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IscabbsISCABBS, aka simply ISCA, is a bulletin board system (BBS) based at the University of Iowa. Dave's own version of Citadel, an early branch of the Citadel/UX BBS software, was developed to run ISCA. Like most Citadels, the focus is almost entirely on conversation between users. As with many online communities, ISCA users gather biannually for the a picnic called the ISCANIC, held in Iowa City, Iowa, and usually hold private parties afterward. History Governed by, and named for the Iowa Student Computer Association (ISCA), ISCABBS was started in 1989. At its peak just before the rise of the World Wide Web, it supported more than a thousand users online simultaneously and a virtual velvet-roped queue in which hundreds more waited to log in when the system was very busy. The popularity of ISCA as a meeting place, hangout, and occasionally a virtual dive bar gives a glimpse of what modern day chat rooms would become. Between serious discussion on topics ranging from social issues and politics to computer and home repair, lighthearted babble about almost any topic can be found. In addition, instant messaging (called X Messages in the lingo of DOC BBSes) provides a venue for private discussion and conversation. Before the rise of the Web, ISCA was one of the largest free public bulletin board systems in the world. It continues on today as a likely candidate for the most active telnet-based BBS in the world, followed closely by Eschwa BBS and ITESO BBS. Infrastructure ISCA originally supported over a thousand simultaneous users on a 50MHz PA-RISC system with 64MB of RAM, which ran HP-UX. Today, the system is 80MHz with 128MB of RAM, though the active user base is much smaller. Connectivity was and is provided by the University of Iowa. External links - telnet://bbs.isca.uiowa.edu to log into the BBS.
* ISCABBS.com for clients, DOC source code and general information
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