BBS Sysops, Untie!
 

Many many years ago I used to run a BBS (first on ProBoard, then Excalibur, then a private BBS on Iniquity), and it was a blast. I had two lines, a six cd changer full of shareware cds, and then this Internet thing came around and the BBS infatuation died.

Well, it's back. I'm trying to find some nice BBS software that I can setup a couple of telnet-only nodes on so that some friends and I can play L.O.R.D. / Usurper / TradeWars again. ProBoard appears to have disappeared in the last few years, WWIV doesn't work in Win2k, and WildCat has no free demo available that I could find. Anyone have any experience, or possibly run a telnet BBS at the moment?

I've tried SearchLight so far, which seems a bit buggy and I would prefer to find another alternative.

Check out Synchronet. It has a built-in telnet server (actually, the latest version ONLY supports telnet) and can run DOS doors.

Hmm this would be an interesting idea. I used to run a BBS a long time ago.

Ran spitfire, then Renegade, then Iniquity. Made a lot of modifications for the latter two. Funny thing is, I quit because I never could use my computer because someone was always on the BBS, but when I randomly called up some of my friend's old boards I found one of them had taken some of the mods I made him and put his own name on them.

that bastard. I brought up the subject to him and he denied it. Then I told him about a secret I put into it and it was still there.. He promptly removed it after I publically posted it*grin*.

ahh the good ol' days.

I ran a 6 node renegade bbs back in my H.S day's. Always wanted to get Major BBS up and running with a huge M.U.D. but never got around to it.

I used to run a 1 node, using Iniquity.
I remember saving money like crazy so i could buy a second phone line to let people play Lord on my bbs.

god i loved those days....so much. nothing but Duke Nukem 3D maps and porn. And since the community was so small, the exact same stuff was constantly circulated through the local boards.

would i wouldn't give to hear someone give me a "sysop ring" again (where if someone needs your assistance they hit a command that makes your PC speaker ring to let you know they need you)

I've run Remote Access 2 (LOVED that board) and a few Citadel86 boards in my time. I really miss those days. The internet really isn't nearly as much fun as it was to run and call BBS's.

Thanks for the info, zztzed! After a few initial problems/issues setting it up and getting used to it, I got a free telnet bbs set up at bbs.seretogis.org :)

Do you have any experience setting up LORD/TW2002 for Synchronet? It looks like it only generates a DOOR32.SYS, so I'm not sure if LORD would work with it..?

edit: Nevermind, I got LORD and TW2002 working with almost no problem. Usurper is being a pain in the ass, though, hehe.

I had a VBBS board setup on my computer. I was very young and couldn't afford a phone line on my $5/week I made off chores, so it was never public, but I would have friends call in on it every now and again when the parents were away. If you get your board working, send me the address, and be sure you get a copy of BRE for it. That was the best door ever.

I used to run a BBS back when I started highschool. A renegade board, lord that was fun. I miss those days. I stopped the board once I started getting a social life and realized that a teenager can do better things with ones own phone line then run a BBS. But I'd love to see some BBS's that are still running. Can someone reccomand some good ones?

Untie? But it's so fun to be tied!

My wife ran a board when we met (trianna's treehouse). It had started as a single line, but she built it up to, I think, six lines. Was fun. We actually met on another BBS (Beeline).

wow... the old school BBS... a friend of mine ran one off a Timex Sinclair hack job... amazing...

Sorry for the noobiness, but what does BBS mean?

bbs = bulletin board system/service

Ahhh...The Endless Quest, 94th Aerosquadron, Hangar 18.... I remember those days. I used to love to play Tradewars...

In the 80s and earlier, BBSs were the way that people communicated through forums, email, and shared files. Someone would take their computer and one or more phone lines and set up the system, much like a web site today.

Some sysops (system operators) charged a fee, used a credit system, or were fully public.

The Internet has replaced BBSs with all the same functionality and less expense for the operator of a site (well, excluding bandwidth for popular sites like TFP).

Everything that people do today were done BBSs: warez, porn, and even phreaking was common when Sprint was still using PIN codes for long-distance service.

Anyway, those were fun days.

If you get Usurper running, you'll probably be seeing me on your BBS ;)

I ran a renegade system off and on for two years. 1 line, which was my personal line when I lived at home. God it was fun :D just isn't the same on the internet. 80% of the people on the board knew each other and we had by-montly meetings.