What the blazes is this thing?

This CD ROM documents the work of the Projektgruppe Kulturraum Internet. It accompanies and completes the final report on our research project on "Net culture and network organization", which was begun in January 1996. We would like to thank the Volkswagen foundation, whose sponsorship made this cooperational project between the WZB and the Technical University possible.

Projektgruppe Kulturraum Internet - who on earth are they?

	Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung (WZB) Reichpietschufer 50 10785 Berlin Telefon (030) 254 91 - 207 (Claudia Nentwich) Fax (030) 254 91 - 209
	Technische Universität Berlin Straße des 17. Juni 135 10623 Berlin
	Sabine Helmers
	Ute Hoffmann
	Jeanette Hofmann
	Lutz Marz
	Claudia Nentwich
	Kai Seidler
	Jillian-Beth Stamos-Kaschke
	Unox, Duplox, Triplex, Complex, Perplex

As well as these "permanent members" the following peoplw have contributed to our work in some way or another:

Tilman Baumgärtel, Meinolf Dierkes, Valentina Djordjevic, Volker Grassmuck, Johannes Brijnesch Jain, Thei van Laanen, Jörg Müller, Martin Recke, Evelyn Teusch and Eev Vermeij.

You can also take a look at us or listen to us.

How did everything start?

Once upon a time, somewhen in the winter of 1992, it was announced at the WZB that our insitute was now connected to the Internet. Whoever was interested could ask Martina from the computer department to show them the ropes. So we did.

We were soon hooked and before long, instead of being Internet users, we became Internet researchers. Peter gave us accounts on the WZB's UNIX machine and in 1993 we were finally the proud owners of our own network computer. The great moment arrived when Thomax and Funghi put a really fast computer together.

Duplox's first incarnation was a 486 DX2 66 PC which was continually fed with new .99 patches from the Linux FTP server at the University of Helsinki. The great kernel adventure was always accompanied by the hope that this time, the new software packages might be more stable than the previous ones.

On March 27th 1994 we sang out "Happy birthday, WWW on duplox!" First successful attempts at installing the NCSA-httpd-1.1. As from April 20th 1994 the webserver was included in the WWW list of "WWW servers in Germany and Austria" maintained by the Freie Universität Berlin. A couple of days later it was also on the list at Cern. May 3rd 1994: The first robot, JumpStation, comes to visit, and the next day, the WebCrawler pays us a visit as well. On June 15th duplox is equipped with a new server version: NCSA-httpd-1.3.

On June 3rd 1994 the newly formed "Projektgruppe Kulturraum Internet" hosts a conference at the WZB: "Communication networks of the future" and adds texts and pictures to the still very young server. One of the most direct results of the conference ist the creation of a mailing list: Netzforum. Before the Volkswagen foundation began sponsoring project activities on January 1st 1996, we held a EU COST A3 workshop on "Management and Network Technology" with Trond and Hakon from the IFM Institute in Norway. There are texts and a couple of pictures from this and other events.

As from January 20th 1995 the webserver has a full text search index which has since been completely refurbished. And should you want to know "how everything began", you will most probably be directed to this text and read "Once upon a time, in the winter of 1992...."

What is the project "Net culture and network organization" all about?

Computer networks are more than a mere infrastructure for the transportation of data. Distributed electronic communication produces an independent social space. From within the network itself, the project sets about to examine the rules, customs and institutions that hold the Internet together and at the same time bring about its change. Material and immaterial, technical and social elements of the network permeate each other and develop in a reciprocal manner, according to the thesis.

Three complementary lines of examination can be discerned. A case study on the operating system UNIX illustrates the cultural patterns of meaning which are inscribed into the technical principles of design and relates them to the active Internet community's social rules of interaction ("Netiquette"). A second branch of research deals with the development of the new Internet protocol (IPv6) with the Internet's political dimension as part of a case study. The third branch of research is devoted to the prerequisites, forms and consequences of the upward transformation of Usenet.

And what did this all lead to?

The project's results are documented in the final report (German only!). As well as this, there are ... erm ... tons of hypertexts.

Where do I find what on this CD-ROM?

There are six navigational elements to guide you situated at the top and the bottom of the screen.

	shows you the main page.
	brings you back to this page.
	provides you with a list of the project's (hyper)texts including older material. Many of the titles available as HTML documents can be accessed from here.
	includes a list of our public appearances as well as a link to the Usenet Diner.
	leads you to the Netzforum archive (German only!), to our MOO, to the server's guestbook and to a collection of hyperlinks.

Have phun.