Interview with Alistair Ross from @AlsGeekLab - Back to the BBS, going #Retro and more!

Here is an interview with @VidaDigital, originally aired 28th July 2025 where I chat everything retro, from Atari 2600/VCS, ZX Spectrum, and IBM PC XT to today’s maker scene, and to explain how modern cybersecurity practice shapes the way he runs and protects vintage systems. We talk nostalgia’s pull (the smells, sounds, and CRT glow), the move from Scotland to New Zealand and what that meant for access to gear, and even why the famously beefy UK plug reflects a tradition of safety‑first engineering, much like the internet standards that still underpin the modern net. Alistair unpacks the BBS resurgence: disappointment with a homogenised, corporate web drove hobbyists back to sysop‑run spaces where community matters. Modern boards run over Telnet/SSH and can bridge to APIs for news, weather, and chats; clients like SyncTERM make dialing in easy. From a security lens he recommends containerising BBS services, strict least privilege, and favouring Linux for isolation; user access should start at low levels and only be elevated after trust is earned. For home labs: split traffic with two SSIDs and VLANs, keep retro boxes on untrusted segments, and remember old machines often can’t do SSH - so plan defenses around clear‑text Telnet where needed. We cover counterfeit parts (how to spot sanded/re‑marked ICs, why to verify with ROM dumps, and when to buy from Mouser vs. eBay/AliExpress/Temu) and celebrate a community that helps each other, from FujiNet’s fast hardware/software iteration to Perifractic’s bid to revive the Commodore brand, plus forums like VCFed and Vogons. Asked which late retro icon he’d most like to interview, Alistair chooses Gary Kildall, outlining how CP/M’s APIs and BIOS abstraction seeded the microcomputer era and how history often gets the story wrong. He also recalls lessons from interviews with Ken & Roberta Williams (Sierra): pioneers built from passion; today’s breakthroughs feel iterative except for inflection points like AI. Media that shaped him? BBC’s push around the BBC Micro with serious engineering, Econet networking, and classroom focus, plus magazines that taught kids to type, debug, and learn. On building for old platforms, Alistair mixes joyfully simple QuickBasic with modern workflows: write on a fast machine, cross‑compile with OpenWatcom or DJGPP, test in DOSBox, then copy to real hardware and even draft small games with Gemini CLI before refining. He notes id Software’s Doom used a similar cross‑compile workflow on NeXT. Future collabs he’d love? Deep hardware/firmware projects with teams like FujiNet, and admiration for projects such as PicoGUS and PicoMem that extend 8‑bit ISA machines, ideally while keeping upgrades removable so the original hardware (and smells!) remain. He also walks through software preservation, flux‑level imaging with Greaseweazle, sharing drivers to archive.org, and his balanced view on abandonware vs. active copyrights. Finally, Alistair offers guidance for newcomers: try emulation first, then step into hardware as budget allows (prices are rising); participate in forums; contribute images, manuals and code so others can restore machines tomorrow. 00:49 – What first hooked Alistair on computers. 01:01 – Nostalgia explained: senses, CRTs, and why old machines feel different. 08:16 – Scotland → New Zealand: access, scarcity, and the Poly‑1; why UK/US had more gear. 14:28 – Internet standards with staying power (IP/ARPANET lineage). 26:57 – Why BBSes came back; documenting the scene in Back to the BBS. 35:56 – Putting retro boxes on today’s networks: two SSIDs, VLANs, IoT segregation. 45:00 – PCB fabs, repro parts, and counterfeit IC traps &testing 58:11 – The pioneer he’d most like to interview: Gary Kildall (CP/M, BIOS, APIs). 1:00:45 – Lessons from Ken & Roberta Williams (Sierra), and where true innovation is happening now (AI). 1:04:11 – BBC’s national push: BBC Micro, Econet, and why we need kid‑friendly, offline computing again. 1:19:02 – Modern dev workflow for old targets: OpenWatcom/DJGPP, DOSBox tests, copy to real iron. 1:19:20 – Doom’s NeXT cross‑compile workflow as precedent. 1:20:57 – Projects just outside his solo wheelhouse; why he’d love to collaborate with FujiNet. 1:26:06 – PicoMem/PicoGUS ambitions, RP2040 limits, and pushing ISA 8‑bit PCs further. 1:31:00 Keeping originals original: removable mods, smells, and tactile authenticity. 1:37:06 – Abandonware norms, archive.org, and flux‑level imaging with Greaseweazle; why preservation matters. 1:54:19 – Why Alistair makes documentaries (and why some popular origin stories are wrong). 1:55:19 – How to get started today: emulators → affordable hardware → contribute images/manuals → join the forums. 2:03:53 – Wrap‑up, where to follow Al’s work; Back to the BBS & Kildall docs. Don't forget to LIKE this video and please SUBSCRIBE to my channel! Check out my Patreon: https://patreon.com/alsgeeklab