Despite that, it is still possible to create your own BBS server using Linux. There are numerous projects, such as EnigmaBBS, that use modern languages and technologies to recreate the BBS experience of the 90s.
What Is a BBS and EnigmaBBS?
At its core, a BBS is a suite of programs that allow multiple users to access a computer over a remote network. These computers, in turn, often contain programs that a system operator made to highlight a feature of their BBS. For example, most BBS machines in the 1990s provided games that are unique to their server. EnigmaBBS is a modern adaptation of the traditional BBS software. It aims to recreate the original ’90s BBS experience with modern coding standards and technologies. EnigmaBBS also contains a number of features, such as WebSockets and SSH, which allow you to easily host and use a BBS. Unlike traditional BBS, EnigmaBBS provides a platform for easy communication with other similar services through FidoNET. This approach enables you to seamlessly interact with other servers without the need to explicitly connect to each other. Lastly, EnigmaBBS fully supports third-party Door Games through DoorParty, Exodus and CombatNet, so loading games through it is as simple as providing the dropfile for that particular game. It is possible to turn EnigmaBBS to a dedicated BBS gaming server for your friends and family.
Installing EnigmaBBS
Generating Your EnigmaBBS Configuration
Next, open a new terminal window to make sure that the machine will detect all of the programs that you just installed.
Creating a New Configuration File
Connecting and Using Your New BBS
With your basic configuration done, you can start your EnigmaBBS server. Unlike other webservers, running a BBS instance is incredibly easy.
Creating the Sysop User
By default, EnigmaBBS reserves the first user account in the server as the Sysop user.
Sending and Reading Your First Message
EnigmaBBS will immediately redirect you to your account’s main menu, where you can interact with various features of your BBS instance.
Communicating with a Different BBS
As mentioned above, EnigmaBBS also allows you to seamlessly communicate with other BBS servers. It can be especially useful if you want to introduce additional activity in your BBS instance.
Creating a Web Content Server
Aside from sending messages, EnigmaBBS is also a highly flexible piece of software that can be extended to do whatever you want. For example, it is possible to create a content server that will display all the messages and files in the BBS. Image credit: Unsplash All screenshots by Ramces Red To fix this, you need to do three things: First, you need to run rm -rf /home/$USER/enigma-bbs/node-modules to remove all the objects that EnigmaBBS just compiled. Then add the official NodeJS repository to your package manager in Ubuntu by running the command: curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_14.x | sudo bash -. Once done, install the appropriate version of NodeJS as well as rebuild all the objects for EnigmaBBS by running this single command: sudo apt install nodejs && nvm install v14.19.3 && npm install && npm rebuild. Look for the port: variable under “loginServers,” then change it to any number that does not conflict with any running service in your system.
