HIT-> Techno-language

[Carol Simpson <csimpson@TENET.EDU>]

I had many replies to my query about correct usage of four Internet
terms.  Without cluttering your mailbox with lots of reprints, here are
the consensuses (consenci?) and some rationale:

Login versus log in - Login was the clear leader.  Apparently "login" is
a command, and typing it as "log in" would result in a computer error.
Interestingly, "logging in" and "log on" are correct as two words.  The
same appears to hold true with "logout" as one word, but with "logging
out" and "log off" as two.

Gopher versus gopher - there was a split here, with "gopher" in the lead
by a whisker.  I did locate some writings by Mark McCahill, one of the
gopher developers, and he was consistent in using lower case.  I have
chosen to follow his lead EXCEPT when speaking of a spcific system, such
as the AskERIC Gopher.

World Wide Web versus World-Wide Web versus Worldwide Web - the last
only got one vote.  The first two both seem to be in use.  The trend I
see here is that Americans are wont to use "World Wide Web" to support
the acronym WWW, and Europeans (including the home page at CERN,
ancestral home of the Web) use World-Wide Web.  I will use the
non-hyphenated version.

Graphical versus graphic - "Graphical" is correct when speaking of web
browsers which support pictures.  The term applied to Macintosh and
Windows, "graphical user interface or GUI," also applies here according
to most replies and at least one computer dictionary.

BTW, there are two computer dictionaries that have been recommended to me
for future quandries:  The New Hacker's Dictionary, and one called net.speak.

Thanks to all who replied.  It's been a very interesting 24 hours, and
the manuscript is now at rest!

Carol Mann Simpson                   csimpson@tenet.edu
Facilitator - Library Technology          214 882-7450
Mesquite (TX) Independent School District