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RE: Publish or upload- correct use of terminology?
Subject:RE: Publish or upload- correct use of terminology? From:Tom Murrell <trmurrell -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 2 Oct 2000 12:29:38 -0700 (PDT)
I feel a need to weigh in on this one. (Sorry, I tried laying down, but
the urge didn't go away. <g>
--- Mike Adams <Mike_Adams -at- summithq -dot- com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I have to disagree on that one. "Publish" is just a dumbing done
> performed by M$ when they thought up Frontpage. The term is upload.
> When you upload file to a website, they have also "done more" that
> simply change location. If you have properly uploaded the files to
> the proper location, they will change the website.
> From: John Posada [mailto:jposada01 -at- yahoo -dot- com]
>
> Publish infers more than moving the file from one place (C:\) to
> another (http://). In fact, much authoring software, when it comes
> time to move the web site online, uses publish also.
>
> When you upload the files, nothing is changed, just the location. In
> the case of an ecommerce web site, publish is more appropriate.
Perhaps I go back too far in the computer business, but I DO see a
distinction between 'publish' and 'upload' that builds on what John
Posada was talking about.
If I upload a program but don't activate it or otherwise make it
generally available, I haven't published it. I have merely changed its
location.
To me, publish implies that it is made available to others for use or
is generally accessible. Uploading doesn't necessarily do that, though
I readily admit that common usage might not make this distinction.
Perhaps an analogy will clarify. I can upload an html page, but if I
don't link it to the site, say through the main page, then it isn't
accessible to others (unless they get lucky typing random page names
into their browsers, I suppose.) But if I DO link it, then it is much
more likely that others will find it. Therefore uploading has merely
placed the page in a new place, whereas linking it to an index or other
page a user might be expected to browse to will allow the user to find
it. It would therefore be published.