JNOS has been described as a monolithic software application for amateur packet radio (ax.25) and ip networking. It is a user-space threads application, whose origins can be traced back to Phil Karn's KA9Q/NOS software. In fact, NOS was the linux of it's time, transforming simple DOS machines into multiuser/multitasking TCP/IP environments. JNOS is not alone. Similar applications worth noting are MFNOS by Barry Siegfried (K2MF), TNOS by Brian Lantz (KO4KS), and WAMPES by Dieter Deyke (DK5SG/N0PRA) - each (including JNOS) taking ideas and bits and pieces from the others ...

JNOS is first and foremost a router for ax.25, netrom, and ip protocols - ip over rf is possible by encapsulating the ip in ax.25 frames. It is a packet node, bbs, personal mailbox system, convers server (chatroom), offers a variety of tcp services, supports ax.25 tunnels (axip and axudp) over wired networks, supports ip encapsulation (ipip and ipdup) over wired networks. It provides F6FBB message forwarding capabilities, including the B2F protocol used by the Winlink / RMS systems. JNOS offers APRS services, including Igate and APRS messaging. Users can access the bbs (mailbox) via a web browser. APRS messaging and stats are also available through a web browser. JNOS makes a decent telnet node. Users connecting from RF can send messages to other systems linked by RF (not just the internet) or can email people on the internet. JNOS has built in SMTP so that it can deliver email on it's own. JNOS can be used for HF forwarding, features a few hostmode interfaces for several pactor modems, and has tcp clients to MultiPsk, WINMOR, and AGW PE tcp/ip servers. JNOS uses kiss based tnc interfaces for packet, but you can run baycom and soundcard interfaces as well.

The original JNOS 1.11f and earlier distributions do not support a lot of the features mentioned above, features only available in the JNOS 2.0 distribution maintained by myself, and started back in October of 2004. Over the years, JNOS 2.0 has made it to 4 different platforms - DOS, Linux, WIN32, and Mac. Linux has been the primary development platform for a few years now, while DOS has fallen behind to the beginning of 2008, stuck at version 2.0f for now. The WIN32 port was a concept project from years ago which I recently started working on again, and Mac has fallen behind to 2006, the PowerPC era ...

I believe JNOS is an excellent platform for the packet radio enthusiast who likes to experiment. It has a dedicated worldwide following since the early 90s, and I strive to keep it as compatible as possible with modern environments. Development is not as fast paced as some may like, but people are more then welcome to ask for bug fixes and/or enhancements. JNOS 2.0 is free and it's available to all for amateur radio use only.

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* last updated on Monday, July 5, 2021