🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <89268.185440TBC101@PSUVM.BITNET> Thomas B. Collins, Jr. writes:
>I am seriously considering writing a BBS.  I'll probably be writing it
>with Turbo Pascal 5.5 since I don't know C...  I'd like to be able to
>make it multi-user, and was wondering what I need to do as I
>plan/program in order to allow for this.  The only idea I've had so far
>is to write it so that it will run under something like Desqview and
>then a multiple copies of it for each 'Node' of the BBS.

My former housemate has been running such a system for 3 years.  It started
out in Turbo 3.0, went through Turbo Extender, 4.0, 5.0, and is now running
under 5.5.  It also started on Victor 9000 hardware and stayed that way
until recently -- it was running 4 dialup users and the console on a 5MHz
8088.  Then Jon bought a '386 for development and "retired" his true-blue AT
to BBS service.  It is now running 4 1200 dialups, console, and up to 4 4800
hardwire lines on an 8MHz 286.

This program multitasks internally; I think of it as an entire multiuser
operating system written in Turbo Pascal.  The only thing it uses MS-DOS for
is disk access, and then only as sort of a "device driver" -- he has his own
file system inside a large DOS file.

So yes, this can be done.  There are lots of issues.  Writing a multitasking
kernel is one of the simplest issues, so there probably isn't a lot of point
to burdening yourself with a 3rd-party multitasker unless it has some other
significant benefits.

BTW, the system in question is called XBBS (and is COMPLETELY distinct from
the Xenix package of the same name) and is in my signature.  The author/Sysop
is Jon Shemitz.  If you call his BBS and either post a message or send him a
"Hail", he may have some ideas for you.

Bela Lubkin     * *   filbo@gorn.santa-cruz.ca.us   CIS: 73047,1112
     @        * *     ...ucbvax!ucscc!gorn!filbo    ^^^  REALLY slow [months]
R Pentomino     *     Filbo @ Pyrzqxgl (408) 476-4633 & XBBS (408) 476-4945