Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

--- saltbush:bbs [2026-11-09 14:40] – Saltbush Terminal 1.3.1 guides slaterm
+++ saltbush:bbs [2026-11-11 14:59] (current) – Saltbush Terminal 1.9.2 guides slaterm
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-====== BBSes, Zmodem and the SyncTERM list ======
+====== BBSes, file transfers and the SyncTERM list ======
+===== The BBS Directory =====
+{{https://retro.theiguru.au/saltbush/shots/bbs-directory.png?600|The BBS Directory}}
+The BBS Directory is a dialling directory of BBS systems, kept apart from your saved sessions, like the one in SyncTERM. Open it with the **BBS Directory** button on the toolbar (the book), **Tools → BBS Directory…** or the command palette.
+  * **Update lists** downloads the **Synchronet BBS List** and the **Telnet BBS Guide**. Nothing is downloaded until you press it. Saltbush asks the web server to send a list only if it has changed since last time, and keeps the downloaded lists in its settings folder.
+  * The list is grouped: **Recent** (the BBSes you have called, newest first, with the **Kalgoorlie Retro BBS** always at the top), **Your BBS systems** (ones you added), then one group per list. Type in **Search** to find a BBS by name, address or description. Hover over a BBS, or select it, to see its description.
+  * **Connect** (or double-click) opens the BBS in a new tab with the BBS settings (CP437, ANSI-BBS, the VGA font, 80×25, BBS keys), and the BBS moves to Recent. The other settings come from your default session, but not its logins: an RLogin credential, SSH key, agent or X11 forwarding, forwards and logon automation are never used for a BBS from the directory.
+  * **Save as session** adds the BBS to the **Sessions** folder in the Session Manager, like a session made with **New Session**. Use it for BBSes you want to change settings for, log in to with a credential, or use with logon scripts.
+  * **Add…** adds a BBS of your own (name, connection type, address, port, user name and description). **Edit…** changes it and **Remove** deletes it.
+  * A BBS from a list cannot be edited in place, because the next update would undo the change. **Copy and edit…** copies it to **Your BBS systems** to change it there. **Remove from Recent** puts a BBS you have called back in its list.
+==== Where the lists come from ====
+  * The **Synchronet BBS List** is the list Synchronet BBSes share with each other. Saltbush downloads it from ''https://retro.theiguru.au/bbslist/synchronet.lst'': the Kalgoorlie Retro BBS receives the list from Synchronet's list network and exports it once a day with **Telnet addresses first**. Telnet shows each BBS's own login screen, where you can log in or sign up as a new user. (The copy of the list at syncterm.bbsdev.net gives SSH first, which only works if you already have an account on that BBS.)
+  * The **Telnet BBS Guide** list comes from ''http://syncterm.bbsdev.net/telnetbbsguide.lst''.
+  * **Lists…** changes the addresses, adds other lists in the SyncTERM ''.lst'' format, or puts the two standard lists back.
+==== SSH-only BBSes ====
+Some BBSes are listed for SSH only. SSH logs in with your user name on that BBS, so it only works if you already have an account there. For such a BBS (with no user name) Saltbush asks first:
+  * **Connect with Telnet** (port 23 unless you change it) shows the BBS's own login and new-user screen. Most BBSes listed for SSH also answer Telnet.
+  * **Connect with SSH** with your user name on that BBS.
+Your choice is remembered for that BBS, and list updates do not change it.
+==== When a list is updated ====
+  * New BBSes are added, and BBSes you have never called are changed or removed to match the list.
+  * A BBS you have called is **never changed**. If the list gives it a new address, the address column says "new address in list" and **Use new address** switches to it. If the list drops it, it stays in Recent.
+  * Your own BBSes are never touched.
+  * A BBS that is already in the directory at the same address (from another list, your own, or the Kalgoorlie Retro BBS) is not listed twice.
+The directory is kept in ''bbs-directory.json'' in the settings folder (''~/.config/saltbush'' on Linux, ''%APPDATA%\saltbush'' on Windows) and the downloaded lists in ''bbs-lists''. Lantern Terminal 0.6.0 uses the same file format.
 ===== A new BBS session =====
@@ Line 23: / Line 61: @@
 Uploads start when the BBS is ready to receive: start the upload on the BBS and Saltbush asks which files to send. **Transfer → Upload with Zmodem…** also works: the files are sent as soon as the BBS (or ''rz'' in a shell) starts receiving. **Transfer → Cancel Transfer** stops a transfer on both sides.
-Xmodem and Ymodem are in the **Transfer** menu on Linux (they use the ''lrzsz'' programs).
+===== Ymodem, Xmodem and Kermit =====
+All four protocols are built in, on Linux and Windows.
+  * **Ymodem and Xmodem:** start the transfer on the BBS first, then choose it in the **Transfer** menu (**Download with Ymodem**, **Download with Xmodem…**, **Upload with Ymodem…**, **Upload with Xmodem…**). Xmodem does not send a file name, so Saltbush asks where to save the download. The session's **File Transfer** page chooses 128-byte or 1K Xmodem blocks.
+  * **Kermit:** downloads start by themselves when the BBS starts sending. For uploads, start the receive on the BBS, then choose **Transfer → Upload with Kermit…**.
 ===== Import a SyncTERM list =====
-**Tools → Import BBS List…** reads your SyncTERM dialling directory (''syncterm.lst''), shows what it found and adds the BBSes as sessions with the BBS settings. RLogin passwords in the list can be kept as credentials in the password store.
+**Tools → Import BBS List…** reads your SyncTERM dialling directory (''syncterm.lst''), shows what it found and adds the BBSes as sessions with the BBS settings. RLogin passwords in the list can be kept as credentials in the password store (a credential you already have with the same name is never overwritten; the new one gets a name like "Name (2)"). As in the BBS Directory, the imported sessions do not take the default session's logins.
 ===== Door-game bots =====