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Although we don't normally announce every release (since we've been in a rolling release model for some time now) I did want to mention that we've pushed a fairly significant update, version 919 of the text client and 920 of all other components.
Important changes are as follows:
* libical is no longer included with Easy Install. Building the new version just-in-time from source would require CMake, which we don't want to require.
(Everything we've done over the last two years has been intended to simplify, not complicate, the build.)
* The legacy room-sharing network (IGnet) is no longer supported.
* GNU Autotools has been mercilessly removed from the text client. Our new build system (playfully referred to as "conf-IG-ure") is a million times simpler and works on 99.99999% of the computers people actually *have* in the real world. This build system will eventually appear in all Citadel components.
* Through the use of a clever but sleazy hack, this version brings the triumphant return of the *actual* bounce messages received when an outbound email can't be delivered, instead of an unhelpful stock SMTP code generated by libcurl.
Share And Enjoy (tm).
* The legacy room-sharing network (IGnet) is no longer supported.
And like the old painter's joke that NEVER gets old, "You msised a spot."
:)
Referring to . <K>nown <S>hared rooms in the text client (of which I use exclusively)
In my absense, I am very pleased to see some of the legacy Citadel concepts rebranded, replaced or removed. Welcome to 2018. Having Aides is not a clever thing to say out loud to anyone any more, and with most operating systems having ditcched 'telent' and 'ftp' for more secure alternatives, any dialup related functions surely would fall under security enhancements.
Keep looking forward - anyone who doesn't like the direction I'm sure will not be discouraged from keeping their Citadel on an older build until they can fully adopt the new conventions, despite being human nature to always be attracted to "shiny new things". :)
Noted and fixed. At some point we'll probably need to do a major overhaul
of the text client ... it's still built on the bones of the 30 year old dialup
client, and could really use a leaner and cleaner foundation. When was the
last time someone used Xmodem?
An overhaul would certainly lighten the client a bit, maybe even more than
a
bit. The flow of using the text client is still very sleek and practical for
people breezing through to check new messages, contribute if they feel and
move on with their day. While connection time was the origianl motivation
for the design, I think the spirit of that workflow still has merit today.
I live in a world of nostalgia, so as long as I feel like I'm still on a BBS, removing featuers that can't possibly be used today such as Xmodem wouldn't diminsh the Citadel experience IMO.
bit. The flow of using the text client is still very sleek and practical for
people breezing through to check new messages, contribute if they feel and
move on with their day. While connection time was the origianl motivation
for the design, I think the spirit of that workflow still has merit today.
I live in a world of nostalgia, so as long as I feel like I'm still on a BBS, removing featuers that can't possibly be used today such as Xmodem wouldn't diminsh the Citadel experience IMO.
Some porn is more easily found in A Certain Notorius ExUncensored Felon's home than the internet. Or, at least, used to be, before he became a felon.
Heh. Since many of our new friends are from the old Sacramento BBS scene, some of them might actually remember him.
All right, we're all thinking it; someone might as well say it.
Do any of you folks from the old SacCit scene remember a particularly troublesome chap who used the screen name "Curly Surmudgeon" ?
Do any of you folks from the old SacCit scene remember a particularly troublesome chap who used the screen name "Curly Surmudgeon" ?
THIS 10-watt bulb? The name rings a bell. Can't say much more than that.
I see that he's now doing 10 years in the California Penal System - probably out in 5, though. If he was as much of a Citadel fan as suggested, I suspect you guys willl be hearing from him in 2021. I bet he'll use a different name, though. https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/sacramento-man-receives-10-year-prison-term-child-pornography-case
Yeah, that's him. He was one of those people who was both very loud and too
socially dysfunctional to know that he was essentially napalming any conversation
he got involved in. He was eventually asked to leave. My understanding is
that this was a reputation he gained pretty much everywhere he had been in
the past.
At one point, someone randomly called him a pedophile, and his getting-bent-out-of-shape kicked up to 12 (11 was his normal volume). He started threatening to sue everyone involved and telling us that he was going to seek to take over our DNS domain name as part of the damages. This went on for some amount of time until we successfully locked out any way for him to get back in (blacklisting particular networks and such).
Then some time later, someone was doing a whatever-happened-to-him web search, and we learned that he really was a pedophile and had been sent to jail. It was surreal to say the least.
With a story like that, you can understand how we'd be curious to hear any other stories that might be told by someone *from* the old SacCit scene.
At one point, someone randomly called him a pedophile, and his getting-bent-out-of-shape kicked up to 12 (11 was his normal volume). He started threatening to sue everyone involved and telling us that he was going to seek to take over our DNS domain name as part of the damages. This went on for some amount of time until we successfully locked out any way for him to get back in (blacklisting particular networks and such).
Then some time later, someone was doing a whatever-happened-to-him web search, and we learned that he really was a pedophile and had been sent to jail. It was surreal to say the least.
With a story like that, you can understand how we'd be curious to hear any other stories that might be told by someone *from* the old SacCit scene.
probably out in 5, though. If he was as much of a Citadel fan as
suggested, I suspect you guys willl be hearing from him in 2021. I
He's tried using different names but he was so transparent that it was easy to spot him.
Being a convicted pedophile, if he does get out early, his probation will probably be similar to the time between his arrest and conviction, where he was prohibited from using computers except for work, and even that was with special monitoring software installed. So the knowledge that he'd be seen and reported (either by the software or by us) would probably be enough to keep him away.
OMG, I even recall that name from the early days of the Internet. More messages
moved to Bitbucket> than anyone ever. Today, I wonder how close to Howard
Stern he would have been, though? <Duck>
I didn't ever ask him to leave Haven BBS, however I did restrict his access to the Network rooms. I don't remember if I made it so he couldn't see them, or if he just couldn't post, thinking on it, I think I made it so he couldn't see the rooms. He eventually left after I did something that made him angry, I think it might have been enforcing the rules that the BBS operated under.
In any case, the news release says "Albert Lee Mitchell ... was sentenced
Wednesday to 10 years in federal prison followed by a lifetime of supervised
release." So even if he is let out of prison early, the "supervised release"
will almost certainly include having his online activity monitored and restricted
to work activity. But by then he'll be well into his 70's and probably won't
be working, and as roadkill suggested last year, he seemed to have been slipping
into senility anyway.
It's over ... and yet, even after a couple of years, it's so surreal that I can't stop thinking and talking about it. Does anyone else feel that way?
It's over ... and yet, even after a couple of years, it's so surreal that I can't stop thinking and talking about it. Does anyone else feel that way?
I know that one of the Citadel variants I used to run (Pseudodel, I think)
had a cool option, which was VERY useful. It allowed a user to enter messages,
but when they hit Save, it never actually wrote anything to disk. A clever
way to waste their time, but still hogged the phone line. I think that kind
of feature could still have its uses even today.
Yes, we have something like that too. If a user is set to access level 2
(Problem User) anything they post is automatically saved in the Trashcan>
room instead of wherever they tried to post it.
Either that's news or I was way too distracted... last time I tested a "problem user" in test server I currently have (i.e., months ago), the "Enter a message" button would simply not work; it'd not open the Post message window nor do anything.