a TLA? B: If you don't know what a TLA is you should RTFM! C: ROFL Some jargon: Ringing out The phones are ringing at the telephone exchange but not at the Demon PoP. That means we don't know that you are calling us and you think we are ignoring you. Busied out We have forced the modem(s) to appear as if they are in use and thus they will give the busy signal. Newbie A person who is new to something. More jargon is available from ftp.demon.co.uk:/pub/doc/general/tootka.txt 18) Mail for Postmaster Please note that it is a requirement of having a node on the Internet that you accept mail to a user named postmaster at your site e.g. postmaster@yournode.demon.co.uk. 19) The Message of the Day. When you log in to the system, part of the welcoming sequence includes a Message of the Day (MOTD). Your software may not show you this. To see the current MOTD use finger motd@gate.demon.co.uk. This may contain information on special offers on modems etc. or important information about the availability of services. If having a problem with a part of the service, please make sure you have checked the MOTD first before calling for support. 20) Demon Staff In the demon.* newsgroups you will see lots of people commenting. It may not always be obvious as to which ones are Demon staff and which are not. The following Demon staff are likely to make comments in the newsgroups. Please note that they may make postings from a variety of computers so you cannot always go by their email address. The following are in alphabetic order: Grahame Davies Paul Harrington Tony Lacatena Mike Rogers Arlene Rust Cliff Stanford Giles Todd Mark Turner