"Master" and "Slave" Drives Offensive?

[David Prahl]

From CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/ptech/11/26/master.term.reut/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]

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.

[rhmorrison]

... 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.
GUY... That sound chauvanistic to me...

I move that all references to 'Male' and 'Female' be changed to 'Hairy' and 'Shapely'.

Please send me a 9-pin Hairy RS232 connecter to...

[Roosterman]

GUY... That sound chauvanistic to me...

I move that all references to 'Male' and 'Female' be changed to 'Hairy' and 'Shapely'.

Please send me a 9-pin Hairy RS232 connecter to...

Sorry my words offended you :lol: I like your idea of 'Hairy' for male, sufficently degrading, but I do think that 'Shapely' might be a bit offensive to the women.

[trachy]

Funny, but dictionary.com has the following definition for slave:

4. slave, n. - A machine or component controlled by another machine or component.

But, there's no equivalent definition for master. Here's as close as they come:

1. master, n. - One that has control over another or others.

Hmmm.....

[Mike Temporale]

I move that all references to 'Male' and 'Female' be changed to 'Hairy' and 'Shapely'.

Please send me a 9-pin Hairy RS232 connecter to...

:rotfl:

[David Prahl]

You're right! Female and male connectors will have to be banned. Who's to say that in some states a male RS-232 connector can't interface with another?

[DustyLBottoms]

This is so stupid.

Are we going to have a problem because I have a "color" monitor? Or what about my "dumb" terminal?
0X

I'm not racisit! I own a color TV damnit!

You're right! Female and male connectors will have to be banned. Who's to say that in some states a male RS-232 connector can't interface with another?

True...what'll be next? Unions between Macs and PCs!?

[draiken]

This is so stupid.

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

My drives will always remain Master and Slave. 0X

That's funny, I love DM, and I used to label my HD's "Master" and "Servant" ever since the ol' days of DOS

Regarding the suit IT IS STUPID nonsense from someone who seems to see or read TOOOOO MUUUCH into words

[Stik]

A ' master of bad words ' comments * on the slave issue.

' I've never owned a slave, or was a slave, I didn't wander forty years In the desert after getting chased out of Egypt. I haven't burned any witches or been persecuted by the Turks and neither have you! So, shut-the-hell-up already. '

http://www.zippystudio.com/ART/ILLUSTRATION/CARICATURE/CARLIN2.jpg


* This may or may not actually have been a quote of Carlin's.
On this here world wide web, there's plenty of G.C quote's floating around that George says are not his.

It really %#$&^%$# &#%#$@ him off. 8O

Good! :D

I'm a slave of my convictions and the master of my own ship. :mrgreen:

[yslee]

Oh please, what in the world is wrong with the words master and slave? Please don't tell me the human psyche has fallen to a level where words describing computer components can be affected to racist history?

I can see the new weapons of terrorism: a big ass speaker that plays the words "MASTER! SLAVE! MASTER! SLAVE!" over and over again to great destructive effects on the "feelings" of the people.

Right.

Give us all a break, and stop this PC nonsense. Humans are much tougher than this, otherwise I don't think we'd be at this level today. This incident reminds me of George Carlin's numerous rants on the "pussification of America"..

And while I won't be popular with saying this, but I think that guy needs to see a shrink or someone; he clearly has problems seperating independent issues from one another (shoring up those "feelings" would help).

[dean_shan]

Wow. I think people have hit an all-time low. Instead of being mad and spending all that money to re-label/re-buy all that equipment, open a homeless shelter insted.