Basic history:

   uucp      -- ``unix to unix copy'' networking via modems on a point to
                point basis, before the development of permanent network
                links. Only used for home systems today and then becomming
                less command as direct network (PPP) access is required by
                home users.  It is now basically obsolete.

   telnet    -- original network tool, It is used mostly for remote
                logins to unix and pcs. However a number of special
                connections exist for telnet. For example the library
                information server, including library of congress.
                Another is a text based WWW client server
                     ukanaix.cc.ukans.edu    -l www

                Standard servers like this can also be accessedc via
                rlogin asnd rsh, as basically it is just a special login
                account on the server host.

                Telnet also allows you to specify a TCP/IP port number.
                This means you can contact almost any networking
                server which is capable of using
                ascii (not binary) (like the actual news server).
                many of these are listed in /etc/services but others also exist.
                the actual port number can tell you something however

                     0 - 1023    RESERVED ports -- SuperUser servers only
                  1024 - 49999   General Usage.  Random assignment
                 50000 - 65535   USERRESERVED

                This also allows you to contact special privatly created
                telnet servers on odd port numbers.

                    telnet nic.ddn.mil 43       The Central WhoIs Server
                    telnet bsdserver.ucsf.edu  6969      Go


   mail      -- mail servers/lists and just information passing
                Lists have mostly been replaced by news but lots of
                mailing lists are still available. A list of mailing lists
                is published regularly on `news.lists' and  `news.answers'
                also on         http://www.ii.uib.no/~magnus/paml.html
                Many of these lists are highly speciallized and many for
                the discussion/development on specific software packages.
                Lst time I looks there were about 950 mailing lists listed.

                Mail servers are also available. Some can request it to
                download ftp archive files mailing them back to you.  Usfull
                if you ever find that you don't have a direct network
                connection or ftp is unavailable.  Another I know of is for
                special code for running a installed piece of equipment.

                Other servers today include chess and other play by mail
                servers, servers for information which can't be published
                via news or ftp.

                Update: they say turn about is fair play, and with the advent
                of the WWW, and the impossible to handle increase in news,
                mail lists have made a big come back as small "community"
                discussion, help, and notice board mechnism, driven by web
                sites.

   news      -- Everyone gets a copy of the infomation by subject.
                This is growing at such a rate that I expect some sort
                of major shake up to occur with this at some time in the
                future. This is fast being superseded by mailing lists
                and WWW news/list archive servers.

   ftp       -- file transfer between machines
                Originally intended for file coping between accounts of
                the same user. It became the main means of making sources,
                binaries, etc.., and other (large?) files available to the
                network.

                Still is the prefered means of distributing large source
                files, as it provides more error handling and more reliable
                download.  Later methods (gopher and www) are desinged for
                small "pages" and indexes of information, not large archive
                downloads.

   mhsnet    -- alternative ftp type tool allowing the sending of file between
                users without requiing the special encodings on email.
                Was popular in early 1990's but E-Mail MIME encoding has
                superceded its role.

   archie    -- a database of anonymous ftp files available around the world.
                Australian server ``archie.au''.  WWW search engines have
                taken of the role of this service in generally but you may find
                specific files easier with this service.

                Seems to have been obsoleted by WWW serach engines.

   gopher    -- first specific network information server basically ascii text
                with about a half-dozen other file formats (postscript, sound,
                images).  Basically provided a index of links to other files
                on the same or other servers.  Links could be given more
                descriptive names, and even programmally generated.

                This format basically showed that a better method of indexing
                and distributing files and documents than FTP was needed.
                One that allowed program automation.

                Was popular with libraries, but superceded by the versitility
                of the WWW.

   wais      -- network database server (not very prominate)

   www       -- like gopher but uses free formatted text with inline graphics.
                Basically the HTTP server is still a file server (early
                servers were actually FTP servers!). The HTML file format
                however allows to link to any network server, FTP, GOPHER,
                NEWS, etc. download any file format.

                See "www_history.txt" for more info.

   ldap      -- Directory Services protocal to read/update list databases such
                as user information, phone lists, password tables, access
                rights.  For example the Novell NDS has a LDAP interface to
                allow easier and automated remote administration of user
                accounts.

                Basically a light wieght, network database service.