Re: Still Active
By: R4 to MIKE POWELL on Mon Jan 12 2026 04:45 am

Re: Still Active
By: MIKE POWELL to GWYLBERT on Sun Jan 11 2026 09:28 am

does anyone still read messages on the board in 2026? or post?

Yes there are lots many posts in this area just about every day. I have at least two users (aside from myself) who post on one of my boards regularly.

that is great to hear!
I wonder what the age ranges are of the users? Not that it matters. I wonder how many people my age are really into bbs? I think there is going to be a surge in them at some point. Also I think they are great to have. There is something about them that is just diff then the reg internet . Have a great one!

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I would love to see a huge surge in bbsing in the future. I think if companies keep screwing with our privacy, people will look for other options. A lot of people aren't going to know how to use the terminal though. They want icons, pictures, and point and click. I have seen people run from bbsing because of the terminal. Wouldn't it be nice to bring back a universal terminal client like world group manager? It allowed major bbs users to connect to boards, with a gui, icons and multitasking.

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þ Synchronet þ Digital Distortion: digitaldistortionbbs.com

Re: Still Active
By: morningstarr to R4 on Thu Jan 22 2026 12:53 pm

I would love to see a huge surge in bbsing in the future. I think
if companies keep screwing with our privacy, people will look for
other options. A lot of people aren't going to know how to use the
terminal though. They want icons, pictures, and point and click.
I have seen people run from bbsing because of the terminal.

why would there be a huge surge in bbsing?
there's nothing for them to do on bbses.

if people want privacy they can just use make adjustments.

you think people are going to go from facebook to playing doorgames and talking to us?
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þ Synchronet þ ::: BBSES.info - free BBS services :::

Re: Still Active
By: MRO to morningstarr on Thu Jan 22 2026 03:49 pm

Re: Still Active
By: morningstarr to R4 on Thu Jan 22 2026 12:53 pm

I would love to see a huge surge in bbsing in the future. I think
if companies keep screwing with our privacy, people will look for
other options. A lot of people aren't going to know how to use the terminal though. They want icons, pictures, and point and click.
I have seen people run from bbsing because of the terminal.

why would there be a huge surge in bbsing?
there's nothing for them to do on bbses.

if people want privacy they can just use make adjustments.

you think people are going to go from facebook to playing doorgames and talking to us?
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No, they will not. The terminal and old school games run them off. I read 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 running off because of the terminal windows and ansi/text. There will never be a large resurgance of new users for the bbs scene. I would love to see it happen though.

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þ Synchronet þ Digital Distortion: digitaldistortionbbs.com

Re: Still Active
By: morningstarr to R4 on Thu Jan 22 2026 12:53 pm

though. They want icons, pictures, and point and click. I have seen people run from bbsing because of the terminal. Wouldn't it be nice to bring back

It would be great if we had enough skill & interest to take the Synchronet web features and continue to modernize & enhance. I think the underlying system is entirely there, but a push on the web front could be helpful in this regard.

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þ Synchronet þ We're yakking at Yak Station BBS

Re: Still Active
By: The Wanderer to morningstarr on Thu Jan 22 2026 02:56 pm

It would be great if we had enough skill & interest to take the Synchronet web features and continue to modernize & enhance. I think the underlying system is entirely there, but a push on the web front could be helpful in this regard.

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 make 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.

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

Re: Still Active
By: morningstarr to R4 on Thu Jan 22 2026 12:53 pm

I would love to see a huge surge in bbsing in the future. I think if companies keep screwing with our privacy, people will look for other options. A lot of people aren't going to know how to use the terminal though. They want icons, pictures, and point and click. I have seen people run from bbsing because of the terminal. Wouldn't it be nice to bring back a universal terminal client like world group manager? It allowed major bbs users to connect to boards, with a gui, icons and multitasking.

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.

Nightfox

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þ Synchronet þ Digital Distortion: digitaldistortionbbs.com

Re: Still Active
By: The Wanderer to morningstarr on Thu Jan 22 2026 02:56 pm

It would be great if we had enough skill & interest to take the Synchronet web features and continue to modernize & enhance. I think the underlying system is entirely there, but a push on the web front could be helpful in this regard.

I think echicken has done a good job making ecweb (the latest being v4) - It looks like a fairly modern web forum package.

Nightfox

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þ Synchronet þ Digital Distortion: digitaldistortionbbs.com

Re: Still Active
By: Morningstarr to The Wanderer on Thu Jan 22 2026 05:05 pm

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 make 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.

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.

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þ Synchronet þ We're yakking at Yak Station BBS

Re: Still Active
By: Nightfox to The Wanderer on Thu Jan 22 2026 05:56 pm

I think echicken has done a good job making ecweb (the latest being v4) - It looks like a fairly modern web forum package.

It's... OK, but definitely not at all close to a modern web forum package. The threading is unclear, there's not multiple pages of forum posts (so you only get so many out of a message area), etc. There's a lot of room for improvement.

Don't get me wrong, I think the work that was done so far was great, but it feels like it got to a point and then much refinement wasn't tackled - in that, it feels clumsy enough to try and use that I have a tough time imagining any of the talented sysop devs are using it on a daily basis.

That said, it's one area I'm hoping to dig in to a bit, to see if I could help get any of those refinements done that I think would be useful.

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þ Synchronet þ We're yakking at Yak Station BBS

Re: Still Active
By: The Wanderer to Nightfox on Thu Jan 22 2026 06:53 pm

It's... OK, but definitely not at all close to a modern web forum package. The threading is unclear, there's not multiple pages of forum posts (so you only get so many out of a message area), etc. There's a lot of room for improvement.

Well a BBS is quite a different animal than a forum, that said Webv4 pulls in the various text forums from Dove-Net, Fido, Devnet, etc...
If you can code HTML you can soup Webv4 up, I've done a few mods on it for my BBS, outwest.synchro.net.
Webv4 is actually a nice advancement for our little BBS hobby, it beats the old Rune webpage that some BBS's still run.

Denn

... JOIN THE ALL-CAPS BBS CLUB! THE WAY BBSING USED TO BE!


Denn

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

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

No, they will not. The terminal and old school games run
them off. I read 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 running off because of the terminal windows and
ansi/text. There will never be a large resurgance of new
users for the bbs scene. I would love to see it happen
though.

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

Even for local interaction we've snoozed and been replaced by
facebook groups, nextdoor, reddit/r/city and dating sites.

If you compare a bbs, which is usually a walled off system ran by an unprofessional person who's system may not be around long, nor do they have the reach to get the interest of thousands. Likely they do not even have the hardware muscle to handle large groups of people interacting the way they do on popular sites.

When i showed my old gf bbses she said they looked 'ghetto'.
So yes, you may be onto something with the visual aspect of it.

There are a few bbs softwares that have web interfaces, but they aren't
really robust or interesting for new users to use. they also aren't
replacing widely used forums.

I don't think there's anybody still around that did more than me for
promoting bbses. I ran all kinds of sites on rented servers and also i did all kinds of things with popular sites and intergrated them with bbses. I spent a lot of money, i would even buy google ads for bbses inwhich i didn't know the owners. I did free or donation based hosting for bbs people for
many years.

I used all forms of social media and did a lot of online 'legwork' to get new people into bbsing and old bbs users back in.
Sadly, what we have is not what people want.

People don't like to think about that, but the proof is in the pudding.
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þ Synchronet þ ::: BBSES.info - free BBS services :::

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

I don't think there's anybody still around that did more than me for promoting bbses. I ran all kinds of sites on rented servers and also i did all kinds of things with popular sites and intergrated them with bbses. I spent a lot of money, i would even buy google ads for bbses inwhich i didn't know the owners. I did free or donation based hosting for bbs people for many years.

No wonder you're a grumpy old man, you spent your life savings promoting ancient technology, BBS's are mainly a hobby of the older generation just trying to reclaim a small piece of our glory days.
There are younger people that pop in from time to time, most of those don't hang around long, and those who want to give it a try you run them off, so much for you promoting BBSing eh...

Denn

... Prunes give you a run for your money.

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

morningstarr wrote to R4 <=-

I would love to see a huge surge in bbsing in the future. I think if companies keep screwing with our privacy, people will look for other options. A lot of people aren't going to know how to use the terminal though. They want icons, pictures, and point and click. I have seen
people run from bbsing because of the terminal. Wouldn't it be nice to bring back a universal terminal client like world group manager? It allowed major bbs users to connect to boards, with a gui, icons and multitasking.

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



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

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

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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.

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

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.

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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.

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

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
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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!!
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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 :.