McBBS
Encyclopedia
McBBS was a Bulletin Board System
developed by Derek E. McDonald and distributed by DMCS Technologies between October 30, 1989 and May 30, 2000 and operated over 18 versions.
in Bedford, Nova Scotia
, Canada
. As an aspiring young programmer, and unhappy with the software available to him at the time, he set out to prove he could build his own stable computer communications system as a personal project.
Heavily influenced by the works of Ken Spence and his Spence XP BBS system of which there were two versions written in 1985 and 1987 respectively, as well as Ed Parry's EBBS and Clarke Development's PCBoard
, the McBBS software was originally developed for the Commodore 64
computer but was ported over to the DOS
platform in 1992 (starting with MS-DOS 3.0) where it remained until the project was officially ended in May 2000. The software was written entirely in the BASIC
computer language, but starting with version 3.1 in 1992 it was compiled from BASIC into 8086
executable code for DOS.
The program featured all the standard functions of a BBS
of the time including file transfers in several competing protocols (XMODEM
, YMODEM
, YMODEM-G, ZMODEM
) provided with the program or as third party software; they connected externally to the main program itself. It also featured message boards and a primitive form of what we now call E-mail
. The program was also capable of producing simple graphics & text using both the ASCII
, PETSCII
, and the ANSI escape code
character sets and color codes.
McBBS also had the advanced and unique feature of a primitive sound broadcasting system allowing the BBS to program the remote computer's beeper speaker using what was essentially an extension of the ANSI Escape Code sequences used exclusively by McBBS. The net result, when used with the appropriate translation software (also supplied by McDonald and company), was audible, if low-resolution music; a demonstration given by McDonald himself once showed the BBS playing The Rolling Stone's "You Can't Always Get What You Want
", and the William Tell Overture
, coded using a simple text editor.
As far as speed goes, McBBS was one of the first to adopt what was (then) high speed modems exceeding 14400 bit/s, the program itself was small and efficiently written, allowing it great speed. The program was also Y2K and survived the century changeover. The last version "McBBS v5.5 rev.3" was featured on the Alliance CD as the multimedia component in a last effort to promote the program when Emperor Multimedia Corporation took over the assets of DMCS Technologies when the companies merged.
McBBS was marketed exclusively to operators and users of BBS systems over those same BBS public message forums. From time to time advertisements were posted over various BBS networks promoting its virtues. Since McBBS seemed to be a robust product and yet had a small footprint on the computer's memory and disc this feature was heavily exploited. In the early Commodore days the slogan was, "McBBS; The Little BBS That Could", a spoof off the Children's book The Little Engine That Could. In the PC years the slogan was, "Sometimes Big Things Come In Small Packages"; this second campaign proving to be the most successful. When networking was introduced the ad gleefully played on the product name saying, "You can now do more than just order fries and burgers with it!", clearly answering the critics who teased the product's name by spoofing McDonald's restaurants.
The Market for the old-style BBS software was eroded by the arrival of the Internet and the Windows GUI operating systems during the late 1990s, and although McBBS had primitive networking capabilities via the FidoNet
, and its own proprietary McNET, it was not enough to compete with the internet E-mailing systems, nor could McDonald program a new version fast enough to compete with the arrival of the GUI operating systems. McBBS was terminated a short time after.
For sometime the official history of McBBS was available at the Emperor Multimedia website. Emperor Multimedia has since moved on to invest in the entertainment industry, specializing in Multimedia, with assets in internet applications, e-books, databases and web design. McDonald (with Emperor Multimedia) later releases of Polishing of Metal
, and the Diskery music distribution firm, would once again see him and his company with commercial success.
A scripting language known as "Viking", as well as a remote communications terminal called Comterm were also developed for McBBS as add-ons for the system; Comterm going on to be a product in its own right that has since been discontinued also.
On August 12, 2007 the UNESCO
(a division of the United Nations) "Great Library of Alexandria" (Bibliotheca Alexandrina
) confirmed and accepted receipt of a shipment that would be archived on its shelves. The shipment was sent from Derek McDonald himself, included with this shipment was a single copy of the last version of McBBS released thus far.
The version nomenclature is as follows:
v0.95, v1.0 - Never published.
v1.1, 1.2, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 2.6 - Released for Commodore 64/128.
Starting with v2.0 all programs were "modular" meaning the components were controlled by a central program and swapped in and out of memory as needed. 2.0 was also the first to feature the Modem "Hayes" instruction set.
v3.0, 3.1, 3.1C, 3.5, 4.0, 5.0, 5.1, 5.1A, 5.5, 5.5.1, 5.5.2, 5.5.3 - All published for IBM-PC.
v3.1C was the first compiled into direct executable code.
4.0 was the first to feature networking.
5.1A was the first "high speed" modem version that could exceed 9600 bit/s using a supplied driver written in compiled Pascal
language. It also had the file transfer protocols supplied with it.
5.5 had the high speed routines within the program itself, it also featured the integrated terminal program and scripting language.
Bulletin board system
A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...
developed by Derek E. McDonald and distributed by DMCS Technologies between October 30, 1989 and May 30, 2000 and operated over 18 versions.
History
McBBS started out as a project for the then High School student Derek McDonald, then attending Charles P. Allen High SchoolCharles P. Allen High School
Charles P. Allen High School, is a senior high school located in Bedford, Nova Scotia, Canada.-Sports teams:CPA has teams that participate in:*Football*Golf*Baseball*Soccer *Cross Country Running...
in Bedford, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. As an aspiring young programmer, and unhappy with the software available to him at the time, he set out to prove he could build his own stable computer communications system as a personal project.
Heavily influenced by the works of Ken Spence and his Spence XP BBS system of which there were two versions written in 1985 and 1987 respectively, as well as Ed Parry's EBBS and Clarke Development's PCBoard
PCBoard
PCBoard was a bulletin board system application first introduced for DOS in 1983 by Clark Development Corporation. Clark Development was founded by Fred Clark. PCBoard was one of the first commercial BBS packages for DOS systems, and was considered one of the "high end" packages during the rapid...
, the McBBS software was originally developed for the Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
computer but was ported over to the DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
platform in 1992 (starting with MS-DOS 3.0) where it remained until the project was officially ended in May 2000. The software was written entirely in the BASIC
BASIC
BASIC is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages whose design philosophy emphasizes ease of use - the name is an acronym from Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code....
computer language, but starting with version 3.1 in 1992 it was compiled from BASIC into 8086
Intel 8086
The 8086 is a 16-bit microprocessor chip designed by Intel between early 1976 and mid-1978, when it was released. The 8086 gave rise to the x86 architecture of Intel's future processors...
executable code for DOS.
The program featured all the standard functions of a BBS
Bulletin board system
A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...
of the time including file transfers in several competing protocols (XMODEM
XMODEM
XMODEM is a simple file transfer protocol developed as a quick hack by Ward Christensen for use in his 1977 MODEM.ASM terminal program. XMODEM became extremely popular in the early bulletin board system market, largely because it was so simple to implement...
, YMODEM
YMODEM
YMODEM is a protocol for file transfer used between modems. YMODEM was developed by Chuck Forsberg as the successor to XMODEM and MODEM7, and was first implemented in his CP/M YAM program...
, YMODEM-G, ZMODEM
ZMODEM
ZMODEM is a file transfer protocol developed by Chuck Forsberg in 1986, in a project funded by Telenet in order to improve file transfers on their X.25 network...
) provided with the program or as third party software; they connected externally to the main program itself. It also featured message boards and a primitive form of what we now call E-mail
E-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
. The program was also capable of producing simple graphics & text using both the ASCII
ASCII
The American Standard Code for Information Interchange is a character-encoding scheme based on the ordering of the English alphabet. ASCII codes represent text in computers, communications equipment, and other devices that use text...
, PETSCII
PETSCII
PETSCII , also known as CBM ASCII, is the variation of the ASCII character set used in Commodore Business Machines 's 8-bit home computers, starting with the PET from 1977 and including the VIC-20, C64, CBM-II, Plus/4, C16, C116 and C128...
, and the ANSI escape code
ANSI escape code
ANSI escape sequences are characters embedded in the text used to control formatting, color, and other output options on video text terminals. Almost all terminal emulators designed to show text output from a remote computer, and to show text output from local software, interpret at least some of...
character sets and color codes.
McBBS also had the advanced and unique feature of a primitive sound broadcasting system allowing the BBS to program the remote computer's beeper speaker using what was essentially an extension of the ANSI Escape Code sequences used exclusively by McBBS. The net result, when used with the appropriate translation software (also supplied by McDonald and company), was audible, if low-resolution music; a demonstration given by McDonald himself once showed the BBS playing The Rolling Stone's "You Can't Always Get What You Want
You Can't Always Get What You Want
"You Can't Always Get What You Want" is a song by The Rolling Stones released on their 1969 album Let It Bleed. Written primarily by Mick Jagger with assistance from Keith Richards, it was named as the 100th greatest song of all time by Rolling Stone in its 2004 list of "500 Greatest Songs of All...
", and the William Tell Overture
William Tell Overture
The William Tell Overture is the instrumental introduction to the opera Guillaume Tell by Gioachino Rossini. William Tell premiered in 1829 and was the last of Rossini's 39 operas, after which he went into semi-retirement, although he continued to compose cantatas, sacred music and secular vocal...
, coded using a simple text editor.
As far as speed goes, McBBS was one of the first to adopt what was (then) high speed modems exceeding 14400 bit/s, the program itself was small and efficiently written, allowing it great speed. The program was also Y2K and survived the century changeover. The last version "McBBS v5.5 rev.3" was featured on the Alliance CD as the multimedia component in a last effort to promote the program when Emperor Multimedia Corporation took over the assets of DMCS Technologies when the companies merged.
McBBS was marketed exclusively to operators and users of BBS systems over those same BBS public message forums. From time to time advertisements were posted over various BBS networks promoting its virtues. Since McBBS seemed to be a robust product and yet had a small footprint on the computer's memory and disc this feature was heavily exploited. In the early Commodore days the slogan was, "McBBS; The Little BBS That Could", a spoof off the Children's book The Little Engine That Could. In the PC years the slogan was, "Sometimes Big Things Come In Small Packages"; this second campaign proving to be the most successful. When networking was introduced the ad gleefully played on the product name saying, "You can now do more than just order fries and burgers with it!", clearly answering the critics who teased the product's name by spoofing McDonald's restaurants.
The Market for the old-style BBS software was eroded by the arrival of the Internet and the Windows GUI operating systems during the late 1990s, and although McBBS had primitive networking capabilities via the FidoNet
FidoNet
FidoNet is a worldwide computer network that is used for communication between bulletin board systems. It was most popular in the early to mid 1990s, prior to the introduction of easy and affordable access to the Internet...
, and its own proprietary McNET, it was not enough to compete with the internet E-mailing systems, nor could McDonald program a new version fast enough to compete with the arrival of the GUI operating systems. McBBS was terminated a short time after.
For sometime the official history of McBBS was available at the Emperor Multimedia website. Emperor Multimedia has since moved on to invest in the entertainment industry, specializing in Multimedia, with assets in internet applications, e-books, databases and web design. McDonald (with Emperor Multimedia) later releases of Polishing of Metal
Polishing of Metal
Polishing of Metal was the title of a 2 disc CD-ROM E-Book encyclopedia authored by Derek E. McDonald, manufactured by Sony Music and published by Emperor Multimedia Corporation August 23, 2006.- History :...
, and the Diskery music distribution firm, would once again see him and his company with commercial success.
A scripting language known as "Viking", as well as a remote communications terminal called Comterm were also developed for McBBS as add-ons for the system; Comterm going on to be a product in its own right that has since been discontinued also.
Statistics
McBBS's sold for $40 U.S. originally on the Commodore 64 and the later 5.x set, all versions in between were free. It is unknown how many copies of McBBS were sold, but it is known that installations existed in Asia, North America and Europe. The largest concentration of McBBS installations was in the Mid-West USA and Eastern Canada.On August 12, 2007 the UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
(a division of the United Nations) "Great Library of Alexandria" (Bibliotheca Alexandrina
Bibliotheca Alexandrina
The Bibliotheca Alexandrina or Maktabat al-Iskandarīyah is a major library and cultural center located on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea in the Egyptian city of Alexandria...
) confirmed and accepted receipt of a shipment that would be archived on its shelves. The shipment was sent from Derek McDonald himself, included with this shipment was a single copy of the last version of McBBS released thus far.
The version nomenclature is as follows:
v0.95, v1.0 - Never published.
v1.1, 1.2, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 2.6 - Released for Commodore 64/128.
Starting with v2.0 all programs were "modular" meaning the components were controlled by a central program and swapped in and out of memory as needed. 2.0 was also the first to feature the Modem "Hayes" instruction set.
v3.0, 3.1, 3.1C, 3.5, 4.0, 5.0, 5.1, 5.1A, 5.5, 5.5.1, 5.5.2, 5.5.3 - All published for IBM-PC.
v3.1C was the first compiled into direct executable code.
4.0 was the first to feature networking.
5.1A was the first "high speed" modem version that could exceed 9600 bit/s using a supplied driver written in compiled Pascal
Pascal (programming language)
Pascal is an influential imperative and procedural programming language, designed in 1968/9 and published in 1970 by Niklaus Wirth as a small and efficient language intended to encourage good programming practices using structured programming and data structuring.A derivative known as Object Pascal...
language. It also had the file transfer protocols supplied with it.
5.5 had the high speed routines within the program itself, it also featured the integrated terminal program and scripting language.