XPost: rec.arts.books.tolkien   
   From: g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies   
      
   In message <9c5528t39jncn5ikaco8sar848plftot5g@4ax.com>   
     Paul S  Person  wrote:   
   > On Sun, 5 Aug 2012 17:30:54 -0400, Stan Brown   
   >  wrote:   
      
   >>On Sun, 05 Aug 2012 23:02:19 +0200, Troels Forchhammer wrote:   
   >>>   
   >>[Balrog wings]   
   >>>   
   >>> Seriuosly, though, it seems that everybody eventually just got fed up   
   >>> with that discussion (I've been told that it had been going on at least   
   >>> since the eighties, though it obviously didn't hit the on-line fora   
   >>> until much later).   
   >>   
   >>There was Usenet in the 1980s, though I can't recall whether I joined   
   >>r.a.b.t that early, or whether it even existed.   
      
   > There was also, at some point, something called (IIRC) FidoNet, which   
   > was propagated on BBS systems (not the Internet or any precursor to   
   > the Internet).   
      
   Yes, FidoNet was rather odd. I was on an early FidoNet system in 1986-88   
   back when it ran specifically on the Fido BBS software for PCs long   
   before it started to be ported to other software. I gave up on BBSes in   
   the early 90s when I got a netcom account, which allowed me to get back   
   on the Internet consistently. (Before that I was placing occasional late   
   night calls to a NeXT cube in Santa Cruz with 4 lines to get a bash   
   prompt).   
      
   > My /specific/ recollection is a group/forum/whatever devoted to OS/2   
   > 2.0, so this was probably the early 90's.   
      
   I think FidoNet is still around, though I can't imagine it gets much use.   
      
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