Log in vs. log on vs. ...

[Daniel Strychalski <dski -at- CAMEONET -dot- CAMEO -dot- COM -dot- TW>]

The first time I saw "login" I assumed it had been written by someone whose
native language was not English. It is exactly the kind of mistake native
speakers of Chinese often make (most people in Taiwan's computer industry
treat "setup" as a verb, for example). When I learned that it came from one
of the largest software houses in the U.S., I was dumbfounded.

I have unobtrusively monitored the speech and writing of two other Americans
of my generation. When they need a verb that denotes the process of
initiating a session on a network or multi-user computer, they use "log on,"
and when they need a noun or adjective they use "log-on." As I do. One of
these friends teaches general writing at the university level; the other is
a full-time UN translator. That is hardly a representative sampling, but it
is all the confirmation I need that "log in" and "log-in" are recent and
unnecessary additions to the language. I find both expressions jarring, and
I find "login" very hard to accept.

(If you think I'm a fuddy-duddy, consider another friend of mine, a former
CNC field engineer who has worked with computers since the late seventies
and still objects strenuously to "filename"!)

So far, I've been able to put "login" in quotes wherever I've had to use it:

   When the "login" prompt appears, type your user ID and press the Return
   or Enter key.

   Your e-mail address is your user ID (the name you supply at the "login"
   prompt) immediately followed by the symbol @ and the full host name for
   the machine your account is on. [BTW, I had to dig this information up
   myself after typing "gopher" on a whim and discovering that the "BBS" I
   was using was part of the Internet!]

None of my general references has either "log on" or "log in" in the sense
of signing a log of any kind. My friend in academe, though, has a 1990
Oxford that defines "log on" and lists "log in" as an alternate form.

Languages never stop changing, of course. When I got satellite TV after
being without North American sports broadcasts for well over a dozen years,
I was surprised to learn that batters now get x number of hits _on_ the day
instead of _for_ the day. That jars, too, but it seems well established,
though at least one golf commentator, an older fellow, still uses "for."

After initiating a session, we always say we are _on_ a network or BBS, so
"log on" seems preferable to "log in." Perhaps early network designers saw
themselves as central authorities with whom ordinary users "checked in" much
as someone on probation checks in with an officer of the law. It is
gratifying to see that some companies still use "log on." I have problems
with "logon," though, and -- leaving aside the question of whether this is
worth it or even reasonable -- "login" really gets me teed off.

                                Dan Strychalski   dski -at- cameonet -dot- cameo -dot- com -dot- tw