19.0 Resources

19.1 Internet Mailing Lists

inet-access@earth.com (Email inet-access-request@earth.com)

This mailing list is a way to exchange tips, information and questions with other ISPs. This FAQ was compiled with assistance from inet-access members.

small-providers@netheaven.com (Email small-providers-request@netheaven.com)

This list is a low-volume list that's meant to fulfull basically the same function as inet-access.

linuxisp@lightning.com (Email linuxisp-request@lightning.com)

This list is for people using Linux as the basis for their Internet provider.

freebsd-isp@irbs.com (majordomo@irbs.com)

This list is for people using FreeBSD as the basis for their Internet provider.

com-priv@psi.com (Email com-priv-request@psi.com)

The name's supposed to stand for Commercialization and Privatization of the Internet, but it's really the battle of the titans. Watch in awe as the CIX self-destructs and hear paranoid (but often accurate!) speculations about what the telephone companies will do next. "Just because you're paranoid doesn't really mean they're not out to get you." Monitor the paranoid world by subscribing to com-priv. Or don't, and get a good night's sleep.

WARNING: This is an extremely high volume list. I have been told it's virtually impossible to get off of once you're added.

[Walter Vose Jeffries was kind enough to provide a correction of my quote and an attribution. "Quote from Henry Kissinger: 'Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean everyone's not out to get me.' (I think that is the original source of this in case you want to attribute it)."]

internet-marketing@popco.com (Email internet-marketing-request@popco.com)

This moderated contains many interesting discussions of the best way to market over the Internet, the design of World Wide Web sites, and so on. Inet-Marketing is an extremely well-run list, and I warmly recommend it if you have any interest at all in these topics.

19.2 Internet Newsgroups

alt.bbs.internet Newsgroup

This newsgroup occasionally contains discussion of similar issues to com-priv and inet-access, but it's mostly people advertising their Internet sites or looking for same. This is a good way to advertise and/or scope out the competition.

alt.internet.access.wanted Newsgroup

Pleas for Internet access. Once your provider is set up, you should monitor this group to find people who might be interested in its services.

alt.internet.services Newsgroup

Still more pleas for access and advertisements of access providers.

alt.culture.internet Newsgroup

Assorted discussions of Internet related issues. Alas, not as interesting as it sounds.

alt.internet.media-coverage Newsgroup

Interesting discussions of media coverage of the Internet. Low- traffic.

alt.internet.talk-radio Newsgroup

Internet talk radio and sound bytes.

19.3 USENET Oriented News Groups

news.admin.* alt.current-events.net-abuse

These newsgroups contain information about the current flood of "spamming", e-mail abuse and other topics relating to net administration.

news.answers

This is a repository for all FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) lists. A fascinating place to browse; be sure to make it easy for your users to access it.

news.announce.newusers

This contains information all new users should read, especially if you haven't produced your own versions of it personalized for your system.

19.4 FTP and World Wide Web Sites

Inet-Access Mailing List FTP Site FTP to: earth.com:pub/archive/inet-access

This is the official home of the latest Inet-Access FAQ - this document. It also contains archives of the inet-access mailing list.

WWW Service Providers List URL: ftp://ftp.einet.net/pub/INET-MARKETING/www-svc-providers

This document contains a list of known WWW service providers, and is an excellent way to scope out the competition. It was compiled by Mary Morris

19.5 Books

The O'Reilly and Associates "Zoo" - the books with the funny animal engravings on the covers - are universally popular, and with good reason. Some of the information, however, is specific to Unix environments the authors are familiar with. "System Performance Tuning", for example, goes into detail about BSD and System V performance measuring utilities, but little seems applicable towards Linux.

Expecially recommended among the "Zoo" is the book 'Sendmail' by Brian Costales et al. Although the Unix-Haters Handbook gulps at its size and its incredible level of detail (it explains concepts anyone running a Unix system should already be familiar with), it's definitely a first-rate introduction to an otherwise confusing beast.

The Unix-Haters' Handbook, by Simson Garfinkel, Daniel Weise and Steven Strassman, is excellent comic relief for any Unix system administrator. It tells us very clearly why we should have all bought LISP machines. Or VMS. Or ITS. Or TOPS-20. Only one caveat: Before taking their idea (that "Unix must die") seriously, realize that a similar listing of botched design decisions could have been written for any operating system currently in existance. Don't start me on DOS, Windows or Windows NT!

For Linuxers, the books produced by the Linux Documentation Project are first-rate. Fortunately, O'Reilly is apparently going to publish some of them, hopefully giving them a wider distribution. You should definitely look for the Linux Network Administration Guide, which was far more helpful than any other book I've seen in teaching me how to set up my two-station network (Sun 3/60 to Linux PC) and, later, my SLIP connection. If you're cheap and have a fast PostScript printer, they are also available for anonymous FTP from sunsite.unc.edu. Check out the directory (if I recall correctly) pub/Linux/docs/ldp. I don't recommend trying to read the documents in TROFF or TeX format, a true exercise for the machochist!

Next section: Conclusion