From history.txt

[snip]

2023-06-17
The following NET 1 nodes have been delisted due to inactivity.

Removed Node 1/124 apernevan.tk BBS
Removed Node 1/133 Blacklight Underground BBS
Removed Node 1/138 Electronic Warfare BBS
Removed Node 1/211 NeedFul Things BBS
Removed Node 1/215 Project Open Gate BBS
Removed Node 1/225 The b33zNet BBS

[snip]

Best, Paul

Kerr Avon [Blake's 7] 'I'm not expendable, I'm not stupid and I'm not going' avon[at]bbs.nz | bbs.nz | fsxnet.nz

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

On 17 Jun 2023, Avon said the following...

[snip]Av> Av> 2023-06-17Av> T

he following NET 1 nodes have been delisted due to inactivity.
They come and they go.Mick Manning
Bad Poetry Blues BBS
... A Mystic asking for a hot-dog: "Make me one with everything"

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Bad Poetry Blues - centralontarioremote.com:2300 (21:1/159)

On 17 Jun 2023 at 07:36p, Mickey pondered and said...

They come and they go.

You're not wrong, just so long as others come along :)

Kerr Avon [Blake's 7] 'I'm not expendable, I'm not stupid and I'm not going' avon[at]bbs.nz | bbs.nz | fsxnet.nz

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

They come and they go.

You're not wrong, just so long as others come along :)

I guess it's not all that surprising - there's a level of commitment required to run a BBS and let's face it, not too many users 'call' BBS's these days :-(

So if someone's in it for the users, then it's not hard to see why they might get disheartened and move on to other things.

I'd love to find that silver bullet that draws at least some reasonable number of users back to BBS's again.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
* Origin: TassieBob BBS, Hobart, Tasmania (21:3/169)

On 19 Jun 2023 at 05:39p, tassiebob pondered and said...

They come and they go.

You're not wrong, just so long as others come along :)

I guess it's not all that surprising - there's a level of commitment required to run a BBS and let's face it, not too many users 'call' BBS's these days :-(

You're right about 'users' of BBS it's really a hobby driven by sysops who want to run one, had run one, never run one etc. But there are some who connect to BBS as just users, and indeed some BBS are visited by a bunch of other sysops on a fairly regular basis.

So if someone's in it for the users, then it's not hard to see why they might get disheartened and move on to other things.

I'd agree.

I'd love to find that silver bullet that draws at least some reasonable number of users back to BBS's again.

Perhaps the ongoing dissatisfaction with social media may help? I think it is to a degree. But more so with BBS/retro stuff as an escape from the content and algorithmic oversights of social, rather than as a total replacement for it.

That said, I do enjoy echomail chatting the most out of all the stuff I can do in BBSing, as I can do it at my own pace and in a way that is not visual and multimedia overload.

Kerr Avon [Blake's 7] 'I'm not expendable, I'm not stupid and I'm not going' avon[at]bbs.nz | bbs.nz | fsxnet.nz

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

I'd love to find that silver bullet that draws at least some reasonabl
number of users back to BBS's again.

Perhaps the ongoing dissatisfaction with social media may help? I think
it is to a degree. But more so with BBS/retro stuff as an escape from
the content and algorithmic oversights of social, rather than as a total replacement for it.

It's definitely an escape from the constant analysis of everything we do - almost like a little underground movement, lol.

That said, I do enjoy echomail chatting the most out of all the stuff I can do in BBSing, as I can do it at my own pace and in a way that is not visual and multimedia overload.

Agreed. Just need more of those users, to create more of that echomail, so there's more for everyone to read :-)

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
* Origin: TassieBob BBS, Hobart, Tasmania (21:3/169)

On 19 Jun 2023, Avon said the following...

That said, I do enjoy echomail chatting the most out of all the stuff I can do in BBSing, as I can do it at my own pace and in a way that is not visual and multimedia overload.

i never really got into ftn stuff back in the day, and at the time you'd still get 5 or 6 calls a day of people playing LORD at midnight or whatever.. so you could totally get away with that.. now i think it's an important part of the experience.

i think it's rewarding modding the bbs too.. drawing ansi, leaving no prompt
or sliver of text untouched and uncolorized in a matching theme. even if
nobody calls it's still cool to me.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/25 (Windows/32)
* Origin: cold fusion - cfbbs.net - grand rapids, mi (21:1/616)

i think it's rewarding modding the bbs too.. drawing ansi, leaving no prompt or sliver of text untouched and uncolorized in a matching theme. even if nobody calls it's still cool to me.

It's cool for sure - it'd just be nice if more users would call and enjoy our creations :-) Mine is very much a work in progress. Wish I'd kept the backups from the BBS I ran in the 80's & 90's - it was a bazillion 360k floppies, most of which grew mould over time :-(

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
* Origin: TassieBob BBS, Hobart, Tasmania (21:3/169)

They come and they go.

You're not wrong, just so long as others come along :)

I guess it's not all that surprising - there's a level of commitment required to run a BBS and let's face it, not too many users 'call' BBS's these days :-(
So if someone's in it for the users, then it's not hard to see why they might get disheartened and move on to other things.

Pretty sure I ran 2oFB for a full year+ with ZERO callers. :P

I'd love to find that silver bullet that draws at least some reasonable number of users back to BBS's again.

I think it's one of a few things... if the system is so unique, or well-done (aBSINTHE, Frozen Floppy) then thats a big draw... for me, I really think ppl call when a sysOp is active and present; I send new users unique reply emails and try to gauge whether they're new [extra help], known users [chat where I've seen them in the bbSverse] or just new to 2oFB [tell them about the board]. I know I've made fast friends with folks over that first email - and they call back enough to start seeing other active parts of the board... 'build it and they will come' - even if it takes a year of dead air!



|07p|15AULIE|1142|07o
|08.........

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbs>>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (21:2/150)

On 19 Jun 2023, tassiebob said the following...

enjoy our creations :-) Mine is very much a work in progress. Wish I'd kept the backups from the BBS I ran in the 80's & 90's - it was a bazillion 360k floppies, most of which grew mould over time :-(

yeah i know what you mean.. i used to get the 100pack 3.5" floppy disks almost every year for christmas in the early 90s and now i have none of them.. not that what was on them was particularly valuable.. but for nostalgia sake it'd be cool to poke around

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/25 (Windows/32)
* Origin: cold fusion - cfbbs.net - grand rapids, mi (21:1/616)

On 19 Jun 2023, paulie420 said the following...

well-done (aBSINTHE, Frozen Floppy) then thats a big draw... for me, I really think ppl call when a sysOp is active and present; I send new
users unique reply emails and try to gauge whether they're new [extra

yeah, if we're talking bringing back call levels like the good old days, i'd imagine if you ran a support BBS for something else, you might draw in quite a few people to check it out. since it sort of 'forces' that interaction. and then from there they poke around once their problem has been fixed.

there's a tech ex-youtuber that runs a board (or did?) that was pretty popular recently. i'd imagine in that case it's appeal was bypassing the YouTube comment section to chat with the host. (kind of like how the LTT web forum is popular) but it's one of those things like.. they don't necessarily use it because they like BBSes so there's no conversion to BBS users for all of us..

who knows.. and the concensus seems to be none of us are too worried about it, which is good.. it's a cool hobby :)

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/25 (Windows/32)
* Origin: cold fusion - cfbbs.net - grand rapids, mi (21:1/616)

Re: Re: Running a BBS
By: fusion to tassiebob on Mon Jun 19 2023 04:22 pm

yeah i know what you mean.. i used to get the 100pack 3.5" floppy disks almost every year for christmas in the early 90s and now i have none of them.. not that what was on them was particularly valuable.. but for nostalgia sake it'd be cool to poke around

In the early 90s, I bought a couple of 3.5" floppy disk drawers that were inexpensive and made of cardboard, and I thought it was amusing that they said "Economy Diskette Drawer" on the front. I think this is one of the same ones (though it looks a bit taller than I remember):

https://www.k-bid.com/auction/19780/item/88?offset=88

Nightfox
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: Digital Distortion: digdist.synchro.net (21:1/137)

On 19 Jun 23 05:59:43 paulie420 wrote...

Pretty sure I ran 2oFB for a full year+ with ZERO callers. :P

To which Commodore Clifford replies...

I remember those days. I could go months without a caller... or when
having hardware problems go down for months without anyone noticing. Now
if I don't get a few callers a day and some new messages I start to check
to make sure everything is running (the old girl tends to give me the
purple screen of garbage from time to time).

For the Atari crowd, the "Retro Revolution" breathed some life into it,
but at the end of the day it's still mostly the SysOps (and not even all
of them) and a handful of "callers" who keep the activity going. A lot
of the "activity" seems to center around topics that probably make you
wonder if some of these guys ever got out of a high school mentality...
though it can still be entertaining. Some of our BBS's can get 10-20
messages a day and a dozen callers.

Some of it is the uniqueness of the retro, but also... sometimes having
that social media presence helps. After all, Particles! (Commodore BBS)
has been active all this time, even during my "dead" years. I think his Facebook page probably had quite a bit to do with it.


--- RATSoft/FIDO v09.14.95 [JetMail 1.01]
* Origin: STar Fleet HQ BBS - bbs.sfhqbbs.org:5983 (21:3/171)

yeah, if we're talking bringing back call levels like the good old days, i'd imagine if you ran a support BBS for something else, you might draw
in quite a few people to check it out. since it sort of 'forces' that interaction. and then from there they poke around once their problem has been fixed.

Right; MASTER BOOT RECORD, the nerdcore rapper, has a bone stock Mystic board w/ dozens [or close] callers a day. :P

He does hide easter eggs there - when you buy an album each has a rabbit hole to go down and 'hack'...

there's a tech ex-youtuber that runs a board (or did?) that was pretty popular recently. i'd imagine in that case it's appeal was bypassing the YouTube comment section to chat with the host. (kind of like how the LTT web forum is popular) but it's one of those things like.. they don't necessarily use it because they like BBSes so there's no conversion to
BBS users for all of us..

Yea; Brian Lunduke ran the House of Lunduke for awhile; a VBBS board - but that seems to have been down for a few months now. Also, that Amiga guy Chris... who makes PiMiga; he runs an Amiga board still... Atlanta Data Image.

who knows.. and the concensus seems to be none of us are too worried
about it, which is good.. it's a cool hobby :)

Yessir; I literally drool over several other BBSes, that I think are well beyond 2oFB IMO - but I don't mind that its become 'popular'... :P



|07p|15AULIE|1142|07o
|08.........

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbs>>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (21:2/150)

For the Atari crowd, the "Retro Revolution" breathed some life into it, but at the end of the day it's still mostly the SysOps (and not even all of them) and a handful of "callers" who keep the activity going. A lot
of the "activity" seems to center around topics that probably make you wonder if some of these guys ever got out of a high school mentality... though it can still be entertaining. Some of our BBS's can get 10-20 messages a day and a dozen callers.

I agree - the Atari, Commodore and [some] Amiga boards seem to get ALL those platforms callers; which they should... I feel like the Mystic/Synchronet's are the 'dime a dozen'.

Some of it is the uniqueness of the retro, but also... sometimes having that social media presence helps. After all, Particles! (Commodore BBS) has been active all this time, even during my "dead" years. I think his Facebook page probably had quite a bit to do with it.

Yea man.. The Cave, Particles a few of the older Telegard boards - and many others that I'm not naming; they are the champions. The guys who never went OFFLINE in the first place. w0w.



|07p|15AULIE|1142|07o
|08.........

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbs>>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (21:2/150)

Pretty sure I ran 2oFB for a full year+ with ZERO callers. :P

:-(

I think it's one of a few things... if the system is so unique, or well-done (aBSINTHE, Frozen Floppy) then thats a big draw...

It'd be a big draw for getting users to return, but how do systems like that attract users in the first place?

Way back when, my dialup BBS, like everyone else, got listed in published BBS lists and users actively called around to see which boards they liked, but that's not a thing in 2023 :-(

new to 2oFB [tell them about the board]. I know I've made fast friends with folks over that first email

I still have friends today that I met through the dialup BBS I ran in the late 80's & 90's :-)

seeing other active parts of the board... 'build it and they will come'
- even if it takes a year of dead air!

I hear ya.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
* Origin: TassieBob BBS, Hobart, Tasmania (21:3/169)

yeah i know what you mean.. i used to get the 100pack 3.5" floppy disks almost every year for christmas in the early 90s and now i have none of them..

I had dozens of storage boxes of floppies, both 5.25" and 3.5". Thousands of disks. When we moved to a warmer and more humid climate about 20 years ago they all grew mould and got binned.

Now I find myself buying disks again and paying a pretty penny for them :-(

not that what was on them was particularly valuable.. but for
nostalgia sake it'd be cool to poke around

Yeah!

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
* Origin: TassieBob BBS, Hobart, Tasmania (21:3/169)

there's a tech ex-youtuber that runs a board (or did?) that was pretty popular recently. i'd imagine in that case it's appeal was bypassing the YouTube comment section to chat with the host.

Interesting idea. ...and doing away with the obligatory Discord server as well no doubt.

Once I get my BBS setup the way I want it, I really should look into a web based terminal client to reduce the complexity of accessing it (no software to download & setup).

who knows.. and the concensus seems to be none of us are too worried
about it, which is good.. it's a cool hobby :)

For sure - it'd just be nice to see people getting enjoyment and value from the systems people put so much work into creating!

Cheers.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
* Origin: TassieBob BBS, Hobart, Tasmania (21:3/169)

Am 20.06.23 schrieb tassiebob@21:3/169 in FSX_NET:

Hallo tassiebob,

Once I get my BBS setup the way I want it, I really should look
into a web based terminal client to reduce the complexity of
accessing it (no software to download & setup).

I don't know if you already chose your BBS software package (sorry, I
haven't read all mails in this thread), but Synchronet offers a web
interface for the BBS which includes fTelnet.
With some changes, it can also be configured to not make any
connections to remote services to make it work.
You can see it in action here: https://box.imzadi.de

The Synchronet web interface also offers message boards and file
access via the web browser.

Regards,
Anna

--- OpenXP 5.0.57
* Origin: Imzadi Box Point (21:3/127.1)

I don't know if you already chose your BBS software package (sorry, I haven't read all mails in this thread),

Yeah, I've been running Mystic for a while now.

but Synchronet offers a web
interface for the BBS which includes fTelnet.
With some changes, it can also be configured to not make any
connections to remote services to make it work.

I did take a look at Synchronet, and I no doubt will again in due course.

You can see it in action here: https://box.imzadi.de

I had a very quick look (at work at the moment). Will look more tonight :-)

Cheers,
Bob.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
* Origin: TassieBob BBS, Hobart, Tasmania (21:3/169)

Am 22.06.23 schrieb tassiebob@21:3/169 in FSX_NET:

Hallo tassiebob,

I don't know if you already chose your BBS software package (sorry, I
haven't read all mails in this thread),

Yeah, I've been running Mystic for a while now.

Ah okay :) If Mystic also offers a web server, it might be possible to
add fTelnet to it.

but Synchronet offers a web
interface for the BBS which includes fTelnet.
With some changes, it can also be configured to not make any
connections to remote services to make it work.

I did take a look at Synchronet, and I no doubt will again in due course.

:)

You can see it in action here: https://box.imzadi.de

I had a very quick look (at work at the moment). Will look more tonight
:-)

Take your time :)

Regards,
Anna

--- OpenXP 5.0.57
* Origin: Imzadi Box Point (21:3/127.1)

I think it's one of a few things... if the system is so unique, or well-done (aBSINTHE, Frozen Floppy) then thats a big draw...

It'd be a big draw for getting users to return, but how do systems like that attract users in the first place?

The main part of that is joining the BBS community. Whether a user never left and has always been a part of the BBSing community, fsxNet and FidoNet - or a new BBS user joins and starts communicating here (fsxNet) and the other networked parts of BBSing - MRC, the Commodore BBSes if yer into C= - the Atari BBSes if yer into Atari computers, etc etc etc...

Once I met all the regulars and hung out for long enough that they knew I wasn't just flying thru - I started to get more and more support. Both callers, ANSI art and etc.

Way back when, my dialup BBS, like everyone else, got listed in
published BBS lists and users actively called around to see which boards they liked, but that's not a thing in 2023 :-(

Right - there IS the telnetbbsguide.com, but TBH BBSes mostly get buried there underneath 100s of STOCK Mystic/Synchronet boards. You CAN take some time and peruse the site and find cool boards - but for me, I've found the places I enjoy calling by meeting actual people a lot more than searching telnetbbsguide.com.

I still have friends today that I met through the dialup BBS I ran in
the late 80's & 90's :-)

Same - when I was in high school, the majority of my friends were from BBSing! Girlfriends, too. :P



|07p|15AULIE|1142|07o
|08.........

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbs>>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (21:2/150)

On 19 Jun 23 18:33:54 paulie420 wrote...

I agree - the Atari, Commodore and [some] Amiga boards seem to get
ALL those platforms callers; which they should... I feel like the Mystic/Synchronet's are the 'dime a dozen'.

To which Commodore Clifford replies...

The real problem now is that there are people who want to run BBS's, but
not necessarily call them... also the "serial SysOps" who feel obligated
to run as many as they can with all the different software out there.
It's created something of an over-saturation where some BBS's are getting
tons of calls and activity and some are literally getting almost nothing
just because you can't call 20 BBS's a day.

--- RATSoft/FIDO v09.14.95 [JetMail 1.01]
* Origin: STar Fleet HQ BBS - bbs.sfhqbbs.org:5983 (21:3/171)

On 20 Jun 23 17:30:50 tassiebob wrote...

Once I get my BBS setup the way I want it, I really should look into
a web based terminal client to reduce the complexity of accessing it
(no software to download & setup).

To which Commodore Clifford replies...

1) You'll never get it set up the way you want it... That's a trap we all
fall into... there's always something more you'll think of!

2) I had good luck with fTelnet

--- RATSoft/FIDO v09.14.95 [JetMail 1.01]
* Origin: STar Fleet HQ BBS - bbs.sfhqbbs.org:5983 (21:3/171)

On 21 Jun 23 18:00:32 paulie420 wrote...

The main part of that is joining the BBS community. Whether a user
never left and has always been a part of the BBSing community, fsxNet
and FidoNet - or a new BBS user joins and starts communicating here (fsxNet) and the other networked parts of BBSing - MRC, the Commodore
BBSes if yer into C= - the Atari BBSes if yer into Atari computers,
etc etc etc...

Once I met all the regulars and hung out for long enough that they
knew I wasn't just flying thru - I started to get more and more
support. Both callers, ANSI art and etc.

To which Commodore Clifford replies...

Calling other BBSs is also fairly important, especially in the Atari
community. We've had so many people waste our time asking for help
setting things up and then just trying it for a short time and quitting,
we don't even really help anymore unless we see the person around the
BBS's.

A lot of them claim they want to only call if they're using retro
hardware, but it's at a point now where we spend weeks helping them get
set up and they call once or twice... so now it's kind of expected that
if you can't even use SyncTerm or something to "try before you buy" then
we just don't have any time to help.

That's doubly true if someone wants help setting up a BBS.

--- RATSoft/FIDO v09.14.95 [JetMail 1.01]
* Origin: STar Fleet HQ BBS - bbs.sfhqbbs.org:5983 (21:3/171)

Commodore Clifford wrote to tassiebob <=-

1) You'll never get it set up the way you want it... That's a trap we
all fall into... there's always something more you'll think of!

I joked that when I got my old DOS dial-up BBS automatically applying nodediffs, accepting TIC files and sending FREQs, performing message
base maintenance and accepting callers correctly, it was time to shut it
down and move on.

I'm still tweaking my BBS, 32 years later.

One thing I didn't do was spend a lot of time getting my BBS ready for
callers. I made a really cheezy ANSI login screen, a random mailer text
message (displayed before you got the "hit esc twice for the BBS"
message) and changed the new user screens, then went live. I figured I'd
have time to tweak as I go, and as the BBS started to take shape. Back
then, the users helped shape the personality of the BBS.



... I hear he can kill people with an init string.
--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
* Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (21:4/122)

Re: Re: Running a BBS
By: poindexter FORTRAN to Commodore Clifford on Wed Jul 12 2023 09:56 am

One thing I didn't do was spend a lot of time getting my BBS ready for callers. I made a really cheezy ANSI login screen, a random mailer text message (displayed before you got the "hit esc twice for the BBS" message) and changed the new user screens, then went live. I figured I'd have time to tweak as I go, and as the BBS started to take shape. Back then, the users helped shape the personality of the BBS.

Back in the 90s, and also when I set up my current BBS, I wanted to customize it at least a bit before I had it go live. I didn't want to have users be put off by seeing a relatively stock BBS and only call once. I always tweak as I go, but I wanted at least my menus to be customized the way I wanted and have some doors & files available when I made my BBS go live.

Nightfox
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: Digital Distortion: digdist.synchro.net (21:1/137)

Re: Re: Running a BBS
By: poindexter FORTRAN to Commodore Clifford on Wed Jul 12 2023 09:56 am

One thing I didn't do was spend a lot of time getting my BBS ready for callers. I made a really cheezy ANSI login screen, a random mailer text message (displayed before you got the "hit esc twice for the BBS"

message)

and changed the new user screens, then went live. I figured I'd have

time

to tweak as I go, and as the BBS started to take shape. Back then, the users helped shape the personality of the BBS.

Back in the 90s, and also when I set up my current BBS, I wanted to
customize it at least a bit before I had it go live. I didn't want to have
users be put off by seeing a relatively stock BBS and only call once. I
always tweak as I go, but I wanted at least my menus to be customized the
way I wanted and have some doors & files available when I made my BBS go
live.

I'm the same Nightfox, back in the day, All Searchlight BBS's looked the
same, now I'm pretty much the last man standing with software from 1999 :-)

Nick

--- SLMAIL v5.1 (#SLO409KEDG15G098)
* Origin: The Trashcan - The BEST Rubbish * bbs.thenet.gen.nz (21:1/142)