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Comment by stonesweep | Hacker News Reader

> One definition of "server" is "a service in a network"

Can you link to something where this is a common accepted definition? I'm a systems engineer by trade, talk to a bajillion people about all sort of things and we just don't call a "service in a network" a server in parlance.

I was not nerd-sniping and could care less about serverless as a term, I'm specifically talking about calling a "service" a "server" in this chat. I feel this is presenting something as accepted definition which does not match my experience in the field.

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> Can you link to something where this is a common accepted definition? I'm a systems engineer by trade, talk to a bajillion people about all sort of things and we just don't call a "service in a network" a server in parlance.

This seems to be a common point of confusion for people who aren't native English speakers. Oxford English Dictionary defines "server" as:

> a computer or computer program which manages access to a centralized resource or service in a network.

Similarly, a quick bit of Googling turned up [this][1] which isn't authoritative, but indicates that "server" can mean either hardware, VM, or software services.

[1]: https://stackoverflow.com/a/13118205/483347

> This seems to be a common point of confusion for people who aren't native English speakers

Where did this come from and what value does it have, other than being condescending to non-native English speakers? I am a native speaker and we're having a discussion in my native tongue about words in my native language about work I do as a profession.

> Similarly, a quick bit of Googling turned up [this][1]

I do not accept Stackoverflow as an authoritative source for anything. Useful? Yes, great for finding random solutions to random problems. Authoritative source on terminology used in the industry I work? Nah.

I'm surprised you need a source for this. Literally half of the server software out there refers to itself as "<thing> server".

Apache [1] "The Number One HTTP Server On The Internet". This is not referring to the machine hosting, it's referring to the software that you run to provide a service.

Postfix [2] "mail server"

IIS [3] "Web server"

I could go on...

[1] https://httpd.apache.org/

[2] http://www.postfix.org/

[3] https://www.iis.net/

Where did this come from and what value does it have, other than being condescending to non-native English speakers?

I don't think he was being condescending, so there's no need to be offended on behalf of other people.

I think he was suggesting that part of the linguistic confusion comes from how the tech industry has become so global that different words and phrases are exchanged between cultures, but within the tech sphere.

For example, it's not uncommon to hear the phrase "Do the needful" in places like Seattle, even though the phrase originated elsewhere and was imported by tech workers.

I do not accept Stackoverflow as an authoritative source for anything.

Good call. I'm with you there.

> Where did this come from and what value does it have, other than being condescending to non-native English speakers?

What is condescending? I'm observing that it's a common problem among non-native English speakers. It seems like you're taking offense on behalf of others and unduly so.

> I am a native speaker and we're having a discussion in my native tongue about words in my native language about work I do as a profession.

This is a common idiom among English-speaking IT professionals. If you're not familiar, that's fine. Now you know.

> I do not accept Stackoverflow as an authoritative source for anything

In a minute of Googling, I found several random sources on the Internet that indicate that the term is overloaded precisely as I described. One of those sources was the Oxford English Dictionary. I think that suffices to demonstrate that this is a common idiom, but I can't force you to be persuaded. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Accept the L.

Nah. +4 for the thread after adding up the down/up votes. I dipped out, the conversation held no further value to continue to me especially after being told "well it's an idiom you just don't understand". No minds will be changed, no positive outcome will happen from continuing.

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