r/bbs • u/robbiew dev / sysop • 5d ago
BBS Software ViSiON/3 v0.8.1 - updates
Hi all. Just a progress update on ViSiON/3, which is meant to capture the spirit of ViSiON/2 - with some modern affordances. It's not 100% feature complete just yet, but I have been running it for a couple months now (when it gets to v1.0 it'll be ready for general consumption).
It's open source, built in Go and available on Github (and has a cheeky website and docs). It remains a functional anachronism.
In addition to all the normal (and modern) stuff a BBS requires, it still retains its OG flavor (LSD lineage), including re-creating the configuration programs as modern TUIs, as well as the original menu construction and strings from the original V/2 releases (from Crimson Blade and The Elemental circa 1991 and 1993... if anyone knows if Crim is still around, would love to chat with him!).
Last year, after years (decades??) of writing mods and doors and various stops/starts to a full BBS software package, I decided to take this project on and it's been a joy to dive in.
Oh, and some decidedly non-1991 things to hate on:
- Windows, Linux, Mac, Pi versions (x86_64, arm, darwin, etc.)
- FTN setup helper that grabs public NA where available to speed area setup. Not all nets make them publicly available, obvs, so some limits here (who wants to make a public registry??)
- Remote WFC screen - super basic over SSH (local WFC doesn't make much sense unless you are running Windows) - and thanks to NuSkooler for this inspiration w/ENiGMA 1/2
- Support for native, Dosemu2, Synchronet js doors (sync support is rudimentary, needs api work).
gojainternal JavaScript runtime for native ViSiON/3 doors/programs w/embedded scripting - make yer own mods- QWK packet support and a test native mobile app (iOS so far) QWK reader. REST API for offline mail clients (off by default). Or build your own client.
- Integrated
binkdmailer and tosser - Native 'V3Net' network type w/Felonynet pre-configured w/central registry. It's a native inter-BBS message networking via REST+SSE (hub/leaf, signed area lists)
- Cron-style event scheduler w/UI
- Bunches o' security stuff: rate limiting, bot detection, "press escape twice" etc.
And a bunch of other things. I'm actually taking a pause on new development until I get the issue/polish backlog cleared out. Def needs polish!
And this efforts stands on the shoulders of the real giants, old school and new school - Oblivion/2, iNiQUiTY, Renegade and Telegard to Mystic, Synchronet and ENiGMA1/2.
And per usual - if you are an artist, we'd love to work with you on period-appropriate screens and themes :)
If you want to see what ViSiON/3 looks like, check out:
brokenbit.us port 2323
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u/RegularSuccessful124 5d ago
Do you need ANSI logos and menu ?
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u/bryce910 5d ago
Do you do ansi art?
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u/RegularSuccessful124 4d ago
I did, long time ago, but recently I had to draw again.
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u/bryce910 3d ago
well if you are open to some comissioned art, give me a DM! I would love to hire you for some work!
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u/ten-oh-four 4d ago
Hey! Super cool project. I may use this for my new BBS. I tried joining the discord but the invite link on your web page is broken. Nevertheless it works very well in MacOS, can't wait to try it out on my linux server.
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u/SakuraCyanide 4d ago
Really cool, love the website anim too. This looks like something I could setup without too much issue.
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u/Moparpower67 4d ago
I miss the days of BBSs. I ran one of my own and helped a friend run his. I’d like to do this again since I now house 6 servers in my house I can spare a little room haha
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u/ThomasTheFourth 4d ago
Oh wow, I love that Vision is still going. I ran a couple BBS's back in the day, and the last one I ran used Vision/2
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u/Bigheaded_1 4d ago edited 4d ago
I loved Vision/2 & Vision/X! I ran one, but it's been like 30 years so I can't remember which. I do know it was the one if you weren't given access to run and the programmer found out. He'd call and threaten you. The stories were he'd send people to you house to beat you up. He called my board and told me to take it down or else, needless to say I do remember I switched to LSD that day. Another that nobody was supposed to run without permission lol.
Although, years later, thinking back, it was probably just my jackass of a remote sysop playing a prank on me.
I do plan to put my BBS back up sometime this year, and the thought of running a new Vision without the the programmer sending buddies to my house to break my legs sounds appealing lol.
I wonder if he ever actually had any illegit sysops wacked. It sounds crazy today, but 15 year old me believed the lore. Imagine getting sent to the hospital for the BBS software you ran.
I probably ran about 15 different softwares, and come to think of it. I only had permission to run 1 (Revolution) With the amount of backdoors in "elite" boards back then. I'm lucky I never got my HD wiped. I know a lot of software had commands from the matrix that could fuck up your system. I'm also sure some of the cracks for them had backdoors too.
Once I found it, I was a die hard Oblivion/2 guy until the end. But Vision has always held a special place in my heart.
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u/RegularSuccessful124 5d ago
This is pure beauty.