Maximus BBS 3.04a-r2 - MAXTEL, Linux Support, and Looking for Testers
Just a few short days back I posted about getting Maximus compiling on OSX (Apple Silicon). I'm sorry for the rapid follow-up but I've been having way too much fun with this and wanted to share where things are at.
What's new since last time: MAXTEL - I ended up writing a proper multi-node telnet supervisor with a real-time ncurses dashboard. It manages up to 32 nodes, handles telnet negotiation, and shows who's online and allows you to see stats of the user and bbs. Run maxtel -p 2323 -n 4 and you're accepting callers. No more screen/socat juggling, it handles multiple resolutions, headless mode, and daemon mode. I'm genuinely proud of how this turned out, but it needs more testing. (screenshot included!) Linux support - Full build on Linux x86_64 alongside macOS (arm64 and x86_64). GCC was pickier than Clang so there were a bunch of fixes, but seeing it run on both platforms was a great first step. Release packages - Pre-built tarballs ready to run. Download, run Install, set up your sysop locally and then fire up maxtel, done. I wanted to make it as easy as possible for people to just try it. Build scripts - I have multi-arch build scripts for OSX and Linux; so if you do want to build it from scratch, it isn't as much of a headache any more!
Alpha release: https://github.com/LimpingNinja/maximus/releases/tag/3.04a-r2 Repo: https://github.com/LimpingNinja/maximus Build instructions: https://github.com/LimpingNinja/maximus/blob/master/BUILD.md
Looking for: Testers on different platforms (especially Linux arm64, FreeBSD, WSL which all need work and probably builds) Bug reports - open issues on GitHub or message me here Anyone interested in FidoNet or QWK networking as that will need ample support
What's next: I'm setting up a support BBS where folks can get help, test FidoNet connectivity, and hopefully start building a collection of Max-related software. MEX improvements (socket I/O) and QWK networking is on my list too. Once things stabilize I'm planning a proper 3.1 release.
Honestly, there's something satisfying about seeing this code boot up and accept a caller on a modern Mac or Linux box. If you ever wanted to run Max or a BBS without hunting down a DOS machine or fighting with emulators, give it a spin. It's still alpha but it works. And if you break something, no need to buy it! Just let me know - that's what testing is for.
https://preview.redd.it/ttsldk5bwh4g1.png?width=2290&format=png&auto=webp&s=4b3cf775f2fcad20363e45cdf1c65b21ebf42a5d
https://preview.redd.it/9jj4gyj1xh4g1.png?width=1138&format=png&auto=webp&s=764c94fc9115bb7d89b33fdd8e7e09804221f426 submitted by /u/TheLimpingNinja [link] [comments]