To run telem on a Debian-based system, you will need to install the following packages: sudo apt install lua-penlight lua-posix By default, telem stores BBS-related files unter /var/bbs . To change this path, edit the variable _BBS_ROOT in telem.lua . Under _BBS_ROOT, you will need to create the following hierarchy: boards/ docs/ welcome -- your welcome message rules -- your BBS's rules This hierarchy must be writeable by the telem client. To avoid having it accessible by all users, a C wrapper is provided. We recommend creating a `bbs' user that owns _BBS_ROOT and installing the C wrapper setuid bbs. The man page `telem.1' should be installed in the `man1' folder at an appropriate location in your MANPATH, e.g., at /usr/local/man/man1/telem.1