How can we recreate the BBS experience in the modern era? reddit / bbs ---------------------------------------------------------------------- fEsTiDiOuS79 · 2022-09-05 11:23 What are the steps we would need to do? I suppose we would need to define what was the BBS experience, then figure out how to recreate it. When I heard about LoRa; that's when I really started digging up memories of connecting to different BBS's. Perhaps we should use the internet as a replacement for Ma-Bell backbone and trunk connections, and setup local BBS's that only accept login's via some sort of LoRa radio connection. LoRa is similar to BBS speed before the 56k modems came on the scene. If we made a vintage/future styled solar powered LoRa Terminal with built in keyboard and color screen that could scan for and connect to local bulletin boards.... Some of us would love it for the nostalgia, but I bet most people that discovered it would immediately ask how to access it on their cell phones. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- AchillesDev · 2022-09-05 11:30 People have been using telnet to connect to BBSs for over 20 years, and radio BBSs also exist. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- euphraties247 · 2022-09-05 11:40 telnet over the internet was fun for a while but the automated hackers kinda screwed it all up. I know people talked of building a massive voip network to let modems dial, but I dont think data was sustainable at anything reasonable. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- prekarius · 2022-09-05 12:00 Every once in a while I get an idea of Lora mesh network that would be used to connect to bbs's. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- auric0m · 2022-09-05 12:08 put it on a high non standard port and enable autobanner problem solved ---------------------------------------------------------------------- phribzee · 2022-09-05 12:09 That’s a damn fine idea. Like BBS pirate radio! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- RDOmega · 2022-09-05 12:19 Any good resources on the radio BBSes? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- fEsTiDiOuS79 · 2022-09-05 12:22 That's awesome. I will check them out. I do imagine that internet BBS's are different beasts. There used to be a lot of filtering/gate-keeping of buying a computer, setting it up, getting bored, buying a modem, finding BBS's numbers in the back of magazines or by word of mouth. - Today that gate-keeping is mostly being done by our own memories. Unless you REMEMBER BBS's, or if you'r a tourist, you probably won't use use an internet BBS. They were also somewhat local, long distance calls were expensive. Today we pay for internet and expect to connect to anywhere anytime for no additional cost, unless its mobile. I just think the experience isn't the same. I'm wondering if the experience of using a BBS's could be recreated; without having to recreate the telephone system. I think it might be possible to recreate on the hardware side... But maybe not on the social side. What would motivate a teenager who wants to connect to use LoRa or something instead of the internet.. ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DadGameTime · 2022-09-05 12:26 Get your ham radio license and try out packet radio. It’s where BBSs started and it still exists at the slow speeds of the early BBSs. That’s as close as I’ve come to recreating the BBS experience today ---------------------------------------------------------------------- AchillesDev · 2022-09-05 13:45 I’m still in the research phase myself because it’s been something I’ve been wanting to build for some time. This is [one BBS software](https://www.f6fbb.org/) and may get you started there. Good luck! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- psignosis · 2022-09-05 14:49 https://hb1bbs.com/Packetradio-on-a-Raspberry/ might be of interest ---------------------------------------------------------------------- AchillesDev · 2022-09-05 15:33 Yeah. I've thought about this quite a bit, even though my experience is with telnet BBSs in the early 00s, even those felt more exclusive than the much more popular web boards at the time, minus the hyperlocality (although there is something to be said about global interest-based boards too). For the local aspect of it, I've been investigating the radio-based BBSs, but like you said, they're even less likely to get any traffic whatsoever than the easier to discover telnet BBSs. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dmine45 · 2022-09-05 16:26 You can do packet BBSes (again, amateur radio license is required) but they're few and far between. As others have mentioned, Telnet BBSes bring the same look and feel as modem based BBSes over the Internet (and in most cases is exactly the same). But with voice over IP you can also put a modem back on your BBS and have your BBS be accessed the way it was back in the day. I've done that (just for fun) and it does work. :) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- euphraties247 · 2022-09-05 17:17 If only it worked as it messes with old DOS based stuff, and the auto banner screws up old system handshakes It’s probably be easier to build a dark net over pptp ---------------------------------------------------------------------- auric0m · 2022-09-05 18:20 i see. well there is modern bbs software that doesn't have problems like this, and loads of people are running old stuff like renegade or whatever over telnet - plenty of sysops to give you advice if you feel any of that is a barrier to entry. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Warpslide · 2022-09-05 19:00 I have a couple that I’ve played with and was able to get some packets passed between two LoRa radios within the same house. I’ve kind of let it slide right now (started a new job not long ago) but would be neat trying to get some distance between them. Not that there are any other BBSes within radio range… ---------------------------------------------------------------------- StrafeReddit · 2022-09-05 22:16 Well, there’s [Helium](https://www.helium.com). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- flecom · 2022-09-05 22:22 I would guess biggest issue with BBS' in the modern world is traffic... if there was a BBS to other service connector, like say vintage computer facebook groups, that would be neat ---------------------------------------------------------------------- sburggsx · 2022-09-05 22:31 Google BPQ32. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- sburggsx · 2022-09-05 22:35 The only way to start is to put one up. Then hope someone is close enough. There are still groups of packet BBSs running. Some on hardware like KPC-3s, some using raspberry pi’s and software or hardware TNCs. (Google NinoTNC). Combined with some internet tunnel “cheating” you can get pretty far. I still like the idea of Lora and non-licensed activity. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dialsoft · 2022-09-05 23:03 Myself and some others have set out to recreate the BBS experience. Come check it out. [www.ddial.net](https://www.ddial.net) no telnet needed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- auric0m · 2022-09-05 23:05 site appears down -- you guys should get together with the dude running 2600.network ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dialsoft · 2022-09-05 23:19 its up for me. Its a web redirect to www.magviz.ca ---------------------------------------------------------------------- gnu2tux · 2022-09-06 00:23 Check out the documentary series Back to the BBS, it's all about BBSing in the 21st century https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLop3s1hMlSJKXqmuFjK7gbJh2WAyllTTY ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Scoth42 · 2022-09-06 00:23 I think for me the hardest/maybe impossible part of the experience to recreate is the local nature of it for people in cities or even fairly suburban areas. Telnet is all well and good, even real dialup is still out there but most people don't pay LD, and I'm not sure even if you tried to limit it somehow that there'd be enough interest in a local area to replicate it. Knowing that virtually everyone on a local BBS was also a local to you changed things up a lot. It led to more interesting discussions since everybody was local, meetups were an easy and common thing so you often knew the regulars IRL, and overall it was just a more personal experience. This is going to be very hard to replicate on a worldwide connection basis and I'm not sure of a way to replicate that. Local subreddits and fb groups might be the closest you can get. Or... Nextdoor, but that's scary. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- crappyboy · 2022-09-06 00:52 I started BBSing in the early 90s and spent a lot of time on local BBSs and enjoyed regional links like FidoNet. By the mid-90s, our local freenet came online, and I quickly found a few telnet talkers and made some friends there. I was still BBSing, but I'd had a taste of talking to people outside my local area and knew (even then) there was no going back. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Scoth42 · 2022-09-06 01:22 My dad worked for a university in the early 90s and then went to work for MindSpring circa 1994, so I was on the Internet about as early as it was possible for home users to be on outside of university contexts. I remember when Mosaic and then Netscape 1.x were the new hotness, and this World Wide Web was trying to take over from Gopher. IRC was huge, etc etc. I dropped BBSing almost immediately once that happened and also knew there was no going back. But I didn't know then how much I'd miss it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- crappyboy · 2022-09-06 01:37 I'm still friends with people I met on our local boards. It's wild to think I would have never known them. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- fileznotfound · 2022-09-06 01:38 What are the distances that LoRa can handle? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- fileznotfound · 2022-09-06 01:41 IRC was huge. Still is in my life. ;] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- fEsTiDiOuS79 · 2022-09-06 01:45 I haven't tested it, but... "According to the LoRa Development Portal, the range provided by LoRa can be up to 3 miles (4.8 km) in urban areas, and up to 10 miles (16 km) or more in rural areas (line of sight).\[15\]" from Wikipedia. That huge range combined with the low power is quite impressive. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- fEsTiDiOuS79 · 2022-09-06 01:52 I'm not a fan of putting blockchain on everything, but thank you for the idea. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- fileznotfound · 2022-09-06 01:55 I'm fairly rural.. guess I was hoping for something with a longer range. I'd probably have to build a pretty tall tower as well.. to get over the trees. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- fEsTiDiOuS79 · 2022-09-06 01:56 Me to, I might do some experiments... Hold on I hear my wife calling: Me) What's that Honey? Honey) Are you ok dear, you've barely touched any of your hundreds of complicated incomplete projects? Me) Yes dear I'm fine.... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- fEsTiDiOuS79 · 2022-09-06 02:14 I also could only reach it at [http://www.magviz.ca/](http://www.magviz.ca/) I'm using Cloudflare / APNIC DNS servers [1.1.1.1](https://1.1.1.1) and [1.0.0.1](https://1.0.0.1) \- If you can reach www.ddial.net , please tell me what DNS servers are you using? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dialsoft · 2022-09-06 02:57 [ddial.n](https://ddial.ne)et uses enom. ​ I am using google. 1.1.1.1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- flexnsniff · 2022-09-06 03:29 Yes you should! My email address is listed on the website. I have another 8-DSP (16 dial up users) system ready to go. Just need more people dialing! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- fEsTiDiOuS79 · 2022-09-06 03:54 I had a similar experience, my step dad got me an e-mail address through his university contacts in 1993. Not sure that counts as real early, I seem to remember AOL disks being a thing... A year or so later I got a 14" color monitor for Christmas, that's when BBS's really got more interesting. I ran a tiny one line BBS for two years after that. Honestly I don't think anyone used it except for a few friends who were humoring me. If I do get a LoRa BBS running I expect it would be about the same. If I had known more about Gopher and IRC I think I never would have tried to run a BBS. Gopher seemed so asinine, I could never get it to work... Once the family got a computer that was good enough to play simple games, and run Netscape... yeah my personal era of dial up ended pretty quickly then. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Scoth42 · 2022-09-06 04:58 It was only earlier this year that the last couple IRC channels I was in ended up moving to Discord. Ends about 25 years of continuous IRC usage for me, and I still pop in now and then to a couple places. Hell, I wrote my own basic client at one point for funsies ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Scoth42 · 2022-09-06 05:00 My parents definitely are still friends with a handful of folks that I knew too. I was very young for most of it (born 1980) so my main goal was games and files. I only had a couple very casual friends I made in games, and there weren't a lot of kids my age doing it anyway. Or at least not that I knew of. So it's all just memories to me at this point. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- droid_mike · 2022-09-06 05:19 Packet radio has been around for a long time. You will need a ham radio license (technician class is enough, which is the lowest level), and some equipment... 2 meter radios can be found real cheap, especially with Baofeng chinese radios going for under $30. 10 meter radios are more expensive (Amateur Radio BBS's usually run on 2m and 10m). You'll also need a computer adapter for the radio, and to find a BBS nearby. Most of the packet radio BBS's disappeared in the 1990s, but I hear that some are making a comeback. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- droid_mike · 2022-09-06 05:21 I'm glad to see that this is starting to come back... they all but disappeared in the 1990s. I have a spare 2m radio sitting around... maybe I'll set one up myself! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- droid_mike · 2022-09-06 05:24 Me too! It's great to hear the old connect sounds again! Unfortunately, low baud rates are the norm on VoIP... which is fine for BBS's. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- droid_mike · 2022-09-06 05:25 This is a pretty cool way to get the essence and spirit of a BBS over a web interface that enhances it just enough to feel more modern. I like it! What software is this? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- droid_mike · 2022-09-06 05:27 I actually worked at a local commercial BBS who also offered dialup internet at that time. The writing was on the wall for BBS's for sure. The owner eventually gave up and started building custom computers instead... another 90s thing that went away in the new millennium. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Scoth42 · 2022-09-06 05:46 Building custom computers was and is still very is very much a thing. As margins dropped and more makers offered entry level machines, they started getting pushed farther and farther up the chain of enthusiast and gamer builds, and Covid and the chip shortage has made even higher end bare bones/prebuilds often a better option, but it's never died entirely. Definitely way easier than it used to be. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dmine45 · 2022-09-06 08:26 I've gotten up to 33,600 on occasion. It depends on the Analog Telephone Adapter you use (I use Cisco SPA 112) and the settings for the ATA. Once you tweak those, it works rather well. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- droid_mike · 2022-09-06 09:22 People still build PC's themselves, sure. I just built one myself, but these are pretty much gamers or for some specialized technical needs. Most people get a laptop for everyday computing, whereas in the 1990s, it was a premium product, and most people used desktop computers. There was a whole cottage industry of tiny PC building shops. That's hi ow both Dell and gateway started. It was a lot bigger back then. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dialsoft · 2022-09-06 11:55 Fully done from scratch. "Winter" is the sysop he can explain more. Hes on a good part of every day. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- euphraties247 · 2022-09-06 13:07 Im in the process of moving, so I had to downsize, which means my OS/2 2.00 BBS is currently offline. I made disk images, and xcopies so at least I still have my setup. Not to mention again SIO doesn't like all the modern people knocking about, and having something to forward it screwed up and ended up getting me delisted from the synchronet list. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- auric0m · 2022-09-06 13:51 wow, OS/2 2.00! You're brave :) Well, hope you get it back up and running some day. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- euphraties247 · 2022-09-06 14:44 as soon as I figure out where I'm going to be living and feel somewhat stable I'll commit to some dedicated servers/IP's and get it up and running again. [Crazy I had it running in a VM over a decade ago](https://virtuallyfun.com/wordpress/2011/05/15/qemu-os2-tcpip- networking/) but wow time flies.. and well registered IP's for telnet access reveal a little too much. I might have to experiment with cloudflared & argo tunneling. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- MaxMouse_Hypernode · 2022-09-06 14:59 The BBS experience is already modernized and never went anywhere tho.. and the scene has tripled and growing in the last couple years. People already have done and are doing everything suggested and mentioned in this post and in these comments. Do you guys even BBS? you should know this. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- fileznotfound · 2022-09-07 02:07 That is weird. You'd think they would switch to a different protocol like matrix or something, rather than a centralized service that you can't control. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- crappyboy · 2022-09-07 02:08 I was born in 79, so we're pretty much the same age. I just usually hung out with people a little older than me. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- fEsTiDiOuS79 · 2022-09-07 07:15 Should I? Well the good news is that my ignorance is curable. :-) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2022-09-08 08:25 [deleted] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- BoringTchotchke · 2022-09-10 00:38 Nah, BBSes started on phone lines. Packet BBSes were around the same time TCP/IP became popular. (Am a ham op too) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- just4this · 2022-09-17 17:33 You could locate the client IP address and then geofence off everything except what you consider to be "local". ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dialsoft · 2022-10-07 01:46 We have done it Come to Ddial and see some older Chatt bbs style systems and maybe even pitch in. [www.ddial.com](https://www.ddial.com) ​ ​ Also doe ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dialsoft · 2022-10-07 01:47 Does anyone know anyone with an old STS software and hardware? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- No_Toe_3240 · 2022-10-13 12:16 I have a feeling that you are me posting here from 6 months in the future. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- No_Toe_3240 · 2022-10-13 12:20 Strange how that works. Almost all of my friends from high-school (besides the couple from school), were way older; mid-30s+. ​ Absolutely no way I would let my kids be friends with someone twice their age now, nor would any normal person think that was fine anymore. Times change I guess.