bboard

2 definitions found

bboard - Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (26 May 2007) :

  bulletin board system
  bboard
  BBS
  bulletin board
  CBBS
  
     <communications, application> (BBS, bboard /bee'bord/)
  
     A computer and associated software which typically provides an
     electronic message database where people can log in and leave
     messages.  Messages are typically split into topic groups
     similar to the newsgroups on Usenet (which is like a
     distributed BBS).  Any user may submit or read any message in
     these public areas.
  
     The term comes from physical pieces of board on which people
     can pin messages written on paper for general consumption - a
     "physical bulletin board".  Ward Christensen, the programmer
     and operator of the first BBS (on-line 1978-02-16) called it a
     CBBS for "computer bulletin board system".
  
     Apart from public message areas, a BBS may provide archives of
     files, personal electronic mail and any other services or
     activities of interest to the bulletin board's system operator
     (the "sysop").  Thousands of local BBSes are in operation
     throughout the world, typically run by amateurs for fun out of
     their homes on MS-DOS boxes with a single modem line each.
     Although BBSes have traditionally been the domain of
     hobbyists, an increasing number of BBSes are connected
     directly to the Internet, and many BBSes are currently
     operated by government, educational, and research
     institutions.  Fans of Usenet and Internet or the big
     commercial time-sharing bboards such as CompuServe, CIX
     and GEnie tend to consider local BBSes the low-rent district
     of the hacker culture, but they serve a valuable function by
     knitting together lots of hackers and users in the
     personal-micro world who would otherwise be unable to
     exchange code at all.
  
     Use of this term for a Usenet newsgroup generally marks one
     either as a newbie fresh in from the BBS world or as a real
     old-timer predating Usenet.
  
     (2005-09-20)
  

bboard - Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003) :

  bboard
   /bee'bord/, n.
  
     [contraction of `bulletin board']
  
     1. Any electronic bulletin board; esp. used of BBS systems running
     on personal micros, less frequently of a Usenet newsgroup (in fact,
     use of this term for a newsgroup generally marks one either as a
     newbie fresh in from the BBS world or as a real old-timer predating
     Usenet).
  
     2. At CMU and other colleges with similar facilities, refers to
     campus-wide electronic bulletin boards.
  
     3. The term physical bboard is sometimes used to refer to an
     old-fashioned, non-electronic cork-and-thumbtack memo board. At CMU,
     it refers to a particular one outside the CS Lounge.
  
     In either of senses 1 or 2, the term is usually prefixed by the name
     of the intended board (`the Moonlight Casino bboard' or `market
     bboard'); however, if the context is clear, the better-read bboards
     may be referred to by name alone, as in (at CMU) "Don't post for-sale
     ads on general".