-=> Quoting Eric Oulashin to Nancy Backus on 10 Jan 11  11:10:41 <=-

 > I didn't take to telnet until there were no longer any local bbses that
 > I could dial in to... If there were any now, I could still do dialup. 

 EO> When I started using the internet, it seemed to me that telnet (and
 EO> similar protocols, such as SSH) were used to get onto remote UNIX/Linux
 EO> accounts and use computers that way, and I had used it as such, since
 EO> ISPs in the 90s often provided a shell account to their users.  But for
 EO> some reason, telnetting into a BBS seemed a little silly for me - maybe
 EO> that was because most BBSs then were still using POTS.

For me, it was that telnetting was yet another magic spell that I wasn't
ready to learn until it was absolutely necessary.  I wasn't being
seduced by the internet at all at that point, was happy enough with what
I had on the bbses I was calling... although I was a little intrigued by
what some of the bbs community were doing to try to make internet access
more attainable by the average citizen, with Freenet and all...

 EO> That's all true.  :)  It still feels basically the same using telnet,
 EO> although part of it just seems different.  I think one reason is that I
 EO> never used telnet in DOS; internet apps are more readily available for
 EO> Windows and other operating systems.  And sometimes I still miss using

Staying in DOS was a part of why I was slow to do anything internet,
having no interest in going to Windows etc...  but also not really
needing anything particularly on the internet, either...  I was getting
my email through gateways onto the bbs, was able to read some of the
burgeoning newsgroups on the bbs as well... why venture out further? 

 EO> a modem to connect to a BBS.  At least when I first started using BBSs,
 EO> something was exciting about using a phone line with my computer to
 EO> connect to another computer and listening to it connect, and then
 EO> finally getting on. :) 

Ah, yes...   I remember those days, too...  ;)  Have to admit I miss
that, just a little, anyway...   :)

 > here know... I'm still pretty much totally DOS, by choice, and that
 > helps to limit some of my internet activity...  ;)

 EO> Why is it that you still mostly use DOS?

Partially already answered, above...  In addition to the no interest in
dealing with Windows, and the "magic spell" aspect of it (of which a
little more later), I'm what hubby (my resident Wizard) refers to as
rodent-phobic... The furry flesh and blood ones don't bother me in the
least, but the pointing device type, and their counterparts, just don't
work well for me.  I am ABLE to make them work, but it doesn't do well
for me, I tend to twitch or something at just the wrong point, and it's
layers of extra stuff that just doesn't help.  I've memorized the magic
spells I need to do what I need to do in DOS (written down a few that I
don't use often enough to remember easily), and menus and such don't
make things any easier for me.  I know, I know... for other people, they
couldn't imagine using the complexity of command lines...   Help is
easier to find in DOS, for me... :)  I've used Windows for various
things when absolutely necessary (some graphics stuff I needed to do,
for instance), and even took my GRE on a computer that didn't even have
the keyboard commands (which I usually use when I can, when I have to be
in Windows) and did well enough... but I'm not comfortable doing it, and
more exposure only makes it worse... ;)

As to the magic spell aspect of things...  I just view the computer as a
magic box, a useful tool for the things it can do for me... I'm just not
a techie, although I've had technical courses (and done ok in them).  My
husband IS a techie though, and quite good at both software and hardware
etc...  and handy when I run into problems... :)  I say that I'm the
sorcerer's apprentice, after the brooms lesson...   I know enough
magic to do what I need, and know enough to not try spells I don't
already know how to counteract...  ;)  Usually, anyway...   And,
being a natural teacher-type, I seem to know more than I do, since I can
teach just about anyone what I DO know...  :)

There you go... probably more than you wanted to know... :)

ttyl        neb

... if (Original_Ver==OK)  Don't_Upgrade();
--- Blue Wave/DOS v2.20