Running a BBS

[BOB BRODY]

I used to have a BBS and would take slight exception with your
perspective. I ran mine from a custodial point of view and put very
little time into it. I rarely read notes that weren't addressed to me
and the only thing I did do regularly was test and comment on any
program that was uploaded. Sometimes the BBS would go down but so what?
More often than not a person would get a busy signal than find the BBS
down and they simply called back at another time. I mean there are some
(if not many) Sysops who go gung-ho about their BBS but that's not a
requisite. It's not the Sysop that makes a board, it's the people who
participate. I know boards that are open only a few hours each day as
the computer and BBS system is used for business during most of the day
and I have no problem with that. I just don't agree that it's necessary
to go manic over running a BBS. While I spent time testing the software
uploaded because I like to test software, the rest of the stuff took me
maybe 20 minutes each day to deal with. A cup of coffee.

You mentioned legal obligations regarding reading notes. Would you care
to elaborate on that? I read comments from a lot of zealous Sysops
about having to read notes to look out for illegalities being discussed.
I'm not aware of any law about this. If two users are plotting a murder
and carry out the dastardly deed, I'm not aware of any legal obligation
on my part to intercede even if I read their notes (any more than if two
people are sitting in my living room planning a murder they carry out
and I was sitting there listening to them. There's no law that says I
have to do anything about people planning a crime. As long as I didn't
do anything to participate in the planning or commission, just because I
know about it doesn't mean I have to action and I'm not aware of any law
that says I have to.)