bsa@ncoast.UUCP (Brandon Allbery (the tame hacker on the North Coast)) (01/24/85)
Chuq:
Go for it. Let the flamers destroy their own credibility; push on despite
them. The net can't survive its proctors' disappearance (or disillusionment);
it IS large enough to survive the flamers who are trying to tear it down.
I have a little experience with this; your message sounds like what I
went through as a fairwitness on a Communitree (and that was *local*!).
LOTS of flames, some of them direct personal insults; and a small core
of supportive users. It's notable that the flamers have disappeared
since then (the Tree went down about a year ago, as the sysop moved to
Columbus).
What they never noticed was that I only removed a very few flames that
were posted... at the same time as a number of other messages that had
expired, since an index which can only hold 321 messages (a miniature
i-list) doesn't make for a lot of room. What the flamers DID do was
drive the "general public" away from their rabid mouthings, and the Tree
never quite recovered. It would have if the user base had been larger
-- a problem caused by the fact that the message base was so small (the
most common general flame). I should note also that the flames stopped
after the flamers realized that all they'd done was make the 'N' key
popular over their messages (that 'N' key is ubiquitous!). (And the
way to make THAT clear is to ignore them. Totally. I usually try reason
first, I'm that kind of person... but after awhile it becomes clear that
they aren't capable of reason.) Give them the rope they're screaming
for, and they'll happily hang themselves.
Despite the flames, I've been running another BBS since the fall of the
Communitree, with the same rules and standards... and the only messages
I've killed so far were ones I posted pertaining to early bugs in the
software, as there's more space on this public access Unix system.
(Yes, it's on the very system on which I am typing this letter; tried
and true, and hacker-proof -- but with shell access (and "vi" as a message
editor) for qualified users.) (Correction: ONE message, about phone
phreaking. I killed it for safety's sake. Which will change when I
get a chance to put private conferences and membership lists into this
thing. I have my personal beliefs... but larger than my feelings about
anything else is that for freedom of speech, and the responsibilities
it entails.)
Of course, running a local BBS is nothing like running an international
network... but at least one net user understands. (And is willing to
help; anywhere I can lend a hand?)
Sincerely,
Brandon Allbery
--
Brandon Allbery @ decvax!cwruecmp!ncoast!bsa (..ncoast!tdi1!bsa business)
6504 Chestnut Road, Independence, Ohio 44131 +1 216 524 1416 (or what have you)
Who said you had to be (a) a poor programmer or (b) a security hazard
to be a hacker?