While in today's world, the Internet is a fact of life, and most mentions of it deal with unusual new laws or the discussion of the Internet as a cultural force in the world, this wasn't always the case. Started as a network of networks in the late 1960's, the Internet was, by today's standards, a pitifully slow connection that spanned only the most with-it college campuses and govenment installations. While the BBS world thrived and exploded, the Internet slowly grew, adding new schools and stronger connections over time. Before BBSes knew what hit them, this collegiate computer tool suddenly became The Next Big Thing, and any BBS that didn't grow and adapt to handle the Internet in some form slowly withered and died. On the other hand, any BBSes that made the switch were mutated into something completely unrecognizable anyway, so it was a lose-lose situation as far as the BBS culture surviving intact.
Nostalgic whining aside, the Internet stood away from the BBS world in some very positive ways: It was truly worldwide and your writings could be seen by thousands around the world as opposed to less than a hundred if you were lucky; the participants were generally college-age and had gotten over that inexplicable need to act like a complete ass online; and the subjects and topics approached by different people on the Internet were generally both interesting, and deep.
Of course, it did in fact collapse into a relative heap when the Internet became the must-be-on place for every schmuck with a modem. But on the other hand, you didn't need to spend tens of thousands a year for access to a terminal, either.
These files represent the thoughts of people in the late 80's/early 90's as they struggled to bring to the world the "definitive answer" on everything, which seems to have been one of the Internet's inherent missions. They're separate from BBS textfiles, but they're definitely something worth checking out.
| Filename |
Size |
Description of the Textfile |
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CERT| Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) Bulletins (1988-) | | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FAQ| The Frequently Asked Questions Collection | | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
31.txt | 4986 | DDN Management Bulletin #31: Police for Defense Data Netowkr Node Relocations (March 24, 1986)
| 32.txt | 3842 | DDN Management Bulletin #32: Phase 1 Of the Domain Name Implementation (January 22, 1987)
| 36.txt | 5747 | DDN Management Bulletin #36: DDN Monitoring Centers (December 10, 1987)
| aboutmtv.txt | 1690 | Adam Curry Explains: What is MTV.COM?
| acronyms.txt | 1731 | Some Common E-Mail Acronyms
| action | 5846 | IRC Action Coding Script by PosterBoy (January 22, 1994)
| active.txt | 50738 | List of Currently Active USENET Newsgroups (June 6, 1992)
| active2.txt | 75775 | List of Currently Active USENET Newsgroups (June 6, 1992) (Part 2)
| address_.faq | 24158 | Obtaining Host and Address Information by Ron Ray of the Network Services Group of Johns Hopkins University
| alt-news.txt | 134025 | A List of Newsgroups in the 'Alt" Heirarchy by Bruce Becker (May 6, 1994)
| alterna1.txt | 2077 | Registration of Domain Names for Bitnet, Csnet and UUCP
| alterna2.txt | 4339 | Domain Registration Template for CSNET and UUCP Sites
| altgroup.txt | 6546 | Guidelines for the Creation of an ALT Group (December 7, 1992)
| altirc.faq | 17574 | FAQ: The Internet Relay Chat FAQ Version 1.4 (August 7, 1995)
| altxirc.irc | 14922 | FAQ: IRC Frequently Asked Questions (January 2, 1995)
| anarchy | 41094 | Crypto Anarchy and Virtual Communities by Timothy C. May
| anon | 10642 | Information on the Anon.Penet.Fi Anonymous Server (April 25, 1994)
| anon.ftp | 108970 | A List of Anonymous FTP Servers from Jon Granrose (December 1, 1990)
| anonftp.how | 25027 | How to Set Up an Anonymous FTP Server (July 24, 1994)
| anonftp.txt | 36864 | List of Internet Sites Accepting Anonymous FTP, by Jon Granrose (March 13, 1990)
| ansnet | 3833 | The ANS Acceptable Use Policy
| archie.doc | 20818 | Information on using Archie for E-mail Version 3.0 (April 10, 1993)
| archie.man | 39052 | MAN Page for ARCHIE
| archie.txt | 3295 | How to Look Up FTP Files on ARCHIE (July 22, 1991)
| asn.txt | 48626 | List of Autonomous System Numbers (July 22, 1992)
| asn_temp.txt | 5738 | Registering for an Autonomous System Number
| astroftp.txt | 10547 | The Astronomy FTP List (April 5, 1993)
| atmtutor.txt | 39461 | A Brief Tutorial on ATM by Zahir Ebrahim (March 5, 1992)
| au_regis.ann | 3998 | Information on The Australian Internet Registry
| author.lst | 42744 | A List of Reachable Major MsDos Authors of Files at FTP Archives (February 28, 1993)
| autonet.txt | 80186 | DOCUMENTATION: AUTONET: Automated Internet Communications 3.0 by David SMith (1995)
| autonet3.txt | 5764 | Autonet Terminal Identity Codes
| autonet4.txt | 5973 | Autonet Publications
| banned.faq | 62721 | FAQ: How to Receive Banned Newsgroups FAQ (November 30, 1994)
| basic2.net | 22484 | Complete List of Networks World Wide, from Sk8 the Skinhead
| bbslist.txt | 34028 | Zamfield`s Wonderfully Incomplete, Complete Internet BBS List (June 15, 1992)
| bd_appd.txt | 24569 | The Big Dummies' Guide to the Internet Version 2.0 (February 1994): Appendix
| bd_ch1.txt | 45802 | The Big Dummies' Guide to the Internet Version 2.0 (February 1994): Chapter 1: Setting Up and Jacking In
| bd_ch10.txt | 7971 | The Big Dummies' Guide to the Internet Version 2.0 (February 1994): Chapter 10: News of the Weird
| bd_ch11.txt | 28152 | The Big Dummies' Guide to the Internet Version 2.0 (February 1994): Chapter 11: IRCs and MUDs
| bd_ch12.txt | 12509 | The Big Dummies' Guide to the Internet Version 2.0 (February 1994): Chapter 12: Education and the Net
| bd_ch13.txt | 7855 | The Big Dummies' Guide to the Internet Version 2.0 (February 1994): Chapter 13: Business on the Net
| bd_ch2.txt | 42089 | The Big Dummies' Guide to the Internet Version 2.0 (February 1994): Chapter 2: E-mail
| bd_ch3.txt | 45939 | The Big Dummies' Guide to the Internet Version 2.0 (February 1994): Chapter 3: Usenet I
| bd_ch4.txt | 29582 | The Big Dummies' Guide to the Internet Version 2.0 (February 1994): Chapter 4: Usenet II
| bd_ch5.txt | 9481 | The Big Dummies' Guide to the Internet Version 2.0 (February 1994): Chapter 5: Mailing Lists and Bitnet
| bd_ch6.txt | 50298 | The Big Dummies' Guide to the Internet Version 2.0 (February 1994): Chapter 6: Telnet
| bd_ch7.txt | 42314 | The Big Dummies' Guide to the Internet Version 2.0 (February 1994): Chapter 7: FTP
| bd_ch8.txt | 36094 | The Big Dummies' Guide to the Internet Version 2.0 (February 1994): Chapter 8: Gophers, WAIS, Web
| bd_ch9.txt | 17026 | The Big Dummies' Guide to the Internet Version 2.0 (February 1994): Chapter 9: Advanced E-Mail
| bd_pref.txt | 29446 | The Big Dummies' Guide to the Internet Version 2.0 (February 1994): Preface and Introduction
| bigfun.txt | 24960 | Big Fun in the Internet with Uncle Bert
| billbord.txt | 29082 | Electronic Billboards on the Digital Superhighway: A Report of the Working Group on Internet Advertising The Coalition for Networked Information (March 18, 1994)
| bitnet | 95578 | A List of Nodes on BITNET (December 14, 1988)
| bitnet.inf | 44975 | BioBit No 17 (Bitnet for the complete idiot) (October 15, 1990)
| bitnic | 27321 | A Directory of Files on Bitnet (March 19, 1988)
| blacker.txt | 52196 | DOCUMENTATION: Blacker Interface Control Document (March 21, 1989)
| bot.txt | 19481 | Baloobear's Guide to Writing IRC Bots
| brief.txt | 1065 | How to Get onto IRC, from Antares Cybersquatting Division (August 9, 1994)
| bycountr.net | 5448 | A Listing of NSFNETworks by Country (June 1, 1994)
| bystate.net | 3080 | NSFNetworks by US State (June 1, 1994)
| bytes.hst | 689 | NSFNet Byte Traffic History (April, 1994)
| c | 33353 | Some Frequently Submitted Questions on USENET
| cerfnet | 2171 | The Acceptable Use Policy for CERFnet
| chat | 4290 | Instructions of VMS Chat
| chern.vax | 16507 | The Arrival of the USSR on Usenet (April 1st, 1984)
| cihac009.txt | 218045 | Illegal and Offensive Content on the Information Highway: A Background Paper, by Gareth Sansom, Long Range Planning & Analysis (DPP) Spectrum, Information Technologies and Telecommunications Sector (SITT) Industry Canada (June 19, 1995)
| cisler.nre | 16144 | The National Research and Education Network: Two meetings (December 17, 1990)
| closing.net | 31426 | Closing the Net, by Greg Costikyan, from Reason Magazine
| coemail | 12431 | Formulating a Company Policy on Access to and use and Disclosure of Electronic Mail on Company Computer Systems by David R. Johnson and John Podesta (October 22, 1990)
| concert | 8577 | Operational Policies for Internet Network 128.109 and The Concert Network
| confidential.txt | 2279 | SPAM: A Confidential Letter, Help Get Nigerian Money
| contents | 3326 | All You Ever Wanted to Know About Usenet (July 27, 1991)
| cppnews.txt | 10997 | DOCUMENTATION: CPPNews Version 1.2
| craig.she | 5448 | Do Not Send Any Cards to Craig Shergold! (The Craig Shergold FAQ)
| cren | 3881 | The Acceptable Use Policy for the Corporation for Research and Education Networking
| crocker.txt | 47638 | The Political and Social Implications of the Net by Steve Crocker (October 29, 1992)
| cwis.txt | 32780 | The Campus-Wide Information Systems List by Judy Hallman (April 7, 1992)
| cyberpunk.txt | 3289 | Some thoughts about Cyberpunks and Post Humans, by Wyzel
| d | 19229 | A Primer on How to Work with the USENET Community by Chuq Von Rospach (October 23, 1991)
| datapac.inf | 12445 | Technical Guide to DataPac, by The New Dark Council (1990)
| datapac.log | 18878 | Datapac 3101 ITI Parameters Description
| datapac1.txt | 29450 | Datapac 3101 Outdial Procedures, Captured and Edited by Damaged Mind (October 23, 1991)
| datapac4.txt | |