|
... st+found directories. Etc is
another seemingly interesting directory that turns out to be another
place to store files used by the ftp site itself. Again, nothing of any
real interest.
Then, once you get into the actual file libraries, you'll find that
in many cases, files will have such non-descriptive names as V1.1-
AK.TXT. The best known example is probably a set of several hundred
files known as RFCs, which provide the basic technical and
organizational information on which much of the Internet is built.
These files can be found on many ftp sites, but always in a form such as
RFC101.TXT, RFC102.TXT and so on, with no clue whatsoever as to what
information they contain.
Fortunately, almost all ftp sites have a "Rosetta Stone" to help
you decipher these names. Most will have a file named README (or some
variant) that gives basic information about the system. Then, most
directories will either have a similar README file or will have an index
that does give brief descriptions of each file. These are usually the
first file in a directory and often are in the form 00INDEX.TXT. Use
the ftp command to get this file. You can then scan it online or
download it to see which files you might be interested in.
Another file you will frequently see is called ls-lR.Z. This contains
a listing of every file on the system, but without any descriptions (the
name comes from the Unix command ls -lR, which gives you a listing of all
the files in all your directories). The Z at the end means the file has
been compressed, which means you will have to use a Unix un-compress command
before you can read the file.
And finally, we have those system administrators who almost seem to
delight in making things difficult -- the ones who take full advantage of
Unix's ability to create absurdly long file names. On some FTP sites, you
will see file names as long as 80 characters or so, full of capital letters,
underscores and every other orthographic device that will make it almost
impossible for you to type the file name correctly when you try to get it.
Your secret weapon here is the mget command. Just type mget, a space, and
the first five or six letters of the file name, followed by an asterisk, for
example:
mget This_F*
The FTP site will ask you if you want to get the file that begins with that
name. If there are several files that start that way, you might have to
answer 'n' a few times, but it's still easier than trying to recreate a
ludicrously long file name.
7.6 SOME INTERESTING FTP SITES
What follows is a list of some interesting ftp sites, arranged by
category. With hundreds of ftp sites now on the Net, however, this list
barely scratches the surface of what is available. Liberal use of archie
will help you find specific files.
The times listed for each site are in Eastern time and represent
the periods during which it is considered acceptable to connect.
AMIGA
webhosting wisconsin ftp.uu.net Has Amiga programs in the systems/amiga directory.
Available 24 hours.
wuarchive.wustl.edu. Look in the pub/aminet directory.
Available 24 hours.
ATARI
atari.archive.umich.edu Find almost all the Atari files you'll ever
need, in the atari directory.
7 p.m. - 7 a.m.
BOOKS
rtfm.mit.edu The pub/usenet/rec.arts.books directories has
reading lists for various authors as well as lists of recommended
bookstores in different cities.
Unfortunately, this site uses incredibly
long file names -- so long they may scroll off the end of wisconsin best web design your screen if
you are using an MS-DOS or certain other computers. Even if you want
just one of the files, it probably makes more sense to use mget than get.
This way, you will be asked on each file whether you want to get it;
otherwise you may wind up frustrated because the system will keep telling
you the file you want doesn't exist (since you may miss the end of its
name due to the scrolling problem).
6 p.m. - 6 a.m.
mrcnext.cso.uiuc.edu Project Gutenberg is an effort to translate
paper texts into electronic form. Already available are more than 100
titles, from works by Lewis Carrol to Mark Twain; from "A Tale of Two
Cities" to "Son of Tarzan." Look in the /etext/etext92 and
/etext/etext93 directories.
6 p.m. - 9 a.m.
COMPUTER ETHICS
ftp.eff.org The home of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Use cd
to get to the pub directory and then look in the EFF, SJG and CPSR
directories for documents on the EFF itself and various issues related to
the Net, ethics and the law.
Available 24 hours.
CONSUMER
rtfm.mit.edu The pub/usenet/misc.consumers directory has
documents related to credit. The wisconsin best web design pub/usenet/rec.travel.air directory
will tell you how to deal with airline reservation clerks, find the best
prices on seats, etc. See under Books for a caveat in using this ftp
site.
6 p.m.
- 6 a.m.
COOKING
wuarchive.wustl.edu Look for recipes and recipe directories in the
usenet/rec.food.cooking/recipes directory.
gatekeeper.dec.com Recipes are in the pub/recipes directory.
ECONOMICS
neeedc.umesbs.maine.edu The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston uses
this site (yes, there are three 'e's in "neeedc") to house all sorts of
data on the New England economy. Many files contain 20 years or more of
information, usually in forms that are flash wisconsin easily adaptable to spreadsheet or
database files. Look in the frbb directory.
6 p.m. - 6 a.m.
town.hall.org. Look in the edgar directory for the beginnings of a
system to distribute annual reports and other wisconsin best web design data publicly held wisconsin best web design
companies are required to file with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. The other/fed directory holds various statistical files from
the Federal Reserve Board.
FTP
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