Remember the good old days of BBSing? Wish you could throw terms like FidoNet, ZMODEM and BPS around again? Jason Scott is heading up a project to document the BBS world as it existed. He's looking for your help! Read the interview and learn about this fantastic project!

DJ: The BBS Documentary project is all encompassing. What are your main goals and why?
JS: My purposes are twofold. First of all, there has never been a documentary about BBSes, that really mentioned them in anything but a passing way, and I think that's something that needs to be documented.

Even if you take the view that the story of the BBS starts in 1978 (and I'm not), then it's been 22 years since that time and the folks involved are getting older. Many have moved far enough away that they can easily look at the whole thing objectively, and some who might have sworn off ever talking about those times again might come around.

Second of all, I've seen documentaries about technology, and specifically computers, and the focus is (and feels like it always will be) about hacking. And not even hacking in the general sense; specifically breaking into computers and getting caught (because only the ones that get caught get their names out to be contacted for an interview). It's very shallow, and it misses so much. It's like doing a documentary on "Religion" and making almost the entire thing about the Jonestown massacre.

I'm trying to avoid both these pitfalls and I'm working very hard to plan out a documentary that will avoid them using the same techniques that worked for BBSes: Opening for comments, casting a wide net, and being willing to adapt.

DJ: Did you run a BBS? Were you a frequent user on one? Can you describe your history with BBS?
JS: I ran a BBS called "The Works" in Chappaqua, NY from 1986 to 1988. I was a "Co-Sysop" (helped run other BBSes) from probably 1984 onward.

I've been using BBSes from 1981, when my friend Chris showed me his acoustic modem that his grandparents owned and we browsed a handwritten list of BBSes and called Dial-Your-Matches and a few other places. I was hooked. At one point I think I was calling and staying active on 100 BBSes.

DJ: How has the response been to your project so far?
JS: I hate the term "overwhelming", but I've gotten many dozens of letters about the project, many of them quite long and thought- provoking, and a good amount of people willing to help. It's been a tough thing answering everyone with all the energy and clarity they deserve. I expect this to continue as the project goes on.

I've had surprisingly few nay-sayers, which is very encouraging as well. And if I had NO nay-sayers, I'd actually be more worried.

DJ: Do you have any timelines for when you'll publish your results?
JS: Very up in the air. I'm thinking of releasing a couple of sequences next year just to show people how things are going; no sense in people feeling it's all going down a well!

Not surprisingly, the pure weight of the scheduling is going to be a task in itself, so I don't want to commit too far in any direction. 2002 will NOT pass without you being able to see some results, that I guarantee.

DJ: What kind of help and assistance are you looking for?
JS: I need researchers, and I need people to chime in to tell me what, if I don't put it in the documentary, will automatically make my documentary a sham. http://www.bbsdocumentary.com, folks!

DJ: How important were BBSes in the history of online communications?
JS: Online communications was going to happen regardless of the advent of the BBS. But the BBS gave the people, and by that I mean the heart of the human population, the chance to experience being online, and they liked it very, very much. I think that the BBS profoundly changed how people dealt with each other and we're not done with the full results of that change.

DJ: Do you think the sense of community that BBSes provided to the public has been matched in the internet era?
JS: Yes, but not for the folks who used BBSes.

I consider this a perception issue. BBSes could be very localized, with the folks calling all located in the same geographic area. Someone calling from out of state or out of the country was something to celebrate. "We have a caller from Sweden!" Now, that's not just commonplace, it's expected. There are many aspects to the BBS that make them better than the Internet to people who used them.

But in saying that, I like the Internet better, because it IS so encompassing. Actions that would take me days to do in the 1980's are now being done better, more completely, and with greater dependability in SECONDS: Transfer of information, tracking down trivia, writing e-mail to people.... These are great times.

DJ: What do you do for a living? Do you enjoy it?
JS: I am a UNIX Systems Administrator, and I do enjoy it. My boss is being very understanding that I'm going to have a lot of things on my plate, but I watched him be a VMS Engineer and run a Mexican Restaurant at the same time, so I think he sympathizes.

DJ: What is the configuration of your primary PC and network?
JS: A little complicated. At home, it's a Windows 95 Box on a DSL line with a local LAN I'm running behind a Linksys DSL Router. There's a redhat box that's used primarily as a file server that I connect to with the help of Samba, and that machine is also where I "stage" some of my websites so I can work on them quickly before sending them up to the main server.

I count my linux boxes running at a colo facility as part of my network, and they have all of my websites (about 15, last count) running there, as well as some friends who were in need of a place to stay online.

DJ: What are some of the best BBS like communities on the internet?
JS: For better or worse, Slashdot is the most like I think of an online community being; although at this point I'm becoming very entranced by fark.com.

DJ: Any other comments you want to make?
JS: Please check the bbsdocumentary.com site and tell me your thoughts; the more people the better.

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