January 6, 2026
Dial-up drama, ASCII karma
SCiZE's Classic Warez Collection
BBS nostalgia explodes: old‑school warez lists spark joy, confessions, and pranks
TLDR: SCiZE posted a searchable archive of 90s BBS warez filelists, complete with nostalgic ASCII and NFOs. Commenters cheer the preservation, share pranks, rediscover old handles, and debate whether celebrating a pirating past needs a movie or a moral—turning tech history into messy, memorable fun.
SCiZE just dropped a time capsule: decades of 90s BBS (Bulletin Board System) file lists, complete with ASCII art and a searchable stash of NFOs (the little info notes bundled with releases). The comment section turned into a reunion party. achairapart declared the NFO Search “pure gold,” while luke_skyywalker gleefully bragged they “found my name in 79 pages of nfo files.” It’s memory lane with neon lights: old handles resurfacing, legendary cracks named, and that quirky FILE_ID.DIZ magic that made text feel like graffiti. Folks aren’t just browsing—they’re rediscovering their teenage alter egos.
Cue the drama: pure nostalgia vs. the “uh, wasn’t this illegal?” vibe. no_time wants a full‑on movie about the warez scene (and nods to the cult series The Scene, 2004–2006), stirring a debate over glamorizing piracy vs. preserving history. elahieh went historian mode, tying SCiZE’s era to Celerity BBS and dropping a rabbit hole link for the revision timeline. Then belZaah snatched the comedy crown: in 1993, uni sysadmins pointed warez.ut.ee to 127.0.0.1 (the “nowhere” address) to troll curious kids. The mood is celebratory with a guilty grin—equal parts confession booth, museum tour, and meme factory.
Key Points
- •A curator has published 1990s BBS-era warez file lists online.
- •The lists can be browsed on a website or via the curator’s BBS.
- •Release NFO files are searchable and viewable through the project.
- •Original presentation is preserved, including FILE_ID.DIZ ASCII formatting.
- •Sample entries include REXX scripts, game trainers, and multi-disk software releases.