@sarb I actually mostly avoided IRC because I had another...

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@sarb I actually mostly avoided IRC because I had another social forum that I ran: a Citadel/UX BBS with an active userbase dating from the 80s. But I know people who went DEEP into IRC, for YEARS. I remember talk of #heathers getting out of hand. 🙂

Like 7 Nov 2022 at 6:00 | Open on mastodon.halibut.com

4 comments

Sarb

@smitty Crikey - yeah, I missed the whole BBS thing mostly. But I remember AOL arriving in the UK in the midst of trying to build a walled garden around all that (if I remember correctly). They got burned.

7 Nov 2022 at 6:03 | Open on mastodon.social

SmittyHalibut

@sarb I owe my entire career (and, lets be honest, LIFE) to BBSes. I got started when I was 10, was running my own by 12, and haven't stopped running it, even to today. It's what got me started in system administration and networking. I literally have no idea what I'd have done to make money if it weren't for BBSing when I was a kid.

7 Nov 2022 at 6:06 | Open on mastodon.halibut.com

Sarb

@smitty FANTASTIC - what a skill to have to keep going though all this - and so many changes you'll have seen too. Like, from the BEGINNING OF INTERNET TIME

7 Nov 2022 at 6:09 | Open on mastodon.social

Sarb

@smitty OMG this convo reminds me that when I arrived in NZ in 2005, the shared flat I was in was still using dial-up internet. 2005! We had to take turns with it and we had time limits. And mobile data was so expensive and crappy coverage, I had to go to internet cafes to stay in touch with folks outside of NZ. Which was everyone. I didn't know anyone here then. WOW

7 Nov 2022 at 6:08 | Open on mastodon.social

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