Table of Contents

bboard

The bboard is a threaded multi discussion bulletin board. It goes back when then original SDF was just a BBS. You may think of it as a corkboard at a community center where members post notes with thumb tacks. It is, along with commode, one of the best ways to get help and news from SDF-EU. Voting of new features and changes on SDF-EU policies also take place at the bboard (ARPA membership or above required).

Some relevant bboards

Getting around

Listing boards

Type bboard on your shell. You will be presented with a list of current bboards (Boards Listing), sorted by most recent activity.

S D F - 1  Bulletin Board
================================================================================
[BBOARD]    [POSTS] [TOPIC]
================================================================================
SDFEU        [0066] SDF-EU User discussions
META         [0022] No Description
HELPDESK     [0690] Users Helping Users
NETWORKING   [0008] No Description
ARPA         [0148] ARPA members helping ARPA members 
REQUESTS     [0534] Software Updates and Installs for SDF and SDF-EU

[ SCROLL (F)ORWARD, (B)ACKWARD - (G)OTO or (Q)UIT ]

To navigate the boards listings, use F (Forward) and B (Backward) keys to go up and down. When you reach the end of the list (or you press Q), you will enter in Command Mode, and a prompt will be presented to you. Every time you run bboard you are placed in the <GENERAL> board by default, hence the prompt <GENERAL> Command: .

Browsing messages

Say you want to review the <SDFEU> bboard for news about SDF-EU. On the Command Mode, type G (GOTO) followed of the name of the bboard (in this case G → SDFEU). You will enter in Posts Listing, with all entries at the <SDFEU> bboard sorted by activity (most recent first).

================================================================================
[ID]     [DATE]          [AUTHOR]  [REP]  [SUBJECT]
================================================================================
[1]   03-May-12            [john]    [0]  New feature: SDF-EU intertubes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[2]   02-May-12            [jane]    [0]  SSH Port Forwarding question
      02-May-12             [jim]    [1]
      02-May-12           [james]    [2]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[3]   02-May-12            [jess]    [0]  Meetup at EuroBSDcon
      02-May-12          [joshua]    [1]
      02-May-12            [jack]    [2]

[ SCROLL (F)ORWARD, (B)ACKWARD - (T)YPE, (R)EPLY or (Q)UIT ]

Like in the Boards Listing, you can navigate the Posts Listing with keys F and B. Pressing Q will return you to Command Mode.

Read a message

Post #3 “Meetup at EuroBSCcon” caught your attention. To read it, press T (TYPE), followed by the post number (in this case T → 3) This will put you on Reading Mode at the first message from the thread. You could also start reading the thread from a specific message; simply enter T → 3.2 if you want to start reading the thread #3 from the second reply.

TACKER:  jess (Jessica G. Doe)
SUBJECT: Meetup at EuroBSDcon
DATE:    02-May-12 21:44:05
HOST:    odin

Anybody wanting to organize a meetup @EuroBSDcon?

<SDF.3.0>(3)[ <ENTER> to follow thread, (R)EPLY or (Q)UIT ] 

Post a message/reply

To post a new thread on the bboard you are currently in, press P (POST) and enter a subject. To publicly reply to a post, press R (REPLY). If you are in Reading Mode, you will reply to the thread you are currently in. If you are in Posts Listing, you will be asked for the post number you want to reply. Either way you will end up in the pico editor 1). Write down your reply and press CTRL-x to finish your post.

New Post
<SDFEU.1> Command: POST

Subject: Timezone?

You have written:
-----------------------------------------------------------
In which timezone(s) SDF-EU servers are?

This BULLETIN contains 40 characters in 6 words of 2 lines.
-----------------------------------------------------------
POST your BULLETIN? (y/n)
% Rebuilding symbol table for BBOARD:<SDFEU>  [QUEUED]
Would you like to add a READERS POLL? (y/n)
Reply
<SDFEU.1> Command: REPLY (A NUMBER) 3

REPLY to "Meetup at EuroBSDcon" ? (y/n)

You have replied:
-----------------------------------------------------------
I would love to!

This BULLETIN contains 16 characters in 4 words of 2 lines.
-----------------------------------------------------------
POST your REPLY? (y/n)

...and much more

Now that you are confortable with the bboard, try exploring additional features:

Command Reference

(?) What is the BBOARD?
(L)IST List bulletin summaries
(G)OTO View another BBOARD (“GOTO” lists boards)
(T)YPE Displays the selected bulletin
(S)EARCH SEARCH the entire BBOARD on a KEYWORD
(N)EW SCAN SCAN the current BBOARD for NEW messages
(n)EW SCAN SCAN all BBOARDs for NEW messages
(V)IEW POLLS SCAN the entire BBOARD for READER POLLS
(F)ORWARD View the next thread within the current BBOARD
(B)ACKWARD View the previous thread within the current BBOARD
(P)OST POST a new bulletin (bulletins live 30 days)
(D)EPOST DEPOST a bulletin you have posted
(R)EPLY Respond to a bulletin
(M)KBOARD Create a new BBOARD
(K)ILL Toggle a BBOARD to and from your KILL list
(A)RCHIVE Enter/Exit the BBOARD archives
(C)OLORS Enable/disable colors
(W)HO Who is reading the bboard
(I)GNORE Manage your user ignore list
(Q)UIT QUIT the BBOARD
1)
If you want to change your default editor, check the bboard man page