A Conferencing Experiment

NNTP-based conferencing

Our first experiment relies on INN-1.4, a widely-used NNTP server that we're running on our BSDI 2.0 server. Our first conference is about...conferencing systems! It's running at the DNS address dev3.byte.com. Here are some readers I've tried so far:
  1. Netscape: try this.
  2. MS Internet Explorer: set your news host to dev3.byte.com and then try this.
  3. Download Forte's Free Agent, then point the reader at dev3.byte.com, join bytetalk.conferencing.
  4. Download WinVN, point the reader at dev3.byte.com, join bytetalk.conferencing.

There are many other readers I haven't tried yet, such as Nuntius for the Macintosh. Tell us about what you use, and about what works and doesn't work (and why).

And here's a read-only, Web-based view of our first conference, thanks to Earl Hood's MHonArc.

Web-based conferencing: net.Thread

Our second experiment uses net.Thread from net.Genesis. All you need is your browser to join in. We started with an underpowered 486/50, which is still accessible here. But while that's enough hardware for the NNTP server, it got swamped trying to push a big Perl application like net.Thread. So you'll probably want to try net.Thread here instead -- on an SGI Indy.

Web-based conferencing: Cold Fusion Forums

Here's another variation on the Web-based conferencing theme. Allaire's Cold Fusion Forums is a CGI application layered on top of Cold Fusion, a Web-to-ODBC integration tool. Again, all you need is your browser to join in.

Web-based conferencing: Web Crossing

And here's one more Web-based system from Lundeen and Associates. We're running Web Crossing on an SGI Indy. You need to register -- just a name and password -- to check it out.

About conferencing

We're experimenting with a variety of ways to add conferencing to our site. The options, as we see them, are:
  1. Proprietary systems (Lotus Notes, SoftArc's FirstClass). These require that participants either already have, or can freely download, the client software.
  2. Web-based systems that require only a standard Web browser. Examples include HyperNews, net.Genesis' net.Thread, and O'Reilly's forthcoming WebBoard.
  3. NNTP (Net News Transfer Protocol) systems. This scenario involves noncommercial NNTP servers (e.g. InterNet News, INN) or commercial ones (e.g. DNEWS for Windows NT). Likewise there are a variety of commercial and noncommercial readers including Netscape Navigator 2.0, WinVN, FreeAgent, tin, and nn.

Resources

Here's David Woolley's Web conferencing resources list.

Feedback about this experiment.