BBS Question reddit / bbs ---------------------------------------------------------------------- chonnyman · 2019-12-26 05:54 I ran a BBS in the early 90s and I would like to start one up now since the nostalgia is killing me. I have no clue where to start. What are ways you can run a BBS now a days? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- HerpieMcDerpie · 2019-12-26 06:00 SynchroNet is still updated and runs easily on Windows. Folks will be able to telnet in. Plenty of docs and examples to get popular doors up too. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- elchicharo · 2019-12-26 06:18 WWIV BBS still alive and kicking. https://www.wwivbbs.org/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- sharky6000 · 2019-12-26 06:51 +1 to Synchronet; I think like 80% of the online boards now use it because it is so easy to setup. Most BBSing happens over Telnet these days. Check out https://www.telnetbbsguide.com/ for a maintained list and FAQ for ANSI compatible clients. For running a board, you might also want to check out http://archives.thebbs.org/ . If you go with synchronet, I recommend changing the default menu art because it gets a bit tiresome seeing the same default Synchronet theme on almost every BBS. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- NuSkooler · 2019-12-26 07:54 Additional modern packages: x/84 (python), Magicka (c++), ENiGMA 1/2 (Node.js), Mystic, there is a new modem PCBoard (Pascal), etc... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- CharlieBrown197 · 2019-12-26 13:04 Not seeing much love for Mystic, but it is a stylish, easy-to- configure, flexible package with the only real downside being that it has no built in support for a modem line. You can only connect to it via the Internet by default, but you can steal Syncronet's dial up package and use it with Mystic very easily. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- recourse7 · 2019-12-26 13:51 Feel bad for synchronet a bit. It was one of the better code bases and I think it would have been more successful as a company if they had gotten to market earlier. Problem is the internet came along at the same time and killed it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- RazorKitten · 2019-12-26 14:42 I've considered x/84 but.. it's Python 2.7 which is EOL in January. Haven't found a legit effort to migrate this to Python 3. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- angry-software-dev · 2019-12-26 15:33 Tagging on to this -- does anyone still actually offer dial up access to BBS'? I've been waxing nostalgic about this for a while myself, and wondering if anyone would call into an actual modem if it was offered (alongside telnet). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- TheLimpingNinja · 2019-12-26 17:25 \[edit\] Post removed, because it appears there actually is a PBBS v16 source - though I'm not sure it is in a current runnable state from what I see, so I'd still likely not recommend it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- lucidphreak · 2019-12-26 17:40 the "new pcboard" is now called "Legacy/X" ---------------------------------------------------------------------- denzuko · 2019-12-26 19:34 Syncronet or Mystic are usually one's best choice these days. Personally I'd go with mystic since its got a decent menu system, doesn't try to be a end all tcp server (syncronet has http, ftp, smtp, nntp, telnet, its own ssh and a ton of others with its own javascript interpreter) but uses nntp, binkd (fidonet), telnet, ftp, and smtp. The Mystic Programming Language is dead simple but can be replaced with python instead. Plus there's some great tutorials on youtube and getting it on the fidonet (yes its still a very active thing) is dead simple. [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPOUHszVXaGNSlK3AdI7kLQ](https://ww w.youtube.com/channel/UCPOUHszVXaGNSlK3AdI7kLQ) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- denzuko · 2019-12-26 19:37 found it easier to do this: linux with mgetty (listen on /dev/ttyCU.xxx) -> user shell wrapper for \`mystic -u $USER -l\` Tend to use that one so one can support ssh keys for users or even uucp and kermit. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- denzuko · 2019-12-26 19:38 Dial up is still a thing too, I've done this with my board running mystic. One can get a usb modem and an obihai obi300 then use say mgetty or anything that listens for the modem on a COM port. Doing this one is going to have about 14.4k max baud, 9600 stable since the phone line and number is coming over google voice. But unless one is doing a lot of fidonet its not something a lot of users would bother with in my experience. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- CharlieBrown197 · 2019-12-26 19:49 Just saying for the ones that use Windows, but I do use Linux myself! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- denzuko · 2019-12-26 20:01 Yeah, SEXPOTS v1.27 for Windows is a rather cool tool. Love that one can bridge serial port to any tcp service on any port with it. There is also [COMbyTCP](https://sourceforge.net/projects/combytcp/) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- CharlieBrown197 · 2019-12-26 20:07 I actually use it as part of a telnet gateway for old PCs, and it bridges just fine for me on port 47. It's wonderful! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- kiwatiger · 2019-12-26 22:11 I only dial to get into bbs, actually i got a US voip number mainly for that, works pretty good. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- charmanderincharge · 2020-01-25 05:09 Know of any guides for XP/7 or a modern linux? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- denzuko · 2020-01-25 05:22 on dial-up? yeah same guides from ages since archived. On linux; uucp, and/or wvdial+minicom are good tools to have; ckermit too. Basically anything that can talk tty on /dev/usbXXXX then fork off to expect(1)/dialog(1) and return back to stdio or call pppd. Windows, that's still baked in but putty or syncterm are great options. But if one is talking about the setup above with the obi300 and usb modem. Well that's just installing the obi300; setting up one's google account on there and swapping out a handset (needed doing configuration / sync with gvoice) with the usb modem. This video is good for the obi300 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ3eW3Nx3TI](http s://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ3eW3Nx3TI) but from there once one replaces the handset with the modem its just usual dial up stuff as above. Don't expect it right away but I'll post up a complete article on hackaday and xmcore. ​ update: And this is why its going to take a bit; been documenting this kind of stuff here [https://talk.dallasmakerspace.org/t/project-idea- plain-old-telephone-service-and- phreaking/35175/13](https://talk.dallasmakerspace.org/t/project-idea- plain-old-telephone-service-and-phreaking/35175/13) . Got to actually pull out the parts just for the modem and what not to have it readable by modern standards.