FTP or ftp, mailing lists?

[Rafal Maszkowski <[e-mail]>]

I see some confusion between FTP and ftp. I think that the name of the
protocol should be written in upper case, the name of the program -
- in lower case, at least in places where it is connected with actual
invoking of the UNIX ftp. I didn't make remarks in all places where 
it should be changed.

What about mailing lists? Sometimes they are even more usefull then 
archie. I know three: at FUNET, SIMTEL and at zeus.ieee.org. The last
is less important - one can get information about new files in FidoNet,
mainly for MS-DOS, Windows and Novell.
Maybe they should be moved with archie to a document entitled "How to
find just the file you need".

Rafal
-----------------------
What is FTP?

FTP refers to one of the protocols within the TCP/IP
protocol suite used on the Internet.  The File Transfer
Protocol makes it possible to transfer files from one
computer (or host) on the Internet to another.  There are many
ftp implementations built on the specification of the FTP protocol.
A user of an FTP program must log in to both hosts in
-----> could be ftp
order to transfer a file from one to the other.

It is common for a user with files on more than one host to
use the FTP program to transfer files from one
-------->
host to another.  In this case, the user has an account on
both hosts involved, so he has passwords for both hosts.

However, Internet users may also take advantage of a wealth
of information available from archive sites by using a
general purpose account called "anonymous FTP".
-----> ftp? FTP? I do not know but I meet more frequent 'ftp'.
-----> And anonymous is more connected with the program (in
-----> fact ftpd, not ftp) than the protocol.

...

A Sample Session

To start an FTP session on a UNIX or VMS host, you type
"ftp" and the host name or host IP address of the machine to
--> here is ok
which you want to connect.  For example, if you wish to
access the DDN Newtork Information Center (NIC) archive
site, you would normally execute one of the following
commands at the UNIX prompt:

        FTP nic.ddn.mil
or
        FTP 192.112.36.5
----> ftp in both cases - if it is UNIX really

Observe that the first form uses the fully-qualified domain
name and the second uses the Internet address for the same
host.


The following is an example of connecting to the nic.ddn.mil
host to retrieve FYI 4, "FYI on Questions and Answers:
Answers to Commonly Asked 'New Internet User' Questions."

Note several things about the session.

 1. Every response the FTP program at the archive site gives
----->        here could be too 'ftp'
    is preceded by a number.  These numbers are called
    Reply Codes and are defined in the FTP specification,
    RFC 959.  The text that accompanies these reply codes
    can vary in different FTP implementations, and usually does.  Note
    that the nic.ddn.mil administrator has chosen to provide
    a list of directories to users when they log in.  This
    is unusual; normally users interested in knowing the
    list of accessible directories must give a command to
    list them.

 2. The password you type is never shown on your screen.

...

paris% FTP nic.ddn.mil
---> ftp
Connected to nic.ddn.mil.
220-*****Welcome to the Network Information Center*****

...

A copy of the UNIX version of the FTP documentation is
available from the online manual.  If your UNIX site has the
manuals installed, type the following at the UNIX prompt:

	% man FTP
---> doesn't work, I tried


The Packaging and Naming of Files

...

  6) zip/unzip

  Often used in IBM PC environments, these complementary programs
  provide both bundling and compression mechanisms.  The resulting
  files are always in binary format.  Files resulting from the "zip"
  program are by convention terminated with the ".zip" filename
  extension.
----> maybe a warning about version 1.9 and information that unzip 5.0
----> can unzip both versions of zip?

  12) zoo
...

----> lha can be met much more often than zoo

...
-- 
Rafal Maszkowski, [e-mail], [e-mail], rzm@pltumk11
           NCU BBS ([phone], N81, MNP5, 2400) Sysop
    [e-mail]