******** ************************************************** * * * * * **** The independent guide to BITNET * * * **** * * * **** April, 1988 * * ***** **** * * **** **** Volume 2, Number 10 * ******** *** **** * ** **** **** * *** * **** **** * * * * * **** **** **** * * * * * **** **** **** * * * * * **** **** **** ** * ** * **** **** **** **** *** ***** **** **** **** **** * **** **** ******* **** ***** * *** **** ***** **** **** * ****** ** **** ***** **** **** * * * **** ******* ******** * * * **** **** **** ****** * ***** **** **** **** * ******** **** **** **** ****** * * *** **** **** ******** * * ** **** **** **** **** * * * **** **** **** **** * * * **** **** **** ***** * * **** **** **** **** ******** ** **** **** ******* *** *** **** **** ***** ** *** **** **** **** ****** * * * ***** **** **** ******** * * * * **** **** **** **** **** * * * * ******* **** **** **** **** * *** * ***** **** **** **** **** * * ***** **** **** ******** * ****** * *********** **** ****** * * * **** ****** **** **** **** * * ***** **** **** **** ****** * * **** ****** **** **** ******** * **** *** ******** **** **** **** **** * ** **** ******* **** **** **** **** * * * **** ***** **** **** **** ***** * * **** ****** **** ******* **** ****** * **** ******** **** ***** *** * ***** **** ******* ***** ** * **** **** ***** ******* * *** **** ***** **** **** * ******** ** **** ******* **** **** * * * **** **** **** **** **** * * * **** **** **** **** **** * * * **** **** **** **** **** * **** ************************************************** 1 * * * * * ** * * ** ** * * * * * * *** ***** * * * * *** **** ***** **** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ***** * * * * * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * **** * * * *** * * * * * ***** ****** Christopher Condon Editor CONDON @ YALEVM Mike Patrick Contributing Editor PATRICK @ YALEVM Timothy Stephen Contributing Editor STEPHEN @ RPICICGE Craig White Contributing Editor CWHITE @ UA1VM Glen Overby Technical Assistant NU070156 @ NDSUVM1 Gary Moss Staff Supervisor MOSS @ YALEVM ******************** Contents - Issue 20 ******************** EDITORIAL PAGE_________________________________________________ Bitnotes .................................................... 1 The Human Factor ............................................ 3 Flames To: .................................................. 7 The Jedi Speaks ............................................. 9 Toward a Philosophy of BITNET, Part 1 ...................... 10 FEATURES_______________________________________________________ The Listserv LISTS Database ................................ 13 NBSLIB at the National Bureau of Standards ................. 14 CLASS FOUR: The Relay Magazine ............................ 16 Accessing the SCIT Database ................................ 17 The Computer Science Research Network ...................... 18 DEPARTMENTS____________________________________________________ Headlines .................................................. 20 Helpdesk ................................................... 21 New Mailing Lists .......................................... 22 Feedback ................................................... 24 Policies ................................................... 27 * 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. * ----------------------------------------- A publication of the BITNET Services Library 1 Page 1 ********* * * Bitnotes * * * * by Christopher Condon * * * * CONDON@YALEVM ********* "If I only had a brain..." - S. Crow Have you ever run head first into a wall as fast as you could? Me neither, but sometimes I act as if I did. Perhaps I hit myself over the head with a hammer when I was very young and I don't remember... Last month I made something of a big deal over the the way in which the BITNET community depends upon volunteers for many of those services we have come to know and love (Listserv and Relay, to name a few). In my usual doom-and-gloom manner I recognized the contributions these people have made, but questioned where this will lead BITNET in the future. There has been some comment on this, notably on the mailing list POLICY-L, some of which I have reprinted in the Feedback column. Beneath that editorial however, was a message which I veiled all too well. In our correspondence Tim Stephen inadvertently pointed it out, if with a slightly misdirected question: "What happens to NetMonth when you graduate this term?" Of course, I DID graduate in May of 1987 (I have been a Yuppie- in-training at Sikorsky Aircraft for the past year) but the question is still valid. What happens to NetMonth if and when I decide to hang up my userid? Forget the "if". It WILL happen, and there are several circumstances which can lead to my departure within this year. I have thought of this in the past, as had assumed that I would leave the network when I graduated. There were some half- hearted attempts at finding someone with the interest, knowledge, and time take over the magazine (and everything that goes with it... BITLIB, BITNET SERVERS) but let's face it: I am not a great delegater. Does every volunteer grapple with this question? Dave (FSFNET) Liscomb tells me that when he finally packs it in, there will 1 Page 2 be no successor. FSFNET will go the way of VM/COM, CLUB, and Vax Toolbox, albeit with style. While this would be a loss, there are other places for Science Fiction and Fantasy fans to go... SF-LOVERS, SF-WRITERS, and so on. It wouldn't be the same, it wouldn't have that "Orny" touch, but the readers won't be left high and dry. For the NetMonth readers, however, there will be no such recourse. And while I have no illusion that I am indispensable, it will be very hard to find someone with the time and commitment to fill these shoes. Talent and good spelling, as you know, are optional. Or should I try to find someone at all? In the spirit of the old days, I could leave that gap in BITNET service, and let whoever has the drive and initiative create their own magazines. After all, one "independent guide to BITNET" doesn't leave much room for competition. If the need is there, someone will try to satisfy it. But I shouldn't fool myself. These are NOT the old days. The network has changed, and there is now, more than ever, a need for continuity. While someone might replace NetMonth, the transition would cause a lot of trouble and confusion. There was a GREAT deal of trouble when Bitlist became NetMonth. Since then the mailing list has quadrupled. Imagine the problems it would cause now. NetMonth should go on, with or without me. But how? Virtually, Chris Condon@YALEVM **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** *** **** **** **** **** **** ****** **** ******* **** **** **** **** **** **** ***** **** **** **** **** **** **** ****** **** ******* ******* **** **** ******** **** ***** ***** **** **** **** ******* ***** ***** **** *** **** ***** ******* ******* **** ** **** ***** **** **** **** ******* 1 Page 3 ********* * * The Human Factor * * * * by T. D. Stephen * * * * STEPHEN@RPICICGE ********* Thanks to editor Chris Condon and others at the BITNET Services Library, the NetMonth/NetWeek/BITNET SERVERS trio has become a premier source for news and opinion on BITNET. Probably no other BITNET newsletter reaches as many network users. "The Chronicle of Higher Education," on the other hand, is the premier publication for academic administrators, the people who make decisions about budget allocations in colleges and universities and who decide directions for the future. Most college and university libraries carry the Chronicle and its weekly 50-80 page, newspaper-style issues circulate to approximately 79,000 professors and administrators through individual subscriptions. The Chronicle began to regularly feature stories on academic computing about 4 years ago following the hype that surrounded the introduction of IBM's Personal Computer. The microcomputer, if you recall, was supposed to usher in the "information society," a paperless white collar utopia where corporate productivity would skyrocket and where the face of education would be forever changed because courses would be offered through microcomputer software -- or something like that. Needless to say, there is probably more paper floating around today than in 1984, productivity is still a problem, and college life is chugging along much as it has for the past 20 years. But the Chronicle attempted to be responsive to increased interest in computing by expanding its coverage of computer-related stories. As we all know, the one really revolutionary story in computing for this decade is networking. The French Minitel system is altering the social practices of an entire nation and even BITNET, comparatively modest in scope and primitive in design, has opened new possibilities for enhancing educational practice. Unfortunately, the Chronicle never picked this story up -- or so it was until the April 6th issue when Chronicle computer reporter Judith Axler Turner finally printed something about academic networking. In a story titled "Uncertainties Strain Computer Networks for U.S. Professors", Ms. Turner characterized the status of university networks as "growing like adolescents" with a 1 Page 4 "Byzantine" structure, "tangles" of high speed communication lines, and a "hodgepodge" of connections. Unfortunately, BITNET was named in the story along with Arpanet, NSFNet, and the Merit network. While one might agree with aspects of the story, its implicit conclusion is that the status of American academic networking is a mess and it may become difficult for administrators to justify its cost in the future. Ironically, on the same day that this story was being circulated to those who establish policy and control academic expenditures (i.e., those who decide how much of a school's budget should go for academic networking), the BITNET Board of Trustees announced that a review would be conducted sometime to determine what BITNET's Network Information Center (BITNIC) does best and worst. May I humbly submit *public relations* for your consideration as candidate for The Thing That BITNIC Does Worst? Of course, it wouldn't be fair to indict anyone who actually works at BITNIC for our failure to utilize organs such as the Chronicle to help bolster interest, participation, and support for BITNET. After all, the responsibilities and duties of BITNIC personnel are defined by the BITNET Board of Trustees. (Remember the BITNET Board of Trustees? The Board of Trustees is the policy-making group that consists exclusively of computer personnel and that operates without any realistic mechanism for gathering input from users.) Regardless of where the responsibility lies for the paucity of positive publicity for BITNET, I think that the publication of Ms. Turner's article points to a genuine need for the Board of Trustees to take steps to promote BITNET within the broader academic community. It is apparent that Ms. Turner could stand to have her horizons expanded a little in terms of what it is that happens on BITNET. According to her, "Academics use networks to feed raw data into remote computers, and to share research results with colleagues who manipulate them on their own computers. They use networks to run equipment in laboratories across the campus or across the country. They gain access to library-sized electronic data bases over networks, and load the information directly into their own computers, eventually to use it in research reports." While I'm sure it would be possible to find examples of each of these activities on some network connected to some campus somewhere, this not only seems a poor rendition of BITNET, but it leaves out students entirely and, in so doing, misses a key point in what makes BITNET valuable. Ms. Turner's description makes it sound like BITNET is used primarily by hard science researchers to send data sets and manuscripts back and forth. 1 Page 5 Of course BITNET is not used to control remotely located equipment (except in the vaguest sense). As for the part about getting information from library sized electronic databases that is eventually used in publications, frankly, I don't know what she is talking about. Even if BITNET was used primarily for the activities Ms. Turner mentions, BITNET would be valuable. But it is apparent from her description that she has never been adequately informed about what it is that is truly revolutionary this network and what it is that makes it worth the money universities pay to access it. BITNET brings people into contact who would not otherwise meet and the nature of networking helps to place them on equal ground. BITNET is most fundamentally an interactional context and one that bridges disciplinary boundaries and eradicates traditional barriers to discourse (e.g., age, status, race, sex, and physical handicap). In a world that has long decried the hazards of disciplinary overspecialization and that has struggled to find methods to guarantee an equal voice to women and disenfranchised minorities, BITNET offers a context for communication in which such barriers are significantly reduced. There are and have always been lots of ways to transfer information from one researcher to another (e.g., paper, punched cards, tape, diskette, op-scan forms) and there are many ways to communicate with colleagues (phone, letter, face- to-face conversation). Except in special cases, BITNET may not even be the best method of accomplishing either of these things. However, there has never before been a social context the likes of BITNET and our experience with Comserve@Rpicicge during the past two academic years has frequently supplied examples of the potential that this has created. In addition to its database, news, and "white pages" services, Comserve hosts some 15 "hotlines" (i.e., listserv "lists") that are organized to represent focus areas for research and scholarship within the communication studies discipline (e.g., organizational communication, mass communication and new technologies, rhetorical studies, philosophy of communication, research methodology, etc.). Comserve's hotlines are available to anyone and now, following a year of publicity, they provide a method of communication for a group of users that is just about as diverse as the BITNET community itself. We see the value of academic networking in the following instances: Case 1: A student sent a question about the sophistic movement in ancient Greece to the rhetoric hotline. Within three days, his question had been addressed by two 1 Page 6 leading rhetorical scholars located hundreds of miles away. Case 2: A fourteen year old girl, whose father has BITNET access, sent a question about clay animation (the technique used to create the California raisins commercials) to the mass communication hotline. She needed the information for a school report on how clay animation is accomplished. Within 48 hours she received six responses including one from a producer who had created clay animation films. The responses were sufficiently detailed to allow her to make her own clay animation project. Case 3: A professor of intercultural communication uses the intercultural communication hotline to create opportunities for her students to interact with people from other countries. Case 4: A professor requires his research methodology graduate students to monitor the research methodology hotline using questions sent to the hotline as class examples. I could cite other examples -- of isolated professors from small colleges keeping in contact with others in their profession, of professionals from disparate disciplines learning from each other in the responses they provide to issues raised on our hotlines, or of blind and deaf subscribers who interact on our hotlines with none of the usual barriers. But my point is, simply, that without BITNET none of these interactions could occur -- there is no substitute. This is the aspect of BITNET that gives it special value and it is this aspect of BITNET that should be highlighted when we communicate about ourselves to the broader academic community. It may be that even among BITNET's users there are some who share Ms. Turner's conception of what happens on the network; possibly this has contributed to decisions in some schools to deny access to students. I don't know how many schools still do this, but every now and then we hear from somebody who seems to take it for granted that students should not be allowed to use BITNET. Perhaps they feel that student message traffic will slow down all those hard-science Ph.D.'s who are using BITNET to "feed raw data into remote computers". Misconception is the inevitable result when there is no concerted effort to communicate. I believe academia would find BITNET both interesting and exciting if only it heard a little more about what really goes on here. To handle this adequately, the BITNET Board of Trustees should take steps to establish a public relations sub-committee charged with communicating about BITNET within the broader academic community. This sub-committee should feed stories to organs such as the Chronicle and the national press and should disseminate information about BITNET and coordinate BITNET demonstrations within national scholarly organizations. 1 Page 7 ********* * * Flames To: * * * * by Craig White * * * * CWHITE@UA1VM ********* Hello again, I hope this finds everyone in good health and spirit. During the past month I have thought about several things to flame about but nothing seemed to be exactly right. Then someone sent me a program via BITNET and I thought it would never get here. It seems like just yesterday a comparablly sized file would have gotten here at least overnight. I ended up waiting about three days for a file that was 1133, 80 byte, records well under the 300,000 byte limit on a single file (by the way, use BITSEND and BITRCV to send larger files). As I waited for this file, I thought about all the things that could be holding it up. Perhaps it had been sent with the wrong attributes; maybe there was simply too much net traffic. During this time it occurred to me that mailing list traffic was getting out of control. I had received several hundred mailing list files during this three day period. I wondered how many more like me there were. After thinking about my pile of mail, I wondered if all this congestion was just mail. Then it hit me, with Listserv around it has become so easy to subscribe to mailing lists and so convenient to start one, that it was taking its toll on the links. Before you get ready to flame me about the virtues of Listserv, let me make it perfectly clear that I think Listserv is a very nice server. Further more, I think the concept of mailing lists is great and I would fight to keep them around. As I pondered the current state of affairs, I wondered what could be done to eliminate some of this mess. Then from the far reaches of my brain came this thought: wasn't there a way to search notebooks without having to send for the whole notebook and then search it locally? There is and it's name is LDBASE (Listserv Data BASE.) I sent a TELL Listserv at SENDME LDBASE EXEC. I quickly received it and started to run it, but I found I needed another piece. I then sent TELL Listserv at SENDME LSVIUCV MODULE. With both pieces of the puzzle I began to try it out. I was able to link up with a Listserv and peruse some of the notebooks there. The exec said I should get a copy of the 1 Page 8 documentation by using the INFO DATABASE command. So I entered TELL Listserv at INFO DATABASE. I received a very nice document explaining how to search for all kinds of things and how to get back the results of my search. I thought "Great, now I can unsubscribe some of those mailing lists that I wasn't really into and just use LDBASE a couple of times a week to check out the SUBJECT: line. I tried searching for "SUBJECT:" in a very active list. I really get a lot of hits on that string (there is a way to limit you search to specific dates --check the documentation). I got the results back and I was in for some surprises. A lot of the entries had a blank subject line and, even worse, some didn't have one at all. Which brings us to this months flame. Always include a SUBJECT: line in all of your mailing list submissions. Also, make sure that if you are responding to a mailing that your subject line contains the standard RE: which makes it much easier to follow a particular topic. During the next month I'm going to test out using LDBASE on many of the lists I'm on and see how it works. I would recommend that you give LDBASE a try with some of the lists that you might be on. Who knows it might just cut down on some of the traffic. Winding down, I hear that soon the semester will end and some accounts will go on hiatus for the summer. In preparation for that let me pass along a thought from Marvin Klassen that he submitted to the ADVISE-L list. To unsubscribe yourself from all lists that you may be on, use TELL Listserv AT SIGNOFF * (NETWIDE. Also if you have registered with the name feature of Listserv, be sure to include a TELL Listserv AT REGISTER OFF. It was mentioned that the global unsubscribe command will cause one mail file per list to be sent to your userid. Be sure to delete them from your incoming box before leaving for summer. And finally, FLAMES TO ME: Anyone guess what this one is going to be about? Last months Flames To: on spelling checkers contained, of all things a spelling mistake. I used its instead of it's. If we could only get someone to write that superduper spelling, grammatical, punctuation checker we'd all be doing great. Thanks to everyone who responded and so kindly pointed out my mistake. As always if you have questions, comments or thoughts about this column please send it to CWHITE AT UA1VM. (NOTE: All Listserv commands could be issued via batch mode. LDBASE is also available to VAX/VMS sites, the name is LDBASE COM.) Send your flames to CWHITE@UA1VM. 1 Page 9 ********* * * The Jedi Speaks * * * * by Jeffrey P. Robinson * * * * IP50583@PORTLAND ********* I was talking to Chris Condon (I suppose I should call him Fuzzyman since I am doing this for the old BITNET chatter people), and what Fuzzyman and I were talking about was how we were (and still are) inspired by BITNET. He asked me to write something about the way BITNET was a few years ago. I don't not the one to say how the network has affected me, but Fuzzy asked me, and as a Jedi Knight how could I refuse? I am intrigued by chatting, or rather, by the people with whom I have chatted (relayed for you younger folks) over the years. What I have noticed more than anything else is that people's attitudes have changed; what the people talk about on the chats has changed. I remember a time when we would talk about world politics and such. You might say that I got my news that way. Hearing people's views on things was what really got me hooked. Not this "Well if you send me an ID-Card..." junk you see these days. Now people only talk about music - little stuff. It's kind of hard to get a *REAL* conversation going on religion or politics on a public channel anymore. This also intrigues me, perhaps because I have always been crazy about understanding people. Trying to figure out why they do the things they do. Other stuff keeps me going on this network too.... mostly the NetCons (or should I say NetCon(tm)) The chat user community has really grown since I started around here, so the intrigue has grown even more. The network is just like life; the more you want it to stay the same, the more it changes on you. I do miss the good old days. I guess it's true - you cant go home again... A little food for thought - if you had the power to change the the net, how would you change it, why, and would your changes really be best for all users? I don't have an answer, nor do I ever think I will, but what right does anyone have to think badly of anyone else for trying to change the network for what might make it a better place? **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** ******* ******* **** **** *** **** ***** ***** **** **** **** ******* ***** ***** **** 1 Page 10 ********* * * Toward a Philosophy of BITNET, Part 1. * * * * by Mama * * * * ENGL0333@UNLVM ********* Editors note: "Mama" is the pen name of the founder of The MAMA (Middle American Manuscript Association) Writing Project at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. "Something's happening here. What it is ain't exactly clear." -- Mid-Sixties Song Lyric Three editorials in the March, 1988 issue of NetMonth indicate that BITNET is coming of age in new and exciting ways. The first view stems from Chris Condon's excellent ruminations on the way in which bigger and better mousetraps may or may not impact the system, leading to his exquisite rhetorical queries: "Who is planning the future of BITNET, if at all? Who is at the helm?" The second view evolves from T.D. Stephen's analysis of language, with his valid observations that any language system reflects the peculiar "habits of thought and economies of expression" of the people who created it, and that we ought to "give more consideration to the frames of reference that characterize the population that BITNET serves." Finally, Craig White's flaming remarks about the inanity of the Brand X vs. Brand Y vs. Brand Z mail is right on target not only about hardware argumentation but also about software controversy. Yet as a relative newcomer to the system (I've been working with computers since 1970 and on mainframes since 1982, but a serious automobile accident and two year's disability leave kept me away from terminals from April, 1985 through August, 1987), what I find most intriguing about their composite observations is the way in which they all implicitly suggest we are achieving a new level of selfconsciousness and introspection regarding what we are about in BITNET. For consider, dear friends, that what has been accomplished in such short order in BITNET is something truly revolutionary and extraordinary. And I refer not just to the astonishing applications of both hardware and software but, more 1 Page 11 importantly, to the evolutions of human mind which have simultaneously occurred. Isn't it time we all began paying more attention to what has been evolving implicitly among us without much comment? Isn't it time we began grappling with defining and understanding just who this polyglot intellectual community is becoming? Isn't it time we started reflecting upon the philosophy of BITNET? After all, many if not most of us are Doctors of Philosophy, in name at least. It is a relatively recent and bizarre quirk of human development and culture, however, that Ph.D. has come to stand for specialist rather than synthesist. Things were not always that way among intellectuals. And one need not go back to the Middle Ages to discover ideals of such harmony, for relatively recent American history gives many examples of men and women of vast vision and breadth of interest. Consider someone like Benjamin Franklin, for instance, who could achieve monumental insights not only as a theoretical scientist (experiments with electricity), but as an applied scientist (inventor, printer, etc.), as a politician and statesman (drafter of pivotal U.S. documents and frequent Ambassador abroad), as an author and philosopher (Poor Richard's Almanac), as a founder of universities and fire departments and street cleaning brigades, and as a simply marvelous human being who even in his advanced age was able to chase women across France when men half his age had drawn up panting from shortness of breath. Yet somewhere along the line this cosmopolitan ideal which flourished in the Age of Reason gave way to a pragmatism which turned intellectuals ever more inward upon themselves, limiting their vision to increasingly constricted fields. Decades of such evolution this century, coupled with the monumental explosion of information in all areas of human endeavor and the alteration of fundamental concepts in institutions of higher learning, led to the development of "Academic Communities" in which the concept of "community" was totally fictitious since the pedant-scholars couldn't even know the people across the hallway much less the people across the college or across the campus. Indeed, the large state university in which I have taught now for twenty years numbers almost 25,000 students with well over 1,000 permanent professorial staff. My department alone has over 60 professional staff and almost 200 members if you add in the part-timers and graduate instructors. The difficulties of establishing any meaningful community among such staggering numbers cannot be underestimated. Then, enter BITNET. Suddenly, at the touch of a button it is possible to open minds not just across campus but across continents, and all this 1 Page 12 without even opening an office door. Suddenly, decades upon decades of fossilization of insight and expression as specialist competing with specialist to publish in journals of narrowing breadth is quite simply and quite literally blown away by the infusion of an entirely new level of communication within and between fields of even divergent interest. Are there others of you out there who, like me, gaze upon this phenomenon with almost speechless wonder and amazement? As I survey this bubbling and frothing mass and sometimes mess which we call BITNET, I think I perhaps understand a little of how Henry David Thoreau must have felt when he first laid eyes upon Walden pond, or how Ralph Waldo Emerson must have felt when he first read through the poetry of Walt Whitman. "Something's happening here; what it is ain't exactly clear." But what is clear is that whatever it is is simply marvelous, and we should take note of it because we are all part of it. So I can agree with Chris Condon that there may be great question of who is at the helm, but such uncertainty does not trouble me. For in a way, we all are--though some of us rise more prominently from time to time to fulfill specific tasks which need doing. And I can agree with T. D. Stephen that we increasingly need to evolve simpler and more human language patterns, though even accidents like the etymology of BITNET do not alarm me. For when I unpack BITNET and find "Because It's There Network," I see a brash and assertive and quite-typically American nonchalance which I feel more properly reflects our spirit than would the pompous and academic sound of some variant of EARN (European Academic and Research Network). And when Craig White flames about the stupidity and shallowness of some network argumentation, I say "right on!" For the identification of such weakness is the first step toward its resolution. I look forward to the expression of new modes of argumentation about matters of true substance which transcend the narrow borders of particular disciplines or schools of thought. Which brings me back to where I began. Now that we're beginning to look into our consoles and see not just messages from others but reflections of ourselves, isn't it time we began sorting out just who we are? Isn't it time we started evolving a Philosophy of BITNET? **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** ******* ******* **** **** ******** **** ***** ***** **** **** **** ******* ***** ***** **** *** **** ***** ******* ******* **** 1 Page 13 ********* * * The Listserv LISTS Database * * * * by Eric Thomas * * * * ERIC@CEARN ********* The Listserv database functions have been developed in an attempt to make it possible for users to extract relevant information from list archives without having to retrieve a large "notebook" file and scan it locally. Users will send commands to Listserv, requesting it to perform search operations locally and to send out only the selected items from the list archives. The following goals have been kept in mind all throughout the development of the new facilities: * The functionalities provided must be general enough to allow for databases other than list archives (i.e. electronic mail) to be used if needed. * Users with little or no database experience must be able to learn how to use the Listserv database in a few minutes. * The syntax should be as close to "natural english" as possible, and should be easy to remember. * The commands must be powerful enough to be functional, but they should not be overly complex so as not to discourage beginners. * Interactive access to the database through the network is primordial. Once the search has been carried out, the user should have the option to retrieve the results in a file rather than as interactive output. Because their main application is the scanning of list archives, the Listserv database functions are document-oriented and therefore quite different from "usual" commercial database systems. The database can be accessed either interactively or in "batch" mode. In the former case, you must obtain the LDBASE user interface by sending the following commands to your nearest Listserv: 1 Page 14 * For VM/CMS systems: GET LDBASE EXEC GET LSVIUCV MODULE * For VAX/VMS systems: GET LDBASE COM Other systems may not access the database in interactive mode. Because of the length of the LISTDB user documentation, it is next to impossible to print any kind of useful information here. Intead, you should send the following command to your nearest Listserv for complete instructions: INFO LISTDB The file sent to you explains some basic database concepts, and how to access LISTDB using either the programs mentioned above or batch (mail) mode. ********* * * NBSLIB at the National Bureau of Standards * * * * by John Antonishek * * * * ANT@ICST-CMR.ARPA ********* The NBSLIB is a collection of benchmarks, measurement data, and a bibliography on benchmarking maintained at NBS as part of a project on the performance measurement of parallel computers. The collection exists to provide a pool of measurement data and benchmarks on more or less "large" computers. The pool grows by donation from the interested public. The idea for an automatic, electronic mail-based software distribution system, as well as the software to make it work, came from Jack Dongarra at Argonne National Laboratory and Eric Grosse at AT&T-Bell Labs. The idea for a collection of benchmarks to help untangle the performance issues in parallel machines came from a group of scientists who attended a workshop on parallel performance measurement at NBS in June, 1985. Please send comments, criticisms, and software donations to ANT@ICST- CMR.ARPA or to RJB@ICST-CMR.ARPA. 1 Page 15 Public domain benchmarks can be obtained free of charge via electronic mail by sending commands on the first line of a mail message to: NBSLIB@ICST-CMR.ARPA For an index of the available software libraries send the line: SEND INDEX to the above address. And index for a single library can be retrieved by the SEND INDEX command. For example, to get an index of the LANL library you would issue: SEND INDEX FOR LANL To get the program BMK11 from the LANL directory, you would send: SEND BMK11 FROM LANL The NBS Parallel Computer Benchmark Collection aims to provide a common set of codes that can be used for performance measurement on parallel systems. Many innovative parallel computer architectures are being built and a larger number being proposed, a development due in part to advances in VLSI technology. This technology makes it possible to use numbers of relatively cheap but powerful processors to execute parts of the same program simultaneously. Many of the new architectures are for special application problems, others are considered by their designers to be general purpose. A myriad of design choices in numbers of processors, methods of interconnection, and memory sizes are available. It is difficult to predict the performance of such systems, and measurement of their performance continues to be a research issue. One method of performance measurement is benchmarking -- running a program on a system and noting carefully the elapsed time and system conditions. Often the problem size, the amount of computational and I/O work done by the benchmark program, is varied systematically and the run times measured. Then the timing data is analyzed in the light of the system architecture and component speeds. The interpretation of this data is greatly aided if the structure and characteristics of the benchmark program are well known; but achieving this knowledge requires some understanding of the underlying algorithms and therefore of the application area from which the program originates. A considerable understanding of the system architecture is also certain to be required. 1 Page 16 ********* * * CLASS FOUR: The Relay Magazine * * * * by Dave Phillips * * * * V184GAVW@UBVMS ********* CLASS FOUR is intended to be edited by, and in the large to be written by, junior Relay operators. After all, with some exceptions junior Ops are on frequently and have a good deal of familiarity with what new users need to know, what harassed female users need to know (for example), and what users who might wish to become Ops themselves would like/need to know. Many of these questions came out in between the mudslinging and "let me reiterates" that RELUSR-L has become, and recent events have made not a few Relayers do a /info and ask some good questions. CLASS 4 OPS: You know who you are. "You look mahvelous." Please send *brief* comments, suggestions, questions which MasterOps (eg) could publically answer (or answer them yourself) in print, etc. to one of the editors listed in the panel below. Note: we have candidates for Mexico and South/West editors in mind but we're still in the process of contacting them (links aren't mahvelous). OTHER OPS: You don't get off the hook either. Write, comment, criticize, suggest, also, to the editor nearest you. Finally, I'm just pushing this forward to see if we can do it and do it right: that is, to put something in the hands of all Relayers who care about Relay that they can USE. I hope to get it rolling and then go to rotating issue editorships. Till then, flames to me, contributions to any of the editors, and frets, policy-concerns, and all that good stuff to any/all of the masterOps on the advisory panel. If you are a Relay operator, you can receive a subscription to CLASS FOUR by subscribing to the mailing list Relay-L@NCSUVM. If you are NOT a Relay operator, you can subscribe to RELUSR- L@NCSUVM. To do this, send the following commands to Listserv@NCSUVM via mail or message: SUBSCRIBE Relay-L your_full_name SUBSCRIBE RELUSR-L your_full_name Note that these mailing lists are open forums. CLASS FOUR is distributed to them periodicly. 1 Page 17 ********* * * Accessing the SCIT Database * * * * by Mark Levinson * * * * SCITDOC@QUCDN ********* Studies in Communication and Information Technology (SCIT) is an interdisciplinary group at Queen's Univeristy in Kingston, Ontario, which is involved in promoting research and teaching related to the social impacts of the new information and communication technology. Among its various activities, SCIT mounts seminars during the academic year and publishes occasional papers which deal with the social impacts of the new technology. In addition, a central activity of the group is the management of an on-line bibliographic service which contains close to 6,000 references dealing with the social context of the new technology. This database is being constantly updated, and as of recently has been made available to users outside Queen's University who have access to the BITNET. To access the SCIT database through BITNET, the user must first subscribe to the particular database called SCIT-BIB. To do this send the following command to Listserv@QUCDN via mail or message: SUBSCRIBE SCIT-BIB your_full_name You will receive acknowledgement in about a day, confirming your addition to the SCIT-BIB database. Once you are subscribed, you may access the database at your convenience. You must send SCIT queries to Listserv@QUCDN via mail. The following is the format for sending queries: +SCITBIB //SEARCH DD * your query goes here /* For example: +SCITBIB //SEARCH DD * SEARCH CANADA .TITLE. BROWSE /* 1 Page 18 This will search for all TITLES with CANADA in them. The results will be mailed in about a day. Every entry in the SCIT Bibliography contains a number of "fields". When searching for a reference you may search through all fields in each entry or you may specify which field you would like searched.The fields that can be found in the SCIT database are: * title * keywords * firstauth * otherauth * source By default a search will look through all fields unless you specify otherwise. WHen you subscribe to SCIT-BIB you will receive a list of keywords and detailed information on how to access SCIT. ********* * * The Computer Science Research Network * * * * from the CSNET documentation * * * * NETSERV@BITNIC ********* This is fourth in a series of articles about other networks. CSNET (the computer science research network) is a data communications network linking computer scientists and engineers at sites throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. Membership in CSNET is open to any organization engaged in research or advanced development in computer science or computer engineering. Members include universities, government agencies, corporations, and non-profit organizations. CSNET is a logical network that spans several physical nets: the Department of Defense ARPANET, the public data network Telenet, and a telephone-based message relay system called PhoneNet. Bridges between these networks are transparent to users. Network addresses are straightforward. CSNET PhoneNet provides a store-and-forward electronic mail delivery service. PhoneNet sites are connected via the dial-up 1 Page 19 telephone network to a central relay located at Bolt Beranek and Newman in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The relay links them to hosts on other networks such as ARPANET and BITNET. CSNET X25Net provides high-speed interactive host-to-host network communications over the public X.25 network Telenet. Hosts on X25Net run the DoD protocols for electronic mail, file transfer, and remote login that are used on the ARPANET and other government networks. CSNET has foreign associate sites, some of which run PhoneNet software over a commercial packet-switched network. These sites have agreed to act as gateways to other hosts in their countries. CSNET users are faculty, graduate students, undergraduates, corporate research staff, visiting scientists, government researchers, and other professionals in the fields of computer science and electrical engineering. * Electronic mail service to nearly 150 member organizations in the United States and Canada, and six international affiliates. * Gateways to other networks in the United States, Canada, and Europe for the exchange of mail and files. * A database of CSNET users, the User Name Server, indexed by keyword, for locating network addresses and groups of users with common interests. This centralized database can be accessed with local software supplied by CSNET. * Continuously updated information about CSNET and other networks, available by electronic mail. * Access to national network mailing lists in areas of special interest to computer scientists and engineers: operating systems, microcomputers, programming languages, computer graphics, message systems, and more. For hosts on the CSNET X25net, these additional services are available: * Immediate transmission of electronic mail * Interactive processes: file transfer and remote login * Access to hosts on the public data network Telenet 1 Page 20 Sending mail to people in CSNET is relatively easy. You can address you mail to USERID@NODE.CS.NET. For example, someone with a userid of FRED at node SEYMOUR would would have an address that looks like this: FRED@SEYMOUR.CS.NET ********* * * Headlines * * * * Smaller particles of news, but not unimportant... * * * * Send them to BITLIB@YALEVM ********* * Listserv news: Thanks to Gary Amek for his announcement of the new Listserv@@UTARLVM1. The Listserv@TECMTYVM now has a FILELIST known as VM-UTIL. This contains many useful and interesting VM-related utilities. See the article New Mailing Lists for information on the VM-UTIL mailing list as well. Thanks also to Lois Buwalda for the announcement that Listserv@UCF1VM is now running the /WHOIS name server package. * Network statistics from Patricia Noeth: Altogether, over 700 institutions and 2,100 computers are connected to BITNET, EARN, and NetNorth. Domestically, all 50 states, DC, and Puerto Rico are now connected. Internationally, we can now communicate easily and quickly with universities, colleges, and research institutions in 29 countries on five continents: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Ireland, Israel, Ivory Coast, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, and West Germany. * INTERACT@DTUPEV5A is a file server storing software for VAX/VMS sites which use the JNET interface to BITNET. Users should note that the packages stored on INTERACT require system privileges. The server will accept commands sent by both mail and message. The following commands are available from INTERACT: CMD Õcmdå - Executes a single DCL command DIR Õnameå - Lists the contents of SOFT directory Õnameå HELP - Sends you help HELP SOFT - Gives information on available software SOFT Õnameå - Sends software as described in HELP SOFT STAT - Gives information about current INTERACT users 1 Page 21 The following software packages are available: INTERACT - The BITNET remote login facility for VAXes PSEUDOTERM - VAX Pseudo terminal software ********* * * Helpdesk * * * * a Question and Answer Column * * * * Send your questions to BITLIB@YALEVM ********* *Q* All network mail from our node is routed through the UMass nodes UMAECS and UMASSVM, and then through UCONNVM. Over here we have a continual problem of error messages from UMASSVM that say, "Link UCONNVM not active." I've been told that this is because of a software incompatibility between UMASSVM and UCONNVM, but it's been going on for a long time and I haven't heard of any plans to fix it. I've tried sending messages to OPERATOR at each of these nodes, but nobody's responded. Since this is the only available mail route, what can I do about it? *A* Other people you can contact who might have more information are the Inforeps for those nodes. You can get a list of these people by sending the command SENDME INFOREP LIST to NICSERVE@BITNIC. You may also want to contact your won Inforep, as he/she may have already inquired into the problem. Otherwise, there is nothing you can do except wait. *Q* How do I get documentation about the /WHOIS feature on some Listservs ? *A* If a Listserv is running /WHOIS, the command should be documented on a file named LOCAL HELPCMD. (Send the server the command SENDME LOCAL HELPCMD). If the file does not exist or the information is not there, you can request the file WHOIS HELPCMD from Listserv@BOSTONU. And now, a question for which we do not have an answer: Any takers? *Q* Why isn't node OHSTMPA on routing tables? To issue any RSCS commands to that node one must first issue them to adjacent nodes (OHSTVMA or PSUVM). I can understand if OHSTMPA is a temporary node but its been there for months. Any insight on this? 1 Page 22 ********* * * New Mailing Lists * * * * from List of Lists by Rich Zellich * * * * ZELLICH@SRI-NIC.ARPA ********* AMIGA-Relay@UDEL.EDU A direct (unmoderated) bi-directional gateway with the USENET newsgroup comp.sys.amiga for those people without access to USENET. All requests to be added to or deleted from this list, problems, questions, etc., should be sent to: AMIGA-Relay-REQUEST@UDEL.EDU Coordinator: Chuck Cranor INFO-HIGH-AUDIO@CSD4.MILW.WISC.EDU This list is for the exchange of subjective comments about high end audio equipment and modifications performed to high end pieces. Techniques used to modify equipment especially, but not limited to, vacuum tube electronics are exchanged. Some comments may be subjective or intuitive and may not yet have a measurable basis. Other topics of discussion include turntables, arms and cartridges; preamplifiers, headamps and cartridge matching; speakers, amplifiers and matching; placement of speakers, and room treatments. Any comments that prevent an open exchange of ideas and techniques are not encouraged. All requests to be added to or deleted from this list, problems, questions, etc., should be sent to: INFO-HIGH-AUDIO-REQUEST@CSD4.MILW.WISC.EDU Coordinator: Thomas Krueger INFO-MACH@CS.CMU.EDU This mailing list exists for the purpose of discussing issues related to the Mach operating system. Mach is a UNIX BSD4.3 compatible operating system based on a message passing 1 Page 23 architecture that incorporates such features as multiprocessor support, lightweight tasking, external pagers, and a machine independent vm system. Mach is being developed at Carnegie Mellon University. All requests to be added to or deleted from this list, problems, questions, etc., should be sent to: INFO-MACH-REQUEST@CS.CMU.EDU Coordinator: Doug Orr POLITICS@UCF1VM A list for the serious discussion of politics, hosted by the University of Central Florida. Since it is not being moderated, we ask that all users refrain from making attacks or flames of a personal nature. To subscribe send the following command to Listserv@UCF1VM via mail or message: SUBSCRIBE POLITICS your_full_name Coordinator: Lois Buwalda QUICKEYS-USERS@PLAID.SUN.COM Discussion group for the Macintosh Quickeys product. All requests to be added to or deleted from this list, problems, questions, etc., should be sent to: QUICKEYS-REQUEST@PLAID.SUN.COM Coordinator: Chuq Von Rospach VMXA-L@UGA Discussion of issues in installation, operation and maintenance of VM/XA systems. Included are both the existing VM/XA/SF system as well as the new VM/XA/SP system. Topics include anything related to VM/XA, as well as conversion from VM/SP and VM/SP/HPO to VM/XA. To subscribe send the following command to Listserv@UGA via mail or message: SUBSCRIBE VMXA-L your_full_name Coordinator: Harold C. Pritchett 1 Page 24 WHITEWATER@IUVAX.CS.INDIANA.EDU Mail.whitewater is devoted to those who enjoy whitewater kayaking, rafting, and canoeing. The list is a forum for the discussion of trips, rivers, equipment, current happenings affecting "river rats", and anything else related to the sport. All requests to be added to or deleted from this list, problems, questions, etc., should be sent to: WHITEWATER-REQUEST@IUVAX.CS.INDIANA.EDU Coordinator: Charles Daffinger ********* * * Feedback * * * * Wow! People CAN think... * * * * Send your letters to BITLIB@YALEVM ********* From: Eric Keller Subject: More on Crossnet Usage Beefs I got the March issue of NetMonth. Thanks for all the publicity for foNETiks (a pleasant surprise) and for publishing my beefs about X-net usage. Dave Gomberg of UCSFVM sent me a suitably pithy comment. I thought you might want to include it in an upcoming issue of NetMonth: "I heard your NetMonth complaint. As a programmer since 1959, even on machines with tubes, and the local maintainer of our own MTA and UA, I can tell you the other networks problem is nearly insoluble. The others (and BITNET too, if I could see it thru the eyes of others) are both inconsistent (internally) and in continual flux. The worst is UUNET. The only SOLUTION is standardization and someday we will get it. Till then, the best you can do is hang in there. If you want to take an active role, try to get your institution entirely on Internet, and out of the IBM BS used by BITNET. This need not be true from a traffic perspective (99% of your traffic can still be BITNET), but if you have an Internet interface that works like clockwork, the rest of the world will have no bitch about how you are reached. Good luck." 1 Page 25 From: A. Harry Williams Subject: Volunteers I almost forgot, but thanks to Chris Condon for his recent editorial in NetMonth for jogging my memory that I promised to start a discussion on POLICY-L about the volume of software the network is now dependant on that is written by volunteers, and should we be concerned. Let me set the stage a little: * I imagine NetNorth and EARN are in similar situations, but I cannot speak for them. (I can't speak for BITNET either, but I can raise the BITNET questions as part of my responsibilities as chair of the Node Management which I "volunteered" for.) * BITNET has a mandate from the BITNET Institutional reps to be inexpensive. * BITNET wants to play itself to the end user, a commitment to all disciplines at the institution. That is why fees are based on institution budget, not Computer Center, or other entity. * The growth of BITNET and end user involvement is due mostly to the services provided. Users see these services as BITNET, NOT the questions many of us have been dealing with such as Node management or domains, etc. Most of the end users could care less about any of that, they want the services. * The services that have made it grow are such things as Listserv, Netserv, Relay, CSNEWS, Comserve, ISAAC, and many others. Others such as MAIL and MAILER in the VM world are basic tools of some of these. Also note that most of the ones listed above are done by volunteers, either with or without their institutions blessings. From: Mads Ledet Subject: Volunteers BITNET would not be as good as it is or show such growth if many un-thanked volunteers had not spent long hours writing software and maintaining systems. It is exactly this volunteer aspect of BITNET which should be discussed as BITNET becomes an integral part of our working environment. Can we afford to depend on volunteer labor? How many of you would be comfortable with having volunteers doing 1) central site maintenance; 2) mail service; 3) telephone service (home); 4) electric service (home)? And yet, as an example, when the telephone was in its infancy, volunteers did maintain it and service it and string new lines, etc. 1 Page 26 I believe we have to move toward standards for site software and network "protocols". The intent of this belief is to make it possible for the maintainers to do their work in a "network load independent" manner. Each site should have certain minimum networking software and that software should conform to standards. For example, every site should have a standard name server so that users can find someone without putting an extra load on a volunteer or maintainer. There should be a standard set of servers - I don't know what all should be in it - but I would like to hear some suggestions. This does not mean that a site couldn't have non- standard servers! It does mean that the maintainers and maybe some volunteers could share the workload that always comes with software. For example, if a standard name server was available in several versions for the different main computers, a site could install it and assign a "maintainer". The maintainer's job might be to just clean up and maintain databases, etc., and to communicate with a committee of name server experts in case of problems. With this approach the volunteers would be able to go back to developing good additions to or new versions of software. My question to you is: can we (or should we) develop a model which fits the above? From: Dan Pressler Subject: An idea In the year and a half that I have been using BITNET & Relay I have often wondered what events of interest outside of the networks may be happening around the country and the world. Would anyone be interested in setting up or helping to set up a list of ongoing and/or periodic events from in the area the live in for people who may be planning trips of one sort or another? This could be set up either as some sort of server or simply as an account where requests for information are sent and replies, based on what is sent in, returned. While this would probably not be as comprehensive as what would be available elsewhere, it would provide a different point of view as well as information on some of the more obscure, but no less enjoyable events in an area. **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** ******* ******* **** **** *** **** ***** ***** **** **** **** ******* ***** ***** **** 1 Page 27 ********* * * NetMonth Policies * * * * Everything you ever wanted to know... * * * * BITLIB@YALEVM ********* NetMonth is a network service publication distributed free of charge to students and professionals in BITNET and other networks. This magazine and its companion file, BITNET SERVERS, are the work of the BITNET Services Library (BSL) staff and contributors from around the network. BITNET SERVERS is BITNETs list of servers and services. If you know of servers not listed in BITNET SERVERS, or if some listed are no longer available, please contact the NetMonth Editor. * Subscribing to NetMonth and BITNET SERVERS: Send the following command to Listserv@MARIST by mail or messgage: SUBSCRIBE NETMONTH Your_full_name Internet users may use this method, but must address the mail to Listserv%MARIST.BITNET * Back issues: BITNET users may get NetMonth back issues from the file server NICSERVE@BITNIC. A subscriber can delete him/herself from the mailing list by sending Listserv@MARIST the UNSUBSCRIBE NETMONTH command. * Letters to the Editor: If you have questions or comments about BITNET or NetMonth that you would like to see printed here, mail your letter to BITLIB@YALEVM. Make sure that you specify in the "Subject:" header or somewhere in the letter that it is for the NetMonth letters column. * Article Submissions: The only requirements for NetMonth articles and columns are that they be informative, interesting, and concern some BITNET-related topic. Send your articles and to BITLIB@YALEVM. 1 Page 28 * Printing this file: VM users can print this file by first copying it to NETMONTH LISTING and then printing the new file. This will allow page-breaks and other formatting to be accepted by your printer. _ __- __--- The __----- BITNET __------- Services ___________ Library "Because We're Here." ***************************************************************