It's hard to believe, but the story of the Major BBS has spanned over 40 years at this point. In the mid-1980s, from his home, Tim Stryker created something special that led to a successful (albeit short-lived) business and enduring interest from fans of what he created. The downside of this is that folks that were a part of the story - major or minor - have passed away. This page attempts to collect those we've lost, so we remember them and their contributions to the world of Major BBS.

Tim Stryker

We start with the man who made all of this possible. Stryker, as he was known, was born on 9 December 1954. At just about 30 years old he created Galacticomm, the Galacticomm Software Breakthrough Library (GSBL), and The Major BBS software (to demonstrate the power and possibility of the GSBL). Before that, he'd created arcade games, multi-user adventure dial-up services (precursors to Fazuul), and more. 

Along the way he mentored dozens of developers, many of whom went on to prominence elsewhere and had long, successful careers. He also advocated for more direct democracy through technology.  He wrote two books. 

We tragically lost Stryker on 6 August 1996 at the age of 41.  Stryker suffered from depression, and at the time, Galacticomm was under extreme pressure due to the emergence of the Internet and the collapse of BBS software sales. The company was in danger of failing and many people who invested pressured Stryker to solve the problem. The company had a chance to sell to Lotus, but it did not go through. These pressures, plus his depression, led to his decision.

The project remembers Stryker every year on his birthday. 

Software Developers, ISVs, and BBS Owners

Mike Murdock

Michael Benton Murdock, of M. B. Murdock & Associates, passed away in Longwood, FL at the age of 62 in 2020 or 2021.  One of the earliest third-party developers for The Major BBS, he was responsible for one of the "must have" products for the system - Galactic Empire. 

Rob Michnick

Rob Michnick, born 10 March 1955, was the founder of ProStar Plus - which was both a large BBS in Texas as well as a software reseller and publisher for The Major BBS. Several products were first published by ProStar, including Chess/Checkers, Interlink, etc.  Rob also resold smaller third party developer products. Rob's success with ProStar led to Microsoft contacting him to help develop the first versions of the MSN network.  Rob was recently involved in The Major BBS Restoration Project, getting ProStar back online.  Unfortunately, he passed away at the age of 69 after a prolonged illness on 25 August 2024. 

Read his obituary here.

Ren L'Ecuyer

Ren L'Ecuyer of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada was the founder of FarWest BBS and the FarWest ISV. There must have been something in the water in BC, as the BC-based ISVs produced very prominent software. For Ren and FarWest, it was FarWest Trivia. While far from the first Trivia product, it was considered the best and was the most popular. It had a lot of feature flexibility. Ren retired to Mexico, but passed away in the early 2010s.  

Paul Beswick

Paul Beswick of Kingston, Jamaica founded Soft Arts, Ltd. in Jamaica around 1996-1997. He was a long-time fan of The Major BBS and Worldgroup, and when many of the ISVs decided to leave the market and sell products, he purchased dozens of software products, most prominently from Logicom. He hoped to keep the platform alive. Unfortunately it didn't work out commercially as the bottom fell out of Galacticomm and BBS software in general late in 1997. But he was successful in collecting dozens of products that might otherwise been lost to time or deletion. Mr. Beswick was a prominent attorney in Jamaica, well regarded by his colleagues. His wife, Carol, is a well respected Justice. Paul passed away on 10 April 2021 from complications of COVID-19.  We still hope to connect with his family to acquire the software he collected before it's inadvertently lost.



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