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1993-07-01
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6KB
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135 lines
Electronic Tower of Babel
by Dave Bealer
Most newcomers to the BBS hobby are stunned by the bewildering
variety of BBS software packages they must contend with. Commands
and screens are different for each package, and sometimes for
different versions of the same package. This guide is intended
to provide some basic information about each major software package
in use on bulletin boards today.
Mailer software:
These packages are known as "front-end" mailers, because they are the
software that actually answers incoming calls. The mailer then
determines whether the call is a network mail call or a human caller
for the BBS. They do this by taking the pulse of the incoming
caller. Since other mailers are not alive, they have no pulse.
BinkleyTerminator
- Freeware that gets the job done brutally and efficiently. It will
always be back.
DoorBell V2.10 NC (Non-contributing)
- Users of this version aren't helping to make the payments on
the author's Porsche.
D'Plane!
- Mailer written by a midget (like a fantasy come true).
HostFink
- Snooping mailer used by the bosses of the CRIME network to
maintain absolute control over their members.
BBS Software:
This is the software that allows the caller to actually download
files, enter doors, download files, read messages, download files,
read bulletins (ha!), download files, enter messages or download
files.
BTBBS (Bigger Than a BreadBox System)
- A system that keeps you guessing.
The Kernel BBS
- Stiff, proper and formal. A thoroughly professional package.
PC Bored
- Not what you think: politically correct BBS software.
Mountain Goat
- A sure-footed and surprisingly agile system.
Parrot
- Polly wanna chat?
Kitchen Sink Net
- A new entry that comes with everything. No utilities needed.
Flashlight
- A truly portable, illuminating package. Batteries not included.
Asgard
- The final destination system for all true BBS warriors.
Sopwith Camel
- Recent versions have had some trouble with looping. But, all in
all, a sturdy system.
Minimal
- Functionality is the name of the game for this no-frills package.
ABCBBS
- Written in BASIC, one of the first Freeware BBS packages. This is
the "see Spot run" of BBS software packages.
CD-ROM Glom
- Avoids all pretense of offering features other than file
downloading. Works directly with most popular CD-ROM collections.
BBS Utilities:
Features are often added to BBS software packages in a haphazard
fashion when they are added at all. Enterprising sysop/programmers
often cook up their own utilities to add some desired function. Many
of these features are eventually added to the core BBS software, but
others are not.
BBS Utilities can be divided into two major categories: those written
to work with a specific type of BBS software, and those written to
work with almost any BBS package. The sheer volume and variety of
BBS utilities makes it impossible to adequately cover the field with
anything less than a book length work. Nevertheless, a brief sample
of the utilities available is presented here for your confusion.
Attack of the Alien Zombie Vampires
- A Game door. This particular game involves defending the planet
against some un-ET-like visitors from an extremely violent
galaxy. We're talking a galaxy that is more violent that
downtown Beirut, but not quite as violent as downtown
Washington, DC. Most of the game seems to consist of watching
the bad guys tear the heads off of humans in slow motion, all
vividly depicted in your choice of RIP or NAPLPS graphics.
Download Counters
- These utilities allow fad conscious users to only download those
files that are very popular. These utilities maintain the count
for each file and insert the count somewhere in the file
description. Some BBS packages already provide these counters
as a standard feature, but a few of those need extra help to
handle those 7 digit counts that are becoming commonplace on the
larger (2 or more line) boards.
Last National Time Bank
- Allows users to save access time not used today against the day
they want to spend six straight hours playing "Attack of the
Alien Zombie Vampires" or reading _War and Peace_ online.
User Record Twaddler
- This is a behind-the-scenes utility used by the sysop to perform
such useful feats as twitting every user whose last name begins
with "Q" on a daily basis. This product represents a whole class
of utilities which allow sysops to automatically slice, dice, and
make julienne fries out of user records, file areas, message
bases, individual files and messages on the system, that new
users' first born child, and other important system resources.
If you are a new BBS user and reading this article has left you more
confused than ever, fear not. Sysops are only slightly more aware of
how their systems work than you are. {RAH}
--------------
Dave Bealer is a thirty-something mainframe systems programmer who
works with CICS, MVS and all manner of nasty acronyms at one of the
largest heavy metal shops on the East Coast. He shares a waterfront
townhome in Pasadena, MD. with two cats who annoy him endlessly as he
writes and electronically publishes RAH. FidoNet> 1:261/1129
Internet: dbealer@access.digex.net