Project Updates!
So the #BBS project is still at the top of my mind. I work on it a few hours each week, and I expect that it will be ready for someone other than me to use sometime in January.
(If I play my cards right, that includes an android app, internet, intranet and sneakernet federation, but we'll see. At least it'll include message posting and file sharing.)
Synchronet does come with some games. They are Very difficult to play today, because they are running very slowly.
I dunno if this is an artifact of tor or of the pi 0w.
There are several multiplayer games, though, and the ones that are menu based appear to be working pretty well.
Alright! I'm working through the steps I need to get Synchronet configured and then I'm going to start experimenting with smtp, #gopher, and federation over Tor for my little #onionservice #bbs
I have to do some Masto #admin tonight.
While I'm doing that, I'll probably also go ahead and (start to) set up an #NNTP server, and maybe rig my #BBS to cross post to/from my news server.
I'll put together some documentation for all of that, and experiment with federating.
Then I'll try to find (or write, or find someone to write) a decent (text-only) #usenet client for my desktop, a web interface for either the usenet server of the BBS, and a mobile app.
So, I'm looking for a #BBS server.
I want something with interactive menus, and either a simple admin UI or decent documentation (both would be great.)
I also want something that is relatively easy to deploy, and open source is a plus.
What are your experiences?
Any veteran #sysops familiar with #mystic #BBS wanna help me get this thing humming?
If not, I'll figure it out, but it'll take a few days.
Any DOS or Linux programmers wanna help me write some new Door Games (like my ridiculous PBEM card game idea?)
Also Art!
And text files.
I don't even know what modern text files should be like.
Weird, for sure, but beyond that...?
(And I fully expect to see all of you, well most of you, well some of you, with accounts when I open regs.)
Any veteran #sysops familiar with #mystic #BBS wanna help me get this thing humming?
If not, I'll figure it out, but it'll take a few days.
Any DOS or Linux programmers wanna help me write some new Door Games (like my ridiculous PBEM card game idea?)
Also Art!
And text files.
I don't even know what modern text files should be like.
Weird, for sure, but beyond that...?
(And I fully expect to see all of you, well most of you, well some of you, with accounts when I open regs.)
Alright, so I've poked around several Telnet BBSs and I have a few thoughts:
1 - Many #BBS softwares can be confusing
2 - ANSI Art makes BBSs feel great
3 - I'm way more interested in an active and fun community than I am in a huge file collection, unless I can find a board with a LOT of information on it's files and probably still not even then.
Alright: Here's an article (and a piece of short fiction) about using #vintage #computers in a modern office.
http://ajroach42.com/a-modern-office-with-vintage-hardware/
#retrocomputer #retrocomputing #anachronism
This is the first post in series. Future posts are going to talk about #hypercard and the #BBS scene and #DOS software and more stuff about #Gopher and maybe some walkthroughs for specific vintage computers like the #tandy 102
(if you don't know what I'm talking about:
#bbs -
https://medium.com/@ajroach42/a-modern-bbs-reviving-the-local-distributed-weird-precursor-to-facebook-4b3db93f742d
#Dat / #beaker - https://beakerbrowser.com/)
Okay, I'm done clogging your timelines with my nerdshit.
Let me know what you think! Am I overlooking something? Is there a reason this won't work?
Aside from dat's current implementation being written in Node.js, and the lack of ios/android clients, this all looks like a pretty good idea to me.
Included in these pages are applications for chat and video sharing and all kinda stuff.
If those users have #Beaker or another DAT browser installed they can interact via DAT instead. When they interact via DAT, they can choose to sync pages from this #BBS to their computer.
They can publish pages and make them available over DAT while they are connected to the network, or submit the to the BBS so that the BBS will peer them and continue to make them available once they have disconnected.
Based on my experiments last night and today:
It seems like #DAT + a DAT to HTTP bridge is a viable candidate for running this #BBS #mBBS #localBBS #alternet thing *right now*.
Also, it looks like the DAT package has an HTTP bridge built in, that I'll have to look at.
[Short thread, I won't overwhelm your timeline with my nerd shit today.]
@CaptainUnderpants - Fresh off the PCT
@djsundog - I'm pretty sure 90% of the fediverse already follows him.
@TheDoctor@tenforward.social - Teaching us how to do weird stuff on the internet.
@enkiv2@niu.moe, @UberGeek, @vilmibm, @crc
- #Gopher/ #weirdweb/ #BBS folks.
@brokenfingers
- RELENTLESS ENCOURAGEMENT
Okay, Hashtag #interests time because I want to find more people!
I do #tech #activism. I'm working on several #podcast s. I'm a big fan of #DIY in general, and #DIYMedia specifically.
#postcapitalist #jazz #blues #IF #Gopher #BBS #mBBS #Replacethenet #weirdweb #vinyl #retrofuture #cyberpunk #cybrepunk
I want to hear your #garageband, I want to see your #homemademovies and your #tildesites.
Uhhh... I guess that'll do for now.
What are your #interests?
Award Winning Filmmaker (No really, I've been awarded at smallfile.ca two years running.)
I write and build stuff.
Est. 1990. (He, Him, Etc.)
Original posts CC-BY-SA 4.0 - Share them, but link to the original.