Bastard Operator From Hell

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"PFY", an acronym for "Pimply-Faced Youth", redirects here. For other uses, see PFY (disambiguation)

The Bastard Operator From Hell (BOFH) is a fictional rogue computer operator who takes out his anger on users and others who pester him with their computer problems, uses his expertise against his enemies and manipulates his employer.[1][2]

Several other people have written stories about BOFHs, but one by Simon Travaglia is considered canonical.[2] The BOFH stories were originally posted in 1992 to Usenet by Travaglia, with some being reprinted in Datamation.[3] They were published weekly from 1995 to 1999 in Network Week.[citation needed] Since 2000 they have been published regularly in The Register (UK).[4] Several collections of the stories have been published as books.

By extension, the term is also used to refer to any system administrator who displays the qualities of the original.[1][2]

The early accounts of the BOFH took place in a university; later the scenes were set in an office workplace. In 2000 (BOFH 2k), the BOFH and his pimply-faced youth (PFY) assistant moved to a new company.

Other characters

  • The PFY (Pimply-Faced Youth, the assistant to the BOFH. Real name of Stephen[5]) Possesses a temperament similar to the BOFH, and often either teams up with and/or plots against him.
  • The Boss (often portrayed as having no IT knowledge but believing otherwise; identity changes as successive bosses are sacked, leave, are committed, or have nasty "accidents")
  • CEO of the company — The PFY's uncle Brian[6] from 1996 until 2000, when the BOFH and PFY moved to a new company.[7]
  • The Head of IT, almost as disposable as the Boss.[citation needed]
  • The help desk operators, referred to as the "Helldesk" and often scolded for giving out the BOFH's personal number.
  • The Boss's secretary, Sharon.
  • The security department [8]
  • George, the cleaner (an invaluable source of information to the BOFH and PFY)[9]

Books

  • The Bastard Operator From Hell (Plan Nine, ISBN 1-929462-17-4)
  • Bastard Operator From Hell II: Son of the Bastard (Plan Nine, ISBN 1-929462-40-9)
  • Bride of the Bastard Operator From Hell (Plan Nine, ISBN 1-929462-48-4)
  • Dummy Mode Is Forever (Plan Nine, ISBN 1-929462-63-8)
  • Dial "B" For Bastard (Plan Nine, ISBN 1-929462-94-8)

References

  1. ^ a b Paul, Ryan (2008-09-08). "The BOFH lives: 88% of IT workers would steal data if fired". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2014-12-31.
  2. ^ a b c Raymond, Eric S. (1996). The New Hacker's Dictionary. The MIT Press. p. 80. ISBN 978-0-262-68092-9.
  3. ^ Travaglia, Simon. "The Bastard Operator from Hell Official Archive". Datamation Magazine. Archived from the original on 2015-12-05. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ Simon Travaglia, The Register, accessed 18 January 2013
  5. ^ "BOFH: You just can't go around killing people (The Register)".
  6. ^ "The Bastard Operator From Hell Official Archive 1996 "The Bastard meets his match"". Archived from the original on 2014-09-27. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ "BOFH returns from the dead (The Register)".
  8. ^ Travaglia, Simon. "The Bastard Operator from Hell Official Archive: In the aftermath of the trade show the PFY is forced to dip into the favour bank..." Archived from the original on 2015-01-08. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ Travaglia, Simon. "Bastard Operator from Hell Official Archive: The boss tries to oust the BOFH and the PFY again. Enter George, some lager, a shredder and several PFYs to-be..." Archived from the original on 2014-12-19. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

External links

Further reading

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