ba@m-net.UUCP (Bill Allen) (02/10/89)
Seems like everyone (commericial and PD) has a terminal program on the market. But there seems to be a very few BBS packages around. Which is best BBS-PC!, Custom-BBS, etc? PD Tag, CommLink, etc? (And does anyone know what happened to Scott Martin who was working on CommLink BBS? His updates just stop coming.) -thanks -- --------------------------------------------------------- Reply-To: ba@m-net.UUCP (Bill Allen Beogelein) Organization: M-NET, Ann Arbor, MI ---------------------------------------------------------
sneakers@heimat.UUCP (Dan "Sneakers" Schein) (02/12/89)
In Message <2865@m2-net.UUCP>, ba@m-net.UUCP (Bill Allen) writes: >Seems like everyone (commericial and PD) has a terminal program >on the market. But there seems to be a very few BBS packages around. This is natural if you consider that the number of modem users far out weighs the number of BBS'es. >Which is best BBS-PC!, Custom-BBS, etc? >PD Tag, CommLink, etc? "Best" is one of those words that means something different to everyone that reads/says it. To some it may mean price, multitasking, options, ect, ect... Ive tried TAG and found it to be too 'C-64' like for my personal tastes. I also looked at Custom-BBS awhile back and it just didn't seem finished. Knowing the solid reputation BBS-PC had, we decided to use it for BERKS AMIGA BBS. There are some minor areas that we wish were different, but like the above comments, they are personal things. We have been using BBS-PC (2 versions) for a little over 2 years now and have found it to be solid and reliable. The machine that runs BERKS AMIGA is a dedicated 3-Meg ram, 60-Meg hd (soon to be 100) machine. So we can not comment on its ability (or lack of) to multitask or generally co-exist with other software. BERKS AMIGA does have 4 sysops and 99% of any required maintaince can be done on-line by any of the sysops. As a result the machine is on the floor (under my computer desk) with no keyboard, mouse or monitor connected. Its set up to reboot and come online after a power break, and with the aid of tools like 'Cancel' there is rarely a need to ever have to do a thing localy. So I guess it all boils down to what 'best' means in your opion and what YOU want out of a BBS. In my book this means there is no single 'best' BBS program. Sneakers -- Dan "Sneakers" Schein {pyramid|rutgers|uunet}!cbmvax!heimat!sneakers Sneakers Computing 2455 McKinley Ave. Of course heimat is an Amiga. West Lawn, PA 19609 Doesn't everyone run UUCP & UseNet on an Amiga? Call: BERKS AMIGA BBS - 60+ Megs - 24 Hrs - 12/2400 Baud - 215/678-7691
blgardne@esunix.UUCP (Blaine Gardner) (02/15/89)
From article <2865@m2-net.UUCP>, by ba@m-net.UUCP (Bill Allen): > Seems like everyone (commericial and PD) has a terminal program > on the market. But there seems to be a very few BBS packages around. > Which is best BBS-PC!, Custom-BBS, etc? > PD Tag, CommLink, etc? Stay away from CustomBBS. They promise the world, and deliver Xmodem at 2400 baud. A friend bought it over a year ago on the strength of their ad in Amazing Computing which promised lots of neat stuff, including Xmodem, Ymodem, and Zmodem. These were advertized as features, but after shelling out $100 bucks he found out that CustomBBS responded to Ymodem or Zmodem transfer requests with a message that said "sorry, not implemented yet". Over a year later they still don't have Ymodem and Zmodem. CustomBBS is also limited to 2400 baud, so forget high speed modems if you buy it. Their "customer support" is a stellar example of how not to do things. The last response he got from Celestial Data Systems (authors of CustomBBS), when he asked when they were going to deliver the features that had been promised long ago, was the bald faced lie that they had never been promised as implemented features (it's there in black & white in an old issue of Amazing Computing), and the threat of a lawsuit if he didn't quit "harrasing" them. (Harrasment being questions posted to CDS's BBS every couple weeks asking when they were going to fulfill their promises.) A last report they'd backed off on the lawsuit threat, but who needs that kind of customer support? He's since switched to TAG BBS. TAG is shareware, and is much better than CustomBBS. It only supports Xmodem, but supports 9600 baud, and the author of TAG has called my friend's BBS twice to upload upgraded versions of TAG. That's far better support than he ever recieved from CDS. TAG is supposed to have Zmodem soon, and I'll bet it supports it before Custom does (and it's cheaper if they don't! :-). Fortunately for the Amiga, I've never seen any other product handled as badly as CustomBBS. BBS-PC seems to be almost universally used. It supports Zmodem, but only batch downloads, not batch uploads. It can be customized quite a bit from what I've seen, and is a pretty solid program. A very important consideration is sysop's utilities. Custom has none, period. BBS-PC has some, but I hear they could be better. After talking with a number of sysops, I'd buy the BBS with the best sysop utilities. They can make the difference between a chore and a pleasure in running a BBS. -- Blaine Gardner @ Evans & Sutherland 580 Arapeen Drive, SLC, Utah 84108 Here: utah-cs!esunix!blgardne {ucbvax,allegra,decvax}!decwrl!esunix!blgardne "Nobody will ever need more than 64K." "Nobody needs multitasking on a PC."
ddave@pnet02.cts.com (David Donley) (03/04/89)
CORRECTIONS: Custom-BBS supports Xmodem, Ymodem, Zmodem, and WXmodem. Custom-BBS can support any baud rate you can dish out. fL~f~~~~~~~~~~ It has gotten intuition support, has been completely re-programed by a different person (me). It has much faster text output, much faster message reading, much faster files reading. The upgrade is free. You'd better check your facts, buddy. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Call my BBS at (213) 372-4494 ----------------------------------------- Disclaimer: If it doesn't work, you did something wrong. -------------- ddave@pnet02.CTS.COM ddave@pnet.gryphon.COM killer!gryphon!pnet02!ddave
bmaurino@pnet02.cts.com (Brian Maurino) (03/06/89)
From what I've heard/seen from a friend of mine, Atredes is really good as far as Sysop utilities go. The software includes a program (to be run in the background, while the board is up) that gives complete control over users accounts, and another for the board itself which controls things like message bases and file libraries/directories, etc. This friend is currently running BBS-PC v4.20, though, until the new version of Atredes is ready hich supports Zmodem and compiled menus, among other improvements.. BBS-PC! must be, by far, the most commonly used BBS software for the Amiga though... []========================================================================[] || Name: Brian Maurino Phone: 818/241-9685 | // || || INET: bmaurino@pnet02.cts.com Home: Glendale, CA. | \X/\MIG/\ || || UUCP: {ames!elroy, <backbone>}!gryphon!pnet02!bmaurino | ~~~~~~~\\ || []========================================================================[]