Aaron Thomas wrote to All <=-
I ran RG in the 90s, quit for 20 years, came back to it. I just learned how to use echomail recently. It's always cool talking with Fido
people. There are a lot of nice people. I bet that some of you guys
have been at it for a while.
I first was on a BBS in 1983 but I really didn't get into them until
1989 as a user. It wasn't until 1996 that I had a chance to set up my
Does anybody remember my name from that time? (31 years ago? Probably not!)
I have been running a BBS now for very nearly half of my life.
Aaron Thomas wrote to Sean Dennis <=-
You started around 1983 - but at that time, was there Fidonet? Or was there even a decent message base system around? I guess Telegard was ok for messaging but I just couldn't learn to deal with WC! or PCBoards.
They were for file leeching only!
I think early versions of Telegard didn't have an option to "clear
screen between messages," and that was and still is a very desirable option for me.
Mike Powell wrote to SEAN DENNIS <=-
I have been now for over half of mine. Where does the time go? :(
I hope to keep running a BBS for a while longer unless
something changes. I have thought about, when I can,
buying a small motorhome and travelling around the US full-
time. If that happened, I'd probably shut the BBS down and
give my FTN network to someone else to run. I'd still keep
in touch with offline mail though; even after all of these
years, QWK still works for me.
In 1990, I learned how to use BBSs.
We had The Projects, The Sanitarium, Cascara Segrada,
Wicked World (mine,) but I don't remember who it was that
carried Fido - Fido was a rare thing for sysops in my
hometown.
I ran RG in the 90s, quit for 20 years, came back to it. I
just learned how to use echomail recently. It's always cool
talking with Fido people. There are a lot of nice people. I
bet that some of you guys have been at it for a while.
Does anybody remember my name from that time? (31 years ago? Probably not!)
Have you changed names? :)
I have been running a BBS now for very nearly half of my life.
I have been now for over half of mine. Where does the time go? :(
In 1990, I learned how to use BBSs.
Does anybody remember my name from that time? (31 years ago? Probably not!)
It's always cool talking with Fido people. There are a
lot of nice people. I bet that some of you guys have been at it for a while.
Fidonet didn't exist yet. Nearly all BBSes were islands unto
themselves. I'm sure there were rudimentary message networks then but I didn't know about them.
In the early times, some sysops were very protective of their
user base.
During the dialup days, I would just try to call any
system that didn't have a busy signal. One tended to be easier
to connect to than many of the others
I'd hang around and post messages to find out what other BBSes the users liked to visit.
Or, 2 signs you know it's going to be a bad day.
1) You put your bra on backwards, and it fits better.
Does anybody remember my name from that time? (31 years ago? Probably no
Have you changed names? :)
such as not supporting *.MSG (SDM) message bases and not ever fixing several issues that he knew about because of his "principles". I once
changes. I have thought about, when I can, buying a small motorhome and travelling around the US full-time. If that happened, I'd probably shut
I came on board to Fidonet in 1993 with Vis a Vis Communications
BBS. I offered internet email, and QWK for offline reading.
Prior to all that, I experimented with operating a low key BBS
for about 3 years using RBBS-PC. It was very tricky at the time
front-door intercom system to my apartment. Whenever I got a
buzz at the door, it would interrupt the BBS session currently
in progress.
I got my first C64 c. 1985.
For the first couple of years it was just a glorified typewriter.
I moved up step-by-step to a 1200 and eventually a 56k. In '01 I moved
I eventually found Doc's Place from a local board post as an option when they shut down and been here a long time.
August Abolins wrote to Sean Dennis <=-
When you hit the road, couldn't you just host the ftn bbs/
network on a VPS?
JOE MACKEY wrote to SEAN DENNIS <=-
To me it was like the early days of what is now ham radio where
people would say they were speaking from some distant area and could anyone receive them and where they were.
Aaron Thomas wrote to Sean Dennis <=-
But it was still fun to use Telegard and watch it evolve into Renegade.
I think Renegade was stable enough to leave running for a weekend at least.
That sounds nice! I suck at driving, so I might do something similar
when I retire, but I'll be traveling on a train or something instead!
Aaron Thomas wrote to Mike Powell <=-
No but I'll bet that there were a lot of people breaking Fido rules
over the past 3 decades. It would be hard to keep track of them all, I bet!
Aaron Thomas wrote to JOE MACKEY <=-
There were some boards that were very resilient against the Internet. I shut mine down in 1998 when the calls almost completely stopped.
I have been now for over half of mine. Where does the time go? :(
I don't think either of us wants to answer that question as we may not
like the answer, sadly.
I hope to keep running a BBS for a while longer unless something
changes. I have thought about, when I can, buying a small motorhome and travelling around the US full-time. If that happened, I'd probably shut
the BBS down and give my FTN network to someone else to run. I'd still
keep in touch with offline mail though; even after all of these years,
QWK still works for me.
Prior to all that, I experimented with operating a low key BBS
for about 3 years using RBBS-PC. It was very tricky at the time
since I only used an existing voice line that tied into the
front-door intercom system to my apartment. Whenever I got a
buzz at the door, it would interrupt the BBS session currently
in progress.
In the early times, some sysops were very protective of their
user base. During the dialup days, I would just try to call any
system that didn't have a busy signal. One tended to be easier
to connect to than many of the others - it was some weird 40
column wide thing and would only connect at 1200 bps. I'd hang
around and post messages to find out what other BBSes the users
liked to visit. I'd throw in a few promotional words about my
own BBS. But during one later call I noticed that my messages
were deleted and the sysop jumped into chat to tell me that he
did not approved of advertising of other BBSes. I'll never
forget that he used the term "persona non grata" to me.
There were a handful of RBBS boards in my area. Does it support color? I remember those being all monochrome (I think.)
I'd not likely want to spend time putzing with the BBS if
I'm on the road. Too many other fun things to do and see.
Or, 2 signs you know it's going to be a bad day.
1) You put your bra on backwards, and it fits better.
Or you forget you don't wear one in the first place. :)
Friend on FB posted one hot summer weekend asking how many of her friends were not going to wear a bra that weekend? I posted I wasn't.
:)
That sounds nice! I suck at driving, so I might do something similar
when I retire, but I'll be traveling on a train or something instead!
By the late '90s local boards were dying off and go did GEnie, which was like CompuServe, only cheaper for the month. But I had to pay for
LD since no number in town and also charged for time it was used. I forget what it was but something like a dollar
I can barely remember MY name from 31 years ago. :)
To me it was like the early days of what is now ham radio where
people would say they were speaking from some distant area and could anyone receive them and where they were.
At one time we had about 20 boards (that I know of) here in the Huntington, WV area.
I was about to be denied, since not associated with the university
until I mentioned a fella's name I was told by him to use and approved.
You did better with it than me! I bought a C64 at about the same time,
but I couldn't figure out how to do anything with it, not even type & print.
I remember seeing 56k as an option in my comm program, but I never
thought I'd see the day when I'd actually own one - and then toss it in the trash because it's obsolete :)
There were some boards that were very resilient against the Internet. I shut mine down in 1998 when the calls almost completely stopped.
For the first couple of years it was just a glorified typewriter.
You did better with it than me! I bought a C64 at about the same time, but I couldn't figure out how to do anything with it, not even type & print.
I remember seeing 56k as an option in my comm program, but I never thought I'd see the day when I'd actually own one - and then toss it in the trash because it's obsolete :)
mine down in 1998 when the calls almost completely stopped.
...Of course almost everything was text and I always said
it didn't really matter the speed since I could read only
so fast. :)
There's some people doing that now and pretending that they're getting
away with it.
...Of course almost everything was text and I always said
it didn't really matter the speed since I could read only
so fast. :)
That theory only holds so long until you realize that you are
hogging the phone line for much longer than other people in your household might like.
That's funny! When I started out I was using my parents' voice line and was running the BBS from like 10pm-7am, and they had call-waiting, which caused similar issues.
stores. I think it was called ComputorEdge. They had a BBS list in
there, and there I listed mine with the hours of operation.
I convinced my parents to let me get a phone line, and
it only cost an extra
$10 on their phone bill. I had it installed in the
basement and I turned one
of the back rooms into a BBS office. I had a sweet
desk, a cool black plastic
phone from Radio Shack (with white buttons and black numerals).
The ones I called supported color. The OPUS boards sometimes didn't.
...Of course almost everything was text and I always said
it didn't really matter the speed since I could read only
so fast. :)
That theory only holds so long until you realize that you are
hogging the phone line for much longer than other people in your
household might like.
They had a BBS list in there, and there I listed mine with the hours of operation.
I was looking at getting a POTS line for the BBS here and CenturyLink,
the only game in town (so much for busting up Ma Bell, right?), wants
$50 a month for a barebones basic POTS line. I remember the $10 a month
Prior to all that, I experimented with operating a low key BBS
for about 3 years using RBBS-PC. ...
There was an RBBS board that ran in Louisville for several
years in the 1980's/90's. It was called Deckmann's
Exchange. As a caller, I liked that software.
In the early times, some sysops were very protective of
their user base. During the dialup days, I would just try
to call any system that didn't have a busy signal. One
tended to be easier to connect to than many of the others -
it was some weird 40 column wide thing and would only
connect at 1200 bps. I'd hang around and post messages..
Sounds like a Commodore board, from the description. There
were a lot of 300 and 1200 baud Commodore boards in
Louisville for a time. I never had any issues with other
sysops not wanting BBS ads posted, though, just as long as
I put them in the correct message areas. :)
I came on board to Fidonet in 1993 with Vis a Vis
Communications BBS. I offered internet email, and QWK for
offline reading.
It was cool when BBSs started offering internet e-mail. It
was fututistic and exciting. I found a BBS that offered it
too, but of course I didn't have tons of people to send e-
mail to back then.
Prior to all that, I experimented with operating a low key
BBS for about 3 years using RBBS-PC. It was very tricky
at the time
There were a handful of RBBS boards in my area. Does it
support color? I remember those being all monochrome (I
think.)
front-door intercom system to my apartment. Whenever I got
a buzz at the door, it would interrupt the BBS session
currently in progress.
That's funny! When I started out I was using my parents'
voice line and was running the BBS from like 10pm-7am, and
they had call-waiting, which caused similar issues.
Back then there were a bunch of BBSs running just at night
- looking back, that was such a terrible idea!
There's some people doing that now and pretending that they're getting
away with it.
Hey, I resemble that remark. :)
I was looking at getting a POTS line for the BBS here and CenturyLink,
the only game in town (so much for busting up Ma Bell, right?), wants
$50 a month for a barebones basic POTS line. I remember the $10 a
month second lines. If I did get a POTS line, I might add "distinctive ring" and just use that line for voice and BBS.
The very earliest versions were probably monochrome. But I
don't remember any distinctive limitation in colour in the
I think Call-waiting could be disabled for the duration of an
outbound call that you initiated, but it couldn't be disabled if
I think I ran into something similar with my phone service. I
ended up cancelling call-waiting. It was more of a nuisance than
I later opted for a distinctive-ring service which provided a
separate phone number on the same phone line. I had a little box
RBBS boards disappeared fast in the later half of the 90s
in my area. It would be fun to log in to one now, with
whatever updates they've had since I last seen them. Does
anyone run RBBS now?
I later opted for a distinctive-ring service which
provided a separate phone number on the same phone line. I
had a little box
That's high tech! I never knew about this. But really, it's
bad to mix the voice line with other stuff. People would
NEVER pay attention to Hours of Operation.
..and click on the Software link, it will list the registered
BBSes by software. There is one RBBS-PC listed.
The ones I called supported color. The OPUS boards sometimes didn't.
Boy, I haven't heard that in awhile...blow the dust off of it. <G>
Nowadays, to me, Opus is the penguin in the comic strip "Bloom County"... or something Mister Holland created. <G>
Nowadays, to me, Opus is the penguin in the comic strip "Bloom County"... or something Mister Holland created. <G>
IIRC, Opus the BBS software was named after Opus of Bloom County fame.
There was a comic strip (I have the file over here) of where Opus walks into a Burger King restaurant. He wants a herring whopper with cheese... but "hold the head". The caricature of the employee looked a lot like me years ago. <G>
There was a comic strip (I have the file over here) of where Opus walks into a Burger King restaurant. He wants a herring whopper with cheese...
but "hold the head". The caricature of the employee looked a lot like me years ago. <G>
There was a comic strip (I have the file over here) of where Opus walks into a Burger King restaurant. He wants a herring whopper with cheese...
but "hold the head". The caricature of the employee looked a lot like me years ago. <G>
I have a vague memory of that one. I will have to get the books out
and look it up. :)
| Sysop: | altere |
|---|---|
| Location: | Houston, TX |
| Users: | 66 |
| Nodes: | 4 (0 / 4) |
| Uptime: | 15:44:45 |
| Calls: | 599 |
| Files: | 7,638 |
| Messages: | 291,683 |