[1388] in Humor
HUMOR: The Help File
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (abennett@MIT.EDU)
Wed Apr 10 11:15:52 1996
From: <abennett@MIT.EDU>
To: humor@MIT.EDU
Date: Wed, 10 Apr 1996 10:52:43 EDT
This is what life was like when *I* was an undergraduate (in the
ancient days when an 11-730 was the principal machine on campus
and the 11-780 an unobtainable dream...).
Yes. I'm old.
-Drew
Date: Tue, 9 Apr 1996 23:32:27 -0500
From: mabehr@MIT.EDU (Michael Behr)
From: Rourke McNamara <rourkem@icg.resnet.upenn.edu>
Recently a User called me. She was quite frantic. She was
having trouble running a program through the computer, and
her message was clear enough, although rather ill-
conceived: "MY FILES ARE FULL!"
I furrowed my brow, lit a smoke, and explained to her,
"Really now, Miss Butterman, I don't have time for this." I
slowly exhaled the menthol vapours as I stopped her process,
crushing any hope she may have had of ever again seeing that
document she had spent three hours slaving over.
"I was a typing this REALLY important letter, and it HAS to
be ready in an hour...there's all this stuff on my screen
that I didn't type ...it says something about an error,
should I read it to you?"
"No point. Just press return."
"oh my, it wants my username. Can I restart that where I
left off?"
"Not a chance." I drew another puff and tossed the phone
aside. It occurred to me that if I had to hear one more of
those whining complaint sessions, heads were gonna
roll. Where do you people GET this stuff? I'm going to tell
you what's really going on here. Now LISTEN UP. I'm not
going over it a second time:
Computer: The black box that does your work for you. That's
all you need to know.
Response Time: Usually measured in nanoseconds; sometimes
measured in calendar months. The general rule is: Shut up
your complaining about response time.
Hardware: See "Computer." Again, not your concern.
Software: If we want you to know we'll tell you about it,
otherwise, leave us alone
Network: Don't worry about it, we'll take care of it. Use it
to send mail among your half-wit selves, and don't think we
won't read it all. What do you think we do all day? By the
way, Butterman... shame about your mother's pancreas.
Data: The General rule is: Don't use any data files and if
you find any, delete them before before I find out about
them. In fact, just stay off the computer (see "Response
Time")
System Crash: Don't ever call the system manager to tell him
you think the computer is down. Don't call him to ask him
when it will be up again. The more you bother him, the
longer it takes.
Downtime: like I said, don't ask.
Uptime: Don't be ridiculous
Vacation: A time during which I don't have to put up with
your sniveling. Don't try calling. There's no point.
Computer Room: Keep out, you're not invited. Don't knock on
the door- don't even think about it. I broke the phone last
time one of you jerks called me, and I'm not about to
replace it. And keep your greasy fingers off the windows.
My Office: The name says it all...it's mine;stay out.
Your Problems: not my concern.
Deadlines: The general rule is: Deadlines are not
acknowledged by me; they're not my responsibility. Go tell
somebody who cares.
Maintenance: a) A Valid reason for shutting down the system
at any time b) Much more important than anything any of you
bozos do. c) Anything I choose to call maintenance.
Software Upgrades: Far too complex for you to comprehend. If
I tell you I'm upgrading the system, just be quietly
thankful. It's for your own good, even if it does mean
extensive downtime during peak hours.
Electronic Mail: I delete it before reading it, so don't
bother sending any to me.
Defaults: We like them just like they are;we chose them for
a reason. Don't mess with them; consider them mandatory.
Error Messages: I'm not interested. I'm going to kill your
process anyway, so keep them to yourself.
Killing your Process: a)Don't ever ask why b)Beyond your
control c)No warnings given d)The highlight of my day e)If
you call, it's going to happen. No exceptions.
Password: I reserve the right to change them without notice
at any time.I choose them, and the more you bother me, the
more degrading yours will be.(Example:BUTTERMAN:SNOTFACE)
Users: a)They slow down the computer b)They waste my time
c)A general nuisance d)Worse than that, actually
Software Modification: You don't know what you want - we'll
tell you what you want. It stays like it is. Period.
Privileges: I've got them, you don't need them. Enough said.
Priority: Mine is higher than yours, accept it. That's the
reason my games run faster than your lousy accounting
package.
Terminals: Before calling me with your terminal problems,
consider this: a)Are you prepared to do without one for
weeks? b)Do you REALLY want your process killed? c)Did you
just trip over the cord again? d)Of course you did
Disk Space: I set the quotas, you live with them. If you
need more space, check "Data Files".
Operator: I hired him and I trained him. He does what I tell
him to. Usually armed;always dangerous.
Backups: a)A good idea b)If I gave a sh*t c)Which of course
I don't
Lunch: The only time calling my office won't result in the
killing of your process.
Data Security: That's your problem. I'm certainly not going
to lose any sleep over it. My files are locked up tight. I
feel secure.
Jiffy: Length of time it takes me to resolve your problem by
killing your process.
Eternity: Length of time it takes me to give a sh*t about
any problems that can't be resolved by killing your process.
Impossible: a)It can't be done (as far as you know) b)I
can't be bothered c)You're starting to annoy me
Inevitable: a)Couldn't have been avoided b)Not my fault (as
far as you know) c)The result of annoying me
Menus: If it's not on the menu, don't ask for it. It's not
available. If it is on the menu, it's probably of no use or
it doesn't work. We're working on it (See "eternity")
Utilities: I find them quite useful, you'll find them quite
inaccessible. Besides, they're not on the menu, are
they. What did I tell you about that?
Nuisance: You
Of course, I reserve the right to add, change, or remove
anything from the above list. I'm not asking you to accept
these matters without question, I'm telling you.
Now that we all know where we stand, I'm sure there'll be no
future problems. If you have any questions or comments
please feel free to keep them to yourself. If you feel the
need for more information, I highly recommend that you ask
someone else.
------------------------------
Douglas Brick / dbrick@u.washington.edu
Last modified: Fri Nov 18 16:25:58 1994
