4 ms·

I get some nostalgic value out of using SyncTERM to connect to a BBS and poke around, but the only things I really miss are the ANSI art and the hyper-local fee

I get some nostalgic value out of using SyncTERM to connect to a BBS and poke around, but the only things I really miss are the ANSI art and the hyper-local feel of the chat. BBS's were my introduction to networking and I love them, but I think I'm too spoiled by advances in user experience. I'd love some kind of a modern hybrid.

sekao 5y ago
> I'd love some kind of a modern hybrid. I'm working on it. A BBS with a built-in ANSI art + MIDI music editor, accessible from terminals and web browsers, all unicode, no telnet. Ready later this month most likely. It's hard to replicate the local feel of BBSes though. You can't really enforce local usage on the modern internet, and it wouldn't be great for privacy if you could. But the rest we can do.
- icedchai 5y ago
  That sounds super cool. Do you have a github or something we can follow? The local usage / community aspect is what I miss most about local BBSes. I remember having gatherings, BBS picnics, that sort of thing. That world is gone.
  - sekao 5y ago
    The BBS code isn't public yet but it'll end up on https://github.com/ansiwave/ansiwave https://github.com/ansiwave/ansiwave when it's ready. I've been posting devlog videos here... https://www.reddit.com/r/ANSIWAVE/ https://www.reddit.com/r/ANSIWAVE/ I think the best chance you'd have of getting the local aspect is to not run it on the public internet. Maybe use a local mesh network, packet radio, etc. But the community you end up with, if any, will be quite different than the one that formed around BBSes, i imagine.
- owlbynight 5y ago
  That's rad, will join the subreddit. Yeah, I agree about the difficulties of enforcing local usage. Honestly, it was probably a matter of long distance fees that kept the BBSes I loved well-used and local. Something similar could be like charging nothing if you sign up providing a valid credit card with its zip code within a list of local zip codes, and charge a much higher rate if it's not.

sekao 5y ago

> I'd love some kind of a modern hybrid. I'm working on it. A BBS with a built-in ANSI art + MIDI music editor, accessible from terminals and web browsers, all unicode, no telnet. Ready later this month most likely. It's hard to replicate the local feel of BBSes though. You can't really enforce local usage on the modern internet, and it wouldn't be great for privacy if you could. But the rest we can do.

icedchai 5y ago
That sounds super cool. Do you have a github or something we can follow? The local usage / community aspect is what I miss most about local BBSes. I remember having gatherings, BBS picnics, that sort of thing. That world is gone.
- sekao 5y ago
  The BBS code isn't public yet but it'll end up on https://github.com/ansiwave/ansiwave https://github.com/ansiwave/ansiwave when it's ready. I've been posting devlog videos here... https://www.reddit.com/r/ANSIWAVE/ https://www.reddit.com/r/ANSIWAVE/ I think the best chance you'd have of getting the local aspect is to not run it on the public internet. Maybe use a local mesh network, packet radio, etc. But the community you end up with, if any, will be quite different than the one that formed around BBSes, i imagine.
owlbynight 5y ago
That's rad, will join the subreddit. Yeah, I agree about the difficulties of enforcing local usage. Honestly, it was probably a matter of long distance fees that kept the BBSes I loved well-used and local. Something similar could be like charging nothing if you sign up providing a valid credit card with its zip code within a list of local zip codes, and charge a much higher rate if it's not.