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Digital Free Press Vol 1 Issue 5
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DIGITAL FREE PRESS
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Volume 1.0 Issue 5.0
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* A Publication of The Underground Computing Foundation (UCF) *
* Send Subscription Requests to: dfp-req@underg.ucf.org *
* Send Submissions to: hackers@underg.ucf.org *
* Editor: Max Cray (max@underg.ucf.org) *
Back issues can be found in the CUD archives at ftp.eff.org
* Underground Computing Foundation BBS *
(512) 339-8221
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Statement of Purpose and Disclaimer
The Digital Free Press is an uncensored forum to document the
exploration of the world of modern technology. It is published
under the premise that it is better to know, rather than not know, so
no attempt is made to hide any information. Information is a double
edged sword. It is neither good nor bad, and can be used for either.
Use any information provided at your own risk. Articles are the
opinion of the authors listed, and not of the editor (unless of
course the editor wrote it). Information is not always verified
for accuracy.
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In this Issue:
1. Mail to Max
2. Excerpt from 'The Hacker Crackdown' by Bruce Sterling
3. Letter from Famous Hacker to Not So Famous Cracker
4. (USL vs. BSDI) & CMU (Mach) by Max Cray
5. Windows NT Info by Max Cray
6. Game Cracking FTP Site
7. New Cypherpunks Mailing List
8. How to get software via Mail by Ram Raider
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Mail to Max:
-----------
From: gator.rn.com!sara (Sara Gordon)
Subject: vx bbs in sofia
To: underg!max@iuvax (Max Cray)
Date: Thu, 21 May 92 0:16:44 EST
X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL11]
you have incorrect information. todor's system is down due to
loss of hardware at last report. if you dial, you will get
only the satellite noise. he has not any new viruses anyway.
--
_____________________________________________________________________
well its too late, tonite, to drag the past out into the light. we're
one, but we're not the same...
________________________sara@gator.rn.com____________________________
[Editor's comment: Who is Sara really, and how come the dudes at
Phrack do not like her? - Max]
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[Editor's note: I got a book cover from Bruce when I met him at an
EFF-Austin CyberDawg Event last month. The following excerpts come
from that cover. The book should be released by the time you read
this: Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York, 10103.]
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THE HACKER CRACKDOWN
Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier
by Bruce Sterling
--
The AT&T long distance network crashes, and millions of calls go
unanswered. A computer hacker reprograms a switching station, and
calls to a Florida probation office are shunted to a New York
phone-sex hotline. An underground computer bulletin board publishes a
pilfered BellSouth document on the 911 emergency system, making it
available to anyone who dials up. How did so much illicit power reach
the hands of an undisciplined few - and what should be done about it?
You are about to descend into a strange netherworld - one that
sprang into existence when computers were first connected to
telephones. This place has no physical location; it exists only in
the networks that bind together its population. Like any frontier,
it is home to a wide range of personalities, from legitimate computer
professionals to those known only by their _noms de net_: denizens
like Knight Lightning, Leftist, Compu-Phreak, Major Havoc, and
Silver Spy; groups like the Lords of Chaos, Phantom Access
Associates, Shadow Brotherhood, and the Coalition of Hi-Tech Prates.
This is not normal space, but "cyberspace." And if you use a
computer, cyberspace is moving inexorably closer to you with each
passing day.
--
This is a book about cops, and wild teenage whiz-kids, and
lawyers, and hairy-eyed anarchists, and industrial technicians, and
hippies, and high-tech millionaires, and game hobbyists, and security
experts, and Secret Service agents, and grifters, and thieves.
This book is about the electronic frontier of the 1990s. It
concerns activities that take place inside computer and over tele-
phone lines - "Cyberspace."
People have worked on this "frontier" for generations now. Some
people became rich and famous from their efforts there. Some just
played in it, as hobbyists. Others soberly pondered it, and wrote
about it, and regulated it, and negotiated over it in international
forums, and sued one another about it in gigantic, epic court battles
that lasted for years. And since the beginning, some people have
committed crimes in this place.
This is the story of the people of cyberspace.
--
The Computer Fraud and Abuse Task Force, led by federal prosecutor
William J. Cook, had started in 1987 and swiftly became one of the
most aggressive local "dedicated computer-crime units." Chicago was a
natural home for such a group. The world's first computer bulletin-
board system had been invented in Illinois. The state of Illinois had
some of the nation's first and sternest computer crime laws. Illinois
State Police were markedly alert to the possibilities of white-collar
crime and electronic fraud.
Throughout the 1980s, the federal government had given prosecutors
an armory of new, untried legal tools against computer crime. Cook
and his colleagues were pioneers in the use of these new statutes in
the real-life, cut-and-thrust of the federal courtroom.
On October 2, 1986, the U.S.Senate passed the Computer Fraud and
Abuse Act unanimously, but there had been pitifully few convictions
under this statute. Cook's group took their name from this statute,
because they were determined to transform this powerful, but rather
theoretical act of Congress into a real-life engine of legal
destruction against computer fraudsters and scofflaws.
It was not a question of merely discovering crimes, investigating
them and then trying to punish their perpetrators. The Chicago unit,
like most everyone else in the business, already _knew_ who the bad
guys were: the Legion of Doom, and the writers and editors of PHRACK.
The task at hand was to find some legal means of putting these
characters away.
Fry Guy had broken the case wide open and alerted telco security
to the scope of the problem. But Fry Guy's crimes would not put the
Atlanta Three behind bars - much less the whacko underground
journalist of PHRACK. So on July 22, 1989, the same day that Fry Guy
was raided in Indiana, the Secret Service descended upon the Atlanta
Three.
Likely this was inevitable. By the summer of 1989, law enforcement
was closing in on the Atlanta Three from at least six directions at
once. First, there were the leads from Fry Guy, which had led to the
DNR registers being installed on the lines of the Atlanta Three. The
DNR evidence alone would have finished them off, sooner or later.
But second, the Atlanta lads were already well known to Control-C
and his telco security sponsors. LoD's contacts with telco security
had made its members overconfident and even more boastful than usual;
they felt that they had powerful friends in high places, and that
they were being tolerated openly by telco security. But BellSouth's
Intrusion Task Force were hot on the trail of LoD and sparing no
effort or expense.
The Atlanta Three had also been identified by name and listed on
the extensive antihacker files maintained, and retailed for pay, by
private security operative John Maxfield of Detroit. Maxfield who had
extensive ties to telco security and many informants in the under-
ground, was a bete noire of the PHRACK crowd, and the dislike was
mutual.
The Atlanta Three themselves had written articles for PHRACK. This
boastful act could not possibly escape telco and law enforcement
attention.
"Knightmare," a high school-age hacker from Arizona, was a close
friend and disciple of Atlanta LoD, but he had been nabbed by the
formidable Arizona Organized Crime and Racketeering unit. Knightmare
was on some of LoD's favorite boards - "Black Ice" in particular -
and was privy to their secrets. And to have Gail Thackeray, the
assistant attorney general of Arizona, on one's trail was a dreadful
peril for any hacker.
And perhaps worst of all, Prophet had committed a major blunder by
passing an illicitly copied BellSouth computer file to Knight
Lightning, who had published it in PHRACK. This as we will see, was
an act of dire consequence for almost everyone concerned.
On July 22, 1989, the Secret Service showed up at Leftist's house,
where he lived with his parents. A massive squad of some twenty
officers surrounded the building: the Secret Service, federal
marshals, local police, possibly BellSouth telco security; it was
hard to tell, in the crush. Leftist's dad, at work in his basement
office, first noticed a muscular stranger in plain clothes crashing
through the backyard with a drawn pistol. As more strangers poured
into the house, Leftist's dad naturally assumed there was an armed
robbery in progress.
Like most hacker parents, Leftist's mom and dad only had the
vaguest notions of what their son had been up to all this time.
Leftist had a day job repairing computer hardware. His obsession with
computers seemed a bit odd, but harmless enough, and likely to
produce a well paying career. The sudden, overwhelming raid left
Leftist's parent traumatized.
Leftist himself had been out after work with hos co-workers,
surrounding a couple of pitchers of margaritas. As he came trucking
on tequila numbed feet up the pavement, toting a bag full of floppy
disks, he noticed a large number of unmarked cars parked in his
driveway. All the cars sported tiny microwave antennas.
The Secret Service had knocked the front door off its hinges,
almost flattening his mom.
Inside, Leftist was greeted by Special Agent James Cool of the
U.S. Secret Service, Atlanta office. Leftist was flabbergasted. He'd
never met a Secret Service agent before. He could not imagine that
he'd ever done anything worthy of federal attention. He'd always
figured that if his activities became intolerable, one of his
contacts in telco security would give him a private phone call and
tell him to knock it off.
But now Leftist was pat-searched for weapons by grim pro-
fessionals, and his bag of floppies was quickly seized. He and his
parents were all shepherded into separate rooms and grilled at length
as a score of officers scoured their home for anything electronic.
Leftist was horrified as his treasured IBM AT personal computer,
with its forty-meg hard disk, and his recently purchased 80386 IBM
clone with a whopping hundred-meg hard disk both went swiftly out the
door in Secret Service custody. They also SEIZED all his disks, all
his notebooks, and a tremendous booty of dog eared telco documents
that leftist snitched from trash Dumpsters.
Leftist figured the whole thing for a big misunderstanding. He'd
never been into _military_ computers. He wasn't a spy or a
Communist_. He was just a good ol'Georgia hacker, and now he just
wanted all these people out of the house. But it seemed they wouldn't
go until he made some kind of statement.
And so, he leveled with them.
And that, Leftist said later from his federal prison camp in
Talladega, Alabama, was a big mistake.
--
Your guide on this journey is bestselling science fiction author
and longtime computer user Bruce Sterling, who was galvanized into
action following the massive "hacker crackdowns" of 1990, in which
law enforcement officers executed search warrants across the country
against law breakers - and suspected lawbreakers - in the computer
underground. In THE HACKER CRACKDOWN, Sterling - respected by
hackers, law officers, and civil libertarians alike - uses his unique
reportorial access and his considerable powers as a novelist to weave
a startling narrative that informs, compels, and appalls.
Sterling has researched all corners of this challenging and contro-
versial new world for this book. In it we meet outlaws and cops,
bureaucrats and rebels, geniuses and grifters: all denizens of a
dazzling electronic land, a vast and fascinating new frontier
equally threatened by outlawry and government intervention. THE
HACKER CRACKDOWN is a laser-sharp dispatch from the edge of tech-
nology - and the edge of freedom.
BRUCE STERLING is the bestselling co-author (with William Gibson) of
THE DIFFERENCE ENGINE. His solo novels include INVOLUTION OCEAN, THE
ARTIFICIAL KID, SCHISMATRIX, and ISLANDS IN THE NET. He edited
MIRRORSHADES, the definitive "cyberpunk" anthology. He lives with his
family in Austin, Texas.
--
"Sterling artfully separates myth from fact and does justice to both
in the chaotic world of the electronic frontier. You must read this
for the real story about hackers, cops, and the opening of cyber-
sapce."
Mitch Kapor
Founder of Lotus Development Corp
President of Electron Frontier Foundation
--
"A fascinating evaluation of high-tech crime."
Steven R. Purdy
Retired U.S. Secret Service (Fraud Division, Electronic Crimes)
Former Chairman, Federal Computer Investigation Committee
--
"I learned a lot of things I didn't know from this book."
"Lex Luthor"
Founder "Legion of Doom"
--
"Is that really Knight Lighting on the cover?"
"Max Cray"
Editor Digital Free Press
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LETTER FROM FAMOUS HACKER TO NOT SO FAMOUS CRACKER
The password file on an ordinary UNIX is called /etc/passwd.
However, Suns have another separate file which is shared. People
have been moving that file around, and I'm not sure under what name
it would appear these days except on the server, where (I believe)
only root can log in.
I don't know the details of how the machines share their passwd file.
That software is proprietary, and I don't look inside it because I
don't want to be sued someday for writing free software to do such a
thing.
I can't help you get into MIT. I don't have any connection with MIT.
MIT lets me and the other GNU people use their offices and machines
because they like the free software that we write.
I can make a legitimate account for you, on the AI lab machines at
least.
However, it seems to me that you may not really understand what to do
with an account once you have one. Judging from the files you have,
the only thing you have been doing with my account is looking for
other accounts whose passwords you can guess. I don't think this is a
good sign.
Please don't misunderstand. I don't think it is evil to break
security. You can see from the way I set my password how much I care
about security. However, I think it is bad for your own head to be
focused on security breaking. What I'm worried about is whether you
can get your head out of there and into a better place to be.
The security breaking game is something that you "play" against other
people. They try to keep you out, and you try to get in. Playing
this game, you can get stuck in thinking in terms of conflict and of
who is going to win. This isn't good for your head. It also causes
you not to see the interest in all the other things you can do with a
computer. Like a master spy sneaking through the Grand Canyon and
being too obsessed with spying to notice the beauty of the place.
Collecting passwords is also futile. You seem to get someplace--such
as, a machine you couldn't get to before--but one machine is much
like another, and each place you go is no better than where you were
before. Why try hard to get to someplace if it is only a way station
to another way station to ..., and there is no destination, no goal?
In a way, you are like a person who has one new car but can never
drive to visit his friends or to go to work because he is constantly
driving around looking for another similar car to buy as a
replacement.
I might try to break security if I had a constructive reason to, but
it has been many years since I had one. So I don't think about
breaking security, because I have so much else to do (writing free
software).
Anyway, I'm willing to make an account for you, but I'd like you to
look into something to do with it besides look for other accounts to
use.
Also, if we are to be users together, then we need to start
developing trust. For example, you could tell me how to phone you,
so we can talk directly. (No danger in this, since you haven't
broken any laws by logging in on my account or Puzo's. We both let
you do it.)
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(USL vs BSDI) & MACH
by Max Cray
Unix System Laboratories, the spinoff of the phone giant ATT has
sued BSDI, a software company that has been creating a commercial
version of unix from the free University of California at Berkeley
source code. This lawsuit was a big discussion item in comp.org.eff
.talk. I am not sure what to think of this lawsuit and I do not
think it is clear what ATT is claiming.
I do know that even if ATT is way off base with their claims
that damage is being done to the computer community. For example
Carnegie Mellon University makes a free operating system microkernal
called MACH. A microkernal is just the core of an operating system;
you also need a file system, etc. CMU also created a server from the
free BSD unix code to provide unix services on top of MACH. The
Free Software Foundation (FSF) was going to use the BSD server on
top of MACH for its project GNU (GNUs Not Unix, recursive acronym,
an MIT gimmick) operating system. The server was never officially
released to the masses, because it was not easily installed, since
there was no boot disk, etc.
Anyway this is where the underground scene comes in. Just as it
looked like we were all going to have a very sophisticated free
operating system CMU decided to not continue the BSD server project
for MACH, and to no longer make it available, because of the lawsuit
over BSD code. Those that have the code are free to continue to use
it. The code itself is difficult to get a hold of, since it was never
actually officially released. For a while it was in the /tmp of
ftp.uu.net (always interesting stuff to be found there...) in a file
called xyzzy.tar.Z where I was able to get a copy of it. I uploaded
it to the Unix forum on CompuServe, but it got deleted. You can still
get it from the UCF BBS. There does seem to be a small cadre of
hackers who want to continue to develop it into a viable operating
system. Unfortunately the FSF is no longer going to be involved. Read
comp.os.mach for the latest developments. Also when they call to ask
you to change your phone service back to ATT be sure to give them a
piece of your mind, and tell them Max sent ya.
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-= Microsoft Windows (New Technology) =-
by Max Cray
Why not use be the first one on your block to use Windows NT?
Where else can you get a high performance 32-bit OS with TCP/IP and
development tools for only $69? If you have the hardware, you can't
miss this deal! Read on.
Here are the facts:
-= MINIMUM CONFIGURATION =-------------------------------------------
- 80386 or R4000 CPU.
(No mention of 386SX, I assume because they would prefer you to
use a faster CPU to make the new OS shine, a 33 MHz CPU is
recommended for software development).
- 8 Meg of RAM (12 Meg recommended for software development).
This does not include space for applications.
- 55 Meg Hard Drive Space (20 Meg for Swap File, 100 MB recommended
for software development).
It only comes on CD-ROM, so you will need a CD-ROM device to at least
install it. You can get away with borrowing a friend's. You do not
need the CD-ROM to run it.
-= FEATURES =--------------------------------------------------------
- Portable (at source code level for R4000 CPU now, DEC Alpha CPU
promised).
- 32 bit flat address space.
- Basically the same Application Programming Interface (API) as
MS Windows 3.1.
- Multi-Threaded
- Preemptive Multitasking.
- Built-in Network Support (Remote Procedure Calls (RPC), named
pipes)
- Symmetric multi-processing (If your app uses threads, it will
automatically take advantage of multiple CPUs).
- Security (Editor's note: Noooooo...)
- Memory protection.
- Fault tolerance.
- Win32 GDI drawing API.
- Structured exception handling, memory mapped files, and
Unicode (?).
- Will run 32 bit win apps, ms-dos apps, win apps, posix, and OS/2
16 bit character based apps.
-= SDK =-------------------------------------------------------------
- Comes with C/C++ compiler, and same documentation as C/C++ 7.0.
- WinDbg (Windows Debugger).
- Microsoft Editor.
- Macro Assembler for both Intel and R4000 architectures.
- Comes with the usual Windows SDK tools (Resource editors and
compilers, etc).
- SDK docs include:
The Windows Interface: An application guide.
Win32 Programmer's Reference - Overview
Win32 Programmer's REFERENCE - API Part 1
Win32 Programmer's REFERENCE - API Part 2
RPC Programmer's Guide and REFERENCE
-= SUPPORT =---------------------------------------------------------
There is a forum on Compuserve for support (GO WINNT). You can down-
load the latest list of compatible systems, and devices there. There
is also a programming forum called (MSWIN32).
Also there a a newsgroup on Usenet:
comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.win32
There are some files available at ftp.uu.net:
~ftp/vendor/microsoft/...
-= COST =------------------------------------------------------------
- $69 + $20 (freight) + state sales tax
CD Rom disk (postscript docs on disk)
- $399 + $40 (FREIGHT) + state sales tax
CD Rom disk and hardcopy docs
Call 1-800-227-4679 to order. I had to tell them that I received a
mailing, and that there was a code above my name: QA7FA which means
that I am a unix developer. I was told that there would be up to 4
releases before the final production. The advertisement clearly
states that I would receive a copy of the final Win NT SDK, and
Operating system, but not the compiler.
By purchasing the Win32 SDK you will receive preliminary and final
versions of the Windows NT operating system and SDK tools in addition
to preliminary versions of a C/C++ compiler.
The cost of the Win32 SDK with printed documentation is $399. A
CD-only version containing the documentation in PostScript format is
also available for $69. (If you later decide that you want the
hard-copy documentation from Microsoft, there is a coupon in the box
for you to order it for $359 plus freight.) To order from within the
U.S, please call Microsoft Developer Services at (800) 227-4679. In
Canada, call (800) 563-9048. In all other countries, contact your
local Microsoft representative.
There will be a very broad Beta program in the early fall that is
intended for end-users. The beta release will include full support
for MS-DOS, 16-bit Windows and POSIX applications. Further informa-
tion about the beta program will be posted to the WINNT forum on
CompuServe when it becomes available.
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FTP SITE FOR GAME CRACKS
>From the rec.ibm.pc.games FAQ:
Okay, I now have an anonymous ftp site for cracks, cheats, etc.
Currently, my entire database of cracks is there in one big ugly
file. Eventually, I will break it up into individual entries. Also,
a fairly recent wanted list is in /pub/incoming/cracks/wanted, so if
you have any cracks that are on the want list, please upload them to
/pub/incoming/cracks. I will check all of the stuff that I can that
comes into incoming, but I make no guarantees. Please read the
README file for more details.
The name?
romulus.mercury.andrew.cmu.edu
aka
128.2.35.159
Have fun...
P.S. For now, I'll just deal with IBM stuff. Please don't upload
non-ibm-related things. Perhaps later, I'll consider it.
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CYPHERPUNKS MAILING LIST
The cypherpunks list is a forum for discussion about technological
defenses for privacy in the digital domain.
Cypherpunks assume privacy is a good thing and wish there were more
of it. Cypherpunks acknowledge that those who want privacy must
create it for themselves and not expect governments, corporations, or
other large, faceless organizations to grant them privacy out of
beneficence. Cypherpunks know that people have been creating their
own privacy for centuries with whispers, envelopes, closed doors, and
couriers. Cypherpunks do not seek to prevent other people from
speaking about their experiences or their opinions.
The most important means to the defense of privacy is encryption. To
encrypt is to indicate the desire for privacy. But to encrypt with
weak cryptography is to indicate not too much desire for privacy.
Cypherpunks hope that all people desiring privacy will learn how best
to defend it.
Cypherpunks are therefore devoted to cryptography. Cypherpunks wish
to learn about it, to teach it, to implement it, and to make more of
it. Cypherpunks know that cryptographic protocols make social
structures. Cypherpunks know how to attack a system and how to
defend it. Cypherpunks know just how hard it is to make good
cryptosystems.
Cypherpunks love to practice. They love to play with public key
cryptography. They love to play with anonymous and pseudonymous mail
forwarding and delivery. They love to play with DC-nets. They love
to play with secure communications of all kinds.
Cypherpunks write code. They know that someone has to write code to
defend privacy, and since it's their privacy, their going to write
it. Cypherpunks publish their code so that their fellow cypherpunks
may practice and play with it. Cypherpunks realize that security is
not built in a day and are patient with incremental progress.
Cypherpunks don't care if you don't like the software they write.
Cypherpunks know that software can't be destroyed. Cypherpunks know
that a widely dispersed system can't be shut down.
Cypherpunks will make the networks safe for privacy.
To subscribe send mail to:
cypherpunks-request@toad.com
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SNARFING FILES BY MAIL
by Ram Raider
(rr@underg.ucf.org)
Okay, that great text file on Internet dialouts by mail is only
available by ftp from ftp.foobar.org. You can no longer use the MIT
Terminus server to get to your account at the Free Software
Foundation. Your only remaining alternative is to sneak into the
university computer center. This time you will get caught for sure.
Wait a minute. Before you leave let me tell you how to do it with
your mail account. Actually it is pretty easy to do using a combina-
tion of an archie server, and the ftpmail service. Remember:
Archie + ftpmail = files
OK, now that you have the essential formula down, you may be
wondering what archie, and ftpmail are. Before I go on, I must
confess: all this info was taken directly from the help files of
these services.
Also DO NOT stop reading this article just because you do not
have an Internet mail account. If you have a mail account almost
ANYWHERE you can use this technique. This means from your Compu$erve
account, or MCI mail account, or whatever, but not Prodigy. For the
complete information on mail gateways send mail to:
mail-server@pit-manager.mit.edu
with the line:
send usenet/comp.mail.misc/Inter-Network_Mail_Guide
There. Now, not only can you get files from the Internet, but by
mixing and matching mail gateways you can send mail to just about
anyone with a computer and modem. For example from your MCI mail
account you could send mail to someone on a fidonet node, by routing
it through the Internet, etc.
Getting back to snarfing files, I would also like to point out that
by using the archie + ftpmail combination you can get binary files,
too, not just text files. There are A LOT of files out there
available on the Internet. Let us hope that you do not pay much for
your mail account.
ARCHIE
Archie is a file locator service. To get a file you must know the
exact location and name of your file. An archie server maintains a
database of files available by anonymous ftp from Internet sites.
To use it send mail to archie@<site.name> where site.name is one
of the following sites:
archie.mcgill.ca (Canada)
archie.funet.fi (Finland/Eur.)
archie.au (Aussie/NZ)
archie.cs.huji.ac.il (Israel)
archie.doc.ic.ac.uk (UK/Ireland)
archie.sura.net (USA [MD])
archie.unl.edu (USA [NE])
archie.ans.net (USA [NY])
archie.rutgers.edu (USA [NJ])
To use the archie server you list commands in your mail message.
Command lines begin in the first column. All lines that do not match
a valid commands are ignored. If a message not containing any valid
requests or an empty message is received, it will be considered to be
a 'help' request. The server recognizes six commands:
help Send this command to get a help textfile. Note that
the "help" command is exclusive. All other commands
in the same message are ignored.
path <path> This lets the requester override the address that
would normally be extracted from the header. If you
do not hear from the archive server within oh, about
2 days, you might consider adding a "path" command to
your request. The path describes how to mail a
message from the archie server to your address.
Archie servers are fully connected to the Internet.
BITNET users can use the convention
user@site.BITNET
UUCP user can use the convention
user@site.uucp
This is actually quite useful. For example, I have an
account that most of my mail goes to and comes from
that I pay for, and another account from the local
unix user group that I do not pay for. Using this
command I can route the mail through the free
account.
prog <reg expr1> [<reg exp2> ...]
A search of the "archie" database is performed with
each <reg exp> in turn, and any matches found are
returned to the REQUESTER. Note that multiple
<reg exp> may be placed on one line.
<reg exp> stands for "regular expression". Another
name for it in the DOS world is wildcard. All it
means is that you can search for files without
knowing the exact name. '*' matches all occurrences,
and '?' matches a single character.
For example: prog dfp* would send a listing of all
files and directories that begin with the letters
'dfp'.
Any regular expression containing spaces must be
quoted with single (') or double (") quotes.
The searches are CASE SENSITIVE. The ability to
change this will hopefully be added soon to the
archie software.
site <site name> | <site IP address>
A listing of the given <site name> will be returned.
The fully qualified domain name or IP address may be
used.
This command is used to limit your search to one
particular site. Unfortunately it can not be used to
get a listing of all the files at a site.
compress ALL of your files in the current mail message will be
"compressed" and "uuencoded". When you receive the
reply, remove everything before the "begin" line and
run it through "uudecode". This will produce a .Z
file. You can then run "uncompress" on this file and
get the results of your request.
You can use this command to compress your return
info. Again, useful if you pay for your mail.
If you do not have uncompress, and/or uudecode
program, you can get source code files in ascii
format, and then compile them. For example, use the
command 'prog uncompress.c', and use the ftpmail
service to get the file. and then compile the source
file to get the binary program. If you are unable
to compile the program, see your local guru.
Compress files are files that have been run through
an algorithm to (you guess it) compress the file.
This makes the file into a binary file. That is where
the uudecode program comes in. This program converts
a binary file into an ascii file so that it can be
mailed. As a minimum you must get the uudecode
utility to decode binary files if you want to get
programs from the Internet, as well as text files.
quit Nothing past this point is interpreted. This is
provided so that the occasional lost soul whose
signature contains a line that looks like a command
can still use the server without getting a bogus
response.
Results are sorted by archive hostname in lexical order. You will get
a listing back that looks like this:
--
Sorting by hostname
Search request for 'Internet-Mail-Dialouts'
Host ftp.foobar.org (130.43.2.3)
Last updated 01:04 5 Sep 1992
Location: /pub/G-Files/Hacking4$
FILE rw-r--r-- 36466 Jun 30 18:12 Internet-Mail-Dialouts
Host tmrc.mit.edu (128.23.2.4)
Last updated 01:02 9 Sep 1992
Location: /pub/Mirrors/foobar/G-Files/Hacking4$
FILE rw-r--r-- 36466 Jun 30 18:12 Internet-Mail-Dialouts
--
FTPMAIL
Anonymous FTP may be performed through the mail by various ftp-mail
servers. Send mail to one of the sites listed below:
bitftp@pucc.princeton.edu
ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com
These servers work exactly like the archie servers: you list the
commands in the body of your mail message.
Commands:
reply <MAILADDR> set reply addr, since headers are usually
wrong
connect [HOST [USER [PASS]]] You must give a "connect" command,
default host is the local ftpmail system,
default user is anonymous, default password
is your mail address.
ascii files grabbed are printable ascii
binary files grabbed are compressed, tar, both, or
executable binaries, etc.
chdir PLACE "get" and "ls" commands are relative to PLACE
(only one CHDIR per ftpmail session, and it
executes before any LS/DIR/GETs)
compress compress binaries using Lempel-Ziv encoding
compact compress binaries using Huffman encoding
uuencode binary files will be mailed in uuencode
format
btoa binary files will be mailed in btoa format
chunksize SIZE split files into SIZE-byte chunks
(def: 64000)
ls (or dir) PLACE short (long) directory listing
get FILE get a file and have it mailed to you
(max 10 GET's per ftpmail session)
quit terminate script, ignore rest of mail message
(use if you have a .signature or are a
VMSMAIL user)
Notes:
You should send complaints to an ftpmail-request address. The
postmaster of the ftpmail site does not handle ftpmail problems and
you can save him or her the trouble of forwarding your complaints by
just mailing them to the right address. The address for the ftpmail
server sponsored by DEC is:
ftpmail-request@uucp-gw-2.pa.dec.com
The "Subject:" of your request will be contained in the "Subject:" of
all of ftpmail's responses to you regarding that request. You can
therefore use it to "tag" different requests if you have more than
one outstanding at any given time.
Binary files will not be compressed unless 'compress' or 'compact'
command is given; use this if possible. Note that many files are
already compressed. If you use any of the binary-file qualifiers
(compress, compact, uuencode, btoa) without setting 'binary' first,
your session will abort in error.
Binary files will always be formatted into printable ASCII with
"btoa" or "uuencode" (default is "btoa"). If you don't use the
"binary" command, ftpmail will cheerfully try to mail you the binary
data, which will absolutely, positively fail.
All retrieved files will be split into chunks and mailed. The size
of the chunk is 50000 characters unless you change it with the
"chunksize" command. CompuServe users will need to set this to
49000.
If you ask for more than 10 files in a session, you will receive an
error message and your entire request will be rejected.
There is no way to ask for only certain parts of a file to be sent.
If you receive output from ftpmail that seems to be missing some
parts, it is likely that some mailer between here and there has
dropped them. You can try your request again, but chances are fairly
good that if it is dropped once it will be dropped every time.
There is no way to find out the status of things in the queue.
There is no way to delete a request, so be sure that it has failed
before you resubmit one or you will receive multiple copies of
anything you have requested.
There is no way to specify that your request should be tried only
during certain hours of the day. If you need a file from a time-
restricted FTP server, you probably cannot get it via ftpmail.
Note that the "reply" or "answer" command in your mailer will not
work for any mail you receive from FTPMAIL. To send requests to
FTPMAIL, send an original mail message, not a reply.
--
Examples:
-> connect to the local ftpmail system and get a root directory
listing:
connect
ls
quit
-> connect to the local ftpmail system and get the README.ftp file
that is located in the root directory:
connect
get README.ftp
quit
-> connect to local ftpmail system and get the gnuemacs sources:
connect
binary
uuencode
chdir /pub/GNU
get emacs-18.58.tar.Z
quit
(Note: I do not recommend getting file this big using this method,
but if its all ya got, its all ya got)
-> connect to ftp.uu.net as anonymous and get a root directory list:
connect ftp.uu.net
dir
quit
You should expect the results to be mailed to you within a day or so.
If all goes well you will get a message back like the one below:
--
We processed the following input from your mail message:
reply underg.ucf.org!rr
connect ftp.foobar.org
chdir /pub/G-Files/Hacking4$
get Internet-Mail-Dialouts
quit
We have entered the following request into our job queue
as job number 716623942.5012:
reply underg.ucf.org!rr
connect ftp.foobar.org anonymous ftpmail/underg.ucf.org!rr
chdir /pub/G-Files/Hacking4$
get Internet-Mail-Dialouts uncompressed
quit
There are 841 jobs ahead of this one in our queue.
[Misc notes deleted, or reproduced above...]
-- Ftpmail Submission Transcript --
<<< reply underg.ucf.org!rr
>>> OK, will reply to <underg.ucf.org!rr>
<<< connect ftp.foobar.org
>>> Connect to ftp.foobar.org as anonymous ftpmail/underg.ucf.org!rr
<<< chdir /pub/G-Files/Hacking4$
>>> Will chdir to </pub/G-Files/Hacking4$> before I do anything else
<<< get Internet-Mail-Dialouts
>>> get Internet-Mail-Dialouts uncompressed
<<< quit
>>> Done - rest of message will be ignored
>>> checking security of host `ftp.foobar.org'
>>> host `ftp.foobar.org' is ok
-- End Of Ftpmail Transcript --
--
And then shortly thereafter you will find the file in your
mailbox. Note: Do not attempt this example at home. It will not work,
as this example was totally faked.
POSTSCRIPT
You know what would be great? Multi-user play by e-mail games. A
transcript might look like this:
-- MailDungeon Submission Transcript --
<<< reply underg.ucf.org!rr
>>> OK, will reply to <underg.ucf.org!rr>
<<< character Dirk-Daring
>>> OK, character to be used: Dirk-Daring
<<< go north
>>> OK, Dirk-Daring went north
<<< look around
>>> You see a large 30X40 room. It is dark and musty. Boxes are
>>> all around. It is damp, and you smell the stench of vermin.
>>> Others Present:
>>> EVIL WIZARD Haldor
<<< fight monsters
>>> No monsters present
<<< fight enemies
>>> You surprise Haldor
>>> You swing short sword
>>> You kill Haldor
>>> Sending mail to Haldor's owner. Subject: Bad News...
<<< get treasure
>>> OK, get treasure.
>>> You find small sack with 20 gold coins
<<< quit
>>> Done - rest of message will be ignored
-- End Of MailDungeon Transcript --
---------------------------------------------------------------------
#####################################################################
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Well that is all for this issue. Please send your contributions.
I print just about anything! Especially looking for a C++ tutorial
series, and also guided tours of underground bulletin boards.
--
--
dfp-req@underg.ucf.org (dfp-req)
