FYI on Questions and Answers - Answers to Commonly asked "New Internet User" Questions
RFC 1594

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• 01

Network Working Group                                          A. Marine
Request for Comments: 1594                                     NASA NAIC
FYI: 4                                                       J. Reynolds
Obsoletes: 1325                                                      ISI
Category: Informational                                        G. Malkin
                                                                Xylogics
                                                              March 1994

                      FYI on Questions and Answers
        Answers to Commonly asked "New Internet User" Questions

Status of this Memo

   This memo provides information for the Internet community.  This memo
   does not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of
   this memo is unlimited.

Abstract

   This FYI RFC is one of two FYI's called, "Questions and Answers"
   (Q/A), produced by the User Services Working Group of the Internet
   Engineering Task Force (IETF).  The goal is to document the most
   commonly asked questions and answers in the Internet.

New Questions and Answers

   In addition to updating information contained in the previous version
   of this FYI RFC, the following new questions have been added:

   Questions about Internet Organizations and Contacts:

     What is the InterNIC?

   Questions About Internet Services:

     What is gopher?
     What is the World Wide Web?  What is Mosaic?
     How do I find out about other Internet resource discovery tools?

User Services Working Group                                     [Page 1]
RFC 1594            FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users          March 1994

Table of Contents

   1. Introduction.................................................  2
   2. Acknowledgements.............................................  2
   3. Questions About the Internet.................................  3
   4. Questions About TCP/IP.......................................  5
   5. Questions About the Domain Name System.......................  5
   6. Questions About Internet Documentation.......................  6
   7. Questions about Internet Organizations and Contacts.......... 13
   8. Questions About Services..................................... 18
   9. Mailing Lists and Sending Mail............................... 24
   10. Miscellaneous "Internet lore" questions..................... 26
   11. Suggested Reading........................................... 28
   12. References.................................................. 29
   13. Condensed Glossary.......................................... 31
   14. Security Considerations..................................... 44
   15. Authors' Addresses.......................................... 44

1. Introduction

   New users joining the Internet community have the same questions as
   did everyone else who has ever joined.  Our quest is to provide the
   Internet community with up to date, basic Internet knowledge and
   experience.

   Future updates of this memo will be produced as User Services members
   become aware of additional questions that should be included, and of
   deficiencies or inaccuracies that should be amended in this document.
   Although the RFC number of this document will change with each
   update, it will always have the designation of FYI 4.  An additional
   FYI Q/A, FYI 7, is published that deals with intermediate and
   advanced Q/A topics [11].

2. Acknowledgements

   The following people deserve thanks for their help and contributions
   to this FYI Q/A: Matti Aarnio (FUNET), Susan Calcari (InterNIC),
   Corinne Carroll (BBN), Vint Cerf (MCI), Peter Deutsch (Bunyip), Alan
   Emtage (Bunyip), John Klensin (UNU), Thomas Lenggenhager (Switch),
   Doug Mildram (Xylogics), Tracy LaQuey Parker (Cisco), Craig Partridge
   (BBN), Jon Postel (ISI), Matt Power (MIT), Karen Roubicek (BBN),
   Patricia Smith (Merit), Gene Spafford (Purdue), and Carol Ward
   (Sterling Software/NASA NAIC).

User Services Working Group                                     [Page 2]
RFC 1594            FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users          March 1994

3. Questions About the Internet

   3.1  What is the Internet?

      The Internet is a collection of thousands of networks linked by a
      common set of technical protocols which make it possible for users
      of any one of the networks to communicate with or use the services
      located on any of the other networks.  These protocols are
      referred to as TCP/IP or the TCP/IP protocol suite.  The Internet
      started with the ARPANET, but now includes such networks as the
      National Science Foundation Network (NSFNET), the Australian
      Academic and Research Network (AARNet), the NASA Science Internet
      (NSI), the Swiss Academic and Research Network (SWITCH), and about
      10,000 other large and small, commercial and research, networks.
      There are other major wide area networks that are not based on the