—————–
BBS User’s Ethics
—————–
Please feel free to capture this and
share it with all
—–
1. Signing on:
———-
Make sure you know whether a Sysop allows alias or nicknames before trying
to “force” your handle at log on. If the Sysop tells you, in a log on message,
that Nicknames are not allowed, then don’t proceed to sign on with anything but
your real name. If the Sysop does allow “handles”, be imaginative. We sure
get tired of seeing things like SST, TBS, ORF…etc.
In the sign on log, answer the questions the Sysop asks. Most Sysops won’t
allow you on if you don’t, and all you have accomplished in NOT answering them
is to waste your time and his/hers.
2. Online Behaviour:
—————-
Ah, this list can go on for ever, but let’s hit the high points…
A. Not your favorite software:
————————–
Ok, the Sysop has spent thousands of dollars, as many hours, and countless
sleepless nights making his/her system work for YOU. You get on, find that it
isn’t exactly like that PCboard that you are USED to signing onto, and so you
let him have a blast of your frustration in not being able to EASILY work your
way through the system. Most Sysops will either respond in one of three ways;
they will either ignore you (probably the best of the three alternatives), they
will blast you back, or they will boot you off the system, and call you an
ungrateful wretch as they do so (not to mention making public the last message
you will EVER read on that system). Though most Sysops won’t react so
strongly, virtually all would understand the use of the last alternative.
They selected, and too often paid for the software, are happy with it, and
probably know as much as you do about your favorite BBS format. AND, they more
than likely have heard your comment from others before. Obviously, they have
stuck with the software they have for some very good, maybe personal, reasons.
If you can’t live with the speed, the layout, or whatever, change channels.
A. Time Allotment:
————–
You sign on a system and are given a time allotment. You go immediately to
the game board, play to your heart’s content, run out of time, and then sign on
again with a different name. Most experienced users won’t do this… They will
allot themselves a period of time per call, do what they have to do, and sign
off. Why? They realize that by “hogging” the board, they are only hurting
themselves. How is that?, you ask. Well, the life of a BBS depends upon it’s
message base. The more users signing on, the greater and more diverse the
message base. Besides, games get old after awhile don’t they? Message flow,
and interesting topic threads are always changing, always interesting. And
most mature users look exactly for that… an interesting message base.
About that different name… A user who does this exhibits another
character trait that the normal user reacts to; disregard for his fellow user.
Who needs someone like that on YOUR board?
C. Raping the D/L Library:
———————-
What is it about software that attracts people who tend to go off the edge?
I know this one user (and all Sysops know at least one) who makes it a point of
signing on, going right to the Library of the victim BBS, scanning it, getting
as much as the Sysop will allow in the system’s library ratio and then uploads
a funky file to get more credit. Whereupon he starts the whole process over
again. This lasts as long as the Sysop doesn’t pay too much attention. But
never fear, he will, sooner or later. Again, this is a character trait that
will not endear that type of user to his peers or the Sysop.
There are boards out there that allow this, even encourage it, as there
are boards that encourage nothing but game playing. The majority however,
count on your participation beyond being a software glutton or a gaming dweeb.
D. Other Behaviour:
—————
The Sysops of all well run boards will let you know what the rules of the
board are. He/She will make it easy for you to become familiar with those
rules. AND, he will EXPECT that you follow them. Each Sysop has their
individual tolerance level for those that choose not to follow those rules.
Some won’t tolerate behaviour in violation of those rules but one time.
Depending upon the circumstances, he may not tolerate it long enough for you to
sign off. Face it, a BBS is the Sysop’s. He can call the shots, make his
rules and enforce them. Most are not arbritary, combative, or on a power trip.
Most want to run a good system with contributing users. Most will understand
mistakes. Again, if you don’t like the show, change the channel.
A further word about those rules… As you may or may not know, there is an
increasing plethora of laws governing the operation of telephonic communication
systems. One of these is PL99-508, Sec. 201; Title 18 (amended). Another
biggee is the Copyright Laws. A good System Operator is at least familiar with
the meat of these laws and governs his/her board accordingly. If you willingly
violate these, you place him/her at risk, AND the very medium in which you are
now participating. Therefore, uploaded Copyrighted programs will usually
invoke no greate rwrath. And, I know at least one Sysop who is getting very
militant about reporting users who ATTEMPT to upload pirated wares to the
manufacturer of those wares.
E. Logging off: ———–
There is a type of user who just loves to “unplug” from the system, not
using the system’s sign off selection (you know, Off, Goodbye, Terminate, Done,
etc.) when done. This is tantamount to someone not leaving a note when they
back into your car in the parking lot. You will be forgiven once or twice, but
don’t make a habit of it!
3. Contributing:
————
Much is this word overworked and so misunderstood by users. What does being
a contributor mean? As a Sysop, and a user of many other systems beside my
own, my opinion is as follows; you are a contributor to the system you sign on
to when you accept the thesis of that system and participate accordingly. In
other words, if the system you sign on to expects you to participate in the
message base – do so. If the system is almost exclusively games, then by all
means, play games. If that system is there for nothing but downloads, then
download until you turn blue in the face. BUT, if the system expects something
other than that, then fulfill your obligation for using that system, like
uploading your fair share of Public Domain software in return, or once having
played your allotment of games, going to the message base, and taking part. If
you pay for the access, then all holds are off, and you are free to do as you
please.
As all the major systems have found, most users “lurk”, never posting a
message, never joining in an online conferance, never letting anyone else know
they are there by participating (of course, they pay for this, so the above
applies). However, this is also reflected in the normal usage pattern of your
local BBS as well, I bet. To prove this to your satisfaction, read the user
record of your favorite system. Now, if you are up-to-date in the message
base, go back through as many as you can, and see how many names are there as
message posters compared to the list of users that the system has. As you do
this, you are bound to notice that there are consistent posters of messages,
and people that have never, ever, made a peep.
4. Expectations:
————
Ok, ok… just this one more, and I will get off my soap box. I have saved
this for last, because it is a subject very close to my heart.
This is something like the earlier discussion about not liking the Sysop’s
software. You know the old adage; Expectations are like elbows – everyone has
at least one (actually, elbow wasn’t the original word). Some users sign on to
a system and expect (demand might be a better word, actually) that the system
cater to them, and only them. A classic mail message I received recently went
something like this “I just uploaded two files that are compressed and I want
my upload credits to reflect the number of actual programs in those files.”
Notice the lack of “please” in any of that? Also, this individual fails to
take into account the countless other users who have uploaded compressed files,
and accepted the normal allowance for uploading (the fact that he had uploaded
2 files with 40 programs of about 5k each didn’t impress me either – and I
wonder if the board he got them from also counted 40 downloads against his
account?).
Anyway, the point is that the Sysop generally tries very hard to keep his
users happy. To some extent, this can be an impossible task. All of us have
different ideas about what constitutes a good menu layout or a easier way of
working your way through the system. Don’t let my earlier diatribe about not
liking the software confuse the issue however. A diplomatic suggestion is
always very much appreciated. After all, Sysops are human too, you know? But,
the expectation that the Sysop is going to change his way of doing things just
to satisfy you is unreasonable, and generally won’t be done.
—————–
BBS User’s Ethics
—————–
Please feel free to capture this and
share it with all
—–
1. Signing on:
———-
Make sure you know whether a Sysop allows alias or nicknames before trying
to “force” your handle at log on. If the Sysop tells you, in a log on message,
that Nicknames are not allowed, then don’t proceed to sign on with anything but
your real name. If the Sysop does allow “handles”, be imaginative. We sure
get tired of seeing things like SST, TBS, ORF…etc.
In the sign on log, answer the questions the Sysop asks. Most Sysops won’t
allow you on if you don’t, and all you have accomplished in NOT answering them
is to waste your time and his/hers.
2. Online Behaviour:
—————-
Ah, this list can go on for ever, but let’s hit the high points…
A. Not your favorite software:
————————–
Ok, the Sysop has spent thousands of dollars, as many hours, and countless
sleepless nights making his/her system work for YOU. You get on, find that it
isn’t exactly like that PCboard that you are USED to signing onto, and so you
let him have a blast of your frustration in not being able to EASILY work your
way through the system. Most Sysops will either respond in one of three ways;
they will either ignore you (probably the best of the three alternatives), they
will blast you back, or they will boot you off the system, and call you an
ungrateful wretch as they do so (not to mention making public the last message
you will EVER read on that system). Though most Sysops won’t react so
strongly, virtually all would understand the use of the last alternative.
They selected, and too often paid for the software, are happy with it, and
probably know as much as you do about your favorite BBS format. AND, they more
than likely have heard your comment from others before. Obviously, they have
stuck with the software they have for some very good, maybe personal, reasons.
If you can’t live with the speed, the layout, or whatever, change channels.
A. Time Allotment:
————–
You sign on a system and are given a time allotment. You go immediately to
the game board, play to your heart’s content, run out of time, and then sign on
again with a different name. Most experienced users won’t do this… They will
allot themselves a period of time per call, do what they have to do, and sign
off. Why? They realize that by “hogging” the board, they are only hurting
themselves. How is that?, you ask. Well, the life of a BBS depends upon it’s
message base. The more users signing on, the greater and more diverse the
message base. Besides, games get old after awhile don’t they? Message flow,
and interesting topic threads are always changing, always interesting. And
most mature users look exactly for that… an interesting message base.
About that different name… A user who does this exhibits another
character trait that the normal user reacts to; disregard for his fellow user.
Who needs someone like that on YOUR board?
C. Raping the D/L Library:
———————-
What is it about software that attracts people who tend to go off the edge?
I know this one user (and all Sysops know at least one) who makes it a point of
signing on, going right to the Library of the victim BBS, scanning it, getting
as much as the Sysop will allow in the system’s library ratio and then uploads
a funky file to get more credit. Whereupon he starts the whole process over
again. This lasts as long as the Sysop doesn’t pay too much attention. But
never fear, he will, sooner or later. Again, this is a character trait that
will not endear that type of user to his peers or the Sysop.
There are boards out there that allow this, even encourage it, as there
are boards that encourage nothing but game playing. The majority however,
count on your participation beyond being a software glutton or a gaming dweeb.
D. Other Behaviour:
—————
The Sysops of all well run boards will let you know what the rules of the
board are. He/She will make it easy for you to become familiar with those
rules. AND, he will EXPECT that you follow them. Each Sysop has their
individual tolerance level for those that choose not to follow those rules.
Some won’t tolerate behaviour in violation of those rules but one time.
Depending upon the circumstances, he may not tolerate it long enough for you to
sign off. Face it, a BBS is the Sysop’s. He can call the shots, make his
rules and enforce them. Most are not arbritary, combative, or on a power trip.
Most want to run a good system with contributing users. Most will understand
mistakes. Again, if you don’t like the show, change the channel.
A further word about those rules… As you may or may not know, there is an
increasing plethora of laws governing the operation of telephonic communication
systems. One of these is PL99-508, Sec. 201; Title 18 (amended). Another
biggee is the Copyright Laws. A good System Operator is at least familiar with
the meat of these laws and governs his/her board accordingly. If you willingly
violate these, you place him/her at risk, AND the very medium in which you are
now participating. Therefore, uploaded Copyrighted programs will usually
invoke no greate rwrath. And, I know at least one Sysop who is getting very
militant about reporting users who ATTEMPT to upload pirated wares to the
manufacturer of those wares.
E. Logging off: ———–
There is a type of user who just loves to “unplug” from the system, not
using the system’s sign off selection (you know, Off, Goodbye, Terminate, Done,
etc.) when done. This is tantamount to someone not leaving a note when they
back into your car in the parking lot. You will be forgiven once or twice, but
don’t make a habit of it!
3. Contributing:
————
Much is this word overworked and so misunderstood by users. What does being
a contributor mean? As a Sysop, and a user of many other systems beside my
own, my opinion is as follows; you are a contributor to the system you sign on
to when you accept the thesis of that system and participate accordingly. In
other words, if the system you sign on to expects you to participate in the
message base – do so. If the system is almost exclusively games, then by all
means, play games. If that system is there for nothing but downloads, then
download until you turn blue in the face. BUT, if the system expects something
other than that, then fulfill your obligation for using that system, like
uploading your fair share of Public Domain software in return, or once having
played your allotment of games, going to the message base, and taking part. If
you pay for the access, then all holds are off, and you are free to do as you
please.
As all the major systems have found, most users “lurk”, never posting a
message, never joining in an online conferance, never letting anyone else know
they are there by participating (of course, they pay for this, so the above
applies). However, this is also reflected in the normal usage pattern of your
local BBS as well, I bet. To prove this to your satisfaction, read the user
record of your favorite system. Now, if you are up-to-date in the message
base, go back through as many as you can, and see how many names are there as
message posters compared to the list of users that the system has. As you do
this, you are bound to notice that there are consistent posters of messages,
and people that have never, ever, made a peep.
4. Expectations:
————
Ok, ok… just this one more, and I will get off my soap box. I have saved
this for last, because it is a subject very close to my heart.
This is something like the earlier discussion about not liking the Sysop’s
software. You know the old adage; Expectations are like elbows – everyone has
at least one (actually, elbow wasn’t the original word). Some users sign on to
a system and expect (demand might be a better word, actually) that the system
cater to them, and only them. A classic mail message I received recently went
something like this “I just uploaded two files that are compressed and I want
my upload credits to reflect the number of actual programs in those files.”
Notice the lack of “please” in any of that? Also, this individual fails to
take into account the countless other users who have uploaded compressed files,
and accepted the normal allowance for uploading (the fact that he had uploaded
2 files with 40 programs of about 5k each didn’t impress me either – and I
wonder if the board he got them from also counted 40 downloads against his
account?).
Anyway, the point is that the Sysop generally tries very hard to keep his
users happy. To some extent, this can be an impossible task. All of us have
different ideas about what constitutes a good menu layout or a easier way of
working your way through the system. Don’t let my earlier diatribe about not
liking the software confuse the issue however. A diplomatic suggestion is
always very much appreciated. After all, Sysops are human too, you know? But,
the expectation that the Sysop is going to change his way of doing things just
to satisfy you is unreasonable, and generally won’t be done.
