IdeaFarm (tm) Piggyback Distributed Operating System, or IP-DOS (tm), is a single global entity distributed over many personal computers. Each computer hosts one or more IP-DOS (tm) "homes". Each IP-DOS (tm) home has two Doors, one that accepts connections and the other connectionless. This page documents both Doors.

Opening ideafarm-door is the normal way to enter IdeaFarm (tm) City. ideafarm-panic is an alternate door that is used by IdeaFarm (tm) Operations people to diagnose system failures and to defend against attack. Normal users might also need to use ideafarm-panic when the system is "locked down".

This page also documents the connectionless Door available to automata. The connectionless Door is also self documenting. To receive that documentation, send a datagram that begins with byte value 0x00. Repeat until your automata receives a reply packet. The reply packet will contain further instructions, as plain ascii text.

Humans should use a web browser to access ideafarm-door. You can do this now by clicking "door" at the top of this page. Automata should use raw TELNET.

IP-DOS (tm) differs in philosophy from some other operating systems in that backward compatibility is not maintained. IP-DOS (tm) face syntax and semantics are subject to change without notice. Users and automata must adapt to these changes in real time. If you are thinking about developing code that accesses ideafarm-door, you must register as a developer and also register each application. This is enforced by the server.