Frequently Asked Questions and Answers about CompuServe's Internet Services

Version 1.5 - September 17, 1994

Introduction

This is a periodic posting on Internet-related topics for the members of
CompuServe's Internet Forum.

Here you will find information on how and where to find more information about
the Internet.  Included are references to specific files with additional
information which are available for downloading from the Internet Forum
libraries.

Comments and suggestions on this posting are most welcome.  Please send them via
CompuServe Mail to 76703,407 (Internet:76703.407@compuserve.com)

Copyright (c) 1994 Glenbrook Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

Glenbrook Systems, Inc. PO Box 7130 Menlo Park, CA 94026-7130

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Q: What Internet services are available on CompuServe?

A: CompuServe supports access to Usenet newsgroups distributed via the Internet.
To access the Usenet newsgroup area on CompuServe, GO USENET.

CompuServe supports the exchange of CompuServe Mail with Internet users.  For
more information on how to send CompuServe Mail to Internet addresses, see the
file CSMAIL.TXT in the Electronic Mail library (LIB 5).

CompuServe also supports in-bound access to the CompuServe Information Service
over the Internet using telnet.

CompuServe plans to introduce outbound telnet and FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
services by the end of 1994 and Gopher and WWW (World Wide Web) access during the
first half of 1995.

Q: Can I access the CompuServe Information Service from an Internet-connected
host computer?

A: Yes.  By using the telnet command available on an Internet-connected host, it
is possible to access CompuServe.  The format is:

   telnet compuserve.com

You must be sure that the telnet parameters are set properly for the link to work
correctly.  The best settings to use are:

    Enable binary 
    Disable escape 
    Enable CRLF options 
    Set terminal type to VT100 
    Set line mode

Q: Is it possible to telnet from CompuServe to other hosts on the Internet?

A: Not at this time.  CompuServe is planning to introduce outbound Internet
access services (both telnet and FTP) by the end of 1994.

Q. Is it possible to use anonymous ftp from CompuServe to other hosts on the
Internet?

A: Direct usage of ftp is not possible at this time.  CompuServe is planning to
introduce outbound Internet access services by the end of 1994.

In the interim, it is possible to take advantage of a capability to request files
from remote hosts using an ftp-by-email server which operates on your behalf to
retrieve remote files and then delivers them back to you via CompuServe Mail. For
details on how to accomplish ftp using an email server, see the file FTPNET.ZIP
in the Internet Forum's "FTP & File Transfer" library (LIB 6).

Q: Is it possible to use gopher from CompuServe to other hosts on the Internet?

A: Not at this time.  Gopher access will be available during the first half of
1995.

Q: Is it possible to use anonymous ftp from an Internet host to access the forum
libraries of CompuServe?

A: No, this is not possible.  The only way to access the CompuServe Information
Service's information content, including forum libraries, is to be a subscriber
to the CompuServe service.  Anonymous ftp to CompuServe is not supported.

Q: I find all of these new terms and acronymns hard to understand.  Where can I
find a glossary to help me understand some of the terms?

A: See RF1208.TXT in the Internet Forum's Getting Started Library (LIB 2).  It
contains a comprehensive glossary of networking terms.  Highly recommended for
downloading and keeping as a handy reference near your computer!

Q: I notice some of the files in the forum libraries are compressed and have
filenames ending in .ZIP.  Where can I find the utility program to decompress
these files?

A: For PC users, the latest version of PKZIP/PKUNZIP is available in the IBM New
Users Forum (GO IBMNEW), LIB 2, as filename PK204G.EXE.

For Macintosh users, the latest version of an excellent Shareware Zip utility is
available in the Macintosh Communications Forum (GO MACCOMM), LIB 4 as filename
ZIPIT.SEA.

Q: What is the single best file to download to get an introduction to the
Internet?

A: The "EFF Guide to the Internet" is available in the file DUMMY.ZIP in the
Internet Forum's Getting Started (LIB 2) library.  It's a great introduction to
the Internet and well worth downloading.

Q: Where can I find a list of books which address Internet topics?

A: See Kevin Savetz's Internet Book List in the Internet Forum's General
Information (LIB 1) library (filename INBOOK.ZIP).

We have found that the single best introductory text about the Internet is Ed
Krol's book "The Whole Internet User's Guide & Catalog", ISBN 1-56592-063-5,
published by O'Reilly & Associates.  If you're looking for just one book to
purchase on the subject, this is the one to get.  [Note: You can purchase it at a
15% discount from the CompuServe Electronic Mall merchant "CompuBooks" (GO CBK
will take you to CompuBooks).

Q: How do I get access to the Internet from Easter Island, Terra del Fuego,
Toledo, or wherever I might be?

Q: How can I send CompuServe Mail to users on the Internet?

A: See the file CSMAIL.TXT in the Internet Forum's "Electronic Mail" (LIB 5)
library for information on CompuServe Mail's gateway to the Internet.

Q: How do I find someone's Internet email address?

A: There is no complete directory of users on the Internet.  As a result,
searching for someone's email address really isn't practical at this time. There
are new directory services being constructed to help solve this problem but, for
the moment, the simplest thing to do is to ask your friends over the telephone
what their Internet email address is!

Q: How can my friends on the Internet send email to my CompuServe Mailbox?

A: You can be addressed from the Internet as:

    userid@compuserve.com -> where the userid is your normal CompuServe userid 
        but with the comma replaced by a period.

    For example, if your userid was: 
        71234,123 
    your Internet address would be:
        71234.123@compuserve.com

More details on addressing can be found in the file CSMAIL.TXT in the Internet
Forum's "Electronic Mail" (LIB 5) library.

Q: How can I send CompuServe Mail to users on other services such as America
Online, Prodigy, Delphi, etc.?

A: Addressing CompuServe Mail to users on other services can be done as follows:

    America Online: internet:user@aol.com 
    Delphi: internet:user@delphi.com 
    GEnie: internet:user@genie.geis.com 
    Prodigy: internet:user@prodigy.com

For details on addressing CompuServe Mail to other systems, see the file
MAILGD.TXT in the Internet Forum's "Electronic Mail" (LIB 5) library.

Q: How do I send binary files to the Internet via CompuServe?

A: While you can use CompuServe Mail to send binary files to other CompuServe
subscribers, you can't use it to send binary files to Internet addreses.  The
Internet mail system is ASCII based and all files that are sent over it must be
in ASCII format.  The process, then, of sending a binary file involves first
converting the file into an ASCII-encoded file.  There are utilities available
for this purpose.  The best know are called binhex utilities and they are
available for the various systems, PC's, Macintoshes, etc. from the respective
CompuServe forums supporting those systems.  The person you are sending the file
to also needs the same utility on their end to be able to convert the file back
from ASCII to binary.

Q: I've got a file with .hqx, .z, .gz, or .tar in the filename. How do I read it?

A: See the file COMPRE.TXT in the Internet Forum's "FTP & File Transfer" (LIB 6)
library for details about the various file compressors, etc.

Q: How can I search for files that might be available on the Internet?

A: First, before attempting to try to find files somewhere out on the Internet,
we highly recommend that you first try using the "file finders" which are
available to you on CompuServe.  For PC users, the IBM File Finder and, for
Macintosh users, the Macintosh File Finder, permit you to search across all of
the various CompuServe forums for files.  You can search by keyword, filename,
etc.  To get to the CompuServe file finders, GO IBMFF or GO MACFF will take you
there.

If you have not be successful finding the file you're looking for in the file
finders, you can use Archie, a system on the Internet which allows you to search
for files available on public ftp file servers.  Then, you can use the
ftp-by-email approach described earlier to retrieve the file.  To use Archie, you
will be sending instructions to it in a CompuServe Mail message that you create.
For details on how to use Archie, see the file ARCHIE.TXT in the Internet Forum's
"Getting Started" (LIB 2) library.

Q: What are RFC's and how can I get them?

A: RFC's are "Request for Comments".  They are used within the Internet community
to propose new technical standards, approaches, etc. for protocols, services,
etc.  In effect, the library of RFC's provides an online source of the most
important Internet-related documentation.

Some of the most important RFC's can be found in the Internet Forum's Libraries.
In addition, an index of all of the RFC's is also available. (Search on the
keyword RFC to find the available RFC's and the complete index of RFC's).

If the RFC you are interested in is not available in the Internet Forum's
Library, you can request that it be sent to you via email.  To do so, send a
CompuServe Mail message as follows:

    To: internet:mailserv@ds.internic.net 
    Subject: request

In the message body, include the following text:

    SEND /rfc/rfcNNNN.txt

where NNNN is replaced with the RFC number of the document you want to retrieve.
This document will be sent to you via CompuServe Mail.

Q. What is Mosaic?  What do I need to run it?

A. Mosaic is an "Internet browsing tool."  It uses the World Wide Web protocol to
access online information on systems all around the world.  Mosaic is available
in versions for both PC's and Mac's which can be found in the WWW Library area of
the Internet Forum.  Using Mosaic, however, requires a direct link to the
Internet which can only be established on a dial-up basis by having an account
with a local Internet access provider and running either SLIP (Serial Line
Interface Protocol) or PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol).

CompuServe has announced that it will be providing WWW access to CompuServe
subscribers during the first half of 1995.

[End FAQ]
