
                      ----------------------------------

                      B  B  S  *  B  U  L  L  S  H  I  T

                      ----------------------------------



                              REQUIEM FOR A SYSOP
                              -------------------

             Excerpt from an article in "PC WEEK", Nov. 20, 1984:

    "There may be no such thing as a  free  lunch, but there is an ample supply
of free software that's yours for the asking.   All  you have to do is dial up,
make a connection, browse through a couple  of  menus, check over long lists of
available software, make your choices and start downloading."

    Exchange of E-Mail between sysop and BBS user:


    -   Well, John, the good news is  that  the  faulty file has been fixed but
        the bad news is that your  downloading privileges have been revoked.  I
        just went through the last two  months  of  logs  and came up with some
        interesting statistics.  During that time you  have logged on 23 times,
        downloaded 66 files and uploaded NONE.  You have called for chat twice,
        and left a  total  of  two  messages  on  the  board,  one requesting a
        specific program and the  other  informing  me  of  a  disk  error in a
        download file.  I can only draw  the conclusion that you are interested
        in this board for ONE REASON ONLY  --  to rape hell out of the download
        menus. I've left plenty of messages  regarding PARTICIPATION in the BBS
        and the Message Base, but  you  either  haven't  read  them or else you
        ignored them.  Sorry, but  one-way  streets  just  don't hack it around
        here.  Jim.


    -   Jim, I have been taking part in  the  BBS.   Every time I log on I read
        all the new messages.  John.


    -   John, I just can't help but feel  that  in all that time you could have
        at least said  "Hi"  or  "Thanks  for  the  downloads"  or SOMETHING to
        acknowledge that there's a real live human being on this end. Jim.



    Except for power failures, my  computer  has been continually running since
Nov. 11, 1982, and has fielded over  12,000 telephone calls operating as a BBS.
Back  then,  it  was  a  joy   to   be   a   part  of  the  realm  of  computer
telecommunications -- now it's a drag.  It seems to me that a "GIMMEE" attitude
has pervaded the whole arena of BBSing, with callers interested in nothing more
than material gains in the way of software.   My board is far from the busiest,
being isolated in the "foreign country" of Montana, but an average day will see
about 20 or 25 calls to the system. An average day will also see about three or
four messages (of ALL types, including  E-Mail)  being posted.  The typical log
entry shows so-and-so logging on, going  to the file transfer area, downloading
several files and then logging off.  Thanks, that's  why I started up a BBS, to
supply people with free programs.  Really makes  my  day to see that I've spent
all this time and money just to watch pigs at the trough.

    Whatever happened to the COMMUNICATIONS in telecommunications?  Is this the
result of the Computer Age,  that  people  don't  talk or communicate with each
other? Are we  getting  so  totally  in  tune  with  our  equipment  that we're
excluding PEOPLE?  If so, then Orwell's predictions are tame in comparison with
the reality.  Who took the BULLETIN  BOARD  out  of Bulletin Board System?  The
file transfer section of my board  is  shiny  from  daily use, but the bulletin
section is obscured by cobwebs.  The thought has crossed my mind more than once
just to load up a  host  program  and  let  people  grab whatever programs look
interesting.

    "Do you have a logon code for this system (Y/N) ==> Y <=="
    "What is your account number? 775"
    "What is your logon code? PASSWORD"
    "INVALID LOGON CODE"
    "Do you have a logon code for this system (Y/N) ==> Y <=="
    "What is your account number? 305"
    "What is your logon code? PASSWORD"

    et cetera, ad infinitum et ad nauseam.


    Hackers.  Or so they'd  like  to  believe.   Vandals, pests, yes.  Hackers?
They should be so  talented,  devoted  and  lucky.   Why  do these computerized
delinquents find such delight in trying  to  break into bulletin boards?  Don't
they realize that sysops are  ordinary  people  just  like themselves trying to
find a little enjoyment in their hobby?  Why pick on me?  I'm spending a lot of
time and money trying to provide people a service for free, and they want to go
and spoil it for everyone.  Heck, if  they  want onto the system, all they have
to do is apply for a  logon.  Why  make  life difficult for everyone?  Leave me
alone.  Go pick on CompuServe.

    Caller logs on.  Leaves  E-Mail  to  a  friend.   Lines  only fill half the
screen, so he's probably using a Commodore  64.  Goes to file transfer section,
and selects UltraTerm protocol.  Chooses  a  file  that indicates it's a TRS-80
program.  BBS goes to send, txHfigures out  that he's somewhere he doesn't want
to be and drops carrier.

    Another caller logs on four times in a row, but keeps losing carrier before
he can do anything.  Probably phreaking on a cheapie phone service.


    Another caller successfully downloads a file.   Sit. Wait.  Wait some more.
System eventually times out and drops him.

    I'm not the most polite person in  the  world  and I'm certainly not one to
stand on ceremony, but I am  old  enough  to  remember what manners were.  They
also went down the tubes with  "communications" and "bulletin boards."  Whoops!
Dropped carrier! So what? If it's a halfway decent system, it'll reboot.  Well,
I'll just  go  to  bed  while  downloading  this  long  file,  the  system will
eventually throw me off  and  reboot.   Never  mind  that  there's other people
wanting to call into the board.  Who cares that the sysop climbs the walls when
he sees someone drop carrier  or  time-out  on  the system?  Lately I've gotten
into the habit of dropping carrier ON MY END for the worst offenders.  One good
hang-up deserves another.

    Along with all the other goodies  that  have  bitten the dust, there's good
old APPRECIATION.  As I mentioned before, my BBS has fielded over 12,000 calls.
Out of all of them, I  have  gotten  maybe  a dozen messages saying "Thanks for
running  your  BBS."   That's  about  one   "Thank  You"  per  THOUSAND  calls!
Unfortunately, it seems that  people  think  they  have  all this automatically
coming to them.  It's their right!  Sorry  to disillusion anyone, but that just
ain't so.  The master switch for this system  is  two feet away, and I'm not so
decrepit that I can't hit it  in  a  flash.   Alternatively, I can ban anyone I
wish from my system.  Callers use this BBS at my forbearance only, and it's not
a God-given right.  It's  a  sysop-given  privilege!  I  sincerely feel that we
should proclaim a "Sysop Appreciation Day."   We  certainly  don't get any on a
day-to-day basis!

    Don't get me wrong.  There ARE joys and benefits in running a BBS, although
sometimes in my nether moods I'm hard  pressed to enumerate them.  But the fact
is, there have been many occasions  when  I've  rested  my finger on the switch
with the idea of going offline forever.

    Now for the moral of the story.  I'm only one sysop among many, and I'm not
trying to evoke sympathy for myself  through  this  article.  The point is that
almost every sysop around has these  feelings  to  some extent or another.  And
further, most of these sysops (especially  the  best and most devoted ones) are
going to reach a saturation point and  wind  up depriving the general public of
their services.  I foresee a day coming,  and  very soon at that, when the high
quality BBS's will be all gone.  So all  this  is really a plea for everyone to
shape up their acts before it's too  late.   If  nothing else, when you're on a
bulletin board, leave a little message  to  the  sysop.  "Thanks for the use of
your system" or "Fine BBS you  have  here."  Let them know they're appreciated.
When I see a message like  that,  I  say  to  myself, "THAT's why I'm doing all
this!"  Sysops are real, live human  beings  with feelings and emotions.  Let's
start treating them as such!

    Epilogue: Twelve hours after the above was  written, I find out that one of
my best friends (with higher than  normal  access  to the system) has allowed a
third party to use her logon.  That's forbidden for anyone on my BBS to do, but
it hurts even more because a  valued  and  trusted friend who should have known
better went and did it.  That's the final straw.  The Most Significant Byte BBS
is no longer in existence.



                      Jim Anderson, Ex-Sysop
                      The Most Significant Byte BBS
                      Billings, Montana
                      January 13, 1984


    [Phew, what a depressing person! -EGBSS]


        ---------------------------------------------------------------

