What is a definition of "users" in computer science?
Are there any synonyms for word "user" in computer science?
2007-11-25 13:34:25 · 2 answers · asked by Berkut 2 in Computers & Internet ➔ Programming & Design
A user is what it sounds like, a person using the product that you offer.
2007-11-25 13:36:39 · answer #1 · answered by Fitz 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A user is one who connects to a computer and uses its facilities, its resources, and its hardware.
In the formal sense, however, a user is defined by having an account on the computer. This account includes resource and security settings that the computer will apply to the user who "logs in" to that account. One definition of user, therefore, is a person who has logged in to an account.
Some computers allow you to connect without an account so that you can request a valid account. This means you have to log in to the computer without it knowing anything about you. Therefore you can talk about users and anonymous users. The latter are users (general sense of the word) who don't have a registered account yet, so have to use what is called an "anonymous" login.
In Windows, "anonymous" users are treated differently than other users. The class of users having a valid account is called "Validated Users" - meaning that the person having the account is logged in to the computer.
Therefore, to know what "users" means, you must specify the context in which you ask the question. If it is a practical question of the load placed on a computer by having some arbitrary number of different people using the computer's services at the same time, you can apply the loose definition.
If it is a security-related or accounting question (billing someone for actual resource consumption) then you have to apply the more restrictive definition. On the system that I manage, I have about 200 to 250 active users and a bunch of user accounts that are present for record-keeping only.
2007-11-25 14:43:00 · answer #2 · answered by The_Doc_Man 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋