New free retro ISP with AIM and ICQ support and more

AOL Instant Messenger
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In the vein of early Internet and instant messaging nostalgia, I have been working on a free retro ISP called ChivaNet.

So far, I have the ability for people to:

  • Chat on old AIM/ICQ clients (thanks to the FOSS “Retro AIM Server” project)
  • Participate in a web forum
  • Gain access to Usenet newsgroups via an NNTP server (I have a peer feed with a generous retention policy)

Dialup modem access is also in the works and mostly working–just need to work on a few details to release that service to the public.

This thing runs on a mix of vintage and modern hardware, and the Internet backhaul is a real T1/DS1 line.

Note that my AIM/ICQ service is provided free of charge, not requiring Patreon, and having no paywalls.

If y’all are interested, it’s at https://chivanet.org

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Woohooo! My screen name is mk6i on chivanet :slight_smile:

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nice

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iChat works too, didn’t expect that

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Good to hear!

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this looks cool. i might add this to the old web revival list we have in SpaceHey

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Awesome! Definitely appreciate any chance to spread the word! :slight_smile:

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It seems like i’m a spammer :slightly_frowning_face:

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In what regard? Are you having account issues?

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Well, I wanted to register an account to try out this server, but I can’t get through the spam test (That ask you why should you have an account), but I really don’t have any explanation other than “I want to try it out”.
I understand why is it like this, but for me it’s just a dead end.
(But maybe that something IP related since I have a dynamic IP)

Sorry for bothering you with that.

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The spam test is the “what is the background color of this page?” question. The justification part is just stored with the account, and not checked, nor is there any IP address verification.

You’re not the first to be tripped up by this, so perhaps I need to look into an alternative.

Sorry for the trouble, and no need to apologize to me! It’s no bother at all.

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Man, I feel like an idiot now :man_facepalming:
Sorry.

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You shouldn’t feel that way; it’s not the most straightforward UI. Totally my issue! I’m glad you got your account going though!