On 24 Jan 26 10:52:38, Richard Falken said the following to Jas Hud:

There is that gal who got mad because I told her I prefered spending my tim with horses than trying to get a woman these days. She threw a tantrum and then I never heard about her. Maybe that counts.

Well... there was the Jerry Springer episode about a guy who married a horse.

Nick

--- Renegade vY2Ka2
* Origin: Joey, do you like movies about gladiators? (1:229/426)

Re: Re: getting and keeping new users
By: Nick Andre to Richard Falken on Sat Jan 24 2026 11:04 pm

Well... there was the Jerry Springer episode about a guy who married a horse.

That sounds a bit... extreme.

But hey I guess the horse is not running away with your house and your car if she gets bored of you.


--
gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken
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To: Richard Falken
Re: Re: getting and keeping new users
By: Richard Falken to Nick Andre on Sun Jan 25 2026 04:37 am

From Newsgroup: FidoNet.BBS_CARNIVAL

Re: Re: getting and keeping new users By: Nick Andre to Richard
Falken on Sat Jan 24 2026 11:04 pm

Well... there was the Jerry Springer episode about a guy who married
a horse.

That sounds a bit... extreme.

mr hands would beg to differ if he didn't die from an brutalized colon.


--
"Before using Wildcat....This Company did not have a convenient way of
looking after some of the richest clients in the world...Now we do!"
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Which echoes are these?

Never heard of these either... sounds like BS.

FSXnet, where everyone's feelings matter and you can't bitch and moan like
an adult?

--- Renegade vY2Ka2
* Origin: Joey, do you like movies about gladiators? (1:229/426)

I was talking to chat gp and got a pretty good response to a question, I asked.


Thinking
Searching
In 2026, the debate over abrasive behavior in niche communities like Synchronet is central to whether these "hobbyist" networks can survive another decade. Critics and observers point to several ways this behavior actively drives away new users:
1. High Barrier to Entry
Newcomers in 2026 are accustomed to modern developer communities (like those on Discord, GitHub, or StackOverflow) that have shifted toward "inclusive" documentation and beginner-friendly onboarding. When figures like mro, Deuce, or echicken use a blunt or mocking tone, it creates a steep "social learning curve" that many users—especially younger hobbyists—simply choose not to climb.
2. The "Knowledge Silo" Effect
When developers are perceived as jerks, users often stop asking public questions to avoid ridicule. This results in:

Hidden Troubleshooting: Solutions happen in private chats rather than public echos, so the "public knowledge base" stops growing.
Stagnant Innovation: Potential contributors who might have written new JS modules or door games for Synchronet often abandon the project if their first interaction is negative.

3. Fragmentation of the Community
The perceived rudeness has led to a split in the BBS scene. By 2026, many new sysops are migrating to "alternative" networks or platforms:

Friendly Echos: New networks are forming with strict "no-harassment" policies specifically to provide a space where beginners can ask basic questions without being told to "RTFM."
Discord/Telegram: Much of the active BBS discussion has moved to modern chat apps where real-time moderation is easier and the culture is generally less abrasive than the traditional DOVE-Net or FidoNet echos.

4. Support Fatigue vs. Growth
While these developers argue that they are protecting their time from "lazy" users, the unintended consequence is a shrinking pool of new talent. In 2026, many open-source projects are realizing that community management is as important as code; without a welcoming front, even the best software (like Synchronet) risks becoming a "digital ghost town" as the older generation of sysops retires.
The Bottom Line: While their behavior ensures that only the most technically resilient users remain, it significantly limits the growth of the BBS hobby. For many in 2026, the trade-off—technical purity at the cost of new blood—is seen as a slow path to obsolescence.
--- SBBSecho 3.35-Linux
* Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)

On 22 Jan 2026, Mark Meadows Jr said the following...

"inclusive" documentation and beginner-friendly onboarding. When figures like mro, Deuce, or echicken use a blunt or mocking tone, it creates a steep "social learning curve" that many users—especially younger hobbyists—simply choose not to climb.

since they're probably not here i'll take this opportunity to respond:

you sound like a big baby

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/25 (Windows/32)
* Origin: cold fusion - cfbbs.net - grand rapids, mi (1:120/616)

On 22 Jan 26 15:01:39, Mark Meadows Jr said the following to All:

In 2026, the debate over abrasive behavior in niche communities like Synchr is central to whether these "hobbyist" networks can survive another decade. Critics and observers point to several ways this behavior actively drives a

Uhhhhh "what" debate?

If you don't want to be offended, stop looking for ways to be offended.

Nick

--- Renegade vY2Ka2
* Origin: Joey, do you like movies about gladiators? (1:229/426)

To: Mark Meadows Jr
Re: getting and keeping new users
By: Mark Meadows Jr to ALL on Thu Jan 22 2026 03:01 pm

From Newsgroup: FidoNet.BBS_CARNIVAL

I was talking to chat gp and got a pretty good response to a
question, I asked.

that's because it used AI to provide an answer YOU WANTED.

consequence is a shrinking pool of new talent. In 2026, many
open-source projects are realizing that community management
is as important as code; without a welcoming front, even the best
software (like Synchronet) risks becoming a "digital ghost town"
as the older generation of sysops retires. The Bottom Line: While
their behavior ensures that only the most technically resilient
users remain, it significantly limits the growth of the BBS hobby.
For many in 2026, the trade-offÄtechnical purity at the cost of new

nobody wants bbses. that's what limits the hobby.
you have to be stupid to not understand that. someone that uses
chatgpt for answers is stupid.
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Win32
* Origin: *The Gate BBS*Shelby, NC USA*thegateb.synchro.net* (1:3634/27)

To: Alexander Grotewohl
Re: Re: getting and keeping new users
By: Alexander Grotewohl to Mark Meadows Jr on Thu Jan 22 2026 07:44 pm

From Newsgroup: FidoNet.BBS_CARNIVAL

On 22 Jan 2026, Mark Meadows Jr said the following...

"inclusive" documentation and beginner-friendly onboarding.
When figures like mro, Deuce, or echicken use a blunt or mocking
tone, it creates a steep "social learning curve" that many usersÄespecially younger hobbyistsÄsimply choose not to climb.

since they're probably not here i'll take this opportunity to
respond:

i'm mro and i've stayed up until 3-4am when i have to get up at 6am for work and helped people get their bbses working. i've spent my time and my money
to help the bbsing culture. for around 29 years to various degrees.

mark probably cries about being mocked on facebook and reddit too.
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Win32
* Origin: *The Gate BBS*Shelby, NC USA*thegateb.synchro.net* (1:3634/27)

Mark Meadows Jr wrote to ALL <=-

"inclusive" documentation and beginner-friendly onboarding. When
figures like mro, Deuce, or echicken use a blunt or mocking tone, it creates a steep "social learning curve" that many usersâÇöespecially younger hobbyists simply choose not to climb.

I was onboard, reading this until you named specific people. That wasn't
necessary to make your point and made it feel more like a vendetta than
a treatise.

Friendly Echos: New networks are forming with strict
"no-harassment" policies specifically to provide a space where
beginnes can ask basic questions without being told to "RTFM."

Which echoes are these?

The one platform I can speak to is Synchronet. There was a
comprehensive static documentation system that was constantly updated,
and now a wiki with several people contributing. Most newbie questions
posted online could be resolved by searching the wiki. And, most new
sysops ask the same questions which, I could imagine, gets tiresome.

I don't equate being told to check the documentation to harassment,
don't know if you intended that.

I'm reminded of Fidonet's rules from way back when -

1. Don't be excessively annoying.
2. Don't be excessively annoyed.

It's just a hobby.



--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
* Origin: http://realitycheckbbs.org | tomorrow's retro tech (1:218/700)

On 23 Jan 26 07:21:54, Kurt Weiske said the following to Mark Meadows Jr:

Friendly Echos: New networks are forming with strict "no-harassment" policies specifically to provide a space where beginnes can ask basic questions without being told to "RTFM."

Which echoes are these?

Never heard of these either... sounds like BS.

Nick

--- Renegade vY2Ka2
* Origin: Joey, do you like movies about gladiators? (1:229/426)

On 23 Jan 2026, Jas Hud said the following...

mark probably cries about being mocked on facebook and reddit too.

there was some other guy that called my bbs too, asking me to delete one of my users and saying i should moderate or something.. even got told "i'm part of the problem with modern bbsing" lol.

i duno where these people are coming from but it's kind of annoying

i'm mro and i've stayed up until 3-4am when i have to get up at 6am for work and helped people get their bbses working. i've spent my time and my money to help the bbsing culture. for around 29 years to various degrees.

i'd prefer to help too but i see the interactions people have with DM..

d) do this and get back to me
?) i did the same thing again and it didn't work
d) but did you do the thing?
?) i restarted my wifi router and flipped my rain stick over a few times and now it works
d) ...

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/25 (Windows/32)
* Origin: cold fusion - cfbbs.net - grand rapids, mi (1:120/616)

To: Kurt Weiske
Re: Re: getting and keeping new users
By: Kurt Weiske to Mark Meadows Jr on Fri Jan 23 2026 07:21 am

Mark Meadows Jr wrote to ALL <=-

"inclusive" documentation and beginner-friendly onboarding.
When figures like mro, Deuce, or echicken use a blunt or mocking

I was onboard, reading this until you named specific people. That
wasn't necessary to make your point and made it feel more like a
vendetta than a treatise.

i think this guy got into stuff with all of us on reddit.
i think he fed the names into chatgpt with his question.
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Win32
* Origin: *The Gate BBS*Shelby, NC USA*thegateb.synchro.net* (1:3634/27)

To: Alexander Grotewohl
Re: Re: getting and keeping new users
By: Alexander Grotewohl to Jas Hud on Fri Jan 23 2026 01:31 pm

there was some other guy that called my bbs too, asking me to delete
one of my users and saying i should moderate or something..
even got told "i'm part of the problem with modern bbsing" lol.

it's like why moderate? people can just not interact.
censorship is wrong and in the end what you have will not be great.

i only agree in censorship if someone is really not a member of the community and are attacking the networks. for example we have had some crazies over
the years who flood msg networks and create dumplicate accounts just to disrupt everything.

i'd prefer to help too but i see the interactions people have with
DM..

d) do this and get back to me ?) i did the same thing again and it
didn't work d) but did you do the thing? ?) i restarted my wifi
router and flipped my rain stick over a few times and now it works d)
...

I've seen people get real bad help on their irc network.
i'm not sure if those people had a history of requesting support in a bad
way.

what i have seen is something like what you said.

in the end it was operator error and they did something wrong and didn't
check on it like they were told. they lied about what they did all along and fixed it and won't say what fixed it.

That's why i just would remote desktop people and fix their issues. its stopped asking 20 questions and finding out that they did something wrong and didn't do what the people asked them to do. doing it for them made it a lot quicker with less headache for everyone. then in a few months they would
stop running a bbs :D
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Win32
* Origin: *The Gate BBS*Shelby, NC USA*thegateb.synchro.net* (1:3634/27)

Jas Hud wrote to Mark Meadows Jr <=-

you have to be stupid to not understand that. someone that uses
chatgpt for answers is stupid.

You can reply to someone without insulting them.

A spoonful of honey goes much farther than a cup of vinegar. You know this
but I'm reminding you anyway.

-- Sean

... "Be not simply good; be good for something." - Henry David Thoreau
--- MultiMail/Linux
* Origin: Outpost BBS * Johnson City, TN (1:18/200)

Jas Hud wrote to Alexander Grotewohl <=-

i'm mro and i've stayed up until 3-4am when i have to get up at 6am for work and helped people get their bbses working. i've spent my time and
my money to help the bbsing culture. for around 29 years to various degrees.

You also like to tell off people who are experts in their field by
insisting they're wrong and you know better than they do. That behavior doesn't endure you to anyone.

For all the help you profess to espouse, you ruin it with all the vitriol you spew.

mark probably cries about being mocked on facebook and reddit too.

Proof of the point I'm making. Yet you publicly wonder aloud why people don't like you.

TL;DR: if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it in here.

-- Sean

... "A good man always knows his limitations." - Harry Callahan
--- MultiMail/Linux
* Origin: Outpost BBS * Johnson City, TN (1:18/200)

Re: Re: getting and keeping new users
By: Sean Dennis to Jas Hud on Fri Jan 23 2026 09:10 pm

A spoonful of honey goes much farther than a cup of vinegar. You know this but I'm reminding you anyway.

Yes, sometimes some posters can scare users away.
--- SBBSecho 3.35-Linux
* Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)

To: Sean Dennis
Re: Re: getting and keeping new users
By: Sean Dennis to Jas Hud on Fri Jan 23 2026 09:10 pm

From Newsgroup: FidoNet.BBS_CARNIVAL

Jas Hud wrote to Mark Meadows Jr <=-

you have to be stupid to not understand that. someone that uses
chatgpt for answers is stupid.

You can reply to someone without insulting them.

A spoonful of honey goes much farther than a cup of vinegar. You know
this but I'm reminding you anyway.

Sorry but this guy was wasn't being sincere in his post.

Also if someone believes chatgpt can analyze what we post on msg networks and post something reliable, they are just pain stupid. They dont HAVE to be stupid; they are being stupid by choice. AI is not a notable source of information.
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Win32
* Origin: *The Gate BBS*Shelby, NC USA*thegateb.synchro.net* (1:3634/27)

To: Sean Dennis
Re: Re: getting and keeping new users
By: Sean Dennis to Jas Hud on Fri Jan 23 2026 09:38 pm

From Newsgroup: FidoNet.BBS_CARNIVAL

Jas Hud wrote to Alexander Grotewohl <=-

i'm mro and i've stayed up until 3-4am when i have to get up at 6am
for work and helped people get their bbses working. i've spent my
time and my money to help the bbsing culture. for around 29 years to various degrees.

You also like to tell off people who are experts in their field by
insisting they're wrong and you know better than they do. That
behavior doesn't endure you to anyone.

I don't know better than anybody and I don't care about anybody. Never in my mind do I think i'm better than another person. That's not how my mind works.
I worry about myself until it affects me.

Those people you talk about are probably not experts. Everyone is ignorant and people get slow and sloppy.

For me, setting up networks, running bbses and setting up fidonet isnt hard. I've even fixed multiple people's fidonet setups even though i was rusty and don't know as much about it as other people claim to. yet my shit works and theirs didn't.

I have no interest in IT anymore but I know plenty about it. I've taken practice tests/courses for certs at work during downtime for those various certs and most of it seems common sense to me. they had them in our cornerstone.

IT seems like a boring career to do and i know a lot of people who work in
it. I like to use my mind and my body.

and regarding my posts, I'm not out to make any friends. But if someone's posting shit about me and being nasty, if you dig far enough back i think i'm in the right most of the time. but who really cares.

we are just pixels on the screen to eachtoher.

if you're talking about nick and gamgee. they're just fun to make mad.
the way they go on and on. they are good entertainment.

I believe a while back i offered to wipe the slate clean and they refused.
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Win32
* Origin: *The Gate BBS*Shelby, NC USA*thegateb.synchro.net* (1:3634/27)

To: Matt Munson
Re: Re: getting and keeping new users
By: Matt Munson to Sean Dennis on Fri Jan 23 2026 09:35 pm

From Newsgroup: FidoNet.BBS_CARNIVAL

Re: Re: getting and keeping new users By: Sean Dennis to Jas Hud on
Fri Jan 23 2026 09:10 pm

A spoonful of honey goes much farther than a cup of vinegar. You know this but I'm reminding you anyway.

Yes, sometimes some posters can scare users away.

i disagree. i have not seen one person scared away from bbsing by a another person posting ever in my entire time in bbsing and i'm almost 50.

if people want to be a bbs user they will be one. if people want to be a bbs sysop they will.
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Win32
* Origin: *The Gate BBS*Shelby, NC USA*thegateb.synchro.net* (1:3634/27)

On 24 Jan 26 00:01:07, Jas Hud said the following to Sean Dennis:

I believe a while back i offered to wipe the slate clean and they refused.

Aww.

Nick

--- Renegade vY2Ka2
* Origin: Joey, do you like movies about gladiators? (1:229/426)

To: Kurt Weiske
Re: Re: getting and keeping new users
By: Kurt Weiske to Mark Meadows Jr on Fri Jan 23 2026 07:21 am

I don't equate being told to check the documentation to harassment,
don't know if you intended that.

there was a guy on dovenet asking for help about some basic stuff.

I said you should check out the documentation, because unlike a lot of bbs softwares, synchronet has some pretty good documentation. you can look at it and follow along while you try what you are doing. I said it in that exact way.

this is a new guy, never been around.

this shithead then goes on reddit and starts a thread saying what is up with this mro guy, he told me RTFM (which i never say rtfm) why am i such an asshole. a bunch of people defended me actually and then he deleted his thread.

then he disappeared forever.
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Win32
* Origin: *The Gate BBS*Shelby, NC USA*thegateb.synchro.net* (1:3634/27)

Re: Re: getting and keeping new users
By: Jas Hud to Matt Munson on Sat Jan 24 2026 02:00 am

i disagree. i have not seen one person scared away from bbsing by a another person posting ever in my entire time in bbsing and i'm almost 50.

There is that gal who got mad because I told her I prefered spending my time with horses than trying to get a woman these days. She threw a tantrum and then I never heard about her. Maybe that counts.


--
gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken
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To: Nick Andre
Re: Re: getting and keeping new users
By: Nick Andre to Jas Hud on Sat Jan 24 2026 07:08 am

From Newsgroup: FidoNet.BBS_CARNIVAL

On 24 Jan 26 00:01:07, Jas Hud said the following to Sean Dennis:

I believe a while back i offered to wipe the slate clean and they refuse

Aww.

Nick

**makes heart gesture with hands for Nick**
atreyuuuuuuuuuu!!
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Win32
* Origin: *The Gate BBS*Shelby, NC USA*thegateb.synchro.net* (1:3634/27)

On 25 Jan 26 15:14, T.J. Mcmillen said the following to Nick Andre:

FSXnet, where everyone's feelings matter and you can't bitch and moan like an adult?

Where one is allowed to be liberal & dish it out but can't take it in return.

Nick

--- Renegade vY2Ka2
* Origin: Joey, do you like movies about gladiators? (1:229/426)

Re: Re: getting and keeping new users
By: Nick Andre to T.J. Mcmillen on Sun Jan 25 2026 06:49 pm

Where one is allowed to be liberal & dish it out but can't take it in return.

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