Email 101 Part 4

In addition to using an Internet address to send E-mail, you can use it to call a computer. This is rather like dialing up a computer with a modem, except that the local computer (the one you called with *your*

modem) is calling up the remote computer:

your PC or Mac --> "local computer" --> "remote computer"

The example a.s.sumes that "home>" is the sh.e.l.l prompt given by your local computer and that "%" is the prompt given by the remote computer (see Section 2.2 on "sh.e.l.l prompts"). So remember, you don't type them.

home> telnet hoople.usnd.edu

Welcome to node HOOPLE. Now running Opus 2.0

username: pdq pa.s.sword:

Last login 23:14:55 15-JUN-1752 You have mail.

%

% logoff

Session with hoople.usnd.gov terminated at 21:19.

home>

This method of connecting to another computer is called "telnetting".

In effect, you have used the local computer to telephone the remote computer. You can now do anything on the remote computer (with certain restrictions) you could do if you were "actually" logged on.

SPECIAL PROBLEMS WITH TELNETTING

Sometimes telnetting will put you into a menu-type program or even a "screen oriented" program. A special problem here is getting the other computer to recognize what type of screen you have. Since most communications software "emulates a terminal", this amounts to telling the other system what type of terminal your communications system is emulating.

E.g., on a UNIX system you might type:

% set term vt100

to tell the other system that your communications software thinks it is a VT100 terminal (a very common choice for emulation programs).

If you don't get this exactly right, your telnet session will "sort of work". It's probably not worth spending a lot of time on this problem for a brief contact with the other computer. If you are going to work on the remote computer every day, however, you will want to get it right. Most "flaky" behavior can be traced to this problem.