Original author(s) | Nick Naimo |
---|---|
Initial release | c. 1980 |
Operating system | |
Platform | Apple II |
Type | Bulletin board system |
License | Proprietary |
Net-Works II is a bulletin board system software package written by Nick Naimo for the Apple II family of microcomputers and originally published in the early 1980s. For a time it was the most popular bulletin board system software for the Apple II, out of the dozen or so released for the platform in the 1980s. [1] : 149
Nick Naimo (born c. 1945 in New York City [2] ) developed Net-Works II independently in the early 1980s as a member of Computer Station, a BBS provider based in Missouri. [3] : 61 [4] : 87 He split amicably from Computer Station to work full-time for Advanced Data Systems, [3] : 61 a start-up software developer in St. Louis, Missouri, who developed exclusively for the Apple II. [5] [6] : 6 Version 2.2 of Net-Works was released by the company in June 1982. [3] : 56 While working at Advanced Data Systems, Naimo also served as city councilman for the suburb of Maplewood, Missouri. Naimo quit Advanced Data Systems sometime in 1982 to work for the IT department of a printing press in St. Louis before relocating in Newburgh, Indiana, [2] to work for Better Business Computers & Systems, a computer store and software publisher based in nearby Vincennes. Net-Works II was one of several applications Naimo wrote for Advanced Data Systems; [7] others included a accounting program for small businesses and an inventory program for retailers. [5]
A year after its introduction, Advanced Data Systems transferred the publishing rights for Net-Works II to High Technology Software Products of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. [8] [9] High Technology Software continued selling Net-Works II into the late 1980s. [10]
Features of Net-Works II included: [3] [11] [12]
Net-Works II received a rave review in InfoWorld , with John Prather writing that the "combination of the personal computer and software such as Net-Works II may well be responsible for a phenomenon that will be the 80s equivalent of the CB radio of the 70s". [3] : 55 He gave top marks to the software's performance, error handling, and ease of use, calling it "an extremely easy-to-use program, both from the standpoint of the sysop and of system users". [3] : 56 Author Dean Gengle in his book The Netweaver's Sourcebook (1984) called Net-Works II "the best general-purpose bulletin board system" for the Apple II family. [13] : 274 The software package by the mid-1980s was a massive success, with the 1986 edition of Stewart Brand's Whole Earth Software Catalog calling it "the most popular of nearly a dozen Apple II bulletin board programs". [1] In July 1984, roughly sixty BBSes were running Net-Works II, according to Softalk . [12] : 97 Writer Matt Yuen wrote that the quality of the Net-Works-based BBSes varied greatly. [12] : 98
The gambling personality Jerry L. Patterson opened a BBS running Net-Works II out of South Jersey in March 1984. [14]
A bulletin board system (BBS), also called computer bulletin board service (CBBS), is a computer server running software that allows users to connect to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, the user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging messages with other users through public message boards and sometimes via direct chatting. In the early 1980s, message networks such as FidoNet were developed to provide services such as NetMail, which is similar to internet-based email.
FidoNet is a worldwide computer network that is used for communication between bulletin board systems (BBSes). It uses a store-and-forward system to exchange private (email) and public (forum) messages between the BBSes in the network, as well as other files and protocols in some cases.
A sysop is an administrator of a multi-user computer system, such as a bulletin board system (BBS) or an online service virtual community. The phrase may also be used to refer to administrators of other Internet-based network services. Sysops typically do not earn money, but donate their activity to the community.
An online service provider (OSP) can, for example, be an Internet service provider, an email provider, a news provider (press), an entertainment provider, a search engine, an e-commerce site, an online banking site, a health site, an official government site, social media, a wiki, or a Usenet newsgroup.
In a bulletin board system (BBS), a door is an interface between the BBS software and an external application. The term is also used to refer to the external application, a computer program that runs outside of the main bulletin board program. Sometimes called external programs, doors are the most common way to add games, utilities, and other extensions to BBSes. Because BBSes typically depended on the telephone system, BBSes and door programs tended to be local in nature, unlike modern Internet games and applications.
The Bread Board System (TBBS) is a multiline MS-DOS based commercial bulletin board system software package written in 1983 by Philip L. Becker. He originally created the software as the result of a poker game with friends that were praising the BBS software created by Ward Christensen. Becker said he could do better and founded eSoft, Inc. in 1984 based on the strength of TBBS sales.
WWIV was a popular brand of bulletin board system software from the late 1980s through the mid-1990s. The modifiable source code allowed a sysop to customize the main BBS program for their particular needs and aesthetics. WWIV also allowed tens of thousands of BBSes to link together, forming a worldwide proprietary computer network, the WWIVnet, similar to FidoNet.
PCBoard (PCB) was a bulletin board system (BBS) application first introduced for DOS in 1983 by Clark Development Company. Clark Development was founded by Fred Clark. PCBoard was one of the first commercial BBS packages for DOS systems, and was considered one of the "high end" packages during the rapid expansion of BBS systems in the early 1990s. Like many BBS companies, the rise of the Internet starting around 1994 led to serious downturns in fortunes, and Clark Development went bankrupt in 1997. Most PCB sales were of two-line licenses; additional line licenses were also available.
Citadel is the name of a bulletin board system (BBS) computer program, and of the genre of programs it inspired. Citadels were notable for their room-based structure and relatively heavy emphasis on messages and conversation as opposed to gaming and files. The first Citadel came online in 1980 with a single 300 baud modem; eventually many versions of the software, both clones and those descended from the original code base, became popular among BBS callers and sysops, particularly in areas such as the Pacific Northwest, Northern California and Upper Midwest of the United States, where development of the software was ongoing. Citadel BBSes were most popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but when the Internet became more accessible for online communication, Citadels began to decline. However, some versions of the software, from small community BBSes to large systems supporting thousands of simultaneous users, are still in use today. Citadel development has always been collaborative with a strong push to keep the source code in the public domain. This makes Citadel one of the oldest surviving FOSS projects.
FirstClass is a client–server groupware, email, online conferencing, voice and fax services, and bulletin-board system for Windows, macOS, and Linux. FirstClass's primary markets are the higher-education and K-12 education sectors, including four of the top ten largest school districts in the United States.
Celerity BBS was a descendant of the freely distributed source of TCS BBS 1.43, and ultimately nearly completely rewritten.
ASCII Express is a telecommunications program, written for the Apple II series of computers. At a time when the use of the bulletin board system (BBS), or even telecommunications in general wasn't a common use of the Apple II, ASCII Express was the choice among telecommunication users throughout much of the 1980s.
There are several notable bulletin board systems (BBS) for the TI-99/4A home computer.
Blue Board is a bulletin board system software created by Martin Sikes (1968–2007) for the Commodore 64 in the 1980s in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and sold worldwide. Due to optimized code and memory allocation, Blue Board boasted very fast performance for a BBS on that hardware platform. In fact, Blue Board was faster than most if not all BBSs run on 8-bit computers. This speed combined with its use of the ASCII character set and XModem file transfer protocol rather than PETSCII and the Commodore-specific Punter protocol sometimes led users to believe that they were calling a BBS running on a much larger and faster computer.
GBBS is a bulletin board system (BBS) program for the Apple II. Its first series, named GBBS, was written in Applesoft and used by boards such as Demon Roach Underground in Lubbock, Texas Its successor, GBBS Pro, was ACOS-based. GBBS-Pro was used by boards like ProBOARD II in Paso Robles, California, Scotland Yard GBBS/AE Pro in Cincinnati, Ohio, No Earthly Connection in Blue Ridge, Georgia, and Apple Elite II in Riverside, California.
ZOOiD BBS was a Toronto area Bulletin board system in 1986 - 1993 that served a creative community. The sysop was David H. Mason, assisted by several others. Among its members was Rasmus Lerdorf.
Hermes Bulletin Board Software (BBS) by Will Price was first released in 1988 as one of the first bulletin board system applications available for the Macintosh computer.
Plover-NET, often misspelled Plovernet, was a popular bulletin board system in the early 1980s. Hosted in New York state and originally owned and operated by a teenage hacker who called himself Quasi-Moto, whom was a member of the short lived yet famed Fargo 4A phreak group. The popular bulletin board system attracted a large group of hackers, telephone phreaks, engineers, computer programmers, and other technophiles, at one point reaching over 600 users until LDX, a long distance phone company, began blocking all calls to its number (516-935-2481).
The Keyboard Company, Inc., was an American electronics company based in Garden Grove, California. It was contracted by Apple Computer to produce the keyboards of their microcomputers in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The company also produced a number of peripherals separately for Apple's systems. Apple acquired the company in 1982 and renamed it the Apple Accessory Products Division (APD).