
SDF Public Access Unix System - tosh
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SDF_Public_Access_Unix_System
======
j_s
This page is anonymous |
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5638988](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5638988)
(4 years ago)

[http://voidnull.sdf.org/](http://voidnull.sdf.org/)

"there is one place where you can still host your content anonymously. That
place is the Super Dimension Fortress or SDF. SDF lets you register an
anonymous user over ssh (which is accessible via the Tor network) and takes
cash over mail in order to validate the user."

"I challenge you to send me a postcard to my mailing address with the content
that says "I see you voidnull" and a self-addressed postage-paid envelope. I
will then send you a $10 bill back as a prize."

\--

SDF – Public Access Unix System |
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14134798](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14134798)
(4 months ago)

~~~
int_19h
Doesn't it simply put the maintainers of SDF in line of fire (legal and
otherwise) for any anonymous content hosted there that annoys someone?

~~~
zkms
I think most people who use SDF are aware that it is a public good whose
existence depends on its users not drawing too much fire to it. If you want to
do evil and/or illegal things, there are better places to host content.

------
sdf_pubnix
SDF has a free streaming music service called aNONradio with live (including
daily openmic) and archived content. A handful of its members produce original
content shows available at [http://anonradio.net](http://anonradio.net)

------
sdf_pubnix
Celebrating 30 years right now at the Vintage Computer Festival being held at
Computer History Museum in Mountain View California. Can't be there? join
virtually: ssh vcf@tty.livingcomputers.org and choose option 1.

~~~
pmiller2
I wish I knew this was going on this weekend!

------
sdf_pubnix
SDF has an active group of "phloggers" which are proxied to the web here:
[https://sdf.org/?gopher](https://sdf.org/?gopher)

------
atsaloli
I used to have an account on Nyx. [https://www.nyx.net/](https://www.nyx.net/)

"Nyx, the world's oldest Internet Service Provider, is a free public-access
ISP that free e-mail, (including webmail), web space, web/domain hosting, a
full, uncensored Usenet newsfeed, Linux shell accounts and the usual
Unix/linux programming and development tools."

It started out on a PDP system at University of Denver in the eighties.
[https://www.nyx.net/history.html](https://www.nyx.net/history.html)

I used it in the early nineties as a teenager.

------
greggyb
I've always been interested in this and other online communities. I guess
there's some piece I am missing, though, because while interesting, I am also
underwhelmed by it.

Is there anyone who is a member that could tell me what it's like or why you
joined?

Note: this is not an aggressive post. I want to know more and would love to be
induced to joining this community. I just don't get it.

~~~
tyingq
"Back in the day" these were popular because you might have a modem, but not
IP internet access. So places that provided a dial up Unix shell had value.
That is, a plain terminal dial up. Dial up to their shell, ftp a copy of some
software, then download via zmodem or Kermit.

[http://nyx.net](http://nyx.net) was similar.

After slip and ppp became popular some still used these as a home base of
sorts. Like you might keep files there so you could get to them from different
client machines when traveling. There was also typically a community there
that would help with questions, share news, etc, not too unlike HN.

------
Rjevski
I'm wondering how these shell providers deal with malicious users. In security
the standard response to an untrusted person getting shell access/code
execution is to reinstall the entire server due to the risks of kernel
privilege-escalation exploits. How do those people manage this risk given
they're allowing shell access on purpose? Or are they already pwned and just
not know it?

~~~
KirinDave
BSD derivative systems have a lot better isolation than mondern Linux systems.
In fact, one Docker "port" for FreeBSD is an interface over their jails
functionality and it can be difficult to tell uourr even in a jail at first.
They all have a much richer history of supporting multi-user machines.

Linux's route to multi-user is a very different history with very different
use cases. It's also got a much richer history around single user machines
(and the performance, efficiency and support gains you get from focusing
there).

------
sdf_pubnix
One of the big features of SDF is the MetaArray. it gives members around 800GB
per account of storage both NextCloud and direct shell access
[https://sdf.org/?tutorials/metaarray](https://sdf.org/?tutorials/metaarray)

------
brudgers
SDF Home page, [http://sdf.org/](http://sdf.org/)

~~~
pmorici
Seems like the lion's share of the updates were last made about 10 years go.

~~~
KirinDave
Just when EC2 was leading the charge of on-demand cloud services,
coincidentally.

------
drudru11
Cool exhibit - they had an old ATT blit terminal connected via old Telebit
Trailblazers.

~~~
joshu
[http://imgur.com/a/b46vt](http://imgur.com/a/b46vt)

------
feelin_googley
Favorite part of SDF was/is TWENEX/Tops-20.

More on TENEX/Tops-20 from author of TECO:
[http://tenex.opost.com/hbook.html](http://tenex.opost.com/hbook.html)

Decades later, TECO still available for a variety of OS. Compiles cleanly, at
least on BSD.

[http://github.com/blakemcbride/TECOC](http://github.com/blakemcbride/TECOC)

[http://web.archive.org/web/20160321191408/http://tilt.twenex...](http://web.archive.org/web/20160321191408/http://tilt.twenex.org/)
[http://wiki.twenex.org/](http://wiki.twenex.org/)
[http://web.archive.org/web/20161031045254/http://www.twenex....](http://web.archive.org/web/20161031045254/http://www.twenex.org:80/?locke)

~~~
cicero
I played with TECO on Unix for a while many years ago as well as a similar
character editor (I think it was called SPEED) on the Data General MV8000
Eagle at Texas A&M. Editing with those editors is like solving a puzzle. It
was fun, but I always moved back to a screen editor to be more productive.
However, I imagine on a slow Teletype, TECO was a good way to go because it is
so terse.

