Beginners FAQ:Network, Internet and Email (changes)

Showing changes from revision #6 to #7: Added | Removed | Changed

Network settings

Q: How can I change the network setup?
A: Open !Configure from the PinBoard (Desktop). Look for the ‘Network’ settings and click them once with the left mouse button. You are now presented three options (AUN, Access and Internet). Click ‘Internet’. Here you can set up the TCP/IP networking and enable/disable it.
A2: If you wish to use ShareFS (detailed below) you need to select the ‘Access’ option, and enable ShareFS. There are no parameters to set up – it’s simply on, or off.

!NetSurf the RISC OS web browser

Q: How do I browse the web?
A: Start up !NetSurf, RISC OS’s default browser by double clicking on its icon on the PinBoard (Desktop) or in the Apps directory. If it was launched you will have the blue !NetSurf icon in the IconBar at the bottom right of your screen. Click it to open a new window.

Q: How do erase the current URL in a !NetSurf window?
A: Click into the URL bar. Press CTRL+U to erase the current URL. – CTRL+U works in many text boxes, not just the URL bar.

Q: How do I change the settings of !NetSurf? I can’t find a menu?!
A: !NetSurf, as many RISC OS Apps, does not have a menu. It has a context menu that you can open by pressing the middle mouse button on any page or the toolbar of a window. To modify the settings middle click on the !NetSurf icon in the IconBar and select ‘Choices…’.

Q: Which protocols does !NetSurf support?
A: Currently HTTP and HTTPS are supported.

Q: The website XYZ does not work in !NetSurf.
A: !NetSurf currently has limited CSS3 and JavaScript support. Flash is completely unsupported. If website XZY uses one of these technologies it is very likely it won’t display correctly in !NetSurf.

Q: Can I try the bleeding edge test builds of !NetSurf?
A: Sure! Go here to grab the latest development build. ‘json’ in the build name indicates that experimental JavaScript is supported. Take note, however, that these builds are experimental, and may contain broken bits, logging options enabled, or exhibit all sorts of strangeness. Proceed at your own risk.

Email & News on RISC OS

Q: How do I send email from RISC OS?
A1: The easiest way is to use the web interface of your email provider (GMail, GMX, …) and !NetSurf. Be aware that !NetSurf does not completely support JavaScript, so some web mailers won’t display / work correctly. Check new builds of NetSurf for improved Javascript support.
A2: There is a commercial email program called !Messenger which allows sending and receiving POP3/IMAP Email from within RISC OS. A version of this is also available in the ePic package, but this version does not support IMAP. This program is also used for access to UseNet newsgroups.
A3: The !Pluto mail application was commercial but is now free and open source. This is probably the highest feature mail client freely available for RISC OS.
A4: Another option for accessing POP3 mailboxes and sending via SMTP is !TapirMail, which is free of charge.

File Sharing / Remote Access

Q: How do I connect to my [Windows/MAC/Linux] computer?
A1: For command line access, !Nettle (available from the !Packman package manager) allows SSH or telnet connectivity. OpenSSH is also available.
A2: For file sharing, !Omni will connect via LanManFS to a Samba share or Windows PC, or via NFS to a Unix network file system share, or to other Acorn computers via Econet/ShareFS protocolsUnix network file system share, or to other Acorn computers via Econet/ShareFS protocols
A3: To connect to an NFS Server (Linux) you can alternatively try !Sunfish which is available from the !PackMan package manager, though this can be unstable in general use.
A4: For FTP access there is an ftp client called !FTPc. See the FTPc homepage.
A5: ShareFS is supported on Linux using AccessPlusPython – documentation is fairly sketchy at the moment unfortunately, but the outline is to enable sharing from the network section of !Configure on the RISC OS client, and then edit the .access file on the Linux server and run access.py from the same directory.
A6: If you wish to share a local RISC OS drive with ShareFS, firstly ensure that ShareFS is enabled as described above. Then, right-click on that drive in the IconBar, and select the ‘sharing’ option from the context menu.