Want to get back into the whole BBS scene?  Start with Synchronet!
reddit / bbs

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[deleted] · 2013-02-13 15:03

First grab yourself a [BBS list from
Synchronet](http://synchro.net/sbbslist.html).  As you can see, there
are dozens of BBSes still out there!  And at the centre of it all is
[Vertrauen](http://vert.synchro.net/), which can even be accessed via
the [flash telnet application](http://vert.synchro.net/ftelnet.ssjs).

With a BBS list in hand, you will probably want some kind of nice
client to access them.  Oh sure you can telnet, but it won't display
ASCII art correctly, nor will you be able to re-live the thrill of
using Z-modem for downloading.  I highly recommend
[SyncTERM](http://syncterm.bbsdev.net/).  There are versions for
Win32, OS X and Linux.  For someone who used an old coms program in
the early 90's it was simple enough to figure out.

Vertrauen is also the central point for the Dovenet, a simple to
configure message network, that is very much alive, even today! So
what does Synchronet/Dovenet have to offer?  Well go through the list
there are all kinds of boards dedicated to all kinds of subjects.  You
can even find more boards going through the announcement section.

And what of door based games?  There are quite a few out there, the
only hard part is finding one that you want to play on... Much as it
was back in the day.

Pretty much the same goes for files, not every BBS site has the same
files available for download on their web page as they do inside the
actual BBS.  And again much like the old days, the best way to find
out is by exploring.

Are there clusters of other BBS systems besides Synchronet?  Sure,
I've seen a few here & there, but again it is up to the reader to seek
them out.

So why would one bother with this?  Well the bar to using a BBS in
2013 is honestly quite high for the average FB user.  So the noise to
signal ratio is really quite low.  Granted it is a bit of an 'old
people ghetto' but sometimes we don't want to be inundated with kids
going on about pokemon or whatever it is they are into now.

So come on, and explore and use the internet for what it was meant
for... cutting down on insane long distance bills!

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[deleted] · 2013-02-13 18:24

[deleted]