[Cross-posted to law-lib and teknoids with the usual unctuous
apologies]
Folks:
The following was posted to comp.protocols.tcpip.ibmpc, and
looked worth passing on. I have not seen the book myself, though
Susan Estrada is known to me as the former customer services
manager at CERFNET; I believe she's currently a mover and shaker
at the INTERNIC NOC.
Tb.
--- Forwarded message follows ---
From: lwv26@cas.org (Larry W. Virden)
Subject: Re: What's needed to provide FULL Internet Access
Date: Mon, 6 Sep 1993 19:45:19 GMT
I just finished reading O'Reily's latest book - the book is by
Susan Estrada and is called "Connecting to the Internet".
The book is subtitled "An O'Reilly Buyer's Guide" and it appears
to be a good first effort at collecting information from a
variety of sources and creating a guide for the first time user.
To give you an idea of what you are getting, there are 78 pages
of background, questions, etc. followed by a printed copy of
PDIAL, a new list called DLIST which is an accumulation of those
organizations providing dedicated line access, an 8 page
glossary, and an index. It is a grand total of 179 pages.
The background spends a few pages talking about how the internet
works, then describing some of the factors that impact
performance. Next, it tries its best to convey in a limited
space why one would want to use the Internet.
Of course, someone wanting more detail should purchase Krol's
excellent book "The Whole Internet User's Guide & Catalog".
Next the concerns one should have while selecting the network
provider are covered. Many aspects that one might not think of
if not familar with this are are covered.
Finally the distinctions between a dial up provider versus the
dedicated line provider are covered in two separate chapters.
The book makes a worthy attempt at conveying the true costs of
hooking to the Internet -I only hope that the readers consider
the benefits equally as compelling.
If you are an experienced Usenet and Internet user, you will have
likely seen a lot of newsgroup traffic covering many of these
topics, albeit in terms less generic. I personally believe that
it is of benefit to anyone considering upgrading their access to
Internet to read over this gem. Another group to whom this might
be beneficial are those on the Internet who believe that the
Internet is 'free' - you may be surprised at how much is being
paid to support your 'free' access.
All in all, if you are someone who is going to have to pay, or
justify to someone else the payment, of Internet access, you
should look at this book for some of the practical issues.
-- :s :s Larry W. Virden INET: lvirden@cas.org :s Personal: 674 Falls Place, Reynoldsburg, OH 43068-1614
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