Taking the discussion over to this sub, but this is basically in reply to a message from W6RAY in Synchronet Programming.

If a Synchronet BBS - generally accessible via telnet, dial-up, the web, NNTP, etc. - suddenly became accessible via amateur packet radio, I wonder what (if any) issues would arise from the non-ham content that it would have to offer.

At one time I used JNOS as a telnet gateway to my Synchronet BBS, with a custom command shell on the other side. Any messages that Synchronet was sending back to the client passed through a censorship function that took all of the fuck, shit, piss, etc. out of the text and replaced it with ****. Another sysop whose Synchronet BBS was available on packet simply had a disclaimer that advised hams to be careful of which subs they read over the air, as some were linguistically cleaner than others. I'm no fan of censorship, but rules is rules; I'm wondering what approach others would take.

Industry Canada doesn't allow an amateur to transmit anything that originated from a commercial / broadcast undertaking, so if I follow that to the letter I'd need to filter out the CNN Breaking News messages that turn up in (IIRC) the Debate sub when bad things happen in the world. This is well and good when you know about messages like that in advance. I'm not sure how I'd go about programatically filtering out commercial content or business-related messages. Admittedly not a huge problem, but still a possibility.

Most packet BBSs automatically log you in based on your callsign. Would we forego that and ask people to sign up the same way they would if they had telnetted in? Maybe I could find a way to link a callsign to an existing account, storing it as the chat handle or in the notes field or something.

Any other considerations that anyone can think of?

echicken
electronic chicken bbs - bbs.electronicchicken.com - 416-273-7230

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■ Synchronet ■ electronic chicken bbs - bbs.electronicchicken.com

echicken wrote to W6RAY <=-

If a Synchronet BBS - generally accessible via telnet, dial-up, the
web, NNTP, etc. - suddenly became accessible via amateur packet radio,
I wonder what (if any) issues would arise from the non-ham content that
it would have to offer.

Telnet access is available only if one knows the address. (GRIN) I don't publish that locally and a lot of hams here have no clue about the
Synchronet BBS

At one time I used JNOS as a telnet gateway to my Synchronet BBS, with
a custom command shell on the other side. Any messages that Synchronet was sending back to the client passed through a censorship function
that took all of the f***, s**t, p**s, etc. out of the text and
replaced it with ****. Another sysop whose Synchronet BBS was available
on packet simply had a disclaimer that advised hams to be careful of
which subs they read over the air, as some were linguistically cleaner than others. I'm no fan of censorship, but rules is rules; I'm
wondering what approach others would take.

As you can see, I "edited" those words in my reply for personal reasons.
I would choose the former, over the latter. I am somewhat responsible
what is passed over the air, even third party traffic. But when one logs
into JNOS, they use their own call and anything that may go out over the
air uses the logged call. (I should probably double check that using a
Club's call over which I preside.)

Industry Canada doesn't allow an amateur to transmit anything that originated from a commercial / broadcast undertaking, so if I follow
that to the letter I'd need to filter out the CNN Breaking News
messages that turn up in (IIRC) the Debate sub when bad things happen
in the world. This is well and good when you know about messages like that in advance. I'm not sure how I'd go about programatically
filtering out commercial content or business-related messages.
Admittedly not a huge problem, but still a possibility.

I haven't noticed much of that within the packet bulletin areas (also
known as "floods"). When I mentioned passing message traffic, I was
speaking of those "floods" being transferred to and from a Synchronet
BBS so interested users could read them and only licensed amateurs being
able to post, with a flag set within Synchronet. I already have such a
flag set up to allow only those whom I have manually added can access the telnet door to the packet BBS list. I worked for my license and don't
want to jeopardize it in any way.

You mentioned the commercial related content above; while it is not
legal here in the states to use amateur frequencies for business
(dispatch, etc.) it is legal to use your radio along with a phone patch
to order a pizza, for example.

Most packet BBSs automatically log you in based on your callsign.
Would we forego that and ask people to sign up the same way they would
if they had telnetted in? Maybe I could find a way to link a callsign
to an existing account, storing it as the chat handle or in the notes field or something.

As mentioned, you could simply use a flag within Synchronet to allow
access to amateurs.

Any other considerations that anyone can think of?

I will let you know.

BTW - Where are you located and what is your call?

73 de Ray W6RAY
Visalia, CA USA



... When all else fails - Ham radio WORKS!
--- MultiMail/Linux v0.49
■ Synchronet ■ US 99 BBS - Visalia, CA - bbs.quinnnet.org

Re: Re: Packet
By: W6RAY to echicken on Sat Nov 26 2011 17:56:00

As mentioned, you could simply use a flag within Synchronet to allow
access to amateurs.

Yep - I got that. Mine was more a question of: if a user already has an account but their alias/handle/name is not their callsign, but they want to check their mail on their existing account over the air, how best to sign them in? I guess the obvious way would be to prompt them for their username and password when they connect via packet, even if that breaks the typical packet BBS convention. Otherwise I'd need to find a way to link a callsign with an existing account.

BTW - Where are you located and what is your call?

Currently in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. VE3XEC.

echicken
electronic chicken bbs - bbs.electronicchicken.com - 416-273-7230

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■ Synchronet ■ electronic chicken bbs - bbs.electronicchicken.com

Re: Re: Packet
By: echicken to W6RAY on Mon Nov 28 2011 02:05 pm

Re: Re: Packet
By: W6RAY to echicken on Sat Nov 26 2011 17:56:00

As mentioned, you could simply use a flag within Synchronet to allow access to amateurs.

Yep - I got that. Mine was more a question of: if a user already has an account but their alias/handle/name is not their callsign, but they want to check their mail on their existing account over the air, how best to sign them in? I guess the obvious way would be to prompt them for their
username and password when they connect via packet, even if that breaks the typical packet BBS convention. Otherwise I'd need to find a way to link a callsign with an existing account.

I think the chat handle is the logical field to use for a HAM callsign (if you have one). Mine currently is WX6YYZ. :-)

digital man

Synchronet "Real Fact" #16:
"Vertrauen" (ver-trow-en) translates to "trust" in German, and was a band name.

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■ Synchronet ■ Vertrauen ■ Home of Synchronet ■ telnet://vert.synchro.net

Re: Packet
By: echicken to W6RAY on Thu Nov 24 2011 11:30 am

Most packet BBSs automatically log you in based on your callsign. Would we forego that and ask people to sign up the same way they would if they had telnetted in? Maybe I could find a way to link a callsign to an existing account, storing it as the chat handle or in the notes field or something.

The guest account does something similar... maybe auto-login guest based on source and use the same prompts as a guest currently gets.

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Synchronet - Jump on the Web 0.2 bandwagon!
■ Synchronet ■ My Brand-New BBS (All the cool SysOps run STOCK!)

Re: Packet
By: Deuce to echicken on Tue Nov 29 2011 20:05:52

The guest account does something similar... maybe auto-login guest based on source and use the same prompts as a guest currently gets.

At this point I'm thinking of passing the source callsign to the packet BBS script/service when the client connects, then matching it to a user account that has the callsign stored in a particular field (possibly the chat handle field, per DM's comment.)

I'm also considering connecting AX.25 clients to a custom service other than the terminal server. My experiences with telnet via AX.25 haven't been extremely positive. Will need to give it some thought.

echicken
electronic chicken bbs - bbs.electronicchicken.com - 416-273-7230

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■ Synchronet ■ electronic chicken bbs - bbs.electronicchicken.com

Re: Packet
By: echicken to Deuce on Wed Nov 30 2011 10:54 am

Re: Packet
By: Deuce to echicken on Tue Nov 29 2011 20:05:52

The guest account does something similar... maybe auto-login guest based source and use the same prompts as a guest currently gets.

At this point I'm thinking of passing the source callsign to the packet BBS script/service when the client connects, then matching it to a user account that has the callsign stored in a particular field (possibly the chat handle field, per DM's comment.)

I'm also considering connecting AX.25 clients to a custom service other than the terminal server. My experiences with telnet via AX.25 haven't been extremely positive. Will need to give it some thought.

echicken
electronic chicken bbs - bbs.electronicchicken.com - 416-273-7230

if you were a ham in space, would you be a spam?

"Practise safe Lunch, Use a Condiment"


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■ Synchronet ■ Three Stooges Gentlemens Club - Las Vegas, Nv - tsgc.dyndns.org

Re: Packet
By: Corey to echicken on Wed Nov 30 2011 13:31:15

if you were a ham in space, would you be a spam?

If you made yet another ham pun, would I vomit profusely? All signs point to yes. :D :D :D

echicken
electronic chicken bbs - bbs.electronicchicken.com - 416-273-7230

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■ Synchronet ■ electronic chicken bbs - bbs.electronicchicken.com

Re: Packet
By: echicken to Corey on Thu Dec 01 2011 10:06 am

Re: Packet
By: Corey to echicken on Wed Nov 30 2011 13:31:15

if you were a ham in space, would you be a spam?

If you made yet another ham pun, would I vomit profusely? All signs point t yes. :D :D :D

echicken
electronic chicken bbs - bbs.electronicchicken.com - 416-273-7230

ok, Is a pig farmer a ham operator?

"Practise safe Lunch, Use a Condiment"


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■ Synchronet ■ Three Stooges Gentlemens Club - Las Vegas, Nv - tsgc.dyndns.org

Re: Packet
By: Corey to echicken on Thu Dec 01 2011 08:39:19

ok, Is a pig farmer a ham operator?

If he has a license, sure!

(Are other types of farmers considered <crop> operators?)

echicken
electronic chicken bbs - bbs.electronicchicken.com - 416-273-7230

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■ Synchronet ■ electronic chicken bbs - bbs.electronicchicken.com

Re: Packet
By: echicken to Corey on Thu Dec 01 2011 12:02 pm

Re: Packet
By: Corey to echicken on Thu Dec 01 2011 08:39:19

ok, Is a pig farmer a ham operator?

If he has a license, sure!

(Are other types of farmers considered <crop> operators?)

echicken
electronic chicken bbs - bbs.electronicchicken.com - 416-273-7230

chicken farmers are in a real fowl business!
the vacuum business totally sucks.

"Practise safe Lunch, Use a Condiment"


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■ Synchronet ■ Three Stooges Gentlemens Club - Las Vegas, Nv - tsgc.dyndns.org

Re: Packet
By: Corey to echicken on Thu Dec 01 2011 08:39:19

Re: Packet
By: echicken to Corey on Thu Dec 01 2011 10:06 am

If you made yet another ham pun, would I vomit profusely? All signs poin yes. :D :D :D

echicken
electronic chicken bbs - bbs.electronicchicken.com - 416-273-7230

ok, Is a pig farmer a ham operator?

Think I just pulled a hammy from reading that joke d:)

-=[LurcH]=-

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■ Synchronet ■ -=[TAF BBS - Telnet://taf.org.nz]=-

Boy I sure do love packet.

But have you all noticed how little cool software there is for modern uses? Like, why isn't there a command-line APRS client that can send/receive messages and such? Maybe even for older computers?

Why isn't there an ax25/kiss terminal for mobile devices (Android) ? APRSdroid is pretty sweet, by the way. Up until the other day I was using a super old version, but the latest allows for a lot more connectivity options, one of which is a regular serial TNC.

The graphical clients are there at least.. Xastir, YAAC, PinPoint, and QTH (although it's a little crashy). A command-line one wouldn't necessarily have to map anything (although how cool would ascii maps be?), it could just list the heard stations and show them maybe by order of distance away from either a manually set poisition or one determined by GPS.. but it would definitely have to be able to send and receive messages, both directed and "broadcast". Wooo, #APRSThursday!!

Anyway, I love packet.
There's just something about computers and radio coming together. Especially old computers ;).

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■ Synchronet ■ TIRED of waiting 2 hours for a taco? GO TO TACOPRONTO.bbs.io