BBS The Documentary...pretty interesting

[alkemyst]

If you grew up in the 70's and 80's BBSing was pretty damn cool. I have been online since 1983 through Arpa/MILnet and BBSing.

2.5 hours of the documentary on Google Video
http://www.google.com/search?q="BBS: The Documentary"&tbs=vid:1

the Wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBS:_The_Documentary


Good time killer...the google video gets out of sync at spots which sucks. I have the complete set now I am watching though at home.

 

[meltdown75]

awesome, marked for home.

anyone else run one on a Commodore?

DS2 v2 FTW

9th Nebula was the name of mine

 

[bobdole369]

I BBS'd with a Commodore 64 and later a 128 for a loonnnng time. Well after I should have been using IBM-compats. 2400baud req the 1581 drive. I was the commie king.

Novaterm baby.

I finally broke down and got first an XT - built from parts obtained when computer shows where places to buy old parts, and not straight off the boat from china garbage, when I was like 14 (1993ish). I moved up to a 386dx-40 with a 14.4k modem by 96 though. By the time I got back into it (after a brief stint in the Navy) Pentiums were out and BBSing was dead. (1999)

 

[rivan]

I BBS'd with a Commodore 64 and later a 128 for a loonnnng time. Well after I should have been using IBM-compats. 2400baud req the 1581 drive. I was the commie king.

Novaterm baby.

I finally broke down and got first an XT - built from parts obtained when computer shows where places to buy old parts, and not straight off the boat from china garbage, when I was like 14 (1993ish). I moved up to a 386dx-40 with a 14.4k modem by 96 though. By the time I got back into it (after a brief stint in the Navy) Pentiums were out and BBSing was dead. (1999)

I first BBS'd on a C64, too. 300 baud, baby!

 

[TwiceOver]

Ran a 3 line BBS up until the early '90s. Fun times.

 

[Freejack2]

I remember BBS'ing on an Amiga 500 with it's blazing fast 2400 baud modem.
In I think 92 I bought a 9600 regular/14.4k proprietary modem and I thought it was speed heaven. Paid $300 for that modem back then, now $300 buys you a whole pc.

 

[Fingolfin269]

I first BBS'd on a C64, too. 300 baud, baby!

Same.

I forgot all about this doc. Must watch!

 

[Eli]

Cool, I'll have to check this out.

BTW, BBSes were alive and well up until the late 90s, when they started to decline fast.

There are still a few around here and there...

I was late to the game, started BBSing in late '94, quite possibly at their peak of popularity.

Anybody else use Telix, Telemate or PC Tools?

 

[Trey22]

Any good/popular BBS's still around?

 

[alkemyst]

Any good/popular BBS's still around?

There are still a few thousand in the US...not sure the info.

I'd love a documentary on the Altgiers/Tchh/Lutzifer days.

Unix chat and internet BBSes.

Coupled up with the phone bridge that the LOD/MOD war started on.

 

[bobdole369]

One in particular is the one which really started my Unix <3. Grex, is still in operation. They ran on old sun machines back then, which grokked with my only other knowledge of non-commodore and non-IBM software - the SUN stuff that ran the CAT scan machines my father repaired. Every so often I'd get to go hang out and play with the terminal while he repaired a unit in a hospital somewhere. When I found Grex I also found the Internet - which until then (early 90s ish) had been sort of a mystery to me, having only had BBS's and FIDO and the occasional system of nighttime synchronization with which to refer. A continuously connected high speed network was such a wild idea.

 

[bobdole369]

Anybody else use Telix, Telemate or PC Tools?

I used telix AND PC tools. In fact I found my friends PC Tools folder in his book case the other day with original floppies.

I wanna say Terminate was my comm program of choice, but I also remember Procomm Plus. I do remember that Y-Modem/G was the fastest transfer protocol, while z-modem would let you resume.

Telegard and Renegade and Wildcat for BBS hosting.

 

[ahenkel]

n/m

 

[Possessed Freak]

My friend and I ran a 2 node BBS for a couple of years off an old 286. Had 4 MFM hard drives on it.

 

[El Guaraguao]

What?

 

[leeland]

marked for home

 

[Iron Woode]

I still have my 300 baud modem and a fully functional C128 and floppy drive. I also have a BBS hosting program too.

I could setup a BBS right here in my apt.

Hmmm....

 

[BoberFett]

Anybody else use Telix, Telemate or PC Tools?

Telemate was my program of choice.

 

[Eli]

Telemate was my program of choice.

Telemate was awesome. I mostly used TFW(Telix for Windows) towards the end.

I actually still play on a BBS, though it has been mostly down for a while and I haven't been able to contact the owner. I would buy it from him in a heartbeat if he isn't going to keep it going.

Most of the BBSes I frequented were MajorBBS based. I didn't care for Wildcat type BBSes.

Man... Those were the days.

I've been playing a text based MMORPG called MajorMUD for about as long as I've been online, about 15 years now.

 

[alkemyst]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_BBS_software

Wildcat BBS is still supported and sold right out of here down in Florida. http://www.santronics.com/products/WINServer/index.php

 

[meltdown75]

hmm. it's quite annoying how out-of-sync google video's sound gets when i'm watching it.

anyhoo, excellent documentary... i enjoyed it so far

i was definitely one of the "highschool sysops"

 

[KMFJD]

C-net 12 for life

 

[yhelothar]

I remember back in the day I BBS'ed on fusetalk with my AMD Thunderbird and my basic 768kbps DSL. It was the shiet.

 

[QueBert]

Oblivion/2