                  PC P's and Q's (Computer Etiquette)
                              by Mel North

The following are a few points of general BBS etiquette.  If you wish to
maintain your welcome on whatever system you happen to call, it would be
to your advantage to observe these few rules.

1.  Don't habitually hang up on a system.  Every SysOp is aware that
accidental disconnections happen once in a while but we do tend to get
annoyed with people who hang up every single time they call because they
are either too lazy to terminate properly or they labor under the
mistaken assumption that the 10 seconds they save online is going to
significantly alter their phone bill.  "Call Waiting" is not an
acceptable excuse for long.  If you have it and intend to use the line
to call BBS systems, you should either have it disconnected or find some
other way to circumvent it.

2.  Don't do dumb things like leave yourself a message that says "Just
testing to see if this thing works".  Where do you think all those other
messages came from if it didn't work?  Also, don't leave whinny messages
that say "Please leave me a message".  If ever there was a person to
ignore, it's the one who begs someone to leave him a message.  If you
want to get messages, start by reading the ones that are already online
and getting involved in the conversations that exist.

3.  Don't use the local equivalent of a chat command unless you really
have some clear cut notion of what you want to say and why.  Almost any
SysOp is more than happy of offer help concerning his system or BBSing
in general.  Unfortunately, because about 85% of the people who call
want to chat and about 99% of those people have absolutely nothing to
say besides "How old are you?" or something equally irrelevant, fewer
SysOps even bother answering their pagers every day.

4.  When you are offered a place to leave comments when exiting a
system, don't try to use this area to ask the SysOp questions.  It is
very rude to the other callers to expect the SysOp to carry on a
half-visible conversation with someone.  If you have a question or
statement to make and expect the SysOp to respond to it, it should
always be made in the section where all the other messages are kept.
This allows the SysOp to help many people with the same problem with the
least amount of effort on his part.

5.  Take the time to log on properly.  There is no such place as RIV,
HB, ANA or any of a thousand other abbreviations people use instead of
their proper city.  You may think that everyone knows what RIV is
supposed to mean, but every BBS has people calling from all around the
country and I assure you that someone who calls from Podunk, Iowa has no
idea what you're talking about.

6.  Before you log on with your favorite pseudonym, make sure that
handles are allowed.  Most SysOps don't want people using handles on the
system.  There is not enough room for them, they get silly games of
one-upmanship started, it is much nicer to deal with a person on a
personal basis, and last but not least everyone should be willing to
take full responsibility for his actions or comments instead of slinging
mud from behind a phony name.  Also when signing on, why not sign on
just like you would introduce yourself in your own society? How many of
you usually introduce yourselves as Joe W Smutz the 3rd?

7.  Don't make rude observations like "Gee, this system is slow". Every
BBS is a trade off of features.  You can generally assume that is
someone is running a particular software, that he is either happy with
it or he'll decide to find another system he likes better.  It does
nobody any good when you make comments about something that you perceive
to be a flaw when it is running the way the SysOp wants it to.
Constructive criticism is somewhat more welcome.  If you have an
alternative method that seems to make good sense then run it up the
flagpole.

8.  When leaving messages, stop and ask yourself whether it is necessary
to make it private.  Unless there's a reason that everyone shouldn't know
what you're saying, don't make it private.  We don't call them PUBLIC
bulletin boards for nothing, folks.  It's very irritating to other
callers when there are huge blank spots in the messages that they can't
read and it stifles interaction between callers.

9.  If your favorite BBS has a time limit, observe it.  If it doesn't,
set a limit for yourself and abide by it instead.

10.  Have the common courtesy to pay attention to what passes in front
of your face.  When a BBS displays your name and asks "Is this you?",
don't say yes when you can see perfectly well that it is mis-spelled.
Also, don't start asking questions about simple operations of a system
until you have thoroughly read all of the instructions that are
available to you.  I assure you that it isn't any fun to answer a
question for the thousandth time then the answer is prominently
displayed in the system bulletins or instructions.  Use some common
sense when you ask your questions.  The person who said "There's no such
thing as a stupid question" obviously never operated a BBS.

11.  Don't be personally abusive.  It doesn't matter whether you like a
SysOp or think he's a jerk.  The fact remains that he has a large
investment in making his computer available, usually out of the goodness
of his heart.  If you don't like a SysOp or his system, just remember
that you can change the channel any time you want.  Besides, whether you
are aware of it or not, if you make yourself enough of an annoyance to
any SysOp, he can take the time to track you down and make your life, or
your parents', miserable.

12.  Keep firmly in mind that you are a guest on any BBS you happen to
call.  Don't think of logging on as one of your basic human rights.
Every person that has ever put a computer system online for the use of
other people has spent a lot of time and money to do so.  While he
doesn't expect nonstop pats on the back, it seems reasonable that he
should at least be able to expect fair treatment from his callers.  This
includes following any of the rules for system use he has laid out
without grumping about it.  Every SysOp has his own idea of how he want
his system to be run.  It is really none of your business why he wants
to run it the way he does.  Your business is to either abide by what he
says, or call some other BBS where you feel that you can obey the rules.

-- The Central Texas SysOp Association
