Bash.org
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Screenshot_of_bash.org.png
Bash.org is a web site that hosts a popular database of quotes. While the site's official name is QDB, or Quote Database, it is usually referred to by its URL, or simply as "bash". The site collects, stores and presents humorous quotes garnered almost exclusively from Internet Relay Chat, although some entries from instant messaging and spoken quotations also appear in the database. After being submitted, these entries can be voted on and displayed according to different sorting methods. A subsequent neologism, "bashing", has come to refer to the process of submitting a quote to this site.
The topic of the database's quotes are largely 'nerd humour', and the comedy value of the database is enhanced if the reader is computer literate. The intended audience of the QDB is people aged 16 and over; quotes often contain combinations of explicit language, adult themes, sexual references and allusions to drug use.
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Site details
Quotes are submitted to bash.org through a web form, where they are then put into a moderation queue. After being reviewed by a moderator, quotes are either accepted or removed from the queue. The latter is often referred to as killing the quote. Criteria for acceptance are stated to be funniness, reasonable length and proper formatting, such as the removal of timestamps unless required for context. Each quote is assigned a unique identifier and, once approved, can be displayed in a number of ways. The latest fifty approved quotes are shown on a page, but users can also view quotes randomly or sorted by score. There is also a "browse" option which enables users to go through every quote in the database, and a search page.
An approved quote is also subject to user approval. Bash.org uses a simple voting system in which users select a plus for a positive vote, minus for negative vote, or X for a quote which they feel should be removed from the database entirely. If the latter option is selected, the quote is subject to re-moderation. Quotes that are racist, in bad taste, recycled, or simply not funny often find themselves with very low ratings.
Bash.org has also hosted other community-based activities, such as two Counter-Strike game servers, a Tradewars server, streaming radio and a messy desk contest. These activities are targeted towards the site's large computer-literate gaming demographic.
On January 9 2005, Bash.org revealed its moderator application. An applicant is given 500 actually submitted quotes to moderate, and ranked based on their moderation of these quotes. In other words, the test is a kind of meta-moderation system. On the site, applicants are advised to "mod from the gut", rather than attempting to analyse a given quote. It is also advised not to moderate too lightly, with an approval rate of 5% being average. [1] (http://bash.org/modapp/)
Other viewpoints and criticisms
The site's ease of quote submission means that large amounts of quotes are submitted every day. Detractors have noted the size of the queue and use this as an indication that there are not enough moderators, or the existing ones are not examining enough quotes to stop the site from stagnating. This has often been the target of jokes that, themselves, have ended up on the site [2] (http://bash.org/?386488) [3] (http://bash.org/?123721). In response to this, a moderator test was created to allow normal users to apply to be moderators. However, applicants have not yet been added to the moderator pool, as the test results are still being tweaked.
Another target of criticism is the moderation process itself. Some disenchanted submitters complain that the submission process is too strict, and some quotes seem arbitrarily rejected. One pundit notes this in a satirical quote [4] (http://www.bash.org/?284014) by comparing the submission and donation standards. Others, however, claim that the submission standards are too relaxed, and that many quotes are childish or only accepted for shock value or because they're so-called 'in jokes' [5] (http://www.bash.org/?230936).
A third point of criticism is the lack of options. Whereas other quote databases have batch voting (vote for multiple quotes), preferences (such as hiding already-voted-on quotes), and a bad system for moderators. Many moderators complained about the lack of communication between each other, lack of ability to edit and delete already-approved quotes, and to prevent the quote flooding. When they went on strike, the owner removed their accounts, which is when many of them moved to QDB.us (see History).
The site itself has satirised the criticisms leveled at it with an April fools' joke on April 1 2004, which claimed the site was to now automatically accept every quote, give 100 free positive votes to anyone who mentioned a wish to be on the site, and change its name to the politically correct "funny-in-a-friendly-way.org". [6] (http://forums.beyondunreal.com/showpost.php?p=1417044&postcount=5).
History
The code for this site was originally created by a user known as DigDug, where it ran at http://digdug.cx/quotes on a FreeBSD server running PHP4 and MySQL [7] (http://web.archive.org/web/20010604054841/http%3A//digdug.cx/quotes/). He also developed a moderation system to prevent abuse, and the site also came to exist simultaneously at http://geekissues.org/quotes [8] (http://web.archive.org/web/20010714032232/http%3A//geekissues.org/quotes/). The site was handed over to three other users named Guilty, Madog and Amanda on August 1 2002. Under their management, the database moved to bash.org [9] (http://web.archive.org/web/20020806032352/http%3A//www.bash.org/). Madog later left to be replaced by another user called Blaxthos.
On September 15 2003, the bash.org managers posted a request for donation of hardware, including RAM and a new processor for a second server. They mentioned this was part of another project "so super-secret that we still can't discuss it". [10] (http://web.archive.org/web/20031213115059/http://www.bash.org/letter.html). They also noted that there was to be a complete rewrite of the bash.org code, though this has not yet happened as of 2005.
In 2003, DigDug requested to be involved with the site again, but was denied. In response, he forked the code to create another IRC quote database site called bash.cx, which eventually became QDB.us [11] (http://www.vonsteuben.org/students/my/forums/viewtopic.php?topic=3828&forum=3&0) [12] (http://web.archive.org/web/20031022141138/http%3A//bash.cx/). Meanwhile, tension grew between bash.org's moderators and management, mostly due to the code being outdated and requests for changes and added features being denied. Finally, many of the moderators went on strike during July 2004 [13] (http://www.mirc.net/news/index.php?id=129).
A statement of complaint was put up on an Earthlink webpage (which no longer exists). The news spread through weblogs and IRC news pages while the queue quickly grew out of control. In response, bash.org's management fired the moderators, and many of them moved to QDB.us [14] (http://www.itsthedoc.net/archives/000439.php) [15] (http://www.irc101.org/news.php?id=388) [16] (http://www.fixated.net/qdb.info/). Following the strike, Bash.org management added a set of newer moderators.
Other projects have also developed around the general premise of bash.org, such as an open source clone called Rash Quote Management System. These clones, however, are based on different code, and none have gained the popularity Bash.org has among internet users. This is most likely due to the network effect found in most online communities.
External links
- Bash.org (http://bash.org/)
- Snapshot of the old QDB at GeekIssues.org (http://web.archive.org/web/20010822233503/geekissues.org/quotes/)
- QDB.us: A fork of the site (http://qdb.us/)
- Rash QMS - Open Source Clone of Bash.org (http://rqms.sourceforge.net/) (project page (http://sourceforge.net/projects/rqms/))