<s>
Synchronet	B-Protocol
is	O
a	O
multiplatform	B-Operating_System
BBS	B-Application
software	O
package	O
,	O
with	O
current	O
ports	O
for	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
,	O
Linux	B-Application
,	O
and	O
BSD	B-Operating_System
variants	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Past	O
versions	O
also	O
ran	O
on	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
and	O
OS/2	B-Application
,	O
but	O
support	O
for	O
those	O
platforms	O
were	O
dropped	O
in	O
version	O
3.0	O
(	O
circa	O
2000	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Synchronet	B-Protocol
was	O
originally	O
written	O
by	O
Rob	O
Swindell	O
(	O
a.k.a.	O
</s>
<s>
Digital	O
Man	O
)	O
due	O
to	O
his	O
desire	O
for	O
certain	O
features	O
which	O
WWIV	B-Operating_System
lacked	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
support	O
for	O
multiple	O
simultaneous	O
nodes	O
,	O
batch	O
uploads	B-Application
and	O
bidirectional	O
file	B-Protocol
transfer	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
bulk	O
of	O
the	O
programming	O
for	O
the	O
first	O
version	O
of	O
Synchronet	B-Protocol
was	O
done	O
during	O
a	O
two-month	O
period	O
in	O
1991	O
when	O
Swindell	O
was	O
house-ridden	O
while	O
he	O
recovered	O
from	O
surgery	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
software	O
was	O
named	O
for	O
its	O
ability	O
to	O
run	O
synchronously	O
on	O
a	O
network	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
July	O
1991	O
,	O
the	O
author	O
began	O
running	O
his	O
own	O
BBS	B-Application
,	O
Vertrauen	O
,	O
on	O
Synchronet	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Initially	O
,	O
he	O
had	O
no	O
intention	O
of	O
releasing	O
Synchronet	B-Protocol
publicly	O
,	O
but	O
as	O
word	O
of	O
his	O
software	O
spread	O
and	O
he	O
received	O
offers	O
to	O
buy	O
copies	O
of	O
Synchronet	B-Protocol
,	O
he	O
eventually	O
relented	O
,	O
formed	O
a	O
company	O
called	O
Digital	O
Dynamics	O
,	O
and	O
sold	O
copies	O
of	O
Synchronet	B-Protocol
at	O
a	O
price	O
of	O
$100	O
without	O
source	O
code	O
,	O
and	O
$200	O
with	O
source	O
code	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
April	O
1992	O
,	O
Swindell	O
's	O
employer	O
went	O
out	O
of	O
business	O
and	O
he	O
began	O
to	O
rely	O
exclusively	O
on	O
commercial	O
sales	O
of	O
Synchronet	B-Protocol
for	O
his	O
livelihood	O
,	O
placing	O
advertisements	O
in	O
the	O
BBS-related	O
magazines	O
Boardwatch	O
and	O
BBS	B-Application
Callers	O
Digest	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
copy	O
of	O
Synchronet	B-Protocol
sold	O
through	O
the	O
magazine	O
ads	O
was	O
in	O
June	O
1992	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Synchronet	B-Protocol
was	O
the	O
first	O
BBS	B-Application
package	O
to	O
support	O
QWK	O
message	O
networking	O
natively	O
without	O
requiring	O
any	O
external	O
utilities	O
,	O
in	O
version	O
1a	O
revision	O
10	O
,	O
released	O
June	O
25	O
,	O
1992	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
also	O
the	O
first	O
BBS	B-Application
package	O
with	O
RIP	O
support	O
,	O
in	O
version	O
1b	O
revision	O
1	O
,	O
released	O
January	O
23	O
,	O
1993	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Interest	O
in	O
Synchronet	B-Protocol
began	O
to	O
dwindle	O
in	O
late	O
1994	O
,	O
finally	O
becoming	O
nonexistent	O
in	O
1995	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Despite	O
this	O
,	O
a	O
beta	O
version	O
of	O
version	O
2.30	O
of	O
Synchronet	B-Protocol
for	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
and	O
an	O
alpha	O
version	O
for	O
OS/2	B-Application
were	O
released	O
in	O
early	O
1996	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
August	O
1996	O
,	O
Swindell	O
announced	O
the	O
uncertainty	O
of	O
Synchronet	B-Protocol
's	O
future	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1997	O
,	O
version	O
2.30	O
of	O
Synchronet	B-Protocol
was	O
released	O
as	O
freeware	B-License
,	O
and	O
the	O
source	O
code	O
was	O
released	O
into	O
the	O
public	O
domain	O
later	O
that	O
year	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
April	O
1999	O
,	O
Swindell	O
revived	O
Synchronet	B-Protocol
development	O
,	O
revamping	O
it	O
considerably	O
and	O
converting	O
much	O
of	O
the	O
code	O
to	O
C++	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
version	O
,	O
2.30c	O
,	O
was	O
released	O
in	O
December	O
1999	O
,	O
fixing	O
Y2K	B-Error_Name
bugs	I-Error_Name
and	O
introducing	O
some	O
minor	O
new	O
features	O
from	O
the	O
upcoming	O
3.x	O
series	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Version	O
3.00b	O
was	O
released	O
June	O
25	O
,	O
2000	O
and	O
was	O
the	O
first	O
official	O
release	O
of	O
the	O
3.x	O
series	O
,	O
featuring	O
a	O
native	O
32-bit	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
version	O
and	O
many	O
new	O
Internet-related	O
features	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
a	O
built-in	O
telnet	B-Protocol
server	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
October	O
2000	O
,	O
Synchronet	B-Protocol
was	O
released	O
under	O
the	O
terms	O
of	O
the	O
GNU	B-License
General	I-License
Public	I-License
License	I-License
(	O
GPL	B-License
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
He	O
ported	O
the	O
BBS	B-Application
to	O
FreeBSD	O
and	O
did	O
much	O
of	O
the	O
Linux	B-Application
development	O
work	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
His	O
first	O
"	O
big	O
"	O
contribution	O
was	O
an	O
implementation	O
of	O
Borlands	O
conio	B-Language
library	O
to	O
allow	O
the	O
configuration	O
utilities	O
which	O
were	O
originally	O
written	O
for	O
DOS	O
to	O
run	O
on	O
the	O
Unix-like	O
platforms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Around	O
the	O
same	O
time	O
,	O
Swindell	O
started	O
embedding	O
the	O
SpiderMonkey	B-Language
JavaScript	O
engine	O
into	O
Synchronet	B-Protocol
with	O
an	O
eye	O
towards	O
replacing	O
the	O
aging	O
BAJA	O
language	O
which	O
was	O
used	O
for	O
most	O
BBS	B-Application
customizations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
the	O
BBS	B-Application
still	O
requires	O
BAJA	O
scripts	O
,	O
much	O
can	O
be	O
done	O
with	O
JavaScript	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
TCP/IP	O
services	O
written	O
in	O
JavaScript	O
bundled	O
with	O
Synchronet	B-Protocol
include	O
finger	B-Application
,	O
gopher	B-Protocol
,	O
IRC	B-Protocol
,	O
and	O
NNTP	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
More	O
internet	O
services	O
have	O
been	O
added	O
in	O
the	O
native	O
(	O
C	O
)	O
code	O
:	O
FTP	B-Protocol
,	O
SMTP	B-Protocol
and	O
POP3	B-Protocol
by	O
Rob	O
Swindell	O
and	O
rlogin	B-Application
,	O
SSH	B-Protocol
and	O
HTTP	B-Protocol
by	O
Stephen	O
Hurd	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
an	O
interesting	O
full	O
circle	O
,	O
direct	O
dial-up	O
support	O
for	O
Synchronet	B-Protocol
is	O
available	O
again	O
as	O
Rob	O
Swindell	O
wrote	O
a	O
modem	O
to	O
telnet	B-Protocol
gateway	O
program	O
(	O
SEXPOTS	O
)	O
for	O
this	O
purpose	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Using	O
this	O
program	O
,	O
SysOps	O
can	O
once	O
again	O
offer	O
their	O
BBSes	B-Application
via	O
direct	O
modem-to-modem	O
connections	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
xpdev	O
is	O
a	O
cross	B-Operating_System
platform	I-Operating_System
development	O
library	O
which	O
provides	O
such	O
features	O
as	O
threading	O
,	O
.ini	O
file	O
parsing	O
,	O
consistent	O
*	O
printf( )	O
functions	O
,	O
and	O
other	O
small	O
utility	O
functions	O
to	O
the	O
rest	O
of	O
the	O
project	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Effectively	O
every	O
Synchronet	B-Protocol
sub	O
project	O
relies	O
on	O
xpdev	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ciolib	O
ciolib	O
is	O
clean	O
room	O
implementation	O
of	O
Borland	O
's	O
conio	B-Language
library	O
which	O
supports	O
the	O
display	O
of	O
CP437	O
using	O
the	O
Win32	O
console	O
,	O
SDL	B-Operating_System
,	O
X11	B-Operating_System
,	O
curses	B-Device
and	O
ANSI	O
via	O
stdio	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
also	O
has	O
an	O
ANSI	O
terminal	O
emulator	O
which	O
supports	O
ANSI-BBS	O
,	O
ANSI	O
Music	O
,	O
Character	O
pacing	O
for	O
ANSI	B-Protocol
Art	I-Protocol
animation	O
,	O
VT500	B-Application
ESC[ *r	O
sequence	O
for	O
dynamic	O
speed	O
changes	O
,	O
Commodore	O
64	O
PETSCII	B-Protocol
and	O
Atari	O
8-bit	O
ATASCII	B-Protocol
in	O
different	O
screen	O
modes	O
,	O
including	O
80x25	O
,	O
80x28	O
,	O
80x43	O
,	O
80x50	O
and	O
80x60	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
over	O
35	O
fonts	O
imported	O
from	O
the	O
FreeBSD	O
syscons	O
source	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
customize	O
fonts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
UIFC	O
is	O
a	O
text	O
user	O
interface	O
library	O
which	O
provides	O
the	O
menuing	O
system	O
to	O
the	O
text	O
mode	O
configuration	O
utilities	O
bundled	O
with	O
Synchronet	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
SEXYZ	O
(	O
Synchronet	B-Protocol
External	O
X-Modem	B-Protocol
,	O
Y-Modem	B-Protocol
,	O
Z-Modem	B-Device
)	O
is	O
an	O
external	O
file	B-Protocol
transfer	I-Protocol
program	O
which	O
supports	O
X/Y/ZModem	O
transfers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SEXPOTS	O
(	O
Synchronet	B-Protocol
EXternal	O
Plain	O
Old	O
Telephone	O
System	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
modem	O
to	O
telnet	B-Protocol
gateway	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
accepts	O
incoming	O
modem	O
calls	O
and	O
forwards	O
them	O
to	O
the	O
BBS	B-Application
via	O
the	O
Telnet	B-Protocol
or	O
RLogin	B-Application
protocols	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SyncTERM	B-Protocol
is	O
terminal	O
emulator	O
which	O
makes	O
use	O
of	O
xpdev	O
,	O
ciolib	O
,	O
UIFC	O
,	O
and	O
parts	O
of	O
SEXYZ	O
and	O
SEXPOTS	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
to	O
the	O
platforms	O
supported	O
by	O
Synchronet	B-Protocol
,	O
it	O
also	O
runs	O
on	O
Solaris	B-Application
and	O
Mac	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
X	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Supported	O
connectivity	O
options	O
are	O
Telnet	B-Protocol
,	O
rlogin	B-Application
,	O
SSH	B-Protocol
,	O
"	O
Raw	O
"	O
sockets	O
,	O
standard	O
modem	O
connections	O
and	O
direct	O
serial	O
connections	O
(	O
using	O
parts	O
of	O
SEXPOTS	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
pty	O
interface	O
on	O
*	O
nix	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
File	B-Protocol
transfer	I-Protocol
options	O
include	O
the	O
ZMODEM	B-Device
,	O
XMODEM	B-Protocol
and	O
YMODEM	B-Protocol
transfer	B-Protocol
protocols	I-Protocol
(	O
using	O
parts	O
of	O
SEXYZ	O
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
SyncDraw	O
is	O
an	O
ANSI	B-Protocol
art	I-Protocol
editor	O
which	O
was	O
initially	O
a	O
cleanup	O
of	O
an	O
old	O
version	O
of	O
MysticDraw	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
supports	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
TheDraw	B-Protocol
fonts	O
,	O
and	O
can	O
save	O
to	O
the	O
Synchronet	B-Protocol
Control-A	O
code	O
format	O
,	O
but	O
is	O
generally	O
considered	O
too	O
incomplete	O
for	O
serious	O
usage	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Synchronet	B-Protocol
project	O
has	O
shown	O
a	O
willingness	O
to	O
"	O
adopt	O
"	O
third-party	O
BBS	B-Application
related	O
software	O
into	O
its	O
CVS	O
tree	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Generally	O
,	O
the	O
software	O
is	O
updated	O
to	O
use	O
xpdev	O
and	O
run	O
on	O
the	O
platforms	O
that	O
Synchronet	B-Protocol
does	O
and	O
then	O
is	O
left	O
in	O
the	O
CVS	O
tree	O
without	O
active	O
development	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Domain	O
Entertainment	O
was	O
once	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
major	O
companies	O
which	O
wrote	O
addons	O
specifically	O
for	O
Synchronet	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
of	O
their	O
software	O
has	O
since	O
been	O
released	O
as	O
open	O
source	O
and	O
has	O
been	O
imported	O
into	O
the	O
Synchronet	B-Protocol
CVS	O
tree	O
under	O
the	O
xtrn	O
directory	O
.	O
</s>
