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Raspberry Pi 4
From
BiggieB to
all on Monday, April 13, 2026 22:14:23
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
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From
Will-E@HOBBYSPC to
BiggieB on Tuesday, April 14, 2026 12:35:34
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.
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þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net
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From
Morningstarr@HOBBYSPC to
BiggieB on Tuesday, April 14, 2026 17:15:22
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!
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þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net
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From
Morningstarr@HOBBYSPC to
Will-E on Tuesday, April 14, 2026 17:16:51
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.
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þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net
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From
BiggieB to
Morningstarr on Tuesday, April 14, 2026 22:06:52
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!
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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?
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From
Morningstarr@HOBBYSPC to
BiggieB on Tuesday, April 14, 2026 22:27:43
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.
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þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net
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From
BiggieB to
Morningstarr on Tuesday, April 14, 2026 23:24:22
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
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From
Morningstarr@HOBBYSPC to
BiggieB on Wednesday, April 15, 2026 15:37:46
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.
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þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net
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From
Will-E@HOBBYSPC to
Morningstarr on Wednesday, April 15, 2026 20:15:11
Sounds like a cool guy. :)
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þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net
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From
Morningstarr@HOBBYSPC to
Will-E on Wednesday, April 15, 2026 21:01:28
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.
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þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net
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From
BiggieB to
Morningstarr on Wednesday, April 15, 2026 21:45:26
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!
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From
Morningstarr@HOBBYSPC to
BiggieB on Wednesday, April 15, 2026 22:12:53
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.
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þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net
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From
Biggieb@HOBBYSPC to
Morningstarr on Thursday, April 16, 2026 22:44:50
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
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þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net
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From
Morningstarr@HOBBYSPC to
Biggieb on Friday, April 17, 2026 16:04:28
telnet, but i think there is a unixgate or linuxgate, I don't remember.
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þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net