So, I have a 4GB "CanaKit Raspberry Pi 4 Starter MAX Kit" sitting around trying to figure out what to use it for and to make it useful. I initially tried to get IMAGE BBS 3.0 (a C64 PETSCII BBS) to run on it but the required library complexities burned me out after a couple days and I just configured it quickly on Windows in 15 mins. I am certainly not new to Linux and have been a Linux admin for years and have been using Unix based systems since SunOS in the early 90's. Just was tired of the endless research on how to get it working and gathering all the required support files.

So..... any suggestions? I'd like it to be a headless server performing some kind of important task for either my Synchronet BBS or for my network. Which flavor, and version, Linux would be best on it? It would not be used at Console as a desktop, only headless.

VPN server?
DNS Server?
Some kind of external BBS service for my main BBS?
File Server?

Or just stick in back in the box and forget about it.

-BB

Not sure how invested you are within home automation, but I have a PI for home assistant. If you are not interested in home automation, you can throw a linux distro like Raspbian on it and install docker to run containers. Some good containers for beginners would be:
Tailscale/WireGuard or some other VPN server
PiHole/AdGuard for DNS and ad blocking
Plex or some other media streaming server
Nextcloud for file hosting like Google Drive or OneDrive
ADSB receiver such as FlightRadar24 or PiAware/FlightAware - needs extra hardware
SDR server for use as a radio scanner - needs extra hardware
Network/server monitoring tools such as Zabbix
Vaultwarden for password management

The possibilities are endless. Let me know if you want some more information or need any assistance with anything.

---
þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net

You could put ubuntu on it, and setup shell accounts. So users could have access to a linux shell. Only allow connections from inside your network though. It forces users to get on the bbs. That's a great question!

---
þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net

You make a good point, brother. I was thinking setup linux, and allow shell access. Make it, so users have to login to the bbs to get to the shell account.

---
þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net

You could put ubuntu on it, and setup shell accounts. So users could have access to a linux shell. Only allow connections from inside your network though. It forces users to get on the bbs. That's a great question!

---

Interesting.. Didn't think of shell accounts! Back in the day when I was the General Manager of North Jersey's largest ISP, from '94 to 2001, we had shell accounts for all of our users. Not all of our customers used them but a decent amount did. First we were running Sun SPARC Pizza boxes running SunOS, then Sun Ultra's running Solaris, then switched to massive Compaq servers running Free BSD Linux. With Linux being so easily available for people to run one their own system today, what benefit could I give them if they jump on my BBS then telnet out to my Raspberri PI running Ubuntu? What could I have on there for them to want to do this?

A lot if people only have windows on their computer. I see posts all the time, people wanting to try out linux. They could use your linux box, to host their own little web servers and also browse the web with lynx. I use to have my old board setup with the shell accounts. People were using it for lynx and all different kinds of little server. Some ran irc bots.

---
þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net

A lot if people only have windows on their computer. I see posts all the time, people wanting to try out linux. They could use your linux box, to host their own little web servers and also browse the web with lynx. I use to have my old board setup with the shell accounts. People were using it for lynx and all different kinds of little server. Some ran irc bots.

I think I will have to find a way to segregate the Linux system from my LAN so folks don't find their way into my other machines and devices to snoop and create havoc. Maybe just a simple hardware Subnet using a cheap LlinkSys router port forwarding port 23 into it from my main network. Maybe even changing the IP schema for my LAN to something crazy and hard to find.. like 192.168.173.x. and Linux like a 10x address or sorts?

-BB

That's how I would do it. Last time we had shell accounts setup, my brother set that up. Dude is a magician, when it comes to networking. Maybe one of us should ask him, lol.

---
þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net

Sounds like a cool guy. :)

---
þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net

Sounds like a cool guy. :)

He definitely is! He is the whole reason my bbs is up and running. He is the one that owns the server, and his power bill went up running this thing. He also has fiber, and letting me host all this on his server.

---
þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net

He definitely is! He is the whole reason my bbs is up and running. He is the one that owns the server, and his power bill went up running this thing. He also has fiber, and letting me host all this on his server.

Sounds like the coolest dude ever!

He has came a long way. Well, we both have came a long way. We used to fight, like cats and dogs. I mean it would get physical. I'm glad he forgives me for my child hood antics, lol.

---
þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net

You could put ubuntu on it, and setup shell accounts. So users could have access to a linux shell. Only allow connections from inside your network though. It forces users to get on the bbs. That's a great question!

I have my Raspberry Pi4 on my network now running Ubuntu in it and SSH is working. Trying to figure out how to get port 23 open so my BBS can connect to it. I used the commands I found but still being blocked. I ever turned off the firewall completely.

BTW - Does that Bulletin Door Telnet Out other BBSes support SSH or is it just Telnet?

Also, if the server is just headless, what flavor Linux you think I should put on it? Don't need a killer Desktop at all.

-BB

---
þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net

telnet, but i think there is a unixgate or linuxgate, I don't remember.

---
þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net

Well, I now have my Raspberry Pi4 up and running as a shell server accessible through my BBS. I wasted over an hour trying to figure out how to change the Welcome banner when you telnet to Linux to something else but couldn't get it to work. Gave up for now but the telnet works fine. I already set up an account for you if you wanna try it out. Just email me for the password.

-BB

---
þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net

yeah send me the pw via email. Email on synchronet is encrypted, thank goodness.

---
þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net

Re: Raspberry Pi 4
By: Biggieb to Morningstarr on Sat Apr 18 2026 10:11 pm

I got on your board hoping to play on that shell account. I never got an email lol...



...It works better if you plug it in.

---
þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net

make sure you get sudo access so you can do malicious intent :D

---
þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net

make sure you get sudo access so you can do malicious intent :D

Ummmm.... Notta, LOL

Ohhh yeah, lets go ahead and ruin what we just started hahaha.

---
þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net

I'm going to come by and hop on that shell account in a few!

---
þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net

Re: Raspberry Pi 4
By: Biggieb to Morningstarr on Sat Apr 18 2026 10:11 pm

Well, I now have my Raspberry Pi4 up and running as a shell server accessible through my BBS. I wasted over an hour trying to figure out how to change the Welcome banner when you telnet to Linux to something else but couldn't get it to work. Gave up for now but the telnet works fine. I already set up an account for you if you wanna try it out. Just email me for the password.

Hey man I got on that little pi, and noticed it was pretty quick. I tried to play around some, and noticed somethings weren't installed. What all do you have installed, that I could play around with?



...Ending sentences with prepositions is something up with which I will not put.

---
þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net

Hey man I got on that little pi, and noticed it was pretty quick. I tried to play around some, and noticed somethings weren't installed. What all do you have installed, that I could play around with?

I installed everything available for the Pi4 Debian 13 release and then installed several miscellaneous network programs, can't remember all of them. umm Lynx, Gopher, Telnet, FTP, Alpine, network package so I could use NSlookup and other things, whois, WeChat and another IRC client.... don't really have a list. Do you have anything you'd like installed or anything you think should absolutely be installed?

BTW - thanks for stopping by.

-BB

Setup a tor exit node

---
þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net

I can't think of anything. I did use Lynx, and found out google is not compatible with lynx anymore. It says update the browser...That is trash. I just wanted to know what I could play around with. Thanks for the update.

---
þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net

What is an exit node?

---
þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net

Morningstarr wrote to BiggieB <=-

I can't think of anything. I did use Lynx, and found out google is not compatible with lynx anymore. It says update the browser...That is
trash. I just wanted to know what I could play around with. Thanks for
the update.

You can still use Lynx with duckduckgo.com if you like.


--- MultiMail/Linux v0.52
þ Synchronet þ telnet://cwshack.ddns.net:2330

Morningstarr wrote to Will-E <=-

What is an exit node?

When you use Tor all connections start from your machine and go out.
When they go out they get sent through at least two other nodes.
These nodes are rotated every 15 minutes each.
The first hop in the chain is a middle man node, the second is the exit
that pulls up the web pages as you browse.


--- MultiMail/Linux v0.52
þ Synchronet þ telnet://cwshack.ddns.net:2330

use the onion to get on the dark web and buy some stuff

---
þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net

Re: Re: Raspberry Pi 4
By: Will-E to Khronos on Mon Apr 20 2026 04:10 pm

use the onion to get on the dark web and buy some stuff

Better idea: Use the dark web to share secret documents of an arcane nature, up to and including unredacted versions of *those* files!
________
Kurisu Yamato - xadara.com

---
þ Synchronet þ Revertive Pulse - revertivepulse.net

Ohhhh yeah dude! Isn't it more private than google?

---
þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net

HAHAHA, yeah, I want two groups of files to be released. I would love for them to hurry up and release the Alien files. As far as those other redacted documents. I don't think they will ever see the light of day. Perhaps, they do not exist anymore.

---
þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net

What kind of, "suff" are you talking about? I couldn't think of anything, I would want there! hahaha.....What would you buy from the dark web, sir?

---
þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net

Morningstarr wrote to Khronos <=-

Ohhhh yeah dude! Isn't it more private than google?

I think it is yes.


--- MultiMail/Linux v0.52
þ Synchronet þ telnet://cwshack.ddns.net:2330

You wouldn't say any of these things in public :D

---
þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net

What things are you talking about bro?

---
þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net

You could put ubuntu on it, and setup shell accounts. So users could have access to a linux shell. Only allow connections from inside your network though. It forces users to get on the bbs. That's a great question!

What a great idea! I got people running Minecraft server on the damn thing! They are accessing it over "tailscale" and just have the tailscale daemon running in a detached tmux session - whatever that means- LOL. Frigging screen shot they sent to me through Discord looks great!

Not sure if my Pi 5 is good enough to run the minecraft server I have :D

---
þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net

I want to see the screen shot dude! :)

---
þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net

You don't think it's strong enough? It's not like it's the whole game, just a server. It may take up more resources, than Synchronet. What cpu, is in it and how much ram?

---
þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net

I want to see the screen shot dude! :)

Here it is: https://tinyurl.com/rw2rszu9

I want to see the screen shot dude! :)

Now I'm thinking a Raspberry Pi4 may not be strong enough for a shell account server. I have another Mac mini with an i7, 16GB Ram and 1TB SSD sitting around I could convert to a Linux Server and replace the Raspberry Pi. What ya think? Should I just stick to the Pi4 with 4gb ram and 64gb ssd? I think I can put any flavor Linux on the Mac mini.

I wish I had a mac :(
If I were you I would wait and see how popular shell server access gets.
If I had a mac I would never use this old linux box or windows again.
I have always wanted a mac.

---
þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net