A sysop is a person responsible for moderating or administering virtual communities, while a sysadmin is a professional position. Sysops are often volunteers and handle tasks such as moderating content and maintaining software. IRC also uses the term for users with moderation power. System administrators are responsible for administering network servers and are usually paid professionals. The owner or operator of an Internet forum is often referred to as an administrator, but this is not necessarily the same as a system administrator.
Sysop is a neologism formed from the words “system” and “operator”. It is typically a title employed by a person responsible for moderating or administering virtual communities, such as discussion forums or bulletin board systems (BBSs). A sysop typically has some measure of administrative powers with which to manage the community. Sysadmin, or system administrator, is a similar term that typically refers to a professional position. While both titles refer to someone with administrative powers and responsibilities in some kind of networked computer system, a sysop typically donates his time or is part of the community in question.
While sysop may be a relatively new term, the title “system operator” has long referred to anyone who operates a complex computer system, such as a mainframe. As the electronic bulletin board became popular, the term was borrowed to refer to the administrators of those systems. Community members were often appointed co-sysops and given certain powers and responsibilities. Sometimes the BBS co-sysops were in charge of things like managing files on the server, handling new members, and moderating discussions.
A wide variety of virtual communities on the Internet use sysops in some function. Many of these groups form around discussion forums and other sites that encourage user contributions. Due to the fact that most of the content on these sites is user generated, sysops will often be tasked with moderating it for the content. They will also often handle the backend tasks involved in monitoring and maintaining the software that the community runs on.
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) may also use the term to refer to users with moderation power. These users, also known as channel operators, are usually able to change some aspect of a chat room, remove abusive users and perform a number of other functions. IRC also has a number of other positions that grant greater authority over the IRC server, such as the IRC operator (IRCop) who may have extensive powers to ban users and change channels.
System administrators can perform many of the same functions as system administrators, but are also typically responsible for administering network servers or hosts. A sysadmin is also usually a paid position held by a professional, while a sysop is generally an unpaid volunteer. The owner or operator of an Internet forum is often referred to as an administrator, although this is not necessarily the same as a system administrator. While the system administrator often has root access to the server and controls the software that the community runs on, they may or may not be in charge of the hardware or be a paid professional.
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