Learning the Unix Operating System, 5th Edition

Chapter 6. Using the Internet and Other Networks

A network lets computers communicate with each other, sharing files, email, and much more. Unix systems have been networked for more than 25 years.

This chapter introduces Unix networking: running programs on other computers, copying files between computers, browsing the World Wide Web, sending and receiving email messages, reading and posting messages to Usenet “Net news” discussions, and “chatting” interactively with other users on your local computer or worldwide.

Remote Logins

The computer you log in to may not be the computer you need to use. For instance, you might have a workstation on your desk but need to do some work on the main computer in another building. Or you might be a professor doing research with a computer at another university. Your Unix system can connect to another computer to let you work as if you were sitting at that computer. This section describes how to connect to another computer from a local terminal. If you need to use a graphical (nonterminal) program, Section 6.2, next, explains.

To log into a remote computer using a terminal, first log in to your local computer (as explained in Section 1.1.2 in Chapter 1, or in Section 2.2.1 in Chapter 2). Then, in a terminal or terminal window on your local computer, start a program that connects to the remote computer. Some typical programs for connecting over a computer network are telnet, ssh (“secure shell”), rsh, (“remote shell”) or rlogin (“remote ...