The
Internet Publishing Handbook

For World-Wide Web, Gopher, and WAIS

Mike Franks

Addison-Wesley Publishing Company
Reading, Massachusetts * Menlo Park, California * New York * Don Mills, Ontario * Wokingham, England * Amsterdam * Bonn * Sydney * Singapore * Tokyo * Madrid * San Juan * Paris * Seoul * Milan * Mexico City * Taipei

This is the HTML version of the Internet Publishing Handbook, complete with publication data, dedication, acknowledgments, a collection of Internet links (URLs) from the book, and a note on differences between the HTML and printed versions of this book. As for why we have decided to make this book available for free on the Internet when it is for sale in bookstores, think of it as our gift back to the Internet.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION ... ix

• Commercial Services versus the Internet ... x
• What Is Internet Publishing? ... xi
• What You Should Get from This Book ... xii
• Connecting to the Internet ... xii
• How Best to Read This Book ... xiv
• What If a Link Doesn't Work? ... xv
• Quick Vocabulary Lesson ... xv
• Organization of the Book ... xvi
• Notes on Writing This Book ... xviii

CHAPTER 1: Overview of Internet Publishing, WWW, Gopher, and WAIS ... 1

• A Quick History of Internet Publishing Techniques ... 5
• Summary ... 17

CHAPTER 2: Groundwork ... 19

• Joining the Internet Community ... 19
• Identifying Your Competition ... 38
• Defining Your Goals ... 39
• Identifying Your Audience ... 40
• Identifying Your Data ... 42
• Identifying Your Needs ... 45
• Identifying Available Resources ... 48
• Determining How to Make Up the Difference ... 49
• Identifying Charging Mechanisms, If Any ... 49
• Identifying Security Risks ... 50
• Planning the Presentation of Your Data ... 52
• Preparing Your Data ... 55
• Indexing Your Data ... 56
• Registering or Announcing Your Server ... 58
• Maintaining Reliability ... 59
• Evaluating Server Performance and Audience Response ... 60
• Using What You've Learned ... 63
• Summary ... 63

CHAPTER 3: Gopher and Gopher+ ... 65

• Gopher: Pros and Cons ... 66
• How Gopher Works ... 67
• Gopher and Gopher+ Features ... 68
• Gopher Resources ... 70
• Types of Items Gopher Handles ... 73
• Gopher Servers ... 77
• Installing Gopher Server Software ... 82
• Setting Up the Gopher Data Directory ... 89
• Useful Techniques for Adding Information and Files ... 93
• Gopher Tools ... 97
• Gopher Menu Layout ... 98
• Password Protection ... 100
• What Logs Can Tell You ... 100
• Setting Up Forms Using ASK Blocks ... 102
• Security Holes and How to Prevent Them ... 103
• Running Scripts or Programs from a Gopher Menu ... 104
• Registering Your Gopher Server ... 105
• Indexing ... 106
• Summary ... 109

CHAPTER 4: World-Wide Web ... 113

• WWW: Pros and Cons ... 113
• How WWW Works ... 115
• WWW Features ... 117
• WWW Resources ... 118
• Web Data Types ... 118
• HTML--HyperText Markup Language ... 127
• HTML Editors, Filters, and Converters ... 133
• Web (HTTP) Servers ... 135
• UNIX ... 137
• VMS ... 140
• Macintosh ... 141
• Windows NT ... 143
• DOS and Windows ... 145
• Other Platforms ... 146
• Deciding Who Runs Your Web Server ... 147
• Designing Your Web Pages ... 151
• Adding Information and Files ... 157
• Web Tools ... 159
• Advanced Web Techniques ... 159
• Images ... 159
• CGI Scripts ... 165
• Forms ... 167
• Web Indexing ... 172
• External Indexers (Web Crawlers, Spiders, and Worms) ... 175
• Advertising and Registering Your Web Server ... 177
• Summary ... 178

CHAPTER 5: WAIS and Indexing Alternatives ... 181

• WAIS: Pros and Cons ... 182
• How WAIS Works ... 183
• When WAIS is Useful ... 183
• WAIS and Z39.50 ... 184
• Searching Capabilities and Limitations ... 185
• Fielded Searching ... 188
• WAIS Servers ... 188
• Indexing Alternatives to WAIS ... 191
• WAIS Resources ... 193
• Estimating Computer Requirements ... 193
• Installing a WAIS Server ... 193
• WAIS Fundamentals ... 195
• WAIS File Types ... 196
• Indexing with WAIS ... 203
• WAIS Tools ... 204
• Advertising Your WAIS Sources ... 205
• Summary ... 206

CHAPTER 6: Other Tools of the Trade ... 207

• Perl ... 207
• Python ... 208
• Glimpse ... 208
• Harvest ... 209
• FTP Daemons ... 209
• Finger ... 210
• CSO ... 210
• List Servers ... 211
• MUDs and MOOs ... 212
• Hyper-G ... 213
• HyperNews ... 214
• Internet Relay Chat (IRC) ... 214
• WebChat ... 215
• Summary ... 215

CHAPTER 7: Internet Commerce ... 217

• Advertisers: You're Not in Kansas Anymore ... 217
• Demographics ... 218
• Opportunities ... 219
• Is Anyone Making Money on the Net? ... 220
• Economic Models ... 220
• Charging Issues and Concepts ... 223
• Survey of Charging Techniques ... 226
• Offline Payment ... 242
• Summary ... 242

CHAPTER 8: Hiring Out the Work ... 245

• Reasons to Hire Out ...245
• What You Pay For ... 250
• Services and Consultants ... 253
• Summary ... 264

CHAPTER 9: Copyright ... 267

• A Different Kind of Publishing ...267
• Copyright ... 270
• International Copyright ... 276
• Summary ... 277

CHAPTER 10: Putting It All Together ... 279

• Britannica Online ... 281
• Burlington Coat Factory ... 283
• CareerMosaic ... 286
• CICA Shareware Repository ... 287
• CMP TechWeb ... 289
• CyberWire Dispatch ... 291
• Hearts of Space Radio/Records ... 294
• InfoUCLA ... 296
• Internet Movie Database ... 298
• Kaleidospace ... 301
• Los Angeles Murals Home Page ... 304
• MicroSemanario ... 304
• Midnight Special Bookstore ... 307
• Monster Board ... 309
• 1990 Census Lookup ... 311
• OncoLink ... 312
• On-line Books Page ... 314
• Palo Alto Real Estate ... 316
• PhoNETic ... 317
• Playboy ... 319
• Project Gutenberg ... 321
• Travels with Samantha ... 323
• Virtual Shareware Library ... 325

CHAPTER 11: The Future of Internet Publishing ... 329

• Internet Hardware and Services ... 330
• Software, Data Formats, and Protocols ... 331
• Commerce ... 342
• Publishing Issues ... 344
• Political and Social Issues ... 345
• Conclusion ... 348

Resources ... 349
Glossary ... 351
Index ... 359

Copyright © 1995 by Mike Franks (franks@ssc.ucla.edu)