🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1669@hoptoad.uucp> gnu@hoptoad.uucp (John Gilmore) writes:
>
>I personally ran the PCNet ABBS system in San Francisco from about 1980-82.
>It sat in my bedroom closet.  It was a fully open system.  Don't tell me
>what it's like being a SYSOP.

Bravo! Another brave soul who wandered into the black-hole of Sysop-dom!

>All the flamage I see is about people logging in with pseudonyms or to
>upload harmful things.  The use of pseudonyms is utterly legal and is
>acceptable throughout society as a means of privacy protection (e.g. for
>authors or people in the public eye) but these guys have trouble with it.
>And I didn't want permission to upload a harmful program, I just wanted
>to read what was already uploaded by an "approved" user.

I run a BBS right now, and I let users use pseudo's if they want to (put
it this way, my Co-SysOp's pseudo is 'The Flying Avodado').  Anyway, I have
not really noticed that the messages on my system are any different from
messages on no-pseudo BBS systems.  The quality of the system depends on
the quality of the operator(s).  I let people upload and download whatever
they want, with the express notice that nothing is guaranteed, and all
downloading and subsequent program use is at their own risk.


>[...]  But they [BBS users] should be able to read without hassle.

My users CAN read and post without hassle.  Why shouldn't they?

>If you don't let outsiders do anything useful, why advertise the phone
>number at all?  Just give it out to your friends.  But don't claim to be
>a public access BBS.

My system is a public access system, and you can try it out for yourself,
at 215/885-0182. 1200/300 baud (no that's not an advertisement).  Take a
look and see what a IBM BBS that lets people 'do their own thing' feels 
like.  It is sort of a renegade system though - we only have 1 computer
related discussion forum.....


Chuck Conway
...!bpa!burdvax!sju!cc743805