1JUN98

News9806

Editor: Campagnolo

Issue: 16 Volume: 6 Number: 3

In this Issue of CitaNews:

Editorial .................... Contributors

Features ................... Sponsors

Next Issue ....................... Lists

Future Issues .................. Legal

 

Editorial: Internet Citadels Turns 50! No not in years, in numbers. The Official Citadel BBS list (http://www.citadelia.org) listed 50 Citadels this month. Spanning the globe from Canada to Australia, from The USA to Turkey, and all points in between. Currently the on line community seems to be split between using Citadel/UX and YAWC. (the UX folks have two more known systems then the YAWC folks.) DOC seems to be on the way out, and a handful of ABC (A Better Citadel) seem to be sprouting.

---Michel Poulin (Campagnolo @ GWNorth)

Feature: Citadel/UX hits the BIG 5.0! Back in March, IGnatius T Foobar @uncnsrd announced a feature-freeze on Scooby stating "color folks: there _is_ some minimal colour support in the client, but it's not compiled in by default...Expect to see it soon." And continued with "The server side of things is now, for the most part, in feature-freeze (or "feature-slush" as Linus likes to say). Any further development before the final release is only going to be cleanup of compiler warnings, some documentation, and any minor bug fixes that come up. I might add one or two more image types, and I'll probably finish the ANSI terminal type autodetect, but there won't be any more big changes to the server in the short term. It's time to get this puppy out the door."

"The release of WebCit 1.30 will follow shortly afterwards. This will support all of the graphics support (kept to a Citadelian tasteful minimum, of course) in the new server. Those of you who log on to Uncensored using the web interface have undoubtedly seen a splash of colour here and there; that's what we're getting at. We're _not_ turning Citadel into a slow, over-imaged mess. There's also support for multiuser chat, which was borrowed from the development code for the Java client."

The most recent news on the project came in IG's own words in the CitaNews room

"May 28 22:09 1998 from IGnatius T Foobar @uncnsrd (Uncensored)

*** SCOOBY'S FINALLY OUTTA THE DOGHOUSE ***

Citadel/UX v5.00 has now been officially released. I was hoping to get some more feedback from non-Linux sysops, but at this point I don't know if there are any! Anyway, this thing has been running stable on my system for so long now, I figured I'd better just get it out the door. Anything else which pops up at this stage can be taken care of in point releases.

Citadel is stable, anyway ... I wish I could say the same for my hardware... <grin> "

Thank you Ignatius T Foobar for another code well done.

Feature: ISCA & DOC (Daves Own Citadel) The end of an era? In recent e-mail exchanges with people involved with ISCA I got the following scoop.

KAM from ISCA wrote "The original programmer that we know is still here is Dr. David Lacey (Doctor Dave). The current main programmer for ISCABBS' DOC code is Serendipity. There are not really all that many DOC systems around. The boards that do/did run DOC are: ISCABBS, Heinous BBS, Shadow BBS (down), KaraNet, SkyNet BBS (down), Brinta BBS (replaced), Virtual Doughnutland, and maybe one in Austria, and 3 in Mexico.

Nobody else, to my knowledge, should be running DOC because it is only released to individuals by Doctor Dave himself. ISCABBS is running the latest and final version of it (according to both Doctor Dave and Serendipity), mainly because a) It's become too optimized for ISCA's server and b) It's being replaced by Gestalt (owned by Lee Brintle aka Tanj) which is all new code."

So what is this "Gestalt" software that KAM spoke of? We get more detailed information from Lee Brintle

"Under the covers, Gestalt is nothing like Citadel. There is no Citadel source code anywhere in it. There are three servers that are used in the system: - An account server, which manages users' accounts, the who list, users' profiles and preferences, and is the central "login" place - Multiple message servers, which manage the topics, posts, and users' topic-level preferences. There can be multiple message servers under one account server, and accounts on one account server can access any message server (if permitted). - An x-message proxy server, which is only used by people behind firewalls and people who want their x-messages recorded.

On top of these servers are various interfaces. One of them is "GIM", which provides a Citadel-like interface to the message servers. Others are web-based, one written in Java, and Panda. The entire system is built to be massively distributed."

Well that is it. DOC is on the way out, to be replaced with Gestalt. With that the worlds largest known Citadel will cease. We wish the programmers and users well as they venture out of Citadelia!

Feature: IO ERROR, in his words.

10 Years of Citadel

I started using BBSs in the summer of 1988, at age 15. The first BBSs I called were C-net and Image BBS (Commodore 64 software favored by pirates) based systems. I was not interested in files, owning a Tandy Color Computer 3, rather than a Commodore 64, but rather found myself enchanted by the idea that one could communicate by computer with people both local and far distant.

I downloaded dozens of Nashville (Tennessee) BBS listings, looking for new BBS systems to call, to see what was out there. Soon thereafter I had accounts on over 125 BBSs, and as a by-product, the most comprehensive and accurate local BBS listing.

One of the last BBSs I discovered, since it was listed in only one place, was Beta Mountain BBS, running Citadel 2.26 on a Kaypro something-or-other. It took me a few minutes to get familiar with the interface, but I found it very intuitive and conducive to communicating. I took an instant liking to Beta Mountain and its strange, unique in Nashville software.

Beta Mountain had weekly user meetings, known as BiMBoS (officially, Beta Mountain Benevolent Society), at Fuddruckers near Vanderbilt University every Wednesday evening. I began to attend, and met users I had spoken to online: people like Phred Joenz, Marge, Burma Shave and Yngwie, who embraced me from the start as a part of Beta Mountain's Citadel community.

Beta Mountain closed in late 1989, as the sysop moved out of the area, but not before a user named Moose got hold of GremCit (or DragCit?) and started his own BBS, Blue Moon (US 615 889 3611, still in operation). Most Beta Mountain users moved there, and the community continued on, and grew. Eventually, other users started their own Citadels.

I started my own at the high school I was attending, calling long distance to Minneapolis to download Citadel-86 and installing it on one of the school's computers for use after school hours. I had changed: now I was a sysop. The BBS continued on until I graduated in 1990.

In college, I hacked up my own version of Citadel in BASIC on my CoCo 3, and ran the system from my dorm room, much to the chagrin of my roommate.

But my hall director was also a Citadel user, whom I had known online for the better part of a year, so I got away with it. Greble Dagmar, another user I knew, ended up down the hall from me. Their presence eased what would otherwise have been a very traumatic experience for me: being at college, and knowing no one.

In 1993, having a full-time job and still going to school part-time, I started a Citadel-86 system on an old 8088 machine, and elected to network rooms with Test System, on my own dime. I was the only Citadel in the entire state of Tennessee to participate in C86Net. The other Citadels in Nashville weren't interested in networking, even though I offered to foot the bill (and did for several months). Though 14.4 was all the rage, I had only a 2400 baud modem, and still had my fair share of callers, and a small but thriving community which was part of the larger C86Net. Some of you may remember The Crossroads _ TN (US 615 890 4077).

At about the same time I started The Crossroads, I also discovered the Internet. I got hold of an Internet services listing which showed a Citadel BBS on the Internet, saying it supported hundreds of users at the same time! I was amazed. I called the Iowa Student Computer Association BBS, and to this day maintain an account there. It was, quite literally, an eye-opener. I began to gateway Usenet newsgroups into The Crossroads, I became an active ISCA BBS user, and eventually moved to Iowa City, where it is located. There I became active in the student organization which runs ISCA BBS, as well as a member of the community.

In 1996 I began itching for Citadel again, as DOC, the software ISCA BBS users, is not exactly quite like Citadel. I started my own BBS based on Citadel/UX 3, called Corridor BBS, on the Internet, and heavily modified it to support users accustomed to DOC. It ran well for over a year before the machine suffered hardware failure, and the backups of the source code I had were too old.

I continued to participate in the ISCA BBS community. At one point, I nearly married someone I met on ISCA BBS. But history repeats itself; a few weeks ago I resurrected Corridor BBS using Citadel/UX again. And again I have made a few changes to ease the transition to Citadel for DOC users. I discovered UNCENSORED! BBS, Dog Pound II, the Sanctuary, and numerous other Citadel/UX systems which were there all the time, only I'd never known. I was reunited with Freakdog, whom I'd known and netted with in 1993.

In the last 10 years, Citadel has been at least partly responsible for major events in my life, things and people I would never have met otherwise. There have been good times, bad times, and worse times, and I do not regret a single moment. In calling the Citadel/UX systems I discovered, I have been made welcome and a part of the community, just like in 1988 when I first called Beta Mountain.

I am at home again. Thank you, Citadelia.

--IO ERROR

Feature: What is NEW in Citadelia Today!

All over things are going on in Citadelia, new codes being born, systems starting, systems dieing, and new bridges being crossed.

NEW CODE ON THE BLOCK: ZorkCit

From: Nick Moffitt <nick@usfca.edu>

Subject: ZorkCit (http://www.zork.net/cit/)

"Well, since I'm not prone to hubris, I called it ZorkCit rather than NickCit or something like that.... The look & feel was designed to emulate Cit+/GremCit as much as possible, since that's what I ran in 1996, and what I used to use back in Seattle.

You'll notice that your new message pointer gets set when you read messages, so the board will look more impressive the second time you log in. I try to add features and fix bugs as time allows, but the code is under the GNU General Public License, so anyone can modify it and redistribute. It's currently 576 lines of Perl, along with several separate scripts used to create accounts and change passwords."

After logging in a few times, the system becomes as easy to read and follow as any other. On high-resolution screens, it may be a little hard on the eyes. The multi-color "ANSI" style arrangement makes for easy separation of messages and headers. A few extra features allows the end user to customize the wording around their alias. It is a must see.

NEW BBS's ON THE BLOCK: Blind Guys

From: Paul Snow

Subject: Blind Guys BBS

telnet: bbs.nipha.com, select option 3

client: bbs.nipha.com, port 504

web: http://www.nipha.com/blind/

"The BBS I have started using Citadel/UX 4.11 is open to the public. The BBS is called Blind Guys BBS and is intended to be a forum for blind and visually impaired individuals and others interested in blindness"

REBORN BBS's: Corridor BBS

From: error@blackout.net

Subject: Corridor BBS

"I am writing to let you know of a new Citadel/UX BBS. The name of the system is Corridor BBS. It is running Citadel/UX 4.94, and is reachable only on the Internet:

telnet: corridor.blackout.net, login: bbs

citadel client: corridor.blackout.net port 504

WWW: http://corridor.blackout.net/~bbs/"

 

REBORN BBS's: Jersey Devil

Imagine everyone's surprise when we read:

"Apr 30 22:36 1998 from Freakdog @dogpound2 (Dog Pound BBS II)

Seed to Jersey Devil "

Could it be? Yes it is!

"Apr 30 23:14 1998 from Demon Stalker @jdevil (Jersey Devil Citadel)

Well - Ummmm... - we're back! "

Taking on new software (Citadel/UX) and a new alias for the SysOp, Jersey Devil has returned. Let's all welcome VQ, Ummm, I mean Demon Stalker back to Citadelia!

NEW BBS's ON THE BLOCK: EmuBBS

Way out there on the other side of the globe from where Citadel began, there once again is a Citadel in the Turkey region. Actually located in Cyprus, EmuBBS is a student run Citadel/UX system. It also became Europe's only system on the IGnet/OPEN network. (remember a long time ago there was another place in Europe, but it is long since gone) After many hours of trouble shooting and broken English (better then some Americans!) they managed to get a hand full of rooms to net with GWNorth. In the everlasting words of one of EMU's SysOp's bezgin:

"May 28 14:18 1998 from bezgin @emubbs (EmuBBS)

we have communications, wanna live this moment forever.. !!"

Congratulations hgulen and bezgin! And welcome to Citadelia!

NEW NETWORK WIDE FEATURES: e-mail?

With the addition of http://www.citadelia.org, the DNS project, and the abilities of Citadel/UX systems, internet e-mail is now available to anyone logging into a BBS that is a member of the C86Net or IGnet/OPEN Citadel networks.

IG had this comment on the issue:

"The address syntax won't be pretty, but it'll work. It might work already, in fact. They [Citadel users] will be sending mail to addresses like:

user%host.dom @ internet _ ignet

Ugly, but functional. "

Next Issue We need contributors, writers, and editors to continue. While a few people have contributed some material, there is not enough to carry on a monthly newsletter. When more material and help arrive, we may see a monthly CitaNews again. In other words, I don't anything planed for August.

Future Issues Sections to be added to future issues of CitaNews: Births, (new BBS's in the world). Obituary, (death reports). Netted Rooms, (new rooms to share and who has them). New Features, (new additions to any Citadel system or new variants of Citadel). Current Affairs, (Things in the news that can effect the way you BBS). Lists, (list of systems joining Citadelia, Lists of anything else that needs to be listed. [Note: a separate page will be created to catalog different lists and the new additions or removals will be mentioned here.]

If you have any ideas of things that should be added or featured, please feel free to contribute your thoughts.

Contributors in this issue. Our thanks goes out to:

IGnatius T Foobar , IO ERROR, KAM, Lee Brintle, Paul Snow, and Nick Moffitt.

Sponsors:

Freakdog @ Dogpond2 and CompuComIS for hosting this site.

Lists:

Currently all of the known Internet systems can be found at URL http://www.citadelia.org/list. Dial-up BBS's will be added later. If anyone has additions for the list, feel free to pass them our way.

Legal:

This issue of CitaNews edited by Michel Poulin. If you wish to assist or contribute to a future issue, please send e-mail to Michel Poulin at mpoulin@linux2.compucomis.net. All submissions must be made no later then 10 days before the issue date (normally the First of each month)

There is no copyright unless expressed by the author of an article. No guarantee of accuracy can be made. Use at your own risk. Do not run with scissors! Turn off your ignition before fueling your vehicle. Do not exceed the posted limit. Turn Signals, USE THEM. Look before you walk. Think before you talk. If you paid for this software, someone is ripping you off! Remove the offending Operating System. RTFM. ROFL. TTFN.