Vice -v- Vintage Hardware

[detnyre]

Are most of the Telenet BBS's that are up and running use vintage hardware or using Vice on a PC?

I'm in the planning stage of setting up an "in-house" BBS system that I can connect all of my retro computers to.

I would like to eventually open up the BBS to the outside world via the internet and packet radio. I live in a motor home which makes this a bit interesting to do.

I'm thinking about either using a DOS BBS system or a Commodore BBS system using Vice emulator - just can't make up my mind....

Derek

[Golan Klinger]

detnyre said:

Are most of the
Telenet BBS's that are up and running use vintage hardware or using Vice on a PC?

I only know of a couple that run under VICE. The majority run on actual Commodore hardware. VICE requires patching before it is capable of running a BBS so a would-be sysop couldn't just run VICE, load their favorite BBS software and be up and running in a few minutes. Whether one chooses to use retro hardware or to emulate, there are considerable barriers to putting up a Commodore BBS.

[Excalibur]

Alot of it will depend on what you are most comfortable with. Currently my board is vintage hardware with a CMD HD and a Ramlink. However (comma) I am working on the issues DMBBS has with VICE and will be moving it off the vintage hw to the emulator in a few days with the public release slated for sometime next year. I'm doing this because "my" point of view is the inherent headaches will be easier to deal with having a mouse and a window to guide me vs. the "what I feel" is the cumbersomeness (is that a word? LOL) of the old hardware. So, it all boils down to whichever you feel is easiest for you to use...the emulator running in the background on your regular PC or a dedicated commodore system. No "real" difference other than that IMHO.