[0;1;40;37mBulletin board system
[0;35mFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[37mA bulletin board system, or BBS, is a computer system running software that
allows users to connect and log into the system using a terminal program. Once
logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading
software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging messages with
other users, either through email, public message boards, and sometimes via
direct chatting. Many BBSes also offer on-line games, in which users can
compete with each other, and BBSes with multiple phone lines often provide
chat rooms, allowing users to interact with each other.

Originally BBSes were accessed only over a phone line using a modem, but by
the early 1990s some BBSes allowed access via a Telnet, packet switched
network, or packet radio connection.

Ward Christensen coined the term "bulletin board system" as a reference to the
traditional cork-and-pin bulletin board often found in entrances of
supermarkets, schools, libraries or other public areas where people can post
messages, advertisements, or community news. By "computerizing" this method of
communications, the name of the first BBS system was born: CBBS - Computerized
Bulletin Board System. During their heyday from the late 1970s to the mid-
1990s most BBSes were run as a hobby free of charge by the system operator (or
"sysop"), while other BBSes charged their users a subscription fee for access,
or were operated by a business as a means of supporting their customers.
Bulletin board systems were in many ways a precursor to the modern form of the
World Wide Web, social network services and other aspects of the Internet.

As the use of the Internet became more widespread in the mid to late 1990s,
traditional BBSes rapidly faded in popularity. Today, Internet forums occupy
much of the same social and technological space as BBSes did, and the term BBS
is often used to refer to any online forum or message board. Although BBSing
survives only as a niche hobby in most parts of the world, it is still an
extremely popular form of communication for Taiwanese youth (see PTT Bulletin
Board System) and in China.[1] Most BBSes are now accessible over Telnet and
typically offer free email accounts, FTP services, IRC and all of the
protocols commonly used on the Internet. Some offer access through packet
switched networks, or packet radio connections.

Early BBSes were often a local phenomenon (in countries with free local phone
calls), as one had to dial into a BBS with a phone line and would have to pay
additional long-distance calling charges for a BBS out of the local calling
area. Thus, many users of a given BBS usually lived in the same area, and
activities such as BBS meets or get togethers were common, where users of the
board would gather at a local restaurant, the sysop's home or similar venue
