While in today's world, the Internet is a fact of life, and most mentions of it deal with unusual new laws or the discussion of the Internet as a cultural force in the world, this wasn't always the case. Started as a network of networks in the late 1960's, the Internet was, by today's standards, a pitifully slow connection that spanned only the most with-it college campuses and govenment installations. While the BBS world thrived and exploded, the Internet slowly grew, adding new schools and stronger connections over time. Before BBSes knew what hit them, this collegiate computer tool suddenly because The Next Big Thing, and any BBS that didn't grow and adapt to handle the Internet in some form slowly withered and died. On the other hand, any BBSes that made the switch were mutated into something completely unrecognizable anyway, so it was a lose-lose situation as far as the BBS culture surviving intact.
Nostalgic whining aside, the Internet stood away from the BBS world in some very positive ways: It was truly worldwide and your writings could be seen by thousands around the world as opposed to less than a hundred if you were lucky; the participants were generally college-age and had gotten over that inexplicable need to act like a complete ass online; and the subjects and topics approached by different people on the Internet were generally both interesting, and deep.
Of course, it did in fact collapse into a relative heap when the Internet became the must-be-on place for every schmuck with a modem. But on the other hand, you didn't need to spend tens of thousands a year for access to a terminal, either.
These files represent the thoughts of people in the late 80's/early 90's as they struggled to bring to the world the "definitive answer" on everything, which seems to have been one of the Internet's inherent missions. They're separate from BBS textfiles, but they're definitely something worth checking out.
| Filename | Size | Description of the Textfile| FAQ | DIRECTORY | The Frequently Asked Questions Collection | aboutmtv.txt | 1690 | Adam Curry Explains: What is MTV.COM?
| acronyms.txt | 1731 | Some Common E-Mail Acronyms
| action | 5846 | IRC Action Coding Script by PosterBoy (January 22, 1994)
| active.txt | 50738 | List of Currently Active USENET Newsgroups (June 6, 1992)
| active2.txt | 75775 | List of Currently Active USENET Newsgroups (June 6, 1992) (Part 2)
| address_.faq | 24158 | Obtaining Host and Address Information by Ron Ray of the Network Services Group of Johns Hopkins University
| alt-news.txt | 134025 | A List of Newsgroups in the 'Alt" Heirarchy by Bruce Becker (May 6, 1994)
| altxirc.irc | 14922 | FAQ: IRC Frequently Asked Questions (January 2, 1995)
| anon | 10642 | Information on the Anon.Penet.Fi Anonymous Server (April 25, 1994)
| anon.ftp | 108970 | A List of Anonymous FTP Servers from Jon Granrose (December 1, 1990)
| ansnet | 3833 | The ANS Acceptable Use Policy
| archie.doc | 20818 | Information on using Archie for E-mail Version 3.0 (April 10, 1993)
| archie.txt | 3295 | How to Look Up FTP Files on ARCHIE (July 22, 1991)
| astroftp.txt | 10547 | The Astronomy FTP List (April 5, 1993)
| atmtutor.txt | 39461 | A Brief Tutorial on ATM by Zahir Ebrahim (March 5, 1992)
| au_regis.ann | 3998 | Information on The Australian Internet Registry
| author.lst | 42744 | A List of Reachable Major MsDos Authors of Files at FTP Archives (February 28, 1993)
| bbslist.txt | 34028 | Zamfield`s Wonderfully Incomplete, Complete Internet BBS List (June 15, 1992)
| bd_appd.txt | 24569 | The Big Dummies' Guide to the Internet Version 2.0 (February 1994): Appendix
| bd_ch1.txt | 45802 | The Big Dummies' Guide to the Internet Version 2.0 (February 1994): Chapter 1: Setting Up and Jacking In
| bd_ch10.txt | 7971 | The Big Dummies' Guide to the Internet Version 2.0 (February 1994): Chapter 10: News of the Weird
| bd_ch11.txt | 28152 | The Big Dummies' Guide to the Internet Version 2.0 (February 1994): Chapter 11: IRCs and MUDs
| bd_ch12.txt | 12509 | The Big Dummies' Guide to the Internet Version 2.0 (February 1994): Chapter 12: Education and the Net
| bd_ch13.txt | 7855 | The Big Dummies' Guide to the Internet Version 2.0 (February 1994): Chapter 13: Business on the Net
| bd_ch2.txt | 42089 | The Big Dummies' Guide to the Internet Version 2.0 (February 1994): Chapter 2: E-mail
| bd_ch3.txt | 45939 | The Big Dummies' Guide to the Internet Version 2.0 (February 1994): Chapter 3: Usenet I
| bd_ch4.txt | 29582 | The Big Dummies' Guide to the Internet Version 2.0 (February 1994): Chapter 4: Usenet II
| bd_ch5.txt | 9481 | The Big Dummies' Guide to the Internet Version 2.0 (February 1994): Chapter 5: Mailing Lists and Bitnet
| bd_ch6.txt | 50298 | The Big Dummies' Guide to the Internet Version 2.0 (February 1994): Chapter 6: Telnet
| bd_ch7.txt | 42314 | The Big Dummies' Guide to the Internet Version 2.0 (February 1994): Chapter 7: FTP
| bd_ch8.txt | 36094 | The Big Dummies' Guide to the Internet Version 2.0 (February 1994): Chapter 8: Gophers, WAIS, Web
| bd_ch9.txt | 17026 | The Big Dummies' Guide to the Internet Version 2.0 (February 1994): Chapter 9: Advanced E-Mail
| bd_pref.txt | 29446 | The Big Dummies' Guide to the Internet Version 2.0 (February 1994): Preface and Introduction
| bigfun.txt | 24960 | Big Fun in the Internet with Uncle Bert
| bitnet.inf | 44975 | BioBit No 17 (Bitnet for the complete idiot) (October 15, 1990)
| bot.txt | 19481 | Baloobear's Guide to Writing IRC Bots
| brief.txt | 1065 | How to Get onto IRC, from Antares Cybersquatting Division (August 9, 1994)
| bycountr.net | 5448 | A Listing of NSFNETworks by Country (June 1, 1994)
| bystate.net | 3080 | NSFNetworks by US State (June 1, 1994)
| bytes.hst | 689 | NSFNet Byte Traffic History (April, 1994)
| c | 33353 | Some Frequently Submitted Questions on USENET
| cerfnet | 2171 | The Acceptable Use Policy for CERFnet
| chern.vax | 16507 | The Arrival of the USSR on Usenet (April 1st, 1984)
| cisler.nre | 16144 | The National Research and Education Network: Two meetings (December 17, 1990)
| closing.net | 31426 | Closing the Net, by Greg Costikyan, from Reason Magazine
| coemail | 12431 | Formulating a Company Policy on Access to and use and Disclosure of Electronic Mail on Company Computer Systems by David R. Johnson and John Podesta (October 22, 1990)
| concert | 8577 | Operational Policies for Internet Network 128.109 and The Concert Network
| contents | 3326 | All You Ever Wanted to Know About Usenet (July 27, 1991)
| craig.she | 5448 | Do Not Send Any Cards to Craig Shergold! (The Craig Shergold FAQ)
| cren | 3881 | The Acceptable Use Policy for the Corporation for Research and Education Networking
| crocker.txt | 47638 | The Political and Social Implications of the Net by Steve Crocker (October 29, 1992)
| cwis.txt | 32780 | The Campus-Wide Information Systems List by Judy Hallman (April 7, 1992)
| cyberpunk.txt | 3289 | Some thoughts about Cyberpunks and Post Humans, by Wyzel
| d | 19229 | A Primer on How to Work with the USENET Community by Chuq Von Rospach (October 23, 1991)
| dearemil.pos | 12648 | Dear Emily Postnews: Emily Postnews, the Foremost Authority on Proper Net Behaviour
| dom | 159672 | A Complete List of US Domains from a Long Time Ago
| domain.txt | 22616 | What is a USENET Domain? By Mark R. Horton, Bell Laboratories
| e | 17409 | FAQ: Emily Postnews Answers Your Questions on Netiquette (July 25, 1991)
| ejournal | 244055 | Directory of Electronic Journals and Newsletters by Michael Strangelove (July 1992)
| electrop.txt | 115151 | Electropolis: Communication and Community on Internet Relay Chat by Elizabeth H. Reid, 1991
| email | 21201 | Policies on Electronic Mail: A Summary From Different Sites, by Todd Hooper
| email7.txt | 58494 | Accessing the Internet by E-Mail: Doctor Bob's Guide to offline Internet Access, by Doctor Bob Rankin (July 1998)
| email_pr | 19636 | Computer Electronic Mail and Privacy by Ruel T. Hernandez (January 11, 1987)
| etiquett | 18418 | A Primer on How to Work With the USENET Community by Chuq Von Rospach, 21 Jan 1991
| f | 4668 | Some Hints on Writing Style for USENET (July 25, 1991)
| farnet | 10296 | The FARnet Acceptable Usage Policy
| fibersph.ere | 54028 | The Coming of the Fibersphere (December 7, 1993)
| filelist | 12016 | The Cathouse List of File Archives (April 2, 1993)
| fndemail | 27783 | FAQ: How to find people's E-mail addresses (March 31, 1993)
| fricc | 2296 | The FRICC Policy on Interconnectivity and Resource Sharing from Bill Bostwick (July 2nd, 1990)
| ftp-help.txt | 6924 | Using "anonymous ftp" to get files from other Internet machines by Mark Moraes, University of Toronto
| ftp-qna.txt | 8053 | Questions & Answers about anonymous ftp by Odin (January 5, 1990)
| ftp.lis | 149881 | A List of Anonymous FTP Servers, by Jon Granose (March 8, 1991)
| ftp.txt | 134197 | The Anonymous FTP List, by Jon Granrose (October 9, 1990)
| gamingftp | 11660 | The Really Up To Date Gaming FTP Site List by Theresa Verity (May 30, 1994)
| gateways | 7594 | Inter-Network Mail Guide by John J. Chew (February 23, 1990)
| genderol | 25452 | Gender Issues in Online Communications by Hoai-An Truong and Members of BAWIT (1993)
| god | 6486 | A Somewhat Idiosyncratic View of the Internet As Portrayed as a Parable of Genesis
| h | 18484 | USENET Software: History and Sources (October 23, 1991)
| hackingenie.txt | 14125 | The Information Center Issue #1: Accessing GEnie Free
| hitch01 | 7168 | Hitchhiker's Guide to the Net: First Meeting
| hitch02 | 7808 | Hitchhiker's Guide to the Net: The Flamers
| hitch03 | 8960 | |