Sunday 6 March 2011
Putting together a new, modern BBS package
Been working on an all in one installer based BBS package/collection this weekend for running on AmigaOS 4.1 (will run on older versions of WB 100% as well). Combination of DLG BB/OS for the BBS SW, MailManager for UUCP and FTN's, setup out of the box for telnet only. Just finishing up some scripts and crontabs for retrieving mail via FTP and I'll throw it on the SAM 440 for full testing. If all goes well it should be as close to a "modern" all in one BBS package for telnet that exists on the Amiga, I hope. If you'd like to test this, give me a holler. Maybe try the same with FAME BBS, depending on how the DLG version pans out. Still having bad problems with doorgames on the SAM 440/PPC machine running OS 4.1, regardless of what BBS SW I use.
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Hi Duce,
ReplyDeleteThanks for this great blog, I've enjoyed reading through all of your posts :)
I'm a long time lover of all things BBS. Just recently I've been in the mood to get a system back online; the system of my dreams which I'd always wanted to run, but never could (back then I was a teenager on a limited 'salary' of $15 a week, and by the time I was earning real money, the BBS era had ended..)
I suspect like yourself, I've been having a hard time deciding which package to use. Initially I played around with CNet. It's a lovely system and one I'd always used/played with back in the day, but it doesn't quite match what I think a BBS system needs for today - which is a shame, since it's such a powerful and configurable piece of software!
The reason I passed on CNet is because I feel a BBS of today should be as intuitive and straightforward to use as possible - since a lot of those logging in will likely have never used one before, and I wouldn't want people to be intimidated on first use and be put off by that.
It also needs to keep the number of questions asked to a minimum. Back in the day, people were used to filling in a registration form on every BBS they visited. Nowadays, people don't expect to answer more than a couple of questions at most, any more and the person might feel we're being far too nosey. CNet asks a LOT of questions.
Having played around with a number of options (many of which didn't work out of the box or took an awful lot of messing around to get working), I seem to have settled on two choices: either DLG for the Amiga, or Synchronet for Linux.
Like yourself, I'm loathe to go with a Linux option as it feels unfaithful, and I'd like an Amiga to be powering the system. DLG is a very nice, very intuitive, very configurable system. But I'm uncertain as to how easy or challenging it be when I want to try and set up FidoNet message areas. I have a feeling it's gonna be... somewhat tricky and fiddly... and I'm worried if I'm going to be able to achieve that at all.
The 'safe' option is Synchronet, which is full of features and is also under active development..... but DLG is easier to use, it's Amiga-based, and it's very powerful too... probably more than powerful enough for what I or my users would want to do...
Are you still working on your BBS, Duce? Any decisions on which package you'll be using or are you still deciding yourself too?
Best regards,
Steve