[HN Gopher] Subtext - A multi-user BBS server for classic macOS
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       Subtext - A multi-user BBS server for classic macOS
        
       Author : fcambus
       Score  : 79 points
       Date   : 2022-11-22 21:25 UTC (2 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (jcs.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (jcs.org)
        
       | anthk wrote:
       | >Sha256
       | 
       | Holy shit...
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | rvense wrote:
         | Please note that this runs on a processor that can't really
         | have an SSH client because it can't do the handshake quickly
         | enough to respond within OpenSSH server's default timeout of 1
         | minute.
        
           | Scramblejams wrote:
           | Interesting. Sounds like there's a passion project out there
           | for a cryptographer who wants to help secure vintage
           | computers.
        
             | rvense wrote:
             | The usual solution is somehow proxying through a local
             | server, e.g. RPi in the cupboard.
             | 
             | Alternatively, one can accept that one's BBS browsing goes
             | over the internet in plain text.
        
       | uni_rule wrote:
       | What a fascinating undertaking. I wonder how it plays with the
       | backwards compatibility of "newer" powermacs on macos 9
        
       | trm42 wrote:
       | This reminds me of a quite Mac centric[1] BBS system called
       | Firstclass[2]. Its client felt almost like a normal Mac OS
       | Classic Finder windows and it was so intuitive compared to normal
       | text based BBSes which I also used at the time.
       | 
       | [1] I remember seeing it working with Windows 3.1 or Windows 95
       | but it felt more kludgy and slow compared to the Mac version [2]
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FirstClass
        
         | alsetmusic wrote:
         | Firstclass allowed admins to create custom clients with
         | resources (icons, backgrounds). I ran a board with something
         | like four users when I was a teen. I dreamed of turning it into
         | a thriving multi-line operation. Then AOL gave way to real home
         | internet and there was no need.
         | 
         | The Hotline board that I ran once I had a cable modem was just
         | straight warez and mp3s. I miss that era, where there was a
         | sense of community in small subsets of the internet. They're
         | prolly still there in some form and I've just outgrown them or
         | aged out.
        
         | burntwater wrote:
         | Back in the late 90s/early 2000s the IT program at RIT used
         | FirstClass, and there was a pivotal moment I still think about
         | to this day: I was seated at two computers, both signed into
         | FirstClass on different accounts. I sent an email from one
         | account to another. Before I had even finished lifting my
         | finger off of the mouse button after clicking "Send" button on
         | the first computer, the email showed up on the second computer.
         | And that was the moment I realized just how crazy fast
         | computers and networks are.
         | 
         | Unrelated, but while I'm here... I also remember FirstClass
         | because for an IT database course we had to submit our final
         | project into a write-only drop box. Except I found it wasn't
         | write-only. I emailed the professor informing them of this, but
         | because logs showed that I had entered and opened one student's
         | submission, I got a zero on the project and my final grade
         | dropped from an A to a B...
        
         | rvense wrote:
         | One of the big papers in my country ran a FirstClass BBS, which
         | my family had access to for a few years before it was eaten by
         | the internet. I remember it quite fondly, and indeed it was a
         | great interface.
        
           | neocodesoftware wrote:
           | i have fond dual se30 server memories
           | 
           | one for uucp
           | 
           | one for firstclass
        
         | hedgehog wrote:
         | Later on there was Hotline, some similar design ideas:
         | 
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotline_Communications#Hotline...
         | 
         | https://web.archive.org/web/20130401082142/http://www.macwor...
        
       | mancerayder wrote:
       | Is there an active, modern-ish BBS-like software out there? SSH
       | of course ;-)
        
       | benjaminpv wrote:
       | Somewhat surprised that you could even use threads in System 6. I
       | know in the 7 era you'd find applications that shipped with the
       | Thread Manager[1], I'm guessing this individual must have rolled
       | their own thread handling?
       | 
       | [1]: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/thread-manager
        
         | there wrote:
         | Correct: https://jcs.org/2022/07/15/kludge#threading
        
         | ksherlock wrote:
         | Yes -
         | 
         | https://amendhub.com/jcs/subtext/files/uthread.h
         | 
         | https://amendhub.com/jcs/subtext/files/uthread.c
        
       | togaen wrote:
       | why
        
         | slackfan wrote:
         | because.
        
         | Karunamon wrote:
         | Why not?
        
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       (page generated 2022-11-24 23:01 UTC)