user
1.
Someone doing "real work" with the computer, using it as a means rather than an end. Someone who pays to use a
computer. A programmer who will believe anything you tell
him. One who asks silly questions without thinking for two
seconds or looking in the documentation. Someone who uses a
program, however skillfully, without getting into the
internals of the program. One who reports {bug}s instead of
just fixing them. See also {luser}, {real user}.
Users are looked down on by {hackers} to some extent because
they don't understand the full ramifications of the system in
all its glory. The term is relative: a skilled hacker may be
a user with respect to some program he himself does not hack.
A LISP hacker might be one who maintains LISP or one who uses
LISP (but with the skill of a hacker). A LISP user is one who
uses LISP, whether skillfully or not. Thus there is some
overlap between the two terms; the subtle distinctions must be
resolved by context.
2. Any person, organisation, process, device,
program, {protocol}, or system which uses a service provided
by others.
The term "{client}" (as in "{client-server}" systems) is
rather more specific, usually implying two processes
communicating via some protocol.
[{Jargon File}]
(1996-04-28)