Network News (sometimes referred to as Usenet News) is a service comprised of several thousand electronic discussions providing users an effective way to share information with others on just about any topic.
If you're unclear about the concept of Network News, it's helpful to think about a bulletin
board that you might see on campus.
Here, one might find posted messages advertising a futon for sale, asking for students to join a math study group. In the newsgroup environment, the same kind of process take place:
User X may access a newsgroup on a particular topic and post a message, question, or respond to a previously posted message, and anyone accessing that newsgroup would then be able to see User X's message.
Network News newsgroups provide this same kind of forum online, where users have access to the messages posted by all other users of that newsgroup.
Network News has been described as an "international meeting place" where you're likely to find a discussion going on just about anything.
How Does Network News work?
Messages posted on Network News newsgroups are sent from host computer to host computer all over the world, using the network news transfer protocol.
Because Network News newsgroups are located on one server, Network News is a very efficient way to share information that might otherwise be disseminated to several individual users.
This way, several people can read a given newsgroup message, but the host system stores only one copy of it.
Newsgroups: What's in a Name?
As mentioned before, Network News is essentially made up of newsgroups, each newsgroup a collection of messages focusing on a related theme.
You can probably find a newsgroup on any topic, no matter how arcane or bizarre.
A newsgroup's name gives you a good idea of that group's focus, and also illustrates the hierarchical naming scheme given to newsgroups.
Newsgroups with the prefix comp, for example, are for computer-related topics.
After the initial prefix, you'll see an additional series of names assigned to the newsgroup that tell its specific concern: Note the following examples:
comp.mac.performa for "computers--macintosh--performas"
rec.auto.antique for "recreation--autos--antiques"
alt.backrubs for "alternative--backrubs"
soc.culture.japan for "social--culture--japan"
Remote Login & File Transfer:
Introduction to telnet:
Telnet is the protocol used to establish a login session on a remote computer on the network. While many computers on the Internet require users to have authorization, others are open to the public and can be logged onto with telnet. Telnet is not a method to transfer files from one machine to another, but rather is a way to remotely connect to another system with priveleges to run specific programs on that system. Some uses of the Telnet protocol include:
connecting to a library catalog to search that library's collection connecting to a location that allows public priveleges to search its campus information system connecting to a location that gives you an up-to-the minute weather report
Basic Telnet Commands
open - establishes a connection to the specified host.close - closes an open connection and leaves you in the telnet software quit - closes any open telnet sessions and exits the telnet software. When using a telnet program like NCSA Telnet, you invoke these commands by way of pull-down menus or command keys.