Re: Pseudoterminal terminology in POSIX

[Dirk Fieldhouse <fieldhouse@gmx.net>]

On 09/08/20 00:18, Larry Dwyer via austin-group-l at The Open Group wrote:
> How about the "control" side and the "terminal" side (of the paired
> device files)?
All good -- until abused partners ("coercive control") or people
imminently expected to die, and their supporters, start a clamour.

In fact I'll make sure only to cast my Algol68 types in future and never
coerce them, just in case. I'll absolutely never add an 'e' to 'cast'.

Leaving satire, if it was, aside, the problem with changing technical
terms is that all the previous valid uses remain, so you need a glossary
to explain that the new term replaces the old one, and thus
documentation into the foreseeable future has to mention the old term as
well. For instance, people who read the article that's the second G-hit
on "pty tty" for me at
<https://dev.to/napicella/linux-terminals-tty-pty-and-shell-192e> would
wonder what happened to the components described there.

If the change is to avoid perceived offence, the _mention_ of the old
term has to come with a disclaimer that it was a historical metaphor
applied to technology and should not be construed as a reference to its
original sense. Personally I would just say that instead and let the
term lie.

Or just re-spell, perhaps 'moster' (a place in Norway, strip-Jenga?) and
'slove' (a band, "did split"), since the original metaphor in this case
doesn't seem to help understanding. As these are meaningless to almost
everyone, they could stand for the originals in all the existing uses
and people not in the know could use their existing internal spelling
corrector, as with colour/color.

/df

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