Bitnet Relay

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Bitnet Relay was the official chat system of BITNET / EARN . It was a technology that later inspired Internet relay chat . There were relay servers in every country that was connected to BITNET, and they were connected in a star shape so that participants from all over the world could meet in common channels. A simple form of multicasting , as IRC then modeled.

You could participate in the Bitnet Relay even without client software, since the BITNET system function MSG, a kind of instant message interface, included in the functional scope of this network technology, was sufficient to be able to chat with users on all hosts connected to the BITNET . It was even better if you still had comfortable chat software at hand, such as the popular CHAT MODULE.

The disadvantage of Bitnet Relay was that it was enforced as the official chat system by the university authorities. The operation of other chat servers, for example to be sure of one's privacy, was prohibited. Alternative systems such as the Galaxy Network or the VM / Shell, an early peer-to-peer chat system for IBM mainframes, the ancestor of today's PSYC , were blocked and discontinued under pressure from the university authorities.