

In particular, there are a lot of bulletin boards, talker systems and MUDs (Multi-User Dungeons) which support access using Telnet. These protocols can also be used for other types of keyboard-based interactive session. The network connection carries your keystrokes and commands from the client to the server, and carries the server's responses back to you.

On the computer you sit at, you run a _client_, which makes a network connection to the other computer (the _server_). SSH, Telnet and Rlogin are _network protocols_ that allow you to do this. The commands, and responses, can be sent over a network, so you can sit at one computer and give commands to another one, or even to more than one. Using this type of interface, there is no need for you to be sitting at the same machine you are typing commands to. The system prints a prompt, and you type commands which the system will obey. Multi-user operating systems, such as Unix and VMS, usually present a command-line interface to the user, much like the `Command Prompt' or `MS-DOS Prompt' in Windows. SSH, Telnet and Rlogin are three ways of doing the same thing: logging in to a multi-user computer from another computer, over a network. PuTTY is a very useful tool, a small freeware implementation of Telnet and SSH for Win32 platforms, along with an xterm terminal emulator.
