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Subject:The or no The From:Melanie Shook <mshook -at- com2001 -dot- com> To:"'techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com'" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 21 Oct 1999 10:04:34 -0500
I'm documenting software for a communications server. Previous
documentation (written by developers) was inconsistent in the use of "the"
preceeding the name of the software/hardware. One of the programmers thinks
I should put "the" in front of the name of the software, as in "The
SuperThing can be customized to do anything." SuperThing refers to both
hardware and software -- the communications server itself and the
(client/server) software used to run it.
It seems to me that if we are referring to the server, I would use "the" but
in referring to the software, I wouldn't use "the." Just as I would say
"NT" but not "the NT" unless it was used as an adjective, as in "the NT
operating system" or "the NT server."
In the user documentation, I am primarily referring to what the user can do
with the software, so I would not use "the." But since the name applies to
both the software and the hardware, I'm not sure. Is this just a matter of
personal taste, or does CMOS or MMOS (or anyone else) have something to say
about it?
