Want to know how Telegard really started?
Easy enough, I (Dave Boisvenu) got to know Carl Mueller online during the old BBS days. Don't really recall how we starting talking, he probably broke into Sysop chat at some point when I was on his BBS. I can't even remember what BBS he or I was running at the time, probably RBBS or Opus or something. I may not even had my BBS running yet. I was very new at the BBS thing. Carl guided me though some of the early days. We were both young, probably 14 or 15 tops.
Eventually we decided to meet in person. We hung out on and off talking about computers, games and BBSing. I vaguely recall us discussing how none of the software out there did what we wanted it too. We talked a little about writing our own, which was kind of humorous since we had never really written anything serious before.
We also had a third friend, Bill something or another. I can not remember his handle or last name for the life of me. Apparently Bill and Carl were talking and Bill coined the name Telegard if I remember correctly.
One day shortly after these discussions with Carl I dial into his BBS and the first three lines where something like this:
Telegard Bulleting Board System, Version 1.00 Alpha
By Carl Mueller, Dave Boisvenu & Bill (something)
(C)opyright , All Rights Reserved
That first version was a very minimally modified WWIV. I actually had nothing to do with the first version code wise. Later versions I did minimal stuff. Carl was the true presence behind the early versions. The guy was a genius and maybe a tad unbalanced. He had a raging temper and a love for fabricating chat logs.
I ended up really ticking Carl off, and I don't blame him. That explosive encounter was pretty much the end of contact between us. I saw him a couple once or twice a years after encounter. Many years after Telegard we e-mailed a couple times. As of now I'm not sure where he is or what he is up to.
On a side note, anyone watch the BBS Documentary yet? http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/ . I guess there is an interview with Wayne Bell, the creator of WWIV. I bet that would be interesting.
Another funny thing, I actually worked with Dan Chapman for awhile. Lost touch there too. I'm lousy at keeping in touch.
I'll write up my vague recollections of the TAG war soon.