CHAPTER 4

On the Internet

IN THIS CHAPTER

Getting Started with    Firefox

Checking    Out Google  Chrome  and Chromium

Choosing    an  Email   Client

Internet    Relay   Chat

Usenet  Newsgroups

References

The Internet is used everywhere. From cell phones to offices, from game

consoles to tablets, we are surrounded by multiple access routes to online
information and communication. Ubuntu is no outsider when it comes to
accessing information through the Internet; it comes equipped with all the
tools you need to connect to other people around the globe.

In this chapter, we look at some of the popular Internet applications that are
available with Ubuntu. You will find out about Firefox and Google Chrome.
The chapter also investigates some of the email clients available. Other topics
include IRC and reading newsgroups.

A   BRIEF   INTRODUCTION    TO  THE INTERNET

The Internet    itself  was first   brought to  life    by  the U.S.    Department  of

Defense in  1969.   It  was called  ARPANET,    after   the Department  of

Defense’s   Advanced    Research    Projects    Agency. Designed    to  build   a

network that    would   withstand   major   catastrophe (this   was the peak    of  the

Cold    War),   the agency  soon    grew    to  encompass   more    and more    networks    to

build   the Internet.   Then,   in  1991,   Tim Berners-Lee of  CERN    developed   the

idea    of  the World   Wide    Web,    including   Hypertext   Transfer    Protocol

(HTTP)  and Hypertext   Markup  Language (HTML).    This    gave    us  what    we

now know    to  be  the Internet.