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Who exactly is the target audience of this? Shell accounts were useful and thus popular 20-30 years ago when UNIX systems were still something relatively exoti

Who exactly is the target audience of this? Shell accounts were useful and thus popular 20-30 years ago when UNIX systems were still something relatively exotic. It was a cheap way for the average home user to get limited access to a computing resource that was otherwise completely inaccessible to them. (Indeed, my first exposure to UNIX was via an SDF shell account, after trying in vain for hours to get RedHat to work on my parents’ old 486.) Today, Linux installs easily on pretty much any modern consumer hardware. VPSs are a dime a dozen (and much more powerful and cheaper than what SDF offers). Is SDF’s user base purely driven by nostalgia (they still offer dialup access for $7-10/month [0]), or does it provide some useful service not available anywhere else that I’m missing? [0] https://sdf.org/?join https://sdf.org/?join

selfhoster11 4y ago
To me, the main draw is that of a Unix system shared by multiple people. It's a pretty unique experience, much different to "single-user" Unix systems like most of us run today.
aliqot 4y ago
Some of us have been on lonestar for 30yrs and have made a lot of connections. Also, there's games.
- craniumslows 4y ago
  Heck ya! :-)
cosgrove 4y ago
It sounds like they cater specifically to "the aural and visually impaired", but I can't figure out how?
- simonh 4y ago
  As a primarily text based interface I suppose it's well suited to assistive technologies like screen readers. I worked with a blind user back in the 90s who stuck with DOS and a terminal into a Unix server long after Windows/XWindows were common due to better compatibility with the assistive tech he was using.
zitterbewegung 4y ago
It’s not just a shell service it’s a community of people who started out providing a shell service and kept it running . They also provide access to Lisp machines I believe and other things like a Minecraft server .
- Something1234 4y ago
  The lisp machine access is certainly something new. I haven't seen that mentioned at all. Would definitely like to fiddle with it.
user3939382 4y ago
I use it to ping/trace/test my servers from an external network to verify whether network behavior is being produced by local config or conditions.
craniumslows 4y ago
There’s also gopher and Gemini hosting.

selfhoster11 4y ago

To me, the main draw is that of a Unix system shared by multiple people. It's a pretty unique experience, much different to "single-user" Unix systems like most of us run today.

aliqot 4y ago

Some of us have been on lonestar for 30yrs and have made a lot of connections. Also, there's games.

craniumslows 4y ago
Heck ya! :-)

cosgrove 4y ago

It sounds like they cater specifically to "the aural and visually impaired", but I can't figure out how?

simonh 4y ago
As a primarily text based interface I suppose it's well suited to assistive technologies like screen readers. I worked with a blind user back in the 90s who stuck with DOS and a terminal into a Unix server long after Windows/XWindows were common due to better compatibility with the assistive tech he was using.

zitterbewegung 4y ago

It’s not just a shell service it’s a community of people who started out providing a shell service and kept it running . They also provide access to Lisp machines I believe and other things like a Minecraft server .

Something1234 4y ago
The lisp machine access is certainly something new. I haven't seen that mentioned at all. Would definitely like to fiddle with it.

user3939382 4y ago

I use it to ping/trace/test my servers from an external network to verify whether network behavior is being produced by local config or conditions.

craniumslows 4y ago

There’s also gopher and Gemini hosting.