 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
WWIVnet was a bulletin board system (BBS) network for WWIV-based BBSes. It was created by Wayne Bell on December 1, 1987. [1] The system was similar to FidoNet in purpose, but used a very different routing mechanism that was more automated and distributed.
WWIVnet consisted of several participating BBSes, each referenced by a unique number called a node number. Originally, WWIVnet nodes were numbered by area code. The format was TXYZZ, where X and Y were the first and last digits of the area code, and ZZ was a number that ranged from 00 to 49 in area codes with a middle digit of 0, or a number between 50 and 99 in area codes with a middle digit of 1. The T portion of the node number was only used if a particular area code ran out of node numbers in their assigned range and needed more, the T would become 1. Thus, node 5802 would be a node in the 508 area code, and node 12263 would be a node in a very busy 212 area code. This numbering system worked well until the telephone systems began using area codes that used numbers other than 1 or 0 as the middle digit. When this occurred, WWIVnet realized it had to change its numbering system so a group based system was adopted, where node numbers would change to an XZZZ system. In this system, X would be the group number, and ZZZ would be the system number under that group.
The network's administration was set up where every area code had an Area Coordinator (AC) which was responsible for maintaining information about the nodes in their area code. The AC reported to the Group Coordinator (GC), which was responsible for updating the node lists for the area codes under them. The GC reported to the Network Coordinator (NC), who was responsible for sending out node list updates. The NC was the person who was ultimately in charge of WWIVnet.
The network structure, however, had everything to do with administration but nothing to do with the way traffic was transmitted. Simply put the only way to control the flow of data was to reduce the number of nodes on the network the system connected to. If two nodes were connected and it was the closest possible route for other nodes the traffic would follow that route. So if a node wanted to stop through traffic then they would connect to a single node for all traffic. There was no other form of traffic control on the network. Connection weight although added to the network data record was never implemented. If a specific route went down, the network would automatically try to reroute the packets in the next fastest route it could calculate. This method was an early version of peer-to-peer file sharing and may be the first instance of this type of file sharing.[ citation needed ] Note that while FidoNet was created before WWIVnet and transmitted files between systems, it did not use a peer-to-peer system because the traffic was routed using a set hierarchical model and servers (hubs/feeds) controlled all traffic. Wayne Bell referred to the networking method used by WWIVnet as a grid, similar to mesh networking, and often said he based it on Usenet.
A bulletin board system (BBS), also called a computer bulletin board service (CBBS), was a computer server running software that allowed users to connect to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, the user could 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.
Peer-to-peer (P2P) computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads between peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the network, forming a peer-to-peer network of nodes. In addition, a personal area network (PAN) is also in nature a type of decentralized peer-to-peer network typically between two devices.
Phreaking is a slang term coined to describe the activity of a culture of people who study, experiment with, or explore telecommunication systems, such as equipment and systems connected to public telephone networks. The term phreak is a sensational spelling of the word freak with the ph- from phone, and may also refer to the use of various audio frequencies to manipulate a phone system. Phreak, phreaker, or phone phreak are names used for and by individuals who participate in phreaking.
The computer art scene, or simply artscene, is the community interested and active in the creation of computer-based artwork.
Routing in the PSTN is the process of forwarding telephone calls between the constituent telephone networks that comprise the public switched telephone network (PSTN).
Thomas Daniel Jennings is a Los Angeles-based artist and computer programmer, known for his work that led to FidoNet, and for his work at Phoenix Software on MS-DOS integration and interoperability.
WWIV was a brand of bulletin board system software popular 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.
BBS: The Documentary is a 3-disc, 8-episode documentary about the subculture born from the creation of the bulletin board system (BBS) filmed by computer historian Jason Scott of textfiles.com.
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.
Canada Remote Systems, or simply CRS, was a major commercial bulletin board system located in the Toronto area. It was one of the earliest commercial systems outside the "big iron" companies such as CompuServe or The Source, and survived into the 1990s before being overwhelmed by the Internet and closing down.
RelayNet was an e-mail exchange network used by PCBoard bulletin board systems (BBS's). By 1990, RelayNet comprised more than 200 bulletin board systems. BBS's on RelayNet communicated via a communications protocol called RIME.
Pagan Occult Distribution System Network (PODSnet) was a neopagan/occult computer network of Pagan Sysops and Sysops carrying Pagan/Magickal/Occult oriented echoes operating on an international basis, with FIDO Nodes in Australia, Canada, Germany, the U.K., and across the USA. PODSnet grew rapidly, and at its height, was the largest privately distributed network of Pagans, Occultists, and other people of an esoteric bent on this planet.
Celerity BBS was a descendant of the freely distributed source of TCS BBS 1.43, and ultimately nearly completely rewritten.
Pastry is an overlay network and routing network for the implementation of a distributed hash table (DHT) similar to Chord. The key–value pairs are stored in a redundant peer-to-peer network of connected Internet hosts. The protocol is bootstrapped by supplying it with the IP address of a peer already in the network and from then on via the routing table which is dynamically built and repaired. It is claimed that because of its redundant and decentralized nature there is no single point of failure and any single node can leave the network at any time without warning and with little or no chance of data loss. The protocol is also capable of using a routing metric supplied by an outside program, such as ping or traceroute, to determine the best routes to store in its routing table.
RemoteAccess is a DOS Bulletin Board System (BBS) software package written by Andrew Milner and published by his company Wantree Development in Australia. RemoteAccess was written in Turbo Pascal with some Assembly Language routines. RemoteAccess began in 1989 as a clone of QuickBBS by Adam Hudson. It was released under the shareware concept in 1990 and became popular in North America, Europe, UK, South Africa, and the South Pacific. Initially the main advantage over QuickBBS was its ability to run multiple nodes under Microsoft Windows, Quarterdeck's DESQview and OS/2. RA could also operate over a network or even a combination of network and multitasking operating systems to provide multiple "nodes per station" capabilities.
textfiles.com is a website dedicated to preserving the digital documents that contain the history of the bulletin board system (BBS) world and various subcultures, and thus providing "a glimpse into the history of writers and artists bound by the 128 characters that the American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) allowed them". The site categorizes and stores thousands of text files, primarily from the 1980s, but also contains some older files and some that were created well into the 1990s. A broad range of topics is presented, including anarchy, art, carding, computers, drugs, ezines, freemasonry, computer games, hacking, phreaking, politics, computer piracy, sex, and UFOs. The site was created and is run by Jason Scott.
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.
FrontDoor was one of the most popular mailers in the FidoNet-compatible networks in the 1990s, acting as the physical representation of the written network node connection and mail handling standards. It was an MS-DOS-based product written by Joaquim Homrighausen. The FrontDoor system contained a Mailer, an Editor, a Terminal, a serial port device driver and configuration utilities. FrontDoor was first released in 1986.
