Posted-By: auto-faq 3.3 beta (Perl 5.001)
Archive-name: unix-faq/bbs-software/faq
Posting-Frequency: posted on the 1st and 15th of each month
X-Content-Currency: This FAQ changes regularly.  When a saved or printed copy
   is over 6 months old, please obtain a new one.  Instructions in the FAQ
   indicate where to find it via NetNews, FTP, World Wide Web, and finger.


This is the UNIX(TM) compatible BBS Frequently Asked Questions Answers.
It is posted on the 1st and 15th of each month.

Please email all comments, corrections, and additions to this FAQ to
unixbbs@news.dsnet.com.

     TABLE OF CONTENTS
     
     1. About this FAQ
     2. What is a BBS?
     3. What is UNIX?
     4. What is Usenet?
     5. What BBS Software is covered?
     6. BBS software that we need more info on
     7. BBS software that isn't covered
     8 - N. The packages
     
     
     

From: unixbbs@dsnet.com
Subject: 1. About this FAQ
Date: Sat May 27 23:03:17 PDT 1995

Thanks go to Gregory G. "Wolfe" Woodbury (news@wolves.durham.nc.us)
for the excellent job he did creating and maintaining this FAQ for
as long as he did.

                                        Duane Davis

The FAQ is in Message Digest Format, so that various newsreaders can
automagically decompose it into its component parts.

The latest version of this FAQ can be obtained from several places.
It is posted on the 1st and 15th of each month to the alt.bbs.unixbbs,
alt.bbs, alt.answers and news.answers newsgroups. It is also available
via ftp from rtfm.mit.edu:/pub/usenet-by-group/alt.bbs.unixbbs, and
via the World Wide Web from http://www.dsnet.com/unixbbsfaq. You can
also 'finger unixbbs@news.dsnet.com' at last resort.

Most of the packages listed in this FAQ are now available at a single
FTP site. All unix bbs authors are encouraged to upload new updates
as they are available.

ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/du/duaned/unixbbs

These listings are provided for informational purposes only.  I am not
making recommendations (con or pro) here, simply telling what I know
about each package that I have information for.  You are encouraged to
evaluate each package for yourself to see if it matches your needs.

to locate the packages listed in the articles below, search for the
short name listed in the Subject: headers.

Also listed are the FTP sites and filenames for known or suspected
copies of the packages.

This FAQ is the product of a lot of research and correspondence with
lots of folks.  Here is a partial listing of the folks who were kind
enough to send information and corrections to me for use in this FAQ.
If I've left someone out, write to me :-)

Lars Aronsson(!), Bob Baskerville(!), Bill Brown, Lisa Carlson,
Tom Dell(!), Karl Denninger(!), Aydin Edguer(*), Ken Germann,
Avrum Goodblat, Judy Hallman, David Holland, Bob Kirkpatrick(!),
Hilbert Levitz, Michael Lyons, Stephen Manes(!), Bob Peterson,
Chris Petrilli, Riccardo Pizzi(!), Todd Radel, Gene Saunders,
Greg Seminara, Jay Snyder(!), Chris Stanford, Bill Fenner(#),
Jim Tremblay, Alex Wetmore(!), Sanford Zelkovitz(!), Nick Zimmerman(!)
Thomas Mechtersheimer, Bill Schwartz, Brian Dear(!), Bill Blue(!),
Jared Quinn(!)

(!)     Authors of packages providing information
(*)     Special Thanks to Aydin Edguer
(#)     Bill is keeper of the Waffle FAQ

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: news@wolves.durham.nc.us (G. Wolfe Woodbury)
Subject: 2. What is a BBS?
Date: Wed Aug 11 19:29:48 EDT 1993

BBS is an acronym for Bulletin Board System.  This is software that allows
a computer to be used as a message posting and reading system that has
some similarities to a bulletin board you might find in an office
or in a grocery store.  Users of the system can post messages and read
messages posted by others.  Many computer BBSes also allow the users to
send private messages to other users, and to "download" files that are
stored on the computer.  Some BBSes also allow users to run other
programs (such as games) in addition to the BBS program.

Some BBS programs allow the individual BBS systems to share messages by
using a communications medium to exchange the messages via a standard
protocol which the BBSes understand.  Such systems are "networked"
BBSes.  There are several BBS Networks around the world. Among them are
FIDOnet, WWIVnet, RIMEnet, VNET and Usenet.

Some of the commercial computer service providers (e.g. CompuServe,
Prodigy, America OnLine, etc.) provide BBS systems in addition to their
regular services.

Care should be taken to distinguish between the "public" messages of a
BBS system and "private" Electronic Mail message services that may be
provided by a computer service.

------------------------------

From: news@wolves.durham.nc.us (G. Wolfe Woodbury)
Subject: 3. What is UNIX?
Date: Wed Aug 11 19:30:11 EDT 1993

UNIX is currently a trademark of X/Open Ltd (*). UNIX was developed
at AT&T Bell Laboratories in the late 1960's and has become the most
portable operating system ever developed.  This portability means that
UNIX (or Unix-like) operating systems can run on nearly any computer
that has been developed since 1975.  Unix-like operating systems run on
computers from the Intel 8086 through the gamut to computers like the
Cray X-MP and the Connection Machine 5.  Programs written for one
Unix-like system can be moved (fairly easily, if written with portability
in mind) from one Unix system to another with some minor editing and
re-compiling of the source code on the new machine.

The history of Unix-like operating systems is quite complicated, and
there are several versions of Unix-like operating systems in existence.
The two major divisions of these are AT&T UNIX systems, and BSD Unix
systems.  There are lots of others, but these two versions cover most of
the territory in terms of portability issues.  Truly portable Unix
software packages can examine the software environment and automatically
configure themselves when the user compiles the package.

Unix operating systems are flexible and portable for many reasons, and a
detailed examination of that issue is not relevant here.  For more
information see the Unix-FAQ posted regularly to comp.unix.questions.

(*) Just who *is* the actual holder of the TradeMark on UNIX is
something that can change with bewildering rapidity.  At various times
it has been the "offical" property of: AT&T, Bell Laboratories, Western
Electric and other groups.  These names, of course, are also registered
TradeMarks of their respective owners. :-)

------------------------------

From: news@wolves.durham.nc.us (G. Wolfe Woodbury)
Date: Tue Dec 14 00:54:16 EST 1993
Subject: 4. What is Usenet?

Usenet is a network message sharing system that exchanges messages in a
standard format.  Messages are arranged into topical categories called
newsgroups.  Newsgroups can be thought of as analogous to the channels
in broadcast television.  The messages contain plain text information
(which may include encoded binary information) and a series of headers
that define who the message came from, when the message was posted,
where it was posted, where it has passed, and other administrative
information.

Usenet/Netnews is a dual entity.  On one level is it merely the messages
being passed from machine to machine using known protocols. On another
level is it the people (the readers and posters of the messages) who
interact with the computers.  Care should be taken to not get too
confused when people talk about "Usenet is...." because of this duality.
Usenet should not be mistaken for any underlying transport mechanisms that
provide other services in addition to the transfer of the messages.
That is, Usenet is not UUCP, Usenet is not a particular network or set
of networks (e.g. the Internet).

One should also be careful to not confuse Usenet with any particular
group of users.  That is, Usenet is *not* an american network, Usenet is
not a network of computer scientists, and Usenet is not a network of
system administrators.  It is a complete cross-section of all the sorts
of folks who use computers either for work or play.  English *is* the
common language of Usenet, but there is no guarantee that the users
*know* english particularly well. :-)

By one popular definition, Usenet is the newsgroups in the major
categories of comp, misc, news, rec, sci, soc, and talk.  There are a
number of other major "hierarchies" which may be worldwide (alt, bionet,
vmsnet),  regional (usa, can, triangle), or even organizational
(duke, ut, sun).  These message hierarchies use the NetNews protocols,
and are colloquially called "Usenet", but purists can (and do) argue for
days about the distinctions.  I tend to use the term "NetNews" to refer
to the whole suite of programs and all the newsgroups in conglomeration.

There is not enough room here to fully discuss the ins and outs of
NetNews.  There are several NetNews groups that are dedicated to
discussion of NetNews itself.  (news.* and alt.culture.usenet are
examples, the `*' refers to any newsgroup that begins its name with a
string of "news.")

There are additional regular FAQ (frequently asked questions) postings
in the newsgroup "news.announce.newusers" and the newsgroup "news.answers"
that provide much more information about this topic.

------------------------------

From: news@wolves.durham.nc.us
Date: Sat Jan 15 19:26:36 EST 1994
Subject: 5. What software is covered here?

The following packages are covered in this FAQ.

     AKCS
     AMbbs
     AWBBS
     BBLinux
     BBS-Util
     Cafe
     Caucus
     Citadel/UX
     Citux
     Commune/IX
     Dial-Up Utils
     drealm
     EBBS (Eagle's Nest)
     GDXBBS
     ix/MBox
     Magpie
     MajorBBS
     MBS
     Monochrome
     QueBBS
     pbbs (Pink BBS)
     PBBS (Pirate BBS)
     TEAMate
     TERM
     UBBS (Ultimate)
     Unidel
     UniBoard (UnixBBS)
     VA-PEN
     Waffle
     WhatBBS (a perl BBS)
     XBBS
     yabbs
     
     
     ------------------------------

From: unixbbs@news.dsnet.com
date: Sun Feb 04 11:18:36 PST 1996
Subject: 6. BBS software that we need more info on

Known, but not covered (yet?):
        (Ftp site info will be added as I run across them. If you happen to
         check any of these out please drop me a message with more info)


        1bbs                            sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/system/BBS/b
bs
        EIES                            ftp.njit.edu:/pub/eies
        Freeport
        ft_bbs                          sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/system/BBS/b
bs
        ft_bbs                          ftp.cdrom.com:/pub/FreeBSD/incoming
        ISCABBS
        LIME                            sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/linux/system/BBS/b
bs
        Mordor (ritz@mordor.com)        ftp.cdrom.com:/pub/FreeBSD/incoming
        nvbbs                           http://tmok.res.wpi.edu
        No-Name BBS                     sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/system/BBS/b
bs
        Participate
        PicoSpan
        Qtach2
        RapidBBS                        tubbs.paradigm.co.za:/pub/rapid
        Rocat                           sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/system/BBS/b
bs
        SBBS (Sigma BBS)
        Sentience
        TurBoard
        vubbs                           sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/system/BBS/v
ubbs
        Yapp                            gatekeeper.dec.com:/.8/misc/yapp_bbs2.2
.tar.Z

------------------------------

From: news@wolves.durham.nc.us
Date: Sat Jan 15 19:26:36 EST 1994
Subject: 7. What software isn't covered here?

Minimal/Nil/No Coverage (by request)

        bbs_bk (no longer supported per Bob Kirkpatrick, author)
        brand-X (no longer supported per Bob Kirkpatrick, author)
        Chris Petrelli's groupware project (by request)
        Coconet (no coverage at request of Coconut Computing)
        PNN (No coverage at request of Tom True)
        Pnet (no coverage at request of B.Blue)
        UnAccess (request by Brandon Alberry, the author)
        Z/Max Xchange (out of business, no longer available)

------------------------------