Here's my idea; on 2oFB, I'd like to offer a Menu where users can boot MANY different BBS softwares... they'd all be bone stock - just to show the various BBS softwares that were popular; Telegard, Renegade, Obv/2, iMPULSE, VBBS, Wildcat, etc etc etc.
So, I've been chipping away at how to do this the last couple of weeks
as time permitted.
I've done a couple of things:
* I've setup a (public) "inside" network to host BBSes, so they are a level behind the public internet (making extra work for script kiddies, port probes, etc). Details of that is at https://intus.top
I need to make a DNS service easy to use, because domain names are
easier than IPv6 addresses. (and since is an inside net, I'm using my
own TLD .bbs).
Anybody can join intus if they want...
* I've build a docker image, that boots QEMU/486 (for DOS bbs's) which appears to work well.
The image is based around two disks - C: for the OS, and I have a MS-DOS 6.22 image and a FreeDOS 1.4 image, and D: drive for the BBS/frontend mailer/tosser, etc.
The benefit of FreeDOS, is that it will also connect to TCP/IP which
might be an option to get mail via a HTTP API call (which clrghouz can do).
Without TCP/IP, tcpser connects to a tty0tty null modem device that
should enable an EMSI mailer to be in front to get mail, or just to connect directly to the BBS.
The D: drive is for the BBS software and accompanying software, and by using docker, all I need to do is boot a container from the image, and provide it a C: drive and D: drive. (We'll that's the plan...)
The first setup I created is my 1995 BBS (which I found the backups for a couple of years ago), running Ezycom v1.1 and Portal of Power - and its
up and running at 303:d1a0:fc6e:83d8::23 port 2301 as it was when I shut it down in the 90s - old users are there too, except no mail, games nor files :(.
I plan on finding some other BBS softwares and boot them up (if anything to try them out as I never did in the 90s) - and leave them running so others can jump on if they are curious.
I'd probably use Sync to be a "BBS server" (aka door server) that could frontend access to them if I run a few.
If anybody wants to run some old software, let me know, happy to host it or setup access to my VM so you can run some as well...
w0w; nice work, man... reading about intus.top - and it sounds like you have a platform for all MS-DOS platformed BBS Software here.
Interesting - are you gonna lean it up as time permits???
Interesting - are you gonna lean it up as time permits???
"lean it up"? Whatcha talkin' bout Willis?
I meant - are you going to put this idea, a BBS Software 'Door' system up @ your BBS or some domain.com:port??
... I had momentarily taken Bucko's suggestion of just using other active BBSes that are currently running - but I stopped because I was trying to add ALL BBS softwares, but the C=, Atari, etc etc NON-ANSi/ASCII ones won't look correct when users are logged into my bbs.
Here's my idea; on 2oFB, I'd like to offer a Menu where users can boot
up MANY different BBS softwares... they'd all be bone stock - just to
show all the various BBS softwares that were popular; Telegard,
Renegade, Obv/2, iMPULSE, VBBS, Wildcat, etc etc etc.
don't forget Maximus ;)
| Sysop: | smooth0401 |
|---|---|
| Location: | New Providence, NJ |
| Users: | 4 |
| Nodes: | 4 (0 / 4) |
| Uptime: | 495795:13:36 |
| Calls: | 395 |
| Files: | 800 |
| D/L today: |
45 files (12,665K bytes) |
| Messages: | 54,512 |