Source : WordNet®

bulletin board system
     n : a computer that is running software that allows users to
         leave messages and access information of general interest
         [syn: {bulletin board}, {electronic bulletin board}, {bbs}]

Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

bulletin board system
     
         (BBS, bboard /bee'bord/; after a
        physical piece of board on which people can pin messages
        written on paper for general consumption - a "physical
        bboard").  A computer and associated software which typically
        provides an electronic message database where people can log
        in and leave messages.  Messages are typically split into
        {topic groups} similar to the {newsgroups} on {Usenet} (which
        is like a distributed BBS).  Any user may submit or read any
        message in these public areas.
     
        Apart from public message areas, a BBS may provide archives of
        files, personal {electronic mail} and any other services or
        activities of interest to the bulletin board's system operator
        (the "{sysop}").  Thousands of local BBSes are in operation
        throughout the world, typically run by amateurs for fun out of
        their homes on {MS-DOS} boxes with a single {modem} line each.
        Although BBSes have traditionally been the domain of
        hobbyists, an increasing number of BBSes are connected
        directly to the {Internet}, and many BBSes are currently
        operated by government, educational, and research
        institutions.  Fans of {Usenet} and {Internet} or the big
        commercial {time-sharing} bboards such as {CompuServe}, {CIX}
        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.
     
        Use of this term for a {Usenet} newsgroup generally marks one
        either as a {newbie} fresh in from the BBS world or as a real
        old-timer predating {Usenet}.
     
        (1998-03-24)