The system has notable underpinnings. Hundreds of shareware packages are also part of the system, plus electronic mail and individual World Wide Web site space for all faculty, staff, and students. Unfortunately, this compound name is awkward and inaccurately implies that there are two systems rather than one. In fact, there has been only one system campus-wide since 1995, and the name is preserved simply because renaming so many files, computers, addresses, and accounts would be more disruptive than helpful. This software creates the shared file space that users move around in.
Users can also customize the environment as they like.
No matter where they log in, their personalized environment is downloaded to the client machines they are using. These programs give users reliable and upgradable software for doing their work. Because it is likely that students will use these programs in the jobs and professions they enter after college, an introduction to this software at NCSU is a valuable addition to their education. Moreover, many of these packages are too big and expensive to acquire by any other means than a shared networked system. For an individual to buy, store, and maintain such a suite of software would be practically impossible.