RoblistRoblist was the most comprehensive database of South African Bulletin Board Systems. 
It was published by Rob Fisher ("probably the country's best known BBSer") at the beginning of each month and was available on most boards around the country. Roblist was the de facto BBS list for South Africa -- and a little beyond. Launched in the late eighties, the first editions were "painstakingly created using an ANSI editor," remembers Rob Fisher. "Roblist was written in assembler to keep the size down because we still only played around at 2400 baud." It provided users with a list of all verified Bulletin Board Systems and their numbers, along with the System Operator's name, what BBS software is run, and which mail networks each BBS carried -- over and above mention of "special features" such as image or music files. 
In time, as the BBS community expanded and modem speeds increased, the Roblist package grew to include newsletters and commentary on related topics. It became little short of an institution. In fact, it could be fair to say that Roblist fostered the country's burgeoning BBS scene while, in turn, the program's reputation helped Mr. Fisher "become the biggest retailer of modems on the African continent in 1995." Listed below are some of the BBSes appearing in the May 1993 issue: Eastern Cape 5:7104 Wind, Ostriches & J Bay! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ BBS Name Number Sysop ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Algoa BBS | (041) 46-4396 | Frikkie Potgieter Big Mac Opus | (041) 33-3113 | Dave McEwen Coltech | (041) 38-3611 | Pieter Joubert Diakonos | (0441) 8-1652 | Deon Strydom Eliac EL | (0431) 5-7949 | Mark Pullin Mad Dog PE | (041) 66-2491 | Bryan Haefele P.E.Technikon | (041) 53-4278 | Renaldo Rheeder Star | (0431) 37-2553 | Trevor Angus The Catalyst PE #1 | (041) 34-1122 | Henk Wolsink The Catalyst PE #2 | (041) 34-2859 | Henk Wolsink The Catalyst PE #3 | (041) 34-3279 | Henk Wolsink The Catalyst PE #4 | (041) 33-5088 | Henk Wolsink The Friendly City BBS #1 | (041) 51-1185 | Greg Murrell The Friendly City BBS #2 | (041) 51-2305 | Greg Murrel ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Foreign For the HST Boys and Girls! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ BBS Name Number Sysop ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Afro Line - Mozambique | (09258) 1415303 | Helder Santos Almac - Scotland | (0944)324-665371 | Alastair McIntyre Apogee SW - U.S.A. | (091)508-3652359 | Canada Remote - Canada | (091)416-6297000 | Neil Fleming Channel 1 - U.S.A. | (091)617-3545776 | Brian Miller Elnet - Namibia | (06331) 3270 | Poenie Van Zyl ExecNet - U.S.A. | (091)914-6674567 | Andy Keeves Forbin Project - U.S.A. | (091)319-2660447 | John Friel Kronverk BBS - Russia | (097)812-1266972 | M.S.I. - U.S.A. | (091)805-3950650 | Rick Heming MDS - Zagreb Croatia | (0938) 41161360 | McAfee Ass - U.S.A. | (091)408-9885138 | John McAfee PC Connection - Australia | (0961)33-880909 | PKWare's BBS - U.S.A. | (091)414-3548670 | Mark Gresbach R.I.S.P. - Slovenija | (0938) 61199400 | Salt Air - U.S.A. | (091)801-2618976 | Strawberry Patch - U.S.A. | (091)606-4320879 | Terry West Sunrise Door Software - U | (091)404-2569525 | Al Lawrence The Soap Box - Australia | (0961)38-984892 | Tropical BBS - Mozambique | (09258) 1425745 | Anibal Marques US Robotics - Sit UBU Sit | (091)708-9825092 | Nick Dodge Warped Board - U.S.A. | (091)703-9414041 | Rick Welshans ZyXEL - U.S.A. | (091)714-6930762 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [...] But, as they say in the classics, all good things must come to an end. "The internet led to the demise of Roblist," explains Rob in an email in December 2010. "BBS's started to close at a rate of knots as the internet spread and in a very short space of time our modem speeds were increasing and we were surfing the web." December 1996 saw the final issue of Roblist. The internet continues to grow at a phenomenal rate.... I have seen a marked increase in "normal" people getting onto the Net! By "normal" I mean not the computer literate public only... Mr Joe Public are now buying modems.. the Internet is becoming a Business Tool as well as a Fun thing! People want to chat to their friends and family overseas and not have to sell their houses to pay off their phone bill. Business are being "forced" onto the net and they quite simply HAVE TO have an email address. After Roblist disappeared and the Internet (read: WWW) gained a foothold on the South African public, BBSes gradually disappeared, too. Some SysOps saw the commercial opportunity and became ISPs in their own right while others emigrated on account of the country's changing political climate. Very much indeed changed in a short space of time. According to rumours, the reins were to have been taken over by someone else. Nothing ever materialised. Possibly the closest to any maintained list of BBSes remaining in the country (albeit without newsletters or editorials) was the Telix dialling directory kept on the HMVH Corporation BBS -- until its own demise in April 2000.
Name Number Line Format
1 Alpha BBS (Excalibur) 435-0099 38400 N-8-1
2 Al's Place (031) 467-0244 38400 N-8-1
3 Bible Bulletin Board 764-6036 38400 N-8-1
4 Connectix #01-#08 (031) 266-9992 38400 N-8-1
5 Connectix #11-#15 (031) 266-9835 38400 N-8-1
6 Khanya BBS (012) 333-6727 38400 N-8-1
7 KLeiN BBS (021) 881-3316 38400 N-8-1
8 Novell User Group of SA (012) 333-1642 38400 N-8-1
9 The HMVH Corporation BBS 768-6153 38400 N-8-1
10 The Lair 884-7945 38400 N-8-1
11 Unisa Editorial (012) 429-8641 38400 N-8-1
By that time the state of the BBS scene in South Africa had become patchy, to say the least. Steve Hayes, former SysOp of Unisa Editorial BBS (who also maintained a private list) sent this message to the alt.bbs newsgroup a few months later: Bulletin Board Services (BBSs) operating in Gauteng July 26, 2000 BBS NAME AND PLACE PHONE NETWORKS ================== ===== ======== Khanya/Podvig (012) 333-6727 a/h Family, CCC, Fido Novell, Pretoria (012) 333-1642 Fido a/h = after hours - call after 9 pm. ===================================================================== If you know of any other BBSs not listed above, please send the details to Steve Hayes: ... For more information about Pretoria BBSs, see the following Web page: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/pretbbs.htm Recently closed BBSs: Bible BBS, Centurion Dungeon Keep, Alberton HMVH Inferno BBS Tele-soft The Lair Unisa Editorial, Pretoria Keep well Steve Hayes WWW: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/steve.htm The end. This page last updated: 07-11-2015 | Related blog post
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