There is someone who is seriously thinking of using the past open source version and trying to fix Mystic so it could continue on.
There is someone who is seriously thinking of using the past open source version and trying to fix Mystic so it could continue on.
What's wrong with Mystic? That's what I've been running for years and have never had any real trouble with it. What trouble I HAVE had with it was purely sysop error and not a problem with the software.
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What's wrong with Mystic? That's what I've been running for years and
i agree, but there are known bugs in the code i wish g00r00 would tackle. poll.bsy being an issue a few times a week for example. pweck
Nightfox wrote to pweck <=-
Re: Re: Redoing Mystic
By: pweck to Geri Atricks on Thu Aug 20 2026 03:35 pm
What's wrong with Mystic? That's what I've been running for years and
i agree, but there are known bugs in the code i wish g00r00 would tackle. poll.bsy being an issue a few times a week for example. pweck
I wonder if there's a chance g00r00 might be willing to make Mystic open-source and let others contribute to it. I've heard g00r00 doesn't update Mystic very often; maybe others in the community would be
willing to help maintain Mystic and address bugs & such while g00r00 is busy with other things.
I think I've read that he did that once, and then got pissed off or something when it was forked, and closed it back down again.
Something like that anyway.
I'm honestly surprised people still want to run it. Known bugs that don't get fixed, and ZERO new features added. <YAWN>
Accession wrote to Gamgee <=-
I think I've read that he did that once, and then got pissed off or something when it was forked, and closed it back down again.
Something like that anyway.
Not that it was just forked, as that is the whole point of open source.
I think a few people were trying to repackage it and claim it as their
own work, or something. Also, after forking it, reporting bugs that weren't in the master branch. Probably more, but it's been some time..
my recollection of it is fuzzy these days.
I'm honestly surprised people still want to run it. Known bugs that don't get fixed, and ZERO new features added. <YAWN>
Cue 99% of the BBS software out there, my guy. Not all people want to
run Synchronet, either. Whether buggy or not, I think a BBS scene of
all Synchronet boards would be pretty boring. I don't mind calling a CNET/Amiga board once in awhile, or if someone mentions they've setup a customized PCBoard, or OBV/2, or whatever.. I'll more than likely check that out than <insert random stock Synchronet BBS here>. ;)
And while yes, I run Synchronet because of the reasons you mention
above, I'm not sure there's much if anything left stock, visually. However, I do enjoy seeing a variety of other softwares still running.
I wonder if there's a chance g00r00 might be willing to make Mystic open-source and let others contribute to it. I've heard g00r00 doesn't update Mystic very often; maybe others in the community would be willing to help maintain Mystic and address bugs & such while g00r00 is busy
with other things.
calling a CNET/Amiga board once in
awhile, or if someone mentions
they've setup a customized
PCBoard, or OBV/2, or whatever..
I wonder if there's a chance g00r00 might be willing to make Mystic
open-source and let others contribute to it.
I think that'd be a neat idea, but Mystic _used_ to be open source, and g00r00 felt it worked poorly enough that he stopped it.
I think the general idea is that there's not exactly a giant amount of people willing to work on the Mystic code base who have the skills / time / etc. to do so, so it being open source wound up just being more hassle.
Accession wrote to Gamgee <=-
Okay, yes, that's probably the correct thing(s) that happened. I guess
that would indeed be pretty irritating.
Yeah, and that's basically what it was. He was so irritated/frustrated
by it all he just went back to closed source, and most of those issues went away.
Granted, I agree with others, that if he's going to finally abandon it,
he should just let it go so others can at least try to preserve it.
Yes, all good points. I didn't mean to sound like I think only SBBS
should be run. Not at all. Definitely agree that stock <anything> is
not appealing.
I am impressed that quite a few newer BBS softwares have come about somewhat recently, however it seems once they're at a usable point in
the progress, and only a couple people actually start using it, the developers seem to get bored and disappear, or just stop working on it. *shrug*
So do I, for sure. I think what I was thinking, that didn't come out sounding right, was... There aren't too many *MODERN* BBS softwares out there, that support telnet/SSH/etc.. easily, so if one wanted to run
modern software, it seems (to me) that they'd want to run one that was updated often and kept improving. If that isn't a prime factor for a person, then run a classic/old/DOS software which obviously isn't gonna
get updates because it's not being maintained. I think I'm still not explaining it well, but hopefully you get what I mean. ;-)
I get what you're saying, and Mystic definitely was in the category of being updated often and constantly improving (I did quite a bit of bug testing and feature requests during these times - and still have it
setup and fully modded in it's own VM in case he does come back again),
up until 05/2024 which was the latest alpha. It gained quite a few followers when he came back and really started digging back into it
(there was a huge hiatus between v1.07.3 and the 1.10 alphas (like a decade or more), then probably one or two more smaller down times (year
or less) between 1.10 and 1.12, and now this one the last couple
years). During one of those downtimes is when I switched to Synchronet, and when he came back the last time around, I fired Mystic back up as a secondary BBS on a non-standard port to continue testing. From that
point on I had a feeling he would disappear again at some point, so I wasn't about to drop all the work I did on my Synchronet BBS.
I imagine it's probably more frustrating to the people that were a part
of the experience when he was around, now that he's not (again, I was
one of them. As much as I didn't want to, I kind of predicted and
prepared for what may or may not happen) - rather than the people just starting to use it now, knowing he's been gone for 2+ years already. If
he decides to come back around, I would fire it all back up and
continue to help where I can. I imagine he'd look into and squash all
the known bugs, as well as cram a bunch more features into it in
usually a small amount of time, then take another break. But, if he doesn't... that's ultimately his choice. *shrug*
I think it's by far the best menu editor driven (with it's own
programming language, as well as python support possibly even
integrated into it's programming language as an added bonus - although I've never needed either of these as I hadn't found anything that
/can't/ be done with the menu editor itself) BBS software out there. If there is a few bugs currently, I don't think they are show-stoppers or make things un-runnable at this point in time.
Phew. That's the most I've written in awhile. :D
Okay, yes, that's probably the correct thing(s) that happened. I guess
that would indeed be pretty irritating.
Yes, all good points. I didn't mean to sound like I think only SBBS
should be run. Not at all. Definitely agree that stock <anything> is
not appealing.
So do I, for sure. I think what I was thinking, that didn't come out sounding right, was... There aren't too many *MODERN* BBS softwares out there, that support telnet/SSH/etc.. easily, so if one wanted to run
modern software, it seems (to me) that they'd want to run one that was updated often and kept improving. If that isn't a prime factor for a person, then run a classic/old/DOS software which obviously isn't gonna
get updates because it's not being maintained. I think I'm still not explaining it well, but hopefully you get what I mean. ;-)
MUTIL POLL don't work on Raspi Mystic version (at least the 64bit)
You must use the external Linux command "Binkd" and use the EVENT editor
to call (in time interval) the Linux command to POLL and MUTIL to IMPORT
the echomail.
The custom ones that people have been making are pretty cool (Community, NE-BBS, the several Commodore ones, etc). I'd personally like to see AfterShock and Emulex/2.
package; ideally, the purpose would be for Mystic to be maintained
rather than forking another software package.
One thing with closed-source software is that if the developer
disappears for some reason, then we may never get any updates. Maybe
people could write a clone, and reverse-engineer Mystic (perhaps with
the help of AI), but that isn't perfect and could introduce more bugs.
One thing with closed-source software is that if the developer disappears
for some reason, then we may never get any updates.
Again, cue 99% of BBS software out there. Closed source BBS software isn't new to us at all. It seems as though one of the original "problem causers" from back in Mystic's open source days has already started his own thing on github, adding "modules" with AI, or something. I noticed it, took a look at the code a bit, and let James know about it via email, but didn't get a response. That's about all I can and will do.
Gamgee wrote to Nightfox <=-
I'm honestly surprised people still want to run it. Known bugs that
don't get fixed, and ZERO new features added. <YAWN>
Again, cue 99% of BBS software out there. Closed source BBS software isn't new to us at all.
poindexter FORTRAN wrote to Gamgee <=-
Gamgee wrote to Nightfox <=-
I'm honestly surprised people still want to run it. Known bugs that
don't get fixed, and ZERO new features added. <YAWN>
I've run Synchronet for (omygod!) 22 years now, and I've been tempted
by Mystic. I like the feel of it, the ability to run other message formats, and I'd rather dabble in Python than Javascript.
The Synchronet dev community has done some interesting things over the years, and bugs get fixed quickly. An open source Mystic worked on by a group alongside Synchronet would be a great thing indeed. I think you'd see a lot of ideas bouncing back and forth between teams.
"Around?" Sure, but answering any emails or other forms of communication fro members of the BBS hobby? Not so much. Most of the time when he goes AWOL, h doesn't even answer the people that have been there for Mystic the longest.
Another thing I forgot to say in my last response: A lot of
closed-source BBS software is abandonware these days, since the original authors are no longer available and may be difficult to contact - and if
you can, maybe they don't have the source code anymore. On the other
hand, Mystic is a modern software package that's developed by someone
who is around, at least sometimes, so there's the chance now that its
source code could be released at some point.
I remember I got along well with G00R00 and some of our last
conversations were joking about possibly "trading projects". He could
maybe work on D'Bridge while I worked on Mystic. Nothing serious, all
in good fun... but it was a conversation to kindof make light of a sour note... which was being treated somewhat unfairly by some Mystic Sysops
with unrealistic expectations.
He's definitely a great guy, and willing to work with just about
anyone. Just wish he wouldn't play the "Frank" card. At least he
didn't retake over a NC position in Fidonet, restart a fairly popular network he left behind, then just abandon everything and leave
everyone pissing into the wind, though! :)
I'm not sure if you had a typo there, but there is no such thing as
"MUTIL POLL". "MIS POLL <address>" would be the proper way to do it.
As for using an external Linux command "Binkd", are you referring to
using the PROGRAM "binkd" as a mailer instead? That's perfectly fine,
Sorry to jump in, just getting back into the scene. I read about some
of the history around making Mystic closed source again which I don't
blame them. I see there is a pre-alpha a49 floating around.
Is Mystic still being developed?
I only use "Binkd" command because MIS POLL don't work on Raspberry Pi version of Mystic. Is not my choice.
Lot's of server stuff don't work on Mystic:
-POLL echomail
-FTP server
-Sending with SMTP
-Outbound Connections (Telnet, SSH and RLOGIN) IR, IS and IT commands.
Have to use linux externals commands to do the job.
and others.
You could use binkd as your mailer, instead of MIS completely. This would probably give you less grief and get rid of any problems you might still be having.
As far as I know, there wasn't nearly as much testing on the Pi as there was on Windows and Linux. If I remember right, isn't the Pi version
quite a bit older than the Windows and Linux versions?
My understanding of the SMTP implementation was that it wasn't finished, and maybe even /only/ for some kind of password reset feature and/or account verification. I also think that is the same with the HTTP
server, it wasn't finished.
You could use binkd as your mailer, instead of MIS completely. This would probably give you less grief and get rid of any problems you might still be having.
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