英语专栏——shell account

shell account :外壳账号

A class of cheap but restricted internet dial-up access. Instead of connecting the computer directly to the Internet, the shell account uses a communication program to access the computer, usually a UNIX computer, on which an account has been established. Once logged on to this computer, users can access the UNIX computer’s operating system (that is, its shell) in plain text, from which they can access the Internet on the service provider’s computer. However, when trying to download certain information on the Internet, the download data first enters a separate store on the service provider’s computer and must be downloaded to the local system after exiting the Internet. You can overcome both plain text limitations and the two-step download process by adopting serial line interconnect protocols (SLIP) or peer-to-peer protocols (PPPs), or by using applications that disguise shells like SlipKnot. However, shell accounts are much cheaper than SLIP and PPP accounts.
【一类廉价但受限制的因特网拨号访问。外壳账号不直接把计算机连到因特网上，而是使用一个通信程序访问计算机，通常是UNIX计算机，在计算机上已经建立了一个账号。在登录这台计算机后，用户便可用纯文本访问这台UNIX计算机的操作系统(即其外壳)，从该外壳可以在服务提供商的计算机上访问因特网。但是在试图下载因特网上的某些信息时，下载数据首先进入服务提供商的计算机上的单独存储区中，必需在退出因特网后，再将数据下载到本地自己的系统中。可以通过采用串行线路互联协议(SLIP)或点对点协议(PPP)，或通过采用像SlipKnot这样的伪装外壳的应用程序来克服纯文本局限和两步下载过程这两个限制。可是，外壳账号要比SLIP和PPP账号便宜得多。】