From: bell@teal.csn.org (Bell Scott)
Subject: Re: BBS Standards Committee Formed
Organization: Colorado SuperNet, Inc.
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1992 05:38:08 GMT

In article <1992Aug19.000717.162123@zeus.calpoly.edu> cambler@zeus.calpoly.edu (Christopher J. Ambler, Phish) writes:
>ONE BBSCON, 14 August, 1992
>
>Top companies in the BBS and communications industry met this August

	The only top company I saw there was Apple.

>14th at the ONE BBSCON in Denver, Colorado, in an unprecidented cooperative

	Ahem, its 'unprecedented', and it's not.

>effort to define and implement interoperable standards in graphics,
>messaging, and other aspects of BBS communications. The meeting, called
>by Searchlight's Frank LaRosa, was attended with enthusiasm by some of
>the best talent in the communications field. The attendees agreed to form

	Hmmm, were the developers of Prodigy there?  How about Night Ridder?
	Or even developers of TCP/IP....  Please, do not present this like a
	sales pitch if you want it taken seriously.

>a standards organization, the BBSC (Bulletin Board Standards Committee),
>to examine existing standards, and evaluate their capabilities in the BBS
>and communications forum. Plans are to determine which standards meet the

	BBS and communications forum of what?  Where?  Whose?

>requirements of the rapidly evolving community, and implement and extend
>them, as well as develop new standards as needed. The goals are to define

	Who determines what the optimals are?  Whose optimals?

>a set of protocols and standards to allow communications software and
>BBSs to interoperate graphically and share common communications formats.

	I believe that there are quite a few of these already in existence.
	eg: PHIGS, NAPLPS, CALS, etc....  Perhaps you should examine these first

>Member companies present at the ONE BBSCON include:

	Members of what?

>Searchlight, UUPlus, eSoft, Galacticomm, Magee, TopSoft, Mustang, Datastorm,
>Dragon's Eye, Martech Software, ProsperNet, Exis Inc., Apple Computer,
>Unocero, Resnova Software, Advanced Systems Research, Microstar Software Ltd,
>Pandora Systems, Fracterm/Cardz, Pronto Info Systems, Clark Development, 
>Late Night Software, and Merlin Systems, Inc.

	Hmmm, seems to be heavily weighted for MS-DOS systems.  Make me feel
	sorry for the poor guy from Apple.  (Unless he was on the Taligent
	project or something...).

>Anyone wishing to participate in the development process, or interested in
>more information should contact:
>
>Christopher Ambler
>UUPlus Development
{Notice he mentioned himself second and wayyyy before Apple}
>1344 Madonna Road, Suite 242
>San Luis Obispo, Ca, 93405
>ATTN: BBSC Information
>
>Voice: 805-542-0336
>Fax/BBS: 805-543-8227 (BBS, mail to BBSC)

	Ok, you have a BBS.  Is it free?  If it isn't, then you really should
	mention it.

>-- 
>If you insist upon living in a  | cambler@zeus.calpoly.edu | Fubar Systems BBS
(Rest of Sig deleted)

	Ok, I'm not REALLY flaming this guy.  It just annoys me when a bunch of
guys who run their own companies (some excepted) get together and try to start
a new standards comittee.  Especially when I doubt they have consulted with ISO,
ANSI or anybody else for that matter.  If you are going to claim to set up
standards for all of us who run and use BBS's, you REALLY should do your home-
work.  Also you might consider petitioning the above-mentioned EXISTING
standards organisations, after all, it is their business and they have been
doing it for QUITE a while.  I'm sorry, but I feel a bit queasy when I think of
a bunch of nerds (I am one, you know) deciding the future of Telecommunications.

	Please, in the future, refrain from deciding my future for me...I have
enough people trying to do that as it is.

Scott R. Bell
Developer of TeleMax, Warp Hard Drives, CycleSpy.
Vice President
Software Development
Virtualosos, Inc.
(Just wanted to make sure you knew I was an informed heckler)
__________________________________________
|  Life is pain,                         |
|    anyone who says different           |
|      is selling something.             |
------------------------------------------
bell@teal.csn.org


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