# SIPB Documentation The Student Information Processing Board is devoted to helping the MIT community utilize the Institute's computer facilities with ease and efficiency. Since we know how dry and badly written the average user's manual is, we write and maintain many documents on our own. This documentation is freely provided to users in the form of online and printed manuals, UNIX man pages, and emacs info files, in addition to the documentation available in our office. The source for almost all of this documentation is available online under the directory /afs/sipb.mit.edu/project/doc, and is redistributable under certain conditions; all these documents are copyright by the SIPB. Although the following guides are mainly of use to Athena users, SIPB documents are known to be used at universities other than MIT. Hardcopies of these documents are available for free in the SIPB Office, W20-557, and online versions are also available via Athena's online "help" facility, by selecting the main-menu item "Documentation Archives". ## The Inessential Guide Series The SIPB Inessential Guide series contain useful information about a variety of computing topics. Explore! * [An Inessential Guide to Athena](http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/sipb/project/doc/quickref/quick.html) ([DVI](http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/sipb/project/doc/current/iAthena.dvi))([PDF](http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/sipb.mit.edu/project/doc/guide/guide.pdf))([PS](http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/sipb.mit.edu/project/doc/guide/guide.ps))
A large guide on how to get the most out of your Athena account, from reading mail, to using AFS, to sending zephyrs. * [An Inessential Quick Reference to Athena](http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/sipb/project/doc/quickref/quick.html)([DVI](http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/sipb/project/doc/current/quickref.dvi))
A one-page reference to the most basic information about Athena, including logging in, reading email, and getting help. * [Inessential AFS](http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/sipb.mit.edu/project/doc/afs/html/afs-new.html) ([DVI](http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/sipb/project/doc/current/iAFS.dvi))([PDF](http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/sipb/project/doc/current/iAFS.pdf))([PS](http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/sipb/project/doc/current/iAFS.ps)) A guide to AFS (Andrew File System) - the system used to store your files on Athena. Note that a more updated version of this guide can be found [here](http://sipb.mit.edu/doc/wiki/AFSAndYou). * [Inessential LaTeX (PDF)](http://stuff.mit.edu/sipb/ilatex) ([DVI](http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/sipb/project/doc/current/iLaTeX.dvi)) ([HTML, but somewhat dated](http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/sipb.mit.edu/project/www/latex/guide/guide.html))
A very helpful guide to LaTeX, a typesetting program commonly used for doing PSets, writing papers, theses, books, etc. * [Inessential MATLAB](http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/sipb/project/www/matlab/imatlab/imatlab.html) ([DVI](http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/sipb/project/doc/imatlab/imatlab.dvi)) ([PDF](http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/sipb/project/doc/current/imatlab.pdf))
A guide to using MATLAB on Athena. * [Inessential Zephyr](http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/sipb/project/doc/izephyr/html/izephyr.html) ([DVI](http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/sipb/project/doc/izephyr/izephyr.dvi))([PDF](http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/sipb/project/doc/izephyr/izephyr.pdf))
A guide to using the Athena instant-messenging system, Zephyr. * [Inessential Bitmaps](http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/sipb.mit.edu/project/doc/ibitmap/ibitmap.html) ([DVI](http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/sipb/project/doc/current/ibitmap.dvi))
A guide to drawing and displaying XBM bitmaps and other graphics. * Inessential Refrigerator Restocking (Internal DVI version - inquire at SIPB)
A guide on how to restock a soda fridge. It isn't as hard as you make it look. ## More Useful Guides * [Using Zephyr](http://sipb/doc/wiki/UsingZephyr)
A guide on using Zephyr today with BarnOwl and GNU Screen. Aimed at newcomers to zephyr, but also a pretty good reference, this is much more relevant to the average ser than Inessential Zephyr above. * [AFS and You](http://sipb.mit.edu/doc/wiki/AFSAndYou)
A useful guide to AFS (originally the Andrew File System), the system that stores your Athena files. Targeted at mid-to-advanced users, this is a more up-to-date version than the Inessential Guide to AFS above. * [How to Choose a Good Password](http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/sipb/project/doc/passwords/passwords.html) ([DVI](http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/sipb/project/doc/current/passwords.dvi))
A one-page list of guidelines on how to choose secure passwords, and why this is important. * [Filtering Your E-Mail on Athena](http://www.mit.edu/afs/sipb/project/doc/imailfilters/imailfilters.html)
A quick guide to filtering your e-mail on Athena's common email-clients. * [Java Class Notes](http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/sipb/project/iap/Archive/1999/java/outline.html)
These are the electronic slides that were used in SIPB's popular Java class. * [Getting Started with PHP on Athena](http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/sipb/project/doc/pgp/pgp.html)
A quick guide to using PHP security on Athena. * [DVI files? What are those? What's XDVI?](http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/sipb/project/www/latex/xdvi/xdvi.html) ([DVI](http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/sipb/project/doc/current/xdvi.dvi))
XDVI is a program to view DVI files, a common output format from LaTeX. * [NetNews: A One-Page Guide to the Usenet](http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/sipb/project/www/netnews/netnews-doc/netnews-doc.html) ([DVI](http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/sipb/project/doc/current/onepage-netnews.dvi))
A one-page reference to reading NetNews. * [Using Discuss](http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/sipb/project/www/discuss/discuss.html) ([DVI](http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/sipb/project/doc/current/discuss.dvi)) A guide to using and enjoying the Discuss bulletin board system on Athena.