BBS

BBS /B-B-S/ n.  [abbreviation, `Bulletin Board System'] An
   electronic bulletin board system; that is, a message database where
   people can log in and leave broadcast messages for others grouped
   (typically) into {topic group}s.  Thousands of local BBS systems
   are in operation throughout the U.S., typically run by amateurs for
   fun out of their homes on MS-DOS boxes with a single modem line
   each.  Fans of Usenet and Internet or the big commercial
   timesharing bboards such as CompuServe and GEnie tend to consider
   local BBSes the low-rent district of the hacker culture, but they
   serve a valuable function by knitting together lots of hackers and
   users in the personal-micro world who would otherwise be unable to
   exchange code at all.  See also {bboard}.