What is a BBS for? What could I use it for?⌗

Reading and contributing to public messages about any topic you care for; Commonly a BBS will be connected to one or more FTN networks, that is, networks that push out echomail (and often files) to any system attached to them, in a similar way to the old usenet message and binaries groups used to be. For me personally, I like to read messages in the various message bases, sometimes I will reply or create a topic of my own, but for the most part I read more than I say.

Gaming; Games are of course a thing that almost all BBSes have on them, and some of the BBSes have daily/weekly/monthly competitions between the users of that BBS, some with prizes other than just a name on a leader board too.

A BBS is personal, traditionally they were almost all run from a computer in someone’s house, a kitchen, or bedroom and would share the phone line with humans needing to use the phone to talk to other humans, and usually a BBS would, if in this shared situation, have operational times just to limit how often the phone was unavailable because someone was logged into your BBS playing LORD lol.

A BBS is a great way to share files too, back in the day there were a lot of “warez” boards, but also boards that would trade and courier ANSI art too. A BBS can be whatever you make of it, and if it’s made exactly how you want it to be, then you have the best BBS on the planet to you. It doesn’t need to have the best ANSI art, the best doors, the best customisations, just as long as it does what you want, and how you want.

I could go on about this stuff all day and more.