NULL mag Issue 09 12 Not just a bbs
when i first have the idea to build a bbs, for sure i wasn't expecting to last and even extend the usage of the system. at the time, it was just an experiment and something to do for fun and nostalgia reasons. i didn't have a bbs, when i was young, but now it was the time.
as time passed and get into the modding-thing, i realized that i have a system, in my hands, that is more capable, on just hosting a bbs. after all, the bbs doesn't have many visitors, so 99% of the time, the system is on hold, doing nothing. so i though... why don't i use it for more things.
it depends on you, on what you want the system to do. for me, i wanted to be a) an easy way to read rss feeds and read the news b) be possible to download anything from the net, when i am not in home c) make it a torrent downloader ( actually c is b2 :) )... so i did.
i didn't want to open an ssh port wide to the net, not for login into a shell. i have an open ssh port for the bbs all ready and it's enough. so everything i do, i am doing it via the bbs. i login to the bbs and from there, either with the use of scripts, either using a clean bash terminal, i manage the system.
for torrents i use the "tootle" script, which was hosted in null in a previous issue and the aria2c program... works great! and i always have "fresh" stuff downloading ;) For other types of downloading, i just use wget in a terminal. no need for fancy stuff. for news reader i use one of scripts again. don't expect to find these wide openly in the bbs. everything is "behind the scene" only for me, cause someone else can misuse them.
so, this article is just for reminding, that you don't have just a bbs in your hands. you have a complete computer system, a server, running 24/7, which you can use in various ways. even with a rpi3, which i use, you can do a lot of stuff. if you have a more capable system, you can do more. for example install a SETI client or similar program or install a password cracking tool ;) hehehehe you know what to do... ;)
