proposal for news usenet section

[Steve Manes]

In article <185 at turnkey.TCC.COM> sandy at turnkey.TCC.COM (Sanford 'Sandy' Zelkovitz) writes:
>
>I would like to propose the adoption of a new section under comp.unix called
>comp.unix.bbs. This section would specialize in news and related items about
>public access unix/xenix systems. Within this section would be software to
>run your own public access system, modifications for the above mentioned
>software, and announcements of public access systems. Further, I would also
>like to propose that this section be unmoderated since most system
>administrators that run such systems would be more than qualified to moderate
>their inputs.
 
I second the motion, with all due self-serving arm-waving (I just released
Magpie/*ix as user-supported software).  Usenet itself is about both
BBSing and Unix so I'm kind of surprised that such a newsgroup doesn't
already exist.

With the affordability of high-powered micros and the increasing emigration
from DOS to *ix I've seen (maybe I'm too close to it all) an explosion in
*ix BBSes here in NYC.  I think the mainstream sysop is learning that Unix
and Xenix are the ideal operating systems for running a BBS: they're
naturally multiuser and, since a BBS is a pretty low-demand process, you
can run a very active system (3 or 4 lines) with very little overhead.
Most importantly, you don't lose local access to your machine for other
jobs.  And, with vp/IX and DOSMerge, you can still have your cake.

>Firstly, my original contribution to this new section will be my source code
>for XBBS.
 
I'll upload my Magpie/Xenix386/286 packages (uport's on the way).  I'm
distributing Magpie in executable form only for a number of reasons
irrelevant to the discussion at hand.

For those who haven't used it (few outside NYC have), Magpie is a
tree-structured, archival, mostly command-driven BBS.  In terms of message
recovery, searching and message base control (basically, you "navigate" on
Magpie) nothing comes close.  The downside is that it's not an easy BBS to
learn.  Anyone interested in seeing Magpie (and downloading it), please
call the number in the .signature.

I think this could be a very interesting discussion group for a broad
demograph of Usenet users.

-- 
+-----
+ Steve Manes
+ decvax!philabs!cmcl2!hombre!magpie!manes       Magpie BBS: 212-420-0527
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