Master

[Vibecrewangel]

I am so sick of this political correctness crap....

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory...siness/2249790

Nov. 25, 2003, 3:47PM

L.A. wants to end 'master' and 'slave' equipment
Reuters News Service

LOS ANGELES - 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.

The request -- which has some suppliers furious and others busy re-labeling components -- came after an unidentified worker spotted a videotape machine carrying devices labeled "master" and "slave" and filed a discrimination complaint with the county's Office of Affirmative Action Compliance.

In the computer industry, "master" and "slave" are used to refer to primary and secondary hard disk drives. The terms are also used in other industries.

"Based on the cultural diversity and sensitivity of Los Angeles County, this is not an acceptable identification label," Joe Sandoval, division manager of purchasing and contract services, said in a memo sent to County vendors.

"We would request that each manufacturer, supplier and contractor review, identify and remove/change any identification or labeling of equipment components that could be interpreted as discriminatory or offensive in nature," Sandoval said in the memo, which was distributed last week and made available to Reuters.

The memo did not include any suggestions for alternative labels.

Dennis Tafoya, director of the affirmative action office, said in a separate memo that an "exhaustive search" had been undertaken to find all such labels and replace them with more "appropriate" ones. A form was sent to all departments to identify equipment carrying the labels "master" and "slave" or any other offensive terms.

Faced with an avalanche of complaints from vendors and the general public, Sandoval told Reuters in an interview that his memo was intended as "nothing more than a request" and not an ultimatum or policy change.

"I do understand that this term has been an industry standard for years and years and this is nothing more than a plea to vendors to see what they can do," he said. "It appears that some folks have taken this a little too literally."

Sandoval said that he had already rejected a suggestion that the county stop buying all equipment carrying the "master" and "slave" labels and had no intention of enforcing a ban on such terms with suppliers.

"But we are culturally sensitive and we have 90,000 employees," he said. "We have to take these things seriously."

Sandoval added that in addition to the e-mails he's received "telling me how stupid I am and how I should be fired" he has gotten a positive response from some companies willing to reexamine their labels.

In June, the Los Angeles city council unanimously passed a law requiring that any companies doing business with the city disclose profits they may have made from slavery in the 19th Century. In 2000, the council supported federal legislation seeking reparations for descendants of slaves.

[AChimp]

Well, why don't they just throw out all their existing hard drives, too?

What a bunch of faggots. The people who get offended by "master" and "slave" should be whipped like the ******s they are.

[Vibecrewangel]

I'm so sick of this shit....

Why must people make such a big deal of things that don't matter?

[Cosmo Electrolux]

Originally Posted by AChimp

Well, why don't they just throw out all their existing hard drives, too?

What a bunch of faggots. The people who get offended by "master" and "slave" should be whipped like the ******s they are.

I love you, Chimp.

[Vibecrewangel]

"PC stands for Politically Correct. We of the Politically Correct philosophy believe in increasing a tolerance for a DIVERSITY of cultures, race, gender, ideology and alternate lifestyles. Political Correctness is the only social and morally acceptable outlook. Anyone who disagrees with this philosophy is bigoted, biased, sexist, and/or closed-minded. "

And yet somehow the PC movement has done the exact opposite. I swear, when I was growing the kids I knew were racially blind. At least until the PC movement.....[/quote]

[Perndog]

I suddenly want to shoot an unidentified worker.

[Sethomas]

Pernpup, your signature would be better if it were a hamburger with cheese instead of onions, that way it would violate Mosaic Law and thus be offensive to overly zealous Jews as well as Hindus.

[Perndog]

Sacred cow may come from Hinduism, but it's a generic term. Onions is equally generic - onions, smelly, unpleasant, etc.

Hamburger with cheese would sound retarded.

Further supporting my conclusion that you take yourself way, way too seriously and you are painfully lacking a sense of humor.

[Sethomas]

Well, if it's your conclusion, it must be true!

Wacka wacka wacka! Your golden calf is my veal! Your Krishnu is my curry!

[Perndog]

Originally Posted by Sethomas

Well, if it's your conclusion, it must be true!

Wacka wacka wacka! Your golden calf is my veal! Your Krishnu is my curry!

you are painfully lacking a sense of humor.

[Sethomas]

Thanks for demonstrating your comedic prowress. Seeing the rule against which I'm graded, I now understand your sentiments.

[Perndog]

Originally Posted by Sethomas

Thanks for demonstrating your comedic prowress. Seeing the rule against which I'm graded, I now understand your sentiments.

you are painfully lacking a sense of humor.

And I'll let you know when I start trying to be funny.

[Big Papa Goat]

I'm so not posting here. Too sarcastic for my blood.

[Jeanette X]

"Master" and "slave" hard disks aren't okay now? Fuck! Now I suppose we can't say "male" and "female" plugs either!

[El Blanco]

Also, the term "black box" will be replaced with "African-American box"

[Cosmo Electrolux]

they're not african americans anymore...they're "dark avengers"...and you're a fucking racist if you call them African Americans now...you fucking ******.

[Grey_Magi]

Its kinda dumb, just another government trying to make it look like they care by changing something very trivial

[kellychaos]

Perhaps a little research into the etymology of the word would reveal that not only does it not denote any single race of people that have been slaves (unless you count the roots in Slavic history and I don't hear and slavs complaining or that have been slaves since the middle ages) but that the most recent slaves were not the ONLY slaves in history. Long story short: Get over yourselves!

Word History:

The derivation of the word slave encapsulates a bit of European history and explains why the two words slaves and Slavs are so similar; they are, in fact, historically identical. The word slave first appears in English around 1290, spelled sclave. The spelling is based on Old French esclave from Medieval Latin sclavus, “Slav, slave,” first recorded around 800. Sclavus comes from Byzantine Greek sklabos (pronounced sklävs) “Slav,” which appears around 580. Sklavos approximates the Slavs' own name for themselves, the Slovnci, surviving in English Slovene and Slovenian. The spelling of English slave, closer to its original Slavic form, first appears in English in 1538. Slavs became slaves around the beginning of the ninth century when the Holy Roman Empire tried to stabilize a German-Slav frontier. By the 12th century stabilization had given way to wars of expansion and extermination that did not end until the Poles crushed the Teutonic Knights at Grunwald in 1410. ·As far as the Slavs' own self-designation goes, its meaning is, understandably, better than “slave” it comes from the Indo-European root *kleu-, whose basic meaning is “to hear” and occurs in many derivatives meaning “renown, fame.” The Slavs are thus “the famous people.” Slavic names ending in -slav incorporate the same word, such as Czech Bohu-slav, “God's fame,” Russian Msti-slav, “vengeful fame,” and Polish Stani-slaw, “famous for withstanding (enemies).”

[Sethomas]

In short, No Shit. You could have just brought up the fact that the Hebrews were slaves to the Egyptians and Greeks, the Greeks were slaves to the Romans, and so on.

[El Blanco]

Hold up. White people didn't invent slavery? Holy shit.

Next you're going to tell me it was West Africans that went and captured slaves for European traders.

[CrazyAmericanScum]

A lot of posts for something so ignorant.

Nothing is wrong with Master and slave titles, in there proper place.

Computers are not really a liable example of this at all. Just goes to show people in California need lives.

[kellychaos]

Originally Posted by Sethomas

In short, No Shit. You could have just brought up the fact that the Hebrews were slaves to the Egyptians and Greeks, the Greeks were slaves to the Romans, and so on.

True but the word "slave" wasn't used to denote those people at that time and, though the spirit of those people's station in life was the same, applying the word to them would be anachronistic.

[The_Rorschach]

". . .the Greeks were slaves to the Romans, and so on."

There was nothing selective about Roman slavery practices, Greeks were slaves, but so were Germans, Numidians,Samnites, Jews and anyone else whom look interesting or useful. The Romans even had a dedicated court in order to ensure the rights of slaves -For a Roman slave was not truly a second class citizens. They could own property, they could own their own slaves, and recieved payment from their masters which, if they so desired, they could place into their peculium - a sort of trust account which could be used to buy their freedom. In fact, some slaves became famous Roman citizens, purchising not only citizenship but the broad stripe as well, becoming members of the Senate. Hoorah Rome!

They were centuries more civilized then than any country currently in existance.

[Perndog]

The only reason they didn't use the word slave is because they were talking in different languages. It's not anachronistic to refer to things in English.

[kahljorn]

It will need to be called "1" and "A"