[net.unix] What is BITNET?

JDS5.TYM%office-2@sri-unix.UUCP (03/11/84)

Would someone out there please send me some information about BITNET?  I don't 
want technical info, just a brief description of the

purpose of BITNET , what it is, who supports and uses it and that sort of stuff.
 A friend of mine asked me about BITNET and I think I remember seeing some mail 
with that name in the headers.

Thanks very much,

Jeffrey Stone,  Menlo Park, CA

ron%brl-vgr@sri-unix.UUCP (03/12/84)

From:      Ron Natalie <ron@brl-vgr>

BITNET is the "Because it's there" network.  It is to the IBM world
what UUCP is to the UNIX world.  BITNET is a little better because it
has a little more coordinated standards group.  Membership is currently
limitted to non-commercial sites.  Mostly, it's universities.  You don't
have to be an IBM.  Penn State has done an implementation for VAX UNIX
The network protocol is RSCS (which is an IBM file spooling protocol)
over synchronous modems.  To join you just grab a couple of phone lines
and some modems and hook up to the nearest site.

Network facilities include mail (RFC822 and a batch version of SMTP),
file transfer, and some remote execution of certain commands.  Currently
there is one ad hoc gateway into the net.  To send mail to a Bitnet
host address it to:
		USER%BITNET-HOST@BERKELEY

The official gateway will be at the University of Wisconsin but I don't
think it is up yet.

-Ron

fair@dual.UUCP (Erik E. Fair) (03/15/84)

One small correction to Ron Natalie's msg on BITNET:

To avoid ambiguity, mail should be addressed:

	user%host.BITNET@BERKELEY.ARPA

This in anticipation of BITNET becoming a real live domain, I suppose.

	Erik E. Fair	ucbvax!fair	fair@ucb-arpa.ARPA

	dual!fair@BERKELEY.ARPA
	{ihnp4,ucbvax,cbosgd,decwrl,amd70,fortune,zehntel}!dual!fair
	Dual Systems Corporation, Berkeley, California