Xref: utzoo alt.msdos.programmer:416 comp.lang.pascal:2371 Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!ucscc.ucsc.edu!gorn!filbo From: filbo@gorn.santa-cruz.ca.us (Bela Lubkin) Newsgroups: alt.msdos.programmer,comp.lang.pascal Subject: Re: Multi-user BBS programmed with Turbo Pascal 5.5 Message-ID: <38.filbo@gorn.santa-cruz.ca.us> Date: 26 Sep 89 15:12:01 GMT References: <89268.185440TBC101@PSUVM.BITNET> Organization: R Pentomino Lines: 34 X-Claimer: I >am< R Pentomino! In article <89268.185440TBC101@PSUVM.BITNET> Thomas B. Collins, Jr. writes: >I am seriously considering writing a BBS. I'll probably be writing it >with Turbo Pascal 5.5 since I don't know C... I'd like to be able to >make it multi-user, and was wondering what I need to do as I >plan/program in order to allow for this. The only idea I've had so far >is to write it so that it will run under something like Desqview and >then a multiple copies of it for each 'Node' of the BBS. My former housemate has been running such a system for 3 years. It started out in Turbo 3.0, went through Turbo Extender, 4.0, 5.0, and is now running under 5.5. It also started on Victor 9000 hardware and stayed that way until recently -- it was running 4 dialup users and the console on a 5MHz 8088. Then Jon bought a '386 for development and "retired" his true-blue AT to BBS service. It is now running 4 1200 dialups, console, and up to 4 4800 hardwire lines on an 8MHz 286. This program multitasks internally; I think of it as an entire multiuser operating system written in Turbo Pascal. The only thing it uses MS-DOS for is disk access, and then only as sort of a "device driver" -- he has his own file system inside a large DOS file. So yes, this can be done. There are lots of issues. Writing a multitasking kernel is one of the simplest issues, so there probably isn't a lot of point to burdening yourself with a 3rd-party multitasker unless it has some other significant benefits. BTW, the system in question is called XBBS (and is COMPLETELY distinct from the Xenix package of the same name) and is in my signature. The author/Sysop is Jon Shemitz. If you call his BBS and either post a message or send him a "Hail", he may have some ideas for you. Bela Lubkin * * filbo@gorn.santa-cruz.ca.us CIS: 73047,1112 @ * * ...ucbvax!ucscc!gorn!filbo ^^^ REALLY slow [months] R Pentomino * Filbo @ Pyrzqxgl (408) 476-4633 & XBBS (408) 476-4945