'Master' and 'slave' computer labels unacceptable

By DataMiner
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DataMiner

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http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/ptech/11/26/m...reut/index.html

'Master' and 'slave' computer labels unacceptable, officials say

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.

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Grand Master

kairon

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Sensitive f*ckers gotta ruin it for everyone. Just like dodgeball can't be played in school anymore cause of some loser kid who can't play who had to ruin it for everyone.

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Grand Master

Ritalin

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Man this is just like the "Huckleberry Finn book offends me" crap. It's part of your history god damnit! Dont accept it, just read it!

If i had to read Mein Kampf for school, well... assuming it was a great work of literature, i would read it! I wouldnt be a cry baby and refuse.

Anyway back on topic...

man what can i say... this is so dumb.

Ritalin

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Grand Master

Got3n

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LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- 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.

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Grand Master

Blaise Veteran

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:(

That kind of political correct insanity is the reason the part of the world that does not believe we are racist, warmongers, thinks we are idiots :argh:

moved to RWI

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Grand Master

FlishFun Veteran

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:(

That kind of political correct insanity is the reason the part of the world that does not believe we are racist, warmongers, thinks we are idiots :argh:

My thoughts exactly. :no: That's just 100% crazy-talk there. Change the terms "Master" and "Slave". What would we change them to, exactly?

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Grand Master

KC

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I refuse to let the PC machine assimilate me. It can shove this up its butt where all the other PC crap goes.

ha ha

I will always be the master of the slave!!!!

So stupid, though never really understood why one was the master and the other was the slave.

Its not like the master hard drive tells the slave drive what to do you know.

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Grand Master

Fred Derf Veteran

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http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/ptech/11/26/m...reut/index.html

'Master' and 'slave' computer labels unacceptable, officials say

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.

I suppose the worker was offended that the terms were not used as the Marquis de Sade intended.

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Grand Master

Fred Derf Veteran

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Q. What would we change them to, exactly?

A. Primary and secondary. :)

That doesn't really work. We already have:

Primary Master

Primary Slave

Secondary Master

Secondary Slave

I don't think we could change them to:

Primary Primary

Primary Secondary

Secondary Primary

Secondary Secondary

That isn't exactly clear.

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Rising Star

nhut

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Bloody PC tree-hugging hippies. If they want us to stop using Master and Slave, they should foot the bill for a serial ATA motherboard + HDD for every computer, so we wouldn't have the problem.

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Grand Master

-=SD=-

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Posted
That doesn't really work. We already have:

Primary Master

Primary Slave

Secondary Master

Secondary Slave

I don't think we could change them to:

Primary Primary

Primary Secondary

Secondary Primary

Secondary Secondary

That isn't exactly clear.

Primary 1

Primary 2

Secondary 1

Secondary 2

problem solved lol :p

Still sucks that someone feels this change is needed :(

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Grand Master

Fred Derf Veteran

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Bloody PC tree-hugging hippies. If they want us to stop using Master and Slave, they should foot the bill for a serial ATA motherboard + HDD for every computer, so we wouldn't have the problem.

I don't think that SATA kills Master/Slava completely.

Serial ATA in Mini Format: 2.5" Disk Drive from Fujitsu

The model sticker shows that the MHR2020SA is an ATA drive of the old school - it includes a jumper for configuring the drive as master or slave. When used in a laptop, the jumper is normally set to master, as it is very unusual for a laptop to have two disk drives.

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