(Last changed: 04/24/92)
(Minor adjustment : 06/22/92 when stored on BASUN)

This is the first edition of a booklet entitled ``Zen and the Art of
the Internet: A Beginner's Guide to the Internet''.  It's roughly 100
pages in length, and is divided into the following sections:

	* Chapter 1--Network Basics
	* Chapter 2--Electronic Mail
	* Chapter 3--Anonymous FTP
	* Chapter 4--Usenet News
	* Chapter 5--Telnet
	* Chapter 6--Tools (finger/ping/etc)
	* Chapter 7--Commercial Uses of the Internet
	* Chapter 8--Things you'll hear about (projects/organizations)
	* Chapter 9--Finding Out More
	* An appendix on reaching other networks
	* An appendix on mail-based file retrieval (FTPmail, archive servers)
	* An appendix on how to create a newsgroup
	* A glossary of 80+ terms
	* A bibliography of over a dozen books and two dozen papers
	  and magazines related to the Internet and similar topics.

Why do you want this?  Well, for one thing it's free.  It's also
unique--there presently exists no single comprehensive collection of
the information directly related to being connected to the Internet.
Most users learn by word of mouth and stumbling upon things.  This
guide should give you a reference to consult if you're curious about
what can be done with the Internet.  It also presents the fundamental
topics that are all too often assumed and considered trivial by many
network users.  This is your first "virtual quickie."

Now, how to read it.  There is the file zen-1.PS, a Postscript version 
(in this directory on BASUN). This can be printed on a number of printers, 
most notably the Apple LaserWriter series.  (We tested it with a Pacific 
Page cartridge in an HP LaserJet III.)

Being that this is the first edition, a good amount of information was
been omitted, in trade for being able to release it for general
critique this Spring.  (Otherwise it probably wouldn't be presentable
again until the summer.) In particular WAIS, IRC, and a few other
things stand out.  They will be added in a more complete version;
suggestions on what to include are more than welcome. Hopefully the
thinner chapters (e.g. commercial uses) will grow soon too.  (For example,
I want to include an appendix on what it takes to become connected to the
Internet, and perhaps one on how to register a domain name--both vital
issues to people who are contemplating joining the Internet but aren't
quite sure what's involved or what's "inside the black box.")

In case you're interested, later this spring the second edition of Zen
will be coming out as a Prentice-Hall book.  You may want to consider
looking for it in your local bookstores then, since it'll be in a
nicely bound format and contains approx. 30 pages of new information,
as well as hundreds of updates and revisions.  College bookstores will
hopefully be stocking it, since it will be used in introductory
Internet classes, and as a tutorial. (See also the file ZEN-2.TXT in
this directory on BASUN).


If you have any comments or questions, please send them to the address
guide-bugs@cs.widener.edu.  I hope this guide is of use to you!

Brendan Kehoe
Department of Computer Science
Widener University