Renegade (BBS)
Encyclopedia
Renegade is a freeware
bulletin board system
(BBS) written for IBM PC
-compatible computers running MS-DOS
that gained popularity among hobbyist BBSes in the early to mid 1990s. It was originally written by Cott Lang in Pascal, based on the source code of Telegard
, which was in turn based on the earlier WWIV
.
Jeff Herrings, another former third-party software developer, was handed the source by Spence in January of 2000 after offering help when he found there was no Y2K-compliant
version of the software. Herrings released a public alpha version of Renegade in March of 2000 addressing Y2K-compliance problems. He stepped down as active programmer in October of 2001 citing lack of time and desire. Herrings released his Y2K-compliant source code to the public via the Dreamland BBS in September of 2005 and stated he did so because he felt betrayed by Patrick Spence regarding a personal matter and as such felt it was right for the source to be released to the general public.
Spence eventually handed the program over to Corey Snow in 2002, who intended to release an open-source, Java-based clone of the software which never saw the light of day.
T.J. McMillen received the source code in October 2003 from Patrick Spence in a plea to have some much needed features added to Renegade. McMillen then added the help of Chris Hoppman, one of the few remaining Renegade BBS operators around. Together they released a few updates which addressed bugs and debuted some new features before Hoppman lost interest. Hoppman stepped down from the project in 2004 and is no longer involved. This left McMillen, once again, alone to carry on the Renegade code.
With little free time, Renegade idled for more than a year until April 2006 when McMillen (also known as Exodus) added the talent of Lee Palmer to the Renegade team to replace Hoppman. Palmer (also known as Nuclear) is a former third-party software developer for the T.A.G. Bulletin Board System
.
Current Alpha releases show Lightbar support hard coded into the Renegade BBS code.
Version 1.18a/DOS was released as an update on March 26, 2011.
Renemail v1.20a/DOS (Echomail) Processor was updated and released on October 11, 2011.
Freeware
Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...
bulletin board system
Bulletin board system
A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...
(BBS) written for IBM PC
IBM PC
The IBM Personal Computer, commonly known as the IBM PC, is the original version and progenitor of the IBM PC compatible hardware platform. It is IBM model number 5150, and was introduced on August 12, 1981...
-compatible computers running MS-DOS
MS-DOS
MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...
that gained popularity among hobbyist BBSes in the early to mid 1990s. It was originally written by Cott Lang in Pascal, based on the source code of Telegard
Telegard
Telegard is an early bulletin board system software program written for IBM PC-compatible computers running MS-DOS and OS/2. Telegard was written in Pascal with routines written in C++ and assembly language, based on a copy of the WWIV source code....
, which was in turn based on the earlier WWIV
WWIV
WWIV was a popular brand of bulletin board system software from the late 1980s through the mid-1990s. The modifiable source code allowed a sysop to customize the main BBS program for their particular needs and aesthetics...
.
Transfer of control
On April 23, 1997, after the decline of BBS popularity, Lang ceased development work on Renegade and passed it on to two Renegade BBS utility authors: Patrick Spence and Gary Hall. Spence and Hall maintained Renegade for three years, releasing three updates with their new, ordinal date version scheme.Jeff Herrings, another former third-party software developer, was handed the source by Spence in January of 2000 after offering help when he found there was no Y2K-compliant
Year 2000 problem
The Year 2000 problem was a problem for both digital and non-digital documentation and data storage situations which resulted from the practice of abbreviating a four-digit year to two digits.In computer programs, the practice of representing the year with two...
version of the software. Herrings released a public alpha version of Renegade in March of 2000 addressing Y2K-compliance problems. He stepped down as active programmer in October of 2001 citing lack of time and desire. Herrings released his Y2K-compliant source code to the public via the Dreamland BBS in September of 2005 and stated he did so because he felt betrayed by Patrick Spence regarding a personal matter and as such felt it was right for the source to be released to the general public.
Spence eventually handed the program over to Corey Snow in 2002, who intended to release an open-source, Java-based clone of the software which never saw the light of day.
T.J. McMillen received the source code in October 2003 from Patrick Spence in a plea to have some much needed features added to Renegade. McMillen then added the help of Chris Hoppman, one of the few remaining Renegade BBS operators around. Together they released a few updates which addressed bugs and debuted some new features before Hoppman lost interest. Hoppman stepped down from the project in 2004 and is no longer involved. This left McMillen, once again, alone to carry on the Renegade code.
With little free time, Renegade idled for more than a year until April 2006 when McMillen (also known as Exodus) added the talent of Lee Palmer to the Renegade team to replace Hoppman. Palmer (also known as Nuclear) is a former third-party software developer for the T.A.G. Bulletin Board System
TAG (BBS)
T.A.G. is a DOS-based bulletin board system software program, released from 1986 to 2000.T.A.G. was written in Borland Pascal and is free for business or personal use ....
.
Current Information
Current testing and coding is in the works on another update and some third-party utilities for the current version of Renegade. The current work is now being coded under 'The Renegade Development Team' name, which mainly includes McMillen and Palmer. The Renegade Development Team tries to make new releases every 90 to 120 days to maintain currency and public interest.Current Alpha releases show Lightbar support hard coded into the Renegade BBS code.
Version 1.18a/DOS was released as an update on March 26, 2011.
Renemail v1.20a/DOS (Echomail) Processor was updated and released on October 11, 2011.
BBSs running Renegade
- The Titantic BBS Telnet, Home of the Renegade BBS Software
- Darkrealms, a Renegade BBS in Toronto Canada.
- [telnet://blues.zapto.org The Realms of Blue BBS], Started in Goose Creek, SC in 1993-1996, moved to Maryland in 1997. The board has been completely redone and is up and running again. 2009 - now.
- Physics BBS