Developer Axel Andersson’s Zanka Software recently released Wired, a free and open-source BBS-style client/server system that provides chat, messaging, and file transfer functions. It consists of a portable open-source UNIX server, which includes a System Preferences panel, and a Mac OS X client.
Wired uses Unicode for all text communications, which allows seamless integration of every existing written language in chat and messages. “Now you can finally host that Klingon server you’ve always wanted,” notes the Zanka Web site.
The system also employs the TLS protocol for encrypted transport, which allows it to use the 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) cipher with a newer version of the OpenSSL library, for example. The administrator controls which ciphers are available and can choose to use no encryption if the environment is already secure.
In addition, Wired features support for the Hotline legacy protocol, which allows interaction with clients on platforms where a native Wired client doesn’t exist yet, such as Microsoft Windows. It only supports the chat function, however.
While Wired is a free download, Zanka Software does ask for a donation via PayPal.