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I don't think BBSs were decentralized. You phoned a specific server, usually it had like 5 lines and you had to wait until one is free, and you had a session ti
by emteycz 6y ago
I don't think BBSs were decentralized. You phoned a specific server, usually it had like 5 lines and you had to wait until one is free, and you had a session time limit... where's the decentralization? How is it different from HTTP->TCP->IP->Ethernet connection to a server?
- fulafel 6y agoWhen talking about centralization you can always of course zoom in the different levels. Decentralized systems are made up of systems that viewed individually can be said to be centralized. BBSes viewed as an archipelago are decentralized.
- rasz 6y agoFidonet, a network to exchange mail between BBSes, was somewhat decentralized.
- underseacables 6y agoThat’s a really good point that I hadn’t considered, thank you. When I spoke about bulletin board systems being decentralized, I was thinking more in terms of the interconnected Internet. Facebook is a centralized social network, it has tremendous reach. But a bulletin board system is one phone line (or five if you’re really lucky) and anyone can splin up a bulletin board system. The limiting factor is of course the phone lines, and if you don’t like one, you can go to another.
- emteycz 6y agoYou can spin up your website too (and it's way easier and cheaper than running a BBS), where is the problem?