This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Gianfranco (talk | contribs) at 19:42, 7 April 2002 (spamming is not properly a service... + language). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 19:42, 7 April 2002 by Gianfranco (talk | contribs) (spamming is not properly a service... + language)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)In the general sense, an internet (with a lowercase "i") is a computer network that connects several other networks. The art of connecting networks in this way is called internetworking. See also the related terms intranet and extranet. As a proper noun, the Internet is the world-wide, interconnected system of computers (plus the information and services they provide and their users) that uses the TCP/IP suite of protocols. Thus, the largest internet in the world is called simply "the" Internet.
During the 1990s, the Internet successfully accommodated the majority of previously existing computer networks. This growth is often attributed to the lack of central administration, which allows organic growth of the network, as well as the non-proprietary nature of the internet protocols, which encourages vendor interoperability and prevents one company from exerting control over the network.
The core networks forming the Internet started out in 1969 as the ARPANET devised by the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). An important step in the development was the National Science Foundation's (NSF) building of a university backbone, the NSFnet, in 1986. Important alien networks that have successfully been accommodated within the Internet include Usenet, Fidonet, and Bitnet. See History of the Internet.
The Internet is held together by bi- or multilateral commercial contracts (e.g. peering agreements) and by technical specifications or protocols that describe how to exchange data over the network. These protocols are formed by discussion within the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and its working groups, which are open to public participation and review. These committees produce documents that are known as Requests For Comments (RFCs). Some RFCs are raised to the status of Internet Standard by the Internet Architecture Board (IAB).
Some of the popular services on the Internet are E-mail, web logs, Usenet and Newsgroups, FTP, the World Wide Web, Gopher, SSH (which is growing in popularity as a secure replacement for Telnet), WAIS, Finger, IRC, MUDs, and MUSHs. Even if sometimes organised as a real service, spamming is quite generally considered an abuse.
Some other popular services of the Internet were not created this way, but were originally based on proprietary systems. These include ICQ, AIM, CDDB, and Gnutella.
Some of the most used protocols that implement these services are TCP-IP, UDP, PPP, SLIP, ICMP, POP3, IMAP, SMTP, HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, LDAP, and SSL.
The Internet has a large and growing number of users that have created a distinct culture. See Netiquette, Internet friendship, Internet romance, Trolls and trolling, Flaming, Cybering, Hacktivism, Internet humor, Internet slang, Internet in Art, PSTN.
The most used language for communications in the Internet is English, also due to the prevalence of its use in software programming. The dimensions of the "Net" consent however that in the most developed countries enough contents are already available for a satisfactory experience in the respective national languages.