Re: Getting to the internet

[Gil Andre <gandre@arkeia.com>]

Hi!

On Thu, 23 May 2002 08:22:15 -0400, Weber wrote:
> Hi All,
> 
>    I'm new to the list and while I'm a professional programmer working on a
> mainframe, I am ignorant of Lynux and so forth (by the way, first, what is
> the correct pronunciation of lynux, please?).

Well...

First of all, it's "Linux" and not "Lynux". To pronounce
"Linux" correctly... This has been the subject of a huge
number of internet debates and religious wars. <grin>

There used to be a small sound clip with Linus Torvalds,
the creator of Linux, saying the "Linux" word, but I
can't find it right now unfortunately...

>    Next, I hope to purchase a personal-use PC next year, installing lynx on
> it. I know my first decision will be to select which brand(?) of lynx to
> use;

I suppose you mean which brand of "Linux".

Most users on this list use either Red Hat or Debian,
or Slackware. These are fairly well-know Linux "brands"
(we prefer the name "distribution") and they can be
found at:

http://www.redhat.com
http://www.debian.org
http://www.slackware.com

One very, very helpful site you may want to access is
the Linux Documentation Project, which has hundreds of
manuals covering all aspects of Linux. It can be found
on the Internet at the following address:

http://www.linuxdoc.org

If you are just talking about the program "lynx", which is
a web browser, you can have more information about it on
its web site, which is:

http://lynx.browser.org

> but, looking ahead beyond that point, I'm wondering how
> would I connect to the internet.

Fairly simple. Please read on.

> Would it be a matter of finding an ISP which accepts lynx
> users and simply using its browser?

Yes. Now, finding an ISP that accept Linux users may be
difficult in your area, but nothing is impossible.

>    And, also, I know web sites are accessed by domain names but how would a
> lynux user access the same site? or can you? would I use an IP address
> instead?

No: any "correct" web browser will accept both a domain
name and an IP address. For instance, if you want to 
access the web site for ACME Corporation, you can enter:

http://www.acme.com

or (IP equivalent):

http://205.158.174.203

This will work under lynx, if this was the meaning of
your question.

Linux is an advanced operating system, and most of the 
software you use under Linux is able to DNS/rDNS both
a domain name and a TCP/IP address in a transparent
manner. So, you don't have to use IP addresses unless
you really want to!

Hope this helps!

Best Regards,

-- 

Gil Andre          gandre@arkeia.com
         Technical Writer
Arkeia Corp.   http://www.arkeia.com