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                 Zen  and  the  Art  of  the  Internet
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                                           A Beginner's Guide to the Internet
                                                                First Edition
                                                                 January 1992
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by Brendan P. Kehoe
_______________________________________________________________________________
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This is revision 1.0 of February 2, 1992.
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Copyright Oc 1992 Brendan P. Kehoe
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Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this guide
provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all
copies.
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Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this booklet
under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the entire resulting
derived work is distributed under the terms of a permission notice identical
to this one.
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Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this booklet into
another language, under the above conditions for modified versions, except
that this permission notice may be stated in a translation approved by the
author.
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Preface
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    The composition of this booklet was originally started because the Com-
puter Science department at Widener University was in desperate need of
documentation describing the capabilities of this "great new Internet link"
we obtained.
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    It's since grown into an effort to acquaint the reader with much of what's
currently available over the Internet. Aimed at the novice user, it attempts
to remain operating system "neutral"_little information herein is specific
to Unix, VMS, or any other environment.  This booklet will, hopefully, be
usable by nearly anyone.
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    Some typographical conventions are maintained throughout this guide.
All abstract items like possible filenames, usernames, etc., are all represente
d
in italics. Likewise, definite filenames and email addresses are represented in
a quoted `typewriter' font. A user's session is usually offset from the rest
of the paragraph, as such:
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     prompt> command
          The results are usually displayed here.
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    The purpose of this booklet is two-fold: first, it's intended to serve as a
reference piece, which someone can easily grab on the fly and look something
up.  Also, it forms a foundation from which people can explore the vast
expanse of the Internet.  Zen and the Art of the Internet doesn't spend a
significant amount of time on any one point; rather, it provides enough for
people to learn the specifics of what his or her local system offers.
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    One warning is perhaps in order_this territory we are entering can be-
come a fantastic time-sink. Hours can slip by, people can come and go, and
you'll be locked into Cyberspace. Remember to do your work!
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    With that, I welcome you, the new user, to The Net.
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                                                       brendan@cs.widener.edu
                                                                   Chester, PA
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