Re: (repost) cdt glossary 0.1.1

From: Bob Badour <bbadour_at_pei.sympatico.ca>
Date: Mon, 05 Jun 2006 01:17:54 GMT
Message-ID: <6DLgg.17664$A26.409484_at_ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca>


paul c wrote:

> mAsterdam wrote:
> 

>> ---------------
>> Glossary 0.1.1: "You keep using that word.
>> I do not think it means what
>> February 2006 you think it means"
>> --------------- -- Inigo Montoya
>>
>> Maintainer: mAsterdam
>>
>> Preamble:
>> ---------------
>> This glossary seeks to limit lengthy misunderstandings
>> in comp.database.theory. This newsgroup uses terms from
>> database modeling, design, implementation, operations,
>> change management, cost sharing, productivity research,
>> and /or basic database research.
>>
>> People tend to assume that words mean what they are
>> accustomed to, and take for granted that the other
>> posters have about the same connotations.
>> They don't always.
>>

[snip]

>> How to contribute
>> -----------------
>>
>> Content:
>> Please keep in mind that the focus of the glossary
>> is on /real/ c.d.t. misunderstandings.
>>
>> Some discussions, after many sidetracks, are reducible
>> to /just/ different meanings and connotations of a word.
>> The differences could be resolved with just:
>> "Ah, now I see what you meant by that; next time I'll
>> be a little more careful in my choice of words".
>> Such words are nice glossary candidates.
>>
>> Examples from the past: Address, Domain.
>>
>> Sometimes, though, It's not just different connotation
>> or meaning which leads to the long winding talks
>> without communication. These differences go down to
>> deeply held strong opinions.
>> Some differences in the use of words run much deeper than
>> we can hope to clear up with just some definitions and
>> warning signposts. They might help a little anyway, so
>> these nastier entries are welcome, to.
>>
>> Examples from the past: NULL, Flat.
>>
>>
>> Form:
>> Please post your proposal as copy & pastable text,
>> with a subject line like this:
>>
>> subject: cdt glossary [Identity]
>>
>> Please also check spelling and grammar mistaeks.
>>
>> Thank you for contributing.
>> ----
>> Milestones? For the glossary I prefer inch-pebbles.
>>

> 
> 
> Okay, don't want to risk a premature definition but here's a stab at an 
> analogy/comparison for "persistence", a word that gets under my skin 
> most of the time I see it used here:
> 
> If nothing changes but the time of day, what was true yesterday is still 
> true today.
> 
> I may be wrong to see it this way, but this is why I don't associate the 
> acronym "rdms" with persistence, necessarily.

I don't really know who created this glossary or who contributed what. However, I note that we already have a recognized standard for the bulk of the terms we use, ISO/IEC 2382 Standard Vocabularies for Information Technology, and I note that some of the most fundamental definitions of our field in this glossary are just plain wrong. One might think a self-aggrandizing ignorant like Dawn wrote them. And I suppose it should come as no surprise the maintainer has proved he lacks intellectual honesty. Received on Mon Jun 05 2006 - 03:17:54 CEST

Original text of this message