Before Twitter, before Facebook, before Myspace — there was Spring.com. One of Austin's first bulletin board systems, running alongside Stewart Brand's legendary WELL. 700+ users talking about everything from technology to politics to music in the Live Music Capital of the World.
Austin's answer to The WELL. A community BBS covering technology, music, politics, culture, and life in the fastest-growing city in Texas.
The Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link. Founded by Stewart Brand and Larry Brilliant. Considered the birthplace of online community.
Paul Walhus launches spring.com as a community bulletin board system in Austin, Texas. Running on Unix, accessed via terminal, the BBS quickly grows to 700+ users. Topics span technology, music, Austin culture, politics, and everything in between.
Spring.com becomes one of Austin's primary online gathering places. While most of the country is still figuring out email, Austin's tech-savvy community is having real-time conversations on every topic imaginable. Paul becomes one of the most connected people in Austin's early tech scene.
Spring.com and spring.net are sold to new owners. The BBS era is ending as the World Wide Web takes over. But the community Paul built doesn't disappear — it evolves. The handle @springnet lives on as Paul's identity across every platform that follows.
At SXSW 2007 — the event that launched Twitter — Paul Walhus becomes the most popular person on the platform. Profiled by BuzzFeed, Slate, and The New York Times as Twitter's first celebrity. The community-building skills honed on Spring.com translate perfectly to social media.
Handle: @springnet — named after the BBS. 13,000+ followers.
AustinSpring.com becomes Paul's web development and consulting hub. Over the decades he builds 100+ websites, manages domain portfolios, works at Builder Homesite International (BHI/BDX), creates BeJane.com for women's home improvement, and continues to be a fixture in Austin's tech community. The BBS community spirit lives on through every project.
In March 2026, Paul partners with AI (Claude Code) to rebuild his entire web empire in 48 hours — 20 websites, 103 domains, deployed to a $6/month server. AustinSpring is reborn not as a BBS but as the hub of a network spanning tech news, off-grid living, entertainment, creative communities, and the same spirit of connection that started it all 30 years ago.
The BBS is dead. Long live the network.
Every conference topic from the old BBS has evolved into its own site.
What started as a Unix command line in 1996 is now 20 websites, 103 domains, and a community that spans the globe. Same curiosity. Same builder spirit. Better tools.
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