I miss the old internet. Not the nostalgia-filtered version — the actual texture of it: the screech of a modem handshake, the "You've got mail", BBS door games at 2am, IRC channels that felt like neighborhoods. Most of that infrastructure is gone. So I've been rebuilding it.
FlameNet is my attempt to bring deprecated, abandoned, and frankly beloved services back to life — running on modern infrastructure, but still speaking the old protocols so vintage clients can connect.
What's running
- BBS — a full bulletin board system you can reach over telnet/SSH.
- AIM — re-created AOL Instant Messenger servers. Point an old AIM client at them and your buddy list lights up.
- IRC — with a web frontend for people who don't want to install a client.
- Forums, a fax line, and even Windows XP / Server 2000 hosting for the truly committed.
Old protocols, modern plumbing
None of this runs on period hardware. Everything is containerized with Docker, sits behind a single Traefik reverse proxy with automatic TLS, and gets backed up like any other modern service. The 90s experience is the interface; the 2020s reliability is underneath.
This kicks off a series — I'll document each service as I go. Next up: running a modern BBS. Want to connect in the meantime? Head to flamenet.io.