Networking and servers • Internet communication services hiding in plain sight. How many?

Hi,

Over the past year or so I have been entertaining myself by researching some of the vintage Internet services many of which appear to be enjoying something of a resurgence.

While researching things like gopher and finger it made me realize that there are quite a few old or obsolete (though still functioning) services on the Internet which are hiding in plain sight.

This is a short list of services researched so far...

BBS/Telnet
Finger
gemini (thats a nice one)
gopher
http/https (the WWW)
IRC
Spartan (seems to be little used)

Having missed-out on the dial-up, BBS/Telnet era I was pleased to find there are still hundreds of BBS servers available to log on to via telnet plus lots of gopher holes still in operation.

So, it made me wonder just how many more obsolete, forgotten or little used communication services are still running over the Internet in addition to those listed above. Or indeed any newer services similar to gemini?

I have to say that I have no interest in any potentially illegal services but would be interested to know if anyone can add to the list above.

Just curious.

pipuppy

Statistics: Posted by pipuppy — Thu Oct 23, 2025 8:48 pm — Replies 1 — Views 89

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