Through the Internet there is software available all over the world -- for every brand of computer.
I have found software at a site in England that diabetics can use to download test results from the Lifescan One-Touch Glucometer to a spreadsheet.
I have found graphics files of paintings by Salvador Dali in Korea.
I have found TCP/IP software used around the world from the author's site in New Zealand.
I have found driver files for my computer from a site in Finland.
The Internet is truly international like no organization ever was before.
Every kind of software imaginable is available out there.
All you have to do is find it!
How do you use it?
UNIX:
From the Unix shell prompt, type:
archie filename
This will return a list of the computers local to you which have the software, as well as the location of the directory in which it resides.
Notice you need to put in the filename (or some part of it, anyway). The more specific, the more specific the search results. The word train is just as likely to return references to the "choo-choo" variety as to "sports" training as "c omputer" training as ... well, you get the picture.
Archie searches only by filename. There are other programs which will search descriptions of files or full text, but Archie looks only for the specific filename.
Where do you get these filenames or partial names?
Often they are mentioned in newsgroups. Other good places to look are in Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) files (discussed in a later session). Using Archie means you have a pretty good idea of what you want. All you need now is to find where it is loca ted so you can download it.
[TIP: Archie servers search the archives of the machines under them each night for any files which may have been added or deleted. Be aware that Archie is used VERY heavily during the day, so it may take a l-o-n-g time to get a respo nse on your query. It's best to do an Archie search late at night, if at all possible.]
[TIP: There are also methods of starting an Archie search and having the results mailed to yourself for later use. A little research may turn up even more interesting tidbits.]
SLIP/PPP:
Programs like Anarchie for the Mac and WSArchie for the PC already have a list of Archie servers loaded into them. Select the one closest to you to use. (In my case, being in North Carolina, I chose archie.sura. net in Maryland.)
Once connected with a SLIP/PPP connection, you call up the program and enter the name (or some unique part of it, if possible) of the file in the Search for: field.
After churning away for some time, the program will return a list of:
[TIP: You can narrow the search by designating whether the string to be searched for is a substring (the normal search), a case sensitive substring, an exact term, or by using wildcards.]The Archie program will also normally list the file size and the date it was created as well as the date it was added to the archive.
So, now what?
Most Archie software will allow you to associate it with an external FTP program. That means you can most likely click on the file itself and the associated FTP program will automatically go out and retrieve it for you. If not, you need to write down th e precise name of the host, the directory and the filename, then go back to FTP and download it yourself.
Windows Archie Software Archie Client Software -- Windows
Mac Archie Software
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