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<h2 id="history">History</h2> <p>T.A.G. was written in <a href="/facts/Borland_Pascal/2aWFEk9z">Borland Pascal</a> and is free for business or personal use. The authors considered it fun to give the program away while others tried to charge for BBS programs.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a> The software was a fork from an early version of the <a href="/facts/WWIV/2G5eTeRL">WWIV</a> source code.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> </p><p>A quote from one of the authors: </p> <i>We all poured countless hours into the development and support of people running BBSs. Even today I don't think the internet has come close to the sense of community and simple accomplishment that BBSing provided. Building and running a complete environment on your local computer and watching people use it is a far different experience than putting up a web page on some remote server. We all made and still have a great many friends from being sysops and BBS developers.</i> <p>Other Notes: </p> <i>No one ever got them to answer definitively on what their name stood for, but there was a reasonably reliable rumor that it was from "The Adventurer's Guild" which was a <a href="/facts/Dungeons_and_Dragons/1FQKcQSL">Dungeons and Dragons</a> sort of reference.</i> <p>The last known running T.A.G. BBS, 'The Diskbox ][' is available using a telnet program at tag.diskbox2.net on port 23. </p> <h3>ASCII Intro Screen</h3> <p>The intro screen to the T.A.G. BBS login was: </p> /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ /\/\/\/ [>> Welcome to <<] \/\/\/\ | /\/ ______________ ______ ___________ \/\ | | / / / /| / /| / /\ \ \ | | / / TTTTTTTTTTTTTT/ AAAAAA /| GGGGGGGGGGG\/| \ \ | |/\/ /\ TT | AA|___AA /| GG | GG/ /\ \/\| |-< < > TT | AA/ AA /| GG | _____ < > >-| |\/\ \/ TT | AAAAAAAAAAAA | GG | / /| \/ /\/| | \ \ TT | AA | AA | GG |__GGGGGG | / / | | \ \ TT | AA | AA | GG/ GG | / / | | \/\ TT/ <> AA/ AA/ <> GGGGGGGGGGG/ <> /\/ | \/\/\/\ /\/\/\/ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ <h2 id="authors">Authors</h2> <p>Victor Capton, Randy Goebel, Alan Jurison, Paul Loeber, Robert Numerick and Paul Williams. All live in the <a href="/facts/Detroit_(MI)/wMe6MCub">Detroit (MI)</a> area except Alan Jurison who lives in <a href="/facts/Syracuse_(NY)/luD99ChN">Syracuse (NY)</a>. </p> <h2 id="users">Users</h2> <p>Peak number of running systems: Just over 1000, mostly in the <a href="/facts/United_States/P0sCdLe5">United States</a> and <a href="/facts/Canada/cWWFM8oc">Canada</a>. The largest concentration was in the Detroit area, where it was one of the most popular BBS software run in the area. There was a somewhat friendly rivalry with the <a href="/facts/Telegard/tbNptUuM">Telegard</a> team, which also started in the same area. </p> <h3>Historical Locations</h3> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Michigan/bCurmfT2">Michigan</a>: <a href="/facts/Detroit/S84s4PGo">Detroit</a> (where it started), <a href="/facts/Lansing/sCP0cMFI">Lansing</a>, <a href="/facts/Flint%2c_Michigan/YEdAeRvm">Flint</a> and <a href="/facts/Battle_Creek/5smgvkxD">Battle Creek</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/California/zLW2vdQJ">California</a>: <a href="/facts/Oakland/84tfrNlx">Oakland</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Connecticut/LeDhYdJG">Connecticut</a>: <a href="/facts/Hartford/F3D8LKMK">Hartford</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Florida/cF245A3Q">Florida</a>: <a href="/facts/Jacksonville/u6syYft2">Jacksonville</a> and <a href="/facts/Cocoa%2c_Florida/cK4ckmnR">Cocoa</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Maryland/tVy9fC1n">Maryland</a>: <a href="/facts/Baltimore/ncJvTzBU">Baltimore</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/New_Jersey/pI5k19S7">New Jersey</a>: <a href="/facts/Newark%2c_New_Jersey/7EDymxTt">Newark</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/New_York_(state)/mnl67G1G">New York</a>: <a href="/facts/Syracuse%2c_New_York/luD99ChN">Syracuse</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/North_Carolina/VhKNTULI">North Carolina</a>: <a href="/facts/Raleigh%2c_North_Carolina/6WznvprP">Raleigh</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Ontario/HUkxk5Rf">Ontario</a>, <a href="/facts/Canada/cWWFM8oc">Canada</a>: <a href="/facts/Windsor%2c_Ontario/DHgtqIQS">Windsor</a> and <a href="/facts/Hamilton%2c_Ontario/wnN4KHHf">Hamilton</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Pennsylvania/HGqC5bBm">Pennsylvania</a>: <a href="/facts/Pittsburgh/42yPHyS0">Pittsburgh</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Texas/B987WHF0">Texas</a>: <a href="/facts/Houston/1v8AwQUN">Houston</a>, <a href="/facts/Beaumont%2c_Texas/LXe3grje">Beaumont</a> and <a href="/facts/Fort_Worth/NNBEqVe8">Fort Worth</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Virginia/g2kucGdn">Virginia</a>: <a href="/facts/Norfolk%2c_Virginia/PPAclcuM">Norfolk</a></li></ul> <p>The last known T.A.G. BBS still operating can be contacted by telnet at tag.diskbox2.net. Note: ANSI support is required to connect to weed out port scanners. </p> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>"The BBS Software Directory". <a href="http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/software/IBM/DOS/TAG/" target="_blank">http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/software/IBM/DOS/TAG/</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>sabby (2001-03-22). "Tag Bbs". Everything2.com. Retrieved 2022-09-08. <a href="https://www.everything2.com/title/TAG+BBS" target="_blank">https://www.everything2.com/title/TAG+BBS</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>