aa399@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Len Stys) (09/03/90)
I have been getting a lot of responses to my posting about the Atari SIG
on Free-Net and many of you want to know exactly how to do it or what
Free-Net really is about. So I dug out this article from Z*Net which
explains more about it:
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Atari Online Magazine Issue #530
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(=) 1990 by Rovac Industries, Inc.
Post Office Box 59
Middlesex, New Jersey 08846
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Z*Net Online 24 Hour BBS (908) 968-8148 3/12/24
CompuServe 71777,2140 GEnie Z-NET
=======================================================================
JULY 27, 1990
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CLEVELAND FREENET - FEEDBACK
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by Francisco X DeJesus
About two months ago I read about the Cleveland Free-Net right here in
Z*Net. You've probably heard something about it by now, including the
fact it's absolutely free. However, if you live nowhere near Cleveland,
you may be thinking how you can get to it without a not-so-free long
distance phone call. All you really need is access to a computer system
in the Internet network...
If your'e at college, the best way to connect to it is to use your ST as
a terminal to a local computer system, for example, using Uniterm to
call your campus computer system. Most colleges and universities
nationwide have Internet access. If you have an account in that
computer, log in as you usually would. From your system, it is a one-
step process to get to the Free-Net. Type in:
"telnet freenet-in-a.cwru.edu" (no quotation marks). If it doesn't
recognize the hostname, try using the IP number directly:
"telnet 129.22.8.76". Most mainframe operating systems (VMS, Unix,
CMS, Music, etc.) support the Telnet command.
If you do not have an account on the local computer system, ask around
to see if you may request a temporary account or if there is a 'guest'
account available. Also ask about the kind of computer that answers the
phone calls. If it is what is known as a 'terminal server', you have to
connect from there to the actual computer that you want to use (for
example, you type in something like 'connect LOCALCOMP' and then your'e
asked for your username and password to log in). If this is the case,
some terminal servers will allow you to use the Internet directly: type
in "connect 129.22.8.76". A last resort is to visit some of the local
microcomputer labs in your school. Find out if they are plugged into
your campus network (usually thru ethernet). If they are, you may
obtain PD Telnet software for both Macs and PCs.
Once you reach the Free-Net (it takes just a few seconds to connect from
anywhere in the country) you will be greeted by the title screen and an
ASCII pic of the 'electronic city'. You may log in as a guest user and
begin to explore the system or apply for an account (they will send you
the actual application by mail). As a guest user you can go anywhere
and read anything in the system, but you can't leave messages, e-mail,
or chat with the other users online.
The whole Free-Net is set up like a menu-driven BBS with a city motif,
and well deserved since it is HUGE! The system is extremely easy to
use, and online help is available. Do check out all the SIGs,
especially the Atari SIG (type "go atari" at any arrow prompt). The
Atari SIG is among the largest, and (as usual) Atari users are among the
most outspoken in some of the other areas. Not all SIGs are computer-
oriented, and there is more than one SIG for every interest (for a
complete listing of the SIGs check out the Index under the Post Office's
User Services).
In all, if you have the chance, I highly recommend you try out the
Cleveland Free-Net. As a first impression, the Free-Net works like any
small BBS, but on such a large scale that the sheer magnitude of it
still awes me (how many BBS's do you know with 96MB RAM and over 2 gig
HD space? - and it's growing!). It takes very little time to feel at
home there, and it's free, so go online today!
ak662@cleveland.freenet.edu
dejesus@comus.cs.tulane.edu
GEnie: F.DEJESUS1
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