Re: Using the Term "User"

Subject: Re: Using the Term "User"
From: David Hamilton <david -at- URSUS -dot- COM>
Date: Fri, 3 Dec 1993 14:37:51 PST

Chuck wrote:

> I don't wish to appear as fossilized as I sometimes feel,
> but the term "user" became entrenched in software documents because
> it's short and to the point.

[ snip... ]

Please don't feel fossilized. It has only been a few years since the
wife of a former president decided to force the redefinition of this
term to mean "those persons who happen to partake of some drugs of
which this administration does not approve, while excepting those who
use drugs approved by this administration." The term "user" has been
in place far longer than Nancy's attempts to redefine the term.

There are many situations where this is the best alternative. As
Chuck so aptly pointed out, all common third-person substitions are
flawed and less appropriate.

If we allow our language to be subverted by those few who would
attempt to attach policial meanings to each word, where would it end.
The next thing we know there would actually be a word "alot" and
citizen would mean criminal.

There are certainly times when "user" is the most apt description of
the person reading a particular manual. There is another sense that
must be accommodated, in which "user" means one who is operating the
program/system with general (user) privileges, as compared to system
privileges. How would you differentiate between these levels when
writing both for the "user" and the "administrator"?

-dh
_____________________________________________________________________
David Hamilton david -at- ursus -dot- com
Ursus Information Technology, Inc. Santa Clara, CA


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