31–40 of 64 posts
Like the author, I frequently get hung up on which of "log in", "sign in", or any of their variants is 'more correct' every time I put together software with users. "Authenticate" might be the most correct verb, although it's not very user friendly?
Like the author, I frequently get hung up on which of "log in", "sign in", or any of their variants is 'more correct' every time I put together software with users. "Authenticate" might be the most correct verb, although it's not very user friendly?
Login is a noun (and adj). Log in is a verb. So the right one to use depends somewhat on the context. It's the "login page" but "you need to log in". But it's not super clear in all cases.
What do you make of "log off" vs. "log out"? I feel like I used to hear the former (and its complement "log on") somewhat often, but everything seems to use "log in/out" now.
I seem to remember some movie or TV show where it was "jack in", sort of plugging yourself into a system. Not sure about the opposite version though.
Like the author, I frequently get hung up on which of "log in", "sign in", or any of their variants is 'more correct' every time I put together software with users. "Authenticate" might be the most correct verb, although it's not very user friendly?
I mostly get hung up on "why doesn't this stupid software support Single Sign On, it's 2014, why am I typing my current credentials into a web page that's either running on the same computer, or running on the local network, which is also going to inappropriately lock or kick me out after NN minutes of inactivity".
It's interesting that the 1964 CTSS manual† linked from the article (OCR'ed by Google††) uses "login", one word, no blank. See page 6 (page 14 of the PDF). I knew about ships' logs, but I didn't know that the word "log" originated from the use of a wooden log tossed overboard attached to a knotted rope, so that the observed speed could be entered into a book that eventually came to be known as a ship's log. Also inte…
Isn't that in reference to a command literally named "login", presumably due to the lack of a good convention for separating words without the space character? Like "useradd" on contemporary Linux.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Personally I prefer "log in" to "sign in" because it makes it stand out more from "sign up", thus hopefully leading to fewer users accidentally selecting one when they wanted the other. And regarding the variations, I've always been under the impression that "log in" is the act of logging in, while "login" is either the situation/event ("a login happened") or an alternative term for username.
You're right that "log in" is more distinct from "sign up" (and works because "logging up" doesn't make much sense), and I definitely agree with you that 'login' is a noun, if anything! Both "log in" and "sign in" are anachronisms though - they're justified when you're actually signing-in-and-out of a computer system or building to log your visit, but the metaphor doesn't technically make as much sense when you're ta…
That is what many systems will do when you "log in", so to me that makes the most sense.
Login is a noun (and adj). Log in is a verb. So the right one to use depends somewhat on the context. It's the "login page" but "you need to log in". But it's not super clear in all cases.
Login is a noun (and adj). Log in is a verb. So the right one to use depends somewhat on the context. It's the "login page" but "you need to log in". But it's not super clear in all cases.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Around here, it was "wand in" and "wand out" because they used a light pen to read a barcode on their badge to access the AS/400. My Dad still says "wand in" when he logs into his Mac.
Talk about old-school computation I've heard some people use the term "Abended" for a crash, because it was an "ABnormal END" - Abend