A N N O U N C E M E N T Effective, 9/10/93, I purchased all rights regarding the UltraBBS package I'm a long time professional programmer, as well as on of the original Ultrabbs Test Sites. I've been running it for 3 years, on a 10 (and soon to be 18) line system. I have over 100,000 files online and 16 CD Roms! VERSION *3.00* will be released BY 11/10/93 It will be a major upgrade from 2.09 that we've all been running. I WILL do my best to have RIP support, Netmail support, UUCP support, and a NEW VASTLY faster filebase mechanism in place by that point. *BUT* rest assured -- if not ALL of the above are in it by that point I will STILL release a working version. I would rather get 3.00 out followed by 3.01 than have ANYONE wait longer than ABSOLUTELY necessary. ULTRABBS HQ is Pinecliffe BBS. (303)-642-7463. *ALL* Ultra sites PLEASE call this BBS, leaving me a message with your BOARD NAME, SYSOP NAME, Phone #s, and other relevant details for the new UltraBBS nodelist MY COMMITMENT: I'm investing quite a bit of both money and time. I *WILL* ABSOLUTELY give Ultra the best support & improvements that I can. ULTRA TEAM: You can reach us ANYTIME at these numbers: Craig Baker (owner) 303-642-7534 or 303-444-7071 Voice Brian Godette 303-776-6088 or Voice PINECLIFFE BBS: 303-642-7463 or 104/28 (Fido) or cdb@pinecliffe.com EIGHTH DIMENSION BBS: 303-651-7745 or 104/118 (Fido) WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP? We've got things under control. Already mites are being squished and NEW feature are being included. BUT WE WILL ACCEPT HELP!! 1) WE NEED TO CONTACT ALL ultra sites. Spread this file around and HELP others get in touch. I want to create a CURRENT Ultrabbs site list I *DO NOT* care if a current ultra site is registered or not!! 2) Ultra Utilities will need to be updated. ALL Authors (or those that want to contribute here - let me know. The v3.00 structures will be finalized within the next week or two. 3) NEW Utilities are need. PARTICULARLY to convert from OTHER BBSes! 4) ALPHA and BETA Test sites. Anyone wishing to be one will NOT be turned down. 5) SUGGESTIONS: Anything you have wanted to see in Ultrabbs II - LET us know! 6) Area hubs, around the world for the ULTRASUP echo. Its still on RIME but we're going to work to get it on the Fido backbone again. 7) Encouragement. We've bitten off a lot folks. But we WONT LET YOU down. WHATS NOT NEEDED: 1) Blame. Frankly, I know what its like to tackle something, as John tried, and simply find you don't have the time or resources. I do NOT want to get into 'who messed up' conversations. LETS GET MOVING FORWARD FINALLY: Folks, I'm giving this my best shot. I've got a LOT of work to do. Time to get back to it. cdb. A message from John Chwatal *************************************************************************** * * * ANNOUNCEMENTS concerning Ultrabbs Software! * * * *************************************************************************** September 9, 1993 Dear Friends, It comes with great sadness to me personally to announce to all of you that I've had to make a big decision regarding my future with UltraBBS. Effective this date, UltraBBS Software has been sold to Craig D. Baker of cdb systems. Craig, as most of you already know, is a top notch programmer, has written a number of utility for UltraBBS, and runs the largest UltraBBS system known. After much deliberation, mental stress, and swallowing of personal pride, I have come to the realization that keeping UltraBBS under my control would be a poor decision. There is just too much work for one man to do, and time is just too short. Most of you know I have a full time position with a major regional medical center that keeps me busy 60+ hours each week. Little time thus remains for programming and I just don't foresee it getting better for the anytime before the end of the year. By no means does this imply the I am leaving UltraBBS. On the contrary, I will continue to be involved as much as Craig will allow, and my board will continue to provide you as a secondary channel for support, particularly to those who invested in Ultra with me. However, in most cases where suggestions are made, and problems with which I cannot resolve, I will refer you to Craig's BBS for assistance. Additionally, I will continue to host the RIME UltraBBS conference until Craig comes up on line with RIME, however, my RIME address has changed to ->CHWATAL or ->1040. Craig will most likely have ->ULTRABBS as his RIME address. Craig is a wonderful programmer who has already written a number of changes for the new UltraBBS. CD-ROM support, faster filebase access and searching and other changes are well into development, thus, I would look for a new release shortly. Behind him he has several persons to assist with additional coding, basically a team, which will bring UltraBBS back into the fold as a top BBS package. In short, running 15 networked nodes with multiple CD-ROMs, he is acutely aware of your growth needs and is prepared to implement the changes which will restore your faith in UltraBBS's future. Existing registered sysops will continue to be supported with the same agreement I had with you. Registered sysops will receive the next version of UltraBBS without charge, and you will be notified when the next version is released so you can download the software. I have given Craig a complete list of all those persons who have properly registered their software with myself or author Bob Farmer. Those of you who have not registered UBBS should do so immediately with Craig to insure the next release is available to you. Craig's BBS, Pinecliffe, can be reached at (303)-642-7463 Send registrations to: Craig D. Baker P.O. Box D Pinecliffe, CO 80471 With many thanks for your continued support. ..john.. ************************************************************************** * COMMENTS by Craig Baker, sysop of Pinecliffe BBS, and new OWNER of * * UltraBBS: * ************************************************************************** I would like to thank John for the above statements! (I'm a bit pink around the ears with some of the comments). But we agree on what he says above. Continuing the development of Ultra is certainly a large task - and with the rapid development of new packages, it is vital to keep it GROWING! In that light, I offered (and John didn't take me seriously at first ) to purchase the package in order that that growth proceed. That is my ABSOLUTE commitment. Personally, I run an 18 node Ultrabbs, and have written quite a number of utilities, along with my sidekick Brian Godette of 104/118. Since I run 16 CD Rom drives online, I've dealt with many of the problems associated with Rom drives -- and those improvements (including an INSTANT zippy search) will be available to all! I've incorporated netmail and UUCP mail into Ultra on my own bbs. That too will be available to all in the next release WITHIN 60 DAYS! I've been a professional programmer for 20+ years and have run and owned a computer store for 15 years. I have also been one of the original Ultrabbs sysops, having been VERY impressed with the software -- such a young package, and yet so NICE! I've never waivered in that choice. Though I've looked at ALL of the alternatives, UBBS really WAS the nicest shareware package. *AND* it still has a LOT of promise. But we need to get the development underway. Recently, with the proliferation of CD Rom drives, and the astounding growth of RIP support among bbs systems, its VITAL that Ultrabbs keep up with the times! I look FORWARD to the challenge of keeping Ultrabbs in the forefront of shareware BBS software! SHORT TERM PLANS: Discussed some above! (I put it up there as that might be more suitable for a bulletin form) LONGER TERM PLANS: Multilanguage support. Moving to a script based BBS. Allowing the sysop to reconfigure Ultrabbs (including renaming or deleting the Main menu commands). Eliminating the need for a fossil. A SPECIFIC Desqview aware version -- allowing at LEAST 4 or 8 nodes per computer. Well - that about sums it up for the time being. I've got to get to WORK cdb.