\section{SIPB and {\tt /mit/sipb}:  who?  what?  when?  where?  why?
how?}

SIPB (pronounced ``Sip-bee'') is
the Student Information Processing Board, a student group concerned
with computing at MIT.  We administer several machines and an AFS cell,
maintain a large body of software on Athena for your convenience,
provide Usenet access to Athena, are available for telephone (253-7788)
or in-person (W20--557) consulting at almost any time of day or night,
have one-of-a-kind meetings Monday evenings at 7:30 pm, write
documentation (like this guide), hack, and generally have a good time.
We also act as an advocate for student computer users and student
computer access on campus.

SIPB maintains a locker, {\tt /mit/sipb}.  To
access the programs and files in it, type {\tt add sipb}
at the Athena prompt.  This
locker is the place where SIPB-written or modified programs and
documentation can be found.  The source code for most of the programs in
{\tt /mit/sipb} can be found in the {\tt /mit/sipb/src} subdirectory.
We hope that people will find the programs useful and the source code
instructive.

Athena provides Intel stations running Linux
for use by the community. All SIPB programs are compiled for
use on these platforms.  

Another locker which SIPB offers is {\tt /mit/outland}. It is {\em not}
supported, and while it contains many nifty programs, you should not
depend on any of them, as they may not necessarily be available
or completely debugged.  We encourage you to look at it despite this, since
it contains many neat programs that SIPB doesn't have the resources to
officially support.

There are many other {\tt add}able lockers with interesting and useful
programs in them; it is not possible to catalog all of them here.  We
can only suggest you ask your friends who might know where the
interesting ``hacks'' are stored, or ask us if you have specific
questions.  However, there is a short list of some useful lockers
presented later in this document.

Problems or questions with SIPB programs should be
sent to {\tt bug-sipb@mit.edu}, except for problems with Usenet
news programs, which should be sent to {\tt usenet@mit.edu}.
