bphendri@bbs.catracing.org (Brent Hendricks) writes:

I was just thinking.

With the resurgence of Commodore, they should look into partnering with the person who runs QLink reloaded or using the software by Kim Brain and putting up their own server and bringing Q-Link back offically.

Though I would imagine that they would have to make some deals with America Online (Formerly Quantum Computer Services.).

Though how cool would that be? To actually bring Q-Link back to some semblence of its former glory?!

Having watched peri's channel on and off for years, I was quite
surprised that they didn't launch a commodore-themed bbs with a 40
column mode and use it to distribute patches, software, documents,
provide chat and a messsage base. They were marketing the new c64c for
digital minimalism, so it seemed natural that a BBS would fit the
mold. NOPE. It was idle symbolism for simple marketing, nothing
more.

A year ago, I was writing specifications for a petscii theme on my
bbs. My wife suggested I float a poll on a forum to gauge interest,
so I did. I let the poll run for a month.

A thousand views yielded about a dozen responses. Of those, a few
said yes. Other polls surrounding mine had copious results, so they
simply couldn't give two fucks about the topic. My wife's suggestion
left me thrilled. It would've been a collosal waste to make that
theme for a nonexistent community.

The c64 userbase amounts to game nostalgia.

--
Daniel
sysop | air & wave bbs
finger | info@bbs.airandwave.net

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Daniel <me@fuhgitabutit.com> wrote:

The c64 userbase amounts to game nostalgia.

Exactly and the reason for this is that some
classic games are still fun to play. They have
stood the test of time even though the graphics
can be considered outdated compared to modern
games. SID chip still sounds great today, it
is like a musical instrument, well designed
by a guy who was also a musician. Maybe an
amateur musician, but he still had good
insights into what would sound great. Sadly,
I have forgotten his name.

The so-called utility programs on C64 have
not aged well. There is little point in using
them since Linux and BSDs offer that kind of
software for free and it is million times better in
every way. Instead of running a BBS, you can set up a
proper newsserver using inn. There are plenty of
FTP/HTTP servers for file sharing and so on.

That being said, I guess there exists a
vanishingly small Commodore fan community that
still uses Commodore utilities.

br,
KK

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 12/08/2026 02:22, Kalevi Kolttonen wrote:

Daniel <me@fuhgitabutit.com> wrote:

The c64 userbase amounts to game nostalgia.

Exactly ...

That being said, I guess there exists a
vanishingly small Commodore fan community that
still uses Commodore utilities.

br,
KK

very small. but we do exist, just not in
numbers big enough that count when building new stuff

my hd-4000 has been languishing far too empty, seems
that most of the use is geos, or the proof of concept
(though very cool) c64os.

very little from back in the day

--
Human.. Mostly.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Re: Re: QLink Reloaded
By: Kalevi Kolttonen to All on Wed Aug 12 2026 11:30:02

SID chip still sounds great today...Sadly, I have forgotten his name.

Robert Yannes.
--- SBBSecho 3.37-Linux
* Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (1:124/5016)

phigan <phigan@bbs.penisys.online> wrote:

Terminal programs are utilities. Also, in order to use a proper news
client, you need to use something like SLRN or TIN which you'd need to
use software 80 columns for. Have you ever tried doing that on an SX64's screen? :). I'm typing through StrikeTerm2014 on a breadbin right now,
in vi, reading stuff with slrn. Nobody else would put up with this kind
of nonsense, though.

Absolutely I have not. For daily use, I have fairly modern laptops running Fedora 44, FreeBSD 15.1 and OmniOS stable. The OmniOS laptop currently
serves as a virtualization platform, running Fedora Rawhide and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10.2 VMs.

Regarding retrocomputers, I do own quite a few but I really use
emulators when I want to play old 8-bit games. That Commodore
released C64 Ultimate is a good thing, though, because it
provides (near?) 100% accuracy and can be connected to modern
televisions using HDMI. So these hardware-based recreations
having a modern twist are really useful.

br,
KK

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 2026-08-11, Kalevi Kolttonen <kalevi@kolttonen.fi> wrote:

not aged well. There is little point in using
them since Linux and BSDs offer that kind of
software for free and it is million times better in
every way. Instead of running a BBS, you can set up a
proper newsserver using inn. There are plenty of
FTP/HTTP servers for file sharing and so on.

I missed saying this when replying to this thread from another place..

Terminal programs are utilities. Also, in order to use a proper news
client, you need to use something like SLRN or TIN which you'd need to
use software 80 columns for. Have you ever tried doing that on an SX64's screen? :). I'm typing through StrikeTerm2014 on a breadbin right now,
in vi, reading stuff with slrn. Nobody else would put up with this kind
of nonsense, though.

When you have a regular 40 col term program like CCGMS Future, you can
log into an easy to use BBS that might support some PETSCII graphics
and colors, and it can be really enjoyable reading and writing messages
on those. Yeah, the file areas aren't really necessary these days, but
it's not bad having a place to put some specific files you might want to
bring attention to.. or that might help people in particular situations.

My favorite are BBSes I can connect to and enjoy equally from any device
that I decide to use.. A Commodore, Atari, Apple2, tablet, phone, Cidco Mailstation, badge with an LCD screen from a security conference,
teletype, YOU NAME IT.

Especially when you can get the platform-specific graphics and colors
added in there for more than one.


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)