Bulletin Board Systems Overview

Microcomputer Bulletin Board's beginnings trace back first as a dial-up meggase center, it was 1978 when Ward Christianson and Randy Suess in Chicago, Illinois, wrote CBBS (Community Bulletin Board System) an on-line message base for utilizing a common home microcomputer (Altair 8080 was the first computer) and modem.

Telecommunications changed dramatically when the old world-wide Military/Scientific Networks (MilNet and ArpaNet) were re-worked into what is now known as the Internet and opened to commercial and public access. As community access increased and the internet software improved many that had called BBSs have moved on to the global network. BBSs have given some the ability to be unnoticed or more comfortable among others, when you are on-line no one knows whether you are male, female, disabled, of a different race, or what beliefs you have unless you make them known.

If you are interested in the history of computer BBSs, visit http://www.jps.net/foxnhare/bbshist.html .

Today, the Internet is filled with what we call a BBS today, a forum, where people can exchange ideas on various topics. Such forums are powered by numerous software packages, and aGNeS is one of them.