Subj : Exploring BBSes
To   : JOE MACKEY
From : August Abolins
Date : Sat Oct 19 2019 19:24:00

Hello JOE, and ZOOHOUSE!

** 19.10.19 - 06:31, JOE MACKEY wrote to ZOOHOUSE:

 JM>  I found Memories in the early '90s and been here since.

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 JM>  With the introduction of Win 95 BBS' dropped off, replaced by the WWW.
 JM>  I know at one time there were newsgroups with some ISP's but don't know
 JM>if they are still around or not.  Been a long time since I last accessed
 JM>one. (A newsgroup was like a vast BBS and the newsgroups were like the
 JM>boards, like this one).

Today, Fidonet (and most of its echos) can be accessible via the newsgroup  
feature in most email programs.  No additional software required. No  
special manual steps to log into a BBS and utilize a separate set of  
programs to process "offline" packets. This can be very convenient.

I believe the fido<->newsgroup capabilty surfaced around 2003.

For a list of the systems that provide newsgroup-style feeds (network news  
transport protocol = nntp) see the Fidonet newsletter.


 JM>   We one had over a dozen BBS' here but they starting falling by the
 JM>wayside around 2000.  Now there are none locally.

Take a look at https://www.telnetbbsguide.com/ for a pretty good listing  
of BBSes accepting "calls" over the internet.  It's really quite an  
impressive list of systems all over the world using a variety of different  
BBS software.  You can visit a BBS and basically have the same experience  
as if dialing up a BBS just like in the old days.


 JM>   Many people today have no idea what a BBS is/was, etc.  Not their
 JM>fault, it was just fading out or gone when they started.

So true.  The glitz and immediacy that most www-based sites or apps  
provide are quite unlike how a typical BBS operates or looks like.

BBSing is a special subculture and is kind of like a black art these days.  
I fear much of the "youth" are likely to ignore it and pass it by.



  ../|ug

--- OpenXP 5.0.40
 * Origin: /|ug's Point, Ont. CANADA (2:221/1.58)

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