Chapter 12. Accessing Network Resources
In the time it takes to fire up a graphical FTP client, you could already have downloaded a few dozen files from a remote server using command line tools. Even when a GUI is available, commands for transferring files, web browsing, sharing directories, and reading mail can be quick and efficient to use. When no GUI is available, they can be lifesavers.
This chapter covers commands for accessing resources (files, e-mail, shared directories, and online chats) over the network.
Running Commands to Browse the Web
Text-mode web browsers provide a quick way to check that a web server is working or to get information from a web server when a useable GUI isn't available. The once-popular lynx text-based browser was supplanted in most UNIX-like systems by the links browser, which was later replaced by elinks.
The elinks browser runs in a terminal window. Aside from not displaying images in the terminal, elinks can handle most basic HTML content and features: tables, frames, tabbed browsing, cookies, history, mime types, and simple cascading style sheets (CSS). You can even use your mouse to follow links and select menu items.
Because elinks supports multiple colors, as long as the terminal you are using supports multiple colors, it's easy to spot links and headings in the text. (Colors ...
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