ExecPC BBS: Difference between revisions

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'''ExecPC''' is an [[online service provider]] started in 1983 by owner Bob Mahoney as the '''Exec-PC BBS'''. It quickly grew to be one of the world's largest [[bulletin board system]]s in the 1980s and throughout the 1990s, competing with the likes of [[Compuserve]] and [[Prodigy (ISP)|Prodigy]].

ExecPC began offering [[Internet access]] in 1994 as ExecPC Internet, and being based in [[New Berlin, WI|New Berlin, Wisconsin]], quickly grew to be the largest [[Internet service provider]] in [[Wisconsin]]. The company was sold in 1998 to Voyager.net of [[East Lansing, MI|East Lansing, Michigan]]. After a lengthy series of acquisitions, the assets are now held by LocalNet of [[Buffalo, NY|Buffalo, New York]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.localnet.com/releases1.phtml |title= |website=www.localnet.com |date=7 May 2008 |title=LocalNet Announces New Look}}</ref>

== History ==

=== The Exec-PC BBS ===

[[Image:Exec pc bbs.PNG|thumb|Exec PC BBS|300 px]]

The Exec-PC BBS launched on November 28, 1983, in the den of owner Bob Mahoney and his wife TracyTracey. This was in the earliest days of BBSing, and in contrast to most systems that used one of the many shareware BBS systems, ExecPC was a custom system written in the [[Clipper (programming language)|Clipper]] [[database system]]. This allowed them to add new features to the system throughout its lifetime.<ref name=bob>{{cite web |url=https://groups.google.com/g/execpc.general/c/mIRC_xnhYpk |title= My time with ExecPC |first= Greg |last=Ryan |date=10 February 1999}}</ref>

Known primarily for its extensive [[shareware]] software archives, the BBS also offered [[E-mail]], message forums, and [[BBS door]] games to paying subscribers.<ref name="bbsdocu">[[Jason Scott Sadofsky]] (July 2001 – December 2004), [[BBS: The Documentary]] (3 DVDs)</ref> As the file archives grew in size, Mahoney created the Hyperscan feature, allowing members to quickly search for files by [[Index term|keyword]]—a common feature today, but rare at the time. Mahoney became one of the earliest BBS operators to begin charging a fee for access to a BBS. The Exec-PC BBS grew to over 250 lines, with over 300&nbsp;GB of file storage at its peak in the mid-90s. Callers could connect to the Exec-PC BBS via long distance at no additional charge, or connect to any [[CompuServe]] local access number for a per-minute fee.