About

The FidoNet FileGate (often organized as the IFDC FileGate Project) is the file distribution network of the historical Bulletin Board System (BBS) era.

While FidoNet is known for transmitting messages and emails (NetMail and EchoMail), FileGate functioned as the network’s counterpart for distributing shareware, freeware, and binary files across thousands of interconnected BBS nodes.

Key aspects of the FidoNet FileGate include:

• Store-and-Forward Routing: Just like messages, files were passed from one BBS to another in a relay chain until they reached their destination node or were distributed across the entire network.

• File echos: Similar to EchoMail forums, systems subscribed to “file echos” (or file areas) where new software releases, updates, and utilities were automatically replicated to all participating systems.

You’ll be able to find details here on how to join our BBS to the File Gate, so that you can receive files.