network address

networking 1. The network portion of an IP address. For a

class A network, the network address is the first byte of

the IP address. For a class B network, the network address

is the first two bytes of the IP address. For a class Cnetwork, the network address is the first three bytes of the

IP address. In each case, the remainder is the hostaddress. In the Internet, assigned network addresses are

globally unique.

See also subnet address, Internet Registry.

2. (Or "net address") An electronic mail address on thenetwork. In the 1980s this might have been a bang path but

now (1997) it is nearly always a domain address. Such an

address is essential if one wants to be to be taken seriously

by hackers; in particular, persons or organisations that

claim to understand, work with, sell to, or recruit from among

hackers but *don't* display net addresses are quietly presumed

to be clueless poseurs and mentally flushed.

Hackers often put their net addresses on their business cards

and wear them prominently in contexts where they expect to

meet other hackers face-to-face (e.g. science-fictionfandom). This is mostly functional, but is also a signal

that one identifies with hackerdom (like lodge pins among

Masons or tie-dyed T-shirts among Grateful Dead fans). Net

addresses are often used in e-mail text as a more concise

substitute for personal names; indeed, hackers may come to

know each other quite well by network names without ever

learning each others' real monikers.

See also sitename, domainist.

[Jargon File]

(1997-05-10)