99 lines
5.1 KiB
Plaintext
99 lines
5.1 KiB
Plaintext
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REAL OPERATORS GUIDE...
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Brought to you by the Hexagon Suite
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...RULES TO LIVE BY
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1. Real operators don't call themselves "SysOp" and don't have
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silly handles.
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Ever seen operators with handles such as "THE MASTER" or
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"TECHRAT" or some such other nonsense? Have a little
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dignity. And "SYSOP" is such a meaningless handle.
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This goes for users in general as well. If you're going
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to be using a handle for the rest of your lifetime in the
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modem world, why not pick an appropriate and interesting one?
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2. Real operators know how to spell, and have a moderate grasp
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of English grammar.
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How many systems have you called on which the operator
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couldn't spell to save his life? If you're heading an
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organization designed for the distribution of free
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information (presumably that's why most people run a system
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in the first place), shouldn't you have enough of a grasp of
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the English language to get your point across at all?
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3. Real operators can type faster than 20 words per minute.
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Every get into chat with a system operator only to find
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out he types slower than your grandmother? It's a rather
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worrying experience. This doesn't mean that an operator
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should be able to type 120 words per minute with 100%
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accuracy; merely that he should be able to get his point
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across in a minimal amount of time. After all, if you're
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going to be communicating with all your users via this medium
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-- the typewriter -- you'd better be able to type.
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4. Real operators don't pick silly names for their system.
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How many systems have you seen around the country called
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"THE TAVERN" or "FORTRESS"? Again, if you're going to go
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through the trouble of putting up a system, why not give it
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an interesting title? Different titles always attract more
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users than the same old same mold.
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5. Real operators write their own system software.
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Most users are tired of calling systems with the same old
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software used by a hundred others -- Wildcat, QuickBBS, and
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the like grow old very quickly. In addition, that
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"UNREGISTERED EVALUATION VERSION" message at each log on
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tends to get on the nerves as well. If you're going to put
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up a system, why not do the original authors of it the
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courtesy of _registering_ their system software package?
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If you don't have the expertise necessary to write your
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own system, perhaps you shouldn't be running one at all.
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Good systems are characterized by the computer literacy of
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the management.
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6. Real operators run their systems 24 hours a day.
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Ever seen "Call this BBS -- from 9pm to 6am. It's run on
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my own private line..."? Why bother putting up a system if
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it's only going to be up on a partial time schedule? All
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this does is complicate things for both the user and the
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operator. The user is never sure of when are the exact times
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allowed to call the system, and because of this, the operator
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gets calls from modems all the time. In addition, many BBS
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lists don't have a field for hours up, so new users getting
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the BBS number from there may not even _know_ that it's not
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24 hours. And I'm almost embarrassed to say I've called a
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system that had call-waiting on the phone line! Users would
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kick each other off trying to get on.
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7. Real operators don't call other systems on their own system
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line.
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It's a little ridiculous to tie up the system that you've
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put all your time and effort (and perhaps money) to set up
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just to get onto a few other systems. For God's sake, get
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another phone line!
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8. Real operators have a separate, distinct phone line for their
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system.
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This follows a few of the other guidelines above. If
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you're going to invest in system software, you might as well
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go the extra length and get a separate phone line for it.
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Otherwise...why bother?
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9. Real operators run their system off a hard drive of
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reasonable size.
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How many systems have you called and been shocked to find
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out that they're running off of two floppy disks? Be
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serious. You can't have any system worth calling on only a
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meg or so.
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10. When real operators call other systems, they don't advertise
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their system at the end of their every post.
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It's annoying to see "CALL MY BBS -- 408-555-1212" at the
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end of someone's post every single time. If anything, this
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would probably make other users _not_ want to call your
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system.
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-)(-
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