Going a bit retro

[slartie]

It's always healthy to remember where we all came from. There was a time where getting a hold of other people was a hassle. Wanted to talk to the guy you met in Greece last summer, well you couldn't just add him on facebook, or skype him. No, you had to write him a letter, or pay obscene telephone rates. Or get off your arse and get on a plane to go see him. Yeah, people used to do that.

Us nerds had a different option: The BBS. Back then it was tied to a modem, and most boards would only have one line. Today we have telnet and what a glorious thing it is.

Armed with an ANSI-BBS capable terminal like Netrunner or Syncterm (or regular telnet in a pinch), there are thousands of boards to visit, people to meet, files to get that you won't find anywhere else and games to play.

I've decided to join the club by reviving my board called Southend, and rather than using the stock look of the board, I'm in the process of styling it as any proper BBS nerd should. I won't claim any art prizes, but giving your board a unique look is as important as having the right colors and wm for your Linux spin.

The BBS is living on a Windows PC for now, but will be migrating to Linux binaries once I get the hardware sorted out for it.

I hope you've enjoyed the read and the pictures.

[ChefIronBelly]

Reminds me of my 2400 baud modem days :)

[machinebacon]

http://www.linuxbbq.org/bbs/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2437

Cross-posting a bit :)

Let me check that BBS....

[slartie]

A cross-post well worth it. These past few weeks have made me realize that there are a hell of a lot more BBS's out there than I thought. Most of them don't show up on any lists. You only really find them by visiting other boards or reading FDN (FidoNet) type networks.