Misty23h ago
A bit back I asked if anyone had used a FirstClass BBS back in the day. Now I've got another question: anyone out there who's used a FirstClass system *on the internet*? I know they moved into corporate groupware for internal networks, but how many people used the internet version of FirstClass for non-corporate forums?
Show threadgrawity

@misty I've only encountered one public Internet instance (and can't say that I've "used" it) – our local FirstClass distributor still runs a public server to this day (firstclass.lt), though it's practically empty aside from generic FC news.

(We did have an inter-FC email exchange set up between it and our internal instance...)

5:24pmWeb
Show threadMisty8h ago
@grawity Wow, still active today! Now *that’s* a rarity! This was a server basically about FirstClass itself then, rather than a general-purpose community?
Show threadgrawity8h ago

@misty Yeah, I think they were more about (re-)selling it as an intranet product than building any sort of public community. (When I peeked at its user directory, it looked more like one admin's "personal/family" server than anything else.) I believe it still has open registration though.

We only barely used our intranet instance (and the licenses cost a lot for the small local uni/college); by 2014 it was still up and I was setting up Active Directory sync, by 2016 it was powered off, everyone had already been switching to Moodle anyway. (Now I run an empty "retro lab" instance on the same license.)

I know that a large university was an extensive FC user though – at least I got that impression from outside; their primary student login system was still backed by FC until ~2020.

Show threadMisty8h ago
@grawity Hah, that's cute. I guess if you're the admin anyway why not just use it if it's mostly idle?