117 lines
6.1 KiB
Plaintext
117 lines
6.1 KiB
Plaintext
A Sysop's Peeves
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It takes a special kind of crazy to make an otherwise
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normal-looking human being choose to operate a bulletin board
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system... very often (s)he's placing valuable equipment at the
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mercy of others, and spending valuable time, and not really
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minding a bit. A little acknowledgement, the occasional "thank
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you", and periodic uploads of fresh public domain software seem
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to keep these types happy. However (you knew there had to be a
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however to this, after reading the title, didn't you?), there are
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a few things that can... shall we say... b o t h e r a system
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operator.
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The bothersome users of a bulletin board fall into some
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broad classes, which are not necessarily mutually exclusive nor
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all that well-defined. Some are truly obnoxious, while others can
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get the Sysop upset with a third party, the world in general, or
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with... ummm... the Sysop.
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Let us introduce the first, and most obnoxious, of those
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users capable of having an effect on an operator's blood
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pressure. We'll call him the "Owner", because that's how the
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creature behaves... like he owns the BBS (not likely to endear
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himself to the sap who pays the bills, no?). There are a broad
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range of symptoms displayed by an Owner. First of all, there is
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generally no respect given to all the other users of the system:
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he'll log on at 7 P.M. and stay there downloading files until the
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system (or operator) hangs up on him. At other times he'll call
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for a chat with the Sysop: if the Sysop's not there, he'll leave
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a nasty message complaining about the Sysop's inattentiveness. If
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the Sysop is there, he'll go on at lengths (typing slowly) asking
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why the files HE wants aren't always there, and why the BBS isn't
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tailored to HIS interests and needs. The only thing good about
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this creature is that he will either (1) get bored and suck some
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other Sysop's BBS dry, or (2) get the message that he's being a
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pig.
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Next in our BBS zoo we have the Bull. Owners tend to be
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Bulls, too. A Bull behaves like he's in a china shop, crashing
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about, spending tremendous amounts of time discovering the
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variety of error messages the BBS keeps on file. Now, this sort
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of behaviour is not really frustrating to a Sysop... unless he's
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waiting to use the BBS himself. What REALLY gets the Sysop is
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that a full-scale Bull will refuse to admit that it might be
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faster to read the Help files, and if he does have a question,
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he'll pose it to the Sysop himself. This Sysop has a standard
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response: silence. Any question adequately answered in the Help
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files does not need further attention. Fortunately for Sysops,
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most Bulls are self-curing. They will either discover the Help
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files or puzzle out the BBS structure by trial and error... and
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error... and error...
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Then there's the Apologist, who gets the Sysop mad at
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himself. What happens is the Sysop will complain publicly about
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some Owner or Bull on the system, and the Apologist will then
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leave a message saying he's sorry for spending so much time
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downloading a file, or that he tried various commands before
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going for Help. Why is the Sysop mad? Because a valued user has
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felt badly about the Sysop's complaints, while the REAL object of
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the whole mess never read the rotten complaint anyway!
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Last, and probably Least, is the classic Twit. Twits are
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usually lacking in most of the social graces. A Twit usually is
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unable to spell nor comprehend "courtesy". He'll go right past
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the Sysop's request not to post messages offering to pirate
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software, and then post a message offering to pirate software.
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Requests for clean language are met with profanity, and when the
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offending messages are wiped from the BBS, the Twit will be
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absolutely outraged. Twits tend to run in groups, and will
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descend on a BBS like a horde of locusts. Twits either grow up
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(mentally: a low physical age is not a prerequisite for one to be
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a Twit) or discover a BBS operated by a fellow Twit who tolerates
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them. The "cracker" (what the press erroneously terms a
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"hacker"), who delights in trying to crash remote systems to
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cause maximum discomfort and damage, is a true Twit.
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Thank goodness there is the Decent User. This is the person
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who will upload files someone's looking for, read the messages
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and pipe up if he's got something to say, and will feel a twinge
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of guilt (needlessly) when he downloads that neat-looking big
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file or can't find anything half-decent to contribute. They may
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not be thanked, but they're the ones responsible for the
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continued operation of a BBS.
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- Bob Maxwell,
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Sysop (no foolin', huh?), Turbo BBS,
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Vancouver, B.C. (604) 738-7811
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July 21, 1986
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X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X
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Another file downloaded from: NIRVANAnet(tm)
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& the Temple of the Screaming Electron Jeff Hunter 510-935-5845
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Salted Slug Systems Strange 408-454-9368
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Burn This Flag Zardoz 408-363-9766
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realitycheck Poindexter Fortran 415-567-7043
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Lies Unlimited Mick Freen 415-583-4102
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Tomorrow's 0rder of Magnitude Finger_Man 408-961-9315
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My Dog Bit Jesus Suzanne D'Fault 510-658-8078
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Specializing in conversations, obscure information, high explosives,
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arcane knowledge, political extremism, diversive sexuality,
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insane speculation, and wild rumours. ALL-TEXT BBS SYSTEMS.
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Full access for first-time callers. We don't want to know who you are,
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where you live, or what your phone number is. We are not Big Brother.
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"Raw Data for Raw Nerves"
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X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X
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