bulletin board system

communications, application (BBS, bboard /bee'bord/; after a

physical piece of board on which people can pin messages

written on paper for general consumption - a "physical

bboard"). A computer and associated software which typically

provides an electronic message database where people can log

in and leave messages. Messages are typically split into

topic groups similar to the newsgroups on Usenet (which

is like a distributed BBS). Any user may submit or read any

message in these public areas.

Apart from public message areas, a BBS may provide archives of

files, personal electronic mail and any other services or

activities of interest to the bulletin board's system operator

(the "sysop"). Thousands of local BBSes are in operation

throughout the world, typically run by amateurs for fun out of

their homes on MS-DOS boxes with a single modem line each.

Although BBSes have traditionally been the domain of

hobbyists, an increasing number of BBSes are connected

directly to the Internet, and many BBSes are currently

operated by government, educational, and research

institutions. Fans of Usenet and Internet or the big

commercial time-sharing bboards such as CompuServe, CIX

and GEnie tend to consider local BBSes the low-rent district

of the hacker culture, but they serve a valuable function by

knitting together lots of hackers and users in the

personal-micro world who would otherwise be unable to

exchange code at all.

Use of this term for a Usenet newsgroup generally marks one

either as a newbie fresh in from the BBS world or as a real

old-timer predating Usenet.

(1998-03-24)