davisp@solarium.CWRU.EDU (Palmer Davis) (09/13/89)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Okay, I know this is going to sound rather basic, but hey, that's what this group is for, isn't it? I keep seeing references to "the RFC" or "RFC XX.XX" here and there. What exactly are they and, if they're something I'm supposed to be following, where do I get a copy of them? advaTHANKSnce, -- Palmer Davis -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ davisp@skybridge.scl.cwru.edu -- Palmer Davis --
tale@pawl.rpi.edu (David C Lawrence) (09/13/89)
RFC stands for "Request For Comments". From RFC 1111:
RFCs are distributed online by being stored as public access files,
and a short message is sent to the distribution list indicating the
availability of the memo.
The online files are copied by the interested people and printed or
displayed at their site on their equipment. (An RFC may also be
returned via email in response to an email query.) This means that
the format of the online files must meet the constraints of a wide
variety of printing and display equipment.
RFCs are written for several reasons. Referring again to 1111:
There are several reasons for publishing a memo as an RFC, for
example, to make available some information for interested people,
or to begin or continue a discussion of an interesting idea, or to
make available the specification of a protocol.
In the first paragraph it was mentioned that a short message is sent
to the distribution list when a new memo is available. Administrative
requests (as to be added or removed) regarding that mailing list
should be directed via email to rfc-request@nic.ddn.mil.
RFCs can be obtained any number of ways; the methods offered in RFC
1111 are:
RFCs can be obtained via FTP from NIC.DDN.MIL, with the pathname
RFC:RFCnnnn.TXT (where "nnnn" refers to the number of the RFC).
Login with FTP, username ANONYMOUS and password GUEST.
The NIC also provides an automatic mail service for those sites which
cannot use FTP. Address the request to SERVICE@NIC.DDN.MIL and in
the subject field of the message indicate the RFC number, as in
"Subject: RFC nnnn".
[...]
The RFCs may also be obtained from other information centers,
including the CSNET Information Center (INFO@SH.CS.NET), the NSFNET
Information Service (INFO@NIS.NSF.NET).
You might be able to find them locally, though. For example, at
Rensselaer the RFCs are kept online under the RFC ID on the campus
mainframe. Your postmaster would likely know if any RFCs are stored
in your local area.
Dave
--
(setq mail '("tale@pawl.rpi.edu" "tale@itsgw.rpi.edu" "tale@rpitsmts.bitnet"))ckd@bu-pub.bu.edu (Christopher Davis) (09/13/89)
On 12 Sep 89 20:58:32 GMT, tale@pawl.rpi.edu (David C Lawrence) said: [lots of good stuff about what an RFC is... go back and look at <7235@rpi.edu> if you haven't already] David> In the first paragraph it was mentioned that a short message is sent David> to the distribution list when a new memo is available. Administrative David> requests (as to be added or removed) regarding that mailing list David> should be directed via email to rfc-request@nic.ddn.mil. Well, yes, but they're also announced in the comp.doc newsgroup (and often distributed therein) and subscribing to the newsgroup takes less net bandwidth (and doesn't require the folks at the NIC to have to add you to the mailing list). A small nit in a large and quite good article. --ckd -- / |/ |\ @bu-pub.bu.edu <or> | Chris Davis, BU SMG 90 | disclaim, disclaim... \ |\ |/ %bu-pub@bu-it.bu.edu | IGNORE THE PATH: LINE! | smghy6c@buacca.bitnet
bill@twwells.com (T. William Wells) (09/13/89)
In article <564@cwjcc.CWRU.Edu> davisp@skybridge.scl.cwru.edu (Palmer Davis) writes:
: Okay, I know this is going to sound rather basic, but hey, that's what this
: group is for, isn't it? I keep seeing references to "the RFC" or "RFC XX.XX"
: here and there. What exactly are they and, if they're something I'm supposed
: to be following, where do I get a copy of them?
An RFC is, if I recall correctly, a Request For Comment. (I've heard
people call these Requirements For Compliance, but I think that was a
wish or a grouse, not anything official.) These serve as standards in
the Internet community and elsewhere.
You can get them from various archive sites. Some of them are listed
in the comp.archives database; for a listing, send the following
message to comp-archives-server@twwells.com:
path davisp@skybridge.scl.cwru.edu
send help
send index
There is, I believe, somewhere on the Internet, the primary archive
for these; I really should know where (and expect to be educated
shortly :-) but don't know right now.
(As an aside, even though I started this newsgroup, there are lots of
little niggles like the above, or the $f trick for rn, that I don't
or didn't know. Even those of us who have been here a while can learn
things from this group.)
---
Bill { uunet | novavax | ankh | sunvice } !twwells!bill
bill@twwells.comthomas@mvac23.UUCP (Thomas Lapp) (09/14/89)
> group is for, isn't it? I keep seeing references to "the RFC" or "RFC XX.XX" > here and there. What exactly are they and, if they're something I'm supposed > to be following, where do I get a copy of them? RFC stands for Request for Comments. RFCs are used for proposed standards or ways of doing things. For example, RFC822 (along with others) defines the fields of electronic mail as used on the Internet. These RFCs are kept online by sri-nic and there is a mailserver which can send copies of the RFCs to you if you know the number (there is an index also available). Others, I'm sure, will describe exactly how to get RFCs from NIC (Network Information Center), but if you don't let me know, and I'll dig up what I can find lurking in my archives... - tom -- internet: mvac23!thomas@udel.edu or thomas%mvac23@udel.edu uucp : {ucbvax,mcvax,psuvax1,uunet}!udel!mvac23!thomas Location: Newark, DE, USA Quote : NOTICE: System will have a scheduled disk crash at 4:45pm today.
epsilon@wet.UUCP (Eric P. Scott) (09/15/89)
>RFC stands for Request for Comments.
That's right. The mil-sector paid for the name, and the "F"
doesn't stand for F***. Go figure.
-=EPS=-
( :-) for the humor-impaired )scott@dtscp1.UUCP (Scott Barman) (09/15/89)
In article <1989Sep13.085325.1094@twwells.com> bill@twwells.com (T. William Wells) writes: >There is, I believe, somewhere on the Internet, the primary archive >for these; I really should know where (and expect to be educated >shortly :-) but don't know right now. OK, I'll byte :-) They are available from the Network Information Center at SRI. To get a specific RFC, you can use the facilities of ftp to get the documents you want (from SRI-NIC.ARPA) or they have an automated uucp mail answering service. To use this, mail your request to SERVICE@SRI-NIC.ARPA (or sri-nic.arpa!service is you like) with the subject line containing what you want. For example, Subject: RFC 822 gets you RFC 822 Subject: RFC INDEX gets you the index of available RFCs Subject: INFO gets you the info file from the NIC. Some documents (like RFC 822) are too big to send all at once, so they will break it up before sending it. It's a good service, I use it all the time! -- scott barman {gatech, emory}!dtscp1!scott
ckd@bu-pub.bu.edu (Christopher Davis) (09/15/89)
In article <1989Sep13.085325.1094@twwells.com>, bill@twwells.com (T. William Wells) writes: >There is, I believe, somewhere on the Internet, the primary archive >for these; I really should know where (and expect to be educated >shortly :-) but don't know right now. On 14 Sep 89 18:26:34 GMT, scott@dtscp1.UUCP (Scott Barman) said: Scott> OK, I'll byte :-) Scott> They are available from the Network Information Center at SRI. To get a Scott> specific RFC, you can use the facilities of ftp to get the documents you Scott> want (from SRI-NIC.ARPA) or they have an automated uucp mail answering Scott> service. To use this, mail your request to SERVICE@SRI-NIC.ARPA (or Scott> sri-nic.arpa!service is you like) with the subject line containing what Scott> you want. It's now NIC.DDN.MIL. [I know, I know, another nitpick--and I still call it SRI-NIC more often than not--but the new "real domain address" is what you (and I) should be using.] Scott> scott barman --Chris -- / |/ |\ @bu-pub.bu.edu <or> | Chris Davis, BU SMG 90 | disclaim, disclaim... \ |\ |/ %bu-pub@bu-it.bu.edu | IGNORE THE PATH: LINE! | smghy6c@buacca.bitnet
mikeh@dell.dell.com (Mike Hammel) (09/15/89)
In article <951@dtscp1.UUCP> scott@dtscp1.UUCP (Scott Barman) writes:
-service. To use this, mail your request to SERVICE@SRI-NIC.ARPA (or
-sri-nic.arpa!service is you like) with the subject line containing what
-you want.
I'm not absolutely positive about this but I think sri-nic changed to
nic.ddn.mil as their address. You might check with the folks over in the
info-nets list (I know its a Bitnet group, but I read it through Usenet so
others must be able to also, right?). They have the right addresses for
such things.
Michael J. Hammel | UUCP(preferred): ...!cs.utexas.edu!dell!Kepler!mjhammel
Dell Computer Corp. | Also: ...!dell!mikeh or 73377.3467@compuserve.com
"I know engineers, they looooove to change things" L. McCoy
Disclaimer: These are my views, not those of my employers. So there.epsilon@wet.UUCP (Eric P. Scott) (09/16/89)
In article <3252@dell.dell.com> mikeh@dell.UUCP (Mike Hammel, ) writes: >I'm not absolutely positive about this but I think sri-nic changed to >nic.ddn.mil as their address. You might check with the folks over in the >info-nets list (I know its a Bitnet group, but I read it through Usenet so >others must be able to also, right?). They have the right addresses for >such things. Info-Nets@Think.COM (which is most assuredly an Internet group) is the OFFICIAL list. It feeds BITNET's INFONETS@BITNIC, but that's a one-way connection. All submissions must be sent to the Internet list. Refer to the list-of-lists for subscription information. SRI-NIC.ARPA officially became NIC.DDN.MIL on Aug. 6, 1989. The old name will be listed as a CNAME for one year. You have that long to track down all the "whois" programs with "sri-nic.arpa" hardwired into them ... and fix ALL the documentation! :-) -=EPS=-