Amiga.org
Amiga computer related discussion => General chat about Amiga topics => Topic started by: punchy71 on July 05, 2014, 01:20:06 AM
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Greetings,
What are a few of the most common, popular and widely used BBS and terminal programs for the Amiga as used back in the day and also modern version used today as well?
For the old programs, I'm mostly interested in the version used in the United States, however, the newer programs can be of a more global nature in origin. I'm interested in comparing programs to see what, if any, improvements have been made over the years.
Thanks
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C-Net dominated my area of the U.S. during the 90's. There was another...can't remember right now.
Added link http://www.cnetbbs.net/
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There were loads of terminal programs. I still use Baud Bandit 2.0 a bit. Term was another, but it was huge.....
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Was tons of BBS programs for the Amiga. The main commercial ones were:
DLG BB/OS, CNet, Excelsior! BBS, Xenolink, Zeus BBS. With the exception of Xenolink, most can still be found to download in a free or cheap form. Was tons of shareware ones that got a lot of use as well, like AmiExpress, Max's, TransAmiga, DayDream. Personally, I never liked any of the shareware ones in the least, and the commercial offerings were always the most popular on this side of the pond.
I've run E!, Zeus, DLG, and CNet quite extensively in recent years and all still work very well for running multi-line telnet BBS's. I use a heavily customized setup of Zeus these days for my BBS on my SAM, but should have DLG converted over to OS4 one of these days and plan on running it with MM/GMS.
Source and binaries are available for DLG via Aminet. CNet, E!, Zeus info can be found via a Google search. As far as comms programs go, I was always a fan of Terminus, but there's a wide selection via Aminet.
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JRComm was always my fav. Start up a Zmodem download at 2400bps. Woo Hoo!
And Andy's Attic BBS.
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Zeus BBS - http://www.zeusdev.co.uk/
CNet BBS - http://www.cnetbbs.net/
Excelsior! BBS - http://www.excelsiorbbs.com/
DLG BB/OS - Execs:
http://aminet.net/comm/dlg/DLG_Disk1.lha
http://aminet.net/comm/dlg/DLG_Disk2.lha
http://aminet.net/comm/dlg/DLG_Disk3.lha
http://aminet.net/comm/dlg/DLG_Disk4.lha
http://aminet.net/comm/dlg/DLG_Disk5.lha
DLG BB/OS - Source Code (C):
http://aminet.net/comm/dlg/DLG_Source.zip
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In my area Prometheus BBS was very popular and used it also for my box. You can get the full version for free at amiga future.
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Term, NComm and Terminus are well known and highly capable terminal programs. Terminus is a major update to the also well known JR-Comm. All of them are (still) highly recommended if you need terminal programs. I still use them on a regular basis when I need to connect to hardware which likes to 'talk' 9600 8n1... ;-)
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I wish I could remember the name of the BBS software I set up for the CCAUG (Corpus Christi Amiga Users Group) back in like 1990 or 1991 or so. It let you embed IFF images for menus and image posting if you were using a companion terminal program to access it. Slow as hell at what was, at the time, fast modem speeds. A lot of us suffered through it just to say we had something "better" than ANSI graphics or at least more unique.
A local programmer who had developed the most amazing Commodore C64/C128 BBS software, which the name also escapes me other than his handle, The Dragonmaster (*), was supposed to do up his magic for an Amiga board, and I was anxiously awaiting that to swap our Amiga board over to, but I'm pretty sure I went away to school before that happened. His board and companion terminal program were fast by comparison because his used sprites client side rather than transferring over loads of bitmap data.
Musicterm, that was his terminal software, because he was a musician and his BBS software let you embed music code into messages that would be interpreted client side. Genius guy. I always wanted to see what he'd come up with once he got his teeth sunk into the Amiga.
edit:(*) found it, Darrel Spice Jr., Spiceware and the C64/128 software was indeed MusicTerm.
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Our local Amiga BBS (Wishbringer BBS in Edgewater, Maryland)ran C-Net it's entire life.
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I think on make a bbs for share files out of this new %&$#?@!%&$#?@!%&$#?@!%&$#?@! of clouds, but this time with a raspberry pi, but im totally lost.
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I miss the BBS. If you haven't seen it, and you were into "the scene" during the '80s, you owe it to yourself to watch the independent documentary series, BBS: The Documentary (http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/). Better yet, buy it because it was obviously a labor of love for the filmmaker:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A85RJMhB8_s
...it's the kind of thing that if you weren't there, you likely won't get it or understand why any of it or any of these people are interesting at all. But if you were there, it's one of the most satisfying films you'll ever see about real people that doesn't involve mass murder or people behaving badly.
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Ahh, BBS', those were the days, 300 baud, back in '83. I should add setting up an Amiga BBS on one of my spare partitions on my VM server (using one of my Amiga Forever versions) to my list of projects.
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AmiExpress and DayDream were popular on later days and on telnet age, at least on scene boards. And probably the newest BBS software which gained use was F.A.M.E. (Final Amiga Mailbox Engine). It has been released as freeware nowadays.
As for terminal programs.. I made my first tries with JR-Comm, but I started the real use with Term and later moved to NComm (which is freeware nowadays too). On telnet age I've been using DCTelnet.
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On telnet age I've been using DCTelnet.
What is "telnet age"?
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What is "telnet age"?
Post internet ubiquity there was a proliferation of BBS that were accessible through telnet instead of dialing in. Still the classic text menu formats just faster (unless you used dial-up to get to your ISP). I'm sure there's still some around.
I kinda like the idea of that more than clicky-gui message boards like this one but web-based just took over.