Fruit flies like a banana."
-- Quoted in a signature file
This is one method of accessing the Internet -- via a "text-only" format -- and is often the only way users of older, less sophisticated computers can view the Internet. Some service providers offer tiered service. This is the tier known as the Unix shell account.
Most users, however, are not satisfied until they are able to access the Internet in a graphics, "point-and-click" environment.
This requires that they have a sufficiently fast computer [a 386 or preferably a 486 PC], enough memory [4 megabytes minimum or preferably 8 or more], and approximately 10 megabytes of storage space on their hard disk. On the Mac, they need to be runnin g at least system 7.5 or above.
With this increased performance, it is possible to run software which will install a TCP/IP stack on your computer.
The programs which accomplish this are usually MacTCP/MacPPP on the Macintosh or Trumpet Winsock, Chameleon, Internet-in-a-Box, OS/2 Warp, or Microsoft Networking on Windows 95.
This software is necessary to make a connection to the network called either Serial Line Internet Protocol (SLIP) or Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP). They are often referred to as SLIP/PPP, since they are similar. They both allow your computer and the rem ote computer to exchange the TCP/IP packets over telephone lines through modems -- yet another acronym for MOdulator/DEModulator. This merely refers to a machine which attaches to your computer and converts (modulates) the electronic signal from y our machine to sound so it can be sent over the phone line and converted (demodulated) back into electronic signals usable by the other computer.
Setting up the networking for the TCP/IP stack is not simple. That's the "bad" news. The "good" news is that once it is set up, the software is usually able to make the call for you from then on, logging you on automatically with your user ID and passwo rd, then set up the connection with a single keystroke or click of the mouse.
All this sounds terribly cryptic and intimidating and compu-wonkish. As one woman complained to the Help Desk not long ago,
"Nobody ever told me I was going to have to know anything in order to use the Internet!"But the local provider can be counted on to give you this information either in the form of a configuration file or in a document explaining the setup of the software step-by-step.
In the following section are links to sites which lead you through the process of setting up the TCP/IP programs as painlessly as possible.
[TIP: If you do not have a general working knowledge of your computer, your operating system, and downloading, setting up and configuring software -- and want to go online without having to learn -- then perhaps it might be advisable for y ou to consider using one of the national providers such as AOL, Prodigy, or Compuserve. You will probably be happier -- and a good deal less frustrated -- if you do.]
This is already on the Unix shell in most cases. You will usually use: Software For The Unix Shell
Remember, all of these are text-based, so all you are going to see are the words on the screen, even in Windows.
- Lynx for the World Wide Web.
- FTP or NCFTP for file transfers.
- Gopher for Gopher access.
- Archie to search for software.
- PINE for mail.
- PINE, TIN or TRN for news.
- Telnet to contact other computers.
TCP/IP Software For The PC
- Windows95.
- Trumpet Winsock.
- Chameleon WebSurfer Sampler.
TCP/IP Software For The Mac
- MacTCP -- included with System 7.5 and later versions.
- MacPPP or FreePPP for PPP connection.
- InterSLIP for a SLIP connection.
For More Information ...
SLIP/PPP Homepage
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