Contents
1. Some information on BBSNet
2. Some information on IRC
3. Some information on IRC Networks
1. Some Info on BBSNet
The original members of BBSnet came from another IRC Network called SysopNet. SysopNet was formed in 1996 by a number of BBS Sysops and Developers, and headed by Scott Drake of Inovative Solutions Online. Some of our members included Krombose, Catlin, Scanner, BlueBird, Mprowler, pcMike, Eightball, Emaus (Z), Dev, Manning, Astark (Top), Tiny, Grapes, Solitude, GSValore, Longshot, Kubla, BSchollnick, QCS_Alan, Levithan, HouseMouse, and Diamond45. There were many others that dropped in and chatted with us on all things BBS for several years.SysopNet ran into some problems in late 1998, at a time when the Administrator (Scanner) was going though some health problems and was unable to keep the network under control. A large conflict rose between some of the members regarding software piracy, that esculated to the point that a few members became very bitter at each other. A user called "homerodent" (nick slightly changed to protect his identity) made some very hurtful comments to one of the members that was against BBS piracy, Catlin. His comments actually made her shut down her web site (known as the the Wishing Well's Sysops Corner) and she left SysopNet and the BBS scene forever. She is dearly missed.
One of the other trouble makers, a young kid named MikeH (nick not changed to protect his identity) wanted to get everyone to abandon SysopNet, and switch over to a new irc network which was ran by BlackBird (formeraly known as BlueBird). BlackBirds net became known as BlackNet. Almost all the SysopNet IRCd's switched over, and it soon afterwards SysopNet became a desolate wasteland. MikeH continued to stalk SysopNet's #BBS channel, so he could pvtmsg any newbs and redirect them to BlackNet. Unfortunatly BlackNet also ran into issues after a few months, when MikeH wanted members to switch over to another IRC network he hosted himself. MikeH was an abusive and arrogant teen which some of the older members could not tolorate. BlackNet had far too many rules on what we could and could not discuss, and anyone that idled in #BBS for more then an hour would be kicked out.
Two of the older BlackNet members left BlackNet in early 2000 and formed BBSnet, pcMike (from pcmicro) and EightBall (from GexOnline). The idea was to have a #BBS channel where we could talk openly about all things BBS without the immature behavior that we experienced on the other networks. No one is ever kicked for being idle. However, we had no tolorance for Script Kiddies with their cOlOrFuL mIxEx cAsE tYpE and their 1337 / AOL speak. In September 2000, BlackBird lost his internet connection and took down BlackNet. The remaining members of BlackNet moved to irc.lordlegacy.org (ran by Z), or to MikeH's IRC Server (We never went there, and don't even know the name of it).
Lordlegecy.org and the BBSnet folk were still good friends, and after a few months we decided to merge our networks together and allow others to link up as well. Soon irc.bbses.org linked as well, run by SirTwist (author of Nexus BBS). We had other BBS and door developers that hung out with us, including the the authors of Synchronet, and EleBBS, and active coders such as Deuce (TradeWars2, and Synchronet hacker), Manning (Mannsoft/R&M Software), Vagabond (VBsoft), Z (Lord developer), plash (Demonic Productions), Dragon (Ambroshia), and GSValore. Several other Sysops hung out as well, including ACTION, Andrew, Alexie, Azrael, Bo, Bobo, Chas, Cyan, Coolio, DarkRaven, Dev, Dink, Eli, Fusion, Grapes, Invisi, Jazzman, Kram, KJClayton, Levathan, Longshot, Maskreet, Merlin, MrProper, Nozy, Nullvalue, pcMike, TCBO1, Total, Thorny, Thorizine, Tinas, Pointman, Pony, QCS-Alan, Runderwo, Rushfan, Solitude, Snoopy, Swinn, Schizo, Tempest, Uber, Virus_II, Venom, Vipah, Warp4, Winston, Xbit, and Zoob, and even some non sysops like GameMaster and Hoova. Lots of other Sysops dropped in and visited from time to time.
In late 2002, there was another split of members when Eli and Swinn left BBSnet to start their own IRC network called Oddnet. Several of the younger 'Pokemon players' such as GameMaster and his friends went with them, and a few members now hang out on both #BBS channels. Intrestingly MikeH joined them as well. In 2003, pcMike from BBSnet was visiting the Oddnet folks and noticed they were running a pirated version of ConferenceRoom IRC server as their hub. The problem with running a pirated ConferenceRoom is that anyone can use the /oper command by entering "/oper <serial number>" and there are only a couple pirated serial numbers on the net. pcMike had a little fun by /oper'ing himself, and linked Oddnet and BBSnet together! The two Networks were only linked for a few hours before Eli and Swinn noticed. Eli was very upset, and accused pcMike of 'Hacking' their server. For years Eli was very upset about it. Swinn on the otherhand appreciated PCM's sense of humor, and pcMike told Swinn about the backdoor so that Swinn could prevent anyone else from 'Hacking' them again. :)In 2003, Cyan wrote an IRC Server for Synchronet BBS, and he also wrote a bridge interface that allows BBSnet and Synchronet to share common channels, such as #BBS and #Synchronet. Now anyone running a Synchronet BBS can have their IRC server link into those channels on BBSnet. :)
In early 2007, Z from Lordlegacy left BBSnet, due to a loss of intrest in the BBS scene. Several months later Eightball returned after vanishing for nearly 2 years.
2. Some Info on IRC
IRC or Internet Relay Chat was originally written by Jarkko Oikarinen in the year 1988. Since it's birth in Finland, IRC is in use in over sixty countries worldwide. IRC was originally designed as a replacement for a program called "Talk". "What is IRC?" you may ask. IRC is a multi-user chat system that connects 'servers' around the world by means of a 'cable' of sorts. These servers form a gigantic web that allows you to connect to a given server. You can then join 'chat rooms' or 'channels' that don't really exist. They are virtual meeting halls of sorts. This allows anyone with an internet connection to participate in live chat. During IRC's relativly short history it has quickly shown it's superiority over other chat systems like those owned by America On Line. This is because of several reasons. Firstly, IRC is free. There is no charge to use IRC and there are no prerequisets to join.Internet Relay Chat was propelled into the spotlight during the gulf war in 1991. During this period information was relayed from around the world. Family's could communicate from thousands of miles away. IRC was a meeting place and an information clearinghouse for those who needed information that was both up to date and reliable.
The BBSnet IRC Network believes strongly in free speech and freedom. As will be stated below, IRC is supported by individuals who gain no profit from their support of IRC. Herefore, many IRC networks including BBSnet do not allow the trading of so called 'kiddy-porn.'
It is important to remember that Internet Relay Chat is free and is supported not by a conglomerate company but by a small group of generous Sysops (System Opeators), Admins (Server Administrators) and IRCops (IRC Operators). None of these people are paid for their support.
3. Information on the IRC Networks
The largest IRC network is called EFnet (Eris Free Net), which has over fifty-thousand users and eight thousand active channels. Unfortunatly it has many troubling downsides, such as being one of the slowest networks. There is often a lot of lag time because of overwhelming users, bad server routing and connections and also hacking.Undernet, though smaller, has servers in the United States, Canada, Australia and in Europe. The Undernet attempted to do away with the high consumption of bandwidth and channel chaos that was created by a large number of users running bots (programs that perform a certain task). These bots were usually intended to protect channels from takeovers or were used to takeover channels themselves. The Undernet offered the CService-a program that allowed users with W or X type bots to register channels and protect them from troublemakers. The Undernet hit major stumbling blocks in the areas of customer services and care, but the one area of service that the Undernet excelled at was in innovations. The Undernet allowed for new commands to be installed in the IRCd and new channel modes to be used. It also allowed for greater security for channels and channel modes aswell as users.
The summer of the year 1994 dawned a new age for the users of Internet Relay Chat. During this time the DALnet IRC Network was formed using a modified version of the Undernet IRCd. This IRCd was edited cheifly by Alexei "Lefler" Kosut. Some of the innovations included: global WallOps (IRCop messages that can be seen by users who are +w (/mode NickName +w)), longer nicknames, Q:Lined nicknames (nicknames that cannot be used i.e. ChanServ, IRCop, NickServ, etc.), global K:Lines (ban of one person or an entire domain from a server or the entire network), IRCop only communications: GlobOps, +H mode showing that an IRCop is a HelpOp also and many, many, many more features. DALnet's unique services were originally coded in early 1995 by Brian "Morpher" Smith and allow users to own nicknames, channels, send memos and do much, much more. These services are superior to the X and W bots because they are omnipotent and invisably reside in every channel. Because of this channel bots are not needed. ChanServ's automatic channel registration eliminates the lengthy processes of Undernet while still being extremely easy to use and also very secure.
BBSnet is based on the DALnet IRC technology, using a simular set of services to protect channels and nicks (ChanServ and NickServ) as well as memos (MemoServ) . You can get help from any of these services while on line by typing "/msg NickServ help" or "/msg Chanserv help" for example.
Like DALnet, BBSNet also provides users with the ability to 'own' one's NickName. The /msg nickserv register PASSWORD command is all that is needed to own your own nickname an ensure that it is always there for you when you come online Note: PASSWORD is your own password that you MUST remember or write down for future use). BBSnet users can also send Post-It type 'memos' to eachother if both user's nicknames are registered. More info on services is available on our services page.
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