Freeware

ASP Forums

Threaded message board implemented with Active Server Pages, Javascript, and VBScript. Any ODBC/SQL compliant database can be used for message storage.
Developer: ASP Forums
Platform: Windows

 

Bazaar

Bazaar is configurable through template files, allowing the creation of a variety of applications in addition to message boards, such as polls, FAQs, and announcement boards.
Developer: Mike Sosteric
Platform: UNIX (written in Perl)

 

BBMatic

Simple bulletin board.
Developer: Joe DePasquale
Platform: UNIX (written in Perl)

 

BlazeBoard

PHP-based message board with email notification, instant messaging, polls, and other features.
Platform: UNIX

 

BoardMaster

Threaded message board with e-mail notification. Offers several alternative formats for viewing threads.
Developer: Aristole Vathis, Beholder.net
Platform: UNIX, Windows (written in Perl)

 

Board Power (formerly BigTalker)

A linear message board offering email notification, user profiles, and other features.
Developer: The Webmaster Guide, Inc.
Platforms: UNIX, Windows NT (written in Perl)

 

CaMILE

Designed for educational use. Prompts students to indicate the type of message being posted.
Developer: Mark Guzdial, Georgia Institute of Technology
Platforms: UNIX, Windows, Macintosh

 

CoCoBoard

Allows posting by MIME-compliant e-mail to a Web bulletin board. No longer supported by its authors, but still available.
Developer: Ben Johnson, Paul Walker, and Joan Massó at NCSA
Platform: UNIX

 

Code Project Discussion Boards

Open source message board, implemented as an Active-X control and ASP scripts.
Developer: Uwe Keim and Chris Maunder
Platform: Windows

 

ConferWeb

Simple system with linear discussions. Also suitable for use as a guestbook.
Developer: Brian Johnson
Platform: Macintosh

 

COW - Conferencing On Web

Exceptionally powerful for a freeware product. 
Developer: Eric Klavins, San Francisco State University, University of Michigan
Platform: UNIX

 

DarkBoard

Very simple BBS.
Developer: David Wall
Platform: UNIX, Windows (written in Perl)

 

Dialogue

Designed for use in an educational setting. Very simple to use. Includes an e-mail notification feature.
Developer: Mark Pelczarski, Magic Tree
Platform: Windows

 

Discus

Uses a tree structure for categorizing topics and subtopics, but each discussion is presented as a continuous, linear stream of responses.
Developer: DiscusWare, LLC
Platforms: UNIX, Windows (written in Perl)

 

FruitWare BBS

Displays all messages in a forum on one page.
Developer: FruitWare
Platform: UNIX (written in Perl)

 

Futplex

Developer: Koen Holtman
Platform: UNIX

 

Hypermail

E-mail gateway: permits Web browsing of a mailing list archive.
Developer: Enterprise Integration Technologies
Platform: UNIX

 

HyperNews

Allows discussions to be distributed across multiple Web servers.
Developer: Daniel LaLiberte
Platform: UNIX

 

Ikonboard

Flat (linear) message board featuring email notification and instant messaging.
Developer: Ikonboard.com
Platform: UNIX (written in Perl)

 

InterMix

Allows readers to register approval and interest ratings for each message. Complete source code is freely available.
Developer: Collective Communication Inc.
Platform: Windows

 

Jive

Open source, threaded forum, written in Java.
Developer: CoolServlets.com
Platform: UNIX, Windows

 

LWGate

Web interface to mailing lists; includes Web browsing of a mailing list archive.
Developer: David W. Baker
Platform: UNIX (written in Perl)

 

meep!Board

Developer: meep! media, inc.
Platform: UNIX (written in Perl)

 

MHonArc

E-mail gateway: permits Web browsing of a mailing list or newsgroup archive.
Developer: Earl Hood
Platforms: UNIX, MS-DOS

 

NeoBoard

An open source message board implemented with PHP and MySQL. Features e-mail notification.
Developer: Wankyu Choi
Platform: UNIX

 

Open Team Support

A Web-based center for collaborative work. Supports discussion, voting, an information repository, and other features. This is a research project still in progress.
Developer: Mike Dilworth
Platform: UNIX (written in Perl)

 

phpBB

An open source message board implemented with PHP and MySQL. Features e-mail notification.
Developer: The phpBB Group
Platform: UNIX

 

PHP/FI Webboard

Simple bulletin board implemented with PHP/FI and MySQL. Sample discussion is in Russian.
Developer: Mark Napartovich
Platform: UNIX

 

PHP-Nuke

A Usenet News system based on PHP.
Developer: phpnuke.org
Platform: UNIX

 

Phorum

An open source message board implemented with PHP and MySQL. Features e-mail notification and moderated posting.
Developer: Brian Moon
Platform: UNIX

 

Prattle

A simple open source conferencing system with a linear conversation structure, implemented with PHP and MySQL.
Developer: Steve Yelvington
Platform: UNIX

 

Remarks

Simple BBS written in Visual Basic.
Developer: Thies Schrader
Platform: Windows 3.1

 

Slash

An open source news and message board system implemented with Perl and MySQL.
Developers: Patrick Galbraith, Chris Nandor, Brian Aker, and others
Platform: UNIX

 

Snitz Forums

A feature-rich message board based on ASP.
Developers: Snitz Communications
Platform: Windows, UNIX with ASP-enabled server

 

Sporum

Supports both threaded and linear discussions; stores messages in an SQL database.
Developer: KaYue Mak, Smallpig.net
Platforms: UNIX, Windows (written in Perl)

 

Teemz

Customizable, linear message board.
Developer: Elated Communications, Ltd.
Platforms: UNIX, Windows (written in Perl)

 

Thread-IT

Simple message board implemented with Active Server Pages.
Developer: yMonda
Platform: Windows

 

topNlist

Supports collaborative filtering of messages from a mailing list or newsgroup.
Developer: Moe D. Ritter
Platform: UNIX (written in Perl)

 

UltraBoard

Free for personal and nonprofit use.
Developer: Ultrascripts.com
Platform: UNIX, Windows NT (written in Perl)

 

Venice Web Communities System

Linear forum system with open source, under development.
Developer: Eric Bowersox and others
Platform: UNIX, Windows (written in Java)

 

W3news

CGI-based Usenet newsreader. Connects directly to NNTP servers. Page layout is configurable through template HTML pages.
Developer: Kasper Peeters
Platform: UNIX

 

W-Agora

BBS that features a multilingual user interface and ability to upload file attachments to messages. Comes with full source code in PHP.
Developer: Marc Druilhe
Platforms: UNIX, Windows

 

WebBBS

A template you can hack to suit your own needs. Formerly known simply as "Basic Bulletin Board Script."
Developer: Selena Sol
Platform: UNIX (written in Perl)

 

WebBBS for NT

A version of WebBBS for Windows NT servers.
Developer: Elite Web Design and Marketing
Platform: Windows NT

 

Web Course in a Box (WCB)

A tool to help instructors manage course-related Web sites, including discussion forums with file attachments and archives.
Developer: MadDuck Technologies
Platforms: UNIX, Windows, Macintosh

 

WWWBoard

Very widely used.
Developer: Matt Wright
Platform: UNIX

 

W3 Interactive Talk (WIT)

Highly structured conferencing system designed for group decision making. Probably the first Web conferencing system (created June 1994).
Developer: Ari Luotonen, CERN
Platform: UNIX

 

Zeno

A mediation system, i.e. a discussion forum with special support for mediated negotiation. Includes document sharing features.
Developer: GMD
Platform: UNIX, Windows NT (Requires Java and a JDBC-compatible database)

 

Zorum

Based on PHP and MySQL. Supports both linear and threaded discussion views. A commercial release is planned, but the original will remain free for noncommercial users.
Developer: Zoltan Nagy
Platform: Linux