Mystic BBS v1.11 Alpha 1 has been released.

I am posting an annoucement here because I've struggled to get my mail to go out in the MYSTIC echo lately.

https://sourceforge.net/projects/mysticbbs/files/

I didn't compile OSX or Pi versions so if anyone is running them and would
like to alpha test please let me know.

Also if anyone feels up to it please post into MYSTIC if your echo works :)

--- Mystic BBS v1.11 A1 (Windows)
* Origin: Sector 7 [Mystic BBS WHQ] (1:129/215)

On 10/16/15, James Coyle pondered and said...

Also if anyone feels up to it please post into MYSTIC if your echo works :)

All done :)

Best, Paul

--- Mystic BBS v1.11 A2 (Windows)
* Origin: Agency BBS | telnet://agency.bbs.geek.nz (3:770/100)

Also if anyone feels up to it please post into MYSTIC if your echo wo

All done :)

Thanks! Seems my posts are still getting blocked somewhere in MYSTIC.

--- Mystic BBS v1.11 A3 (Windows)
* Origin: Sector 7 [Mystic BBS WHQ] (1:129/215)

On 10/17/15, James Coyle pondered and said...

Thanks! Seems my posts are still getting blocked somewhere in MYSTIC.

If you want a feed, just sing out and I will happily connect you to Agency HUB

Best, Paul

--- Mystic BBS v1.11 A2 (Windows)
* Origin: Agency BBS | telnet://agency.bbs.geek.nz (3:770/100)

I didn't compile OSX or Pi versions so if anyone is running them and
would like to alpha test please let me know.

That's great news, i'm keen to test Pi version

regards

--- Mystic BBS v1.10 (Raspberry Pi)
* Origin: Mutiny - New Zealand (3:772/100)

On 10/16/15, James Coyle pondered and said...

I didn't compile OSX or Pi versions so if anyone is running them and
would like to alpha test please let me know.

James, Robert over in the MYSTIC echo would also be keen to get his hands on
a copy for OSX when you are able.

Just passing this on in case you can't see that.

Best, Paul

--- Mystic BBS v1.11 A2 (Windows)
* Origin: Agency BBS | telnet://agency.bbs.geek.nz (3:770/100)

17 Oct 15 15:50, you wrote to Paul Hayton:

Thanks! Seems my posts are still getting blocked somewhere in MYSTIC.

Did you get the email i sent to mysticbbs {at} gmail? it show some detailed records of your post g00r00 To: All for the past 9 months. included path
for 5 or 6 messages plus all the nodes involved in the routing path. From Feb to Aug 2015 it seemed that the node path changed quite a bit depending on the date in time. Maybe it will help in finding the problem. Pretty sad that one of
the best bbs software packages out today, Coder and Author can't even see or post in the fidonet Mystic support echo. I'm sure Nicholas Boel will have it fixed in no time ;)

--- GoldED+/W32-MSVC 1.1.5-b20150715
* Origin: flupH - fluph.darktech.org (1:275/91)

Pretty sad that one of the best bbs software packages out
today, Coder and Author can't even see or post in the fidonet Mystic support echo. I'm sure Nicholas Boel will have it fixed in no time ;)

Thanks for your extremely valued (albeit quite negative lately while taking your pokes at others - including that Coder and Author you mention above - when you see fit) opinion.

However, nothing has been changed here since he originally connected to that echo, unless he manually changed it himself via areafix.

I will definitely look into it further if I knew where the problem was. There is also still the slim possibility that something was changed or broken on his end.

All I can do here is look at my logs, see that messages from Mystic are being passed on to all links, as well as double checking that g00 is indeed connected to the MYSTIC echo (which he is, and mail is going to and coming from him).

Hell, for all we know things could be just fine and nothing is wrong!

Regards,
Nick
--- SBBSecho 2.27-Linux
* Origin: thePharcyde_ telnet://bbs.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (1:154/10)

Thanks! Seems my posts are still getting blocked somewhere in MYSTIC

If you want a feed, just sing out and I will happily connect you to

No, not yet. I'd like to figure out where the problem is and I don't think
its my provider.

The posts leave my BBS fine and get to my uplink and I see them on his BBS, but for example, if I call into Fluph I can see that there are no posts by me since August (as of a couple of days ago).

It seems very specific to just MYSTIC too. I posted several times over the past few weeks with no response, but other echos seem fine.

--- Mystic BBS v1.11 A3 (Windows)
* Origin: Sector 7 [Mystic BBS WHQ] (1:129/215)

I didn't compile OSX or Pi versions so if anyone is running them and would like to alpha test please let me know.

That's great news, i'm keen to test Pi version

Okay, I will try to work on my Pi setup soon. Its very time consuming to put together the Pi versions so they might not be released quite as frequently as the other platforms during alpha testing, but I will try to keep them relatively current.

--- Mystic BBS v1.11 A3 (Windows)
* Origin: Sector 7 [Mystic BBS WHQ] (1:129/215)

the problem. Pretty sad that one of the best bbs software packages out today, Coder and Author can't even see or post in the fidonet Mystic support echo. I'm sure Nicholas Boel will have it fixed in no time ;)

Yeah its frustrating. Mystic is one of the most (the most?) active softwares and MYSTIC was one of the most active echos on FidoNet. :(

--- Mystic BBS v1.11 A3 (Windows)
* Origin: Sector 7 [Mystic BBS WHQ] (1:129/215)

18 Oct 15 13:27, you wrote to Paul Hayton:

@TID: Mystic BBS 1.11 A3
@MSGID: 1:129/215 47526b7d
@REPLY: 3:770/100 475251a8
@TZUTC: -0400

Thanks! Seems my posts are still getting blocked somewhere in
MYSTIC

If you want a feed, just sing out and I will happily connect you to

No, not yet. I'd like to figure out where the problem is and I don't think its my provider.

whatever the problem is/was, it seems to be fixed now...

The posts leave my BBS fine and get to my uplink and I see them on his BBS, but for example, if I call into Fluph I can see that there are no posts by me since August (as of a couple of days ago).

It seems very specific to just MYSTIC too. I posted several times
over the past few weeks with no response, but other echos seem fine.

--- Mystic BBS v1.11 A3 (Windows)
* Origin: Sector 7 [Mystic BBS WHQ] (1:129/215)
SEEN-BY: 109/500 116/116 120/544 123/5 52 140 400 500 789 124/5013 5014 SEEN-BY: 129/215 135/300 140/1 154/0 10 701 203/0 226/600 227/201 229/426 SEEN-BY: 261/38 320/119 322/759 323/120 340/800 342/11 806 3634/12 22 24

27

SEEN-BY: 3634/50
@PATH: 129/215 154/10 123/500 3634/12

)\/(ark

... Less fun than a barrel full of wolverines.
---
* Origin: (1:3634/12.73)

18 Oct 15 13:30, you wrote to me:

@TID: Mystic BBS 1.11 A3
@MSGID: 1:129/215 47526bd0
@REPLY: 1:275/91 5623294e
@TZUTC: -0400

Yeah its frustrating. Mystic is one of the most (the most?) active softwares and MYSTIC was one of the most active echos on FidoNet. :(

--- Mystic BBS v1.11 A3 (Windows)
* Origin: Sector 7 [Mystic BBS WHQ] (1:129/215)
@PATH: 129/215 154/10 203/0 221/1 0 140/1 275/100

I'll just put this out there, showing this post for BBS_CARNIVAL got through. it is the exact same path of the 08-12 post. The last post made by you in the Mystic echo. So if you like to to find out who has removed or block Mystic echo
ask either.

203/0 = Bjorn Felton in Norway. and or..
221/1 0 = Tommi Koivula in Ylojarvi, Finland.
The same people who posted about just removing the Mystic echo months ago.

140/1 = Bob Seaborn, Canada, and 275/100 is Carol, in Virginia, also my own fido feed. Lastly, I've been getting all the echo feeds here. Check email to mysticbbs.com for more details dates and times. From Feb,03 2015 to Aug, 12th.

--- GoldED+/W32-MSVC 1.1.5-b20150715
* Origin: flupH - fluph.darktech.org (1:275/91)

203/0 = Bjorn Felton in Norway. and or..
221/1 0 = Tommi Koivula in Ylojarvi, Finland.
The same people who posted about just removing the Mystic echo months
ago.

*IF* that is true and there are people intentionally restricting my posts then wow thats sad :(

The MYSTIC echo has been around since the 1990s. Its more active and more on topic than most any other echo. What motivation could someone possibly have to blindly do something malicious like that?

Its a shame too because Mystic has decent a presense here on FidoNet. The network would be doing itself a pretty big disservice if it tries to push Mystic and its SysOps off the network.

--- Mystic BBS v1.11 A3 (Windows)
* Origin: Sector 7 [Mystic BBS WHQ] (1:129/215)

19 Oct 15 02:50, you wrote to Leslie Given:

203/0 = Bjorn Felton in Norway. and or..
221/1 0 = Tommi Koivula in Ylojarvi, Finland.
The same people who posted about just removing the Mystic echo months
ago.

*IF* that is true and there are people intentionally restricting my
posts then wow thats sad :(

it isn't people intentionally restricting /your/ posts but systems that have decided not to carry the area for one reason or another... where they failed is
that they did not send areafix disconnect messages to all of their links for the areas they don't want to carry... they just removed them manually from their tosser and that broke the distribution lines... some folks might want to reconsider their linkages in light of this...

The MYSTIC echo has been around since the 1990s. Its more active and
more on topic than most any other echo. What motivation could someone possibly have to blindly do something malicious like that?

in the case of the MYSTIC echo it was because someone saw a few of those gated spams from the newsgroup side...

Its a shame too because Mystic has decent a presense here on FidoNet.
The network would be doing itself a pretty big disservice if it tries
to push Mystic and its SysOps off the network.

it isn't "the network"... it is a few individuals with their heads in their nether regions...

)\/(ark

... A WHISPER - The fastest method of circulating a secret yet devised!
---
* Origin: (1:3634/12.73)

James Coyle wrote to Leslie Given:

203/0 = Bjorn Felton in Norway. and or..
221/1 0 = Tommi Koivula in Ylojarvi, Finland.
The same people who posted about just removing the Mystic echo months ago.

*IF* that is true and there are people intentionally restricting my posts then wow thats sad :(

My impression of Tommi (although I don't know him) is that he is a mail
mover, part of the solution not the problem.

Bjorn mentioned something about removing the mystic echo becuase he thought
it was a gated newsgroup. I think it was in the fidonews echo. I told him
it was not and a few others also chimed in to let him know that as well.

I don't think he removed it but I am not sure what happens in his part
of the world.

The MYSTIC echo has been around since the 1990s. Its more active and more on topic than most any other echo. What motivation could someone
possibly have to blindly do something malicious like that?

I dunno. I think there was probably some technical problem somewhere.

Its a shame too because Mystic has decent a presense here on FidoNet. The network would be doing itself a pretty big disservice if it tries to push Mystic and its SysOps off the network.

Indeed, Mystic has a large presence in the networks and the BBS scene generally. You do have support, regardless of who pushes what we do have solutions.. :)

Ttyl :-)
Al

... Sir, the Romulans do not take prisoners!

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.6.1 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

On 10/19/15, Alan Ianson pondered and said...

Bjorn mentioned something about removing the mystic echo becuase he thought it was a gated newsgroup. I think it was in the fidonews echo. I told him it was not and a few others also chimed in to let him know that as well.

Hi Alan.

The echoarea is gated by me to alt.bbs.mystic and has been for a number of months now. I set the bi-directional gate in motion with the knowledge of
and blessing of both Nick and James (MYSTIC moderators). It was set up to
allow those on either side of the Usenet/Fidonet spectrum to be able to
engage with each other and access the support of the author. I had seen requests for help in the Usenet newsgroup go unanswered previously.

If you have access to FN_SYSOP head back to mid August of this year and
re-read the thread 'Why I hate Usenet Gateing' and that will outline the concerns/views raised by several. It also shows the steps I took to ally/accomodate most of them. e.g. adjusted kludge settings on the gateway software, nodelisted the gatway address.

In sum, the views of a few were that anything coming from Usenet into Fido should be viewed as spam and a cheap method for generating traffic/activity
in the echoarea.

My view is that if the dialouge is on topic and there are those who want to engage with other like minded souls on a area of interest then I see no issue with providing a conduit (managed as well as it can be in terms of spam
filters etc.) to allow folks to connect.

The CBM and RBERRYPI echoareas are the other two that I gate in the same manner.

Hope this helps explain things for those who were unaware. In any regard when
I started the gateway in MYSTIC I announced it at the time and what little
spam has come across from the Usenet side in the form of bot BBS adverts
posted monthly has (for the most part) been stopped at the gate :)
It's not 100% full proof but I remain proactive to ensuring it's on-topic
stuff the gate allows through.

Best, Paul

--- Mystic BBS v1.11 A2 (Windows)
* Origin: Agency BBS | telnet://agency.bbs.geek.nz (3:770/100)

Paul Hayton wrote to Alan Ianson:

The echoarea is gated by me to alt.bbs.mystic and has been for a number of months now. I set the bi-directional gate in motion with the knowledge of and blessing of both Nick and James (MYSTIC moderators). It was set up to allow those on either side of the Usenet/Fidonet spectrum to be able to engage with each other and access the support of the author. I had seen requests for help in the Usenet newsgroup go unanswered previously.

Yep, and as far as I can see the gate functions well.

If you have access to FN_SYSOP head back to mid August of this year and re-read the thread 'Why I hate Usenet Gateing' and that will outline the concerns/views raised by several. It also shows the steps I took to ally/accomodate most of them. e.g. adjusted kludge settings on the gateway software, nodelisted the gatway address.

Ah, it was FN_SYSOP. That was going to be my next guess.. ;)

In sum, the views of a few were that anything coming from Usenet into Fido should be viewed as spam and a cheap method for generating traffic/ activity in the echoarea.

My view is that if the dialouge is on topic and there are those who want to engage with other like minded souls on a area of interest then I
see no issue with providing a conduit (managed as well as it can be
in terms of spam filters etc.) to allow folks to connect.

Yep, and it does that well. Better to have it than not.

The CBM and RBERRYPI echoareas are the other two that I gate in the same manner.

Yep, I have those areas here as well and they have never been a problem.

Hope this helps explain things for those who were unaware. In any regard when I started the gateway in MYSTIC I announced it at the time and
what little spam has come across from the Usenet side in the form of
bot BBS adverts posted monthly has (for the most part) been stopped
at the gate :) It's not 100% full proof but I remain proactive to
ensuring it's on-topic stuff the gate allows through.

As far as I know that is the only gateway of it's kind for a BBS support
echo, and it works well..

+1

Ttyl :-)
Al

... Do you like me for my brain, or my BAUD?

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.6.1 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

19 Oct 15 02:50, you wrote to me:

*IF* that is true and there are people intentionally restricting my
posts then wow thats sad :(

Mark Lewis, replied for me already... What he said is pretty spot on, and the same as my thoughts on the matter. My email to you went into my record details for about 7 months of g00r00 to: All & to: myself or users on my board. Nodes in Norway and Finland where always in the Path except for a few.

--- GoldED+/W32-MSVC 1.1.5-b20150715
* Origin: flupH - fluph.darktech.org (1:275/91)

in the case of the MYSTIC echo it was because someone saw a few of those gated spams from the newsgroup side...

There are ~200 messages posted in the past 4 months in Mystic (which is almost zero traffic compared to when development cycles are going), and not a single one of them is usenet spam.

There are no occurances of this and no history of newsgroup spam being a problem in MYSTIC to justify this move. Especially not only 2 months ago. It was a malicious act backed by insane reasoning, and nothing else IMO. :(

it isn't "the network"... it is a few individuals with their heads in their nether regions...

You're right and I should have worded it differently. As providers they represent the backbone, and in doing so they are accepting obligations. If they are preventing flow of data without real justification, and nothing is done to prevent them from having that ability to do it, then its a problem with the integrity of the network.

MYSTIC is actively moderated, active with traffic, and it supports one of the few softwares that facilitates FidoNet itself. Anyone pushing to prevent that from growing, especially when FidoNet is fluttering, is just flat out being idiotic.

Anyway I've said my rant if anyone wants to continue this discussion please move it over to MYSTIC echo so its more on topic. :)

--- Mystic BBS v1.11 A3 (Windows)
* Origin: Sector 7 [Mystic BBS WHQ] (1:129/215)

My impression of Tommi (although I don't know him) is that he is a mail mover, part of the solution not the problem.

I hope so. It seems clear that any message that gets routed through those two systems vanishes, so Tommi may not be the reason, but he is likely communicating with someone who is part of the problem. :(

Bjorn mentioned something about removing the mystic echo becuase he thought it was a gated newsgroup. I think it was in the fidonews echo. I told him it was not and a few others also chimed in to let him know that as well.

Yeah I think I sent him a message about it, to ask him where he was seeing all of this spam (because it doesn't exist). I don't think he responded.

I don't think he removed it but I am not sure what happens in his part
of the world.

Either way there was a "technical issue" that arose right around the time someone in that list was threatening and pushing for people to stop distributing MYSTIC.

That seems a bit off to me! :)

Indeed, Mystic has a large presence in the networks and the BBS scene generally. You do have support, regardless of who pushes what we do have solutions.. :)

Thanks for the comments :)

--- Mystic BBS v1.11 A3 (Windows)
* Origin: Sector 7 [Mystic BBS WHQ] (1:129/215)

I'll just put this out there, showing this post for BBS_CARNIVAL got through. it is the exact same path of the 08-12 post. The last post made by you in the Mystic echo. So if you like to to find out who has removed or block Mystic echo ask either.

203/0 = Bjorn Felton in Norway. and or..

Regards,
Nick
--- SBBSecho 2.27-Linux
* Origin: thePharcyde_ telnet://bbs.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (1:154/10)

in the case of the MYSTIC echo it was because someone saw a few of
those gated spams from the newsgroup side...

There are ~200 messages posted in the past 4 months in Mystic (which is almost zero traffic compared to when development cycles are going), and not a single one of them is usenet spam.

There are no occurances of this and no history of newsgroup spam being a problem in MYSTIC to justify this move. Especially not only 2 months ago. It was a malicious act backed by insane reasoning, and nothing else IMO. :(

And FYI, this is exactly why you noticed what you did. Those links that de-linked from the echo blocked the traffic from getting to any backbone distrobution systems.

This should now be fixed.

Regards,
Nick
--- SBBSecho 2.27-Linux
* Origin: thePharcyde_ telnet://bbs.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (1:154/10)

That's great news, i'm keen to test Pi version

Okay, I will try to work on my Pi setup soon. Its very time consuming
to put together the Pi versions so they might not be released quite as frequently as the other platforms during alpha testing, but I will try
to keep them relatively current.

Ahh I see... don't want to add to your work load. Unless there are a whole lote of Pi system's out there, i'd say the time spent compiling for Pi would
be better spent on the main platforms. I'm happy to change to linux and is relatively straight forward.

My thoughts, don't shoot!

--- Mystic BBS v1.10 (Raspberry Pi)
* Origin: Mutiny - New Zealand (3:772/100)

19 Oct 15 17:16, you wrote to me:

Anyway I've said my rant if anyone wants to continue this discussion please move it over to MYSTIC echo so its more on topic. :)

done...

)\/(ark

... For every action there is an equal and opposite government program.
---
* Origin: (1:3634/12.73)

Hello, James.

Friday October 16 2015 at 20:49, you wrote to All:

I am posting an annoucement here because I've struggled to get my mail
to go out in the MYSTIC echo lately.

Your BBS software announcements are always welcome here, James!

I didn't compile OSX or Pi versions so if anyone is running them and
would like to alpha test please let me know.

So, would that be an Apple Pi version? :)

Later,
Sean

... "Hugh Jass? Somebody check the mens' room for a Hugh Jass!" -- Moe
--- GoldED/2 3.0.1
* Origin: Outpost BBS * Johnson City, TN * bbs.outpostbbs.net (1:18/200)

Hello, James.

Monday October 19 2015 at 17:21, you wrote to Alan Ianson:

Either way there was a "technical issue" that arose right around the
time someone in that list was threatening and pushing for people to
stop distributing MYSTIC.

Please feel free to CC your announcements concerning Mystic in here. This is what this echo is for after all!

Later,
Sean
BBS_CARNIVAL Moderator

... Bart, stop pestering Satan!
--- GoldED/2 3.0.1
* Origin: Outpost BBS * Johnson City, TN * bbs.outpostbbs.net (1:18/200)

James Coyle (1:129/215) Mon Oct 19 02:50:48 2015
Its a shame too because Mystic has decent a presense here on FidoNet.
The network would be doing itself a pretty big disservice if it
tries to push Mystic and its SysOps off the network.

You are doing a big effort to help keep Fidonet and BBSing alive.

--- WWIVToss v.1.51
* Origin: Inland Utopia BBS (1:218/109.0)

Its a shame too because Mystic has decent a presense here on FidoNet. The network would be doing itself a pretty big disservice if it J(>

tries to push Mystic and its SysOps off the network. You are doing a big effort to help keep Fidonet and BBSing alive.

I agree

--- PCBoard (R) v15.3/2
* Origin: PCB Prison Board, Mesquite. Tx (1:124/5014.2)

Its a shame too because Mystic has decent a presense here on FidoNet. The network would be doing itself a pretty big disservice if it J(>

tries to push Mystic and its SysOps off the network. You are doing a big effort to help keep Fidonet and BBSing alive.

I agree

--- PCBoard (R) v15.4/250 Beta
* Origin: PCB Prison Board, Mesquite. Tx (1:124/5015)

Its a shame too because Mystic has decent a presense here on FidoNet. The network would be doing itself a pretty big disservice if it J(>

tries to push Mystic and its SysOps off the network. You are doing a big effort to help keep Fidonet and BBSing alive.

I agree

--- PCBoard (R) v15.4/250 Beta
* Origin: PCB Prison Board, Mesquite. Tx (1:124/5015)