BBS Messages

Textfiles, intended to be transferred from BBS to BBS and user to user, were the longer-lasting legacy of the 1980's, but a much more fluid portion of the boards was the true lifeblood of the culture: the messages. Every BBS has a number of message bases where users could post about whatever they thought to discuss; debates, rag wars, advertisements, and boasts all played out the same dramas all over the country and the world. When you logged onto a BBS, and started reading the bases you had access to, you could get a sense, almost immediately, of what the "character" of the board was. Some were dictatorships, some were insane asylums, some were office buildings.

In the files below, you will get a glimpse of these wonderous worlds that affected mine and others' lives, and the steady stream of mind-to-mind communication that shot out of a thousand nighttime modems.

Filename	Size	Description of the Textfile
ALANWESTON		The Alan Weston BBS Message Collection (1990-1996)
ALTERREALITY		Message Bases from the Alter Reality BBS (1989-1991)
BACKWATER		Message Bases from the Backwater BBS (Unsorted)
QWK		Collections of Messages in .QWK Format
TBFILES
YABBS		Message Bases from Alex Wetmore's YABBS (1994)
103dbug2.txt	4248	MESSAGE: Tradewars Informationn, by Stephen Whitis (March 5, 1994)
103dbug3.txt	6499	MESSAGE: Tradewars Information by Stephen Whitis (March 5, 1994)
103dbug4.txt	5902	MESSAGE: Tradewars Information, by Stephen Whitis (March 5, 1994)
103dbugs.txt	5942	MESSAGE: Tradeware Information, by Stephen Whitis (March 5, 1994)
acking.txt	2383	Some BBS Messages about Hacking, December of 1984
anarchy.txt	53621	Postings from an Anarchy Sub-Board, Telegard Conference, Late 1991
anonym.txt	5686	Postings to the Anonymous Attic on the 1985 BBS, May, 1984
apples.txt	8960	Messages from the Apple Pirate board on Sherwood Forest II, 1985
avatar.posts	44288	The America Online Project Avatar Posts Archive (June 28, 1992)
bbs.txt	4302	Message Base with Ads for BBS's, 1985
bice.txt	47412	LODCOM: Selected Messages from Black Ice Private (April-May 1989)
black1.txt	64553	LODCOM: Large Sampling of Messages for the LODCOM Project
bombs.ana	19444	Postings to the Bombs Message Base from the South Pole BBS
bruce.txt	1757	MESSAGE: Monty Python Lyrics, by Micah Holmes (February 16, 1994)
bruce2.txt	5701	MESSAGE: Monty Python Lyrics (The Bruces) by Saul Ansbacher (March 23, 1994)
brutal.txt	23411	CAPTURE: Text Capture of Brutal, early Danish Hack/Phreak BBS by FIgaro (1992)
buldagr1.txt	13202	BBS Messages: Johnny Dagger and friends build a story late one night (1993)
bullcreek86.txt	112306	BBS MESSAGES: The Bull Creek BBS in Austin, TX (Sysop: Mark Bryant) Messages from 1986
bust_bbs.txt	4216	Some Messages Preceeding a BBS Piracy Bust (September 27, 1991)
cdz.cap.txt	13167	Messages from unknown hacker/phreaker BBS in the 206 (Washington State) area code. (November, 1989)
cdz2.cap.txt	25707	Messages from unknown hacker/phreaker BBS in the 206 (Washington State) area code. (December, 1989)
channl-1.txt	19120	Discussion of the Modem Tax on the Channel 1 BBS (August, 1993)
chatter.asc	19662	GodNet General Chatter Message base (February, 1993)
chin.txt	2517	MESSAGE: Monty Python Lyrics (I Like Chinese) from Micah Holmes (March 15, 1994)
circlems.txt	12794	Some Postings from The Inner Circle about Blue Boxing
citadel-story.txt	2472	Citadel Explains the Citadel-TOPx Log Files from 1996 (2002)
citadel-top.log	173991	Log Files of TOP BBS (January, 1996)
citadel-top2.log	41084	Log Files of TOP BBS (January, 1996)
citadel-top3.log	101457	Log Files of TOP BBS (January, 1996)
color$.txt	9824	The Color Box, from the Aluminum Gerbil (40 Columns, Uppercase)
compcond.txt	4783	CAPTURE: The Computer Connection BBS (1982)
compconna.txt	8228	CAPTURE: The Computer Connection BBS (1982)
compconnb.txt	6395	CAPTURE: The Computer Connection BBS (1982)
compconnc.txt	9698	CAPTURE: The Computer Connection BBS (1982)
conspir.asc	11274	The GodNet Conspiracy Theory Echo (June, 1993)
corruptc.txt	8116	Extracts from the Corrupt Computing BBS
crash.txt	2507	Submission for mod.telecom ("Crashing" a Central Office) (April 26, 1987)
crazy	5103	How Someone Harassed Someone Else on FidoNet
crckin.msg	4274	Messages from a "Cracking" BBS Conference, August, 1994
crime.txt	23927	Discussion of Credit Card Fraud on a BBS, with the Sysop Offering Help to the Secret Service (May, 1994)
cy-chat.txt	15924	Cyberpunk BBS Message Base (Early 1991)
cyberadv.txt	12645	Online Cyberpunk Role-Playing BBS (March 1991)
death.txt	1071	MESSAGE: A Little Poem of Death by Robert (October 2, 1993)
death2.txt	1192	MESSAGE: An Ode to Death, by Sysop III (October 19, 1993)
debate.txt	16545	The Debate Den Message Board on the Safehouse BBS
diversibuffer.txt	24370	BUFFER: Messages on a Diversi-Dial, Late 1980's
docwho.eko	61677	Capture from a Dr. Who Converence, (May 1992)
docwho1.eko	36345	Additional Captured Messages from a Dr. Who Conference (May 1992)
ericbee.txt	2038	MESSAGE: Monty Python Lyrics by Micah Holmes (Eric the Half a Bee) (February 17, 1994)
exec_inn.txt	9384	MESSAGES: Postings from the Executive Inn BBS (1988)
feather.txt	58449	24 msgs on The Feather's Quill (A BBS Story Board)
frwrks.txt	6978	Pyrotechnic BBS Message Base (May-July 1984)
fuckyouf.txt	155880	Uncensored Transcripts from the MindVox "Fuck-You" Forum, Compiled and Moderated by Jim Felcher (1994)
galaxy.txt	2307	MESSAGE: Monty Python Lyrics (The Galaxy Song), from Jason Levine (March 1, 1994)
grabbag.msg	8607	All sorts of interesting snippets
hackers.msg	22918	BBS Messages: The Compost Heap, Hacking Sub-Board, March 1986
hackshak.txt	19958	LODCOM: Selected Messages from The Hack Shack BBS
hate-mod.txt	24613	A Very Large Flamewar on a Usenet Message Base in West-Germany The BBS Flamewar travels to USENET...
hpnumber.txt	23792	Collection of Hacking and Phreaking Codes on a BBS Message Base (November-December, 1991)
indy3.txt	29560	Capture of a Gaming BBS Message Base, Circa 1990
info4	6272	Hacker Messages from PC-Pursuit NetExchange BBS (February 1988)
int_pyro.txt	8904	Messages from the Pyromania Section of a Citadel BBS (June 1990)
iroc.txt	19355	LODCOM: Selected Messages from the Inner Realm of Communications BBS (IROC)
jerky.txt	50126	A Large Collection of Jerky-Related BBS Messages and Files (1994)
journal.txt	13081	The Works BBS Endless Story File
junk.txt	6528	Message Base about Luding on the 1985 BBS
kindbud.txt	242150	BBS Messages from Kind Bud's Hemp Discussion Corner
letter.txt	2234	A Great Message by The Slipped Disk
lifesong.txt	2674	MESSAGE: Monty Python Lyrics (Bright Side of Life) from Micah Holmes (March 8, 1994)
lodcom.hac	51395	Lodcom Sample Messages Set #1, 4/20/93
lodstuph	60363	LODCOM: Internal Release about the LODCOM Project, as well as LOD Messages
lotsames.msg	13507	Complete Smattering of Messages, October
luding.txt	8526	Posts on the Luding Message base from 1985 BBS, Feb.
lumberja.txt	2252	MESSAGE: Monty Python Lyrics (Lumberjack Song), from Jim Maciorowski (February 14, 1994)
messag.msg	14798	Wares, Cracking and Pirating Messages, November
messy.msg	4096	"General" to "Elite Phreak", November
meta01.txt	274645	Messages from a Pagan Fidonet Echo, February 1988
meta02.txt	304084	Messages from a Pagan Fidonet Echo, February 1988 (Part II)
mjunkdrw.txt	15268	Collection of Messages from the Junk Drawer BBS
modemtest.txt	203772	Messages from The Modem Test BBS (Sysop: Charles "Chuck" Hood) (1993)
morgue.cap	32000	A Capture of Textfiles and Messages from The Morgue BBS (March, 1985)
movie.txt	17722	The Movie Review Alcove Message Base of the 1985 BBS
nurses.hum	9789	Messages from Nurses in Bondage
nurses2.hum	16506	More Messages from Nurses in Bondage
nurses3.hum	12625	And Yet More Nurses In Bondage
old_msgs	29590	Explosives for Fun and Pleasure, Uploaded by Shadow Knight (May 17, 1987) (Has Anarchy Messages Around It)
os2news.txt	28908	Messages about the IBM PS/2 1991 Forum (April 18, 1991)
p80-1.txt	23384	LODCOM: Selected Messages from the P-80 BBS (January-March 1984)
p80-2.txt	9174	LODCOM: Selected Messages from the P-80 BBS (March 1984)
peyote.txt	34536	BBS Messages about the Supreme Court and Peyote
philosip.txt	44768	The Philosophy Message Base of 1985 BBS, circa 1984
phoenix1.msg	163124	The Incredible LOD Phoenix Project #1
phoenix2.msg	234933	The Incredible LOD Phoenix Project #2
phoenix3.msg	258465	The Incredible LOD Phoenix Project #3
phreaks.txt	5946	General Phreaking Message Base
pod_rule.txt	7209	Posting of Mesages on Pagan/Occult BBS (Rules for the Conference)
qbbs_mess.txt	152034	MESSAGES: Capture of messages from the QBBS Support Board (April 12, 1988)
randomne.hum	13169	The Slipped Disk's Ramblings
robin.txt	2868	MESSAGE: Monty Python Lyrics (Brave Sir Robin), from Jason Levine (February 19, 1994)
roundtab.txt	2042	MESSAGE: Monty Python Lyrics (Knights of the Round Table) from Michah Holmes (February 23, 1994)
sitface.txt	1057	MESSAGE: Monty Python Lyrics (Sit on my Face), from Jeff Stokes (March 6, 1994)
slippe.hum	7638	More weird writings by the Slipped Disk
snurgle.txt	8173	What the Hell is a Snurgle? (BBS Postings)
softrev1.txt	25468	Software Reviews Message Base (July, 1991)
spamskit.txt	3625	MESSAGE: The Spam Sketch (Monty Python) from Richard Cote (March 11, 1994)
sperm.txt	3145	MESSAGE: Monty Python Lyrics (Every Sperm is Sacred) from Micah Holmes (March 10, 1994)
strek.txt	121379	Inter-WWIV Posting about Star Trek
strongholdnorth.txt	13046	Messages from the Stronghold North BBS (612) (March 26, 1986)
stuff3.txt	1929	Goodbye Message from the Off the Wall BBS
sysopsue.hum	31743	Message Base: Can Sysops Sue Their Users?
syssong.txt	2569	MESSAGE: The Sysop Soung (Monty Python Parody) by Mark Williams (February 19, 1994)
tardis2.msg	5888	Pretty bleak Dr. Who BBS Conference ..15 Minute Time limit...
telec.txt	15250	Basic Telecommunications Message Base by The Videosmith
telnetfe.txt	6001	Message Captured from the Telenet PC Pursuit Net Exchange BBS (February 1988)
trekkie.txt	25156	Star Trek Message Board from The Safehouse, 1984
tt900507	11416	MESSAGES: Messages from the Tender Trap BBS Circa May, 1990, by Dream Hunter Rem (1990)
udgbbs.txt	7552	Large BBS Ad Message Base List (January 1991)
vi900906.vir	187667	Messages about Viruses on a FidoNet board
vi901029.vir	181138	Messages about Viruses on a FidoNet board
virdisc2.txt	23128	Messages: Virus Discussion, 1991
vmb.txt	11833	Mish-Mash Collection of Various Phreaking Textfiles, 1990
wopr.txt	37938	LODCOM: Selected Messages from WOPR BBS (December 1984)
wotchlst.txt	89917	MESSAGES: Selection of Science Fiction BBS Messages
wotmisc.txt	255091	MESSAGES: Selection of Science Fiction BBS Messages (Prodigy)
wotproph.txt	139825	MESSAGES: Selection of Science Fiction BBS Messages (Prophecy)
wowie!!.msg	20632	Messages from October
zachman1.msg	175524	MESSAGE BASE: William F. Zachmann Quits the Ziff Davis Publishing Company (Compuserve) (1992)
zachman2.msg	52190	MESSAGE BASE: William F. Zachmann Quits the Ziff Davis Publishing Company (Compuserve) (1992)
zachman4.msg	30109	MESSAGE BASE: William F. Zachmann Quits the Ziff Davis Publishing Company (Compuserve) (1992)

There are 129 files for a total of 5,373,035 bytes.

There are 6 directories.

It is very important to give credit where it's due; in 1993-1994, the remaining members of the Legion of Doom, now called LOD Communications, decided to take on a vast project of bringing the past to the BBS users of the present. They would do this by transcribing BBS messages from all the most popular and active phreaking and hacking boards of the 1980s and presenting them in their original 40 or 80 column format, all the spelling and grammatical errors intact, and giving a profile of the boards the messages came from. In many ways, textfiles.com had the same idea, 6 years later. The project got underway, but never really achieved the nationwide/mass acceptance it was supposed to, and these important files were in danger of being lost a second time.

I'm pleased to be a part of bringing many of these files back to you, and give a bow to these pioneers of BBS nostalgia/history.

If you wish to have the entire directory conveniently archived and compressed into one file, please download either messages.tar.gz (23761037 bytes) or messages.zip (25286829 bytes) instead of all the files separately.