"Master" and "Slave" Drives Offensive?

[David Prahl]

From CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/ptech/1...eut/index.html

"LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Los Angeles officials have asked that manufacturers, suppliers and contractors stop using the terms "master" and "slave" on computer equipment, saying such terms are unacceptable and offensive. "

COME ON! I just can't believe that they're doing this! :idontthinkso: Applying the terms "master" or "slave" to people is obviously wrong, but using them to denote the hierarchy of disk drives in a PC is not.

And what are we going to use to replace these terms? The whole idea of having them is to clearly communicate the dominance of one device over another. "Lead" drive and "follow" drive? "A device with leadership qualities" and "a device that follows directions well"? A "Pocket PC" drive and "Palm" drive? :lol:

[David Prahl]

From CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/ptech/1...eut/index.html

"LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Los Angeles officials have asked that manufacturers, suppliers and contractors stop using the terms "master" and "slave" on computer equipment, saying such terms are unacceptable and offensive. "

COME ON! I just can't believe that they're doing this! :idontthinkso: Applying the terms "master" or "slave" to people is obviously wrong, but using them to denote the hierarchy of disk drives in a PC is not.

And what are we going to use to replace these terms? The whole idea of having them is to clearly communicate the dominance of one device over another. "Lead" drive and "follow" drive? "A device with leadership qualities" and "a device that follows directions well"? A "Pocket PC" drive and "Palm" drive? :lol:

[Roosterman]

I saw this story too and was amazed. From what I understand, an Africian American employee was assigned to a job where he worked with these devices and filed a discrimination suit 8O becuase the drives are labeled with master and slave. The department will now relabel them all with Primary and secondary.

[karen]

I have the same problem on my current project. I can bend, no problem. But I find it odd that anyone would be concerned with the human rights of a database, file, or PC.

Does that mean we can't have webmasters or mastery exams any longer?

[David Prahl]

We can't have a primary device on a primary controller! "Yeah, that CD is secondary on the primary." :idontthinkso:

[Jacob]

I think it's ludicrous. A waste of everyone involved's time.

To me I see this as someone being a little too sensitive.

[Jon Westfall]

Gee, I can't wait for the day I get to explain to my students (Who are already perplexed on drive assignment) about the Primary Primary drive and the Primary Secondary drive (oh wait... doesn't that mean that the Primary Primary comes first in precedence over the Primary Secondary....)

This has to stop. Human Rights don't apply to hard disk controllers or anything non-human...

[Pat Logsdon]

Next we'll see some guy who uses Viagra suing over the term "Floppy Drive"... :roll:

:mrgreen:

[looneytoone]

I tend to take a more middle of the road ground on stories like this. The politically correct movement can be out of control but the overall goal, in my opinion, is about respect and courtesy. I am not sure about filing a suit about this matter but with the legacy of American and worldwide slavery, why not change names? The average non-lawsuit filing African American may not feel comfortable repairing his or her computer and think about the legacy of slavery or was there a duplicitous reason for this naming. If one is not part of the offended circle, we cannot propose to understand. And normally, adjustments for political correctness don't cost us any additional time or money.

Just my thoughts.

[Mike Temporale]

This is so stupid.

Are we going to have a problem because I have a "color" monitor? Or what about my "dumb" terminal?

They are just words! under one context they may be offending, under another, they are not.

Does this mean Depeche Mode will have to change their song "Master and Servant"?? :lol:

My drives will always remain Master and Slave. 0X

[Roosterman]

Originally Posted by dadarkmcse

This has to stop. Human Rights don't apply to hard disk controllers or anything non-human...

I think you're missing what is really important hear. This isn't about human rights being given to something non-human, it is about the feelings of the poor human that is exposed to these incredibly insensitive words. The guy working under these terribly hurtful conditions feels bad.

That is the whole crux of PC, feelings. If someone, somewhere, sometime by any small chance might be offend by a word, then that word is bad and must not be used anymore. Another facet of this PC business is that it doesn't matter what the outcome of an action is as long as you meant it to do good. In the US, there is no guarantee in the Constitution that you won't be offended. It is a framework as to how the government should govern and not stand the way of individuals pursuit of happiness.

I could get into a whole long rant about the whole direction the American government has taken since the "Great Society" but I don't want this topic to wind up in the HOS.

Bottom line to me is if people want to be happy, they should not take themselves so seriously and lighten up. Control yourself before you try to control what everbody else thinks and says.