Hitchhiker's Guide to the Internet
Encyclopedia
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Internet, by Ed Krol
, was published in 1987 through funding by the National Science Foundation
. It was the first popular user's guide to the history and use of the Internet
. The title was a reference to the popular The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
.
), the online text document, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Internet (August 25, 1993) http://www.textfiles.com/internet/hitchhik.gui, "because he had so much trouble getting information and was sick of telling the same story to everyone" http://www.oreillynet.com/cs/catalog/view/au/365?x-t=book.view. It was eventually published by O'Reilly
, though a digital catalog related to the text was published online http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.10/oreilly_pr.html.
Ed Krol
Ed Krol was the network manager at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications and the former assistant director of Campus Information Technologies and Educational Services at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign...
, was published in 1987 through funding by the National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
. It was the first popular user's guide to the history and use of the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
. The title was a reference to the popular The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction comedy series created by Douglas Adams. Originally a radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978, it was later adapted to other formats, and over several years it gradually became an international multi-media phenomenon...
.
Background
In 1989, Ed Krol began working at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications. During this time, he published (through funding by the National Science FoundationNational Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
), the online text document, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Internet (August 25, 1993) http://www.textfiles.com/internet/hitchhik.gui, "because he had so much trouble getting information and was sick of telling the same story to everyone" http://www.oreillynet.com/cs/catalog/view/au/365?x-t=book.view. It was eventually published by O'Reilly
O'Reilly Media
O'Reilly Media is an American media company established by Tim O'Reilly that publishes books and Web sites and produces conferences on computer technology topics...
, though a digital catalog related to the text was published online http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.10/oreilly_pr.html.
See also
- History of the InternetHistory of the InternetThe history of the Internet starts in the 1950s and 1960s with the development of computers. This began with point-to-point communication between mainframe computers and terminals, expanded to point-to-point connections between computers and then early research into packet switching...
- Whole Internet User's Guide and CatalogWhole Internet User's Guide and CatalogThe Whole Internet User's Guide & Catalog, by Ed Krol, was published in September 1992 by O'Reilly. The Los Angeles Times notes that the Whole Internet User's Guide and Catalog was the "first popular book about the medium" and "was later selected by the New York Public Library as one of the most...
. - Scientific American Special Issue on Communications, Computers, and Networks
External links
- e-text of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Internet at Project GutenbergProject GutenbergProject Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks". Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books...
- 1987 Plain text version, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Internet
- RFC 1118 - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Internet