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Run idnits with the --verbose option for more detailed information about the items above. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 INTERNET-DRAFT R. Plzak 2 draft-ietf-uswg-fyi4-bis-00.txt SAIC 3 A.T. Wells 4 UWisc-Mad 5 E. Krol 6 Univ IL 7 May 1999 9 FYI on Questions and Answers 10 Answers to Commonly AskedNew Internet User Questions 12 Status of this Memo 14 This document is an Internet-Draft and is in full conformance with 15 all provisions of Section 10 of RFC2026. 17 Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering 18 Task Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups. Note that 19 other groups may also distribute working documents as Internet- 20 Drafts. 22 Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months 23 and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any 24 time. It is inappropriate to use Internet- Drafts as reference 25 material or to cite them other than as "work in progress." 27 The list of current Internet-Drafts can be accessed at 28 http://www.ietf.org/ietf/1id-abstracts.txt 30 The list of Internet-Draft Shadow Directories can be accessed at 31 http://www.ietf.org/shadow.html. 33 Abstract 35 This memo provides an overview to the new Internet User. The 36 intended audience is the common Internet user of today, thus it 37 attempts to provide a more consumer oriented approach to the Internet 38 rather than going into any depth about a topic. Unlike its 39 predecessors, this edition seeks to answer the general questions that 40 an unsophisticated consumer would ask as opposed to the more pointed 41 questions of a more technically sophisticated Internet user. Those 42 desiring a more in-depth discussion are directed to FYI 7 that deals 43 with intermediate and advanced Q/A topics. A conscious effort has 44 been made to keep this memo brief but at the same time provide the 45 new user with enough information to generally understand the 46 Internet. 48 1. Acknowledgements 50 The following people deserve thanks for their help and contributions 51 to this FYI Q/A: Chris Burke (Motorola), John Curran (BBN Planet), 52 Albert Lunde (NWU), and April Marine (Internet Engines, Inc.). 54 2. Questions About the Internet 56 2.1. What is the Internet? 58 People use computers to perform a wide assortment of tasks. A 59 connected group of computers is known as a network. Because people 60 are connected via this network, they can use their computers to 61 exchange ideas and information. Some computers are connected 62 directly to the network while others (primarily those in homes) are 63 connected via a telephone line and a communication device known as a 64 modem. By connecting networks together with specialized computers 65 known as routers, people on one network can engage in activities with 66 people on other networks. This INTER-connected group of NETworks is 67 known as the INTERNET. 69 2.2. What Can I do on the Internet? 71 There is a large variety of activities that users can do on the 72 Internet. These activities include surfing, searching, sending mail, 73 transfering programs and documents, chatting, and playing games. 75 SURFING 77 Surfing is one of the most popular Internet activities. To surf, a 78 user needs a program known as a web browser. The web browser enables 79 the user to connect to a location that contains information. Many 80 locations contain links to other sites that contain related 81 information. These links are usually identified by underlined text 82 that is of a different color from the rest of the text in an article. 83 By clicking on one of these links the user is then connected to that 84 information. This information may be at the same location or may be 85 at a different location. This new information may, in turn, have 86 links to other information. So just like a footnote or reference in 87 a print publication, links can be used to find related or non-related 88 information. 90 SEARCHING 92 Searching involves using a special program known as a seach engine. 93 There are several of these engines that are located at various search 94 sites. The popular web browsers have location information about 95 these search sites. Searching is similar to using a card catalog in 96 a library. Just as a person would look up a topic in a card catalog 97 and find one or more references to that topic with library location 98 information, a search engine provides the user with a list of sites 99 that may contain relevant information. This list is actually a set 100 of links to these sites so that all the user has to do is click on 101 the link to go to the location. Just as different library card 102 catalogs will contain different reference cards, different search 103 engines will provide different reference lists. 105 E-MAIL 107 E-mail is another very popular activity. It is very similar to 108 sending letters through the post office or notes and memos around the 109 office. It is used to exchange messages between two or more people. 110 Because email can be misunderstood or abused, users should be 111 familiar with email netiquette. For more information see Netiquette 112 Guidlines [FYI 28, RFC 1855]. 114 Many people also participate in mailing lists. Usually mailing lists 115 are dedicated to a particular topic or interest. Some mailing lists 116 are used to provide information to subscribers, such as product 117 update information for something an individual may have purchased 118 while others are used for discussion. In the latter instance people 119 participate in the discussion by sending email to a "list" address 120 which in turn distributes it to all members of a list. Abuse of mail 121 lists is probably the biggest source of junk email (also known as 122 "spam"). Everyone should take care that they aren't the source of 123 junk mail. 125 FILE TRANSFER 127 Programs and documents are transferred in several ways. The most 128 common way this is done between individual users is to attach the 129 program or document to an e-mail message. Programs and documents are 130 usually transferred from sites to users using the save feature of a 131 web browser or the file transfer protocol (FTP). Such transfers 132 enable users to obtain a variety of programs, documents, audio files, 133 and video files. 135 CHAT 137 Chat takes place between one or more persons who are on the Internet. 138 Chatting is very similar to going to a party. Just as people 139 congregate in small groups and discuss things, chatters meet in chat 140 rooms to discuss a topic. Chat rooms are generally sponsored or 141 operated by an organization that has an interest in the topic area. 142 For example, an online news organization would have a chat room for 143 chatters to discuss current events. To chat one person writes a 144 message which can be read, as it is being written, by the others who 145 can respond to it in turn. First time chatters should be aware that 146 just as at a party where some people never say anything, so there may 147 be people in the room who are just listening. Also, just like at a 148 party, some people may portray themselves to be someone different 149 than who they really are. Lastly, remember that chatters come and go 150 to chat rooms the same way people move about groups at a party. 152 GAMES 154 Some people use the Internet to play games. These games can be role 155 playing games, action/adventure games, or online versions of old 156 standbys like chess. Some games require the user to purchase a copy 157 of the game and install it on their computer, while others are played 158 by going to a game site. Just like other forms of game playing, 159 Internet game playing can be challenging, entertaining, and an 160 enjoyable social experience. Don't be afraid to have fun. 162 OTHER ACTIVITIES 164 Other popular activities include electronic shopping, banking, and 165 investing. Many retailers describe and display pictures of their 166 products on the Internet enabling people to buy on line. Shopping 167 also includes purchasing services such as an airline ticket or 168 ordering groceries. Many banks allow people to transfer funds, check 169 available funds, pay bills and other such activities while on the 170 Internet with an account number and ID. Lastly, many people invest 171 while on the Internet in everything from stocks and bonds to real 172 estate. One word of caution, if you are using a credit card, check 173 to see if there are security features in place to protect your credit 174 card information. Reputable sites should tell you how they are 175 protecting your information. If you are in doubt about how your 176 information will be protected, don't use your credit card at that 177 site. 179 2.3. What is an Address? 181 Two commonly asked questions these days are "What's your e-mail 182 address?" and "What's the URL?" Generally, the first question is 183 asking where to send information, while the second is asking where to 184 get information. The answer to the first question is usually 185 something like myname@company.com. The answer to the second question 186 is usually something like "http://www.newspaper.com". What do these 187 answers mean? 188 E-MAIL ADDRESS 190 As stated previously an e-mail address is something like 191 "myname@company.com", pronounced "MYNAME at COMPANY dot COM". An 192 email address consists of two parts that are divided by an "@" sign. 193 The portion to the left is like the name line on a letter, it 194 identifies a particular person and usually is composed of the 195 person's name. Typical names look like this: 197 john_doe 198 john.doe 199 jdoe 200 doej 202 The name is assigned by the system or network adminstrator who is 203 managing the email system and follows rules that have been 204 established by the company providing the e-mail service. Sometimes 205 the name portion of the e-mail address is referred to as a mailbox. 207 The portion to the right of the "@" sign is the name of the computer 208 system that is providing the e-mail service. This name is usually 209 the name of the company that owns the computer system followed by a 210 "dot" and an abbreviation that represents the "domain" or group of 211 names which the organization falls under. Examples of these "top 212 level" domains are "edu", "com", and country codes such as "fr" for 213 France and "jp" for Japan. When an e-mail is sent the portion of the 214 address to the right of the "@" sign is used to find the destination 215 computer of the email. 217 URL 219 A Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is commonly used to identify a 220 computer that provides world wide web service. It usually looks 221 something like "http://www.newspaper.com". This address also 222 consists of two parts. In this case the two parts are separated by 223 the "//". The portion to the left means find the world wide web 224 service that is located at the computer identified to the right of 225 the "//". The portion to the right is the name of the computer that 226 is providing the world wide web service. Its name is composed of 227 parts that are similar to those described for the name of an email 228 computer. Sometines the portion of the right contains additional 229 information that identifies a particular document at the web site. 230 For example, http://www.newspaper.com/sports/article1.html would 231 identify a specific article in the sports section of the newspaper. 233 2.4. Are There Any Rules of Behavior on the Internet? 235 In general, common sense, courtesy, and decency govern good Internet 236 behavior. There is no single formal rulebook that governs behavior on 237 the Internet. FYI 28 that was mentioned previously is a good guide. 238 Many activities such as game sites, chat rooms, or e-mail lists may 239 have rules of their own. What may be acceptable behavior in one chat 240 room may be totally out of bounds in another. It never hurts to 241 check the water temperature before jumping in the pool. Users should 242 use the same precautions before joining in any online activity. 244 E-mail in particular can lead to misunderstandings between people. 245 Users should remember that the reader only has the text to determine 246 what is being said. Other conversation cues such as "tone of voice" 247 and body signals like winking are not present in the text. Because 248 of this, users of the Internet have developed cues to put in the 249 text. Text techniques such as capitalization and symbols known as 250 emoticons (also called "smilies") are used. 252 A typical smiley looks like this :-) 254 Additionally, acronyms have evolved over time (for example IMHO - In 255 My Humble Opinion). More information about this can be found by 256 searching. Use keywords like "netiquette" and "emoticon" with your 257 search engine to find more information. 259 Users should also be aware that their particular programs such as 260 word processors or e-mail might produce documents and messages that 261 are not readable by everyone. Very often, a reader must have the 262 same program in which a document was written in order to read it. 263 So, before sending an attached document, it is a good idea to make 264 sure that the intended receiver of your document has the capability 265 to read it. If in doubt, send a text (ascii) version of the 266 document. 268 2.5. How Does the Internet Work? 270 Each of the activities mentioned in the section describing what one 271 can do on the Internet requires that computers exchange information. 272 Computers take turns sending and receiving information. When a 273 computer is sending information, it is known as the "source"; when it 274 is receiving information, it is known as the "destination." (The 275 same computer can be both a source and destination at different 276 times. This is especially clear when one thinks of sending and 277 receiving e-mail.) 279 Every computer on the Internet has a unique Internet "address" that 280 identifies it from among the millions of computers. The Internet has 281 specialized computers between the source and destination located at 282 network inter-connection points. These computers are known as 283 "routers." The routers understand how to use a computer's address to 284 appropriately point information from one computer to another over the 285 Internet. 287 In an exchange of information the following occurs: 289 * The source finds the address of the destination. 291 * The source contacts the destination and says "hello". 293 * The destination responds back with a "hello" of its own. 295 * The source tells the destination that it has information to 296 send. 298 * The destination tells the source that it is ready to receive the 299 information. 301 * The source breaks the information into small pieces called 302 packets and sends each packet on its way to the destination. 304 * The routers guide each packet to the destination. 306 * The destination takes the packets and puts them back together to 307 form the information. 309 * The destination tells the source that it has received the 310 information and asks the source if it has anything more to send. 312 * If the source says no, the destination will say "good bye" 313 unless it has something to send back. If it does, it will break 314 the information into packets and send them. 316 * Once both end users are done "talking" they say both say "good 317 bye". 319 Clearly our simplified introduction to this section did not explain 320 many steps in this process, such as how a computer discovers the 321 address of another computer or how packets are divided and 322 reassembled. Fortunately, these are specifics that people using the 323 Internet never really need to deal with! 325 2.6 Who Runs the Internet? 327 No one. The Internet is a cooperative effort among Internet Service 328 Providers (ISPs), software companines, volunteer organizations, and a 329 few facilities that tie the whole thing together. The ISPs and 330 software companies are completely independent and most of them 331 compete with each other. The ISPs provide internet service to people 332 much the same way that they obtain telephone service from a telephone 333 company. ISPs agree to connect their networks to each other and 334 transmit information following an established set of rules 335 (protocols). The software companies agree to manufacture programs 336 (such as email or web browsers) that also follow protocols. There 337 are other organizations that keep things straight. Some assign 338 Internet addresses in much the same manner as telephone numbers are 339 assigned, others keep track of names used by Internet users and 340 groups, and a large volunteer organization called the Internet 341 Engineering Task Force (IETF) develops the protocols computers follow 342 to make network communications succeed. 344 3. Security Considerations 346 The question "is the Internet secure?" can be a confusing one for 347 people, who will hear many assurances that it is secure and many 348 scary stories saying it is not secure. There are a few basic rules 349 of thumb to remember that will address most concerns. 351 First, make it a rule never to share account passwords with anyone. 352 Learning a password is the easiest way for someone to break into a 353 system. Most people feel that their files are not that interesting 354 to anyone, but someone may be able to get a foothold from one 355 innocuous account to other places in the same computer system. Many 356 good security practices can be found in the Users Security Handbook 357 [FYI 34, RFC 2504]. 359 Second, understand that there are means for people to track the 360 information a user sends via email, the files one downloads, and the 361 sites visited on the web. The system administrators and network 362 engineers who oversee a sites' computers require access to 363 information that an individual may think is secret. In practice, no 364 responsible system administrator or network engineer will violate a 365 person's privacy out of personal curiousity. However, if someone 366 less legitimate attains illegal access to a system, they also will 367 have access to this information. This situation is not a problem for 368 most people, but it should be understood that things like email sent 369 a year ago or a log of users web pages browsed may still exist in 370 some system's backup archive tape and can be easily resurrected and 371 published widely. 373 Third, before giving personal information over the Internet, such as 374 filling in a form on a Web page, users should realize that there is 375 no assurance of confidentiality or privacy. It could be compared to 376 faxing such information to a party that you've never dealt with 377 before. While many organizations on the Internet are responsible 378 with information received via the web and email, this cannot always 379 be determined in advance. 381 4. References 383 [1] Guttman, E., Leong, G., and Malkin, G., "Users' Security 384 Handbook", RFC 2504, FYI 34, Sun Microsystems, COLT, Bay Networks, 385 February 1999. 387 [2] Hambridge, S., "Netiquette Guidelines", RFC 1855, FYI 28, Intel 388 Corporation, October 1995. 390 5. Authors' Address 392 Raymond Plzak 393 SAIC 394 1710 Goodridge Drive 395 McLean, Virginia 22102 397 Phone: (703) 821-6535 398 EMail: plzakr@saic.com 400 Amy Tracy Wells 401 Internet Scout Project 402 University of Wisconsin-Madison 403 Computer Sciences Department 404 1210 W. Dayton St. 405 Madison, WI 53706 407 Phone: (608)263-2611 408 Email: awel@cs.wisc.edu 410 Ed Krol 411 University of Illinois 412 1120 DCL 1304 Springfield 413 Urbana IL 61801 415 Phone (217)333-7886 416 Email: krol@uiuc.edu 418 6. "Full Copyright Statement". 420 "Copyright (C) The Internet Society (date). All Rights Reserved. 422 This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to others, 423 and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it or assist in its 424 implmentation may be prepared, copied, published and distributed, in whole or 425 in part, without restriction of any kind, provided that the above copyright 426 notice and this paragraph are included on all such copies and derivative 427 works. However, this document itself may not be modified in any way, such as 428 by removing the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or 429 other Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of developing 430 Internet standards in which case the procedures for copyrights defined in the 431 Internet Standards process must be followed, or as required to translate it 432 into languages other than English. 434 The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be revoked 435 by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns. 437 This document and the information contained herein is provided on an "AS IS" 438 basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING TASK FORCE 439 DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO 440 ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY 441 RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A 442 PARTICULAR PURPOSE. 444 Appendix A 445 Glossary of Terms 447 Emoticon Combination of punctuation marks used to provide sense of 448 the senders tone of voice in an e-mail message 449 IETF Internet Engineering Task Force [see text for a description] 450 Internet An interconnected group of networks 451 ISP Internet Service Provider [see text for a description] 452 Network A connected group of computers 453 Router A specialized computer that connects networks together and 454 guides information packets to their destination 455 Spam A slang term for junk e-mail 456 URL Uniform Resource Locator [see text for a description] 457 Web Browser A program that provides the capablility to read 458 information that is located at a world wide web site