The Bastard Operator From Hell (BOFH) is a fictional rogue

computer operator A computer operator is a role in IT which oversees the running of computer systems, ensuring that the machines, and computers are running properly. The job of a computer operator as defined by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics is to " ...

created by Simon Travaglia, who takes out his anger on

user Ancient Egyptian roles * User (ancient Egyptian official), an ancient Egyptian nomarch (governor) of the Eighth Dynasty * Useramen, an ancient Egyptian vizier also called "User" Other uses * User (computing), a person (or software) using an ...

s (who are " lusers" to him) and others who pester him with their computer problems, uses his expertise against his enemies and manipulates his employer. Several people have written stories about BOFHs, but only those by Simon Travaglia are considered canonical. The BOFH stories were originally posted in 1992 to

Usenet Usenet (), a portmanteau of User's Network, is a worldwide distributed discussion system available on computers. It was developed from the general-purpose UUCP, Unix-to-Unix Copy (UUCP) dial-up network architecture. Tom Truscott and Jim Elli ...

by Travaglia, with some being reprinted in ''

Datamation ''Datamation'' is a computer magazine that was published in print form in the United States between 1957 and 1998,

.'' Since 2000 they have been published regularly in ''

The Register ''The Register'' (often also called El Reg) is a British Technology journalism, technology news website co-founded in 1994 by Mike Magee (journalist), Mike Magee and John Lettice. The online newspaper's Nameplate_(publishing), masthead Logo, s ...

'' (UK). 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. 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 is Stephen) Possesses a temperament similar to the BOFH, and often either teams up with 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 A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of the company – The PFY's uncle Brian from 1996 until 2000, when the BOFH and PFY moved to a new company. * The

help desk A help desk is a department or person that provides assistance and information, usually for electronic or computer problems. In the mid-1990s, research by Iain Middleton of Robert Gordon University studied the value of an organization's help des ...

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 * George, the cleaner (an invaluable source of information to the BOFH and PFY)

Books

* * * * *

Influence

The protagonist in

Charles Stross Charles David George "Charlie" Stross (born 18 October 1964) is a British writer of science fiction and fantasy. Stross specialises in hard science fiction and space opera. Between 1994 and 2004, he was also an active writer for the magazine ' ...

's '' The Laundry Files'' series of novels named himself Bob Oliver Francis Howard in reference to the BOFH. As Bob Howard is a self-chosen pseudonym, and Bob is a network manager when not working as a computational demonologist, the name is all too appropriate. In the novella ''Pimpf'', he acquires a pimply-faced young assistant by the name of Peter-Fred Young. BOFH is a text adventure game written by Howard A. Sherman, which took part in the 2002

Interactive Fiction Competition The Interactive Fiction Competition (also known as IFComp) is one of several annual competitions for works of interactive fiction. It has been held since 1995. It is intended for fairly short games, as judges are only allowed to spend two hours pla ...

and was placed 26th out of 38.

Simon Travaglia

Simon Travaglia (born 1964) graduated from the

University of Waikato The University of Waikato (), established in 1964, is a Public university, public research university located in Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton, New Zealand. An additional campus is located in Tauranga. The university performs research in nume ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in 1985. He worked as the IT infrastructure manager (2004–2008) and computer operator (1985–1992) at the University of Waikato and the infrastructure manager at the Waikato Innovation Park,

Hamilton, New Zealand Hamilton (, ) is an inland city in the North Island of New Zealand. Located on the banks of the Waikato River, it is the seat and most populous city of the Waikato, Waikato region. With a territorial population of , it is the country's List of c ...

(since 2008). Since 1999 he is a freelance writer for ''

''. He lives in Hautapu, New Zealand."About me"
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References

External links