If you:
A) Have a non-dual-boot, Linux-running computer,
B) Have an account on a VAX or similar creature with modem lines somewhere within local calling range, and
C) Are too much of a cheapskate to sign up for an ISP when you could just use lynx to get to e2 (kudos to those who designed e2 to render so nicely in lynx!),
minicom is your friend. So far, it's the only
terminal-based
dial-up program capable of fulfilling the needs described above that I (with a not-too-far-beyond-newbie Linux IQ) have been able to figure out well enough to use. It used to be included in the
Mandrake distribution, anyway, but 7.2 seems to have forgotten it in favor of
an
xwindows program that won't (as far as I can tell) understand line-breaks in
lynx and
pine. Http://www.
freshmeat.net will yield up a location from which to download a
tarball for minicom given a proper search.
If you don't fit the above description, be glad! (You might still be able to find a use for minicom, though!)