210 lines
8.3 KiB
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210 lines
8.3 KiB
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<TITLE>The Answer Guy 32:
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Finding BBS Software for Linux
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Jim Dennis: [comp.os.linux.development.apps] BBS for Unix
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<BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#000000" LINK="#0000FF" VLINK="#A000A0"
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<H4>"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
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</H4>
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<P> <hr> <P>
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<H1 align="center"><A NAME="answer">
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<img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif" alt="" border="0" align="middle">
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<a href="./index.html">The Answer Guy</a>
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<img src="../gx/dennis/bbubble.gif" alt="" border="0" align="middle">
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</A></H1>
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<BR>
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<H4 align="center">By James T. Dennis,
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<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com">linux-questions-only@ssc.com</a>
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<BR>Starshine Technical Services, <A HREF="http://www.starshine.org/">http://www.starshine.org/</A>
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</H4>
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<p><hr><p>
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<H3><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" alt="(?)"
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width="50" height="28" align="left" border="0"
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>Finding BBS Software for Linux</H3>
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<p><strong>From Li-cheng Hsu in the
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<a href="news:comp.os.linux.development.apps"
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>comp.os.linux.development.apps</a>
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newsgroup on 29 Jul 1998 </strong></p>
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<!-- begin body -->
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<p><strong>Greetings,
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</strong></p>
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<p><strong>I used to be a sysop of FidoNet using Maximus as my BBS system in
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DESQview environment. Now I have switched from DOS/Windows to Linux
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as my major working platform.
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</strong></p>
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<p><strong>The question is, is there any BBS system that is recommended to run
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in Unix ? It should be able to handle both dial-up & TCP/IP, of
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course. <IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)" height="24" width="20" align="middle">
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</strong></p>
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<blockquote><img src="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
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alt="(!)" border="0"
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>There's a tree of directories at the master Linux
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archive:
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</blockquote>
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<code><blockquote><blockquote><A HREF="http://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/bbs">http://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/bbs</A>
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</blockquote></blockquote></code>
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<blockquote>There are several packages there --- including a number of
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utilities for ifmail (the Internet to FIDO gateway).
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>Most of these are free or shareware.
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>There are also Linux ports of MajorBBS and MMB Teammate
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(a couple of major commercial BBS packages --- which are
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pretty expensive).
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>I haven't used any of them so I can't offer specific
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suggestions. However, I've crossposted the two newsgroups
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that are most likely to have interested and informed
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participants (alt.bbs.unixbbs and comp.bbs.misc).
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>There are about 50 newsgroups devoted to BBS'
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(including various specific BBS packages like TBBS,
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MajorBBS, Citadel, etc).
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>(I've been a sysop on two large corporate systems,
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for Symantec and for McAfee --- so, I used to subscribe
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to some of these. However I've never run a small hobbyist
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system so I just haven't kept up in the field).
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</blockquote>
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<p><strong>Thanks in advance. <IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)" height="24" width="20" align="middle">
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</strong></p>
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<blockquote>Linux can handle dial-up as well as console login and give a remote user
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normal shell. But you probably want to restrict access for BBS users.
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>You can set them up with simple shell script (or <tt>perl</tt>,
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or <tt>tcl</tt>) which
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would emulate maximus as close as you wish, but I think that better
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approach is to use text-based web-browser
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<tt><a href="http://lynx.browser.org/">lynx</a></tt> for their shell.
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>These are likely to be severe security problems unless
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you are a phenomenally good (and careful) programmer.
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>I'd did play with a configuration that ran <tt>lynx</tt> in a
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chroot jail. That was to prototype a "dial in kiosk"
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>One sticking point for my application was that I wanted
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a replacement '<tt>getty</tt>' that could auto-detect ANSI PC
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emulation (which many BBS' can do with some sort of
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magic escape code) and bypass the Unix login command
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--- I think I replaced /bin/login in the jail with an
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SUID "nobody" copy of <tt>lynx</tt>, and put a <chroot><tt>/etc/issue</tt>
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that just said: "Hit any key to ...."
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>Thus you set up normal Web site instead of BBS, solving problem with
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TCP/IP instantly, and let dial-in users to view it in <tt>lynx</tt>.
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<tt>Lynx</tt>
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includes provisions to download/upload files using Z-Modem and Xmodem
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(by calling external programs <tt>sz</tt> and <tt>rz</tt>) and allows to
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restrict users almost as much as you wish.
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>However, those various restrictions may not be foolproof.
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There have been exploits that bypassed <tt>lynx</tt> restrictions before.
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>So, if security is an issue, you definetely want to
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lock this in a jail with no shell and take some other
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precautions.
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>You are right that this is an interesting way to
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provide "kiosk" style dial-up using stock HTML/web pages
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and off the 'net freeware. That was the whole point of
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my prototype (which took all of about three hours one
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afternoon).
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</blockquote>
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<!-- end body -->
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<!--startcut ======================================================= -->
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<P> <hr> <P>
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<H5 align="center"><a href="http://www.linuxgazette.com/copying.html"
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>Copyright ©</a> 1998, James T. Dennis <BR>
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Published in <I>Linux Gazette</I> Issue 32 September 1998</H5>
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<P> <hr> <P>
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<!--::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::-->
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<table width="98%"><tr valign="center" align="center">
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<td rowspan="3"><A HREF="./lg_answer32.html"><IMG
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SRC="../gx/dennis/answernew.gif"
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ALT="[ Answer Guy Index ]"></A></td>
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<td><A HREF="tag_phreak.html">phreak</A>
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<td><A HREF="tag_abandon.html">abandon</A>
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<td><A HREF="tag_javaterm.html">javaterm</A>
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<td><A HREF="tag_BBS.html">BBS</A>
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<td><A HREF="tag_flaws.html">flaws</A>
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<td><A HREF="tag_doslinux.html">doslinux</A>
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<td><A HREF="tag_resume.html">resume</A>
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</tr><tr valign="center" align="center">
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<td><A HREF="tag_softwindows.html">softwindows</A>
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<td><A HREF="tag_convert.html">convert</A>
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<td><A HREF="tag_apache.html">apache</A>
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<td><A HREF="tag_emulate.html">emulate</A>
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<td><A HREF="tag_database.html">database</A>
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<td><A HREF="tag_distrib.html">distrib</A>
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<td><A HREF="tag_proxy.html">proxy</A>
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</tr><tr valign="center" align="center">
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<td><A HREF="tag_disable.html">disable</A>
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<td><A HREF="tag_DVI.html">DVI</A>
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<td><A HREF="tag_superblock.html">superblock</A>
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<td><A HREF="tag_serial.html">serial</A>
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<td><A HREF="tag_permission.html">permission</A>
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<td><A HREF="tag_detach.html">detach</A>
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<td><A HREF="tag_cdr.html">cdr</A>
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</tr><tr valign="center" align="center">
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<td><A HREF="tag_rs422.html">rs422</A>
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<td><A HREF="tag_modem.html">modem</A>
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<td><A HREF="tag_notfound.html">notfound</A>
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<td><A HREF="tag_tuning.html">tuning</A>
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<td><A HREF="tag_libc5.html">libc5</A>
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<td><A HREF="tag_startup.html">startup</A>
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<td><A HREF="tag_clock.html">clock</A>
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<td><A HREF="tag_ping.html">ping</A>
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</tr><tr valign="center" align="center">
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<td><A HREF="tag_accounts.html">accounts</A>
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<td><A HREF="tag_lilo.html">lilo</A>
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<td><A HREF="tag_NDS.html">NDS</A>
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<td><A HREF="tag_95slow.html">95slow</A>
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<td><A HREF="tag_nonlinux.html">nonlinux</A>
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<td><A HREF="tag_progenv.html">progenv</A>
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<td><A HREF="tag_cluster.html">cluster</A>
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<td><A HREF="tag_ftpd.html">ftpd</A>
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</tr></table>
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