A user who is familiar with the use of telnet and some basic unix commands such as the chmod command can set this script up and get it working. It is certainly not a fully blown bulletin or discussion-board, but simply allows the posting of comments or feedback. Thus, if it were to be used for say the discussion of a variety of topics, each topic would require its own directory and separate script. Future use of online discussion will be assessed as part of a student's workload. Discus has an easy to use interface with quite powerful administrative functions.
Discus is frame based and is basically menu driven, as opposed to clickable buttons.
It is not possible to prevent the public from reading messages posted by others, unless external password protection is implemented. One feature that could be said to be lacking is that the messages and postings are not listed hierarchically or by say subject line alone. A neat feature is the ability to post graphics. From my experience, the major attraction of Discus is its ability to create private and public posting areas, whereby postings from the general public can be restricted. The public however can see read such areas.