Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!ames!hao!husc6!ut-sally!ut-emx!emp
From: emp@ut-emx.UUCP (naDev~tlhIngan~putulu)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Bulletin Board Software Needed
Message-ID: <975@ut-emx.UUCP>
Date: 25 Feb 88 16:42:55 GMT
References: <4131@pucc.Princeton.EDU> <660002@otter.hple.hp.com> <901@ut-emx.UUCP> <9662@steinmetz.steinmetz.UUCP>
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
Lines: 53
Summary: Dopus is a proper reference name for Opus

In article <9662@steinmetz.steinmetz.UUCP>, davidsen@steinmetz.steinmetz.UUCP (William E. Davidsen Jr) writes:
> In article <901@ut-emx.UUCP> emp@ut-emx.UUCP (naDev~tlhIngan~putulu) writes:
> | In article <660002@otter.hple.hp.com>, tjfs@otter.hple.hp.com (Tim Steele) writes:
> | > Anyone feel like posting Opus?
> | > 
> | > Tim
> | 
> | [ many blank lines and statements ending in !!! ]
> | [ more lines with !!! about something called WWIV ]

...this "Something" is a BBS program written by Wayne Bell. It's currently
in Turdo Pascrap 3.1, but he is working on a C version, and is reportedly
reconsidering this move so as to include a TP 4.0 version as well.

...currently, it is very popular with the online game crowd, as it is very
suitable for adapting to game specifications. In fact, with source code
available, you can do almost anyhthing within memory limits.


> | ....can Dopus or any oter say that?
> 
> The software is called OPUS, and is always distributed in source form.
> By contrast a "Dopus" is a person who flames a product he has never owned,
> used, or understood, then points to his favorite alternative as better
> because of the (mythical) flaws in the other product.

...if this was some sort of really smart-assed referrence to me, let me take
a moment to totally burst your bubble.

...I've been running BBS's sine 1986. I've dabbled in RBBS (WIth emphasis on
the fact that it's BS), ran Genesis for all of two days (it was in Beta-Test,
but even then I couldn't tailor it to my needs), and finally wound up using
WWIV because it had the source code available for ALL segments of the program.

...after running my board for about 6 months, I was given a copy of Opus to
try out. It did NOT have source code in any form, and simply was too damn
"Bland" for my tastes. Also, there was no newscan for the files section
(a feature the thing STILL doesn't have!).

...now, a lot of local boards run Opus (we've got two nodes, 382 and 145(?) -
the former being a productive node, the latter stifled by overregulation),
but NONE of them have source code. It has not been released, and from what
I've been told by some users down here that KNOW the guy who wrote Opus it
will NEVER be released.

...so, if you've got the source code, then consider yourself lucky. I, for one
would like to see how it's structured. But from what we know down here (and
we're only a 5-hour drive from Dallas), source isn't available for Dopus, and
you are obviously talking through your hat. 

						OM


Discalmer: If I'm wrong, then POST the source code and prove it!