On 30 May 2024, Utopian Galt said the following...

The community is basically innovative. That was the main focus. I think the interface of the bbs software is the main focus not the personal stories of the people.

You might find a bit of Wynn Wagner's bio interesting:

https://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/2620763.html

--- Steve K9ZW via SPOT BBS

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 2022/07/15 (Linux/64)
* Origin: SPOT BBS / k9zw (21:1/224)

Does anybody know of Opus-CBCS BBSes online?

I am interested in Opus for multiple reasons. Maximus is inspired by Opus. The first BBS I called, and the one I picked up Fidonet mail from, ran Opus (with FrontDoor). And Pride Month is just around the corner!

If there are any Opus boards online today, I'd love to check them out.


Chris/akacastor

--- Maximus 3.01
* Origin: Another Millennium - Canada - another.tel (21:1/162)

On 29 May 2024, AKAcastor said the following...

Does anybody know of Opus-CBCS BBSes online?

I am interested in Opus for multiple reasons. Maximus is inspired by Opus. The first BBS I called, and the one I picked up Fidonet mail
from, ran Opus (with FrontDoor). And Pride Month is just around the corner!

If there are any Opus boards online today, I'd love to check them out.

Likewise so would I.

In the day I found running an OPUS CBCS system rather easy compared to the sysop-distancing of the contemporary BBS software packages.

Some may be that things were just that much simpler back then, security largely on the "honor system", mostly a bot-less world, and I had a different mindset of youth?

Whatever it was I found OPUS a more rewarding sysop experience than Fido, and ran it until I shut the first version of SPOT down about 1992/3 when sysops were being held responsible for their user's mischief. I had a couple unrepentent trolls who thought it cute to upload bad files, troll message threads and generally be about as aweful as they could get. Was an easy decision to cut out the costs of a second phone line and shut down my OPUS board. Let someone else deal with the miscreants and foot the bill.

The lead troll was a Radio Shack owner from a nearby town, who later in life did a 180 degree flip, found his faith and from accounts did what he could to help others. Mention the reversal as a reminder that sysops should never give up hope completly that their trolls will redeem themselves.

Back to OPUS, the program faultered when Wayne lost focus. His drive moved from the software back to an sexual activism that originally spured his communication by computer desires.

I don't think there was much awareness of that gay driver behind BBSes out here in flyover country. To be honest many sysops were chasing warze and junior hacker things, low level smut and crap like that, or if they were more into the technology they basically wanted a way to communicate to away places.

That communication over distance was my driver, as I could use OPUS to keep in touch with people I met living in Europe from small town midwestern USA.

Calling overseas was costly and we seldom did it for fun reasons. Mail took a week to several weeks. Netmail was there within a day or so, I would budget about three days for a there-and-back.

Returning back to OPUS, was the code portable enough to work today? Don't think it was Y2K ready for a start. If there a compatible FOSSIL driver today?

Secretely hoping there are running systems out there.

--- Steve K9ZW via SPOT BBS

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 2022/07/15 (Linux/64)
* Origin: SPOT BBS / k9zw (21:1/224)

Does anybody know of Opus-CBCS BBSes online?

I am interested in Opus for multiple reasons. Maximus is inspired by Opus. The first BBS I called, and the one I picked up Fidonet mail
from, ran Opus (with FrontDoor). And Pride Month is just around the corner!

If there are any Opus boards online today, I'd love to check them out.

Likewise so would I.

When we find that surviving Opus board, it's gonna be busier than it has been in decades! :)

In the day I found running an OPUS CBCS system rather
easy compared to the sysop-distancing of the
contemporary BBS software packages.
Some may be that things were just that much simpler back
then, security largely on the "honor system", mostly a
bot-less world, and I had a different mindset of youth?

Do you recall the other BBS packages you would have considered at the time? I get the impression that Opus was most popular with hobby/free board,s and sysops with commercial aspirations tended to use paid BBS packages.

Whatever it was I found OPUS a more rewarding sysop experience than Fido, and ran it until I shut the first version of SPOT down
about 1992/3 when sysops were being held responsible for
their user's mischief.

Would that have been the same era of the Secret Service raid of Steve Jackson Games (March 1990)? I got online around 1993 and remember reading a lot of discussion on what sysops' liabilities were, by the time I was around I think it had started to calm and then soon the focus shifted to the internet and it was a whole new world.

I had a couple unrepentent
trolls who thought it cute to upload bad files, troll
message threads and generally be about as aweful as they
could get. Was an easy decision to cut out the costs of
a second phone line and shut down my OPUS board. Let
someone else deal with the miscreants and foot the bill.

That seems like a story shared by a lot of sysops. Glad you returned later. :)

I don't think there was much awareness of that gay
driver behind BBSes out here in flyover country. To be
honest many sysops were chasing warze and junior hacker
things, low level smut and crap like that, or if they
were more into the technology they basically wanted a
way to communicate to away places.

I think that matches my experience when I was a teenager and sysop in the 90s - looking for warez, text files, and anybody to chat (message) with.

Returning back to OPUS, was the code portable enough to
work today? Don't think it was Y2K ready for a start.
If there a compatible FOSSIL driver today?

I saw a page yesterday that said the older versions of Opus (1.03, maybe 1.1x?) were not Y2K ready, and it recommended to switch to Opus 1.79 which I think was the last version. (I think 1.03 was the last version Wynn Wagner III wrote)

If I can find a copy of earlier Opus (1.03 sticks in my mind as the version I used to dial into, but I really am not sure), I'd love to try to get it running. Maybe the Y2K problems can even be solved, or at least minimized enough to allow the system to operate.

So far the earliest Opus install package I found is 1.10. I haven't given it a try yet.

Secretely hoping there are running systems out there.

I have a dream of seeing the login screen of Technology Transfer BBS, an Opus system in Luseland, Saskatchewan, Canada in the 80s-90s. Pretty sure I remember some roman-style columns drawn with high-ASCII block characters. The sysop, Warren Kreick, passed away a few years back so I think this will stay as a dream.

Besides that specific system I have such fond memories of, it would be great to see Opus running today - those systems took a lot of calls back in the day!


Chris/akacastor

--- Maximus 3.01
* Origin: Another Millennium - Canada - another.tel (21:1/162)

think it was Y2K ready for a start. If there a compatible FOSSIL driver

Isn't FOSSIL based off of this? FIDO, OPUS, SEADOG, SERIAL INPUT LAYER
I'd assume BNU or X00 would work.


... Well, it worked the last time I tried this....

--- Renegade v1.35à/DOS
* Origin: The Titantic BBS Telnet - ttb.rgbbs.info (21:1/144)

BY: k9zw (21:1/224)

|11k|09> |10I don't think there was much awareness of that gay driver behind BBSes|07
|11k|09> |10out here in flyover country. To be honest many sysops were chasing|07
Fidonet was even founded by a gay dude too.


--- WWIV 5.8.1.3688[Windows]
* Origin: inland utopia * california * iutopia.duckdns.org:2023 (21:4/108)

On 29 May 2024, Utopian Galt said the following...

BY: k9zw (21:1/224)

I don't think there was much awareness of that gay driver behind BBSes out here in flyover country. To be honest many sysops were chasing

Fidonet was even founded by a gay dude too.

Which really doesn't matter.

What those of us out in the midwest, back in the day of Fido and OPUS, largely didn't click on was that the gay-to-gay networking was such a major driver.

Forty years ago rural American was less tolerant of lives that didn't fit somewhat close to the mold.

Can't say for certain, but of those early sysops would they avoid Fido & OPUS if they knew the backstory of gay-outreach that was the driver?

Not saying all would have rebelled and looked to other software or systems, but if the underlying purpose was overt would they risk the troubles other parts of society would lump on them?

Back at the start I held a Security Clearance of a level that associations became issues in background check updates.

Fortunately those doing my reviews also didn't know about the underpinnings behind Fido and OPUS.

One of my trolls back in the day was posting basically How To guides for the physical side of gayness, so I do think some of the users knew more about the underpinnings than the sysops.

--- Steve K9ZW via SPOT BBS

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 2022/07/15 (Linux/64)
* Origin: SPOT BBS / k9zw (21:1/224)

BY: k9zw (21:1/224)

|11k|09> |10On 29 May 2024, Utopian Galt said the following...|07
|11k|09> |10 |07
|11k|09> |10UG> BY: k9zw (21:1/224)|07
|11k|09> |10UG> |07
|11k|09> |10UG> k> I don't think there was much awareness of that gay driver behind|07
|11k|09> |10UG> BBSes|07
|11k|09> |10UG> k> out here in flyover country. To be honest many sysops were|07
|11k|09> |10UG> chasing|07
|11k|09> |10UG> Fidonet was even founded by a gay dude too. |07
|11k|09> |10 |07
|11k|09> |10Which really doesn't matter.|07
|11k|09> |07
|11The community is basically innovative. That was the main focus. I think the interface of the bbs software is the main |07 |11focus not the personal stories of the people.|07


--- WWIV 5.8.1.3688[Windows]
* Origin: inland utopia * california * iutopia.duckdns.org:2023 (21:4/108)

On 30 May 2024, Utopian Galt said the following...

Which really doesn't matter.

The community is basically innovative. That was the main focus. I think the interface of the bbs software is the main focus not the personal stories of the people.

Isn't that is being dismissive of those innovators' self claimed motivation?

Actually rather revisionist to make the claim the innovation was the major driver.

The motivator was they needed community and a form of outreach, which was reason enough to motivate the innovation at that time.

That side of forming a sexually focused group community continues with some of legacies of the pre-WWW world, like the Well.com (their community became a "by invite only" part of the Well over time.).

If you lived through this period the subtle transitions from the gay world being wishpered about and how you wanted their stuff off your BBS ASAP as under your state laws you could get in trouble for spreading it, to where churches chose to bless same-sex unions alongside weddings.

To be clear there was always a huge amount of pure innovation involved, but you can't discount how for some of the people the early FidoNet and OPUS was the Tinder APP of the day.

--- Steve K9ZW via SPOT BBS

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 2022/07/15 (Linux/64)
* Origin: SPOT BBS / k9zw (21:1/224)