[Last changed: 02/02/92]

This is the first edition of a booklet entitled ``Zen and the Art of
the Internet: A Beginner's Guide to the Internet''.  It's roughly 100
pages in length, and is divided into the following sections:

	* Chapter 1--Network Basics
	* Chapter 2--Electronic Mail
	* Chapter 3--Anonymous FTP
	* Chapter 4--Usenet News
	* Chapter 5--Telnet
	* Chapter 6--Tools (finger/ping/etc)
	* Chapter 7--Commercial Uses of the Internet
	* Chapter 8--Things you'll hear about (projects/organizations)
	* Chapter 9--Finding Out More
	* An appendix on reaching other networks
	* An appendix on mail-based file retrieval (FTPmail, archive servers)
	* An appendix on how to create a newsgroup
	* A glossary of 80+ terms
	* A bibliography of over a dozen books and two dozen papers
	  and magazines related to the Internet and similar topics.

Why do you want this?  Well, for one thing it's free.  It's also
unique--there presently exists no single comprehensive collection of
the information directly related to being connected to the Internet.
Most users learn by word of mouth and stumbling upon things.  This
guide should give you a reference to consult if you're curious about
what can be done with the Internet.  It also presents the fundamental
topics that are all too often assumed and considered trivial by many
network users.  This is your first "virtual quickie."

Now, how to read it.  The file zen-1.0.dvi is a DVI (DeVice
Independent) file created by the TeX typesetting system.  Filters
exist to convert these DVI files into printer-specific files for a variety
of printers.  Also included is the file zen-1.0.PS, a Postscript version.
This can be printed on a number of printers, most notably the Apple
LaserWriter series.  (We tested it with a Pacific Page cartridge in an
HP LaserJet III.)

In the tar file zen-1.0.tar.Z (a compressed tar file---ask your local
system administrator how to extract the files from this), there are a
number of files suffixed by `.texi'.  These are the TeXinfo source to
the booklet.  TeX is a free typesetting system, the source for which
you can FTP or buy on a tape.  TeXinfo is the system written on top of
TeX by the GNU Project for easy manual creation.  To create a DVI file
of your own (for whatever reason), simply tex the file zen-1.0.texi.
Right now you can't create the info file needed for reading it in the
info system or in Emacs' info mode.  Contact me if you'd like to find
out why not, and suggest possible solutions.

I'm sorry, we cannot supply hardcopy versions of this booklet at this
time.  The support staffs of educational institutions are encouraged to
put multiple copies out for their user communities.  Also any companies
in need of training literature are welcome to use this booklet. (The
author is keenly interested in hearing from anyone considering such a
large distribution; if you're going to do such a thing, please let me
know.)

Being that this is the first edition, a good amount of information was
been omitted, in trade for being able to release it for general
critique this Spring.  (Otherwise it probably wouldn't be presentable
again until the summer.) In particular WAIS, IRC, and a few other
things stand out.  They will be added in a more complete version;
suggestions on what to include are more than welcome. Hopefully the
thinner chapters (e.g. commercial uses) will grow soon too.  (For example,
I want to include an appendix on what it takes to become connected to the
Internet, and perhaps one on how to register a domain name--both vital
issues to people who are contemplating joining the Internet but aren't
quite sure what's involved or what's "inside the black box.")

If you have any comments or questions, please send them to the address
guide-bugs@cs.widener.edu.  I hope this guide is of use to you!

Brendan Kehoe
Department of Computer Science
Widener University
