4 ms·

Back in the 1980s when I was a l33t hax0r, I used to bounce around the world on X.25 networks, many of which I suspect were operated by Minitel. There was a cha

Back in the 1980s when I was a l33t hax0r, I used to bounce around the world on X.25 networks, many of which I suspect were operated by Minitel. There was a chat system/early BBS/something called QSD in France, where a lot of hackers would congregate to chat and trade credentials for systems. I can't find much on the net about QSD now, except a few old Phrack articles. Does anyone know what the relationship between Minitel and QSD was?

thetis 6y ago
Minitel is the terminal system, with the CPU, keyboard & screen, but by extension, it includes the protocol to display & download the data. Actually, i was used to connect to "minitel" servers, RTC or BBS-like that were dedicated to the developement of HP48 calculator applications. It was a very rich scene in France, with RTC servers named Pulsar, RTC-one, etc. Basic BBS boards with discussion boards (like HN!) and where you could download HP 48 programs. Some history (in french) about one of these boards http://wiz0u.free.fr/pulsar/historique.php http://wiz0u.free.fr/pulsar/historique.php It was back in 1997 with a pre-internet scene, the first IRL parties, internet friends, etc Basicly it was some smart guy hosting an atari st in the garage, with a dedicated telecom line (so 1 people connected at the same time!).
doublejay1999 6y ago
you must be as old a me. i was regular on QSD via X25. Great Days. Big big phone bills. QSD was a 3rd party chat service, accessed Via minitel but with a per minute surchage. I met a lot of good friends their, swapped some postcards with some french girls. Great days. I dont know how it came to be accessible via x.25 though.
icedchai 6y ago
A local BBSer introduced me to x.25 hacking probably around 1989 or 90 or so. I remember QSD and another system... Lutzifer, I think?
- caymanjim 6y ago
  Yeah, lutzifer was another X.25 hacker chatroom. I think it was based in Germany. I used to reach it via Telenet [sic]. In retrospect, I think it may have been run by a US government intelligence agency. Someone on there doxxed me despite hopping through a lot of relays that should have been nearly impossible to trace through.
  - icedchai 6y ago
    Interesting. Yes, I reached those systems through both Telenet / SprintNet and TymNet. Those were fun times!
  - philprx 6y ago
    Lutz, althh, tchh, Lina, Pegasus, ... many people thought some of these were sting operations. My hand still remembers some NUA by heart even if I didn’t connect to these for 30 years.
philprx 6y ago
Yes, QSD was hosted on a Minitel serving node/system but was mainly used for international chats. So we can say that QSD “abused” the x25 interconnection of a Minitel server in order to provide chats mainly to hackers. Common people there: BayernPower, Gandalf, ... long time ago. It was 0208057... something iirc.
- icedchai 6y ago
  I remember some dude abusing a VAX that had x.25 access to connect out to all that stuff. "SET HOST /X25", anyone? Word spread like wildfire. At one point every elite dude and his mother was on the system. I think it took a little over a month to figure out something was awry. Probably the Sprint / Telenet bill was a clue...

thetis 6y ago

Minitel is the terminal system, with the CPU, keyboard & screen, but by extension, it includes the protocol to display & download the data. Actually, i was used to connect to "minitel" servers, RTC or BBS-like that were dedicated to the developement of HP48 calculator applications. It was a very rich scene in France, with RTC servers named Pulsar, RTC-one, etc. Basic BBS boards with discussion boards (like HN!) and where you could download HP 48 programs. Some history (in french) about one of these boards http://wiz0u.free.fr/pulsar/historique.php http://wiz0u.free.fr/pulsar/historique.php It was back in 1997 with a pre-internet scene, the first IRL parties, internet friends, etc Basicly it was some smart guy hosting an atari st in the garage, with a dedicated telecom line (so 1 people connected at the same time!).

doublejay1999 6y ago

you must be as old a me. i was regular on QSD via X25. Great Days. Big big phone bills. QSD was a 3rd party chat service, accessed Via minitel but with a per minute surchage. I met a lot of good friends their, swapped some postcards with some french girls. Great days. I dont know how it came to be accessible via x.25 though.

icedchai 6y ago

A local BBSer introduced me to x.25 hacking probably around 1989 or 90 or so. I remember QSD and another system... Lutzifer, I think?

caymanjim 6y ago
Yeah, lutzifer was another X.25 hacker chatroom. I think it was based in Germany. I used to reach it via Telenet [sic]. In retrospect, I think it may have been run by a US government intelligence agency. Someone on there doxxed me despite hopping through a lot of relays that should have been nearly impossible to trace through.
- icedchai 6y ago
  Interesting. Yes, I reached those systems through both Telenet / SprintNet and TymNet. Those were fun times!
- philprx 6y ago
  Lutz, althh, tchh, Lina, Pegasus, ... many people thought some of these were sting operations. My hand still remembers some NUA by heart even if I didn’t connect to these for 30 years.

philprx 6y ago

Yes, QSD was hosted on a Minitel serving node/system but was mainly used for international chats. So we can say that QSD “abused” the x25 interconnection of a Minitel server in order to provide chats mainly to hackers. Common people there: BayernPower, Gandalf, ... long time ago. It was 0208057... something iirc.

icedchai 6y ago
I remember some dude abusing a VAX that had x.25 access to connect out to all that stuff. "SET HOST /X25", anyone? Word spread like wildfire. At one point every elite dude and his mother was on the system. I think it took a little over a month to figure out something was awry. Probably the Sprint / Telenet bill was a clue...