Super Dimension Fortress

From Free net encyclopedia

Super Dimension Fortress (SDF, also known as freeshell.org) is one of the oldest and largest public access UNIX systems on the Internet.

It has been in continual operation since 1987 as a non-profit social club. The name derives from the Japanese anime series The Super Dimension Fortress Macross, the original server having originally been a BBS for anime fans.

The system currently includes NetBSD servers for regular use (DEC Alphas) as well as a TWENEX system. As well as offering free Unix shell access to its users, SDF provides both web and Gopher hosting - making it one of very few servers still running the latter protocol.

1 History
2 Controversy
3 Current status
4 See also
5 External links

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History

In 1987, Ted Uhlemann started SDF on an Apple IIe microcomputer running "Magic City Micro-BBS". The system was run as a Japanese Anime SIG known as the SDF-1. In 1989 Uhlemann and Stephen Jones operated SDF very briefly as a DragCit Citadel BBS before attempting to use a PC UNIX clone called CoHerent.

Unhappy with the restrictive menu driven structure of a BBS, Uhlemann, Jones and Daniel Finster created a System V UNIX BBS in 1990, initially running on an i386 system, which later became an AT&T 3B2/400 and 500, and joined the lonestar.org UUCP network. Three additional phone lines were installed in late 1991.

In the fall of 1992, Uhlemann and Finster left SDF to start one of the first commercial Internet companies in Texas.

SDF continued to grow, expanding to 10 lines in 1993 along with a SLIP connection provided by cirr.com. UUCP was still heavily relied upon for USENET News and Email. In 1994 SDF members formed a membership which would shape the future and create what SDF is today. In May, 1999, SDF registered the domain of "freeshell.org".

Although SDF Public Access UNIX System was registered as an operating business in 1993 according to the Dallas County Records Office, it wasn't until October 1, 2001, that the SDF Public Access UNIX System was formed as a Delaware not-for-profit corporation and subsequentially granted 501(c)(7) non-profit membership club by the IRS. This is most likely due to the fact that SDF was operating under the auspice of the MALR corporation between 1995 and 2001.

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Controversy

Some users claim that the administraton of SDF has removed accounts, erased files, defaced webpages, and deleted bulletin board postings of those critical of SDF policy and administration.

In December, 2005, the user 'stonefly' on SDF complained about transfer quotas on SDF. In response, Stephen Jones (smj) modified the user's webpage on SDF to contain derogatory comments and posted an angry missive on SDF's bboard facility. [1] Many considered the editing of a user's files to be an abuse of administrator privilege. As of March 2006, there is no longer a user registered with the name stonefly.

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Current status

SDF is now composed of more than 30,000 users from around the world. SDF users are diverisified, including engineers, computer programmers, students, artists and professionals.

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