Talk:Master–slave (technology)

Term origins

Who was the first to use these terms in computing? This article does not bring it up. --Bushido Brown 03:20, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

I do not know who was the first to use this term, but the origins are likely older than computing. I have hazy memories of various engineering projects where the term "slave" refers to any system that is controlled by another, as well as the term "slaving" used as a verb to indicate the status of such systems as slaves or independent. A few specific instances-

In hydraulics it's common to talk about master cylinders and slave cylinders. For example, the hydraulic brake system in your car has a master cylinder that is directly connected to the brake pedal and a slave cylinder that pushes on the actual brake discs. The master is designated in this context because it is where the mechanical force is converted to hydraulic force.

In photography, an optical slave is a sensor that controls multiple flashbulbs based on the detection of a bright flash. The idea is that you have one flash on your camera that illuminates when you press the trigger, and you have other slave flash bulbs that detect the initial illumination and fire themselves in response. This is in contrast to a system where all flash bulbs and the camera are wired into a single trigger. I'm not sure if the term "master" is used in this context.

In military avionics there is a problem where you have a single weapon that might be controlled by multiple different systems. For example, you might have a guided missile that can be controlled by GPS or by a laser designator. In this context, the nomenclature is to say that the missile is slaved to a specific sensor, and operates differently based on how it is slaved. Google the term "slave to SOI" (sensor of interest) to see this usage. I'm also not sure if "master" is used in this context either.

24.107.185.147 (talk) 05:09, 12 April 2016 (UTC)

I think the slave flashes in photography should be mentioned as examples as well. This is a quite old technique in analogue photography since there are electronic flashes with photosensitive sensors. Manorainjan 22:29, 16 October 2017 (UTC)

Excel e-mail

I just want to verify whether or not the Microsoft Excel e-mail from Mr. Sandoval that someone added to the article needs to be confirmed as Fair Use or entitled to be public altogether. I mean, I do think it's appropriate, albeit not commonly found in encyclopedic material, but I think it's best to know for a fact that it's legal to add to the article.

Thanks,

-Alan 24.184.184.177 (talk) 03:49, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Wiki Project?

Btw, is there a Wiki Project we could list this under? I'd imagine there is and as such we should add it to that category.

Thanks again,

-Alan 24.184.184.177 (talk) 03:53, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

PC alternative

As a tech writer, I would be eager to not use "master/slave"... but has anyone found any suitable alternatives being used in the industry? Please add to article if so... wish City of L.A. had done so... ---Ransom (--67.91.216.67 (talk) 18:03, 29 September 2008 (UTC))

"ridiculous"

"noting that the master/slave terminology accurately reflects what is going on inside the device "

I mean, strictly speaking, it is not a literal description of what is going on. "Master", maybe, but "slave"? No. It is no more "accurate" than "general" and "grunt" or something that is more about simple command authority. Slavery is a more complicated system and transaction. I can understand people saying that they don't feel it is worth the change — but to say it is "accurate" in any literal sense is ridiculous. It is one of many loose metaphors for control out of many possible candidates, and is not even as literally accurate as many of them.

And of course, the idea that it causes offense is hardly related to whether or not it is literally true. It is no more "accurate" than "Slavemaster" and "Nigger" but the offense would be there regardless of whether it was "accurate".

Can we get a real citation for people arguing in favor of the technology, not just some opinion of some Wikipedia editor? --Mr.98 (talk) 01:48, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

Where one object asserts absolute dominion over another it's more than simple command-issuing capacity; in many cases the "slave" is active (or "alive") solely at the whim of its "master". The proposed alternatives do not convey this absoluteness.

That you take offence at the nomenclature used (in the present case) to describe a relation between inanimate objects —even going so far as to assign a skin-color to the "slave" device (as if no other group of people has ever been subjugated by another)— reveals nothing beyond your own biases.

Many countries do not have centuries of African blood on their hands, why should the rest of the world cater to your national discomfort? 71.17.32.99 (talk) 22:50, 30 January 2012 (UTC)

It is a technical term [1] no use to invent "nicer" terms on the whims of some uneducated people. It's about machines interacting. No bloodshed ;-) --Manorainjan 22:34, 16 October 2017 (UTC)

Proposed alternative : "ruler" & "ruled"

Following up on user 67.91.216.67's request, I couldn't find any references to alternative terminology being used. I brainstormed a bit using WordVis, looking for words related to the concepts of "superior" & "subordinate", which though too long & wordy themselves to be good substitutes, still seem to be good, neutral equivalents to "master" & "slave". (Note that "master" is two-syllable & "slave" is one-syllable.) I came up with the shorter-word equivalent pair "ruler" & "ruled".

Wikipedia prohibits posting original research in articles, thus I'm posting here. If someone could please suggest an appropriate external site that I could post this to, I'll do that & we can then see what kind of response my idea gets. Brad (talk) 21:58, 3 December 2011 (UTC)

www.reddit.com/r/technology might be a good place to take it. Here at Wikipedia we simply report what terms are in common usage, but there is no reason why you cannot go elsewhere and try to influence common usage --Guy Macon (talk) 20:19, 16 July 2012 (UTC)

Article needs improvement

This is a rather important article as Web Services have become more important in usage across the Internet. There are many rather good sources that exist. Example: http://www.mongodb.org/display/DOCS/Master+Slave . The article should remove the criticism section due to an irrelevant conversation about the terminology. If the article had more content it might be open to debate, but the term is simply an architecture verbiage that has no reference to Western Slavery. Shaded0 (talk) 02:14, 2 June 2012 (UTC)

Removed SATA/PATA from Controversy section

I removed the following from the controversy section because it only eliminates the need for the terminology in that specific instance (e.g. in database replication it still applies). It also violates NPOV because it implies that SATA was in part designed to elimnate the master/slave terminalogy, when in reality the goal was to use superior technology and designs. This also makes it a bit trivial to the subject matter.

With SATA replacing older IDE (PATA) drives, only one drive per connection is possible, eliminating the need for the terminology.

As a side note, I too wish there was better nomenclature for this, but Wikipedia is here to document notable information using well documented, reliable sources, not to spin up a new initiative. Argel1200 (talk) 19:25, 16 July 2012 (UTC)

list of alternative terms?

in addition to the examples already given, would it be useful to add a list of terms used as alternative to master/slave?

i think it would be helpful to show that these terms mean the same thing.

• master/minion (saltstack)
• primary/secondary (bind)
• primary/replica (drupal and many others)
• leader/follower (django)
• /worker (python)
• master/standby (postgresql)
• master/replica (mediawiki)
• others?