Re: [Tails-ux] Terminology for the web assistant: installati…

On Tue, 05 May 2015 21:42:53 +0000
flapflap <flapflap@???> wrote:

> sajolida:
> > spencerone@???:
> >> Hi,
> >
> > Hi, sorry for the delay. I'm a bit overwhelmed these days with the
> > preparation of 1.4 and the upcoming security advisory about Claws
> > Mail.
> >
> >>> sajolida:
> >>> For example, would it work to say "Flash media" or "Flash
> >>> memory". Do people know what that is? Or sometimes say "flash
> >>> media (USB stick or SD card)" and then some other times only
> >>> "flash media"?
> >>
> >> It appears that 'Flash Memory' is a concept while 'Flash Media' is
> >> a thing. However, 'Flash Storage Device' might be the most
> >> universally comprehendable as 'Media' isn't widely used outside of
> >> the technology industry. Also, media is plural where medium is
> >> singular, which, if using the current Tails install process, could
> >> become confusing to the less technical, as people are possibly
> >> using two devices to fully install Tails.
> >
> > I agree with your reasoning and it's what some English dictionaries
> > tell me. But note that now both the Microsoft and Apple style
> > guides agree that using "media" for the singular is becoming
> > acceptable. For example:
> >
> > - "Media is played, but not stored, by the client software." (Apple)
> > - "The media covers news of the computer industry." (Microsoft)
> >
> > But also:
> >
> > - "The medium now used for many large computer programs is the
> > DVD-ROM" (Microsoft).
> >
> >> (USB stick or SD card) parenthetically included on occasions with
> >> 'Flash Media' or 'Flash Storage Device' makes sense, especially the
> >> first time.
> >
> > Microsoft also says that "media" works for "Materials on which data
> > is recorded or stored, such as magnetic disks, CDs, or tapes."
> >
> > So I think we're good if we decide to say "flash media",
> > consistently (for both the singular and plural) after introducing
> > it on occasions as "flash media (USB stick or SD card)".
> >
> >>> Note that we're also sometimes talking about "Tails device" in
> >>> general to talk about anything that can boot Tails (DVD, USB
> >>> stick, or SD card).
> >>
> >> This makes sense. 'Desired Tails Device' could also be used at
> >> times to refer to the desired target medium.
> >
> > Cool.
>
> as a translator, I find "Tails Device" difficult to translate to
> German because a "device" can be almost everything/is a broad term.
> Also, I think it's diffucult to grasp/imagine if the unprepared hears
> "Tails device".
> For instance, I never heard someone talking about a "Windows device" -
> instead I more often hear "GNU/Linux Box", "Windows CD", "Knoppix Live
> USB Stick" and so on that more closely describe the physical item (the
> box/tower PC housing/server, CD, USB stick).
>
> For the translations, we occasionally referred to the "Tails device"
> as the "medium with your Tails installation", or the "Tails boot
> medium", or similar since it sounds more natural (in German and my
> opinion) than plain "Tails device" and we did not find better suited
> terms.
>
>
> >
> >>> Regarding the actions on those media, we've used:
> >>>
> >>> - "burn" for DVDs
> >>> - "copy onto" or "install onto" for USB sticks and SD cards
> >>>
> >>> Does this work?
> >>
> >> Yes, but it could be improved. With origins in hot-iron branding,
> >> 'Burn' is a colloquialism that carries little relationship to the
> >> physical function of writing software onto the disk, unless it is
> >> installed onto a one-time write disk, so maybe we can do without
> >> it. We could say 'Install' for DVDs, as it is a full-feature
> >> version of Tails.
> >
> > I don't like "burn" that much either, but I checked again and it's
> > the recommended term by both Microsoft and Apple so I think I'll
> > stick with that. We've used it in quite many places in the doc
> > already.
> >
> >>> Does it also make sense to differentiate "copy onto" or "install
> >>> onto" for USB sticks and SD cards? I thought about saying for
> >>> example:
> >>>
> >>> - "Copy the ISO image onto your USB stick", because the result
> >>> is not a "real" Tails (see the other thread on that topic)
> >>> - "Install Tails onto your USB stick", when using, for example,
> >>> Tails Installer, which creates a full-feature Tails.
> >>
> >> Yes. For 'Flash Media' it makes sense to differentiate 'Copy' and
> >> 'Install' for the first and second device write, respectively.
> >
> > Ok, let's do that then.
> >
>
>
I have so many replies about this topic on different threads I'm
uncertain what is the most recent. Hopefully this one is. So, I'm adding
my comments on a high level.

One can discuss symantecs forever, so that's what style guides are
for, to settle upon a standard. I might suggest using Apple's style
guide as primary and in the event the topic is not covered in Apple then
go to Microsoft. I will say it is also easy to misunderstand a style
guide as they may be many references to the same term in different
contexts, tenses, and verb conjugations - in the end, text is often
problematic in any language. Pictures, when feasible, often work
better, but consistency is paramount, and sometimes staying the course
even if not the best, makes for a better user experience.

If "Tails device" makes for difficult translation, then avoid it - I
think in English (or rather the Americas and the UK) whatever you use
will be understood.

"Burn" whether liked or not, has been used since the beginning of CD
and DVD media, but that term can easily be avoided without adverse
effects, at least in English.

The computer industry has lots of jargon and even laymen are familiar
with much of it. I mention this only to ward off what might seem to be
an effort to simplify things to the point of avoiding commmonly
understood computter terminology.

Somebody, somewhere, will tell you black is white. 8-)