Title: Caucus conferencing system
ArticleDate: 24 Dec 2018
Tags: software
Author: ratthing

I just got finished installing the venerable Caucus conferencing
system on my ratthing.com server.

Caucus was created way back in 1982 and has been used by many
groups as a way of hosting linear type forums capable of
very deep and meaningful conversations.  Created by my friend
Charles Roth, Caucus is essentially a huge CGI program using a
proprietary scripting language called the Caucus Markup Language
(CML) to present users with a web interface to the text-oriented
conversations.

Caucus is a throwback to a simpler web, which is one of the
reasons I love it so much.  It's also rock solid, stable, secure,
and very flexible.

I'm considering using my Caucus install to host my courses that I
teach at UTSA and TAMUSA.  Both of those universities use Blackboard,
which I despise, as do most of the students.

Caucus is open sourced and you can take a look at it at
http://caucus.com.

The virutal community Brainstorms (brainstormscommunity.org) is
one of the few remaining sites that still uses Caucus for
conversations.  If you'd like to join a very friendly and smart
community of folks, please check it out.