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NetMonth, Movember 1988
******** **************************************************
* * *
* * The independent guide to BITNET *
* * *
* * November, 1988 *
* * *
* * Volume 3, Number 5 *
******** * *
* *
*** * *
* * * * *
* * * * *
* * * * Es brillig war. Die schlichte Toven *
* ** * Wirrten und wimmelten in Waben; *
* Und aller-muemsige Burggoven *
* * Die Mohmen Raeth' ausgraben. *
* * *
****** * Bewahre doch vor Jammerwoch! *
* * Die Zaehne knirschen,Krallen-Kratzen! *
* * Bewahr' vor Jubjub-Vogel vor *
* Frumioesen Banderschnaetzchen! *
******** * *
* * Er griff sein vorpals Schwertchen zu, *
* * Er suchte lang das manchsam' Ding; *
* * Dann, stehend unten Tumtum Baum, *
* * Er an-zu-denken-fing. *
* * *
******** * Als stand er tief in Andacht auf, *
* Des Jammerwochen's Augen-feuer *
*** * Durch tulgen Wald mit wiffek kam *
* * * Ein burbelnd ungeheuer! *
* * * *
* * * Eins Zwei! Eins Zwei! Und durch und durch *
*** * Sein vorpals Schwert zerschnifer-schnueck *
* Da blieb es todt! Er, Kopf in Hand, *
****** * Gelaeunfig zog zurueck. *
* * *
* * Und schlugst Du ja den Jammerwoch? *
* * Umarme mich, mein Boehm'sches Kind! *
**** * O Freuden-Tag! O Halloo-Schlag! *
* Er chortelt froh-gesinnt. *
* * *
* * Es brillig war. Die schlichte Toven *
****** * Wirrten und wimmelten in Waben; *
* * Und aller muemsige Burggoven *
* * Die mohmen Raeth' ausgraben. *
* *
******** * *
* * *
* * *
* * *
**** **************************************************
1
* * * * *
** * * ** ** * * *
* * * *** ***** * * * * *** **** ***** ****
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * ***** * * * * * * * * * *
* ** * * * * * * * * * * *
* * **** * * * *** * * * * *
****** ******
Christopher Condon Editor CONDON @ YALEVM
Timothy Stephen Associate Editor STEPHEN @ RPICICGE
Craig White Associate Editor CWHITE @ UA1VM
June Genis Contributing Editor GA.JRG @ STANFORD
David Hibler Contributing Editor ENGL0333 @ UNLVM
Henry Mensch Contributing Editor HENRY @ MITVMA
Deba Patnaik Contributing Editor DEBA @ UMDC
Gerry Santoro Contributing Editor GMS @ PSUVM
Marc Shannon Helpdesk Editor HELPDESK @ DRYCAS
Glen Overby Technical Assistant NCOVERBY @ NDSUVAX
Gary Moss Point of View MOSS @ YALEVM
********************* Contents - Issue 27 *********************
EDITORIAL PAGE_________________________________________________
Bitnotes .................................................... 1
The BITNET/CSNET Merger ..................................... 4
FEATURES_______________________________________________________
The National Science Foundation Server ...................... 5
DargonZine .................................................. 7
Finger ...................................................... 8
DEPARTMENTS____________________________________________________
Headlines ................................................... 9
Helpdesk ................................................... 12
Policies ................................................... 16
* For information on subscribing to NetMonth, submitting *
* articles, sending letters, and printing this file, see *
* the "Policies" section on the last pages of this issue. *
---------------------< Distribution: 3501 >--------------------
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*********
* * Bitnotes
* *
* * by Christopher Condon
* *
* * Yale University
* *
* * BITLIB@YALEVM
*********
"The End Becomes the Means"
-------
Often when I am faced with a problem it helps to take a step
back and look at it from the outside. Sometimes the annoying
little glitch I am focusing on is merely a symptom of a
serious, gigantic glitch. While it is no fun finding these
things out, I would rather use my resources fixing problems
instead of symptoms.
I've started to wonder if the latest ruckus about BITNET user
directories doesn't fall into the "annoying" category. Our
problem (or so it appears) is that there are too many diverse,
overlapping, and inconsistent servers filling this function in
the network. While there have been a number of discussions
about what could be done to rectify this situation, no real
progress has been made. There remain obstacles and arguments
about privacy, data formats, user interfaces... the list goes
on.
Now, take a step back. Remove yourself from the thick of the
situation and your own preferences on how the problem should be
solved. To the impartial observer, this user directory
discussion provides a unique opportunity to watch how
weaknesses are uncovered, defined, and eventually addressed in
BITNET.
If you recall, our network is (in spirit) a cooperative one.
While each node pays dues in order to receive technical
services (routing tables, etc.) from the BITNIC, information
services (LISTSERV, COMSERVE, NetMonth) are provided on a
voluntary basis. Most change is brought about not by work
groups or committees, but by individuals (for whatever reason).
Eric Thomas took it upon himself to improve the original BITNIC
LISTSERV and propagate his version throughout the network.
Jeff Kell wrote RELAY and did much the same thing. While these
people received (and are receiving) assistance from others in
the network to continue their efforts, the impetus for change
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an individual one. Or rather, the effort in BITNET change is a
group one, where the momentum behind that change, the
groundwork, often comes from a single person.
BITNET began as an experiment in academic networking. Its
purpose was not so much to provide academic computing services
as to PROVE that they could be proviced. BITNET was an end in
itself. As the network has grown, this emphasis has changed
(and rightly so). The End is now to provide academic
communications services, and BITNET has become the Means.
My question is this: Is the current organizational structure of
BITNET adequate for providing technical and information
services in a timely and consistent manner?
Put a different way: Has BITNET outgrown its volunteer ethic?
Most BITNET information standards are, in fact, "de facto"
standards. They become accepted because they are so widespread
or because the "competition" is nonexistent, or because that
individual behind the service has a heck of a lot of impetus.
There is nothing that says that you must use LISTSERV to
maintain your mailing list. You can write your own server or
devise your own method if you like. But if the tools are
there, and they are widespread, and the people know how to use
them, why bother? Hence, the "standard".
Somewhere in my resume it states that BITNET SERVERS is the
"official" list of servers and services in the network. Of
course, there isn't any other list, there hasn't been any other
list, so it must be the "standard".
Where does the Network Information Center fit in all of this?
The BITNIC staff provides a fine level of support given its
overworked and understaffed state. Their mandate (as I
interpret it) it to provide bare-bones basic information and
technical services to keep the network running. The people
there *can't* do much more than that given their current
funding. The bells and whistles (LISTSERV, NetMonth) are
provided, run, and supported by outside sources.
Our current dilemma is user directory servers. I have no
illusions that the committees or discussion groups are going to
design and implement a solution to this problem. Rather, some
ambitious soul is going to sit down, think the problem through,
write a server or a system, and start spreading it through the
network. Whether or not his or her solution is the best
possible one is irrelevant. It will become popular and
therefore "standard".
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Question: Is this method of providing services adequate for a
network of BITNET's size?
I think not.
As always, I welcome your thoughts on this topic. Is the
BITNET organization basicly inadequate for providing the
services it should? Are we just getting what we pay for? Or is
Chris just in a bad mood today?
Virtually,
Chris Condon@YALEVM
1
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*********
* * The Proosed BITNET/CSNET Merger
* *
* * by Jim Conklin
* *
* * BITNET Network Information Center
* *
* * CONKLIN@BITNIC
*********
I notice that some discussion of the proposed BITNET/CSnet
merger has transpired while I've been conference-hopping.
Without trying to familiarize myself with all that's been said,
let me confirm that the BITNET Board of Trustees unanimously
agreed in principle to the merger of BITNET with CSnet and
voted to RECOMMEND to the BITNET membership that the Board be
authorized to proceed with the merger. The CSnet Executive
Committee has made a similar recommendation to UCAR, which
manages CSnet.
The BITNET Board will prepare a statement outlining its
understanding of the issues involved in the proposed merger,
together with its recommendation, and will conduct a VOTE of
the BITNET members, with the members' BITNET Institutional
Representatives casting the votes for their respective
institutions. Only if that vote is favorable to the merger
will the BITNET Board continue to pursue it. (Favorable action
by UCAR is, of course, also necessary.) The Board hopes to
conduct this vote within the next few weeks.
Since the report by Gillespie, Faulkner, and Associates (the
consultants hired by BITNET and CSnet to study the issues
involved) is more than a hundred pages long, it will not be
practical to distribute it in full to the membership. The
intent of the Board is to capture the essence of the report in
the material it distributes to the membership in connection
with the vote on the merger.
My present understanding of the consultants' recommendation is
that the combined network is expected to provide all services
now included in the BITNET and in the CSnet offerings, for
several years. The proposed costs to universities for the
various services replicate the present costs, with some changes
for the industrial members proposed, to make the industrial
memberships closely resemble those for the present CSnet. A
transition team chosen by the two networks will generate new
bylaws and a more detailed plan for the merger, if the two
networks approve the recommendation to merge.
* Note: Jim Conklin is Director of the BITNIC
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*********
* * The National Science Foundation Server
* *
* * from the documentation
* *
* * The National Science Foundation
* *
* * INFO@NSF
*********
The National Science Foundation information server (INFO@NSF)
is a mail-based service. That is, it accepts commands and
sends information to you via electronic mail.
To send a request, your mail does not need a subject field.
The text of your message must be in a special format, however,
such as:
REQUEST: INFO
TOPIC: HELP
REQUEST: END
This request asks for the document "HELP" from the "request"
collection "INFO". Your message must have a "REQUEST" line, to
specify the request collection, and one or more "TOPIC:" lines
to specify documents from the collection. The optional
statement "REQUEST: END" terminates your specification. Any
subsequent text in the message is ignored by the Info Server.
You may specify a limit, in lines or bytes, to the maximum size
of document that you wish to have sent in a single message.
For example:
LINE-LIMIT: 1000 or BYTE-LIMIT: 75K
The Info Server will break the documents at exactly the
specified number of lines, or at the line preceeding the
specified number of bytes. The minimum limit is 2000 lines or
12000 bytes. You may use the form "75000" or "75K" in either
limit, but NOT "75,000". The limit affects only lines up to
the next REQUEST: line.
You may combine different requests in the same message, and use
any combination of upper- and lower-case letters in your text.
You may also include or omit spaces and tabs, use any number of
REQUEST and TOPIC lines, and omit "REQUEST: END". For example:
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REQUEST: INFO
BYTE-LIMIT: 22000
TOPIC: HELP (byte limit in effect)
REQUEST: FORMS
TOPIC: REVIEWS (byte limit not in effect)
If you include "REQUEST: END", the INFO SERVER will ignore
whatever follows in your message. If you include "REQUEST:
ATTENTION", the INFO SERVER will ignore whatever follows and
deliver your entire message to POSTMAST@NSF.
You are encouraged to suggest additional documents you would
like to have available from the NSF Info Server. Mail
suggestions to POSTMANST@NSF.
REQUEST collections currently available:
REQUEST: INFO Information on using the Info-Server.
REQUEST: FORMS Templates and forms.
REQUEST: GRAD-FEL Graduate Fellowship Program files.
REQUEST: INT-SCIENG International Science and Engineering
1
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*********
* * DargonZine
* *
* * by John L. White
* *
* * Drexel University
* *
* * WHITE@DUVM
*********
* Editor's note: As many of you know, FSFNet magazine ceaced
publication a few months back. However, its continuing Dargon
writing project survives in the form of DargonZine, edited by
John L. White. To subscribe, send a reqeuest to him at
WHITE@DUVM.
The following is from the introduction to the first issue:
Hello, readers! Here it is, the first issue of the
"replacement" - or rather, continuation - of FSFNet. As the
new Editor, I hope that DargonZine serves you all as well as my
predecesor's magazine did.
DargonZine is not really a replacement for FSFNet, but rather a
vehicle for the continuation of the Dargon Project, which made
up a substantial part of the material in FSFNet. DargonZine
will not be publishing anything non-Dargon, but R. Allen
Jervis (C78KCK@IRISHMVS) has consented to take up the slack and
publish any non-Dargon SF or Fantasy that anyone out there
would like to write and/or read.
This first issue contains five stories, three from authors new
to the project. The first is from Max Khaytsus, and continues
his "Unlikely Partners" story, Part 1 of which was in FSFNET
Vol11N2. The second story, "Runaway", is by our first new
author Michelle Brothers. The first part of the story provides
some background to the rest of the story, and the second part,
which happens some 9 months later, happens shortly after Max's
story ends - in fact, they cross to a minor extent.
The third story is from another new author, John Sullivan.
"Steel Souls" gives us a little insight into the character of
Ittosai. It takes place between "Worthy of the Title" and "A
Visit to Connall", which appeared in FSFNet Vol10N5 and Vol11N3
respectively, before Ittosai has become the Castellan of
Connall.
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*********
* * Finger
* *
* * by Marty Hoag
* *
* * North Dakota State University
* *
* * INFO@NDSUVM1
*********
FINGER@NDSUVM1 is a user directory server for people trying to
locate individuals at North Dakota State University. It
accepts commands via interactive messages.
Actually, it doesn't accept commands at all. There are no
commands. All you do is send the server a message with the
name (or part of the name) of the person you are looking for.
One interesting feature is that the server also tells you when
the person last logged on. In this example, I am searching
for all the people with the name "Jones":
VM/CMS: TELL FINGER AT NDSUVM Jones
VAX/VMS: SEND FINGER@NDSUVM "Jones"
The response would look like this:
* Searching for Jones
* on ND HECN Host VM1.NoDak.EDU (NDSUVM1 on BITNET)
* --- Userid = MN034881 (Note 0=ZERO!) ---
* SCOTT JONES MISC COMP.SCI. 839-1898 student
* Last on 02:54 CST Sat 12/03/88 from U21LC785
*
* --- Userid = MV008981 (Note 0=ZERO!) ---
* Kimberly Jones MASC MACS 786-2301 student
* Last on 20:16 CDT Thu 05/19/88 from N12LC54B
*
* Last logon information is checked for
* the first 2 hits only.
*
* --- Userid = UD130919 (Note 0=ZERO!) ---
* Kelly Jones UND Aviation 775-6221 student
*
* --- Userid = UD148677 ---
* Scott E. Jones UND Mech. Engr. 777-8662 student
*
* Finger Command Complete.
You do not need to specify wildcards. A search for "Hoa" would
turn up both "Marty Hoag" and "Mary Whoah".
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*********
* * Headlines
* *
* * from Various Sources
* *
* * from Precarious Places
* *
* * Send them to BITLIB@YALEVM
*********
* From Hank Nussbacher: At the 7th annual International
Network workshop that was held in Jerusalem this past week, the
representative from China announced that as of September 15,
1988, the United States had removed the Cocom restriction on
computer equipment exports to China. This paves the way for
connecting China to Bitnet (which had applied previously).
* Announcing EARN Appointments (from Bitnews): David Jennings,
EARN President, has announced the appointment of Frode Greisen
as President and Michael Hebegen as Vice President of the
European Academic and Research Network, officially effective
February 1989.
President-Elect Greisen (NEUFRODE@NEUVM1) is from the UNI-C
Danish Computing Center for Reseach and Education. Vice
President-Elect Hebgen ($02@DHDURZ1) is associated with the
Universitaet Heidelberg.
As Ex Officio Members of the BITNET Board of Trustees, both
Greisen and Hebgen will also be accessed via the LISTSERV List
BOARD-L@BITNIC.
EARN, the European Academic and Research Network, is a computer
network for academic and research institutions located in
Europe, Middle East, and Africa. Founded in 1984, EARN is
linked to BITNET (USA) and NetNorth (CANADA) in North America,
forming one topologically interconnected network.
* BIOCSI Corrections: In out October issue we truncated the
information about BIOSCI mailing lists for space reasons. As a
result the information provided was somewhat inaccurate. We
apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. In the
following list you would subscribe using the Distribution List
name to LISTSERV@IRLEARN:
IRLEARN Dist. Long Address (for reference only)
Address List and Topic
BIONEWS $BIONEWS BIONEWS
General announcements
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BIOMATRX $BIOMATR BIO-MATRIX
Applications of computers to biological
databases
BIOTECH $BIOTECH BIOTECH
Biotechnology Issues
SOFT-CON SOFT$CON CONTRIBUTED-SOFTWARE
Information on molecular biology programs
contributed to the public domain
EMBL-DB EMBL$DB EMBL-DATABANK
Messages to and from the EMBL database
staff
BIOJOBS $BIOJOBS EMPLOYMENT
Job opportunities
GENBANKB $GENBANK GENBANK-BB
Messages to and from the GenBank
database staff
GENE-EXP GENE$EXP GENE-EXPRESSION
Scientific Interest Group
GENE-ORG GENE$ORG GENOMIC-ORGANIZATION
Scientific Interest Group
METHODS $METHODS METHODS-AND-REAGENTS
Requests for information and lab reagents
MOL-EVOL MOL$EVOL MOLECULAR-EVOLUTION
Scientific Interest Group
ONCOGENE $ONCOGEN ONCOGENES
Scientific Interest Group
SOFT-COM SOFT$COM PC-COMMUNICATIONS
Information on communications software
SOFT-PC SOFT$PC PC-SOFTWARE
Information on PC-software for scientists
PIR-BB PIR$BB PIR
Messages to and from the PIR
database staff
PLANT $PLANT PLANT-MOLECULAR-BIOLOGY
Scientific Interest Group
PROTEINS $PROTEIN PROTEIN-ANALYSIS
Scientific Interest Group
RESEARCH $RESEARC RESEARCH-NEWS
Research news of interest to the community
SCI-RES SCI$RES SCIENCE-RESOURCES
Information about funding agencies, etc.
SWISSPRT $SWISSPR SWISS-PROT
Messages to and from the SWISS-PROT
database staff
YEAST $YEAST YEAST-GENETICS
Scientific Interest Group
1
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* Internet address changes: The following servers have changed
their network addresses:
NBSLIB@ICST-CMR.ARPA is now NBSLIB@CMR.ICST.NBS.GOV
NETLIB@ANL-MCS.ARPA is now NETLIB@RESEARCH.ATT.COM
* BITNIC Plans Move to Washington, D.C. (from Bitnews):
The BITNIC will be moving to the new EDUCOM offices in
Washington, D.C., over a period of several months starting
January, 1989.
The present BITNIC computer will remain in Princeton until
arrangements are complete for a replacement system in
Washington. Some staff members will remain in Princeton until
at least April 1989, possibly longer, with other staff locating
in Washington in early January -- all new staff will be
established in the Washington office.
Every effort will be made to ensure constant and continuous
service to the BITNET and its membership.
* Ozone Newsletter: The Ozone newsletter has been expanded to
cover any subject about the environment. The name of the
newsletter has also been changed to reflect this, and it is now
called: BioSphere Newsletter. To subscribe, you must still
send the following command to LISTSERV@ICNUCEVM: SUB OZONE
your_full_name. The OZONE mailing list is known as "Save
Nature", and subscribers to that mailing list also receive
BioSphere Newsletter.
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*********
* * Helpdesk - a Question and Answer column
* *
* * by Marc Shannon
* *
* * Carnegie-Mellon University
* *
* * Send your questions to HELPDESK@DRYCAS
*********
"Hello? This is the United States calling? Are we reaching?"
|