Finger

Finger is a network protocol used to provide information about users logged in on a host. It was first invented at the Stanford AI Lab, by Les Earnest. On the host side, many implementations allow for users to have a plan file which would be provided to network clients on request. The file was originally meant to contain current and future plans for a user, but the free-format content would often expand to random musings.

External links

• RFC 742: NAME/FINGER, the first ARPANET version from 1977.
• RFC 1288: The Finger User Information Protocol, the latest TCP/IP version from 1991.