What is a Bulletin Board System?
A bulletin board system (BBS) is a computer or an application dedicated to the sharing or exchange of messages or other files on a network. Originally an electronic version of the type of bulletin board found on the wall in many kitchens and work places, the BBS was used to post simple messages between users. The BBS became the primary kind of online community through the 1980s and early 1990s, before the World Wide Web arrived.
A BBS may be accessible from a dial-up modem, Telnet, or the Internet. Because it originated before the graphical user interface (GUI) became prevalent, the BBS interface was text-based. Although recent Web-based versions have a graphical, interactive user interface, the text-only interface preferred by BBS purists can often be accessed by Telnet. According to Justin Scott, co-founder of Sceiron Interactive and a former sysop, a Web-based BBS is essentially a Web site that is powered by BBS software rather than a Web server.
Most BBSes are devoted to a particular subject, although some are more general in nature. Among special interests represented on BBSes are dentistry, law, guns, multi-player games, Druidic practices, and information for the disabled. A significant number of BBS sites offer "adult-oriented" chat and images that can be downloaded. The BBS is often free, although some charge a membership or use fee. Many BBSes have Web sites, and many Internet access providers have bulletin board systems from which new Internet users can download the necessary software to get connected. The BBS has its own culture and jargon. For example, a sysop is the person who runs the site. Online chat became widely popular through the BBS and many chat acronyms originated there.
source: searchSMB.com
The First BBS
source: searchSMB.com
Despite the vastly greater reach of the Internet, the BBS is still fairly common in parts of the world where the Internet is less established and is still valued by many with Internet access for its ability to foster a sense of community.
BBS related DVD's
BBS: The Documentary
Release Date: 05/01/2005
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War Games
Release Date: 04/29/1998
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Special Topics Links
to the topic ASCII/ANSI and Text Art
- BBS's Internet ISPs?
- Old video from a time when the Internet was still in its infancy about internet marketing and BBS's as the future micro ISPs.
Speaking of BBS. a little bit information and a picture of the infamous Rusty'N Eddie's BBS. - History of Text Art Video by RaD Man / ACiD
- One hour Video that shows the history and development of ASCII and text art over time. Starting in the ancient world, passing over to the times of first radio transmission and first computers to the prime time of ASCII art during the times when Bulletin Board Systems roamed the earth.
- Are Block ASCIIs ASCII?
- The debate if Block ASCII can be called ASCII or not or should they be called ANSI instead? A closer look at the problem.
- Typewriter Text Art before Computers were invented
- Three great examples of old Typewriter text art from over 20 years before computers were invented.
The BBS, precursor to the Internet
During their heyday (from the early 1980s to the mid 1990s), many BBSes were run as a hobby free of charge by the "SysOp" (system operator), while other BBSes charged their users a subscription fee for access.
In current usage (primarily in Japan and China) the term BBS may be used to refer to any online forum or message board.
Bulletin board systems were in many ways a precursor to the modern form of the World Wide Web and other aspects of the Internet. BBSes were a highly social phenomenon and were used for meeting people and having discussions in message boards as well as for publishing articles, downloading software, playing games and many more things using a single application.
The BBS was also a local phenomenon, as one had to dial into a BBS with a phone line and would have to pay long distance charges for a BBS out of the local area. Thus, many users of a BBS lived in the same area and it was common for activities such as BBS Meets or Get Togethers (GTs), where everyone from the same board would gather and meet face to face.
Also during this era, several realtime text chat systems existed. These were the precursors to the instant message systems of the 2000's.
A lot of features from BBS Systems were the basis for now commonly used community tools on the Internet.
BBS's got connected - FidoNet
The network still exists today, but is dwindling in size and organization, due to the lack of callers to BBS systems that it was developed to serve, and the closing of most of those systems as a result.
It is used today by people in some countries with limited or censored access to the internet to communicate freely with friends and strangers across the globe.
FidoNet was originally founded in 1984 by Tom Jennings of San Francisco, California as a means to network together BBSes that used his own "Fido" BBS software. Over time, other BBS software was independently adapted to support the relevant FidoNet protocols, and the network became a popular means for hobbyist computer users to communicate.
FidoNet was non-commercial, and mostly popular amongst hobbyist computer users, many of them hackers and radio amateurs, before the Internet became accessible and inexpensive.
The Bulletin Board System Interfaces
The Bulletin Board System Interfaces were only using simple Text and a set of extended characters to generate "borders" and that sort of things (MS DOS ASCII Characters). ANSI Color Codes were used to get some colors on the Screen. Such interfaces are used today only by Telnet Sites.
This is an Alien World for normal Internet Users who usually never have to deal with those. . People who were able to generate nice looking "graphic" using the basic MS DOS Character SET and 16 pre-defined ANSI colors were in high demand to improve the look of BBS Systems.
BBS are not dead yet. See the links below.
Links
- Mindkiller Systems homepage
- Mindkiller Systems developers homepage with products like Mindkiller BBS (Amiga), MindSID (Amiga) and KAOS (X86) - t.b.a..
- The TEXTFILES.COM Historical BBS List
- A Collection of BBS Numbers from the past 20 Years
- The USBBS List
- BBS Listings for the United States and Canada. Published since June, 1984
- ASCII Lense at squidoo.com
- My Lense about the underground ASCII and ANSI Art Scene during the prime of the BBS Area.
- BBS List Keepers
- The BBS List Keepers web ring - A project to merge all of the BBS list sites throughout the world! The BBS is alive and well! Lets keep it that way: Support your local BBS!
- Bulletin board system
- "Bulletin board system" at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
- Rusty n Edie's BBS
- "RUSTY & EDIE'S BBS SEIZED BY THE FBI" Essay at Wikipedia. Rusty n Edie's BBS at 14,000 subscribers and over 124 modem lines making it one of the largest BBS's ever.
- Category - Bulletin board systems
- Category:Bulletin board systems at Wikipedia
- FidoNet
- International FidoNet Home Page
- Homepage of Roy/SAC - Sysop & Artist
- My Official Homepage - Roy/SAC - Superior Art Creations. I created hundreds of ASCII's and ANSI's over several years which can all be found on my home page. All SAC/PNS PPE's (PCBoard BBS Tools) can be found and downloaded. All SAC Art Packs are available for download too. Find tools to view and create ASCII and ANSI art, more links about this topic including the "DEMO" Scene and last but not least related merchandise I can only recommend to anybody who is interested in this.
- Roy/SAC Blog
- The Lensmasters a.k.a Roy/SAC Private Blog related to Text Art (ASCII and ANSI) and current activities.
- "ASCII" Lens
- Lens at SQUIDOO about ASCII & ANSI Text Art
The Lensmasters BBS - Closed Society
Closed Society
I operated a BBS System between 1995 and 1997, using the back then popular BBS Software PCBoard by Clark Development
"PCBoard was an MS-DOS / OS/2 bulletin board system (BBS) software package first created by the Clark Development Corporation, first introduced in 1983.
Clark Development pioneered the FILE_ID.DIZ format as well as a powerful scripting language (PPL) which supported modifications called PPEs (PCBoard Programming Executable).
The last full release of PCBoard by Clark Development was version 15.3 in September of 1996.
The final release was 15.4Beta, which had a one-month trial period. Later, one of the software engineers from Clark Development released information on how to pass the trial period timeout. The company went bankrupt in 1997." From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(I still have the V15.22 Setup Disks, Manuals and PPLC if somebody needs help :)).
"A bulletin board system or BBS is a computer system running software that allows users to dial into the system over a phone line and, using a terminal program, perform functions such as downloading software and data, uploading data, playing games, reading news, and exchanging messages with other users.
During their heyday (from the early 1980s to the mid 1990s), many BBSes were run as a hobby free of charge by the "SysOp" (system operator), while other BBSes charged their users a subscription fee for access."
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
I started with 2 Modem Nodes and had 4 ISDN Nodes + 1 Modem Node by 1997 when I shut it down.
The Name of the BBS was "Closed Society". It was the SAC World Headquarter from day one. "Closed Society" was affiliated with several other computer groups (mainly Warez Groups) such as: Razor 1911, TRSI/Faith, Dynasty, Dytec , LSD, ToaO and Peanuts.
Roy of Superior Art Creations Blog
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Time Travel to the Era of the BBS
PCBoard BBS Screen Recording
If you are a Sysop or oldschool scener and miss the time when you dialed your local BBS (or not so local one via blue boxing or calling cards hehe) and had fun there, this video is for you.
A good old dosis of PCB smell does not hurt anybody. :) To learn more about my old BBS, visit http://www.roysac.com/bbs.asp
Mediafire.com Download of the Video:
http://www.mediafire.com/?b0myytzcmdm
File: cs3vd.avi
Size: 72MB
Video: DivX MPEG-4 1420Kbps, 30 fps, 640x480
Audio: MP3 Lame Audi,o Stereo, CBR, 192KBps, 48KHz, 16Bits
by roysac
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