Starting a BBS to keep up with friends without facebook reddit / bbs ---------------------------------------------------------------------- expsychogeographer · 2018-03-25 18:05 I've been exploring ways to create autonomous "social media" platforms, and bulletin board systems have caught my eye. Partly out of a newfound interest in retro computing, but also because they don't require a web interface to use, which goes against the grain of modern computing. I'd like to set one up on a home server, and give friends of mine access to it. What are the standard software libraries available for setting up a BBS in this day and age? I'd be interested in looking more in depth and writing my own software, if what's commonly used as present has a lot of shortcomings. What do y'all think? Am I hopelessly naive, about to plunge into a project no one really cares for, for entirely idiosyncratic reasons? Could BBS ever make a limited comeback for people like me who are afraid of their data being stolen and/or sold to advertisers? PS: I'm aware that I could set up a Mastodon instance instead, which would probably be less time consuming, but it seems like too much of a Twitter clone for me. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- praetorblue · 2018-03-25 18:17 I'd only go the BBS route if your friends are into vintage computing. Otherwise, just make an online discussion forum or subreddit or something. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- SqualorTrawler · 2018-03-25 23:00 Even as someone who grew up using BBSes, I find the 80x24 or 80x25 default window size to be constricting and irritating to use and read from. I agree with you that something like what you're looking at is needed; that it should take the same form that made sense (based on limitations) in the 80s is probably not the case, however. I haven't used it so this is an uneducated suggestion, but check out [Diaspora](https://diasporafoundation.org/). Cheap VMs provisioned from DigitalOcean or Linode can be used to install any one of a variety of social media-type servers. You can lock these behind authentication, or you can even roll out an onion or eepsite on a darknet if you want it really anonymous. If you do want to write your own, go for it. I am unsure where to begin. This is something you need to keep in mind about webservers: most users consider the Web "the Internet" and getting people to install specific clients is like pulling teeth with some people. Whether you want to buck that trend or just accept it is up to you. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- JohnPolka · 2018-03-25 23:45 I couldn't agree more with your comment "getting people to install specific clients is like pulling teeth with some people." When I brought my BBS back from the dead, I tracked down many of the old users. Most were more interested in seeing screen shots posted on a Facebook group than logging into the BBS (via a telnet client) to see it for themselves. Still, running a BBS again has been a very enjoyable hobby from a nostalgia/retrocomputing point of view. If that's your goal for setting up a BBS today, go for it. If you hope to provide an alternate social media with it, you may be disappointed by its reception. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- abednego84 · 2018-03-26 03:12 I can't even dial out for a fax anymore. The lack of copper cabling in the digital phone world has kind of sucked. The good news, BBS system are comfy running at a low baud rate. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Ciderbat · 2018-03-26 04:26 ANSI BBS's can run on telnet now, accessible via SyncTerm. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Ciderbat · 2018-03-26 04:32 Look into [Synchronet](http://www.synchro.net). It's cross-platform, connects via telnet/rlogin/SSH, can emulate the style of many classic BBS layouts [Renegade, Wildcat!, etc], and has a client called SyncTerm, as well as an ANSI art program called SyncDraw. Not all your friends are going to get into it, but some might? And if nothing else, getting a game of Legend of the Red Dragon going would be fun for shits and giggles, yes? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ghms · 2018-03-26 16:43 Just setup a mastodon instance for your friends somewhere and you are set OP... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2018-03-26 17:57 > I haven't used it so this is an uneducated suggestion, but check out Diaspora. I spent some time investigating Diaspora last night after I read this post. It follows more or less the same approach I would take if I were building a social media platform. The UI looks dead simple, and there's no guessing who can access your messages and data. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- mro_1337 · 2018-03-27 05:09 syncterm is not a specific client for synchronet ---------------------------------------------------------------------- mro_1337 · 2018-03-27 05:09 i tried that but didnt really get into it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- mro_1337 · 2018-03-27 05:11 if you want to keep in touch with friends on fb just run an irc server and you can just chat with old friends that way. nobody's going to visit a bbs on a regular basis in today's world. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ghms · 2018-03-27 10:37 If they didn't got into mastodon (which is basically twitter kn twitdeck), the chance they will be using a BBS is nonexistent IMHO. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Ciderbat · 2018-03-27 22:27 Sorry, I didn't mean it that way. I just mean they make a client available as well. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- mro_1337 · 2018-03-30 05:14 you can have a web client but they still probably wont get into bbsing again. it's sad but understandable :( ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2018-03-30 05:16 [removed] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Mmaxmmouse · 2018-03-31 05:21 great idea id use MysticBBS software, its still actively being developed and many other devs have made cool python mods for it that can actually like users to twitter accounts and stuff. it also fully supports anonomyous highspeed file transfers and everything really. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- diseasealert · 2018-04-01 01:23 I share this fantasy. I agree with others that, unless your friends are into retro tech, a web interface will be necessary. I think you could get both with Citadel. There may be others. If your group is small enough, you could look into setting up a mailing list like Mailman. I think a mailing list is both retro and accessible. It might help you build a critical mass of people interested in something like a BBS or IRC. Rather than characterize your effort as an alternative to Facebook, consider casting it as offering something that Facebook doesn't. I think a lot of folks are hungry for a higher signal to noise ratio.