X-News 2025 Archive

X-News for the year 2025 will be archived at the following location: [https://x-bit.org/x-news/2025/]. It's been a great year with lots of BBS news! Thanks to all Sysops, Coders and BBS users. See you in 2026!

The X-League started the year as an Inter-BBS league where you could play BRE/FE/etc, but it quickly grew into a great group of friends working together on a hobby we all still love. We have an amazing group of sysops and programmers dedicated to keeping the BBS scene alive. I want to thank all members of the X-League for an great year, for the work you’ve put into your BBS’es, the countless hours of creating NEW programs throughout 2025. Most of all, thank you for the friendships and all the lulz along the way. The following is the Year in Review, highlighting some of the new BBS products that all had the pleasure to enjoy [https://tinyurl.com/x-league-review]. And with that, a huge Christmas shout-out to Codefenix (ConstructiveChaos BBS), StingRay (A-Net BBS), and TLM (Nite Eyes BBS). You all get a nice holiday bonus :)

Another amazing door by codefenix! uMRC lets you run Multi-Relay Chat on your BBS without having to install and maintain a Mystic BBS instance and Python. As long as your BBS is capable of running 32-bit Windows doors, then you and your users can participate in MRC. [https://github.com/codefenix-dev/uMRC].

I've uploaded the source for the following doors to Github: Backgammon, bbs golf, bbs drag race, xeno-quest, bbs golf and poker. [https://github.com/xbit44/cattyware]. It's old webpage that includes screenshots can be found here: [https://x-bit.org/info/catty/cattyware.html].

Are you running a Space Quest 2112 Game Server? If so please message me at xbit.bbs@protonmail.com so we can add it to the IPTIA SQGS list [https://tinyurl.com/sqgslist]. Want to run the DOS version? It can be downloaded here: [https://x-bit.org/info/catty/cattyware.html]

This version officially takes The Major BBS v10 out of Beta status - a significant milestone for the project. It includes bug fixes, stability improvements and a new module allowing direct access via external systems such. [https://tinyurl.com/majorbbs10r33]

An interactive BBS door program that displays ANSI Christmas art, a new one each day in December. Browse past collections as well. Compatible with all modern BBS systems that support Door32 dropfiles -- Windows and Linux. [https://github.com/robbiew/mg_advent]

Maximus BBS 3.04a-r2 - MAXTEL, Linux Support, and Looking for Testers [https://tinyurl.com/xnews-maxbbs]

IcyTerm updates are on the move! For more info: [https://tinyurl.com/xnews-ice08]

From the maker of BBS Wordle, BBS Drag Racing, Bowling Solitaire, X-News door and more comes Kannons and Katapults Remastered Edition! For the first time in the game's 34-year history, challenge other players in asynchronous turn-based battles! Create games, join existing matches, and compete on separate PvP rankings. Or just like the OG version you can battle vs. the Komputer. For more info and to download visit the KNK Remastered website here [https://bbswordle.com/knk25/].

Maximus 3.0x - MacOS ARM compilation target added on Github [https://tinyurl.com/x-maxmac30x]

Zork I, II, and III go Open Source. For more info visit [https://tinyurl.com/xnews-zork]. To go directly to the source on Github visit: Zork 1 [https://github.com/historicalsource/zork1] Zork 2: [https://github.com/historicalsource/zork2] and Zork 3: [https://github.com/historicalsource/zork3].

Great HOWTO get dos doors working on Syncronet using DOSEMU2. From the maker of Wordle, Bowling Solitaire, BBS Drag Race, X-News door and more! [https://www.bbswordle.com/dosemu2.html]

The original programmer for Windows Task Manager codes BBS software for his PDP-11. For more info visit his X post here: [https://x.com/davepl1968/status/1990251449486627143]. And if you've yet to do so follow Dave's Garage on his YouTube as he has some pretty amazing retro content [https://www.youtube.com/@DavesGarage/videos].

Seems to be a slow news week, so I give all you retro hax0r nerds: FLOPPOTRON 3.0! [https://tinyurl.com/XNEWS-FLOP3] Thanks to Thunder-Line [http://thunder.synchro.net:8080/] for sending this my way :)

On 11-9-04, Mozilla Corporation released a multiplatform web browser, Firefox 1.0. Firefox gained major popularity among users and exceeded 1 billion downloads between 2004 and 2009. [https://tinyurl.com/x-firefox]

Barren Realms Elite, Falcon's Eye and The Arcadian Legends will reset on 11-14 with gameplay starting on 11-17. Great time to join one of the last remaining pure Interbbs leagues with many games to pick from. Review our home page here [https://x-bit.org/info/xleague/] for more info or questions on how to join.

November 3, 1971 is recognized as the publication of the 1st Edition of the Unix Programmer’s Manual at Bell Labs. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Unix]

On November 1, 1997 The Telnet BBS Guide launched [https://www.telnetbbsguide.com/]!

Whats the best OS for a BBS? Vote here [https://strawpoll.com/GPgVYJoeBna].

Icy Term updates in the works! For more info follow on its Github here [https://tinyurl.com/x-icyterm].

/\/\(o.o)/\/\ [https://16colo.rs/pack/mist1025/]

Cryosphere is a long-running science fiction MUD set in an alternate timeline where a British Space Empire reigns supreme. Built on a custom C++ codebase, it quietly introduced support for Unicode and Lua ahead of its time. In this interview, Morwen, the game’s lead developer and co-writer, shares how Cryosphere got started, the big decisions that shaped its design, and what’s next on the roadmap [https://tinyurl.com/x-cryosphere]

The website bbsnews.org is back up and scraping the X-News rss feed [https://bbsnews.org/]. This is great just to have the site living again and very cool its pulling in the x-news rss feed.

X-News is testing the addition of BBS, Retro, and/or tech-related voting polls. The following vote is for the Best Sci-Fi Door Game of All Time: [https://strawpoll.com/2ayLQ9LDvn4]. Voting for this poll will end on 10-31-25.

On October 25, 2001, Microsoft launched Windows XP, a landmark operating system that became one of the most popular and enduring in history. Known for its user-friendly interface, improved stability, and iconic "Bliss" wallpaper, XP unified Microsoft's consumer and professional OS lines, powering millions of PCs for over a decade. [https://tinyurl.com/xnews-winxp]

+++ Day, celebrating 40 Years of the Hayes Escape Sequence! Today we honor one of the most iconic pieces of dial-up history: the “+++” escape sequence. The clever trick that let BBS sysops and modem hax0rs jump from data mode back to command mode without hanging up. Originally patented 40 years ago under US 4,549,302 [https://tinyurl.com/US4549302A] by Hayes Microcomputer Products and inventor Dale Heatherington, this innovation changed online communication forever.

Awesome looking new command shell for Sync. Modern icon-driven shell, desktop, and supporting subprogram suite for Synchronet BBS systems. The Future Shell project powers the Futureland BBS experience and is intended as a reference implementation for building rich Synchronet shells with configurable menus, themed UI, toast notifications, and modular subprograms. [https://github.com/chairmanmow/future_shell]

Many IcyBoard updates are being pumped out. Looks to be a very actave project, so well done IcyBoard team! Keep an eye on this project here: [https://github.com/mkrueger/icy_board]

Deuce (SyncTerm/SBBS) is working on updating a rather large number of BBS doors that includes: Clans, GAC Blackjack/Wahoo/FreeCell, Dragon Lance, Freevote, NY2008, Space Dynasty Elite, Smurf Combat, Time Port, The Online Pub, and Virtual BBS (previously Virtual Sysop 3). Needless to say, the amount of code that the doors include is staggering, not to mention the work that's put into SyncTerm and Synchronet, so we'll just need to sit tight, enjoy the show, and be thankful for coders working on BBSes and BBS doors in 2025. An overview of the updates can be found on Sync's GitLab here [https://tinyurl.com/sbbs-git-doors] and via Sync's Git commit log here [https://git.synchro.net/gitpushlog.ssjs].

BBS Firewall! Time to get those bots and scanners out of your telnet ports. Dynamic node.js firewall with geo/ip country blocking, rate limiting, and full passthru to your bbs. For more info [https://tinyurl.com/bbsfirewall].

Implemented/Fixed PPL related issues: Added tree sitter grammar, ppld can now check PPEs for compatibility with IcyBoard (--check), added some more statements/functions implementations, some compiler bugfixes. New features are password hashing and a .pdf documentation helping new users. For more info visit [https://tinyurl.com/xnews-icy]

SyncTERM v1.7 has been released. For more info including whats new please visit: [https://tinyurl.com/syncterm-1-7]

7zip installed on your BBS OS? If so, two high-severity vulnerabilities have been discovered in the popular open-source file archiver, 7-Zip, which could allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code. Identified as CVE-2025-11001 and CVE-2025-11002, the flaws affect all versions of the software prior to the latest release and require immediate patchin. For more info visit [https://tinyurl.com/xnews-7zip] and to update 7zip visit [https://7-zip.org/].

SyncTERM v1.8b is now available for download for win/mac here [https://syncterm.net/]. Others (Linux for example) should be built from source whenever possible. Note, v1.8b and/or any of the nightly builds should be considered beta (bleeding edge). SyncTERM is ramping up to release the next official version 1.7 as indicated by the recent release candidate v1.7rc2 that can be downloaded here [https://tinyurl.com/syncterm-rc2].

BBS software IcyBoard has been updated to v0.1.6. Info on this update can be found on its reddit post here: [https://tinyurl.com/xnews-icyboard] and IcyBoard's github here: [https://github.com/mkrueger/icy_board]. IcyBoard aims to re-create PCBoard, one of the most popular BBS system of it's time.

This is the second release candidate for SyncTERM v1.7. For more info from Deuce on this release candidate please visit [https://tinyurl.com/syncterm-17rc2]

Demonic Newsletter 9-2025 Edition has been released and available for review here: [https://jackphla.sh/new-releases-september-2025/]

This is the first release candidate for SyncTERM v1.7. For more info from Deuce on this release candidate please visit [https://tinyurl.com/syncterm-17rc1]

Info on the Pit Fiend series can be found on Reddit here: [https://tinyurl.com/xnews-pitf] and on it's Git here: [https://github.com/ratbuddy/doors]. Thank you ratbuddy!

Judge Dredd, a brand new door game just dropped thanks to GrumpyGrendil [https://tinyurl.com/xnews-dredd]. To download yet another awesome door thats dropped in 2025 visit [https://github.com/GrumpyGrendil/JudgeDredd].

Some door games like LORD, Kingdoms and others were crashing with a range check error 201 running on linux. Thanks to ESC (ryanfantus) for opening up a ticket [https://tinyurl.com/dosemu-ticket] as this issue has now been addressed [https://tinyurl.com/dosemu-fix].

Very awesome looking web-based BBS terminal has just hit the wild. Read the creators reddit post here for more info [https://tinyurl.com/retroterm] or access it directly here [https://retroterm.com/]. Really great work on this and Long Live the Retro in 2025!

Brand new door game out from the maker of BBS Wordle! A strategic, daily solitaire for classic and modern BBS systems—easy to host, fun to master, and built for friendly competition. Today’s deck is the same for everyone; can you place your cards for strikes and spares? Visit the following for more info and to download dos/win32/win64/Linux/RaspberryPi versions [https://bbswordle.com/solitaire/]

The "IPTIA BBS Resource Site" has updated its website layout, improving the presentation of its extensive content with a more simplistic design. A shoutout to IPTIA for offering this great resource to the BBS community for so many years. IPTIA services can be accessed here: Website [https://www.ipingthereforeiam.com/bbs/] and it's BBS at bbs2.ipingthereforeiam.com:2323

Reminder that the Franchise Football rlogin server will reset on 9-7-25. Info on how to add the FF rlogin server to your BBS can be found here [https://x-bit.org/info/xleague/football/] and the players HOWTO here [https://x-bit.org/info/xleague/football/ff-howto/]. Franchise Football is a Football League Simulator door game. You draft your team, train players, trade, sign free agents, upgrade your stadium, concessions, advertise your team, and more.

Arctic is 100% free to play, and has been since 1992. The game has never stopped growing and changing - and it's world is massive! Connect with any MUD client to mud.arctic.org on port 2700. In September ArcticMUD will double experience, rank experience, and coin events! For more info view the following post: [https://tinyurl.com/arcticmud] or visit the ArcticMUD webpage [http://mud.arctic.org/]

100% amazing skills. You can review the new 9-1-2025 MiSTiGRiS ansi release here: [https://16colo.rs/pack/mist0825]

A-Chess, the local and inter-bbs game for Synchronet has been updated [https://a-net-online.lol/achess/]. You can review for updates moving forward via the A-Chess GIT page here [https://github.com/anetonline/achess].

Linus Torvalds posts a message to the Internet newsgroup comp.os.minix with the subject line “What would you like to see most in minix?” This is the first announcement that he is working on an operating system that will one day become Linux. [https://tinyurl.com/xnews-linux]

Finding a good, available domain name is hard enough without the added cost of annual registration fees. What if you could skip the fee entirely? That’s the idea behind DigitalPlat FreeDomain, an open-source project that’s giving away domain names—for real, and for free. Whether you're prototyping a side project, setting up a personal blog, or just want a custom domain without the commitment, DigitalPlat offers a simple, no-cost alternative to traditional registrars. [https://tinyurl.com/xnews-domain]

Once again from the maker of Wordle comes more amazing programs for the BBS. The Franchise Football Expansion pack has three programs to enhance the Franchise Football door game: 1) SALARY shows each team's total salary cap figure, top 5 salaries, and team average age of players 2) REPLAY is a play-by-play "watch" viewer that renders the game action in your user's terminal and 3) FAFIX fixes a bug in Franchise Football where "ghost" or invalid free agents can appear in-game. For more info and to download visit: [https://bbswordle.com/ffe/]. Additionally if you would like to join the Franchise Football rlogin league please visit: [https://x-bit.org/info/xleague/football].

BRE, FE and TAL 777 have all RESET with gameplay starting on the 18th! Sysops, now is a great time join one of the last remaining Inter-BBS leagues. For info on HOWTO join visit [https://x-bit.org/info/xleague/]. The X-League offers the following inter-bbs games: BRE/FE/TAL, Inter-Lord, Kingdoms, Aarowbridge I&II, 8-way/zombie and Mega Slots, GAC Blackjack/Freecell and Wahoo, A-Net Chess, The Clans, LORE, Quest for Nora, Global War, Franchise Football and more.

Franchise Football is a Football League Simulator door game. You draft your team, train players, trade, sign free agents, upgrade your stadium, concessions, advertise your team, and more. All this leads to the ultimate goal! The FFBL Bowl, and the coveted championship ring. If you like Fantasy Football, you'll love Franchise Football for the BBS. Sysops, the setup for the game is very easy. You don't need to install anything, just configure your BBS for a rlogin connection to X-Bit BBS. The game is in Pre-Season mode now and will RESET on Sep-7th when the NFL regular season kicks off. For info on joining visit [https://x-bit.org/info/xleague/football].

A new door game from A-Net Online has been released for Synchronet and Mystic. Red Dragon Quest 2! Fight, explore, master classes, casino IGM, messaging, PvP & more with Inter-BBS coming soon. For more info and to download visit [https://a-net-online.lol/rdq2/]. RDQ2 can also be found on its github here [https://github.com/anetonline/RDQ2].

Hot off the press! A-Net Chess has been updated to v.251. For more info on this update and to download please visit [https://a-net-online.lol/achess/]. Additionally, The X-League 777 has added A-Net Chess to its list of Inter-BBS Games. To join Inter-BBS A-Chess check out the following [https://x-bit.org/info/xleague/].

A full-featured ANSI Chess game for Synchronet BBS! Play vs Computer or Player-vs-Player with save/load, high scores, and ANSI/ASCII displays. Supports Inter-BBS leagues via BinkP mailers. Exchange scores and messages with other BBSes! For more info and to download visit [https://a-net-online.lol/achess/]. And to review all of A-Net's awesome software [https://a-net-online.lol/anetsoftware/].

2025.8.1 Released - adds ability to pass .cfg file on the command line and title now wraps if it's long. For more info visit [https://bbswordle.com/xnews/].

The next player convention for BatMUD is in Finland between August 8th - 10th! [https://x.com/batmud/status/1951256713912373737]. Book your tickets now /\/\(o.o)/\/\

A new MiSTiGRiS art pack has been released =^.^= [https://16colo.rs/pack/mist0725]

From the maker of BBS Wordle comes X-NEWS! A cross-platform, door program for BBSes and terminal fans, inspired by the X-Bit BBS rss feed and classic 90s readers. It fetches and displays an RSS feed of your choice, styled in customizable ANSI "skins" with real BBS paging, color themes, and smart word wrapping. Bringing modern feeds to the classic BBS - MS-DOS, Linux, Win32/64, Raspberry Pi and Amiga! For more info and to download visit: [https://bbswordle.com/xnews/]

Minor update that fixes the Calendar display for make-up days, the correct starting day should now be used each month. For more info on this update and to download visit the following [https://www.bbswordle.com/downloads.html].

On this day in Tech history (1-23-85 ) the Commodore Amiga 1000 was introduced. [https://tinyurl.com/amiga-history]. Here is the wiki for more info on the Amiga 1000: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiga_1000]

CoffeeMUD has been updated to version 5.10.5. To view the extensive list of new features, download the README.md file here: [https://tinyurl.com/coffeemud]. Visit CoffeeMUD's SourceForge page at [https://sourceforge.net/projects/coffeemud/]. Happy MUDding!

Great video by Al's Retro Geek Lab on what BBS's are like in 2025 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-HKwXoq0Jw].

X-News has an official webpage accessible at [https://x-bit.org/x-news/]. The X-News RSS feed remains unchanged and is available at [https://x-bit.org/rss/rss.xml].

This week in Issue #10 of the VGG Newsletter: a big behind-the-scenes retrospective on Lunatix (the BBS game), Lunatix Online, and Starlock + recent events and reviews. [https://x.com/VGGenerations/status/1944049414223319485]

The Space Quest Game Server on X-Bit BBS has been updated to version x.73b and is available to play at telnet://x-bit.org:2112. This update includes minor server-side tweaks, but the gameplay remains unchanged. Sysops are welcome to add SQGS as a door offering on their BBS. For more details, visit [https://x-bit.org/info/].

Origo the colossal red dragon is quite a sight as a 4K (3840 x 2160) wallpaper. Get yours from [https://www.bat.org/organization/media]. Oh, yes, you can actually kill this dragon in-game.

In his latest retro mission, The 300-Baud Guy fires up his long-dormant Amiga 1200 for an ambitious goal: making an Amiga 1200 BBS connection with a 2400 baud modem. His destination? Snobsoft, a Commodore 64-based BBS nearing its 40th anniversary. The challenge? Getting it all to work after more than a decade of silence. [https://theoasisbbs.com/amiga-1200-bbs-connection-dialing-back-to-2400-baud/]

Round 2 is nearing completion and it's neck and neck as MrRondje puts major pressure on Round 1's winner, The Lizard Master. Sysops, now is a great time to join before Round 3 starts. Easy setup for Synchronet, Mystic, and other BBSes using the telnetdoor program from R&M Software. For more info on how to join, visit [https://x-bit.org/info/xleague/gw777/] New to Global War? It's similar to the board game Risk and is one of the most popular BBS games of all time from back in the day. Watch a quick overview here: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9ZFLjhQd3c]. Questions on how to join can be sent to xbit.bbs[at]protonmail.com.

After five years of development, dreaming, building, breaking, fixing, and re-dreaming again, Mystavaria will enter Open Alpha on August 7, 2025 — celebrating exactly five years to the day since our project was born. For more info see [https://tinyurl.com/Mystavaria] and the Mystavaria main webpage can be found here: [https://www.mystavaria.com/]

FiRE releases ansi pack #43 in July 2025. This one is amazing, get ready. [https://16colo.rs/pack/fire-43/]

Uptime Monitor is a real-time website and service monitoring tool that runs inside your own network. Unlike the free version of UptimeRobot, which cannot check intervals shorter than 5 minutes, Uptime Monitor detects downtime in as little as 60 seconds and sends instant alerts via email or SMS. It supports monitoring of websites, BBS ports (Telnet, SSH, etc.), and mail servers. Configuration is handled through a simple JSON file, and the tool includes a secure web interface with SSL support. It runs on both Windows and Linux and requires Python 3.6 or higher. You can see Uptime Monitor in action at [https://x.a-net.online/public] and download it from [http://a-net-online.lol/A-Net_uptime_monitor.zip] or Vertrauen's BBS (Sync HQ).

Excellent free tool for Sysops to monitor service uptime and receive alerts if services go down [https://uptimerobot.com/] An example of The X-Bit BBS UptimeRobot's page can be found here [https://stats.uptimerobot.com/d4BnO1oUxH]

PuTTY 0.83, released 2-8-25, adds support for a second post-quantum key exchange algorithm (ML-KEM), and has many fixes for bugs in 0.82. [https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/]

Evennia is an open-source Python-based framework, codebase and server for creating text-based multiplayer online games (aka MUD/MU* etc) using modern technologies and tools. Evennia hits a major milestone with version 5.0.0! This release updates core dependencies (Django 5.2+, Twisted 24+, Python 3.11–3.13) and introduces breaking changes requiring a database migration. New features include default_description for objects, better Windows support, integrated VS Code debugging (debugpy), improved internationalization, and over 20 bug fixes and optimizations. [https://www.reddit.com/r/Evennia/comments/1lowegt/evennia_500_released/]

Do you use 7-zip on your BBS OS? If so, v25.00 brings major performance enhancements (via multi‑threading, hashing, compression speed), broader archive format support (ZSTD, big RAR, DMG-XZ), RISC-V compression abilities, and 3) helpful UI/CLI tools for better manageability and security. A full list of whats new and downloads can be found here [https://sourceforge.net/p/sevenzip/discussion/45797/thread/4ed0e379f4/]

PabloDraw (ANSI/ASCII art editor) version 3.3.14‑beta released on March 29, 2025. Highlights of this update include 1) switched to .NET 9 with bug fixes, 2) fixed GTK build, new method in store notarization crdentils and added arm64 for linux and windows. 3.3.14-beta can be downloaded on the PabloDraw github here [https://github.com/cwensley/pablodraw/releases].

A number of updates have been added to Sync's rlogin.js module, most notably adding the option for hashed passwords using the -h or -H commands. This update will help secure the sharing of credentials when connecting via rlogin from one bbs to a game server hosted on another BBS. View the sync wiki for details [https://wiki.synchro.net/module:rlogin?s[]=rlogin].

mbsebbs v1.1.1: This new version was released 29th March 2025 by - Andrew Leary. Fixes include: 1) Updates to the HTML documentation 2) Fixed build errors related to the updated documentation and 3) Update copyright notices to 2025. [https://sourceforge.net/p/mbsebbs/news/]

Synchronet incorporates the ability to dynamically generate text using TheDraw fonts and send to terminal users. This will allow Sync to natively use these font packages in menus and other files without the need for an external program. For more info on this enhancment view the Sync Wiki [https://tinyurl.com/sbbs-tdfont-wiki] and the Feature Request that kicked the project off on sync's gitlab [https://gitlab.synchro.net/main/sbbs/-/issues/913].

Video from 2024 that installs and configures Telegard BBS 3.09g2, complete with door games and file transfers. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyMpm2zOjp8]

The Commodore BBS Community has another reason to celebrate as Al DaRosa, affectionately known as Bucko, has unveiled version 2.3 of the beloved “Image BBS On A Stick!” for 2025. This update incorporates all the latest program enhancements and features for Image BBS v3.0, solidifying its position as the go-to tool for retro enthusiasts and BBS aficionados alike. [https://theoasisbbs.com/image-bbs-3-0-on-a-stick-v2-3-released/]

If you're looking to expand your BBS with door games, The Fool's Quarter website should be your first stop. It offers an extensive collection of door games, many with registration codes included. Want to try a game before setting it up? Most titles are live and ready for testing on The Fool's Quarter BBS. [https://bbs.foolsquarter.com/files.html]

This project is a work-in-progress refactor and modernization of the classic ViSiON/2 BBS software, written in Go. The goal is to recreate the core functionality of the classic BBS experience using modern technologies. [https://github.com/stlalpha/vision3]

Mistigris latest art pack has been spotted in the wild! https://16colo.rs/pack/mist0625/. More amazing mistigris art can be found here: https://16colo.rs/group/mistigris

Modernizing Synchronet BBS Command Shells by Digital Man himself. This video came out last year but its great insight for diving into the synch command shells: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlwQ0uX4S04. On a related topic, if anyone is interested in helping create a sync command shell based off Spitfire BBS please let me know. Its default menu set can be found here: https://x-bit.org/spitfire/sf-menus.zip

How to setup an Mystic BBS using a Raspberry Pi and how to open it up over the internet via telnet by Jamie Maguire. Access the following URL to see this step-by-step: https://tinyurl.com/howto-bbs-pi

Great video from the YouTube channel The Serial Port, featuring an interview with Brandon Sneed (a.k.a. Nivenh!), the creator of Impulse BBS. He discusses the origins of Impulse and the BBS scene "back in the day," then brings Impulse back to life on modern hardware. Don’t miss this fascinating look into BBS history: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaYAEtwE8Es

The life and death of Phil Katz, inventor of the PKZIP format, as told by Dave Plummer, the creator of ZIPFolders for Windows. This is a great video by Dave Plummer, retired MS engineer who now has a YouTube channel with over a million subs. Dave's content is amazing as he dives deep into retro server builds and coding. If you haven’t subscribed to Dave’s Garage yet, you’re missing out! You can view this intresting video on the history of Zip files here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sV-3-vPx3I

NewsCenter, formally NewsDesk, is a lightbar-driven RSS feed viewer for Synchronet BBS. Lets users read rss article text in the BBS terminal, including x-news! NewsCenter is another amazing mod for sync from Codefenix. As of the time of this post the latest version (0.250410) can be downloaded from the programmers BBS (ConstructiveChaos) here: https://conchaos.synchro.net/ as well as the Synchronet's HQ BBS Vertrauen here: https://vert.synchro.net/

BatMUD celebrates 35 years being online with a anniversary party in Gala Helsinki, Finland! Check the official photographs from the gala event at https://gallery.bat.org/index/category/298-official_photographer. Be sure to give batmud some love and buy it on Steam for only $4! (https://store.steampowered.com/app/616920/BatMUD/) and add it to your BBS transporter on your BBS: bat.org:23.

The end of Windows 10’s security support is coming. After October 14th 2025, Windows 10 will no longer receive security updates and with many BBS Sysops using win10 32bit for its great compatibility with DOS doors its presenting an issue. The good news? Soon MS will be offering Windows 10 Extended Security Updates for one year. For more info: https://tinyurl.com/x-news-win10

Al Lawrence owner of Sunrise Door Software, has taken his website down and is currently not offering registrations. This will be sad news as Sunrise has over 55 BBS doors that will be lost forever. A good thread about this can be found on Reddit here: https://www.reddit.com/r/bbs/comments/1ghje0e/sunrise_door_game/

One of the most popular door games of all time, is still in development thanks to Rick Parrish and team. You can keep up-to-date with the latest info and downloads here: https://github.com/rickparrish/Usurper/

Demonic Newsletter – 5/2025 Edition has been released and available for review here: https://jackphla.sh/dem0525/

Get your tickets now for the 7-11-25 International Retro Computer Expo at Hurricane, West Virginia USA. For more info: https://www.ticketsource.com/ircexpo2025/t-eanjyje

Color 64 BBS v8.1a update brings fresh features and bug fixes for all C64 Sysops. https://theoasisbbs.com/color-64-version-8-1a-released/

Synchronet has added a new feature that gives the ability to govern the total number of files downloaded per day. This update can be found in the bleeding-edge nightly updates https://gitlab.synchro.net/main/sbbs/-/issues/938#note_7384

Inter-BBS league 777 (The X-League) added Board Master (BBS-Sim) to its list of inter-bbs games. Other Inter-BBS games offered include: BRE, FE, TAL, Kingdoms, Inter-LORD, AB1, AB2, The Clans, LORE, Quest for Nora, Colonies, 8-way Slots, Zombie Slots, Mega Slots and Global War. More info on The X-League 777 can be found here: https://x-bit.org/info/xleague/

This amazing art pack can be reviewed here: https://16colo.rs/pack/mist0525/

A-Net Online GameServer is offering over 200 door games with plans of having 1000+ by the end of the year. An amazing amount effort has gone into this and its ready now for Sysops to add to their BBS and Users to explore. Check it out here: https://a-net-online.lol/gameserver/

From the maker of BBS Wordle comes BBS Drag Racing. Drag Racing is an update from the source code from Neubauer Applications Uncorp Software (cattyware) and has been compiled for win32, dos, linux and Raspberry Pi. You can grab your copy here: https://www.bbswordle.com/bbsrace/

Synchronet v3.20d has been officially released. For more info on whats new: https://gitlab.synchro.net/main/sbbs/-/raw/master/docs/v320_new.txt

Codefenix (conchaos.synchro.net) known for a number of great BBS mod's has released MRC (Multi Relay Chat) for Synchronet BBS. You can grab a copy on Synchronet's GIT here: https://gitlab.synchro.net/main/sbbs/-/tree/master/xtrn/mrc?ref_type=heads

The X-League 777 has created a dedicated Global War rlogin game server. Easy setup for Sync and Mystic Sysops. Global War is Back! https://x-bit.org/info/xleague/gw777/

X-BIT BBS has launched X-News! RSS News and updates about BBSes, door games, and the scene. Do you have BBS realted news? If so send it on over to xbit.ops[at]protonmail.com