A bulletin board system or BBS is a computer system running software that allows users to dial into the system over a phone line and, using a terminal program, perform functions such as downloading software and data, uploading data, playing games, reading news, and exchanging messages with other users. During their heyday (from the late 1980s to the mid 1990s), many BBSes were run as a hobby free of charge by the "SysOp" (system operator), while other BBSes charged their users a subscription fee for access.

In current usage (primarily in Japan and China) the term BBS may be used to refer to any online forum or message board. See Internet forum.

Bulletin board systems were in many ways a precursor to the modern form of the World Wide Web and other aspects of the Internet. BBSes were a highly social phenomenon and were used for meeting people and having discussions in message boards as well as for publishing articles, downloading software, playing games and many more things using a single application. The BBS was also a local phenomenon, as one had to dial into a BBS with a phone line and would have to pay long distance charges for a BBS out of the local area. Thus, many users of a BBS lived in the same area and it was common for activities such as BBS Meets, where everyone from the same board would gather and meet face to face.

The world's largest BBS was MBnet (1994–2002), located in Finland. MBnet ran PCBoard and had the most licensed nodes of any BBS in the world, 1000. The world's largest free BBS was The Gaming Center, at 40 licensed nodes.

History

The first BBS, CBBS, went online on February 16, 1978 in Chicago, Illinois.

With the original 110 and 300 baud modems of the early 1980s, BBSes were painfully slow, but speed became acceptable with the introduction of 1200 bit/s modems in and around 1985, and this led to a substantial increase in popularity. The lack of autodial and autoanswer capabilities in many 110-300 bit/s modems was also an obstacle to their use in unattended BBS installations.

Most of the information was presented using ordinary text or ANSI art, though some offered graphics, particularly after the rise in popularity of the GIF image format. Such use of graphics taxed available bandwidth, which in turn propelled demand for faster modems. Towards the early 1990s, the BBS industry became so popular that it spawned two monthly magazines, Boardwatch and BBS Magazine, which devoted extensive coverage of the software and technology innovations and people behind them, and listings to u.s. and worldwide BBSs. In addition, a major monthly magazine, "Computer Shopper", carried a list of BBSes along with a brief abstract of each of their offerings.

Before commercial Internet access became common, networks of BBSes provided regional and international e-mail and message bases. Some even provided gateways by which members could send/receive e-mail to/from the Internet. Elaborate schemes allowed users to download binary files, search gopherspace, and interact with distant programs, all using plaintext e-mail. Most BBS networks were not linked in realtime. Instead, each would dial up the next in line, and/or a regional hub, at preset intervals to exchange files and messages. The largest BBS network was Fidonet, which is still used, to some extent, outside of the United States.

With the rise of the world wide web function of the Internet in the middle/late 1990s BBSes rapidly declined in popularity in the west. In China and Taiwan, however, BBSes have gained a considerable increase in popularity since 2000. Several largest BBS sites once had tens of thousands of online users at any time, such as SMTH, YTHT, etc. However, those BBSes located in China have been limited on access or closed since 2004.

Several BBS systems connected directly to the Internet, removing the necessity of direct dial-up and consequently attracting a more geographically diverse user base. Most of these systems ran on derivations of a free code package called Citadel. A few are still in existence (as of 2004, including the likely largest ISCABBS).

Some general purpose bulletin board systems had special levels of access that were given to those who paid extra money or knew the sysop personally. BBSs that charged money usually had something special to offer their users such as door games, a large user base, or pornography. While many pay BBSes had pornography, some of the largest BBSs charged users merely for discussion boards. Pay BBSes such as The WELL and Echo NYC (both of which exist to this day), and MindVox (which folded in 1996) were admired for their tightly-knit communities and quality discussion forums. However some "free" BBSes maintained close knit communities and some even had annual or bi-annual events where users would travel great distances to see meet face-to-face their on-line friends. Even today ISCABBS still has bi-annual ISCANIC and annual CampNic events.

Some BBSs, called elite boards, were exclusively used for distributing pirated software. These BBSes often had multiple modems and phone lines, allowing several users to upload and download files at once. Most elite BBSes used some form of new user verification, where new users would have to apply for membership and attempt to prove that they weren't a law enforcement officer or a lamer. The largest elite boards accepted users by invitation only.

Today, BBSing survives as a niche hobby for those who enjoy running BBSes and those users who remember BBSing as an enjoyable pastime. Many BBSes are now accessible through telnet and offer free email accounts. Some BBSes are Web-enabled and have a Web-based user interface, allowing people who have never used a BBS before to use one easily via their favorite web browser. For those even more nostalgic for the true BBS experience, one can use DOSBox and its modem emulation via TCP/IP to dial up Telnet BBS's with 1980's and 1990's era modem software, like Telix, Qmodem and Procomm Plus.

To some extent, BBS's survive today within the realm of packet radio. Amateur radio operators can use radios and packet modems to "dial" into on-the-air BBS's much like dialing into telephone-based boards.

The website textfiles.com serves as a collection point of historical data involving the history of the BBS. The owner of this site produced BBS: The Documentary a program on DVD that includes interviews with well known people from the BBS era.

Shareware

Much of the "Shareware" movement was started via sharing software through BBSes. A notable example was Phil Katz's PKARC (and later PKZIP, using the same algorithm that WinZip now uses); also Wolfenstein 3D and Doom from id Software and many Apogee games.

See also: ANSI escape code, BBS door, Fido and Fidonet, Internet forum, ISCABBS, and Ward Christensen

Features

A typical BBS has:

• A computer
• One or more modems
• One or more phone lines
• A BBS software package
• A sysop - system operator

• Some BBSes allow telnet access over the Internet using a telnet server and a virtual FOSSIL driver:
  • COM/IP (Windows)
  • GameSrv/NetFOSS (Windows)
  • NetModem (Windows)
  • SIO/VMODEM (OS/2)

The BBS software usually provides:

• Login screen
• Welcome screen
• One or more message bases
• File download area
• File upload area (sometimes)
• Online games (usually single player or only a single active player at a given time)
• A doorway to third-party online games
• Usage auditing capabilities
• Multi-user chat (more common in later multi-line or telnettable BBSes)
• Internet email (more common in later Internet-connected BBSes)

A BBS will often have mail (or mailer) software to interface with a network, such as Fidonet. Commonly used mailers include (or have included):

• BinkleyTerm (widely ported to different Operating Systems)
• Seadog (very old!)
• D'Bridge
• FrontDoor
• Intermail
• McMail
• Sinister Offline Mail Reader
• Xenia
• Portal of Power
• Qmail
• Rnet
• MarkMail
• SLMR
• CamMail
• T-Mail

See also

BBSes

• Arbornet/M-Net, oldest Unix-based BBS
• Demon Roach Underground, a popular hacker BBS and former home of CULT OF THE DEAD COW
• The Gaming Center, a large Florida-based free BBS
• GROGGS, a popular BBS in the University of Cambridge
• ISCABBS, the largest worldwide BBS located at the University of Iowa.
• KaraNet, the biggest BBS in Austria
• Monochrome, a popular BBS, originally based at City University, London
• ProLink Information Network, started April 1991 and founding member of ChatLink August 1991
• TRN, a popular BBS in Phoenix, Arizona
• Rusty n Edie's BBS, raided by the FBI in 1993 and sued by Playboy in 1997
• UNaXcess, a popular BBS in the University of Manchester

Related terms

• Internet forum
• Online chat
• Chat
• Chat room
• IRC

BBS programs

• See: List of BBS software

Other

• See: BBS: The Documentary

External links

• BBSMates
• The BBS Organization File Archives
• BBS Corner
• The Telnet BBS Guide
• fidonet.org
• Doorgames.org
• BBS Wiki at WikiCities
• The Santa Barbara BBS Nostalgia Page
• The TEXTFILES.COM Historical BBS List
• How to call a BBS present day
• 80s BBS Yahoo Groupde:Mailbox (Computer)