Hey All,

I'm curious what software people are using under Linux to gate usenet to and from Fido technology networks? I realise most people don't do this, but I'm wanting to :-)

I'm playing with Spoon/Soupgate, and while it mostly seems to work, I find I'm getting occasional corrupted messages being imported into the BBS. I've not tried exporting from the BBS back to usenet yet.

Before I look further into that I'm keen to know what software people who are doing this are using - there may be much better tools for the job that my Google-fu just can't find :-)

Advice most welcome!

Cheers,
Bob.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
* Origin: TassieBob BBS, Hobart, Tasmania (21:3/169)

Re: Usenet/News to FTN gateway software?
By: tassiebob to All on Thu Jun 23 2022 08:40 pm

Howdy,

I'm curious what software people are using under Linux to gate usenet to and from Fido technology networks? I realise most
people don't do this, but I'm wanting to :-)

I'm using synchronet to do it. It works well (although I must admit I dont post on usenet) - I just feed some usenet areas to a downstream node.


...δεσ∩
--- SBBSecho 3.15-Linux
* Origin: I'm playing with ANSI+videotex - wanna play too? (21:2/116)

I'm using synchronet to do it. It works well (although I must admit I
dont post on usenet) - I just feed some usenet areas to a downstream
node.

Interesting, I'll take a look at that. Thanks for the pointer.

Cheers.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
* Origin: TassieBob BBS, Hobart, Tasmania (21:3/169)

Hi Bob,

Back in the day, I ran a BBS using the tools in ifmail. It includes an interface to the local mailing system (SMTP) and Usenet system (INN, usually).

There is a pretty big difference between this and what Synchronet is doing. Synchronet connects to a remote NNTP server as a user, and logs in as that user to post. It downloads news to its local Synchronet database. Basically, its idea is to pull the Internet stuff into the BBS world.

The opposite is true of ifmail; it is designed to pull the BBS world into the Linux environment. It assumes standard Linux accounts for mail, news, etc.
You would participate on Fidonet using Pine, or a regular IMAP client, or a regular NNTP client, etc.

The ifmail package is still maintained in Debian.

You can use it with its integrated ifcico, but I believe it is also compatible with binkd (also still maintained in Debian).

John
--- SBBSecho 3.15-Linux
* Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (21:2/101)

Hi John,

Back in the day, I ran a BBS using the tools in ifmail. It includes an interface to the local mailing system (SMTP) and Usenet system (INN, usually).

Wow, I haven't run INN since forever now (late 90's I reckon) - I ran DNews and Diablo in later years :-)

There is a pretty big difference between this and what Synchronet is doing. Synchronet connects to a remote NNTP server as a user, and logs
in as that user to post. It downloads news to its local Synchronet database. Basically, its idea is to pull the Internet stuff into the
BBS world.

The spoon/soupgate combination I'm playing with also does what Synchronet does, which works for me as I only have an NNRP account these days anyway.

I could probably rustle up a partial NNTP feed fairly easily though, spin up INN or Diablo, and do something with the ifmail tools...

The opposite is true of ifmail; it is designed to pull the BBS world
into the Linux environment. It assumes standard Linux accounts for
mail, news, etc. You would participate on Fidonet using Pine, or a
regular IMAP client, or a regular NNTP client, etc.

Interesting... I did see the ifmail tools in Debian/Ubuntu, but hadn't got as far as exploring them further.

Not sure which direction I'll go with this yet - sadly there's very little legit text news any more - even the groups I used a handful of years ago are pretty much dead these days. Seems Usenet has been taken over by those seeking to distribute "linux distros" :-(

Cheers,
Bob.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
* Origin: TassieBob BBS, Hobart, Tasmania (21:3/169)

Re: Re: Usenet/News to FTN gateway software?
By: tassiebob to John Goerzen on Sun Jul 03 2022 08:41 pm

Interesting... I did see the ifmail tools in Debian/Ubuntu, but hadn't got as far as exploring them further.

I have ifcico running on Hub 3 (in case somebody wants to use an EMSI mailer) - but it core dumps too easily. If there is something not right in the config file, or you enabling debuging it core dumps :(

That said, I only use ifico for fido over telnet. For fido over TCP I use QICO which is much more reliable. (But qico doesnt help you with news, which is what this thread is about :)




...δεσ∩
--- SBBSecho 3.15-Linux
* Origin: I'm playing with ANSI+videotex - wanna play too? (21:2/116)

Hello deon!

On 04 Jul 2022, deon said the following...

I have ifcico running on Hub 3 (in case somebody wants to use an EMSI mailer) - but it core dumps too easily. If there is something not right
in the config file, or you enabling debuging it core dumps :(

Me too, and I've noticed the same thing:

https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=992182

(There was another bug related to config parsing and flex, but that one was fixed. On Debian, that is.)

That said, I only use ifico for fido over telnet. For fido over TCP I
use QICO which is much more reliable. (But qico doesnt help you with

I use ifcico for Fido over TCP, as well -- although not many people are using this nowaday, so it's hard to know if it is working OK or not. Almost everything is binkp these days...

But I like ifcico's ability to accept EMSI over TCP and Telnet as well as the possibility to accept modem calls if used with mgetty. :)

Best regards
Zip

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 2022/04/26 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Star Collision BBS, Uppsala, Sweden (21:1/202)

El 23/6/22 a las 07:40, tassiebob escribió:

Hey All,

I'm curious what software people are using under Linux to gate usenet to and from Fido technology networks? I realise most people don't do this, but I'm wanting to :-)

I'm playing with Spoon/Soupgate, and while it mostly seems to work, I find I'm getting occasional corrupted messages being imported into the BBS. I've not tried exporting from the BBS back to usenet yet.

Before I look further into that I'm keen to know what software people who are doing this are using - there may be much better tools for the job that my Google-fu just can't find :-)

Advice most welcome!

Cheers,
Bob.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
* Origin: TassieBob BBS, Hobart, Tasmania (21:3/169)

Synchronet can gateway fnt/nntp
--- SBBSecho 3.15-Linux
* Origin: Dock Sud BBS - bbs.docksud.com.ar - Argentina (21:2/151)

El 4/7/22 a las 04:17, deon escribió:

Re: Re: Usenet/News to FTN gateway software?
By: tassiebob to John Goerzen on Sun Jul 03 2022 08:41 pm

> Interesting... I did see the ifmail tools in Debian/Ubuntu, but hadn't got as far as exploring them further.

I have ifcico running on Hub 3 (in case somebody wants to use an EMSI mailer) - but it core dumps too easily. If there is something not right in the config file, or you enabling debuging it core dumps :(

That said, I only use ifico for fido over telnet. For fido over TCP I use QICO which is much more reliable. (But qico doesnt help you with news, which is what this thread is about :)

...����
--- SBBSecho 3.15-Linux
* Origin: I'm playing with ANSI+videotex - wanna play too? (21:2/116)

i interested in your setup.

i want to setup ifcico via mgetty to dialup session.
--- SBBSecho 3.15-Linux
* Origin: Dock Sud BBS - bbs.docksud.com.ar - Argentina (21:2/151)

Re: Re: Usenet/News to FTN gateway software?
By: Ragnarok to deon on Mon Aug 15 2022 11:11 pm

i interested in your setup.

i want to setup ifcico via mgetty to dialup session.

I dont use mgetty - havent used it for a long time now. But it shouldnt be too hard...


...δεσ∩
--- SBBSecho 3.15-Linux
* Origin: I'm playing with ANSI+videotex - wanna play too? (21:2/116)

Hello Ragnarok!

On 15 Aug 2022, Ragnarok said the following...

i interested in your setup.
i want to setup ifcico via mgetty to dialup session.

I have configured some of this here.

Will you be using it for BBS and/or FTN use?
And, will you be using it for incoming/outgoing calls, or both?

Ifcico does not keep itself running, but instead has to be scheduled via cron or something similar to perform outgoing calls, on demand. This can be a bit tricky, and needs some careful though when combining it with an existing mailer such as binkd, if you want to use ifcico as a fall-back alternative for outgoing mail.

BBS use will typically involve a script to either perform local Telnet to the BBS, or to set the necessary environment variables and execute the BBS software "directly" -- if the BBS software is compatible with this (stdin/stdout communications).

However, if you're running Synchronet, I believe SEXPOTS (http://wiki.synchro.net/util:sexpots) is the way to go for dial-in?
Although I have no idea if that would support FTN connections.

Best regards
Björn

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 2022/07/15 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Star Collision BBS, Uppsala, Sweden (21:1/202)

El 16/8/22 a las 09:03, deon escribió:

Re: Re: Usenet/News to FTN gateway software?
By: Ragnarok to deon on Mon Aug 15 2022 11:11 pm

> i interested in your setup.
>
> i want to setup ifcico via mgetty to dialup session.

I dont use mgetty - havent used it for a long time now. But it shouldnt be too hard...

...����
--- SBBSecho 3.15-Linux
* Origin: I'm playing with ANSI+videotex - wanna play too? (21:2/116)

I have a possible node that only have dialup setup from DOS (i think frontdoor) i want to try to support it
--- SBBSecho 3.15-Linux
* Origin: Dock Sud BBS - bbs.docksud.com.ar - Argentina (21:2/151)