In the beginning . . .

BuddhaNet was created on a 386 PC (then know as an IBM clone machine) in a converted garage in May 1993 in Berowra, Sydney. The learning curve was practically vertical but with help from friends and a gift of a modem we managed to set up the first Buddhist bulletin board system (BBS) in the Southern hemisphere, i.e. Australia.

There was a great sense of community and sharing in the BBS community as I struggled to keep the bulleting board up and running. So it became my lot to operate the system (the System Operator) SysOp. Maybe it suited my somewhat manic nature, but little did I suspect, as a meditation monk who had not long come out of intensive retreat in Burma, that this was the beginning of 17 years of hard - but rewarding - labour. ;-)

Venerable Pannyavaro (BuddhaNet's Webmaster).