In the last of the seventies and first part of the eighties bulletin boards were the means for file sharing and messaging. In searching the Internet today I have found that I was a pioneer.
In 1980, after building a few S100 bus systems and microprocessor based machine controls, I put an Osborne computer online for dial-up access. I stored files useful to CPM (Control Program for Microcomputer) users.
At the time Gary Kildahl’s CP/M from his Digital Research company was the going thing. While programs were being packaged with and for the TRS-80, Apple II, and Osborne, there were many more to come by way of BBS sharing and contributions from the early users and developers.
Famous works like Ward Christensen’s Xmodem made file transfers on analog telephone line feasible. In the very early days we used “glass teletypes” to copy texts of assembly language files which we could in turn compile on our own systems. Ward’s work made that much easier. Read about him here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ward_Christensen
The first BearTracks RCPM (Remote Control Program for Microcomputer) used an assembly code version of a program called BYE. It ran in the 48 kilobyte transient program area of the early machines while delivering, directory services, file transfer services, and messaging services. At a point in the mid eighties I switched to a Pascal program called ROS by Steve Fox.
Xmodem and subsequent versions with variable length transmission packet sizing allowed a user to move a considerable amount of data reliably over poor quality POTS analog lines.
Remember that an analog phone line had a limited usable bandwidth. Poor transmission quality could easily reduce data transfer rates. First systems used acoustically coupled modem devices and use 110 baud and 300 baud as the maximum speed. Advances in modems made progress in steps of 1200, 2400, 9600,19,200, 28,800, and 33,600 baud. Compression and noise cancellation advances over that same time made realized data rates of as high as 115,000 kilobits per second. You can read more about this here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modem
The BearTracks RCPM used Hayes and US Robotics modems throughout the operating years 1981 through 1990. The computers were Osborne I, Kaypro II, and Kaypro 10.
IBM did not come into the market with the IBM Personal Computer until 1981. Around that time Digital Research’s CP/M had an installed base of some three hundred thousand systems worldwide. The early offerings from IBM were meager and because IBM chose not to pursue litigation against copying of the BIOS design of the systems a clone industry was born. IBM PC Compatibles outsold their offerings and usually were much less expensive.
With the growth of the PCDOS and MSDOS operating system user base the BearTracks RCPM began offering CPM and DOS files. The CPM users were generally more technical, sought code, and were very helpful in debugging and extending code offerings. The DOS users were much less willing to perform in that manner and contributed little to the software offerings. The BBS days of free and open exchange were over by the end of the eighties.
While most efforts on the part of BBS users were a balance of uploading and downloading with freely offered assistance to those seeking help, the benevolent and altruistic mood of the new DOS users and developers approached mercenary in their nature. Over the decade intellectual property theft, copyright infringement, and blatant disregard for the original contributors to a software or code page caused me to ultimately shut down the BearTracks RCPM as it became a thankless pursuit.
In retrospect I would not have done anything differently. I learned at a fantastic rate and made good money doing BBS work. I marketed my software electronically before there was any such thing as Internet ecommerce. The BBS activity prepared me for the next step of Internet based services offerings that I would make. That Internet experience feeds me well today.
In the early seventies I stood in the Palo Alto Research Center looking at Alto and listened to Bob Metcalfe talk about this new thing called Ethernet. I never imagined how much change I would then see in my lifetime.
– Bernard Lambert February 15, 2017 (forty plus years later)