Re: Still Active
By: MIKE POWELL to R4 on Tue Jan 13 2026 08:02 am

I am not sure what your age is, but most folks on BBSes are probably 45+ which makes them old enough to remember bbsing when it was still at, or shortly after, its prime.

It would be nice if some younger persons saw it as an alternative to what social media has become.

I want to report I exist.


--
gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken

---
þ Synchronet þ Palantir BBS * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL

On 23 Jan 2026, poindexter FORTRAN said the following...

Isn't Citadel like that? Maybe that's not it, but there was a BBS
package with a more featureful web interface...

citadel is cool.. though i only called a really active citadel system once a long time ago..

it definitely had a different vibe.. like if you hacked a message board into a MUD game and mixed it with twitter or something lol

last i checked there were a couple with the web frontend still working and fairly recent messages.. like if you posted "are you alive" there might be more people sort of habit watching the site than you'd expect and they'd respond.. but that pretty much takes the BBS part and turns it into a groupware looking thing.. like something you'd post work messages to.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/25 (Windows/32)
* Origin: cold fusion - cfbbs.net - grand rapids, mi

Yeah too bad, it goes right over my head. I have been doing a lot of research and I'm interested in running a board. There are some guys on dovenet that ma asking any question a sin. The way some of the guys talk to people on here, have kind of turned me off on running a board.

Luckily, synchronet is pretty popular so as long as you are asking general questions and not trying to report a bug, you can probably get assistance
with it on just about any network... fsx, tqw, etc... with a BBSing forum.

---
þ BgNet 1.0á12 ÷ moe's tavern * 1-502-875-8938 * moetiki.ddns.net:27

Isn't Citadel like that? Maybe that's not it, but there was a BBS
package with a more featureful web interface...

Citadel is kinda like that, but WINServer def is like that.

--- Wildcat! v10.0.500.1 (Oct 16 2025), Editor Mod v1.7
þ wcQWK 10.0 ÷ Over The Brink ¦ Grand Island, NY USA

Re: Re: Still Active
By: poindexter FORTRAN to morningstarr on Fri Jan 23 2026 07:21 am

Isn't Citadel like that? Maybe that's not it, but there was a BBS
package with a more featureful web interface...

citadel, wildcrap! and vadv have nice web interfaces. well wildcrap HAS one but it's not nice.

citadel and vadv have good interfaces that are fast.
---
þ Synchronet þ ::: BBSES.info - free BBS services :::

Re: Re: Still Active
By: fusion to poindexter FORTRAN on Fri Jan 23 2026 03:20 pm

On 23 Jan 2026, poindexter FORTRAN said the following...

Isn't Citadel like that? Maybe that's not it, but there was a BBS package with a more featureful web interface...

citadel is cool.. though i only called a really active citadel
system once a long time ago..

it definitely had a different vibe.. like if you hacked a message
board into a MUD game and mixed it with twitter or something
lol

yeah it's totally different. it's entirely not what we are used to. the
thing is, they get a lot of callers and users. also i think they gate that chat into irc, discord, etc. so they have the mud style chat with rooms for chat and then the groupware shit on the web. it's something that is totally alien to us.
---
þ Synchronet þ ::: BBSES.info - free BBS services :::

Re: Still Active
By: MIKE POWELL to MORNINGSTARR on Fri Jan 23 2026 08:33 am

Yeah too bad, it goes right over my head. I have been
doing a lot of research and I'm interested in running a board. There
are some guys on dovenet that ma asking any question a sin. The way
some of the guys talk to people on here, have kind of turned me off
on running a board.

Luckily, synchronet is pretty popular so as long as you are asking
general questions and not trying to report a bug, you can probably
get assistance with it on just about any network... fsx, tqw, etc...
with a BBSing forum.

you guys should have referred him to sysopsfinest! it has it all on a forum! ---
þ Synchronet þ ::: BBSES.info - free BBS services :::

Re: Re: Still Active
By: Robert Wolfe to POINDEXTER FORTRAN on Fri Jan 23 2026 08:05 pm

Isn't Citadel like that? Maybe that's not it, but there
was a BBS package with a more featureful web interface...

Citadel is kinda like that, but WINServer def is like that.

well i would say citadel is more modern looking than the winserver interface.
i was on one the other day and it looked pretty crummy. also i couldnt search msgs.

vadv is nice.
---
þ Synchronet þ ::: BBSES.info - free BBS services :::

Re: Still Active
By: Nightfox to morningstarr on Thu Jan 22 2026 05:55 pm

The RIP protocol (Remote Imaging Protocol) was becoming a thing for BBSes in the early 90s, but as BBSes faded away, there wasn't really enough time for it to take hold. Aside from that (which I think was the most standardized), I remember seeing a BBS package called RoboBoard that had its own GUI standard, and with its client, you had a fairly good GUI experience when connected to a BBS (I remember it looking somewhat like Windows 3.0). I didn't know MajorBBS had one too.

Yeah major bbs had a gui, it looked like windows 95ish. Reminded me of aol. You could multitask in it too. Good times!

---
þ Synchronet þ Vertrauen þ Home of Synchronet þ [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net

Re: Still Active
By: The Wanderer to Morningstarr on Thu Jan 22 2026 06:47 pm

That is truly awful, and I know of what you speak. There are other boards that don't have so much focus on DoveNet, have better moderation and hence, fewer people that deter from the hobby. I hope you'll have a further look around.

I tried to install synchronet in linux today..outcome was negative. I watched robs video and rtfm and still no luck. I guess I will keep trying. I did get mystic to compile and run so that's an option. Mystic is really good, but missing features. Maybe I will have to settle and run a mystic board, or get a cheap laptop with windows on it and go that route. I have to be careful on here and make sure I spell everything correctly and try to use proper punctuation. Something as simple as that will cause an uproar on here.

---
þ Synchronet þ Vertrauen þ Home of Synchronet þ [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net

Re: Still Active
By: MRO to morningstarr on Fri Jan 23 2026 02:53 am

That may be so, but i think overall there is no need for something structured like bbses.

---
þ Synchronet þ Vertrauen þ Home of Synchronet þ [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net

Re: Still Active
By: Morningstarr to The Wanderer on Fri Jan 23 2026 07:40 pm

I tried to install synchronet in linux today..outcome was negative. I watched robs video and rtfm and still no luck. I guess I will keep trying. I did get mystic to compile and run so that's an option. Mystic is really good, but missing features. Maybe I will have to settle and run a mystic board, or get a cheap laptop with windows on it and go that route. I have to be careful on here and make sure I spell everything correctly and try to use proper punctuation. Something as simple as that will cause an uproar on here.

You can always get a cheap thin client PC on ebay.
Like the Dell 5060 or the 5070, they can run windows or linux.
or a HP t5740e like I ra0n the Outwest BBS on for many years, I just recently moved my BBS to a Dell desktop so I could use my HP t5740e for a DOS computer.

Denn

... If you don't think women are explosive...try Droping one.

---
þ Synchronet þ the Outwest BBS - outwest.synchro.net - Home of BBSBASE 6.0

Re: Still Active
By: Nightfox to morningstarr on Thu Jan 22 2026 05:55 pm

The RIP protocol (Remote Imaging Protocol) was becoming a thing for BBS
in the early 90s, but as BBSes faded away, there wasn't really enough t
for it to take hold. Aside from that (which I think was the most standardized), I remember seeing a BBS package called RoboBoard that ha
its own GUI standard, and with its client, you had a fairly good GUI experience when connected to a BBS (I remember it looking somewhat like
Windows 3.0). I didn't know MajorBBS had one too.

Yeah, WINS has one, ytoo. Good luck getting it to run properly under
newer versions of Windows.

--- Wildcat! v10.0.500.1 (Oct 16 2025), Editor Mod v1.7
þ wcQWK 10.0 ÷ Over The Brink ¦ Grand Island, NY USA

I tried to install synchronet in linux today..outcome was negative. I watche
---
þ Synchronet þ Vertrauen þ Home of Synchronet þ

[vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net

Um, Mystic is already compiled, So you shouldnt have to do any
compilation.

--- Wildcat! v10.0.500.1 (Oct 16 2025), Editor Mod v1.7
þ wcQWK 10.0 ÷ Over The Brink ¦ Grand Island, NY USA

Hey Morningstarr!

On Fri, Jan 23 2026 21:40:46 -0600, you wrote:

I tried to install synchronet in linux today..outcome was negative.
I watched robs video and rtfm and still no luck. I guess I will keep
trying. I did get mystic to compile and run so that's an option.
Mystic is really good, but missing features. Maybe I will have to
settle and run a mystic board, or get a cheap laptop with windows on
it and go that route. I have to be careful on here and make sure I
spell everything correctly and try to use proper punctuation.

Maybe you already did, but if you take your Synchronet/linux install issues over to the Synchronet sub, I'm sure people would be willing to help you figure it out. It's possible you just missed a prerequisite or something simple that Synchronet requires in order to compile, that was overlooked while reading the wiki.

As for Mystic, I'm guessing you "unpacked and installed" it, rather than compiled it. Mystic is not open source, and comes pre-compiled for different architectures/OSes.

Something as simple as that will cause an uproar on here.

Only with a couple people. If they bother you, it's better to just skip their messages and not feed their constant trolling. Every once in a blue moon, they actually can have a normal conversation and maybe even be somewhat helpful. ;)

Regards,
Nick

... Sarcasm, because beating people up is illegal.
---
þ Synchronet þ _thePharcyde telnet://bbs.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin)

Isn't Citadel like that? Maybe that's not it, but there
was a BBS package with a more featureful web interface...

Citadel is kinda like that, but WINServer def is like that.

well i would say citadel is more modern looking than the winserver interface.

Are there any active Citadel BBSes, with web interfaces, online?


* SLMR 2.1a * If an experiment works, something has gone wrong
---
þ Synchronet þ moe's tavern * 1-5028758938 * moetiki.ddns.net:27

Re: Still Active
By: Arelor to MIKE POWELL on Fri Jan 23 2026 09:24 am

It would be nice if some younger persons saw it as an alternative
to what social media has become.

I want to report I exist.

gonna need proof on that.
---
þ Synchronet þ ::: BBSES.info - free BBS services :::

Re: Still Active
By: Morningstarr to The Wanderer on Fri Jan 23 2026 07:40 pm

I tried to install synchronet in linux today..outcome was negative. I watched robs video and rtfm and still no luck. I guess I will keep trying.

Should be able to get help in the Synchronet support echo if you are looking to tackle it again.

Grabbing up the details of what you were doing and posting log snippets should help get things moving along for you.

---
þ Synchronet þ We're yakking at Yak Station BBS

Dumas Walker wrote to MRO <=-

Are there any active Citadel BBSes, with web interfaces, online?

I don't know if this system is still operational, but there was a
system:
bbs.iscabbs.com
I don't know if it had or has a web interface, but until a couple of
months ago I was able to login to it with telnet.



--- MultiMail/Linux v0.52
þ Synchronet þ telnet://cwshack.ddns.net:2330

Re: Re: Still Active
By: Accession to Morningstarr on Sat Jan 24 2026 06:50 am

Only with a couple people. If they bother you, it's better to just
skip their messages and not feed their constant trolling. Every
once in a blue moon, they actually can have a normal conversation
and maybe even be somewhat helpful. ;)

so are you gonna trim down those ansi screens or not? :d
---
þ Synchronet þ ::: BBSES.info - free BBS services :::

Re: Still Active
By: morningstarr to MRO on Thu Jan 22 2026 02:32 pm

synchronet servers can have a robust website. Maybe even mimick some of the behaviors and features of facebook. That would keep potential new users from

Gross. Then they'd start posting politics crap.

---
þ Synchronet þ TIRED of waiting 2 hours for a taco? GO TO TACOPRONTO.bbs.io

Re: Re: Still Active
By: Dumas Walker to MRO on Sat Jan 24 2026 09:38 am

Isn't Citadel like that? Maybe that's not it, but
there was a BBS package with a more featureful web interface...

Citadel is kinda like that, but WINServer def is like that.

well i would say citadel is more modern looking than the winserver interface.

Are there any active Citadel BBSes, with web interfaces, online?

yeah there are. i have an hourly bbs announcement on irc and i got a few.

i'm not big on calling bbses anymore.
here's what it looks like
https://www.citadel.org/

it's really not what we are used to using but there's people that use it.
i dont mean sysops calling sysops. they have users.
---
þ Synchronet þ ::: BBSES.info - free BBS services :::

MIKE POWELL wrote to MORNINGSTARR <=-

Luckily, synchronet is pretty popular so as long as you are asking
general questions and not trying to report a bug, you can probably get assistance with it on just about any network... fsx, tqw, etc... with a BBSing forum.

Since others are posting AI slop to the echoes now...

SYNCHRONET BBS SOFTWARE PRESENTS A COLLECTION OF FUNCTIONAL CHALLENGES
THAT CAN BE CHARACTERIZED AS BOTH PERSISTENT AND DISCONCERTING IN THEIR STRUCTURAL COMPLEXITY
- THE CONFIGURATION SUBSYSTEM DEMANDS A DEGREE OF USER ENGAGEMENT THAT
COULD BE DESCRIBED AS EXCESSIVELY RIGOROUS, AS THOUGH THE SOFTWARE
EXPECTS OPERATORS TO POSSESS AN ALMOST CEREMONIAL LEVEL OF PATIENCE AND TECHNICAL ENDURANCE
- THE DOCUMENTATION, WHILE ABUNDANT IN VOLUME, SOMETIMES DELIVERS
INFORMATION IN A MANNER THAT FEELS DISJOINTED, AS IF EACH SECTION WERE
COMPOSED IN ISOLATION AND ONLY LATER INTRODUCED TO ITS NEIGHBORING
PARAGRAPHS UNDER DURESS
- THE MULTIPROTOCOL COMMUNICATION LAYER OCCASIONALLY EXHIBITS BEHAVIOR
THAT COULD BE INTERPRETED AS SEMICOOPERATIVE AT BEST, AS THOUGH IT IS PARTICIPATING IN NETWORK OPERATIONS OUT OF OBLIGATION RATHER THAN
ENTHUSIASM
- THE USER INTERFACE, DESPITE ITS HISTORICAL AUTHENTICITY, SOMETIMES
PROJECTS AN AURA OF MINIMALISM SO EXTREME THAT IT MAY BE PERCEIVED AS
ACTIVELY RESISTING MODERN EXPECTATIONS OF CLARITY AND NAVIGABILITY
- THE PROCESS OF INTEGRATING DOOR GAMES AND EXTERNAL MODULES CAN REQUIRE
A LEVEL OF MANUAL INTERVENTION THAT FEELS ALMOST RITUALISTIC, AS IF THE SOFTWARE DEMANDS A SERIES OF PRECISE INCANTATIONS BEFORE CONSENTING TO
FUNCTION PROPERLY
- THE LOGGING OUTPUT, THOUGH COMPREHENSIVE, CAN GENERATE TEXTUAL
QUANTITIES THAT BORDER ON THE MONOLITHIC, LEAVING OPERATORS TO SIFT
THROUGH VOLUMES OF INFORMATION THAT SEEM TO EXPAND WITH A KIND OF
RELENTLESS, SELFPROPAGATING INTENSITY
- THE UPDATE AND MAINTENANCE PROCEDURES SOMETIMES EXHIBIT A LEVEL OF
DELICACY THAT SUGGESTS THE SOFTWARE IS QUIETLY AWARE OF ITS OWN
FRAGILITY AND WOULD PREFER THAT USERS APPROACH IT WITH A DEGREE OF
CAUTION MORE COMMONLY RESERVED FOR ANTIQUE MACHINERY

IN SUMMARY, SYNCHRONET BBS SOFTWARE FUNCTIONS ADEQUATELY BUT OFTEN
PROJECTS AN AURA OF OPERATIONAL TENSION, AS THOUGH EACH SUBSYSTEM IS
PERFORMING ITS DUTIES WITH A SLIGHT, EVERPRESENT SENSE OF RELUCTANT
COOPERATION


--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
þ Synchronet þ .: realitycheckbbs.org :: scientia potentia est :.

Morningstarr wrote to Nightfox <=-

Yeah major bbs had a gui, it looked like windows 95ish. Reminded me of aol. You could multitask in it too. Good times!

There was a period of time where companies used POTS and
store-and-forward networks to interoperate, before the internet was
common. I remember setting up Worldgroup, and it was a great way to
communicate with a couple of development studios we had.

I know I've told this story multiple times, but my company ended up with
a $400 phone bill because the lead developer set it up to poll every 10 minutes.

The developers were in that local toll area, where calls were expensive
and you couldn't route them easily over long distance lines. It cost
more to call 3 cities down than it did to call another state.

I tried to explain the idea behind crashmail to him, but he didn't want
to make a change, in case some important change happened on the far end.
He didn't want them paying for calls, so it had to be set up that way.

I had a telco broker who had some interesting ideas. He suggested I
purchase call forward on busy service for the hub. It was $3/month. Set
the call forward busy destination to the number in the toll area. Set
the hub to call "itself". The line was busy, naturally, and forwarded to
the destination for essentially a penny a call.

They could continue calling every 10 minutes, and the bill dropped to
almost nothing, since there was no toll charge on the calls.



--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
þ Synchronet þ .: realitycheckbbs.org :: scientia potentia est :.

Morningstarr wrote to The Wanderer <=-

I tried to install synchronet in linux today..outcome was negative. I watched robs video and rtfm and still no luck.

Sorry to hear that. I don't know your skill level with regards to
installing programs from scratch, as it's more complicated than using a
package manager. I tried the Linux install on Ubuntu a while ago. It's
much more complicated, but following the instructions to the letter
worked.

The biggest issue for me was the user issue, getting things to run
under a BBS user versus root, and escalating privileges - but that is
all covered in the installation docs.

It might be worth throwing up a Windows VM somewhere and trying
Synchronet under Windows for a while to get comfortable with the BBS
and play around with it before trying to install it in Linux.




--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
þ Synchronet þ .: realitycheckbbs.org :: scientia potentia est :.

Re: Re: Still Active
By: Khronos to Dumas Walker on Sat Jan 24 2026 11:43 am

Are there any active Citadel BBSes, with web interfaces, online?

I don't know if this system is still operational, but there was a
system:
bbs.iscabbs.com
I don't know if it had or has a web interface, but until a couple of months ago I was able to login to it with telnet.

Yes it's still up, and it has a web interface.

Denn

... MODEM: Monumentally Obsolete Data Eating Machine.

---
þ Synchronet þ the Outwest BBS - outwest.synchro.net - Home of BBSBASE 6.0

Re: Re: Still Active
By: poindexter FORTRAN to MIKE POWELL on Sat Jan 24 2026 09:59 am

Since others are posting AI slop to the echoes now...

SYNCHRONET BBS SOFTWARE PRESENTS A COLLECTION OF FUNCTIONAL
CHALLENGES THAT CAN BE CHARACTERIZED AS BOTH PERSISTENT AND
DISCONCERTING IN THEIR STRUCTURAL COMPLEXITY - THE CONFIGURATION
SUBSYSTEM DEMANDS A DEGREE OF USER ENGAGEMENT THAT COULD BE
DESCRIBED AS EXCESSIVELY RIGOROUS, AS THOUGH THE SOFTWARE EXPECTS

maybe that explains why you have so much problems running ftn and having a stable system.


thanks for the capital letter spam


--
"Before using Wildcat....This Company did not have a convenient way of
looking after some of the richest clients in the world...Now we do!"
---
þ Synchronet þ ::: BBSES.info - free BBS services :::

well i would say citadel is more modern looking than the winserver

interfa

Well the wins web interface design is determined by the Sysop
ultimastely.

--- Wildcat! v10.0.500.1 (Oct 16 2025), Editor Mod v1.7
þ wcQWK 10.0 ÷ Over The Brink ¦ Grand Island, NY USA

I don't know if this system is still operational, but there was a
system:
bbs.iscabbs.com
I don't know if it had or has a web interface, but until a couple of months ago I was able to login to it with telnet.

There is Uncensored BBS which is the home of Citadel.

--- Wildcat! v10.0.500.1 (Oct 16 2025), Editor Mod v1.7
þ wcQWK 10.0 ÷ Over The Brink ¦ Grand Island, NY USA

Are there any active Citadel BBSes, with web interfaces, online?

here's what it looks like
https://www.citadel.org/

Thanks, I will take a look.


* SLMR 2.1a * "How to keep your conference on topic" by Mod R. Ator
---
þ Synchronet þ moe's tavern * 1-5028758938 * moetiki.ddns.net:27

Re: Re: Still Active
By: Dumas Walker to MRO on Sun Jan 25 2026 10:24 am

Are there any active Citadel BBSes, with web
interfaces, online?

here's what it looks like https://www.citadel.org/

Thanks, I will take a look.

the telnet side looks weird. it's very alien to what we are used to.


--
"Before using Wildcat....This Company did not have a convenient way of
looking after some of the richest clients in the world...Now we do!"
---
þ Synchronet þ ::: BBSES.info - free BBS services :::

Since others are posting AI slop to the echoes now...

SYNCHRONET BBS SOFTWARE PRESENTS A COLLECTION OF FUNCTIONAL CHALLENGES
THAT CAN BE CHARACTERIZED AS BOTH PERSISTENT AND DISCONCERTING IN THEIR STRUCTURAL COMPLEXITY

snip

Well at least their AI bot wasn't yelling at them. Did you use some AI
that is hosted by Truth? :D
---
þ BgNet 1.0á12 ÷ moe's tavern * 1-502-875-8938 * moetiki.ddns.net:27

Are there any active Citadel BBSes, with web interfaces, online?

I don't know if this system is still operational, but there was a
system:
bbs.iscabbs.com
I don't know if it had or has a web interface, but until a couple of
months ago I was able to login to it with telnet.

Thanks, I will check that out!


* SLMR 2.1a * I am NOT a Complete Idiot! Several parts are missing!!
---
þ Synchronet þ CAPCITY2 * Capitol City Online

MIKE POWELL wrote to POINDEXTER FORTRAN <=-

Well at least their AI bot wasn't yelling at them. Did you use some AI that is hosted by Truth?

I told ChatGPT to be annoying, overly wordy and use all capitals.



--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
þ Synchronet þ .: realitycheckbbs.org :: scientia potentia est :.

Re: Re: Still Active
By: poindexter FORTRAN to Morningstarr on Sat Jan 24 2026 09:59 am

I know I've told this story multiple times, but my company ended up with a $400 phone bill because the lead developer set it up to poll every 10 minutes.

Well I haven't heard the story! I can't believe the guy didn't listen to your idea. I remember running up my parents phone bill. Let me just say the outcome was a pink rear end!

I had a telco broker who had some interesting ideas. He suggested I purchase call forward on busy service for the hub. It was $3/month. Set the call forward busy destination to the number in the toll area. Set the hub to call "itself". The line was busy, naturally, and forwarded to the destination for essentially a penny a call.

Now that sir, is a crafty idea! Our phone company would charge long distance for a call to the next county.

---
þ Synchronet þ Vertrauen þ Home of Synchronet þ [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net