The Revised Prehistory of BOFH | Hacker News Reader

The Revised Prehistory of BOFH

bofharchive.com

31 pointsweinzierl6 comments

Man, I love the BOFH. These columns, along with User Friendly, Slashdot, and Sluggy Freelance, were some of the first things I latched onto when I got a 'net connection for the first time. And as chance would have it, my first "real job" was as a System Operator, so these struck a chord with me. It's probably just sentimentality, but even now I feel like there's something special about the BOFH columns, a certain "je ne sais quoi", that is lacking from most of the rest of what's out there.

I still go back and re-read the entire archive (or most of it) from the beginning once every couple of years or so. To anybody who hasn't had the experience of entering the world of the BOFH, the PFY, the Boss, the Head, Mad Ron the Sparky, and the rest of the crew, I can't recommend it highly enough.

Although the BOFH stories never clicked with me, I hazard that the je ne sais pas of your reflection could be - I speak for my own recollection of the genre - the immeasurable catharsis and balm I certainly felt, as a release from every excruciating situation in which I so dearly would have loved to have retorted, "Have you switched it off and turned it on again?"[0], toungue firmly in cheek or not, without fear for my unappreciated job.

[0] The IT Crowd, UK Channel Four, available in whole on 4OnDemand, for anyone who has been deprived.

I’ve never liked the BOFH stories, even when I first encountered them in the early 90’s I never thought they were particularly funny, and as I’ve since become a more experienced sysadmin I’ve actually come to despise them and the attitude they symbolize. Sure, the stories are parodies and written in an exaggerated manner, but the underlying humor seems to be saying “Isn’t this what we all really think? Isn’t this how we would all wish we could behave?”, which is an attitude I find deplorable.

I’ve elaborated about this here in the past, first here:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10320829#10322378

and later here:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16724962#16725937

The relatableness of the BOFH seems to rest on what's often called the "structured violence" of the work world. In the US, someone with the BOFH's skills would have eventually taken his PFYs and went and started his own business, and, well of course he wouldn't have been able to be a bastard anymore.

But no, the BOFH is stuck in a world (the UK corporate world) where he has to make the most out of the limited opportunity he has. And everyone around him knows he's stuck there with nowhere really to go. So they give him a ton of crap just because they can. I can see how this might have gotten missed by some readers. You're expected to see BOFH as a hero because he beats them at their own game.

You wouldn't be able to laugh at the stories if you didn't feel like the victims had it coming. It's a classic morality play.

> You wouldn't be able to laugh at the stories if you didn't feel like the victims had it coming. It's a classic morality play.

As I recall the stories, it was very hit-and-miss whether the victims of the BOFH deserved it, or if they were just hapless people who the BOFH thought it would be funny to be cruel towards. And even if they deserved something, what the BOFH dealt them was always way out of proportion. Imagine if Judge Dredd has been played as a comedy, with mostly horribly disproportionate violence and death for minor offenses.

> All the power and none of the responsibility.

That tradition still lives on. Look at any TOS, EULA, or standard disclaimer.

I appreciate the BOFH as an entertaining parody. Just don't try any of that at home.

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