PDF98 pages · 57.3 MB
Mustang … Past & Present
The History of Mustang
Created 8 May 2000 · modified 9 May 2000- Local file
- MustangHistory.pdf
- SHA-256
9ae7c365214d…
SOFTWARE RECORD · W · 1992—1994
The system behind the signal.
Cool BBS ran Wildcat!, the DOS bulletin-board package made by Mustang Software. Contemporary directory records, first-person Usenet posts, and software released from the board all leave an unusually clear trail.
COOL BBS · DIRECT EVIDENCE
Not just a list code.
The national directories provide an independent record. Gaven’s own operating documents and 1994 posts then name the software, the version, and how it was used. Several records anticipate version 4, but do not establish one clean upgrade date.
- 1992—93DocumentedBrowse the BBS-list evidence ↗
Independent directory records
Five recovered Cool BBS listings use software code
W. The lists’ own dictionaries expand that code as Wildcat. - 29 NOV 93First personDownload the original profile ↓
The complete operating stack
A recovered Cool BBS profile names single-line WildCat!, the TomCat QWK door, FrontDoor mailer, Windows for Workgroups, and MS-DOS 6. A related Sierra proposal says version 3 was “soon to be 4.”
- JAN—MAY 94Plans, not completionRead the source ledger ↗
Waiting for version 4 and node two
A January patch sheet says Cool BBS was down pending WildCat! 4. A May hotline script expects the next software release to make the hotline node two, while the April public listing still names v3.90+. Together they document the plan, not its exact completion date.
- 13 APR 94DocumentedRead the raw post ↗
WildCat! BBS v3.90+
A new-entry form posted from Cool BBS names the software and version directly, alongside its phone number, modem, node count, storage, and sysop.
- APR—MAY 94First person
“I run a WildCat BBS system”
Two technical replies explicitly identify Gaven as the sysop of a Wildcat board while discussing wcUUCP and post-call events.
- NOV 94Strong indicationRead the Lserv post ↗
Likely upgraded to 4.01
Cool BBS accepted requests for Gaven’s Lserv program, which he described as requiring Wildcat! 4.01 or later. That strongly suggests an upgrade, but the recovered posts never state the board’s installation date directly.
PARALLEL SYSTEM · TUXEDOCAT LOUNGE · 2023
Dial tone, again.
This is not Cool BBS footage. It is a modern call to another board with a strikingly familiar stack: Qmodem at the caller’s end and Wildcat! at the other.
BBS DOCUMENTARY · SOFTWARE SHELF
Eleven files. Six stops.
The BBS Documentary’s Wildcat! directory spans the 1.03 four-disk release, two later DOS generations, a Test Drive, the 3.91 upgrade contemporary with Cool BBS, and two company press releases. All eleven files are mirrored here byte for byte.
- 4 files
Wildcat! 1.03
Four-disk DOS release
- 1 file
Wildcat! 2.15n
Self-extracting DOS archive
- 2 files
Wildcat! 2.6
Two-part Test Drive edition
- 1 file
3.50m + 3.91
1–10 user edition and upgrade
- 1 file
Wildcat! 4.1
The same DOS generation Cool BBS likely reached
- 2 files
Company news
QMODEM purchase and Wildcat! sale
And this is one drawer in a much bigger cabinet. The project describes the directory as an attempt at a canonical list of distributed BBS packages, prioritising pre-1995 dial-up software. At retrieval it listed 885 programs across CP/M, Acorn, Apple, Atari, Commodore, IBM, Tandy, Unix, VAX, and other platforms.
Historic executable material. These files are archived as received; they were not executed and have not been established as malware-free. Inspect before use and run only in an isolated emulator or disposable environment. No public software licence was located, and the 3.50/3.91 and 4.1 packages include registration information disclosed by the source directory. Rights holders can request review at dragon@wastelands.net.
MUSTANG’S OWN ACCOUNT
From shareware to storefronts.
Mustang … Past & Present is a company-made retrospective, not an independent history. It is useful here because it preserves the people, products, advertising, and internal story behind the software Cool BBS used.
Development begins
Jim Harrer and Rick Heming use computer consulting work to fund Wildcat! and other shareware projects.
Wildcat! ships
The first shareware release sells 580 copies during its first year, according to Mustang’s retrospective.
Version 3
Wildcat! 3 arrives as Mustang reports 4,000 copies sold and acquires Qmodem from the Forbin Project.
Version 4
The last DOS generation adds limited Internet connectivity and OS/2 support—the period documented in Cool BBS’s posts.
Product line sold
Mustang sells Wildcat! BBS and Off-Line Xpress to longtime third-party developer Santronics Software.
The company looks back
The Mustang team assembles this illustrated retrospective during the company’s transition toward a merger with Quintus.
PRESERVED SOURCE · MAY 2000
The history of Mustang.
We mirror the exact file found at Hewgill’s URL and keep that source link prominent. “Source copy” is deliberate: no evidence yet proves that URL was the document’s first public home.
What we can establish
- The PDF metadata identifies PageMaker 6.5 and dates the file to May 2000. The book’s closing pages place its creation during Mustang’s alliance with Quintus.
- Greg Hewgill is profiled in the document as a Mustang developer. His personal site hosts the source copy recovered here.
- The earliest located Internet Archive capture of Hewgill’s URL is from 27 September 2007. Qodem maintains another mirror and credits Hewgill with collecting the material.
- No earlier company-hosted PDF URL or public reuse licence was located in this research. The original publication path remains an open question.
The PDF contains Mustang corporate text, logos, advertisements, portraits, and other imagery. No public reuse licence was found. This unmodified local copy is kept for historical preservation with attribution and a link to the source copy. Rights holders can request review at dragon@wastelands.net.