• Internet Rex and Debian Linux

    From RJ Clay@1:120/544 to Roy Witt on Sat Sep 29 11:20:57 2012
    Roy,

    27 Sep 12 23:08, you wrote to me:

    After not having it running for quite awhile I decided to try
    setting it up again, so installed the Linux version of it on a
    virtual machine running Debian v4 ('Woody').

    Sorry; 'Woody' was actually v3...


    Debian does present a problem.

    Depends on the version... As you many not be aware; Debian Woody (v3) was released in 2002 (and later superceded in 2005) and therefore uses the older versions of the standard C libraries. Which, IIRC, was the issue with running IRex on Linux systems...


    Most Linux users have probably given up on using IREX by now.

    Not surprisingly, but I'd like to have it running again; both for the capabilities my systems don't currently have and as a reference point for those capabilities.






    Jame

    --- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20110213
    * Origin: ftn.rocasa.net (1:120/544)
  • From Nicholas Boel@1:154/10.1 to RJ Clay on Sat Sep 29 18:19:00 2012
    Depends on the version... As you many not be aware; Debian Woody (v3) was released in 2002 (and later superceded in 2005) and therefore uses
    the older versions of the standard C libraries. Which, IIRC, was the
    issue with running IRex on Linux systems...

    Most Linux users have probably given up on using IREX by now.

    Not surprisingly, but I'd like to have it running again; both for the capabilities my systems don't currently have and as a reference point for those capabilities.

    Does Debian 'Woody' use the 2.4 kernel? IIRC, that was when the issues with IREX on Linux started (when everyone switched to the 2.6 kernel).

    There's also an issue with DNSs. You have to use real IP addresses as well.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.10 A20 (Linux)
    * Origin: thePharcyde_ http://www.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (1:154/10.1)
  • From Rj Clay@1:120/419 to Nicholas Boel on Sat Sep 29 23:49:47 2012
    Nick,

    29 Sep 12 18:19, you wrote to me:

    Depends on the version... As you many not be aware; Debian
    Woody (v3) was released in 2002 (and later superceded in 2005) and
    therefore uses the older versions of the standard C libraries.
    Which, IIRC, was the issue with running IRex on Linux systems...

    Does Debian 'Woody' use the 2.4 kernel?

    Yep; 2.4.18.


    There's also an issue with DNSs. You have to use real IP addresses as well.

    That also is resolved by going back to the older OS version:

    -----<snip>------------------------------------------------
    % 22:59:54 Connecting to BinkP site trada.rocasa.us...
    % 22:59:54 BinkP: SYS ROCASA FTN
    % 22:59:54 BinkP: ZYZ RJ Clay -----<snip>------------------------------------------------

    'Course, I had to fix an issue with the resolver (/etc/resolv.conf) not being configured correctly first...<g>



    Jame

    --- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5--b20111217
    * Origin: RJC eeePC (1:120/419)
  • From Nicholas Boel@1:154/10.1 to Rj Clay on Sun Sep 30 09:17:00 2012
    Does Debian 'Woody' use the 2.4 kernel?

    Yep; 2.4.18.

    Nice. After I replied to you, I did a little research on that. It looks
    like Debian 'Sarge' was the one that gave the 2.4 and 2.6 kernel options.

    Although I'm on like the 3.4 kernel nowadays, so I've left both in the
    dust. :)

    There's also an issue with DNSs. You have to use real IP addresses as well.

    That also is resolved by going back to the older OS version:

    -----<snip>------------------------------------------------
    % 22:59:54 Connecting to BinkP site trada.rocasa.us...
    % 22:59:54 BinkP: SYS ROCASA FTN
    % 22:59:54 BinkP: ZYZ RJ Clay -----<snip>------------------------------------------------

    'Course, I had to fix an issue with the resolver (/etc/resolv.conf) not being configured correctly first...<g>

    Oh cool. It seems as though the few linux users that actually use Irex
    these days don't know how to fix that issue. Maybe I can help pass on the
    word, but they're probably so stuck on what they're using and against
    fixing anything that it won't matter anyways. :)

    I know this is probably old news, but was the developer ever asked for the linux source code? I mean, it's so old, outdated, and hardly works.. I
    couldn't see as to why he wouldn't give it up unless he lost it, which most seem to do eventually when they abandon it for so long. :(

    --- Mystic BBS v1.10 A20 (Linux)
    * Origin: thePharcyde_ http://www.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (1:154/10.1)
  • From Roy Witt@1:387/22 to Nicholas Boel on Sun Sep 30 16:11:30 2012

    30 Sep 12 09:17, Nicholas Boel wrote to Rj Clay:

    I know this is probably old news, but was the developer ever asked
    for the linux source code? I mean, it's so old, outdated, and hardly works.. I couldn't see as to why he wouldn't give it up unless he
    lost it, which most seem to do eventually when they abandon it for so long. :(

    At one point, someone in the same net asked Charles if he still had the
    source and the answer was yes. That doesn't mean he hasn't lost it in the meantime. However, I doubt that he'd release it even if you could get in
    touch with him these days.

    R\%/itt


    ... Mark Owen: "Hey, did you ever hear anything about that beer?
    ... Fellow SEAL: "You believed that shit, I bet you voted for change too,
    ... SUCKER."


    --- GoldED+/W32 with D'Bridge 3.82
    * Origin: Texas Lone-Star - Texan, American, USAian (1:387/22)
  • From Nicholas Boel@1:154/10.1 to Roy Witt on Mon Oct 1 02:34:00 2012
    I know this is probably old news, but was the developer ever asked
    for the linux source code? I mean, it's so old, outdated, and hardly works.. I couldn't see as to why he wouldn't give it up unless he
    lost it, which most seem to do eventually when they abandon it for so long. :(

    At one point, someone in the same net asked Charles if he still had the source and the answer was yes. That doesn't mean he hasn't lost it in the meantime. However, I doubt that he'd release it even if you could get in touch with him these days.

    That's pretty sad that (assuming he still has it) he wouldn't release it to
    the very small percentage of people left in this hobby. It's not like he's going to make much more money on registration codes, since there's a
    plethora of them, well known to many, out there already. :(

    --- Mystic BBS v1.10 A20 (Linux)
    * Origin: thePharcyde_ http://www.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (1:154/10.1)
  • From Richard Webb@1:116/901 to Nicholas Boel on Mon Oct 1 03:41:36 2012
    Hello Nicholas,

    On Mon 2012-Oct-01 02:34, Nicholas Boel (1:154/10.1) wrote to Roy Witt:

    That's pretty sad that (assuming he still has it) he wouldn't
    release it to the very small percentage of people left in this
    hobby. It's not like he's going to make much more money on
    registration codes, since there's a plethora of them, well known to
    many, out there already. :(

    Might be, but last time I looked at the nodelist in any
    detail he was still listed as an nc.


    Regards,
    Richard
    ---
    * Origin: (1:116/901)
  • From Roy Witt@1:387/22 to Nicholas Boel on Mon Oct 1 17:45:28 2012

    01 Oct 12 02:34, Nicholas Boel wrote to Roy Witt:


    I know this is probably old news, but was the developer ever
    asked for the linux source code? I mean, it's so old, outdated,
    and hardly works.. I couldn't see as to why he wouldn't give it
    up unless he lost it, which most seem to do eventually when
    they abandon it for so long. :(

    At one point, someone in the same net asked Charles if he still had
    the source and the answer was yes. That doesn't mean he hasn't lost
    it in the meantime. However, I doubt that he'd release it even if
    you could get in touch with him these days.

    That's pretty sad that (assuming he still has it) he wouldn't release
    it to the very small percentage of people left in this hobby. It's
    not like he's going to make much more money on registration codes,
    since there's a plethora of them, well known to many, out there
    already. :(

    I agree with that, but I'm in no position to 'talk' him into releasing
    the source. I'd discourage anyone from registering irex and just persue
    using the unregistered version or looking into offering to buy someone
    else's key. This isn't anything new, as I was given a key generator for FastEcho 1.46 which can open that program for max use...

    R\%/itt


    ... Mark Owen: "Hey, did you ever hear anything about that beer?
    ... Fellow SEAL: "You believed that s**t, I bet you voted for change too,
    ... SUCKER."


    --- GoldED+/W32 with D'Bridge 3.82
    * Origin: Texas Lone-Star - Texan, American, USAian (1:387/22)
  • From Roy Witt@1:387/22 to Richard Webb on Mon Oct 1 17:59:23 2012

    18 Sep 94 15:10, Richard Webb wrote to Nicholas Boel:

    That's pretty sad that (assuming he still has it) he wouldn't
    release it to the very small percentage of people left in this
    hobby. It's not like he's going to make much more money on
    registration codes, since there's a plethora of them, well known to
    many, out there already. :(

    RWebb> Might be, but last time I looked at the nodelist in any detail he
    RWebb> was still listed as an nc.

    Even so, he hasn't been reachable in years. Someone listed in his net has claimed activity, but I haven't heard from him lately either.

    R\%/itt


    ... Mark Owen: "Hey, did you ever hear anything about that beer?
    ... Fellow SEAL: "You believed that s**t, I bet you voted for change too,
    ... SUCKER."


    --- GoldED+/W32 with D'Bridge 3.82
    * Origin: Texas Lone-Star - Texan, American, USAian (1:387/22)
  • From Nick Andre@1:229/426 to Roy Witt on Mon Oct 1 21:28:09 2012
    On 01 Oct 12 17:45:28, Roy Witt said the following to Nicholas Boel:

    I agree with that, but I'm in no position to 'talk' him into releasing
    the source. I'd discourage anyone from registering irex and just persue using the unregistered version or looking into offering to buy someone else's key. This isn't anything new, as I was given a key generator for FastEcho 1.46 which can open that program for max use...

    I was a fan of Irex for a long time in the late 90's I think it was, and bought a 50 or 100-node license for it, I forget which. Pretty sure it
    was the 100 node one. Money wasn't so much the issue as it was "unlocking" its limitation. Sure I could hex-edit the thing, but went with the honourable approach. And I bought my key I think two years after Charles went AWOL.

    When I did the work that I did to DB, I transferred my license to a fellow Sysop who makes good use of it to this day. I got the momentary warm-and-fuzzy-feeling of doing a good deed for someone "in need".

    If Charles would at least program a key-generator, it would at least put the whole continuing-to-charge-$ discussion/arguments to rest. Or at least some sort of disclaimer indicating that the product is sold as-is with no more official support from the author.

    I think there were rumors here that he "lost" the source code, which I find a bit hard to believe as that was a very large project to -not- have backups of the source code for, and a project that brought in a nice amount of $$$.

    Nick

    --- Renegade vY2Ka2
    * Origin: www.darkrealms.ca (1:229/426)
  • From Richard Webb@1:116/901 to Roy Witt on Tue Oct 2 00:27:53 2012
    Hello Roy,

    On Mon 2012-Oct-01 17:59, Roy Witt (1:387/22) wrote to Richard Webb:

    RWebb> Might be, but last time I looked at the nodelist in any detail he
    RWebb> was still listed as an nc.

    Even so, he hasn't been reachable in years. Someone listed in his
    net has claimed activity, but I haven't heard from him lately
    either.

    Yep, that's as I recall from discussions here last winter.

    Regards,
    Richard
    ... I Love My Country But Fear My Government
    ---
    * Origin: (1:116/901)
  • From Roy Witt@1:387/22 to Nick Andre on Tue Oct 2 17:11:36 2012

    01 Jan 70 00:00, Nick Andre wrote to Roy Witt:

    On 01 Oct 12 17:45:28, Roy Witt said the following to Nicholas Boel:

    I agree with that, but I'm in no position to 'talk' him into
    releasing the source. I'd discourage anyone from registering irex
    and just persue using the unregistered version or looking into
    offering to buy someone else's key. This isn't anything new, as I
    was given a key generator for FastEcho 1.46 which can open that
    program for max use...

    I was a fan of Irex for a long time in the late 90's I think it was,
    and bought a 50 or 100-node license for it, I forget which. Pretty
    sure it was the 100 node one. Money wasn't so much the issue as it
    was "unlocking" its limitation.

    I was an early user as well, paying $25 for a 50-node license. Prior to
    that, I hated the limitations so much that I was glad to fork over that
    $25.

    Sure I could hex-edit the thing, but went with the honourable
    approach. And I bought my key I think two years after Charles went
    AWOL.

    He was still active in this echo when I began using Rex...he answered a
    lot of questions I had, some I voiced, some curious about, right here in
    the echo. Those that I was curious about were answered when others asked
    the questions I was going to ask.

    When I did the work that I did to DB, I transferred my license to a
    fellow Sysop who makes good use of it to this day. I got the
    momentary warm-and-fuzzy-feeling of doing a good deed for someone "in need".

    You're probably aware that I'm running both Irex and DB at the same time,
    each on a different port.

    If Charles would at least program a key-generator, it would at least
    put the whole continuing-to-charge-$ discussion/arguments to rest. Or
    at least some sort of disclaimer indicating that the product is sold
    as-is with no more official support from the author.

    That would help those who're looking at it to make a decision on whether
    or not they're interested in using it. If they can get some help from
    others who're using it, that would help them out too.

    I think there were rumors here that he "lost" the source code, which
    I find a bit hard to believe as that was a very large project to
    -not- have backups of the source code for, and a project that brought
    in a nice amount of $$$.

    I don't know his situation, but I recall that discussion. Which is
    probably why the activity has dwindled to almost nothing here. In fact
    this is the most activity I've seen in a long time.

    R\%/itt


    ... Mark Owen: "Hey, did you ever hear anything about that beer?
    ... Fellow SEAL: "You believed that s**t, I bet you voted for change too,
    ... SUCKER."


    --- GoldED+/W32 with D'Bridge 3.82
    * Origin: Texas Lone-Star - Texan, American, USAian (1:387/22)
  • From Roy Witt@1:387/22 to Richard Webb on Tue Oct 2 17:23:11 2012

    02 Oct 12 00:27, Richard Webb wrote to Roy Witt:

    RWebb>> Might be, but last time I looked at the nodelist in any detail he
    RWebb>> was still listed as an nc.

    Even so, he hasn't been reachable in years. Someone listed in his
    net has claimed activity, but I haven't heard from him lately
    either.

    Yep, that's as I recall from discussions here last winter.

    I think Seaborn was in on that discussion and said that he knows Charles
    and that he is/was alive and well, just not interested in doing anything
    with irex...

    R\%/itt


    ... Mark Owen: "Hey, did you ever hear anything about that beer?
    ... Fellow SEAL: "You believed that s**t, I bet you voted for change too,
    ... SUCKER."


    --- GoldED+/W32 with D'Bridge 3.82
    * Origin: Texas Lone-Star - Texan, American, USAian (1:387/22)
  • From Nicholas Boel@1:154/10.1 to Richard Webb on Wed Oct 3 01:27:00 2012
    Might be, but last time I looked at the nodelist in any
    detail he was still listed as an nc.

    So yet another node running on autopilot? Meh, I don't know, nor do I
    really care. Thanks for providing that info to anyone that might want to
    try and contact him, though.

    From what Roy says, it's probably not going to happen anyways.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.10 A20 (Linux)
    * Origin: thePharcyde_ http://www.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (1:154/10.1)
  • From Nicholas Boel@1:154/10.1 to Roy Witt on Wed Oct 3 01:29:00 2012
    I agree with that, but I'm in no position to 'talk' him into releasing
    the source. I'd discourage anyone from registering irex and just persue using the unregistered version or looking into offering to buy someone else's key. This isn't anything new, as I was given a key generator for FastEcho 1.46 which can open that program for max use...

    Agreed. I don't know how many times I've gotten polls from Martin Nickell
    at many different node numbers. Does anyone actually know the real guy? :)

    --- Mystic BBS v1.10 A20 (Linux)
    * Origin: thePharcyde_ http://www.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (1:154/10.1)
  • From Rj Clay@1:120/419 to Nicholas Boel on Wed Oct 3 07:37:49 2012
    Nick,

    30 Sep 12 09:17, you wrote to me:

    'Course, I had to fix an issue with the resolver
    (/etc/resolv.conf) not being configured correctly first...<g>

    Oh cool. It seems as though the few linux users that actually use Irex these days don't know how to fix that issue.

    On that old of a system, there's not much to it; just needs at least one 'nameserver' entry pointing to a DNS server. (I have a DNS server for my local network, which also handles non local domain names by referring to other DNS servers, so I just have it pointing to that.)


    I know this is probably old news, but was the developer ever asked for
    the linux source code? I mean, it's so old, outdated, and hardly
    works..

    As has been mentioned and IIRC; he did say that he no longer has the source code though I don't recall the details about it




    Jame


    --- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5--b20111217
    * Origin: RJC eeePC (1:120/419)
  • From Richard Webb@1:116/901 to Roy Witt on Tue Oct 2 23:38:48 2012
    Hello ROy,

    On Tue 2012-Oct-02 17:23, Roy Witt (1:387/22) wrote to Richard Webb:

    RWebb>> Might be, but last time I looked at the nodelist in any detail he
    RWebb>> was still listed as an nc.

    Even so, he hasn't been reachable in years. Someone listed in his
    net has claimed activity, but I haven't heard from him lately
    either.

    Yep, that's as I recall from discussions here last winter.

    I think Seaborn was in on that discussion and said that he knows
    Charles and that he is/was alive and well, just not interested in
    doing anything with irex...

    I think you're right there, your recollection dovetails with mine.

    Regards,
    Richard
    ---
    * Origin: (1:116/901)
  • From Roy Witt@1:387/22 to Nicholas Boel on Wed Oct 3 16:53:10 2012

    03 Oct 12 01:29, Nicholas Boel wrote to Roy Witt:


    I agree with that, but I'm in no position to 'talk' him into
    releasing the source. I'd discourage anyone from registering irex
    and just persue using the unregistered version or looking into
    offering to buy someone else's key. This isn't anything new, as I
    was given a key generator for FastEcho 1.46 which can open that
    program for max use...

    Agreed. I don't know how many times I've gotten polls from Martin
    Nickell at many different node numbers. Does anyone actually know the
    real guy? :)

    There isn't anyone listed in the nodelist by that name. Maybe he's looking
    to join Fidonet and is polling your system, looking for a way in.

    One thing about Irex isn't well known by non-users is that it will poll
    every node you have listed in the node manager, if you leave their status
    as active and a statement in an event that says to poll All.

    R\%/itt


    ... Mark Owen: "Hey, did you ever hear anything about that beer?
    ... Fellow SEAL: "You believed that s**t, I bet you voted for change too,
    ... SUCKER."


    --- GoldED+/W32 with D'Bridge 3.82
    * Origin: Texas Lone-Star - Texan, American, USAian (1:387/22)
  • From Nicholas Boel@1:154/10.1 to Roy Witt on Thu Oct 4 01:11:00 2012
    There isn't anyone listed in the nodelist by that name. Maybe he's looking to join Fidonet and is polling your system, looking for a way in.

    No. It's someone who registered a 50 node license umpteen years ago and disappeared, that everyone that doesn't want to pay for unsupported software uses these days. :)

    --- Mystic BBS v1.10 A20 (Linux)
    * Origin: thePharcyde_ http://www.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (1:154/10.1)
  • From Roy Witt@1:387/22 to Nicholas Boel on Thu Oct 4 15:07:18 2012

    04 Oct 12 01:11, Nicholas Boel wrote to Roy Witt:


    There isn't anyone listed in the nodelist by that name. Maybe he's
    looking to join Fidonet and is polling your system, looking for a
    way in.

    No. It's someone who registered a 50 node license umpteen years ago
    and disappeared, that everyone that doesn't want to pay for
    unsupported software uses these days. :)

    That's interesting. I wonder why he's still polling a fidonet node if he's
    no longer with us.

    R\%/itt


    ... Mark Owen: "Hey, did you ever hear anything about that beer?
    ... Fellow SEAL: "You believed that s**t, I bet you voted for change too,
    ... SUCKER."


    --- GoldED+/W32 with D'Bridge 3.82
    * Origin: Texas Lone-Star - Texan, American, USAian (1:387/22)
  • From mark lewis@1:3634/12 to Roy Witt on Sat Oct 6 16:54:45 2012
    There isn't anyone listed in the nodelist by that name. Maybe he's
    looking to join Fidonet and is polling your system, looking for a
    way in.

    No. It's someone who registered a 50 node license umpteen years ago
    and disappeared, that everyone that doesn't want to pay for
    unsupported software uses these days. :)

    That's interesting. I wonder why he's still polling a fidonet node
    if he's no longer with us.

    HE isn't doing the polling... those that are using his key are...

    )\/(ark


    * Origin: (1:3634/12)
  • From Robert Wolfe@1:116/18 to Nick Andre on Wed Jan 9 07:34:37 2013
    Nick Andre wrote to Roy Witt:

    I think there were rumors here that he "lost" the source code, which I find a
    bit hard to believe as that was a very large project to -not- have backups of
    the source code for, and a project that brought in a nice amount of $$$.

    When I asked Charles about this directly, he said that he had not lost the source code. I believe that either family life took over or there were some other issues with building the binaries in and of itself.


    Greetings, Robert Wolfe

    ... "Suicide Hotline...please hold."

    --- MBSE BBS v0.95.15 (GNU/Linux-i386)
    * Origin: Omicron Theta | Memphis TN | fpsoft.net (1:116/18)
  • From Robert Wolfe@1:116/18 to RJ Clay on Mon Feb 25 08:42:20 2013
    Debian does present a problem.

    Depends on the version... As you many not be aware; Debian Woody (v3) was released in 2002 (and later superceded in 2005) and therefore uses the older
    versions of the standard C libraries. Which, IIRC, was the issue with running
    IRex on Linux systems...

    You remember correctly. The way around this is to use IP addresses of uplinks instead of using FQDNs.

    --- BBBS/NT v4.10 Dada-1
    * Origin: Omicron Theta | Memphis, TN | Yes, We Are Still Here! (1:116/18)
  • From Robert Wolfe@1:116/18 to Nicholas Boel on Mon Feb 25 08:48:00 2013
    I know this is probably old news, but was the developer ever asked for the linux source code? I mean, it's so old, outdated, and hardly works.. I couldn't see as to why he wouldn't give it up unless he lost it, which most seem to do eventually when they abandon it for so long. :(

    AFAIK, the source code is the same across all supported platforms. And Charles
    did not lost the source code. He mentioned to me what the deal was, but it was
    so long ago, I doubt if I can dig up that email from him.

    --- BBBS/NT v4.10 Dada-1
    * Origin: Omicron Theta | Memphis, TN | Yes, We Are Still Here! (1:116/18)
  • From mark lewis@1:3634/12.42 to Robert Wolfe on Mon Feb 25 16:05:21 2013

    Debian does present a problem.

    Depends on the version... As you many not be aware; Debian Woody
    (v3) was released in 2002 (and later superceded in 2005) and
    therefore uses the older versions of the standard C libraries.
    Which, IIRC, was the issue with running IRex on Linux systems...

    You remember correctly. The way around this is to use IP
    addresses of uplinks instead of using FQDNs.

    and that breaks when contacting dynamic IP systems like many (most??) fidonet systems running on home connections...

    )\/(ark

    ---
    * Origin: (1:3634/12.42)
  • From Robert Wolfe@1:116/18 to Mark Lewis on Wed Feb 27 12:05:54 2013

    You remember correctly. The way around this is to use IP
    addresses of uplinks instead of using FQDNs.

    and that breaks when contacting dynamic IP systems like many (most??) fidonet systems running on home connections...
    )\/(ark

    Well, who said we live in a perfect world? :) But, seriously, if Charles isn't
    going to develop the code anymore, perhaps he should 1) make a final version that does work with newer kernels or 2) release a keygen as well as option 1.

    --- BBBS/NT v4.10 Dada-1
    * Origin: Omicron Theta | Memphis, TN | Yes, We Are Still Here! (1:116/18)