Misplaced Pages

Shell account: Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively← Previous editContent deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 23:00, 7 January 2009 editTothwolf (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, File movers, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers10,326 edits Undid revision 262618377 by Crakkpot (talk) "Compile and run" -> "Compile and compile" uhm...no← Previous edit Latest revision as of 19:06, 14 February 2024 edit undoAnastrophe (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers21,460 edits →top: break up single run-on sentence for lede. the end of the sentence was bizarrely constructed and garbled. fix bad construct; rm paren i left dangling 
(297 intermediate revisions by more than 100 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|User account on a remote server}}
⚫ ] ] client running on a shell server]]
]
A '''shell account''' is a personal account that gives a user access to a ] on a remote server, usually accessed through ] (and historically ]). A shell account can be used for many different purposes because many different programs can be run on the shell. It might be used to try out another ], running ] clients or ], ] and run ] and ], to host websites, or to use ] services. It might be possible to run programs on the server even while not connected, using ] or programs such as the ] terminal multiplexer.
⚫ ] client running on a shell server]]


A '''shell account''' is a user account on a remote ], typically running under ] or ] operating systems. The account gives access to a text-based ] in a ], via a ]. The user typically communicates with the server via the ] protocol. In the early days of the Internet, one would connect using a ].
Most servers have policies in place on the accounts that limit different kind of resources, like disk usage (]) or ]. <ref></ref>


Shell accounts were first made accessible in the 1980's to interested members of the public by Internet Service Providers—such as ], ], ], ]—although in rare instances individuals had access to shell accounts through their employer or university. They were used for file storage, web space, email accounts, newsgroup access and software development.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.yossman.net/canweb/glossary.html |title=Glossary |date=December 29, 1996 |publisher=yossman.net |access-date=27 September 2010}}</ref><ref name=LJ1996>{{citation|title=Choosing an Internet Service Provider|journal=Linux Journal|number=24|date=April 1996|issn=1075-3583|author=Michael K. Johnson|publisher=Specialized Systems, Seattle, USA|quote=If you are comfortable with the command-line interface that ] provides, you will probably be comfortable with a '''Shell account''' on a Linux or ] computer managed by an ISP. Once your modem connects to the other modem and you log in, it is the same as an xterm session or a console login (without graphics capabilities) on your Linux box, except that the remote computer you are logged into is connected to the Internet. You usually use a standard Unix shell, with roughly the same choices available on your own Linux system, although some shell accounts also provide an optional menu interface similar to what a ] provides.|url=http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/1233}}</ref><ref name=LJ1994>{{Citation|url=http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/2832|journal=Linux Journal|date=October 1, 1994|author=Michael K. Johnson|title=For Internauts, finding a port of call can be a trying experience. I recently ran the gauntlet of choosing a commercial Internet access provider (do I have enough mixed metaphors yet?) and would like to share my experiences, both good and bad.|quote=The other day, I started shopping, both for a Unix shell account, and for a SLIP or PPP connection that allows my home Linux network to become a real part of the Internet.}}</ref> Before the late 1990s, shell accounts were often much less expensive than full net access through ] or ], which was required to access the then-new ]. Most ] ]s also lacked ] stacks by default before the mid-1990s. Products such as ] were devised that could work as a proxy server, allowing users to run a web browser for the price of a shell account.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lanet.lv/simtel.net/presno/sample2.html|title=The Web from a Unix shell account|quote=Until recently, if you wanted to use Mosaic for the World Wide Web, you needed a direct SLIP or PPP connection to the Internet. In many countries, such a connection costs a leg and an arm. Now, you can also use Mosaic if you connect to the Internet through a Unix shell account. The administrators may not even notice that you do.}}</ref>
On some free shell accounts services, if there is no login to a particular account for a long period of time, that account may get automatically deleted. Free shell account services often do not allow background processes.


While direct internet connections made shell accounts largely obsolete for most users, they remained popular with some technically inclined subscribers.<ref>{{cite news |title=Core Fans of Shell Accounts Mourn Netcom’s Demise |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-oct-09-fi-33816-story.html |access-date=28 December 2023 |agency=] |publisher=] |date=9 October 2000}}</ref>
==Historical free shell account providers==
<!--
##########################################################################


'''Shell providers''' are often found to offer shell accounts at low-cost or free. These shell accounts generally provide users with access to various software and services including ], IRC clients, background processes, FTP, text editors (such as ]) and ]s (such as ]).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/07/14/159237 |title=Unix Shell Accounts? |author=Cliff |date=July 14, 2004 |publisher=aks.slashdot.org |access-date=27 September 2010}}</ref> Some shell providers may also allow tunneling of traffic to bypass corporate firewalls.
Do no edit this list or your link will be removed.
This list is only for historically significant providers!!!


==See also==
To get your service on a list, please submit it to one of the free shell
* ]
listings included in the next section. Thanks!
* ]
##########################################################################
* ]
⚫ -->
* ], one of the oldest and largest non-profit public access UNIX systems on the Internet.
* ] - ] - Started in 1984, Sold in 1990 and then again in 1991.
* ], a ] application similar to The Internet Adapter
* ] - ] (formerly ]) - Founded in 1991
* ]
* ] (SDF) - ] (formerly ] on the ]) - Founded in 1987
* ] was a public access computer system in New York City in the late 1980s, known on Usenet as node dasys1.
* ], a graphical application front end for internet access using shell accounts allowing TCP/IP-based applications such as Netscape to run over the shell account.
* ], best known for its Internet forums, but also provides email, shell accounts, and web pages.


==References== ==References==
{{reflist}} {{Reflist}}


==External links== ==External links==
<!-- {{No more links}}
* {{dmoz|Computers/Internet/Access_Providers/Unix_Shell_Providers/Free_Shells/|Free Shells}} (updated January 2008)

* (wikified and updated frequently)
Please be cautious adding more external links.
* (wikified)

*
Misplaced Pages is not a collection of links and should not be used for advertising.
* (sorted by operating system)

Excessive or inappropriate links will be removed.

See ] & ] for details.

If there are already suitable links, propose additions or replacements on
the article's talk page, or submit your link to the relevant category at
the Open Directory Project (dmoz.org) and link there using {{Dmoz}}.

⚫ -->

*


⚫ {{DEFAULTSORT:Shell Account}}
] ]
] ]
] ]

⚫ ]
]
]
]

Latest revision as of 19:06, 14 February 2024

User account on a remote server
irssi IRC client running on a shell server

A shell account is a user account on a remote server, typically running under Unix or Linux operating systems. The account gives access to a text-based command-line interface in a shell, via a terminal emulator. The user typically communicates with the server via the SSH protocol. In the early days of the Internet, one would connect using a modem.

Shell accounts were first made accessible in the 1980's to interested members of the public by Internet Service Providers—such as Netcom, Panix, The World, Digex—although in rare instances individuals had access to shell accounts through their employer or university. They were used for file storage, web space, email accounts, newsgroup access and software development. Before the late 1990s, shell accounts were often much less expensive than full net access through SLIP or PPP, which was required to access the then-new World Wide Web. Most personal computer operating systems also lacked TCP/IP stacks by default before the mid-1990s. Products such as The Internet Adapter were devised that could work as a proxy server, allowing users to run a web browser for the price of a shell account.

While direct internet connections made shell accounts largely obsolete for most users, they remained popular with some technically inclined subscribers.

Shell providers are often found to offer shell accounts at low-cost or free. These shell accounts generally provide users with access to various software and services including compilers, IRC clients, background processes, FTP, text editors (such as nano) and email clients (such as pine). Some shell providers may also allow tunneling of traffic to bypass corporate firewalls.

See also

References

  1. "Glossary". yossman.net. December 29, 1996. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
  2. Michael K. Johnson (April 1996), "Choosing an Internet Service Provider", Linux Journal (24), Specialized Systems, Seattle, USA, ISSN 1075-3583, If you are comfortable with the command-line interface that Linux provides, you will probably be comfortable with a Shell account on a Linux or Unix computer managed by an ISP. Once your modem connects to the other modem and you log in, it is the same as an xterm session or a console login (without graphics capabilities) on your Linux box, except that the remote computer you are logged into is connected to the Internet. You usually use a standard Unix shell, with roughly the same choices available on your own Linux system, although some shell accounts also provide an optional menu interface similar to what a BBS provides.
  3. Michael K. Johnson (October 1, 1994), "For Internauts, finding a port of call can be a trying experience. I recently ran the gauntlet of choosing a commercial Internet access provider (do I have enough mixed metaphors yet?) and would like to share my experiences, both good and bad.", Linux Journal, The other day, I started shopping, both for a Unix shell account, and for a SLIP or PPP connection that allows my home Linux network to become a real part of the Internet.
  4. "The Web from a Unix shell account". Until recently, if you wanted to use Mosaic for the World Wide Web, you needed a direct SLIP or PPP connection to the Internet. In many countries, such a connection costs a leg and an arm. Now, you can also use Mosaic if you connect to the Internet through a Unix shell account. The administrators may not even notice that you do.
  5. "Core Fans of Shell Accounts Mourn Netcom's Demise". Los Angeles Times. The Washington Post. 9 October 2000. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  6. Cliff (July 14, 2004). "Unix Shell Accounts?". aks.slashdot.org. Retrieved 27 September 2010.

External links

Categories: