I do still have an original floppy containing a DOS client for AOL, and
something a little earlier- AOL either used to call their server PC-LINK
or PC-LINK was a seperate service offered by AOL to users of Tandy's
DeskMate software.
But a friend who was the early AOL adopter from whom I got these disks
told me that the reason he had to upgrade to a PC that was Windows-
capable was that AOl was discontinuing the DOS-mode service.
Whether DOS-mode meant text mode or not, I'm not sure.
As to the file collections, I was a CompuServe and BIX user
from '85 to '87, and most of the CP/M stuff was the same, most
of the Mac stuff was the same, etc. I can think of one notable
exception that I preserved- source code for a threaded BIXMail
reader, written in DigiTalk's version of Smalltalk.
It was the forums that set the various services apart. I saved
tons of message traffic, but I lost most of it through platform
switches, crashes, early viruses, etc. I do still have some of
the BIX Smalltalk forum traffic saved.
What I wish I had were either printed or electronic sessions
from my days as a user of Ward & Randy's BBS...
Regards,
-dq
> ----------
> From: Mark
> Reply To: classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org
> Sent: Sunday, December 24, 2000 8:04 AM
> To: classiccmp
> Subject: Old online service file areas
>
> Hi,
>
> Are the file areas or forums of any of the old online services still
> accessible? I'm thinking of Compuserve, BIX, AOL and any others.
>
> They probably (used to) contain many files which would be useful for older
> computers, but which are not available on the internet.
>
> A brief visit to the Compuserve web site didn't turn up anything
> interesting.
> Have all the old file areas/forums been deleted? Is it still possible to
> access any of the online services using a text-based interface?
>
>
> This question arose from reading the document at
> http://www.dateq.net/ftp/CD-DRIVE/HITACHI/HIHELP.TXT
>
> That contains info on old Hitachi CD-ROM drives, including ones which use
> a
> proprietary interface. [Related to this, the most recent MS-DOS drivers
> for
> old Hitachi CD-ROM drives are available from Hitachi's USA BBS but not
> their
> web site. I uploaded the file to
> http://home.clara.net/markk/Hitachi/8bit.zip]
>
> Anyway, part of the HIHELP.TXT file reads:
> Filename: HIHELP.TXT
> Written Feb 93 REVISED 01Jan94 10Aug94
>
> For CIS distribution only - Permission required for publication
> elsewhere.
>
>
> So this file was originally available on Compuserve. Is it still there?
>
>
> -- Mark
>
Received on Mon Dec 25 2000 - 08:59:21 GMT