"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 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.

> I guess there's some piece I am missing, though, because while interesting, I am also underwhelmed by it.

I'm a relatively new member of SDF, and I can tell you my experience and rationale.

From the "underwhelming" perspective, SDF and anything like it is what you make of it. If you aren't the sort to see a system like this and question the possibilities, then really nothing other than the relatively sparse (but very colorful) community will hold your interest.

The actual kinetic experience is humorously nostalgic. I need a .kshrc file and a .profile. I need to remember how to work with terminals that still assume in some universe ^H is useful. I need to be careful about structuring and writing data because SDF sometimes has pretty bad I/O issues.

For me, not only is it interesting to see this sort of social media platform (loosely bound by legacy services and shared hardware, not a more manufactured theme park like this website), but it's a challenge. I'd like to host some writing content and I'd like to do that from the ground up in a way that is possible from SDF.

Maybe that's just an exercise in nostalgia (certainly it reminds me of the first blog software I wrote in 2001, a series of perl scripts using the file system as a database, to share stories with my university classmates). Maybe it's a technical challenge worth walking through (we're so used to... you know... unlimited space and hardware dynamically scaled and readily available to first world budgets). Making something work on SDF demands consideration to the system. If it breaks anything you'll be thrown off. That used to be the norm for shared computing when I was a kid (and I was nowhere near the programmer I am now; I got thrown off a few systems for tight loops without backoff), and I'd like to see how capable I am now.

So maybe you'll also like watchbuilding. It's a nice change of pace from tankbuilding. And one of the locals is talking to me about how they're a hobbyist radio operator working on mesh networks via radio and the entire subject is fascinating. So there is that.

I joined because it offered server access similar to what I received at University and I've moved a bit and this allows me to keep my internet presence stable. It's a great set-up and community. These days it is less necessary due to the rise of cloud based VPS providers, but it offers more of a community compared to those. the other thing is commercial operators come and go. SDF has been around for a long time and because it is community driven it is likely to stay. The fact that it has been around longer than any other alternative also attracted me to it.

I signed up in 1999 or 2000 to get shell access and a bit of online space on a system less restrictive than my university. I've been a MetaARPA member for almost all this time and added DBA a few years ago.

I don't really engage with the community, but its members do interesting things that frequently turn up here, which is cool. I'm just happy to pay my dues as patronage for the community and occasionally use my disk quota and services for personal projects.

Bonus question: how is the branch in Europe doing?

I'm using it as a playground for all kinds of half-baked ideas, mostly CGI scripts. I don't remember joining a community! :)

Its a pretty nice email service.