The Mock Mainframe Mini-HOWTO

Scot W. Stevenson

<scot@possum.EXSPAM.in-berlin.de >

2003-10-07

A brief description of a standard way to set up and work with a computer network for a small group of people that is inexpensive to build, easy to administer, and relatively safe. It is written for users who might not be completely familiar with all of the concepts involved.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

1.1. Copyright and License

1.2. Disclaimer

1.3. Credits / Contributors

1.4. Feedback

1.5. Translations

2. Background

2.1. Why This Text?

2.2. Reasoning and Overview

2.3. What You Should Be Aware Of

2.4. How This Text Is Organized

3. The Individual Pieces

3.1. The Mock Mainframe

3.2. The Terminals

3.3. The Support Machines

4. Putting the Pieces together

4.1. Security

4.2. Network Hardware

4.3. Network Geography

5. Life With Multiple Users

5.1. Shared Resources

5.2. Screen Savers and Other Gimmicks

5.3. Idle Terminals

6. Going Hardcore: Non-GUI Systems

6.1. Why the Command Line Is Cool

6.2. Setting Up Text Terminals

6.3. Useful Shell Commands

7. Odds and Ends

7.1. Mock Mainframe Case Studies

7.2. And Finally...