A thread about BBS'es by rdlmda | tildeverse BBJ

>0 rdlmda @ 2025/07/31 19:56

I was reading a thread by ~say @ 13:18 2025/07/27 discussing email clients when the topic suddenly shifts to BBS's over telnet / SSH. That brought back some OLD memories, my first online presence before even hearing about the internet was on a couple dial up BBS, more than 25 years ago. I remember using a DOS software called BANANACOM to connect by modem to some local dial up numbers, browse their forums, download shareware, play games like Legend of The Red dragon and Usurper.

Those memories have been lost to time and thinking about it gave me a huge sense of nostalgia. I know there are some BBS'es still out there that you can access thru telnet or SSH, but I only tried a couple times more tha 10 years ago.

Any of you have old BBS memories too? Or use them currently?

>1 ant @ 2025/08/02 22:08

I have only /recent/ memories about BBSes, having come to them looong after their decline.  My progres with communication media (to avoid saying /social/, which has bad connotation now) was in reverse chronological order (is regress a better word?):

1. Web forums,
2. Usenet, whereof I learned from a defunct Usenet bridge 
   in a forum,
3. FidoNet. I don't remember how I discovered it, but was
   while seeking help with LaTeX, which I was using for my
   diploma at the university. I was accessing FidoNet via
   a Usenet gateway, not long gone.  But there is Tommi's:
    .

BBSe feels very different from Usenet and FidoNet, because the user interface is determine by the server-side software, rather than by your client, making each BBS unique.