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                           GENERAL ARTICLES   
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                         What is a Bulletin Board?   
                         Matt Mc_Carthy, 1:396/45.17   
                         (originally posted in FNEWSL51)   
      
      
   Way back in my military days, there were "Bulletin Boards" all over   
   most military bases.   
      
   There was a "Bulletin Board" in front of the Mess Hall which usually   
   listed the meals and serving times for the current day.   
      
   There was a "Bulletin Board" in front of the Headquarters Building   
   which usually listed the 'Orders of the Day', the 'Uniform of the   
   Day', which units were training on which areas of the base on   
   certain days, as well as listings of coming Parades, Ceremonies, and   
   hollidays.   
      
   There was a "Bulletin Board" in front of the Chapel which listed   
   Services and times for each of many denominations.   
      
   There was a "Bulletin Board" in front of the Exchange which listed   
   the hours of operation, specific uniform and dress codes required   
   for admittance, and dozens to hundreds of personal cards for   
   everything from 'Free Kittens' to 'baby sitting wanted', to cars and   
   other stuff 'for sale'.   
      
   The "Bulletin Board" in front of Headquarters, as well as the   
   "Bulletin Board" at the Mess Hall were 'Read Only' Boards in as much   
   as they were covered with glass doors that were kept locked.   
      
   The "Bulletin Board" in front of the Exchange and the Chapel were   
   'Read/Write' Boards, in as much as they were uncovered, and were   
   open for anyone to post personal notes and messages on.   
      
   In the late 1970's when computers began to catch on, several   
   programmers wrote electronic "Bulletin Board" programs which exactly   
   duplicated the functionality of the old manual "Bulletin Boards".   
      
   I built my own computer and started running a local club's BBS   
   program on it for the club.  All of the functions _exactly_   
   duplicated the functionality of the manual "Bulletin Boards".  I was   
   amazed that electronics could do that.   
      
   By 1983 I began hearing of something called 'Fido' which was   
   supposed to be a bunch of connected systems, or something like that.   
   The concept of 'network' still didn't exist.  I went to a friend's   
   and viewed a "FidoNet" system in operation.  Needless to say I was   
   less than enthused.  It was NOT a BBS at all, merely a way to send   
   'private messages' to other friends who were also part of the same   
   system.  Since I didn't know anyone who was in that system, the idea   
   of sending 'private messages' to an unknown person simply had no   
   appeal whatever.   
   During 1984 I heard that this "Fido" thing had begun 'Conferences'   
   which now closely duplicated normal "Bulletin Boards", and again I   
   had to take a look at it.  _NOW_ Fido began to look like a real   
   "Bulletin Board" system; some conferences were 'closed', read only,   
   some were 'open', read-write.   
      
   That's _my_ definition of a BBS.   
      
      
      
      
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