# BBS Files: IceNEWS

"IceNEWS was the official news-letter of the IceNET BBS network. IceNET was a BBS network based around the BBS software package WWIV. WWIV was first written by Wayne Bell (Random) in BASIC in the early 1980's. In the mid-1980's he rewrote it in Turbo Pascal - it first became popular around the Turbo Pascal v2.x and v3.x versions. In the late 1980's Wayne Bell taught himself C using Turbo C and rewrote WWIV in C, giving the world WWIV v4.x. Around version 4.06 (if I remember correctly) Wayne Bell introduced the concept of networking into WWIV. It was loosely based on the networking model you see in Usenet Newsgroups.

It was around this time that WWIVnet came into existence.; Due to internal strife in the WWIVnet world, a revolution occurred and several systems broke away to form WWIVlink. Then, in the Buffalo, NY area Jim Nunn was setting up a BBS of his own. He decided to use WWIV as his BBS software. But due to Western New York BBS politics he couldn't get his Great White North BBS into WWIVnet. So, Jim set up IceNET so that he could learn WWIV based networking while trying to navigate the world of BBS politics to get into WWIVnet. In that process... IceNET became a real rival to WWIVnet in its own right.

IceNET normal perceived as above the fray of normal BBS politics quickly grew. It then grew from a mid sized local network to a small national network. That occurred when a local network in New Orleans, LA asked Jim Nunn to merge IceNET with their local network. So, it went from about 13-15 boards in WNY to about 25-30 boards in both WNY and the New Orleans, LA area.

I am not sure of this, but I think it was about this time that IceNET became the 3rd largest WWIV based BBS network around. Every area had its WWIVnet systems. A lot of areas had their WWIVlink systems. Those were the national networks. Every area, from what I have seen now, had its local WWIV based network. For a long time, in WNY, that network was Trident<>Relay setup by Adam Lambert (Eh ????). But Adam let that network go. He tried to make it grow every now and then, and would asks a board or two to join it... but then it would die again.

Anyway, to cut this story short... WWIVnet had a WWIVnews news-letter. So, Jim Nunn thought that IceNET should have an IceNEWS newsletter. JIm got Louis Hall (LouHal) at the The Forest BBS in WNY to put something together. He put the first issue together in September 1992. That first issue was not very long and contained a few items that were local to the WNY area and to LouHal's board itself. But there were a few folks who read it on a regular basis and enjoyed it."

Filename | Size | Description of the Textfile icenews.txt | 4832 | An Introduction to IceNEWS, by DNR
news9209.txt | 19833 | ICEnet News (September 1992)
news9210.txt | 31035 | ICEnet News (October, 1992)
news9211.txt | 30334 | ICEnet News (November, 1992)
news9212.txt | 53485 | ICEnet News (December, 1992)
news9302.txt | 78806 | ICEnet News (February, 1993)
news9303.txt | 54406 | ICEnet News (March, 1993)
news9304.txt | 65795 | ICEnet News (April, 1993)
news9305.txt | 55598 | ICEnet News (May, 1993)
news9306.txt | 57145 | ICEnet News (June, 1993)
news9307.txt | 53139 | ICEnet News (July, 1993)
news9312.txt | 97293 | ICEnet News (December, 1993)
news9401.txt | 99667 | ICEnet News (January, 1994)
news9402.txt | 87016 | ICEnet News (February, 1994)
news9403.txt | 92928 | ICEnet News (March, 1994)
news9404.txt | 77707 | ICEnet News (April, 1994)
news9405.txt | 128302 | ICEnet News (May, 1994)
news9406.txt | 143395 | ICEnet News (June, 1994)
news9407.txt | 136876 | ICEnet News (July, 1994)
news9408.txt | 147749 | ICEnet News (August, 1994)
news9409.txt | 111361 | ICEnet News (September, 1994)
news9411.txt | 141095 | ICEnet News (November, 1994)
news9412.txt | 95674 | ICEnet News (December, 1994)
news9501.txt | 83006 | ICEnet News (January, 1995)
news9506.txt | 107111 | ICEnet News (June, 1995)

There are 25 files for a total of 2,053,588 bytes.