Re: Linux pbbs

[bruce@pixar.com (Bruce Perens)]

I am working on a Linux port of N0ARY's BBS. For now, you can download
Bob's original code from arasmith.com . My version is barely started.
N0ARY agreed to GPL the BBS as long as he didn't have to support it on
Linux - so I'm stuck with the job.

I'm currently coding an inetd-like program to listen on AX.25 sockets
and start various programs. It has the option to start programs on
pseudo-ttys, which is the only way to run remote logins, etc. This
replaces my version of the "axl" program, and N0ARY's "tncd" program.

N0ARY's BBS compiles on Linux out of the box (I think this is due to
the efforts of Bob Prolux), but does not run on my system. Rather than
just make it run, there are some structural changes that I'd like to
make before I distribute my version. N0ARY has 2000 users on his PBBS,
and runs it on a Sparc 10 with 64MB RAM. Because he had such a powerful
system and wanted it to run fast, he coded it to keep the entire
message database in core, and it keeps the entire white pages in core
too. I want to scrap Bob's message database and use INN (a netnews
server) to manage the message database. The BBS program would use NNTP
to communicate with INN. This would also address the issue of a
BBS-to-NetNews gateway, and would allow TCP/IP userss with an NNTP
client to bypass the BBS interface entirely.  N0ARY's BBS already
provides an e-mail gateway.

Eric Williams WD6CMU has offered to help with this project. He wrote
the OS-9 68k PBBS. It'll take a few weeks to get Eric set up with Linux.
Since he lives down the street, I suspect most of the testing will go on
between our two systems.

I'd like to keep the white pages database in a DBM file for now, though
later on I'd like to experiment with using the Domain Name System to serve
the white pages database.

Of course, when this is all done I'll put it on my Linux For Hams CD-ROM,
and I'll also make it available for FTP. My CD-ROM will be released soon
after the release of Debian 0.93 (upon which it is based), and the first
issue probably won't have N0ARY's BBS.

As you can see, I have big plans. So far, this is all vaporware. I'll send
a message when I have a product to ship.

        Bruce Perens AB6YM
--
<a href="http://www.rahul.net/perens>Bruce Perens AB6YM</a>
Voice phone: 510-215-3502  Internet: Bruce@Pixar.com
Amateur Radio: Bruce@ab6ym.ampr.org ab6ym@n0ary.#nocal.ca.usa.noam