RemoteAccess is a
DOS
DOS is shorthand for the MS-DOS and IBM PC DOS family of operating systems.
DOS may also refer to:
Computing
* Data over signalling (DoS), multiplexing data onto a signalling channel
* Denial-of-service attack (DoS), an attack on a communicat ...
Bulletin Board System
A bulletin board system (BBS), also called computer bulletin board service (CBBS), is a computer server running software that allows users to connect to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, the user can perform functions such as ...
(BBS) software package written by Andrew Milner and published by his company Wantree Development in Australia. RemoteAccess was written in
Turbo Pascal
Turbo Pascal is a software development system that includes a compiler and an integrated development environment (IDE) for the Pascal (programming language), Pascal programming language running on CP/M, CP/M-86, and DOS. It was originally develo ...
with some
Assembly Language
In computer programming, assembly language (or assembler language, or symbolic machine code), often referred to simply as Assembly and commonly abbreviated as ASM or asm, is any low-level programming language with a very strong correspondence be ...
routines. RemoteAccess (commonly called RA) began in 1989 as a clone of
QuickBBS
QuickBBS (QBBS) was a bulletin board system (BBS) application first introduced for MS-DOS
MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly dev ...
by Adam Hudson. It was released under the
shareware
Shareware is a type of proprietary software that is initially shared by the owner for trial use at little or no cost. Often the software has limited functionality or incomplete documentation until the user sends payment to the software developer ...
concept in 1990 and became popular in North America, Europe, UK, South Africa, and the South Pacific. Initially the main advantage over QuickBBS was its ability to run multiple nodes under
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
,
Quarterdeck
The quarterdeck is a raised deck behind the main mast of a sailing ship. Traditionally it was where the captain commanded his vessel and where the ship's colours were kept. This led to its use as the main ceremonial and reception area on bo ...
's
DESQview
DESQview (DV) is a text mode multitasking operating environment developed by Quarterdeck Office Systems which enjoyed modest popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Running on top of DOS, it allows users to run multiple programs concurrentl ...
and
OS/2
OS/2 (Operating System/2) is a series of computer operating systems, initially created by Microsoft and IBM under the leadership of IBM software designer Ed Iacobucci. As a result of a feud between the two companies over how to position OS/2 ...
. RA could also operate over a network or even a combination of network and multitasking operating systems to provide multiple "nodes per station" capabilities.
![RACONFIG](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/RACONFIG.png)
RA's features quickly grew to become considerably more advanced than the QuickBBS software of which it was a clone. A number of other QuickBBS clones appeared shortly afterwards including ProBoard, SuperBBS and EzyCom, though they never gained as much support or popularity. RA was the first BBS software to support the popular
JAM Message Base Format
The JAM Message Base Format was one of the most popular file formats of message bases on DOS-based BBSes in the 1990s. JAM stands for "Joaquim-Andrew-Mats" after the original authors of the API, Joaquim Homrighausen, Andrew Milner, Mats Birch, an ...
, which was partly conceived by RA's author, Andrew Milner. RA was also the first shareware BBS software to support a FDB (file database), rather than using files.bbs text files to describe files in each directory. RA interfaced with message relaying systems such as
FidoNet through 3rd party utilities such as
FrontDoor FrontDoor was one of the most popular mailers in the FidoNet-compatible networks in the 1990s, acting as the physical representation of the written network node connection and mail handling standards. It was an MS-DOS-based product (also available ...
(Joaquim Homrighausen),
MainDoor (Francisco Sedano) and
FastEcho (Tobias Burchhardt), which were developed by people who eventually became members of the RA beta team.
With over 1500 titles, there were more third party utilities written for RA than for any other shareware BBS software. While RA was initially shareware, Andrew also released a commercial edition - "RemoteAccess Professional" - that was bundled with utilities to allow remote control of nodes over a network (RANETMGR, and RATSR).
Andrew Milner released his final version of RA (2.50) in May 1996. By that time, many
System Operators switched over from running Bulletin Boards to becoming Internet Service Providers. Milner was one such System Operator, and after version 2.50 he stopped development. In April 1997, Milner put the rights and source code u
for saleto the highest bidder and it was sold in December 1997 to Bruce Morse in the USA. Morse released some minor updates including a
Y2K
The year 2000 problem, also known as the Y2K problem, Y2K scare, millennium bug, Y2K bug, Y2K glitch, Y2K error, or simply Y2K refers to potential computer errors related to the formatting and storage of calendar data for dates in and after ...
fix, but did not add any new features to the code. Morse's final version (2.62) was released in August 2000. Bruce Morse continues to own the code today and RA is still available as shareware, as well as a commercial version known as RemoteAccess-Professional.
RemoteAccess was never ported to a 32-bit version, but there were two clones of RA in the later years which did include 32-bit versions: EleBBS in the late 1990s which included
DOS
DOS is shorthand for the MS-DOS and IBM PC DOS family of operating systems.
DOS may also refer to:
Computing
* Data over signalling (DoS), multiplexing data onto a signalling channel
* Denial-of-service attack (DoS), an attack on a communicat ...
, Windows, OS/2 and
Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...
flavors, and MBSE, a few years later, which focused mainly on the Linux operating system.
There were numerous conversations about creating Windows and OS/2 32-bit versions of RA around 1995. Joel Ricketts of Interscape Development, who was the lead programmer, answered questions in the RA echomail forum about the potential development of RA for Windows during this time. However, due to RA being put up for sale, as well as lack of funding, the project was scrapped in 1996.
Around the same time, Niels Schoot from the Netherlands began writing a Visual Basic version of RA called tcRA32, which was to be fully RA compatible. The project was never finished, and within a couple of years, it was abandoned.
While RemoteAccess never included internal telnet support, it can be run as a telnet BBS by using a telnet-
FOSSIL
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
driver such as
NetFoss NetFoss is a popular Network FOSSIL driver for Windows.
A FOSSIL is a serial communications layer to allow DOS based software to talk to modems without dealing with hardware I/O and interrupts.
A Network FOSSIL redirects such software to a TCP/IP a ...
, or a Virtual COM port engine such a
NetSerialunder Windows, or using SIO/VMODEM under OS/2.
BBSs running RemoteAccess
* Cosmo's Castle, a RemoteAccess BBS started in 1993 in West Virginia
* Dark Systems BBS (started in 1992 in the 705 Canadian area code). Telnet bbs.dsbbs.ca:23
See also
*
List of BBS software
This is a list of notable bulletin board system (BBS) software packages.[BBS Software Listing](_blank)
Jaso ...
External links
* Wantree's 1996 {{webarchive , url=https://web.archive.org/web/19961117000625/http://wantree.com.au/remoteaccess.html , date=November 17, 1996 , title=Official RemoteAccess Homepage
* Bruce Morse'
RA-Pro Site- Downloa
The final version 2.62.2or view th
Documentation* PC Micro'
(Former RA beta site, North American RemoteAccess support Site)
* PC Micro'
RemoteAccess Support SiteIncludes links to many RA utilities
* Waldos's Place US
RemoteAccess Archives(RA beta site, North American RemoteAccess Support Site)
* The BBS Documentar
RemoteAccess Archives* The officia
JAM Messagebase specifications* Th
BBS Archivescontaining over 2000 RemoteAccess third party utilities.
* 1
RA Underground RAForce Group ReleasesArchived by RAForce, NL.
* Th
EleBBS HomepageAn almost exact 32-bit clone of RemoteAccess BBS.
Bulletin board system software
DOS software
FidoNet
Computer-related introductions in 1989