Grub Manual

[Jacques B.]

On 10/19/07, Robert P. J. Day <rpjday at crashcourse.ca> wrote:
> On Fri, 19 Oct 2007, Matthew Saltzman wrote:
>
> > On Fri, 2007-10-19 at 11:46 -0400, Jacques B. wrote:
> >
> > > Splitting hairs?  Not really.  The "root directory" (terminology
> > > used by Karl) to most would be /root on a running Linux system.
> > > That term
> >
> > I always thought the root directory (on a running system--not with
> > respect to Grub) was / (the root node of the directory tree), not to
> > be confused with the superuser's home directory, /root.  (Yikes,
> > more overloading...)
>
> heh.  indeed.  when i'm teaching intro linux (and, yes, as frightening
> as it sounds, i actually train people in the use of linux), i'm
> typically *very* careful about my terminology:
>
> /                       *the* root directory
> /root                   *root's* home directory
> /home                   *the* home directory, as opposed to ...
> /home/fred              *fred's* home directory
>
>   distinguishing between these early saves all sorts of grief down the
> road.
>
> rday
> --
> ========================================================================
> Robert P. J. Day

Interesting.  We use the terms either root (for /) or slash-root (for
/root) which to me would be root's directory (so mayby not root
directory).  Ultimately what this does demonstrate is the need for a
glossary of terms accompanying a manual to ensure everybody is on the
same proverbial page.  It certainly would clear this argument up and
decide once and for all if Karl was indeed using the proper
terminology (which I can't say with 100% confidence that he was not)
or if that terminology was inaccurate/misleading/completely wrong
(which I can't say with 100% confidence that such is the case either
although clearly by my postings I am leaning towards inaccurate).

Knowledge and life experiences also impact how terms are interpreted
(again a reason for a glossary of terms in any technical manual even
if it just begs/borrows/steals from others - just so there is an
accepted definition).  To me hash can either mean the drug or the
process of putting a string through a mathematical algorithm yielding
a 128 bit value.  Of course the context of the use of the word will
tell me which is applicable.  With grub and Linux that line is much
harder to draw in the sand as we've learned.

Who's got that cold beer?  Maybe even 2 or 3 of them would go down
quite nice on a Friday at the end of a week long debate on grub
terminology.

Jacques B.