The package kdenetwork contains the modem dialer kppp; you can run this either by clicking on its desktop icon or by typing kppp & at a shell prompt. (The ampersand runs the program in the background, meaning you get the prompt back and can run more commands. Otherwise you have to start a shell for each program you run.) Netscape Communicator and Navigator both come with Mandrake (it is safe to install only one of them), and unfortunately both are buggy. Don't be surprised if Netscape crashes when Java is enabled.
A number of programs allow you to log on to a remote system (provided you have an account). As a home user, you're less likely to need these. They include telnet and ktelnet, rlogin and rsh, ftp, kftp, and wu-ftpd. These programs are useful if you have more than one machine and want to transfer files between them, but they are all insecure for use over the Internet, as all of them send passwords and data as unencrypted text. ssh ( http://www.ssh.org) is a secure, encrypted replacement for telnet/ rlogin. Most sites no longer accept telnet or rlogin connections.
There are more email clients in Mandrake than you can shake a stick at. These are primarily of interest if you have a permanent IP address (see Networking Basics below), though you can also send mail to other users on the same machine. Type mail, pine, elm or any of a slew of mail program names, and see what happens. Most home users use web-based email, which can be accessed with Netscape Communicator.