INTERNET-DRAFT R. Plzak draft-ietf-uswg-fyi4-00.txt SAIC A. Wells UWisc-Mad E. Krol Univ IL November 1998 FYI on Questions and Answers Answers to Commonly asked New Internet User Questions Status of this Memo This document is an Internet-Draft. Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups. Note that other groups may also distribute working documents as Internet-Drafts. Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to use Internet- Drafts as reference material or to cite them other than as "work in progress." To view the entire list of current Internet-Drafts, please check the "1id-abstracts.txt" listing contained in the Internet-Drafts Shadow Directories on ftp.is.co.za (Africa), ftp.nordu.net (Northern Europe), ftp.nis.garr.it (Southern Europe), munnari.oz.au (Pacific Rim), ftp.ietf.org (US East Coast), or ftp.isi.edu (US West Coast). "Copyright(C) The Internet Society (1998). All Rights Reserved." Abstract This memo provides an overview to the new Internet User. The intended audience is the common Internet user of today, thus it attempts to provide a more consumer oriented approach to the Internet rather than going into any depth about a topic. Unlike its predecessors, this edition seeks to answer the general questions that an unsophisticated consumer would ask as opposed to the more pointed questions of the more a technically sophisticated Internet user. Users desiring a more in-depth discussion are directed to FYI 7 that deals with intermediate and advanced Q/A topics. A conscious effort has been made to keep this memo brief but at the same time provide the new user with enough information to generally understand the Internet. USWG Expires 01 May 1999 [Page 1] INTERNET-DRAFT FYI Q/A for New Internet Users November 1998 1. Acknowledgements The following people deserve thanks for their help and contributions to thei FYI Q/A: Albert Lunde (NWU). 2. Questions About the Internet 2.1. What is the Internet? The Internet is the worldwide group of networks that are connected together. It consists of the computers used by users that are connected to these networks, the specialized computers (routers) that are the interconnection points between these networks, and the communications lines. Most home users connect to a network via a telephone line and a communication device (modem). A company known as an Internet Service Provider (ISP) connects this network to the Internet. The Internet was put together from normal telephone communication products which are offered by telephone companies, but they are used in a different way which allows everyone to share them which makes the whole thing cheaper. The Internet is structured much like any other business. You buy your service from a retail ISP. Your ISP takes its profit and buys bulk services from a bigger provider who does the same thing. This may happen a couple of times until there gets a point where there are places where the big providers all connect together and communicate with each other. There are only a few of these in each area of the world and they pay a fee to connect at these points. The connection points are connected together by international providers, so that if you connect to the Internet at one point, you can get anywhere in the world. 2.2. Who Runs the Internet? The Internet is operated as a cooperative effort among the ISPs, software companies, volunteer organizations, and a few facilities that tie the whole thing together. The ISPs and software companies are completely independent and most of them compete with each other. The ISPs agree to connect to each other and transmit information following an established set of rules (protocols). The software companies agree to manufacture programs (such as email or web browsers) that also follow protocols. These protocols are developed by a group of volunteers (Internet Engineering Task Force IETF) that come together regularly and discuss how the Internet is running and how to standardize new services. But, there are things that must be unique in the Internet, just like your phone number must be unique in the world. To keep these things USWG Expires 01 May 1999 [Page 2] INTERNET-DRAFT FYI Q/A for New Internet Users November 1998 straight there are groups identified in the community which allocate addresses (IP Registries ARIN, RIPE, APNIC), allocate names (domain registries), and generally keep track of things (ICANN). This is keeps the Internet working well, adding new services, and running on a wide variety of computers. 2.3. What Can I do on the Internet? There are a variety of applications and activities on the Internet. These include the ability to surf, use search tools, send mail, transfer programs and documents, and chat. Surfing is one of the two most popular activities. To surf, a user uses a program known as a web browser. The web browser enables the user to connect to a location that contains information. From one location a user can follow various links by clicking on them to explore the Internet. Like following a footnote or reference in a print publication, links can be used to find related or non-related information. Typically surfing begins by connecting to a site that contains a search engine. Since the Internet contains many, many different kinds of material on a wide variety of topics, finding exactly what you are looking for can be challenging. This is where search engines come in since they can help you locate specific information. But, remember just as using a dictionary versus the yellow pages to locate information on automobiles will yield very different results, so too will different search engines. E-mail is the second most popular activity and is very similar to sending letters through the post office. It is both an application and an activity which allows for the exchange of messages between two or more people. Additionally, many people use e-mail to join and participate in what are known as listserv discussions or mail lists. A listserv is simply a forum wherein people exchange e-mail and is typically on a defined topic i.e. home buying, politics, or even running the Internet. Programs and documents are transferred in several ways. The most common way this is done between individual users is to attach the program or document to an e-mail message. Programs and documents are usually transferred from sites to users using the save feature of a web browser or the file transfer protocol (FTP). This enables users to obtain a variety of programs, documents, audio files, and video files. Another application and activity known as chat takes place with another person or persons who are also on the Internet. Chatting is USWG Expires 01 May 1999 [Page 3] INTERNET-DRAFT FYI Q/A for New Internet Users November 1998 very similar to going to a party. Just as people congregate in small groups and discuss things, chatters meet in chat rooms to discuss a topic. Chat rooms are generally sponsored or operated by an organization that has an interest in the topic area. For example, an online news organization would have a chat room for chatters to discuss current events. To chat one person writes a message which can be read, as it is being written, by the others who can respond to it in turn. Persons who enter a chat room but dont enter the discussion are said to be lurking. Chatters come and go to chat rooms the same way people move about groups at a party. Some popular activities that have recently sprung up include electronic shopping, banking, and investing. Major and specialty retail stores around the nation and many around the world describe and display pictures of their products on the Internet for people to buy directly or indirectly. Shopping can also include purchasing services such as an airline ticket or ordering groceries. Additionally, many banks allow people to transfer funds, check available funds, pay bills and other such activities while on the Internet with an account number and ID. Lastly, many people invest while on the Internet in everything from stocks and bonds to real estate. 2.4. How Does the Internet Work? The Internet allows people to conduct activities, whether it is web browsing, e-mail, a file transfer, or a chat session between two computers (source and destination) that can be located anywhere. To make this happen several things occur. An activity is started, the address of the destination is identified, a path to the destination is created, an activity session is started, and then the activity takes place. This is done by a variety of programs that follow standards (protocols) of Internet activity. Lets look at how this would happen for an e-mail session. The user creates a message using an e-mail program. The user identifies the destination by specifying an e-mail address. Since humans are more comfortable with names the e-mail protocol specifies that this address is the name of the user at the destination. It looks like jones@ietf.org. However, the computers that move information about the Internet use numeric addresses called Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. IP addresses are used to move (route) the message along the best path to the destination. Thus the name has to be translated into an IP address. The name-to-address mapping system called the Domain Name System (DNS) does this. Once the address has been determined, a set of protocols called routing protocols find the best path to the destination. Then an activity session is created between the source and the destination computer. The e-mail protocol checks USWG Expires 01 May 1999 [Page 4] INTERNET-DRAFT FYI Q/A for New Internet Users November 1998 the destination to make sure that it will accept the message. Finally the message is transmitted. As it moves from the source to the destination it may cross several networks that belong to several ISPs. All of this activity takes place within the time it takes to read this paragraph! 2.5. Are There Any Rules of Behavior? In general common sense, courtesy, and decency govern good Internet behavior. There is no single formal rulebook that governs behavior on the Internet. However many e-mail discussion lists and chat rooms have an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP). Before you join in one of these activities check and see if there is an AUP, make sure you understand it, and then follow it. The IETF has published RFC 1855 (Netiquette Guidelines) and is publishing other RFCs that deal with subjects such as advertising and Internet junk mail (spam). Users should also be aware that their particular programs such as word processors or e-mail might produce documents and messages that are not readable by everyone. You should make sure that the intended recipient can read what you are sending them. As in any group, the users of the Internet have, over time, developed language short cuts. These primarily take the form of acronyms and emoticons (smilies). Lists of these acronyms and emoticons can be found by surfing. 3. Security Considerations It is important to realize that not Internet user is a good netizen. Therefore, users should learn to protect themselves. The IETF has published several RFCs that provide security information and guidance. Additionally, users can protect themselves from sites and documents that have unwanted content by using baby sitting software. 4. References References to be inserted here. USWG Expires 01 May 1999 [Page 5] INTERNET-DRAFT FYI Q/A for New Internet Users November 1998 5. Authors' Address Raymond Plzak SAIC 1710 Goodridge Drive McLean, Virginia 22102 Phone: (703) 821-6535 EMail: plzakr@saic.com Amy Tracy Wells Internet Scout Project University of Wisconsin-Madison Computer Sciences Department 1210 W. Dayton St. Madison, WI 53706 Phone: (608)263-2611 Email: awel@cs.wisc.edu Ed Krol University of Illinois 1120 DCL 1304 Springfield Urbana IL 61801 Phone (217)333-7886 Email: krol@uiuc.edu 6. "Full Copyright Statement". "Copyright (C) The Internet Society (date). All Rights Reserved. This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it or assist in its implmentation may be prepared, copied, published and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are included on all such copies and derivative works. However, this document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be followed, or as required to translate it USWG Expires 01 May 1999 [Page 6] INTERNET-DRAFT FYI Q/A for New Internet Users November 1998 into languages other than English. The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns. This document and the information contained herein is provided on an "AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. USWG Expires 01 May 1999 [Page 7]