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                      B  B  S  *  B  U  L  L  S  H  I  T

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     [If you read this, then read my response in the next article! -EGBSS]


              What ever happened to real bulletin-board systems?



    First off, I'd like to make it  perfectly clear that I cannot be  objective
in these notes.   These are observations,  but they are from

    1)  a Sysop
    2)  a user of 8BBS, the greatest BBS ever evolved
    3)  a boy ... who's become a boyish programmer
    4)  an old timer....1977 was when I first started using BBS systems.
    5)  the author of a BBS system

    If you're expecting objectivity,  then don't  bother  reading  on.   I have
a rather unique perspective on the  entire  BBS scene.   I've been around since
close to the beginning,  and I'm wondering  what has happened.  Have BBS's gone
the way of CB?  Is the entire  system  in  a slump?  Is there anything wrong at
all?

    I'm  going  to try to present  these  questions and  show  how  things have
changed...for the better, and for the worst.


    HISTORY:

    A  long  time ago,  in  a  city  far-far  away,   two  men had  an insight.
Ward Christensen and Randy Suess wanted a  way  to leave notes  and messages to
their programmer/engineer  friends.   Back then,    modems  were used by field-
engineers  and  some   high-level  executives   to   talk  to  their  companies
computers.   A  300  baud  modem   was   extremely  fast,   as most people were
using  110  baud TeleTypes.  Ward and  Randy  devloped  the concept of the BBS.
They called it CBBS,   for  "Computer  Bulletin  Board  System."  CBBS  was the
first  of its kind.   It  was  an  enormous  program written  in  8080 assmebly
language.   By our standards today,  it  was   kludgy  and bug-ridden, but back
then it was heavenly.  Users  could  enter   messages and read messages... that
was about it.

    CBBS  was a wonderful concept,  but it was localized to  the  Chicago area.
Ward and Randy were the only  ones  who  were  running  the program.  Then Bill
Blue came along and wrote  ABBS,  which  was   designed  to  "emulate" the CBBS
system.   I feel   it   was   ABBS,   rather   than  CBBS  which  made the real
breakthrough.   While  ABBS  was  much  less  powerful,   and more difficult to
use,  it could be run on a "universal" machine:  --The Apple ][--

    Anyone  with an Apple ][ and  a  D.C.   Hayes MM][ modem  could  run  ABBS.
This  program  could be installed   in   a   matter   of  minutes,  and  anyone
could have their own bulletin board  system.    Soon after the release of ABBS,
several other BBS programs   (for   various   computers)  soon followed.   ABBS
was the king for  many  years,  just  because there were more ABBS systems than
any  other  BBS program available.

    It is this time that I would like  to  refer to as the "Golden  age  of the
BBS."  It wasn't as golden as you  might  think.   Most  Sysops would come home
every evening from work to find  that  their   BBS  had  crashed because of yet
another bug.   Even  back  then,  user's  logged  in under false names and left
obscene messages.

    The  one  point  that  made  that  age  golden   was  the  users.   Without
users,  a BBS is just a program.   With users, it gains a  personality,  and if
I may be metaphysical,  a soul.   The  users  MAKE  the BBS.   A Sysop may have
the greatest BBS program in the  world,  but without active users,  he just has
a computer wasting  line-current.


    LIFE IN THE "GOLDEN AGE"

    *   A user would think  nothing  of  spending  his  Saturday  helping  "The
        Sysop" find an intermittant bug in the BBS program.

    *   A user would not only  answer  his  or  HER  mail,  but also butt  into
        other people's conversations and throw in his/her two cents  worth.

    *   A user would suggest improvements to make the system  easier  to use.

    *   A  Sysop would care for his  BBS  like  a  baby.   He'd spend  2  hours
        each night writing  messages  and  playing  with  modifications  to the
        program.

    *   A   Sysop  would  NOT   restrict   conversation   to   one   particular
        topic...such as CP/M software.

    *   A  Sysop  would tolerate  kids  who  were  just  learning  how  to  use
        modems.  He'd even give them a hand getting things working.

    *   A  Sysop would [on his own preference] dilligently weed  out obscene or
        "pseudo-illegal" messages,   -- or -- promote them  as he saw fit.

    *   Users  would  start clubs,   such  as  the  well  known  "Gabber  Gang"
        and  later the infamous "Phone Phriekers" who  figured  so  prominently
        into BBS history.

    *   The  government  didn't try  to  restrict  BBS  users.    It  was  just
        "us" against tyranny (at that time  "Ma  Bell").   Although  most users
        did not approve of "Phone Phrieking",   everyone talked  about it,  and
        was interested in it for  curiosity  sake  if  nothing  else.  [Hard to
        believe, but true.]

    *   Uploading and downloading of programs did not exist.

    *   BBS's  were few and far between.   When  I wrote the  OxGate,  the  two
        closest other CP/M based machines  were  Kelly   Smith  in  Simi Valley
        (375 miles away),  and "Jim C"  in  Larkspur (100 miles  away).  People
        tended to congregate on the local system.


    WHAT HAS KILLED BBS SYSTEMS:

    1)  Program uploading and downloading. People  just  get their programs and
        leave.

    2)  The technical clique's retaliation against  "gabbers" who just used the
        systems for personal communication.

    3)  Too many BBS systems in one area.  BBS's are still alive and healthy in
        low-density areas.

    4)  The loss of "anonimity" among BBS users.  The  BBS used to be the place
        to escape.  Where no one had to  be "themselves."  Users such as "James
        Bond" and  "Captain  Scarlet"  were  given  free  reign  to  vent their
        fantasies.  Today, most systems do not allow false names so they remove
        them straight away.

    5)  The anti-hacker movement. More  and  more  people  today think the word
        "hacker" means "phone phriek/computer crasher."  All  it ever meant was
        "great programmer."  You would  feel  proud  if  someone  labeled you a
        "hacker."

    6)  The press' ignorance of the BBS community.  By trying to make a scandal
        out of all  of  it,  they  ruined  a  great  form  of communication. In
        particular, the magazine "InfoWorld"  has  done  more  harm  to the BBS
        community than other press organization.  While  they actively TRIED to
        HELP the community, they have  caused  more harm in their mis-reporting
        of info.

    7)  Sysop's ignorance.  Quite frankly, the  average  quality of "Sysop" has
        dropped.  Sysop's are (on the  whole)  less  active and less responsive
        than 5 years ago. More  and  more  of them are technically incompetent,
        they couldn't fix a bug if it bit them in the nose.

All  of these problems are inter-related.    We  can't solve any of them  until
all  of them are solved.   From my   descriptions  it  should  be  obvious that
the "golden age"  certainly  wasn't   all   gold.   People  like  "James  Bond"
and "Sam Daniels" had  to  be  stopped,    but  the  pendulum has swung too far
to  the  opposite  side.

These  observations are very general.   I've  noticed  this  swing,  and it has
taken place on 95% of all of  the  system's I've  called across America.   It's
sad that these problems have stabbed us in   the back, but it's not too late to
try and bring about a change.  I   don't   have  the answers,  but maybe  these
observations  will prompt   thought   into   this   death  of  a  virtual  "art
form"  of communication.

There is one possible solution to this problem...  the acceptance  of  children
again.   For too long we've been kicking   off  kids  (both  phyiscal and "kids
at heart").   They've been   disruptive,   and   caused   fights galore.   Many
have even tried to  crash  the  systems  they  used.

    "If there's any hope, it lies with the proles."
        -- George Orwell, "1984"

Perhaps  the thing to do is call a  few local Commodore and  Apple  boards  and
let the users know that they're  just  as  welcome  on  your  super-fancy 100mb
2400 baud RCP/M system as any of your so- called "serious users" . . . "serious
users" who can't even bring  themselves to answer their own mail.  Saddening.


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