Introduction

Welcome to SiliconUnderground, located in Rochester, NY.

In the late eighties through the nineties the BBS ran using multiple BBS packages and was part of FidoNet and one of the co-founders of StormNet. I owned PCBoard and WildCat! commercial licensed versions but could never settle on one package. Alan Jurison was a co-author of T.A.G. and I started to use that as I had a local support base. I always saw SynchroNet in Boardwatch and other magazines and really liked it. I had the demo but by the time I was going to switch and purchase it, I moved on and shut down the BBS.

For mail network software I used FrontDoor and that is still my favorite. Now I use binkd as my mailer and hope to switch to FrontDoor soon as Joaquim Homrigausen is “rebooting” it. I am waiting for native telnet and binkp support.

ProBoard BBS Purchase

I was offered an opportunity to purchase the source and rights to ProBoard BBS from John Riley (Slasher BBS) and I decided to purchase the software.  I have made many improvements to the software as well as fixed a bunch of small and large issues.

I have grown quite fond of running the software as it feels good and nostalgic.  

Getting Connected

To connect to SiliconUnderground you can either use our web based login or install and run a Telnet client of your own. If you use a Telnet client (recommended) configure it to connect to siliconu.com using port 23.

What\’s a BBS?

A Bulletin Board System (BBS) is a computer or an application dedicated to the sharing or exchanging of messages or other files on a network. Originally users would connect to a BBS via dialup modem over a telephone line, these days the preferred means of connectivity it to use a the Telnet protocol over a TCP/IP Internet connection. Today you can still find BBS to connect to. While there are less around now than in the mid 1990\’s there has been a global resurgence in the interest, use and growth of BBS systems in recent years.

BBS Popularity

Bulletin Board Systems were very popular between the late eighties to mid nineties. As household Internet access improved and people discovered the World Wide Web (WWW), BBS popularity declined. These days BBS popularity is once again on the rise. Former users (and those who have never experienced this pre-Internet communication) are jumping back in and once again are enjoying this cool form of retro computing / communication.

Telnet Software Options

SyncTERM is a BBS terminal program which supports:

  • Windows, Linux, OpenBSD, NetBSD, OS X, and FreeBSD
  • X/Y/ZModem up/downloads
  • Runs in full-screen mode on ALL platforms (ALT-Enter switches modes)
  • *nix versions will run using SDL, X11, or using curses
  • Full ANSI-BBS support
  • Full CGTerm Commodore 64 PETSCII support
  • Full Atari 8-bit ATASCII support
  • DoorWay support
  • Support for IBM low and high ASCII including the face graphics (☺ and ☻) and card symbols (♥, ♦, ♣, and ♠) which so many other terms have problems with (may not work in curses mode… depends on the terminal being used).
  • Phone books
  • Multiple screen modes (80×25, 80×28, 80×43, 80×50, 80×60, 132×25, 132×28, 132×30, 132×34, 132×43, 132×50, 132×60)
  • ANSI Music (through the sound card if installed)
  • Telnet, RLogin, SSH, RAW, modem, shell (*nix only) and direct serial connections
  • Auto-login with Synchronet RLogin
  • Large Scrollback
  • Mouse-driven menus
  • Copy/Paste
  • Supports character pacing for ANSI animation as well as the VT500 ESC[*r sequence to allow dynamic speed changes
  • Comes with 43 standard fonts and allows the BBS to change the current font *and* upload custom fonts. This tool will allow you to create fonts for use with SyncTERM.
  • Supports Operation Overkill ][ Terminal emulation

For detailed specs on SyncTERMs handling of ANSI, as well as it’s many extensions, refer to
this document