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Johnathan Price asks about violent language in computer
terminology. I think our old pal EXECUTE will be around
forever, but the tendency is to hold back on such terms.
These may be the leftover verbs used by men who played
video games (violent ones) for hours as boys.
What I do see more now is language that shows
hierarchy. CLIENT/SERVER is the most predominant. CLIENT
sounds like 'customer', but SERVER sounds like 'servant'.
How about MASTER/SLAVE? I am sad that we must show hierarchy
by using references to words that, although not violent,
are not pleasant.
At least OO gives us PARENT/CHILD. These words both show
hierarchy and are pleasant words to use. It is hard to get
away from using words to show control or hierarchy that are
free of social stigma.
David Oberstadt Santa Teresa Laboratory
daveo -at- vnet -dot- ibm -dot- com San Jose, California
