The processor is capable of manipulating data in a sort of numerical form in a range of different ways. However, to do this it has to be told exactly what to do to that data in a step-by-step way. Like if you had to tell someone exactly how to walk to another house: "left foot forward, right foot forward, left foot forward...... turn right ninety degrees, left foot forward......" etc. It's tedious, but it's what the processor has to be told if it's going to do anything at all. A set of this type of instructions is called a program and these are stored in the computer's memory while it's doing it. When a program isn't being used, it can be stored on disk and only brought into the memory when it's needed.
Every computer system requires a whole set of programs to do the things it needs to do. These are known collectively as "software" and there's a vast ammount of it easily available. Most of it's shit!
The software that the computer uses to do what it does when it's basically not doing anything else is called the operating system (OS). Except when the power's off, computers are never idle. The processor's always running around and doing this and that, checking things and waiting for something to happen.
The OS keeps an eye on all of this as well as providing some basic functions like, moving, editing and deleting files, formatting disks, configuring the system how you want it etc.
Configuration is the process of setting up all the changeable things that affect the way the computer works. It ranges from basic things like screen colours, to much more complicated things related to the internal workings of the system. Configuring things seems to be an endless and irritating task sometimes and you seem to have to do it over and over again...
The capability of computers to be configured in an almost infinite variety of ways is what makes them so flexible and also what makes them an infinite pain in the fucking arse!
Basically, they're able to be set up in a million different ways that you're NEVER likely to want. This is partly because they were designed by a bunch of psychotic lunatics who had no idea at all what they were doing, and partly because the computers themselves and all the bits that connect to them were all designed by companies who had their own ideas about how things should be done and their own greedy, selfish, commercial reasons for wanting to make everything as incompatible with everything else as possible. It's also because they are used in a lot of different circumstances for lots of different things.
Instead of having one box that's good at file handling, one box that's good at communications, one box that's good for running accounts programs etc, etc, (like a hi-fi system) we've ended up with one box that can do almost anything if you set it up in the right way. There's obvious advantages to this, but the big disadvantage is you've virtually got to know almost as much about the things you don't want to do as the things you do want to do.
This isn't strictly true, but as you'll discover if you have to set up a system like a bulletin board from scratch, you have to poke around with an endless number of configurable things to get it working right.
Most of this fucking around really shouldn't be necessary, but because of the limitations and incompatibilities of the software it has to be done. There are two main factors which influence this - firstly, computer programmers really aren't very good at what they do and secondly, it's in their interests to maintain the highest levels of mystification possible. If no-one else understands the things you do, it gives you a lot of status and power (and, like priests, it gives you a direct line to god!).
But don't let this nonsense put you off. Programmers are generally so thick that if they can work out what's going on, anyone can!
Anyway, back to operating systems...
The two main OSs you're likely to encounter on IBM-type systems are DOS (stands for Disk Operating System) and Windows.
DOS is extremely stupid and doesn't give many clues on what to do if you don't know anything about it, but it's efficient (that is it works relatively fast and doesn't take up a lot of space in the computer).
Windows is much smarter and infinitely easier to use if you don't know anything about it than DOS is. But it's heaps less efficient.
If you're setting up a bulletin board system, you may be able to use Windows for some things, but you will inevitably have to become familiar with DOS.
Other OSs you may run into are OS/2 (similar to Windows, but much better), Unix (used for most Internet stuff - as easy to use as DOS), Linux (a freeware system, compatible with Unix), CP/M (dunno anything about it and you're not likely to need to either!) and (not on IBMs of course) Macintosh operating system (this is similar to windows, but a whole other story).
Windows, OS/2, Unix and Linux are all capable of what's called "multi-tasking". This means you can run more than one program at the same time. You will need to be able to do this if you want to run a multi-line BBS (see BBS section). DOS can't do this. However, DOS can run on even the most primitive PCs.
click here to go to chapter three