HASCS Lets Users Create Web Sites

The Harvard Arts and Sciences Computer Services (HASCS) began Tuesday to allow individual students to create World Wide Web home pages on the fas machine, Harvard Computer Society (HCS) Webmaster Daniel A. Lopez '97 said yesterday.

Lopez estimated that, in the three days since HASCS turned on student Web pages from regular fas e-mail accounts, about 30 students have constructed home pages on fas.

"I think it's great," said Eugene E. Kim '96, the former president of HCS. "It's long awaited and I think that a lot of students are going to take advantage of it."

The World Wide Web is an information sharing system that allows people to interact with and navigate the Internet, a global data communications network.

A student's individual home page on the Web, displayed when the site is accessed, can include any information the student wishes to provide, as well as links to other pages or Web sites.

Students' pages that have been constructed on fas since Tuesday contain everything from links to chess servers to a complete collection of Nirvana Iyrics.

Lopez, who is also the secretary of HCS, made the announcement that HASCS would support student Web pages in a post Tuesday to the newsgroups 'harvard.announce' and 'harvard.org.hcs.'

Lopez explained in his post that students would benefit from having Web home pages on fas because the fas machine runs all the time. This will remove the need for having a personal server on all day so that pages can always be accessible.

The Web pages will not mean any more work for HASCS because it does not require any maintenance, and because HCS members, rather than HASCS staff, will provide user services.

"[HASCS] runs the server," Lopez said. "They don't have to do anything else. This is no additional work for them."

Kim said HCS played an important role in convincing HASCS to support the student Web pages.

"We were always advocating for this sort of thing," Kim said, "but we really can't take full credit for it because it was HASCS which was responsible for the move and made the final decision."

Lopez said the creation of student Web pages will be a trial service for HASCS.

"It doesn't affect the operation of fas," hesaid. But if there were problems, he said, such asWeb pages slowing down the fas machine or studentsabusing the system, then HASCS would end theservice.

Move On-line

The move allowing students to create individualhome pages on fas will probably increase thenumber of students who do so, Kim said.

"By the amount of mail HCS has been getting,there are at least 20 new home pages within thelast two days and I expect many more as time goeson," Kim said.

In the newsgroup posts, Lopez providedinstructions for students to create their own homepages on fas.

Some students said they used Lopez'sinstructions as a starting point for creatingpersonal Web pages.

"I didn't have a home page before," said RaduM. Rusu '98, who created his pages on Tuesday. "Ijust used the sample file from one of thenewsgroups and changed a few references."

"I never had a home page anywhere else," saidStewart L. King '98. "Some people have their ownservers but I don't even have my owncomputer--it's broken. I just kind of taughtmyself how to make [a Web page] and did it in thelast couple of days."

But other students already had home pages andmerely transferred their pages onto the fassystem.

"I moved [my home page] from my own computer tofas," said Ulas A. Kirazci '98. "It's a lot betterbecause my computer crashes from time to time, butfas is always up.

"It doesn't affect the operation of fas," hesaid. But if there were problems, he said, such asWeb pages slowing down the fas machine or studentsabusing the system, then HASCS would end theservice.

Move On-line

The move allowing students to create individualhome pages on fas will probably increase thenumber of students who do so, Kim said.

"By the amount of mail HCS has been getting,there are at least 20 new home pages within thelast two days and I expect many more as time goeson," Kim said.

In the newsgroup posts, Lopez providedinstructions for students to create their own homepages on fas.

Some students said they used Lopez'sinstructions as a starting point for creatingpersonal Web pages.

"I didn't have a home page before," said RaduM. Rusu '98, who created his pages on Tuesday. "Ijust used the sample file from one of thenewsgroups and changed a few references."

"I never had a home page anywhere else," saidStewart L. King '98. "Some people have their ownservers but I don't even have my owncomputer--it's broken. I just kind of taughtmyself how to make [a Web page] and did it in thelast couple of days."

But other students already had home pages andmerely transferred their pages onto the fassystem.

"I moved [my home page] from my own computer tofas," said Ulas A. Kirazci '98. "It's a lot betterbecause my computer crashes from time to time, butfas is always up.