From: cashman@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Geoff Cashman)
Subject: Re: UManitoba game applicants: READ!!!
Summary: Potential deities may want to read this
Organization: Indiana University
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1992 18:08:47 GMT

The following article, while intended partially as a rebuttal, has been
posted to the network because I felt that future potential deities could
stand to learn something from this.  Also, past deities that have had
site problems may also learn something from this, though if they haven't
learned it already, well I don't think this will do it :-)

Again, I stress that I am not intending on starting a flame war here.
Far from it, the ONLY reason I allowed myself to post this article
was because of the perceived value to deities.  Yes, part of it is rebuttal,
but that is by no means sufficient reason to waste your time and mine.

In article <1992Oct2.062136.4935@ccu.umanitoba.ca> roholdr@ccu.umanitoba.ca 
(R Ross Holder Jr) writes:
>In <BvDLKx.18I@usenet.ucs.indiana.edu> cashman@silver.ucs.indiana.edu 
>(Geoff Cashman) writes:
>>
>>As of this writing, the people at UManitoba intending on running this
>>  game have yet to advise their site administrators that a long term game
>>  will be running on their system.  I have strongly advised them to nofity
>>  the administration, but do not think that they will be informed. 
>>  (This also was an untenable situation, and I don't think I could have
>>  deitied under these circumstances).  As a result, the game could 
>>  have problems with the site admin. 
>
>I am a PLAYER in this upcoming game - I just wanted to clarify the situation
>here at ccu.umanitoba.ca.  Site administrators here are, to be perfectly
>frank, inconsistent, discriminatory, and incredibly bureucratic.  

There are many people who are relatively new to site administrations
that feel as you do.  I don't know if you are "new" to site administrations
("new" being less than ~3 years), but this sounds like it.  I, too, had 
many many gripes with my former site's administrations policies
(*wave* Hi University at Buffalo!) until I learned more about the how's
and why's.  I was a royal pain to them until I learned their side of the
problem. 

>I don't
>feel advertising the fact we're running a game would make it at all likely
>a game would begin and 53 interested parties would be S.O.L. so far as this
>is concerned.  Here's the facts:

This may be true, but *not* telling them could result in the game 
going down prematurely.  Many many players would be furious to know
they put that much effort into their countries to have it go for naught.
I have seen deities do this before, and it is fatally flawed reasoning.

[various apparent "proofs" of UManitoba's inadequacies in site management
 deleted for brievety]

All the examples you cited may in fact be valid from your point of view.
They are also easy to support here in r.g.e when the opposing side has
very little chance of rebuttal.  We're hearing one side of the coin, and
as such this isn't telling me much about your site administration.
I'm not saying they are right, I am saying that there are certainly many
more factors involved in their actions. 

>I've concluded that provided the game doesn't interfere with system operation

Occupying 5-10% of a CPU for months can be construed as interfering with
system operation.  

>and uses the resources we've already secured 

"secured" as in how?  What if a person is logged into the console of 
picard (the machine proposed for the game) and starts work on some
research that requires a great deal of the attention of  the CPU?
That person could possibly start tossing processes that were 
chewing up 1/20th of the CPU into the can.  What exactly do you
mean by "secured"?  Is this *your* machine?  Do you have any particular
rights to it?  Is it a general user workstation, or does it sit in
an office? 

I'm sorry, but until the site administration knows that the machine
will have processes running on it chewing up 5-10% of the cpu for
months, you haven't "secured" anything.

>- there won't be a problem.

Hmm...

>It's good to hear this!  Although we do have, in fact, one other experienced
>diety by my understanding.

Any "experienced" deity willing to be an offsite deity for this game
would be foolish given the constraints I would have had to have faced.
Having access to the code is paramount for a deity.  Without it, you can
not deity.

			 - Geoff Cashman
			   aka Mithrilien
Newsgroups: rec.games.empire