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                                 EDITORIAL
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                         HOW TO AVOID SYSOP BURNOUT
             By John Olson, SYSOP Third Coast Software Exchange
                                713-523-5000

     In conversations recently, I have heard at least two other sysops
     make statements to the effect that they  were  "burning  out"  on
     being  in charge of a bulletin board.  I too,  in the past,  have
     had similar feelings,  and I began to wonder  how  I  could  help
     others suffering from this affliction.

     In  my case,  the feeling has typically accompanied problems with
     the system.  For instance:  you sit in  front  of  your  machine,
     which  you  purchased  with hard earned dollars (and/or for which
     you spent countless hours developing and  maintaining  software),
     and  listen to the squeaking bearings as one of your floppies (or
     even worse,  your hard disk!) gasps its  last  breath.  You  read
     comments  to the SYSOP where someone is complaining about getting
     "read errors" on that drive.  Then the final crushing  blow;  you
     watch as a "Twit" tries to crash your security.  Its sort of like
     a half dead beetle being dragged away by ants.

     The systems I run are typically for file exchange, with little or
     no BBS facilities.  Once in a while,  someone will call up over a
     period of several days,  and download files for hours at a  time.
     They  obviously are simply going down the directory,  and have no
     purpose in mind other than to fill up disks (or  to  keep  others
     from  getting  in).  They never upload anything,  and are usually
     never heard from again.  Hey!  I accept uploads too!

     What's the solution?  In my case,  I can trace my longevity (over
     5 years as SYSOP of 5 computers) to the caring actions of maybe 3
     or  4  people.  These  are  the people who use my system and then
     reciprocate in some way.  Some of these  people  are  responsible
     for the vast majority of my uploads.  One gentlemen ALWAYS leaves
     a  short  message to say "Thanks" when he downloads a file.  (Try
     THAT sometime; you'll be amazed at the impression it makes on the
     SYSOP!) Having an assistant SYSOP and donations of equipment  are
     more direct ways to relieve the grief.

     The  point  is,  if  only  a  few  people  would express a little
     compassion for the guy that runs their favorite board,  it  could
     insure  that  it  will  be there a while longer.  The acts of one
     person (YOU!) might make the  difference.  Don't  assume  someone
     else  will do it.  There have been some very fine boards that are
     no longer around simply because of thoughtless users.