[ct-user] telnet

[Didier Juges]

Well, being connected to one's own machine is not quite the same as 
going nowhere. Using the loopback address is sometimes the only way to 
use services your own machine provides, such as if you are running a 
telnet server or a web server.

Many programs use a telnet or http interface to provide inter-process 
communication (communication between 2 programs running on the same 
machine for instance). There are other ways to do this, but sometimes a 
network service is the most practical way.

For instance, there are several spam filters that work that way. They 
implement a mail server on your machine, your normal mail client is 
pointed to that server (address 127.0.0.1 with a specific port number, 
typically 25). The spam filter fetches your mail from your normal mail 
server, at your ISP, filters it and sends the good stuff to your normal 
mail client via the built-in mail server and disposes of the rest.

Didier KO4BB

John D Allen wrote:
> 127.0.0.1 is the loopback connection IP address.  It is a dead end.  (It goes no where).
>
> See http://www.tech-faq.com/127.0.0.1.shtml
>
> 73, John, K1AE
>
> John Allen  - PC Support Solutions www.pcsupportsolutions.com
> PC House Calls: Computer HW/SW/Network debugging, installation and upgrades.
> mailto:john at pcsupportsolutions.com  978 779-6189 M: 508 361-6229
>
>