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From: [email protected] (UnixBBS FAQ Maintainer)
Newsgroups: alt.bbs.unixbbs,alt.bbs,comp.bbs.misc,comp.answers,alt.answers,news.answers
Subject: alt.bbs.unixbbs Frequently Asked Questions
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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
[email protected].

    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: [email protected]
Subject: 1. About this FAQ
Date: Fri Nov 1 07:21:45 PDT 1996

Thanks go to Gregory G. "Wolfe" Woodbury ([email protected])
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 [email protected]' 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.dsnet.com/pub/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: [email protected] (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: [email protected] (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: [email protected] (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: [email protected]
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: [email protected]
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
       bbs                             ftp.cdrom.com:/pub/FreeBSD/incoming
       CIX/CoSy
       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 ([email protected])        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
       tbbs                            ftp.boerde.de:/pub/systems/linux/bbs-sy
stems/tbbs
       TurBoard
       vubbs                           sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/system/BBS/v
ubbs
       Yapp                            gatekeeper.dec.com:/.8/misc/yapp_bbs2.2
tar.Z

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

From: [email protected]
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)

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


From: [email protected] (Karl Denninger)
Date: Wed Nov 16 22:01:54 PST 1994
Subject: AKCS
Ftp-Site: ftp.mcs.net:/AKCS

AKCS    Version 7       commercial product      source available
                                               Usenet compatibility

   contact:    [email protected]
               Karl Denninger
               1300 W. Belmont
               Chicago, IL  60657
               +1 312 248 8649 (voice)

   demo:       up to 14.4Kbps
               +1 312 248 0900

"AKCS is a threaded BBS/conferencing package with extraordinary versatility,
ease of use, performance and support."   -- Karl Denninger

AKCS can be had in source at ftp.mcs.com. License terms and costs
are contained in the archive and on the server.

Fully configurable, threaded messages, termcap/terminfo type support,
private mail, file attachments, upload/download, full screen editor
(custom), external programs, security system.  AKCS newsgroups
available to licensees.

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

From: [email protected]
Date: Fri May 17 23:48:26 PDT 1996
Subject: AMBBS

AMBBS           Freeware                                        C source includ
ed

     contact:  James Tavares
               [email protected]

        demo:  telnet:oscar.loa.com

   platforms:  Linux. plans to also support BSD and OSF/1.

AmeriSoft is a down to earth, easy to use BBS software for the Linux operating
system. If you would like to try out AmBBS (at no charge, ambbs is free anyways
)
telnet to oscar.loa.com and follow onscreen directions. It supports time limits
,
file areas message bases, and internet email. (More Features that are not liste
d
also.)

Copying-policy: EMail-Ware. Send email to [email protected] saying you have the
software, and your 'registered'. (GNU General Copying Policy really.. But, I
would _really_ like an email. If no one emails me, I'll stop working on it ;>)

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

From: [email protected]
Date: Fri Oct 21 21:00:34 PST 1994
Subject: AWBBS   Artificial Worlds BBS
Last_update: 94/10/21

AWBBS           Artificial Worlds BBS                   status unknown


     contact:  Steven Doyle
               [email protected]

   platforms:  Linux

This BBS had alot of potential but the author is very unreliable.
After paying $50 for the honor of becoming a beta site I found that
the package wasn't even near complete and was very buggy. I got the
author to fix a couple of the problems but it kept taking longer and
longer to get fixes and he kept coming up with excuses for not working
on it. There are fixes that were promised within a couple days that,
more than two months later, still haven't been seen. I've given up on
him and would advise others to stear clear of this one.

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

From: [email protected]
Date: Mon, 4 Sep 1995 21:45:12 -0800 (PST)
Subject: BBLinux
Ftp-Site: sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/system/BBS/bbs/BBLinux-0.1.tar.gz

BBLinux         BBLinux                         source included

   contact:    Andreas Schiffler
               1230 11th St. E
               Saskatoon, Sask
               S7H 0G3
               Canada
               [email protected]
               [email protected]

BBLinux isn't really a BBS. It is a C program and a few scripts that
allow you to add time limit enforcement to a shell or menu login.
Combined with the BBS-Util package and a menu script, or even Lynx,
you could probably come up with a pretty decent BBS in little time.

Excerpts from the README:

The following collection of files and text will help converting a Linux
system into a BBS in (almost) no time. Most of it a quick hack but should
serve as a good starting point. Any help or improvements are welcome ...
I will try to collect them, incorporate them and make them available in the
same package.

Files
-----

README         - this file
listcheck.c    - kick-out-program
timecheck      - shows time left
limitcheck     - shows exceeded quotas
newuser        - creates an account
xxx.sample     - sample file from The Gnu BBS

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

From: [email protected]
Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 22:11:36 -0800 (PDT)
Subject: BBS-Util
Ftp-Site: sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/system/BBS/Dial-Up_Util_1.1.tar.gz>

BBS-Util        BBS Utilities                   source included
Dial-Up Utils

   contact:    Adam McKee
               [email protected]

From a recent email from Adam:

       BBS-Util no longer exists (as such).  I have renamed the package to
       'Dial-Up Utils' (because the package is not specifically oriented
       towards BBS administration, but towards the administration of dial-ups
       in general).  Dial-Up Utils 1.1 contains several features not found in
       BBS-Util 1.0 such as "Smart-Boot[tm]" (booting users only when all
       lines are busy, and optionally booting at most *one* user per minute
       in order to maximize line utilization).  You can find the package at:

       sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/BBS/Dial-Up_Utils_1.1.tar.gz

Adam wrote this package to enhance and add to the functions provided by
the BBLinux package. It adds the following functions:

timeleft:       Tells users how much time they have left
daysleft:       Tells users how many days they have left before their account
               expires
user_add:       Creates passwd file entry AND record in the BBS user database.
user_addrec:    Create record in user database.
user_del:       Removes passwd file entry AND record in the BBS user database.
user_delrec:    delete record in user database.
user_data:      Shows BBS user record in a readable format.
user_kick:      Give a user the boot (i.e. kill all of their processes).
user_login:     determine if user is allowed to login now.
user_purge:     Remove accounts which have not been used in a certain # of days

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