RFC 1177 (rfc1177) - Page 2 of 24

FYI on Questions and Answers: Answers to commonly asked "new internet user" questions

RFC 1177            FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users         August 1990


   aware of additional questions that should be included, and of
   deficiencies or inaccuracies that should be amended in this document.
   Additional FYI Q/A's will be published which will deal with
   intermediate and advanced Q/A topics.

   The Q/A mailing lists are maintained by Gary Malkin at FTP.COM.  They
   are used by a subgroup of the USWG to discuss the Q/A FYIs.  They
   include:

              This is a discussion mailing list.  Its
                           primary use is for pre-release (to the
                           USWG) review of the Q/A FYIs.

      This is how you join the quail mailing list.

          This is where the questions and answers
                           will be forwarded-and-stored.  It is
                           not necessary to be on the quail mailing
                           list to forward to the quail-box.

2. Acknowledgements

   The following people deserve thanks for their help and contributions
   to the FYI Q/As: Berlin Moore (PREPNet), Craig Partridge (BBN),
   Jon Postel (ISI), Karen Roubicek (BBNST), James Van Bokkelen (FTP
   Software, Inc.), John Wobus (Syracuse University), and David Paul
   Zimmerman (Rutgers).

3. Questions About the Internet

   I just got on the Internet.  What can I do now?

      You now have access to all the resources you are authorized to use
      on your own Internet host, on any other Internet host on which you
      have an account, and on any other Internet host that offers
      publicly accessible information.  The Internet gives you the
      ability to move information between these hosts via file
      transfers.  Once you are logged into one host, you can use the
      Internet to open a connection to another, log in, and use its
      services interactively.  In addition, you can send electronic mail
      to users at any Internet site and to users on many non-Internet
      sites that are accessible via electronic mail.

      There are various other services you can use.  For example, some
      hosts provide access to specialized databases or to archives of
      information.  The Internet Resource Guide provides information
      regarding some of these sites.  The Internet Resource Guide lists
      facilities on the Internet that are available to users.  Such



User Services Working Group