[nos-bbs] secret "." option?

[Maiko Langelaar]

> Is there some super-secret login option for JNOS that
> uses “.” before the callsign?

Arrggggg !!! The release notes talk about this, but let me explain.

A long time ago I put in an option to accomodate Airmail Telnet Clients,
so that if the login had a '.' in front, JNOS would simply set a CRONLY
option. JNOS by default is 'transparent' if they are referring to this
IAC character.

> After switching to bleeding2, I started seeing login failures from
> my BPQ partner.  He is trying to log in with a “.” (dot/period) before
> his callsign:  “.ag6qo”

That's probably in his script, have him remove the period, because the
login will now fail. That would probably show a failed login actually
or 'no such area message'.

> “If you are connecting to an FBB BBS and you want to use compressed
> forwarding, you must [precede] the [User] with a [dot], eg .g8bpq. This will
> tell FBB to use a [transparent] TCP session instead of a Telnet session. It
> is not needed for other systems.”

Exactly, it is NOT needed for JNOS, it's only for FBB.

Now if there is still an issue after the period has been removed, then I
would suggest setting up a telnet server (start telnet 8011 cronly), and
have the BPQ system connect to your port 8011, without leading period.

> The fact that the “.” was allowed up until now makes me wonder if it
> actually served some purpose.  So, is it a hidden (undocumented) option for
> JNOS?  Or was it mistakenly ignored?

No, I was stupid and didn't know any better 6 or 10 or whatever years
ago, and now I'm trying to do it 'right', so far I am failing by the
sounds of it :(

Anyways, please give that a try and let me know what happens.

Maiko