On 09-10-20 13:50, Avon wrote to Black Panther <=-

good to know thanks, yes Debian is something I am sort of familiar with
so that helps. I figured Debian 10 would be the way to go.

Familiarity is one good reason to choose a distro, if there's no other considerations.

CentOS is one that I haven't looked at yet. I haven't heard anything bad about it, so that's a good thing. :)

It seems to be based off Red Hat and not updated that often so also
suited for server work, or so the hype I read says :)

CentOS is a repackaged Red Hat Enterprise Linux minus the support contracts. It is a very solid distro, but you will have to get used to a slightly different way of doing some things. But definitely a solid option.


... I got a new shadow. My last shadow wasn't doing what I was doing.
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On 09-09-20 20:11, Underminer wrote to Avon <=-

Debian is fantastic for the purpose as apt has a package for binkd already, and if anything is likely to have a package, it'll have a .deb

I still like to compile binkd from source, sometimes the .deb is a bit dated.
)


... Truth has nothing to fear from examination
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On 10 Sep 2020 at 05:20p, Vk3jed pondered and said...

Familiarity is one good reason to choose a distro, if there's no other considerations.

Only the hope that what I end up wanting to run on it (and can't yet foresee what all those 'things' will be) will indeed run.

CentOS is a repackaged Red Hat Enterprise Linux minus the support contracts. It is a very solid distro, but you will have to get used to a slightly different way of doing some things. But definitely a solid option.

Yeah so far the other box I built has been smooth but to be fair I only went that way because the vendor of the software I use has a turnkey installer for it built for that flavour of Linux.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

On 10 Sep 2020 at 05:18p, Vk3jed pondered and said...

I'd like to migrate Agency to Linux and run some HUB stuff as well fo Fido etc using BinkD and HPT instead of Fastecho. So it's baby steps for me.

You may need DOSemu or similar, if you run doors on Agency.

There are a few, not many but some, I guess that's the least of my worries right now.

First thing it to build the box, and before I start decide on OS, I have a machine with an i5 and 8 gigs of ram which I hope/think will b OK. I can see this box having a number of services running on it down

Haha that sounds way overkill. :)

Perhaps, I just don't know as I have little experience of how much you can
load up a system running Linux without issues starting to occur.

Looks like fun ahead. ;)

I'll keep telling myself that :) Look for lots of questions when I get into
it. :)

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

Avon wrote (2020-09-10):

Is there a preferred distro to use or avoid for setting up a HUB under Linux when looking to run software like BinkD and HPT, freq tools etc.

I was thinking something like Debian or CentOS ??

I think Debian is a good choice for FTN, historically it was the platform with the most FTN software packages. Nowadays you want to build the FTN software from the sources anyway, so the choice of distribution doesn't matter that much. But you cannot do much wrong with Debian for FTN. For daily usage Debian stable is always pretty outdated, which can be annoying with some applications.


















































































































































Some people have good experience with Debian Sid (unstable) as a rolling Distribution and recommend it over Debian testing.

I don't recommend Ubuntu anymore.

If you use some old software, 32-bit compatibility might be important.

---
* Origin: (21:3/102)

144
Re: Re: Linux
By: Vk3jed to Underminer on Thu Sep 10 2020 05:22 pm

I still like to compile binkd from source, sometimes the .deb is a bit dated. )

True, but the current package isn't missing anything, especially when you're considering the number of nodes out there running far less up to date mailers :)
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144
Re: Linux
By: Oli to Avon on Thu Sep 10 2020 10:08 am

I think Debian is a good choice for FTN, historically it was the platform with the most FTN software packages. Nowadays you want to build the FTN software from the sources anyway, so the choice of distribution doesn't matter that much. But you cannot do much wrong with Debian for FTN. For daily usage Debian stable is always pretty outdated, which can be annoying with some applications. Some people have good experience with Debian Sid (unstable) as a rolling Distribution and recommend it over Debian testing.

Eeeerr, let's not recommend a rolling release for hub duty, especially to someone still getting their feet wet.... And that's coming from an Arch user. Debian and Centos can both get a little dated, but that is in part related to the rock solid stability of both.
===
Underminer - The Undermine BBS
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
* Origin: bbs.undermine.ca:423 - Calgary, AB (21:4/103)

Underminer wrote (2020-09-10):

Re: Re: Linux
By: Vk3jed to Underminer on Thu Sep 10 2020 05:22 pm

I still like to compile binkd from source, sometimes the .deb is a
bit dated. )

True, but the current package isn't missing anything, especially when you're considering the number of nodes out there running far less up to

But it has a couple of major bugs that are missing in the current release (from


















































































































































github).

---
* Origin: (21:3/102)

On 10 Sep 2020 at 10:08a, Oli pondered and said...

I think Debian is a good choice for FTN, historically it was the
platform with the most FTN software packages. Nowadays you want to build the FTN software from the sources anyway, so the choice of distribution doesn't matter that much. But you cannot do much wrong with Debian for FTN. For daily usage Debian stable is always pretty outdated, which can
be annoying with some applications. Some people have good experience
with Debian Sid (unstable) as a rolling Distribution and recommend it
over Debian testing.

Thanks for this info, it kinda confirms my inclination to stick with Debian.
I was thinking Deb 10 for it's LTS. I'm not sure if the applications I'd want to run (some no doubt rather legacy given the age of some FTN software out there) would be an issue with Debian stable, but my hunch is using unstable
may be more pain for this n00b that it's worth.

I don't recommend Ubuntu anymore.

My roadside view/impression is that some consider it bloated etc.?

If you use some old software, 32-bit compatibility might be important.

Yeah now that's a kicker... brain says use 64 bit to take advantage of all
the system memory.. but if I run 32 bit then I can run some legacy dos or emulation stuff but never get access to all the RAM. Am I reading this right?

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

On 09 Sep 2020 at 06:27p, Black Panther pondered and said...

I'm running CRBBS on a Debian 10 system here. Everything is running
pretty smooth. Debian is great for running servers, as they don't try to use any 'cutting edge' software. Both BinkD and Husky (HPT, HTick, etc) are running great on it.

Is your system 64bit Dan?

I'm just wondering about what possible FTN legacy stuff may be of interest to me (that I don't know of yet or that I do but run it on Win7 32 bit at
present) that I may not be able to use should I opt to install 64 bit.

It seems like a quite read of the inter-webs suggests install 64bit over
32bit for all the usual reasons and that for Linux it's possible to install other packages on a 64 bit system to get some 32 bit stuff running (hopefully the FTN stuff I am yet to even think of :))

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

On 09-10-20 19:45, Avon wrote to Vk3jed <=-

Only the hope that what I end up wanting to run on it (and can't yet foresee what all those 'things' will be) will indeed run.

Well, most things will run OK. Sometimes, there may be an apt or yum/dnf repository, which may dictate your choice of distro - e.g. hams running digital voice gateways these days (AllStar, DVSwitch) might find Debian easiest, because a lot of the relevant software is available via an apt repository or two. :)

Yeah so far the other box I built has been smooth but to be fair I only went that way because the vendor of the software I use has a turnkey installer for it built for that flavour of Linux.

That's often a good reason to choose a distro. :)


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On 09-10-20 19:47, Avon wrote to Vk3jed <=-

You may need DOSemu or similar, if you run doors on Agency.

There are a few, not many but some, I guess that's the least of my
worries right now.

OK.

Haha that sounds way overkill. :)

Perhaps, I just don't know as I have little experience of how much you
can load up a system running Linux without issues starting to occur.

I'm running 2 BBSs and other stuff on a Banana Pi with 1G RAM. ;)

Looks like fun ahead. ;)

I'll keep telling myself that :) Look for lots of questions when I get into it. :)

Cool, questions are good. :)


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On 09-10-20 02:22, Underminer wrote to Vk3jed <=-

True, but the current package isn't missing anything, especially when you're considering the number of nodes out there running far less up to date mailers :)

OK, how old is it?


... Today is the first day of the rest of the mess.
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144
Re: Re: Linux
By: Avon to Oli on Thu Sep 10 2020 08:54 pm

If you use some old software, 32-bit compatibility might be
important.

Yeah now that's a kicker... brain says use 64 bit to take advantage of all the system memory.. but if I run 32 bit then I can run some legacy dos or emulation stuff but never get access to all the RAM. Am I reading this right?

dosemu and wine will run fine on x64, so emulation isn't the concern. I think he's meaning that if you want to run older 32bit native software multilib can be a bit of a pain. It's still very doable though. Do not handcuff yourself with an x86 install :)
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144
Re: Re: Linux
By: Vk3jed to Underminer on Thu Sep 10 2020 07:07 pm

OK, how old is it?

1.1a-99 (Feb 2019)
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Avon wrote (2020-09-10):

I was thinking Deb 10 for it's LTS. I'm not sure if the applications I'd want to run (some no doubt rather legacy given the age of some FTN
software out there) would be an issue with Debian stable, but my hunch is using unstable may be more pain for this n00b that it's worth.

Debian 10 is fine for FTN software. I'm using Raspbian, which is also based on Deb 10. For Desktop usage I find Debian stable to far behind current application releases.

I don't recommend Ubuntu anymore.

My roadside view/impression is that some consider it bloated etc.?

and they keep changing stuff from one release to another, fail with their new ideas and then push some other (sometimes reasonable) idea with a stupid implementation that no other distro will ever support.

If you use some old software, 32-bit compatibility might be
important.

Yeah now that's a kicker... brain says use 64 bit to take advantage of all the system memory.. but if I run 32 bit then I can run some legacy dos or emulation stuff but never get access to all the RAM. Am I reading this right?

I don't know enough to give a good answer. I think it's possible to use more than 4GB even with a 32-bit kernel, but each application is restricted to 4GB. Many distributions have discontinued their 32-bit releases anyway.

It's possible to run 32-bit apps on a 64-bit kernel though. What I don't know is for how long the distros plan to support 32-bit userland and offer 32-bit packages (for Intel/AMD).

---
* Origin: (21:3/102)

Re: Linux
By: Avon to All on Thu Sep 10 2020 12:03 pm

Howdy,

Is there a preferred distro to use or avoid for setting up a HUB under

Linux when looking to run software like BinkD and HPT,

freq tools etc.
I was thinking something like Debian or CentOS ??
Dunno... I'm a babe in the Linux woods :)

So I'm going to give you the docker answer.

In essence choose the distro that you feel confortable running and administering. As you know I'm a fan of docker, and one of the reasons I am, is


















































































































































that it provides a stable adminsitration regardless of the distro you run on. EG: I run Hub 3 on a Pi (which is Rasbian), but I first built the container on a both my MAC and CentOS while I "tweaked it". Once I had the receipe correct, my "docker build" that built the image built it for Rasbian.

Inside the container its Debian (buster) - and it doesnt matter whether it runs


















































































































































on my MAC, CentOS or the Pi - its still Debian 10 inside the container.

The other reason I like docker, is portability - I can take the "data" and the "docker image" and move it to another host, even running a different version of


















































































































































Linux and it just "works". (I've moved Hub 3 between an Intel CentOS VM and a Rasbian Pi a couple of times, and nobody noticed, nor did I change the way that


















































































































































I admin it, nor did I need to reconfigure it when I moved it around.)

Now some might think that docker adds another complexity to learn - which IMHO is partially true. You just need to know "docker run", "docker exec" - which you can just throw into a script when you need to do that (which is what I do).


















































































































































(Yes there is more to docker than just "run" and "exec" - but as a minimum that's all you need to get your head around.)

Anyway, if you consider the docker route, you can easily deploy my container, play with it, destroy it, re-deploy it, spin up a couple of instances, which has everything to run a hub, and you can do several times over in a couple of minutes.

...ëîåï

... I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous.
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
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On 10 Sep 2020, Avon said the following...

Thanks for this info, it kinda confirms my inclination to stick with Debian. I was thinking Deb 10 for it's LTS. I'm not sure if the applications I'd want to run (some no doubt rather legacy given the age
of some FTN software out there) would be an issue with Debian stable,
but my hunch is using unstable may be more pain for this n00b that it's worth.

I think the only issue you may run into with Deb 10, is it does not have
dosemu in the repository. It's easy enough to add the Deb 9 repo, install dosemu, and then remove it again. That's what I had to do on the CRBBS system here.

Yeah now that's a kicker... brain says use 64 bit to take advantage of
all the system memory.. but if I run 32 bit then I can run some legacy
dos or emulation stuff but never get access to all the RAM. Am I reading this right?

For Linux, I don't think it matters for running legacy DOS. I run all my systems 64 bit, and use dosemu or dosbox to run any DOS software. Haven't run into any issues yet. :)


---

Black Panther(RCS)
aka Dan Richter
Castle Rock BBS
telnet://bbs.castlerockbbs.com
http://www.castlerockbbs.com
http://github.com/DRPanther
The sparrows are flying again...

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/25 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Castle Rock BBS - bbs.castlerockbbs.com - (21:1/186)

On 10 Sep 2020, Avon said the following...

Is your system 64bit Dan?

Yes, all my Linux systems are 64 bit.

I'm just wondering about what possible FTN legacy stuff may be of
interest to me (that I don't know of yet or that I do but run it on Win7 32 bit at present) that I may not be able to use should I opt to install 64 bit.

From my experience, the 32 vs 64 bit issues of Windows, isn't applicable in
the Linux world. Even if you run a 64 bit OS, you can still run 32 bit software, or even DOS software with dosemu or dosbox.

Most of what you will probably be running on Linux, will be compiled on your system, so it will be set for whatever you're running. Programs like BinkD, Husky's programs, etc, are all available via source code.

It seems like a quite read of the inter-webs suggests install 64bit over 32bit for all the usual reasons and that for Linux it's possible to install other packages on a 64 bit system to get some 32 bit stuff
running (hopefully the FTN stuff I am yet to even think of :))

A lot of the distributions are dropping their 32 bit options, as it is a lot more work for them. I don't think you'll have any issues with a 64 bit system.


---

Black Panther(RCS)
aka Dan Richter
Castle Rock BBS
telnet://bbs.castlerockbbs.com
http://www.castlerockbbs.com
http://github.com/DRPanther
The sparrows are flying again...

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/25 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Castle Rock BBS - bbs.castlerockbbs.com - (21:1/186)

On 10 Sep 2020, Vk3jed said the following...

True, but the current package isn't missing anything, especially when you're considering the number of nodes out there running far less up date mailers :)

OK, how old is it?

I just checked on my Debian 10 system, and it looks like they have
binkd/stable 1.1a-99-1. The last time I looked, which was a few years ago,
they had 0.98 or something like that.


---

Black Panther(RCS)
aka Dan Richter
Castle Rock BBS
telnet://bbs.castlerockbbs.com
http://www.castlerockbbs.com
http://github.com/DRPanther
The sparrows are flying again...

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/25 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Castle Rock BBS - bbs.castlerockbbs.com - (21:1/186)

On 10 Sep 2020 at 02:01p, Black Panther pondered and said...

For Linux, I don't think it matters for running legacy DOS. I run all my systems 64 bit, and use dosemu or dosbox to run any DOS software.
Haven't run into any issues yet. :)

For my radio station I am using some software that runs under Win7 32 bit
that acts as a studio to transmitter link. It encodes audio fed in via sound card and sends it via UDP to another copy of the software running on a box situated at the TX site some 5km away from where I live. Both boxes at
present just have static IP within the home LAN range and look for each other.

One thing I am hoping to do but have next to no experience of is running some (virtual?) instance of Win7 on Linux so I can give the software a place to
run and access to a sound card. If I can pull this off it let's me retain the software I want/need to use at present but downsize one running PC.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

On 11 Sep 2020, Avon said the following...

For my radio station I am using some software that runs under Win7 32 bit that acts as a studio to transmitter link. It encodes audio fed in via sound card and sends it via UDP to another copy of the software running
on a box situated at the TX site some 5km away from where I live. Both boxes at present just have static IP within the home LAN range and look for each other.

You might want to take a look and see if there is a Linux version of the software, or a Linux replacement for it. That might be an easier way of accomplishing this.

One thing I am hoping to do but have next to no experience of is running some (virtual?) instance of Win7 on Linux so I can give the software a place to run and access to a sound card. If I can pull this off it let's me retain the software I want/need to use at present but downsize one running PC.

You could run a Virtual Machine (VM) within Linux, that is loaded with
Windows. I did, at one point, have a Windows VM that I was using. The only issue that I ran into was the VM would take a portion of the system
resources, whether the VM was actually doing anything or not.

Another option might be to use WINE (Wine Is Not and Emulator) for Linux.
I've used it to run some Windows programs successfully here, including Code::Blocks, and some older games. It might be an option.


---

Black Panther(RCS)
aka Dan Richter
Castle Rock BBS
telnet://bbs.castlerockbbs.com
http://www.castlerockbbs.com
http://github.com/DRPanther
The sparrows are flying again...

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/25 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Castle Rock BBS - bbs.castlerockbbs.com - (21:1/186)

Re: Re: Linux
By: Black Panther to Vk3jed on Thu Sep 10 2020 02:09 pm

Howdy,

I just checked on my Debian 10 system, and it looks like they have binkd/stable 1.1a-99-1. The last time I looked, which was a few years ago, they had 0.98 or something like that.

I have (and update often) a DEB at version 109 that I use on Hub 3 if that is of any use.

I have my own apt repository, and CI updates it when I commit to my gitlab. But

















































































































































when installing it on Hub 3 I need to specify it explicitly by version (otherwise 99 from debian gets installed). I havent figured out how apt determines deb version order. (and 109 is lower than 99 when doing a string comparison...).

(For RPM you could set an epoch time IIRC, but not sure if something like that exists for Deb).

...ëîåï

... I'm a soldier, not a diplomat. I can only tell the truth.
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
* Origin: I'm playing with ANSI+videotex - wanna play too? (21:2/116)

On 10 Sep 2020 at 04:30p, Black Panther pondered and said...

You might want to take a look and see if there is a Linux version of the software, or a Linux replacement for it. That might be an easier way of accomplishing this.

Sadly nope, the software is legacy, been sold to a new vendor, repackaged and sold now in a more modular (read into this more more for the same features offered as one) fashion and still only windows.

You could run a Virtual Machine (VM) within Linux, that is loaded with Windows. I did, at one point, have a Windows VM that I was using. The
only issue that I ran into was the VM would take a portion of the system resources, whether the VM was actually doing anything or not.

This is where I am wondering about memory,etc. If I were to attempt this down the track. If I have 8 gigs of ram I'm hoping I could allocate 2-3 to this VM without causing the main system too much pain. Anywhoo it's for the future
will focus on the BBS stuff first.

I also have the CentOS box running the radio playout software that could be a candidate for a windows VM too I guess. Again I'd need to suss CentOS and how to do it.

There's so much stuff I want to do, not enough play time.

Another option might be to use WINE (Wine Is Not and Emulator) for Linux. I've used it to run some Windows programs successfully here, including Code::Blocks, and some older games. It might be an option.

Yep also heard of this but don't know enough to know if it will be the way forward when I do try.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

Re: Re: Linux
By: Avon to Black Panther on Fri Sep 11 2020 10:21 am

Howdy,

One thing I am hoping to do but have next to no experience of is running

some (virtual?) instance of Win7 on Linux so I can

give the software a place to
run and access to a sound card. If I can pull this off it let's me retain

the software I want/need to use at present but

downsize one running PC.

So I'm a fan of ESXi - have been for years - and I install it on any machine I use. I kinda treat it like firmware - so on my servers, I have a small (16GB storage device - an old SSD, or even a USB stick these days), that boots the PC

















































































































































into ESXi.

From there, you get a web UI to "create" virtual machines and some basic performance monitoring.

Once ESXi is running, I forget its there, unless the VM I'm using stops working

















































































































































for some reason (and my servers are headless) - so I then head to the web interface to see what's happening on the VMs console...

That might be something you can do - and you can normally pass devices through to a virtual machine (as if they were physical and owned the device) - but I have never actually needed to do that. I know not all devices can be passed through, so if you went down this route, you may need to play and validate that

















































































































































you can pass the sound card through before you get too far down this path.

...ëîåï

... Facts cannot prevail against faith, or adamant folly.
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
* Origin: I'm playing with ANSI+videotex - wanna play too? (21:2/116)

On 10 Sep 2020 at 09:41p, alterego pondered and said...

So I'm going to give you the docker answer.

:)

Anyway, if you consider the docker route, you can easily deploy my container, play with it, destroy it, re-deploy it, spin up a couple of instances, which has everything to run a hub, and you can do several
times over in a couple of minutes.

I have a Pi I could play with this on. I'm understanding of the power of the containers, a little hesitant on the ephemeral nature of them. I kinda want
to have the experience first of building something 'real' (is that the right word) before I look too much at the turn-key open I can see docker and all
the benefits of it brings.

Let me spin up the box with Debain first and fumble my way though with lots
of questions about installing HPT etc. then I'll play with the docker image
on the Pi. I also want to move Agency to Linux and may work on that first before I tackle fsxNet NET 1 HUB and Fido etc. but the goal is to move so we can start to do some stuff differently.

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* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

143
Re: Re: Linux
By: Black Panther to Avon on Thu Sep 10 2020 02:01 pm

I think the only issue you may run into with Deb 10, is it does not have dosemu in the repository. It's easy enough to add the Deb 9 repo, install dosemu, and then remove it again. That's what I had to do on the CRBBS system here.

You don't even have to go to that much trouble. Just download the .deb and install directly. No point in adding a repo for one package.
===
Underminer - The Undermine BBS
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
* Origin: bbs.undermine.ca:423 - Calgary, AB (21:4/103)

Sadly nope, the software is legacy, been sold to a new vendor,
repackaged and sold now in a more modular (read into this more more
for the same features offered as one) fashion and still only
windows.

do you want to tell the name of that mysterious software? =)

Mindsurfer

--- MagickaBBS v0.15alpha (Linux/armv7l)
* Origin: FuNToPia telnet://funtopia.ddnss.eu:2023 (21:3/119)

143

Avon wrote to All <=-

Is there a preferred distro to use or avoid for setting up a HUB under Linux when looking to run software like BinkD and HPT, freq tools etc.

I was thinking something like Debian or CentOS ??

Dunno... I'm a babe in the Linux woods :)

I would use a debian-based distro. I prefer debian or, if systemd is not desired, devuan. I am currently using ubuntu on this particular machine because it is an sbc that is only supported by ubuntu. Past experiences
make me leary of ubuntu but it seems to be working so far.

I have had binkd running with ease on all three distros. I don't use HPT
so I cannot speak to that one.


... Goodness! That was close! I almost gave a damn.
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* Origin: Possum Lodge South * possumso.fsxnet.nz:7636/SSH:2122 (21:4/134)

143

Avon wrote to Black Panther <=-

The box I used to run the radio station software on was Ubuntu also and like you it seemed to me to be always wanting to do updates and came
with libre office etc... which I didn't want.

I think there is an ubuntu server version that comes with less bells and whistles like an office suite.

My past experience with ubuntu is that it will start begging you to do a version upgrade and then, when it is done, there is a 50-50 chance that the system will work at all. That happened to me twice.

Debian always seems more stable than ubuntu, to me. I am running Devuan on a server (without an X instance installed -- cli only) and it runs like a
top. If I was going to do a fresh install of a debian-based distro that
was not debian, that'd be the one I'd look at first.


... Spelling is a sober man's game
--- MultiMail
* Origin: Possum Lodge South * possumso.fsxnet.nz:7636/SSH:2122 (21:4/134)

Re: Re: Linux
By: Avon to alterego on Fri Sep 11 2020 10:51 am

I have a Pi I could play with this on. I'm understanding of the power of

the containers, a little hesitant on the ephemeral

nature of them.

Actually its the ephemeral nature of them that brings all the benefits. It forces a discipline by the app developer to put "config", "data" in a structured place (most apps are pretty good), and forces the user to keep that structure. Its because of that structure that makes containers so portable and recoverable.

(Remember the days we used to "image" our hard drives for backups - well the docker container is the image, and the USB stick is the data - and if I dont write "my" data to the USB stick, I'll loose it next time I overrite the image.)

I kinda want
to have the experience first of building something 'real' (is that the

right word) before I look too much at the turn-key open

I can see docker and all the benefits of it brings.

Well there is nothing "unreal" about containers :) But I get it, learn 1 thing at a time ... :)

The only downside will be the lack of a "GUI" - running Xwindows (the linux GUI) is probably a little more complex (nothing that a VNC cannot solve) - but if you want the GUI experience then docker wont be for you.

...ëîåï

... Footprints in the sands of time are never made by sitting down.
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
* Origin: I'm playing with ANSI+videotex - wanna play too? (21:2/116)

On 11 Sep 2020 at 01:06a, Mindsurfer pondered and said...

do you want to tell the name of that mysterious software? =)

Sure it's called sonos...

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

That might be something you can do - and you can normally pass
devices through to a virtual machine (as if they were physical and
owned the device) - but I have never actually needed to do that. I
know not all devices can be passed through, so if you went down
this route, you may need to play and validate that you can pass the
sound card through before you get too far down this path.

Consumer grade hardware very rearly supports hardware passthrough. It's a Motherboard/Bios feature and a CPU feature. Although a lot of newer
cpu's do support it. It's of no use if the motherboard don't support it.

Avon would need to post the cpu and motherboard model to check.






\/orlon
VK3HEG


--- MagickaBBS v0.15alpha (Linux/armv6l)
* Origin: \/orlon Empire: Sector 550 (21:1/195.1)

do you want to tell the name of that mysterious software? =)

Sure it's called sonos...

ok, i was expecting something like shoutcast or icecast for broadcasting
audio.

Mindsurfer

--- MagickaBBS v0.15alpha (Linux/armv7l)
* Origin: FuNToPia telnet://funtopia.ddnss.eu:2023 (21:3/119)

On 11 Sep 2020 at 10:58a, Mindsurfer pondered and said...

ok, i was expecting something like shoutcast or icecast for broadcasting audio.

No it's more like audio processing for FM transmission... but done via
software vs chips on a hardware mounted rack unit worth big $$$

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

No it's more like audio processing for FM transmission... but done
via software vs chips on a hardware mounted rack unit worth big $$$

oh, i see. may i ask what it does to the audio to prepare the signal for
FM transmission?

Mindsurfer

--- MagickaBBS v0.15alpha (Linux/armv7l)
* Origin: FuNToPia telnet://funtopia.ddnss.eu:2023 (21:3/119)

On 11 Sep 2020 at 11:26a, Mindsurfer pondered and said...

No it's more like audio processing for FM transmission... but done via software vs chips on a hardware mounted rack unit worth big $$$

oh, i see. may i ask what it does to the audio to prepare the signal for FM transmission?

I'll move my reply to fsx_gen :)

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

On 09-10-20 04:01, Underminer wrote to Vk3jed <=-

Re: Re: Linux
By: Vk3jed to Underminer on Thu Sep 10 2020 07:07 pm

OK, how old is it?

1.1a-99 (Feb 2019)

Old. ;)

There were some significant bugs fixed since then. :)


... Was Jimi Hendrix's modem a Purple Hayes?
=== MultiMail/Win v0.51
--- SBBSecho 3.10-Linux
* Origin: Freeway BBS Bendigo,Australia freeway.apana.org.au (21:1/109)

On 09-10-20 14:09, Black Panther wrote to Vk3jed <=-

On 10 Sep 2020, Vk3jed said the following...

True, but the current package isn't missing anything, especially when you're considering the number of nodes out there running far less up date mailers :)

OK, how old is it?

I just checked on my Debian 10 system, and it looks like they have binkd/stable 1.1a-99-1. The last time I looked, which was a few years
ago, they had 0.98 or something like that.

There was a significant bug fixed relatively recently. I still have to update mine, because I have tckled that bug, but I did find some workarounds.


... All right, who's been cooking hot dogs in the Warp Drive?
=== MultiMail/Win v0.51
--- SBBSecho 3.10-Linux
* Origin: Freeway BBS Bendigo,Australia freeway.apana.org.au (21:1/109)

On 10 Sep 2020, Avon said the following...

Yeah now that's a kicker... brain says use 64 bit to take advantage of
all the system memory.. but if I run 32 bit then I can run some legacy
dos or emulation stuff but never get access to all the RAM. Am I reading this right?

Pretty much any 32bit Linux distro should be able to access more than 4GB
using the PAE functionality built into most processors. Some 32bit versions
of Windows could do this too but that functionality was deliberately axed.

The main reason to run 32bit Linux for BBS use is to retain the ability to use DPMI features in Dosemu. It reaches out to the kernel in a way that's a tad direct rather than fully emulating the memory interface and the functionality it's looking for is no longer present in 64bit kernels since maintaining it comes with too many security concerns. Supposedly this is no longer an issue with Dosemu2 as the DPMI handler was revised.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Subcarrier BBS (21:2/140)

On 13 Sep 2020 at 03:10a, Static pondered and said...

The main reason to run 32bit Linux for BBS use is to retain the ability
to use DPMI features in Dosemu. It reaches out to the kernel in a way that's a tad direct rather than fully emulating the memory interface and the functionality it's looking for is no longer present in 64bit kernels since maintaining it comes with too many security concerns. Supposedly this is no longer an issue with Dosemu2 as the DPMI handler was revised.

Thanks for this info.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

On 11 Sep 2020 at 10:51a, Avon pondered and said...

Let me spin up the box with Debain first and fumble my way though with lots of questions about installing HPT etc. then I'll play with the

A wee updates.

OK so I ordered a 1 TB HDD today from a computer store today it should ship
in the next couple of days and be with me later this week.

I'm then going to work on installing Debian 10 64 bit on the box and will
start by trying to migrate Agency across to Linux. Then I plan to start
working on changes to NET 1 hub operations.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

Hello Avon!

On 13 Sep 2020, Avon said the following...

I'm then going to work on installing Debian 10 64 bit on the box and will start by trying to migrate Agency across to Linux. Then I plan to start working on changes to NET 1 hub operations.

This sounds like fun! And the HPT stuff too. =)

Speaking of updates, I'm splitting up my Mystic echomail/netmail processing so that sending isn't necessarily being performed on scan/export. I create a semaphore "send.now" and a separate event looking for that semaphore so that
I can fine-tune what will happen when there is outgoing echomail/netmail.

I'm planning on letting ifcico run as a last step of the sending event to be able to send echomail/netmail via ifcico protocols / dial-up as a fallback.

It's a step towards easier being able to switch to a conventional mailer, should I wish to in the future... It's always good to have options. :-)

Best regards
Zip

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/25 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Star Collision BBS, Uppsala, Sweden (21:1/202)

On 13 Sep 2020 at 11:17a, Zip pondered and said...

I'm planning on letting ifcico run as a last step of the sending event
to be able to send echomail/netmail via ifcico protocols / dial-up as a fallback.

It's a step towards easier being able to switch to a conventional mailer, should I wish to in the future... It's always good to have options. :-)

when I have progressed my changes, please remind me of this, as I would like
to explore this also :)

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

Hello Avon!

On 13 Sep 2020, Avon said the following...

to be able to send echomail/netmail via ifcico protocols / dial-up as fallback.

when I have progressed my changes, please remind me of this, as I would like to explore this also :)

Will do! :)

Best regards
Zip

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/25 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Star Collision BBS, Uppsala, Sweden (21:1/202)

Re: Re: Linux
By: Zip to Avon on Sun Sep 13 2020 11:17 am

Howdy,

I'm planning on letting ifcico run as a last step of the sending event to

be able to send echomail/netmail via ifcico

protocols / dial-up as a fallback.

So if you want something to interact with EMSI - you can connect to Hub 3 - I have an EMSI mailer there too.

You can use the address 21:3/999 (LETMEIN) if you want to send messages and validate things are working. Sending a netmail to "ping@21:3/100" should yield you a reply, as well as posting to "all" (subject "test") in FSX_GEN.

EMSI is listening on 60177 and 60179 - one being telnet and the other being TCP














































































































































depending on what you side is using...

...ëîåï

... A continuing flow of paper is sufficient to continue the flow of paper.
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
* Origin: I'm playing with ANSI+videotex - wanna play too? (21:2/116)

Is there a preferred distro to use or avoid for setting up a HUB under Linux when looking to run software like BinkD and HPT, freq tools etc.

I am running Ubuntu Mate (lightweight and it has a Pi flavour too) and I am really satisfied with it. In the past I used to run Slackware, from 1998-201x, but I got lazy :)

gtx!

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/04/21 (Linux/64)
* Origin: -.sOUNDGARDEn.- (21:1/116)

Hello alterego!

On 14 Sep 2020, alterego said the following...

So if you want something to interact with EMSI - you can connect to Hub
3 - I have an EMSI mailer there too.

Thanks! I'll keep that in mind!

By the way, I dug through parts of the source code of ifcico, and it seems
like it only performs dial-up operations if no network addresses are
available (at all). But it should happily send things through ITN/IVM (60177) or IFC (60179).

Also, it has no built-in retry logic; one attempt per run only. So it's very simple in that regard. With a suitable wrapper around it, though, it could be
a poor man's non-binkp fallback for the (rather unlikely?) case of
sending mail to IFC-/ITN-/IVM-/dial-up-only nodes.

And of course for accepting IFC/ITN/IVM and dial-in calls, the latter e.g.
by being run by mgetty.

Best regards
Zip

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/25 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Star Collision BBS, Uppsala, Sweden (21:1/202)

Re: Re: Linux
By: Zip to alterego on Mon Sep 14 2020 05:59 pm

Howdy,

Also, it has no built-in retry logic; one attempt per run only. So it's

very simple in that regard. With a suitable wrapper

around it, though, it could be a poor man's non-binkp fallback for the

(rather unlikely?) case of

sending mail to IFC-/ITN-/IVM-/dial-up-only nodes.

You may also want to play with qico - it has a "manager daemon" that can poll systems, so does retry failed operations. It only works over TCP though - I couldnt get it working reliably with Telnet. It can also do binkd...

It also has an outbound manager UI - which is semi helpful...

And of course for accepting IFC/ITN/IVM and dial-in calls, the latter e.g. by being run by mgetty.

Yes, mgetty can handle the serial port connects - or inetd can handle the TCP/IP connections.

...ëîåï

... The English have an extraordinary ability for flying into a great calm.
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
* Origin: I'm playing with ANSI+videotex - wanna play too? (21:2/116)

On 10 Sep 2020 at 05:39p, sPINOZa pondered and said...

I am running Ubuntu Mate (lightweight and it has a Pi flavour too) and I am really satisfied with it. In the past I used to run Slackware, from 1998-201x, but I got lazy :)

Thanks for the heads up :) Good to know.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

Hello alterego!

On 15 Sep 2020, alterego said the following...

You may also want to play with qico - it has a "manager daemon" that can poll systems, so does retry failed operations. It only works over TCP

OK! Thanks for the tip!

Yes, mgetty can handle the serial port connects - or inetd can handle the TCP/IP connections.

Yep. :)

Thanks again!

I'll probably play later today with temporarily disabling the built-in sending of outbound mail in Mystic and letting ifcico do the transfers over IFC, just to test the setup.

Best regards
Zip

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/25 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Star Collision BBS, Uppsala, Sweden (21:1/202)

Avon wrote (2020-09-11):

I kinda want
to have the experience first of building something 'real' (is that the right word) before I look too much at the turn-key open I can see docker and all the benefits of it brings.

You can also use LXC containers. They are more similar to a "real" linux installation.

---
* Origin: (21:3/102)

alterego wrote (2020-09-15):

Yes, mgetty can handle the serial port connects - or inetd can handle the TCP/IP connections.

Systemd has built-in inetd functionality: https://www.linux.com/training-tutorials/end-road-systemds-socket-units/

I'm runnning binkd and qico in inetd mode from systemd. (Of course you can run it as a service in daemon mode too).

---
* Origin: (21:3/102)

On 11 Sep 2020 at 10:26a, Oli pondered and said...

You can also use LXC containers. They are more similar to a "real" linux installation.

I'm still learning to spell Linux :)

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

143

Oli wrote to Avon <=-

You can also use LXC containers. They are more similar to a "real"
linux installation.

I need to play with LXC - I just set up a Proxmox server at home, and
they apparently support LXC as their default container format.



... The robots can go off-script?
--- MultiMail/XT v0.52
* Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (21:4/122)

Is there a preferred distro to use or avoid for setting up a HUB under Linux when looking to run software like BinkD and HPT, freq tools etc.

I was thinking something like Debian or CentOS ??

Dunno... I'm a babe in the Linux woods :)

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

144

Is there a preferred distro to use or avoid for setting up a HUB under Linux when looking to run software like BinkD and HPT, freq tools etc.

I was thinking something like Debian or CentOS ??

Dunno... I'm a babe in the Linux woods :)

The prefered distro is in the eye of the beholder. I run slackware myself but it is somewhat slack, I need to build a lot of stuff myself like openoffice if I want something like that. Actually, I think I am using libreoffice these days.

Debian and CentOS are both good choices. I am also rather fond of ubuntu for a server but whatever choice you make, they are all different but more or less the same.. I hope that makes sense.. :)

After useing slackware for so long I'd have to remember just what makes debian or centos different. Mostly package managers. Slackware has a very basic package manager.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-4
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (21:4/106.1)

On 09 Sep 2020 at 05:16p, Al pondered and said...

Debian and CentOS are both good choices. I am also rather fond of ubuntu for a server but whatever choice you make, they are all different but
more or less the same.. I hope that makes sense.. :)

After useing slackware for so long I'd have to remember just what makes debian or centos different. Mostly package managers. Slackware has a
very basic package manager.

I've recently installed CentOS for a box running software for my radio
station and have in the past set up a Debian box for the Usenet server. I'm wanting something that will hopefully play nice with software I have yet to think of that in the past I would have run under windows.. so not sure if windows or dos style emulation abilities is worth factoring in, but just
trying to think of gotchas.

I've used Ubuntu before and understand it's based of the Debian branch of the Linux family tree.

I'd like to migrate Agency to Linux and run some HUB stuff as well for Fido
etc using BinkD and HPT instead of Fastecho. So it's baby steps for me.

First thing it to build the box, and before I start decide on OS, I have a machine with an i5 and 8 gigs of ram which I hope/think will be OK. I can see this box having a number of services running on it down the track and may
look to install Usenet server and migrate things from a separate box that
sits only doing Usenet now.. the goal being to reduce the number of boxes running in the room etc. :)

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

144
On 10/09/2020 1:15 am Avon said...

Is there a preferred distro to use or avoid for setting up a HUB under Linux when looking to run software like BinkD and HPT, freq tools etc.

I've been going through this also this week. I toyed with Mystic but I wanted to be able to manipulate config files and store them in a git repo instead.

I was talking to Dan about Husky the other day. And in my ponderings came across this: https://www.kuehlbox.wtf/fidian

It's basically everything you need to become a node. I was going to set it all up and then take a look at the configs to disect how it all works.

You don't have to use a Pi. It works nicely on Debian - perhaps check out the "manual install" section on that page.

HTH

Satch



--- ENiGMA 1/2 v0.0.12-beta (linux; x64; 12.18.3)
* Origin: Sonic BBS (21:4/144)

On 10 Sep 2020, Avon said the following...

Is there a preferred distro to use or avoid for setting up a HUB under Linux when looking to run software like BinkD and HPT, freq tools etc.

I was thinking something like Debian or CentOS ??

I'm running CRBBS on a Debian 10 system here. Everything is running pretty smooth. Debian is great for running servers, as they don't try to use any 'cutting edge' software. Both BinkD and Husky (HPT, HTick, etc) are running great on it.

I also have them running on my production system here, which is running Manjaro, although these programs don't run all the time, as they're just for testing. Haven't run into any issues here either.

CentOS is one that I haven't looked at yet. I haven't heard anything bad
about it, so that's a good thing. :)


---

Black Panther(RCS)
aka Dan Richter
Castle Rock BBS
telnet://bbs.castlerockbbs.com
http://www.castlerockbbs.com
http://github.com/DRPanther
The sparrows are flying again...

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/25 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Castle Rock BBS - bbs.castlerockbbs.com - (21:1/186)

On 09 Sep 2020, Al said the following...

Debian and CentOS are both good choices. I am also rather fond of ubuntu for a server but whatever choice you make, they are all different but
more or less the same.. I hope that makes sense.. :)

I was a loyal Ubuntu user for awhile. It seemed as though they were trying to compete with Microsoft though. The amount of bloat that came pre-installed
was getting a bit ridiculous, and then the constant "There are upgrades available" messages...

It is a solid system though, as is Debian and many others.


---

Black Panther(RCS)
aka Dan Richter
Castle Rock BBS
telnet://bbs.castlerockbbs.com
http://www.castlerockbbs.com
http://github.com/DRPanther
The sparrows are flying again...

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/25 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Castle Rock BBS - bbs.castlerockbbs.com - (21:1/186)

On 09 Sep 2020 at 06:27p, Black Panther pondered and said...

I'm running CRBBS on a Debian 10 system here. Everything is running
pretty smooth. Debian is great for running servers, as they don't try to use any 'cutting edge' software. Both BinkD and Husky (HPT, HTick, etc) are running great on it.

good to know thanks, yes Debian is something I am sort of familiar with so
that helps. I figured Debian 10 would be the way to go.

CentOS is one that I haven't looked at yet. I haven't heard anything bad about it, so that's a good thing. :)

It seems to be based off Red Hat and not updated that often so also suited
for server work, or so the hype I read says :)

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

On 09 Sep 2020 at 06:31p, Black Panther pondered and said...

I was a loyal Ubuntu user for awhile. It seemed as though they were
trying to compete with Microsoft though. The amount of bloat that came pre-installed was getting a bit ridiculous, and then the constant "There are upgrades available" messages...

The box I used to run the radio station software on was Ubuntu also and like you it seemed to me to be always wanting to do updates and came with libre office etc... which I didn't want.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

On 10 Sep 2020 at 01:26a, Satchmo pondered and said...

I was talking to Dan about Husky the other day. And in my ponderings came across this: https://www.kuehlbox.wtf/fidian

It's basically everything you need to become a node. I was going to set
it all up and then take a look at the configs to disect how it all works.

You don't have to use a Pi. It works nicely on Debian - perhaps check
out the "manual install" section on that page.

Thanks :) I'll take a look.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

144
Re: Linux
By: Avon to All on Thu Sep 10 2020 12:03 pm

Is there a preferred distro to use or avoid for setting up a HUB under Linux when looking to run software like BinkD and HPT, freq tools etc.
I was thinking something like Debian or CentOS ??

Debian is fantastic for the purpose as apt has a package for binkd already, and


















































































































































if anything is likely to have a package, it'll have a .deb
===
Underminer - The Undermine BBS
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
* Origin: bbs.undermine.ca:423 - Calgary, AB (21:4/103)

144

I've recently installed CentOS for a box running software for my radio station and have in the past set up a Debian box for the Usenet server. I'm wanting something that will hopefully play nice with software I have yet to think of that in the past I would have run under windows.. so not sure if windows or dos style emulation abilities is worth factoring in, but just trying to think of gotchas.

Yep, I think those are all good. It's just a matter of finding your own comfortable place.

My last server was ubuntu and I found it just worked for me although I don't have any servers aside from the local one here running MBSE, Mystic and BBBS on


















































































































































slackware.

I've used Ubuntu before and understand it's based of the Debian branch of the Linux family tree.

It is more or less debian and they have added nice things to it as well. It has


















































































































































a nice modification so that when you log in you can see at a glance if there are security or system updates to do.

I'd like to migrate Agency to Linux and run some HUB stuff as well for Fido etc using BinkD and HPT instead of Fastecho. So it's baby steps for me.

A good choice for an FTN hub. It can take a bit of fiddling but once your setup


















































































































































it just works.

First thing it to build the box, and before I start decide on OS, I have a machine with an i5 and 8 gigs of ram which I hope/think will be OK. I can see this box having a number of services running on it down the track and may look to install Usenet server and migrate things from a separate box that sits only doing Usenet now.. the goal being to reduce the number of boxes running in the room etc. :)

I don't have any windows software at all that I run these days but I have used wine to run some in the past. Wine runs from the desktop so I'm not sure you can use any windows tools from a command line.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-4
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (21:4/106.1)

144

I was a loyal Ubuntu user for awhile. It seemed as though they were trying to compete with Microsoft though. The amount of bloat that came pre-installed was getting a bit ridiculous, and then the constant "There are upgrades available" messages...

I haven't run anything but slackware on any desktop for years so I'm not sure what kind of bloat is shipping these days but I'm not surprised.

It is a solid system though, as is Debian and many others.

I have always prefered debian over ubuntu but my last ubuntu experience was painless, on a server.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-4
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (21:4/106.1)

On 09-10-20 12:03, Avon wrote to All <=-

Is there a preferred distro to use or avoid for setting up a HUB under Linux when looking to run software like BinkD and HPT, freq tools etc.

I was thinking something like Debian or CentOS ??

Dunno... I'm a babe in the Linux woods :)

I'm using Raspian, as I'm running on a Pi, but I don't think the choice of distro is too critical. :)


... An agreeable person: one who agrees with you.
=== MultiMail/Win v0.51
--- SBBSecho 3.10-Linux
* Origin: Freeway BBS Bendigo,Australia freeway.apana.org.au (21:1/109)

On 09-10-20 12:25, Avon wrote to Al <=-

I've recently installed CentOS for a box running software for my radio station and have in the past set up a Debian box for the Usenet server. I'm wanting something that will hopefully play nice with software I
have yet to think of that in the past I would have run under windows..
so not sure if windows or dos style emulation abilities is worth
factoring in, but just trying to think of gotchas.

Windows, probably not. DOS, only if you're planning on running DOS doors on the system, but if it's meant to be a mail hub, I doubt you'll be running DOS doors. :)

I've used Ubuntu before and understand it's based of the Debian branch
of the Linux family tree.

I'd like to migrate Agency to Linux and run some HUB stuff as well for Fido etc using BinkD and HPT instead of Fastecho. So it's baby steps
for me.

You may need DOSemu or similar, if you run doors on Agency.

First thing it to build the box, and before I start decide on OS, I
have a machine with an i5 and 8 gigs of ram which I hope/think will be
OK. I can see this box having a number of services running on it down

Haha that sounds way overkill. :)

the track and may look to install Usenet server and migrate things from
a separate box that sits only doing Usenet now.. the goal being to
reduce the number of boxes running in the room etc. :)

Looks like fun ahead. ;)


... Stop picking your nose and go to the next message
=== MultiMail/Win v0.51
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El 9/9/20 a las 21:03, Avon escribió:

Is there a preferred distro to use or avoid for setting up a HUB under Linux when looking to run software like BinkD and HPT, freq tools etc.

I was thinking something like Debian or CentOS ??

Debian, you can get binkd from ofical repository and compile husky tools
, crashmail etc as you need.
--- SBBSecho 3.14-Linux
* Origin: Dock Sud BBS - bbs.docksud.com.ar - Argentina (21:2/151)

Ragnarok wrote to Avon <=-

El 9/9/20 a las 21:03, Avon escribi¢:

Is there a preferred distro to use or avoid for setting up a HUB under Linux when looking to run software like BinkD and HPT, freq tools etc.

I was thinking something like Debian or CentOS ??

Debian, you can get binkd from ofical repository and compile husky
tools , crashmail etc as you need.

+1
I'm running Devuan (Debian minus SystemD... if I wanted a centralize db I'd
run Windows!) with SBBS and that has as I'm sure you know BinkIt.

... Geometry teaches us to bisex angels.
--- MultiMail/Linux v0.52
* Origin: Carnage - risen from the dead now on SBBS (21:4/107)

I'm running Devuan (Debian minus SystemD... if I wanted a centralize db I'd run Windows!) with SBBS and that has as I'm sure you know BinkIt.

I'm glad to see anything minus sysd - it has infected everything (at least everything that seems to have a future in the Linux space - I hope some will disagree here, it wouldn't hurt my feelings).

... we now return you to the thread context

Dave

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Pedalion BBS (21:3/143)

Hello Dave;

Lightman wrote to N1uro <=-

I'm glad to see anything minus sysd - it has infected everything (at
least everything that seems to have a future in the Linux space - I
hope some will disagree here, it wouldn't hurt my feelings).

My fedora test box is systemd. They boasted how it would make linux load faster... but I strongly disagree! Want a faster boot? Get a faster CPU. For years I developed under Debian but once systemd came out and so did Devuan,
I made the change. Now I understand there's going to be a BSD type port of Debian. I would like to see what they do!

... we now return you to the thread context

Does echomail ever have a true thread content? <G> *ducks*

... Book Title: Chirpin' and Jumpin': Katie Didd
--- MultiMail/Linux v0.52
* Origin: Carnage - risen from the dead now on SBBS (21:4/107)

Lightman wrote to N1uro <=-

I'm running Devuan (Debian minus SystemD... if I wanted a centralize db I'd run Windows!) with SBBS and that has as I'm sure you know BinkIt.

I'm glad to see anything minus sysd - it has infected everything
(at least everything that seems to have a future in the Linux
space - I hope some will disagree here, it wouldn't hurt my
feelings).

Slackware Linux is systemd-free, and likely always will be.



... All the easy problems have been solved.
=== MultiMail/Linux v0.52
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Am 19.05.21 schrieb N1uro@21:4/107 in FSX_NET:

Hallo N1uro,

I'm running Devuan (Debian minus SystemD... if I wanted a centralize db I'd run Windows!) with SBBS and that has as I'm sure you know BinkIt.

Same here, I'm also using Devuan with Synchronet.

For using binkd + hpt + golded, there is an interesting project called "Fidian" which wants to make the usage of these tools more easy: https://www.kuehlbox.wtf/fidian

This adds a Debian repository which adds the missing packages and
configures everything.

But I did not try it for myself :)

Regards,
Anna

--- OpenXP 5.0.49
* Origin: Imzadi Box Point (21:3/127.1)

Slackware Linux is systemd-free, and likely always will be.

Ah nice - I haven't kept up with Slackware. The last I installed it
was after I saw a 4 CD set at Dayton Hamfest in 1993/4... so its been a while... lol

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Pedalion BBS (21:3/143)

Hi FSX Admins,

Maybe I overlooked it, but is it possible to open a Linux board in the FSX network?
Or is there already a well-frequented one on another network?

Why? I founded the German support forum for Linux Mint: https://www.linuxmintusers.de in 2008 with currently over 28,000 and I would then post Linux solutions on this board.

have fun!
neo67

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Windows/64)
* Origin: -= The News BBS | GER | bbs.dosnetz.de =- (21:2/136)

Re: Linux
By: neo67 to All on Tue Apr 22 2025 02:31 am

Howdy,

Maybe I overlooked it, but is it possible to open a Linux board in the FSX network?
Or is there already a well-frequented one on another network?

By "board" do you mean "echoarea"?

There isnt a specific linux echoarea on fsx.

Join nixnet - its a new network aimed to focus on unixes. Andrew Leary is the ZC.



...ëîåï
--- SBBSecho 3.24-Linux
* Origin: I'm playing with ANSI+videotex - wanna play too? (21:2/116)

Join nixnet - its a new network aimed to focus on unixes. Andrew Leary
is the ZC.

Hi deon,

thanks for the info.

have fun!
neo67

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Windows/64)
* Origin: -= The News BBS | GER | bbs.dosnetz.de =- (21:2/136)