L.A. wants to end 'master' and 'slave' equipment

[BERIGAN]

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....

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/2249790

[BruceH]

Hmmm. What about "tongue-and-groove" boards? I've always found that a little suggestive.

[Joe G]

Not to mention "male-female" electrical connections.

[Uncle Skid]

This is just plain silly -- political correctness taken to extremes.

The term master/slave has been used for years in all kinds of technical applications, and it makes sense. I'm currently in the middle of writing software that allows microprocessors to communicate with each other; it makes things much simpler when one is designated as the "master", with the rest configured as "slaves".

In this context, there is only one master, and the slaves cannot speak unless spoken to first.

Well, OK, I guess I can see how that might be offensive.

I've also seen it called "Primary" and "Secondary", which may be offensive to primates.

[RDK]

Idiotic. Reminds me of the (I think) D.C. politician who had to resign after using the word "niggardly" in a speech (it means "frugal" and has nothing to do with race).

It's funny, though - my first thought upon reading the heading was that someone wanted to ban S & M gear...

[Jim Alfredson]

Retarded.

[catesta]

Retarded.

Ummmm....., don't you mean mentally challenged?

What a waste of time and energy.

[Rooster_Ties]

[sidewinder]

I'll bet they are training up those Master/Slave Police right now..

[Brad]

It's idiotic. Another attempt to rob language of it's expressiveness.

[maren]

lyrics from rapper Nas (son of Olu Dara):

"They shootin'! -- Aw made you look

You a slave to a page in my rhyme book"

[Jazzmoose]

I don't see the big deal you guys are getting all worked up about. Hell, it is offensive to quite a few people. Let's check out another example: in the military, in electronics school, they used to teach a mnemonic device for learning the value code on resistors. The initial letters stood for different colors. This was the device in full: "Bad Boys Rape Our Young Girls Behind Victory Garden Walls; Get Started Now". Some found this offensive (gee, those overacting PC police; I don't know way, but they did!). They changed it to "Bad Boys Race Our Young Girls Behind Victory Garden Walls; Get Started Now". No longer offensive, and it still works. The world didn't end. White males over 30 were not taken out and shot, and the world went on pretty much as it did before.

You guys need to get out more...

[Claude]

In the computer industry, "master" and "slave" are used to refer to primary and secondary hard disk drives.

This must have been invented by the Nazis from IBM. :=(

As a sign of protest, please reconfigure all your hard drives to cable select.

[Jazz]

This all just fits into my theory of naming all technical devices after literary characters. From now on we can call the primary hard drive "Captain Ahab" and the secondary drive "Moby Dick".

[Jim Alfredson]

That offends me. Moby Dick should be first.

[Jazz]

Erm. Uh, how about Fagin and Oliver?

[minew]

Or Hall and Oates?

[maren]

I don't see the big deal you guys are getting all worked up about. Hell, it is offensive to quite a few people. Let's check out another example: in the military, in electronics school, they used to teach a mnemonic device for learning the value code on resistors. The initial letters stood for different colors. This was the device in full: "Bad Boys Rape Our Young Girls Behind Victory Garden Walls; Get Started Now". Some found this offensive (gee, those overacting PC police; I don't know way, but they did!). They changed it to "Bad Boys Race Our Young Girls Behind Victory Garden Walls; Get Started Now". No longer offensive, and it still works. The world didn't end. White males over 30 were not taken out and shot, and the world went on pretty much as it did before.

You guys need to get out more...

You're right, Moose.

I must confess, I was afraid to be the first to go against the crowd here!

"Slave" is certainly a very vivid term -- witness its use by Grace Jones and Nas.

I think there's a difference between total language policing and thoughtfulness toward the people you need to work with! I mean, free speech should allow people to say "when I hear 'master/slave' it brings up some disturbing mental images I don't want to think about when I'm trying to concentrate on my job skills!" ("Boss/drone" might work for computers.)

When I was about 11 and first heard the terminology "male/female" for plugs and sockets, it scared me, it just did (wondering about being penetrated chased electronics right out of my head). Forty years later, it doesn't -- but if I was teaching shop to kids and wanted the girls to learn, I would come up with a different pair of terms! (I heard a pair about 15 years ago that seemed great, but of course I've forgotten now! But "prong" and "socket" seem pretty clear.)

Thoughtfulness isn't a BAD thing. Free speech should be a two-way street: if my intention was not to offend, but someone I care about takes offense, I reconsider my metaphors.

[DTMX]

Let's check out another example:  in the military, in electronics school, they used to teach a mnemonic device for learning the value code on resistors.  The initial letters stood for different colors.  This was the device in full:  "Bad Boys Rape Our Young Girls Behind Victory Garden Walls; Get Started Now".  Some found this offensive (gee, those overacting PC police; I don't know way, but they did!).  They changed it to "Bad Boys Race Our Young Girls Behind Victory Garden Walls; Get Started Now".

We used "Bad Booze Rots Our Young Guts But Vodka Goes Well, Get Some Now" to help memorize resistor color codes.

[Jazzmoose]

I like that one!