Pretty much everything mentioned here is available by anonymous FTP.
FAQ lists cross-posted to news.answers and rec.answers can be gotten
from rtfm.mit.edu (18.181.0.24), under /pub/usenet/news.answers or
under /pub/usenet/more.specific.group.name 

"anonymous FTP" is just a way for files to be stored where anyone on
the Internet can retrieve them over the Net.    For example, to retrieve 
the latest version of the FTP FAQ, do the following:

  > ftp rtfm.mit.edu      /* connect to the site; a message follows */
  > anonymous             /* type this when it asks for your name */
  > <your email address>  /* type your address as the password */
  > cd /pub/usenet        /* go to the directory you want to be in */
  > cd news.announce.newusers
                          /* one level down (no slash).  */
  > dir                   /* look at what's there */
  > get Anonymous_FTP:_Frequently_Asked_Questions_(FAQ)_List
                          /* get the file; case-sensitive */
  > quit                  /* stop this mysterious thing */

If your FTP program complains that it doesn't know where the site you
want to use is, type the numerical address instead of the sitename:

  > ftp 18.181.0.24       /* connect with numerical address */ 

If you don't have ftp access, send e-mail to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu
with the single word "help" in the body of the message.

Getting binary files (executables, or any compressed files) is only
slightly more difficult.   You need to set binary mode inside FTP before
you transfer the file. 

  > binary            /* set binary transfer mode  */ 
  > ascii             /* set back to text transfer mode */ 

FAQs and other lists are generally ascii files; everything else is
generally binary files.  When in doubt, use binary transfers, since
they will work for all files.

Some common extensions on binary files in archive sites are:

  .Z           Compressed; extract with uncompress
  .tar.Z       Compressed 'tape archive'; uncompress then untar or tar -xvf 
  .gz or .z    Gnu gzip; use gunzip (prep.ai.mit.edu:/pub/gnu/gzip.*.tar) 
  .tgz         Gnu gzip of a tar archive; read the gzip man page.
  .sit         (Mac) StufIt archive
  .zip         (PC) Extract with Zip or Unzip
  .zoo         (PC) Yet another archive/compress program
  .lzh         (Unix and PC) Yet another...
  .arj         (PC) and another... 
  .lha         (Amiga) Common archive format.
  .exe         (PC) Self-extracting archives - just execute them. 
               [Note:  sometimes non-archived executables are stored.]
  .uue or .UUE Transfer as text file; use uudecode to convert to binary
  .hqx         (Mac) BinHex format; transfer in text mode 

Generic help can be found in the FAQs of comp.binaries.<your_system_type> for 
how to transfer, extract, and virus-check binary files.  (At rtfm.mit.edu) 

If you can't FTP from your site, use one of the following ftp-by-mail servers:

	ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com          
	ftpmail@src.doc.ic.ac.uk
	ftpmail@cs.uow.edu.au           
	ftpmail@grasp.insa-lyon.fr

For complete instructions, send a message reading "help" to the server.

Some FTP sites, such as ftp.cis.ksu.edu, have dedicated mailservers that
will send you files only from that site; it causes less network load to
use local FTP servers where they exist.

If you don't know exactly what you're looking for, or exactly where it
is, there are programs and servers that can help you.  For more info,
send e-mail to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu with the body of the
message reading:
send usenet/news.answers/finding-sources

Some parts © 2009 Advameg, Inc.