jmg@sftig.UUCP (J.McGhee) (09/26/85)
I need information on bulletin board system (BBS) software. I've been off the net for a period of months and the need for this software just recently came up so I haven't been following information on the net on this subject except for the last few articles. I'm sure this subject has been thoroughly aired on the nets before. Does anyone have an up-to-date comparison of the various alternatives comparing features and price? It would also be helpful if people responding could provide addresses of the software suppliers involved. I believe there is a book available on BBS systems, but I have no idea of the title or author of this book. At present I'm working with an IBM PC and an S-100 system with a Z-80 under CP/M. I can also use programs written in C. Joe McGhee sftig!jmg
wilkes@HOPKINS-EECS-BRAVO.ARPA (Richard P. Wilkes) (10/02/85)
I researched the subject pretty thoroughly and decided an TCOMM, a little known commercial package available for $149 from Larry Jordan Associates in Gaithersburg, MD. It is similar to RBBS but is written in C, has a good manual, and is a joy from the SYSOP side (and important point!). If you'd like to look at the system in operation, we are running one to discuss the new version of WordPerfect (4.1) at 301/889-7895, 300/1200/2400. -r
klr@hadron.UUCP (Kurt L. Reisler) (10/03/85)
In article <1850@brl-tgr.ARPA> wilkes@HOPKINS-EECS-BRAVO.ARPA (Richard P. Wilkes) writes: > >I researched the subject pretty thoroughly and decided an TCOMM, a little >known commercial package available for $149 from Larry Jordan Associates >in Gaithersburg, MD. It is similar to RBBS but is written in C, has a good >manual, and is a joy from the SYSOP side (and important point!). > >If you'd like to look at the system in operation, we are running one to >discuss the new version of WordPerfect (4.1) at 301/889-7895, 300/1200/2400. > >-r Ah, but FIDO/FIDONET is FREE. The user interface is standard accross all 500+ FIDOs world-wide, provides E-mail capability and the SYSOPS form a support network (complete with weekly newletter, distributed via FIDONET) that can not be beat. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= _ The World's First / \ Whose dog is that? BBS Network /|oo \ I don't know, but the disk is yours. * FidoNet * (_| /_) _`@/_ \ _ | | \ \\ | (*) | \ )) ______ |__U__| / \// / Fido \ _//|| _\ / (________) (_/(_|(____/ (jm) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
faunt@hplabsd.UUCP (Doug Faunt) (10/08/85)
> In article <1850@brl-tgr.ARPA> wilkes@HOPKINS-EECS-BRAVO.ARPA (Richard P. Wilkes) writes: > > > Ah, but FIDO/FIDONET is FREE. The user interface is standard accross all And that user interface loses. FIDO is great, except for that, but that's a VERY important issue for many people.
Ralph.Hyre@C.CS.CMU.EDU (Ralph W. Hyre Jr.) (10/10/85)
>> Ah, but FIDO/FIDONET is FREE. The user interface is standard accross all >And that user interface loses. FIDO is great, except for that, but that's >a VERY important issue for many people One way to do the user interface would be to let the user's computer present the interface to him and let the BBS simply serve as a database server. That would solve the problem of having to learn a new interface when you call a new system. I've called many BBS's and found that many of the interfaces are fairly similar, but the key mappings and number of levels the user must go through to access a given message base are almost always different. If someone could develop a 'server' interface (with data compression and error correction) BBS systems would be even more popular than they are today. There is already some work going on in this area, I'll try to answer any questions people have about the system I know about. - Ralph -------
Faunt%hplabs.csnet@CSNET-RELAY.ARPA (Doug) (10/11/85)
Ah, close to heaven. Maybe Tom Jennings could be convinced to split FIDO up that way. -------
faunt@hplabsd.UUCP (Doug Faunt) (10/15/85)
> >> Ah, but FIDO/FIDONET is FREE. The user interface is standard accross all > > >And that user interface loses. FIDO is great, except for that, but that's > >a VERY important issue for many people > > One way to do the user interface would be to let the user's computer present > the interface to him and let the BBS simply serve as a database server. I am told by the sysop of the FIDO in the front room of my house that this is being done, with FIDO, not by Tom Jennings. -- ....!hplabs!faunt faunt%hplabs@csnet-relay.ARPA HP is not responsible for anything I say here. In fact, what I say here may have been generated by a noisy telephone line.
mojo@kepler.UUCP (Morris Jones) (10/16/85)
Ralph likes dial-up systems that require smart terminals -- move the user interface to the users PC. Yeah, but ... Not much makes me angrier than a system that I can't call from my TeleVideo 925 terminal, or my CP/M system running MEX, or a Model 100 from a bus station, or the UNIX system from work, or a TI Silent Terminal from my girlfriend's lab, or any of the hundreds of other dumb systems that are around. PLEASE don't build systems that require (a) special software and (b) only run on an IBM or an Apple or a Commodore. If you're intent on building such a beast, at least make the protocols public domain, and offer some sample source code to talk to it. Maybe I can suffer without my TeleVideo 925. <sigh> -- Mojo ... Morris Jones, MicroPro Product Development {ptsfa,hplabs,glacier,lll-crg}!well!micropro!kepler!mojo
Ralph.Hyre@C.CS.CMU.EDU (Ralph W. Hyre Jr.) (10/16/85)
Ralph likes dial-up systems that require smart terminals -- move the user interface to the users PC. Yeah, but ... Not much makes me angrier than a system that I can't call from my TeleVideo 925 terminal, or my CP/M system running MEX, or a Model 100 from a bus... I'm sorry, I should have clearly stated that this would not be the ONLY interface, just that it would be provided for those who had enough compute power to run a user interface on their home PC. I had envisioned providing a special 'account' (say with the userid 'server' at all installations) which would start up the server and then go through the user authentication process. Something like this coule be done today, except that most BBS's don't have error correction, which would be useful if you couldn't actually see what queries were being passed back and forth. The protocol would have to be public domain in order to allow for the development of inplementations for as many computers as possible. - Ralph -------