Textfiles, intended to be transferred from BBS to BBS and user to user, were the longer-lasting legacy of the 1980's, but a much more fluid portion of the boards was the true lifeblood of the culture: the messages. Every BBS has a number of message bases where users could post about whatever they thought to discuss; debates, rag wars, advertisements, and boasts all played out the same dramas all over the country and the world. When you logged onto a BBS, and started reading the bases you had access to, you could get a sense, almost immediately, of what the "character" of the board was. Some were dictatorships, some were insane asylums, some were office buildings.
In the files below, you will get a glimpse of these wonderous worlds that affected mine and others' lives, and the steady stream of mind-to-mind communication that shot out of a thousand nighttime modems.
| Filename |
Size |
Description of the Textfile |
| ALANWESTON | The Alan Weston BBS Message Collection (1990-1996) | |
| ALTERREALITY | Message Bases from the Alter Reality BBS (1989-1991) | |
| BACKWATER | Message Bases from the Backwater BBS (Unsorted) | |
| QWK | Collections of Messages in .QWK Format | |
| TBFILES | ||
| YABBS | Message Bases from Alex Wetmore's YABBS (1994) | |
| 103dbug2.txt | 4248 | MESSAGE: Tradewars Informationn, by Stephen Whitis (March 5, 1994) |
| 103dbug3.txt | 6499 | MESSAGE: Tradewars Information by Stephen Whitis (March 5, 1994) |
| 103dbug4.txt | 5902 | MESSAGE: Tradewars Information, by Stephen Whitis (March 5, 1994) |
| 103dbugs.txt | 5942 | MESSAGE: Tradeware Information, by Stephen Whitis (March 5, 1994) |
| acking.txt | 2383 | Some BBS Messages about Hacking, December of 1984 |
| anarchy.txt | 53621 | Postings from an Anarchy Sub-Board, Telegard Conference, Late 1991 |
| anonym.txt | 5686 | Postings to the Anonymous Attic on the 1985 BBS, May, 1984 |
| apples.txt | 8960 | Messages from the Apple Pirate board on Sherwood Forest II, 1985 |
| artofwar.txt | 86120 | Message from the Art of War BBS (1991) |
| avatar.posts | 44288 | The America Online Project Avatar Posts Archive (June 28, 1992) |
| bbs.txt | 4302 | Message Base with Ads for BBS's, 1985 |
| bice.txt | 47412 | LODCOM: Selected Messages from Black Ice Private (April-May 1989) |
| black1.txt | 64553 | LODCOM: Large Sampling of Messages for the LODCOM Project |
| bombs.ana | 19444 | Postings to the Bombs Message Base from the South Pole BBS |
| bruce.txt | 1757 | MESSAGE: Monty Python Lyrics, by Micah Holmes (February 16, 1994) |
| bruce2.txt | 5701 | MESSAGE: Monty Python Lyrics (The Bruces) by Saul Ansbacher (March 23, 1994) |
| brutal.txt | 23411 | CAPTURE: Text Capture of Brutal, early Danish Hack/Phreak BBS by FIgaro (1992) |
| buldagr1.txt | 13202 | BBS Messages: Johnny Dagger and friends build a story late one night (1993) |
| bullcreek86.txt | 112306 | BBS MESSAGES: The Bull Creek BBS in Austin, TX (Sysop: Mark Bryant) Messages from 1986 |
| bust_bbs.txt | 4216 | Some Messages Preceeding a BBS Piracy Bust (September 27, 1991) |
| cdz.cap.txt | 13167 | Messages from unknown hacker/phreaker BBS in the 206 (Washington State) area code. (November, 1989) |
| cdz2.cap.txt | 25707 | Messages from unknown hacker/phreaker BBS in the 206 (Washington State) area code. (December, 1989) |
| channl-1.txt | 19120 | Discussion of the Modem Tax on the Channel 1 BBS (August, 1993) |
| chatter.asc | 19662 | GodNet General Chatter Message base (February, 1993) |
| chin.txt | 2517 | MESSAGE: Monty Python Lyrics (I Like Chinese) from Micah Holmes (March 15, 1994) |
| circlems.txt | 12794 | Some Postings from The Inner Circle about Blue Boxing |
| citadel-story.txt | 2472 | Citadel Explains the Citadel-TOPx Log Files from 1996 (2002) |
| citadel-top.log | 173991 | Log Files of TOP BBS (January, 1996) |
| citadel-top2.log | 41084 | Log Files of TOP BBS (January, 1996) |
| citadel-top3.log | 101457 | Log Files of TOP BBS (January, 1996) |
| color$.txt | 9824 | The Color Box, from the Aluminum Gerbil (40 Columns, Uppercase) |
| compcond.txt | 4783 | CAPTURE: The Computer Connection BBS (1982) |
| compconna.txt | 8228 | CAPTURE: The Computer Connection BBS (1982) |
| compconnb.txt | 6395 | CAPTURE: The Computer Connection BBS (1982) |
| compconnc.txt | 9698 | CAPTURE: The Computer Connection BBS (1982) |
| conspir.asc | 11274 | The GodNet Conspiracy Theory Echo (June, 1993) |
| corruptc.txt | 8116 | Extracts from the Corrupt Computing BBS |
| crash.txt | 2507 | Submission for mod.telecom ("Crashing" a Central Office) (April 26, 1987) |
| crazy | 5103 | How Someone Harassed Someone Else on FidoNet |
| crckin.msg | 4274 | Messages from a "Cracking" BBS Conference, August, 1994 |
| crime.txt | 23927 | Discussion of Credit Card Fraud on a BBS, with the Sysop Offering Help to the Secret Service (May, 1994) |
| cy-chat.txt | 15924 | Cyberpunk BBS Message Base (Early 1991) |
| cyberadv.txt | 12645 | Online Cyberpunk Role-Playing BBS (March 1991) |
| death.txt | 1071 | MESSAGE: A Little Poem of Death by Robert (October 2, 1993) |
| death2.txt | 1192 | MESSAGE: An Ode to Death, by Sysop III (October 19, 1993) |
| debate.txt | 16545 | The Debate Den Message Board on the Safehouse BBS |
| diversibuffer.txt | 24370 | BUFFER: Messages on a Diversi-Dial, Late 1980's |
| docwho.eko | 61677 | Capture from a Dr. Who Converence, (May 1992) |
| docwho1.eko | 36345 | Additional Captured Messages from a Dr. Who Conference (May 1992) |
| ericbee.txt | 2038 | MESSAGE: Monty Python Lyrics by Micah Holmes (Eric the Half a Bee) (February 17, 1994) |
| exec_inn.txt | 9384 | MESSAGES: Postings from the Executive Inn BBS (1988) |
| feather.txt | 58449 | 24 msgs on The Feather's Quill (A BBS Story Board) |
| frwrks.txt | 6978 | Pyrotechnic BBS Message Base (May-July 1984) |
| fuckyouf.txt | 155880 | Uncensored Transcripts from the MindVox "Fuck-You" Forum, Compiled and Moderated by Jim Felcher (1994) |
| galaxy.txt | 2307 | MESSAGE: Monty Python Lyrics (The Galaxy Song), from Jason Levine (March 1, 1994) |
| grabbag.msg | 8607 | All sorts of interesting snippets |
| hackers.msg | 22918 | BBS Messages: The Compost Heap, Hacking Sub-Board, March 1986 |
| hackshak.txt | 19958 | LODCOM: Selected Messages from The Hack Shack BBS |
| hate-mod.txt | 24613 | A Very Large Flamewar on a Usenet Message Base in West-Germany The BBS Flamewar travels to USENET... |
| hpnumber.txt | 23792 | Collection of Hacking and Phreaking Codes on a BBS Message Base (November-December, 1991) |
| indy3.txt | 29560 | Capture of a Gaming BBS Message Base, Circa 1990 |
| info4 | 6272 | Hacker Messages from PC-Pursuit NetExchange BBS (February 1988) |
| int_pyro.txt | 8904 | Messages from the Pyromania Section of a Citadel BBS (June 1990) |
| iroc.txt | 19355 | LODCOM: Selected Messages from the Inner Realm of Communications BBS (IROC) |
| jerky.txt | 50126 | A Large Collection of Jerky-Related BBS Messages and Files (1994) |
| journal.txt | 13081 | The Works BBS Endless Story File |
| junk.txt | 6528 | Message Base about Luding on the 1985 BBS |
| kindbud.txt | 242150 | BBS Messages from Kind Bud's Hemp Discussion Corner |
| letter.txt | 2234 | A Great Message by The Slipped Disk |
| lifesong.txt | 2674 | MESSAGE: Monty Python Lyrics (Bright Side of Life) from Micah Holmes (March 8, 1994) |
| lodcom.hac | 51395 | Lodcom Sample Messages Set #1, 4/20/93 |
| lodstuph | 60363 | LODCOM: Internal Release about the LODCOM Project, as well as LOD Messages |
| lotsames.msg | 13507 | Complete Smattering of Messages, October |
| luding.txt | 8526 | Posts on the Luding Message base from 1985 BBS, Feb. |
| lumberja.txt | 2252 | MESSAGE: Monty Python Lyrics (Lumberjack Song), from Jim Maciorowski (February 14, 1994) |
| messag.msg | 14798 | Wares, Cracking and Pirating Messages, November |
| messy.msg | 4096 | "General" to "Elite Phreak", November |
| meta01.txt | 274645 | Messages from a Pagan Fidonet Echo, February 1988 |
| meta02.txt | 304084 | Messages from a Pagan Fidonet Echo, February 1988 (Part II) |
| mjunkdrw.txt | 15268 | Collection of Messages from the Junk Drawer BBS |
| modemtest.txt | 203772 | Messages from The Modem Test BBS (Sysop: Charles "Chuck" Hood) (1993) |
| morgue.cap | 32000 | A Capture of Textfiles and Messages from The Morgue BBS (March, 1985) |
| movie.txt | 17722 | The Movie Review Alcove Message Base of the 1985 BBS |
| nurses.hum | 9789 | Messages from Nurses in Bondage |
| nurses2.hum | 16506 | More Messages from Nurses in Bondage |
| nurses3.hum | 12625 | And Yet More Nurses In Bondage |
| old_msgs | 29590 | Explosives for Fun and Pleasure, Uploaded by Shadow Knight (May 17, 1987) (Has Anarchy Messages Around It) |
| os2news.txt | 28908 | Messages about the IBM PS/2 1991 Forum (April 18, 1991) |
| p80-1.txt | 23384 | LODCOM: Selected Messages from the P-80 BBS (January-March 1984) |
| p80-2.txt | 9174 | LODCOM: Selected Messages from the P-80 BBS (March 1984) |
| peyote.txt | 34536 | BBS Messages about the Supreme Court and Peyote |
| philosip.txt | 44768 | The Philosophy Message Base of 1985 BBS, circa 1984 |
| phoenix1.msg | 163124 | The Incredible LOD Phoenix Project #1 |
| phoenix2.msg | 234933 | The Incredible LOD Phoenix Project #2 |
| phoenix3.msg | 258465 | The Incredible LOD Phoenix Project #3 |
| phreaks.txt | 5946 | General Phreaking Message Base |
| pod_rule.txt | 7209 | Posting of Mesages on Pagan/Occult BBS (Rules for the Conference) |
| qbbs_mess.txt | 152034 | MESSAGES: Capture of messages from the QBBS Support Board (April 12, 1988) |
| randomne.hum | 13169 | The Slipped Disk's Ramblings |
| robin.txt | 2868 | MESSAGE: Monty Python Lyrics (Brave Sir Robin), from Jason Levine (February 19, 1994) |
| roundtab.txt | 2042 | MESSAGE: Monty Python Lyrics (Knights of the Round Table) from Michah Holmes (February 23, 1994) |
| sitface.txt | 1057 | MESSAGE: Monty Python Lyrics (Sit on my Face), from Jeff Stokes (March 6, 1994) |
| slippe.hum | 7638 | More weird writings by the Slipped Disk |
| snurgle.txt | 8173 | What the Hell is a Snurgle? (BBS Postings) |
| softrev1.txt | 25468 | Software Reviews Message Base (July, 1991) |
| spamskit.txt | 3625 | MESSAGE: The Spam Sketch (Monty Python) from Richard Cote (March 11, 1994) |
| sperm.txt | 3145 | MESSAGE: Monty Python Lyrics (Every Sperm is Sacred) from Micah Holmes (March 10, 1994) |
| strek.txt | 121379 | Inter-WWIV Posting about Star Trek |
| strongholdnorth.txt | 13046 | Messages from the Stronghold North BBS (612) (March 26, 1986) |
| stuff3.txt | 1929 | Goodbye Message from the Off the Wall BBS |
| sysopsue.hum | 31743 | Message Base: Can Sysops Sue Their Users? |
| syssong.txt | 2569 | MESSAGE: The Sysop Soung (Monty Python Parody) by Mark Williams (February 19, 1994) |
| tardis2.msg | 5888 | Pretty bleak Dr. Who BBS Conference ..15 Minute Time limit... |
| telec.txt | 15250 | Basic Telecommunications Message Base by The Videosmith |
| telnetfe.txt | 6001 | Message Captured from the Telenet PC Pursuit Net Exchange BBS (February 1988) |
| trekkie.txt | 25156 | Star Trek Message Board from The Safehouse, 1984 |
| tt900507 | 11416 | MESSAGES: Messages from the Tender Trap BBS Circa May, 1990, by Dream Hunter Rem (1990) |
| udgbbs.txt | 7552 | Large BBS Ad Message Base List (January 1991) |
| vi900906.vir | 187667 | Messages about Viruses on a FidoNet board |
| vi901029.vir | 181138 | Messages about Viruses on a FidoNet board |
| virdisc2.txt | 23128 | Messages: Virus Discussion, 1991 |
| vmb.txt | 11833 | Mish-Mash Collection of Various Phreaking Textfiles, 1990 |
| wopr.txt | 37938 | LODCOM: Selected Messages from WOPR BBS (December 1984) |
| wotchlst.txt | 89917 | MESSAGES: Selection of Science Fiction BBS Messages |
| wotmisc.txt | 255091 | MESSAGES: Selection of Science Fiction BBS Messages (Prodigy) |
| wotproph.txt | 139825 | MESSAGES: Selection of Science Fiction BBS Messages (Prophecy) |
| wowie!!.msg | 20632 | Messages from October |
| zachman1.msg | 175524 | MESSAGE BASE: William F. Zachmann Quits the Ziff Davis Publishing Company (Compuserve) (1992) |
| zachman2.msg | 52190 | MESSAGE BASE: William F. Zachmann Quits the Ziff Davis Publishing Company (Compuserve) (1992) |
| zachman4.msg | 30109 | MESSAGE BASE: William F. Zachmann Quits the Ziff Davis Publishing Company (Compuserve) (1992) |
| There are 130 files for a total of 5,459,155 bytes. |
| There are 6 directories. |
It is very important to give credit where it's due; in 1993-1994, the remaining members of the Legion of Doom, now called LOD Communications, decided to take on a vast project of bringing the past to the BBS users of the present. They would do this by transcribing BBS messages from all the most popular and active phreaking and hacking boards of the 1980s and presenting them in their original 40 or 80 column format, all the spelling and grammatical errors intact, and giving a profile of the boards the messages came from. In many ways, textfiles.com had the same idea, 6 years later. The project got underway, but never really achieved the nationwide/mass acceptance it was supposed to, and these important files were in danger of being lost a second time.
I'm pleased to be a part of bringing many of these files back to you, and give a bow to these pioneers of BBS nostalgia/history.
If you wish to have the entire directory conveniently archived and compressed into one file, please download either messages.tar.gz (23761037 bytes) or messages.zip (25286829 bytes) instead of all the files separately.