150 lines
7.5 KiB
Prolog
150 lines
7.5 KiB
Prolog
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 can keep track of users.
|
||
|
||
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.
|
||
|
||
|