We have:
I would merge all of them into boot (or booting, or boot-process) and be done with it.
asked Jul 9, 2014 at 15:19
2 Answers
The following changes have been made:
answered Aug 20, 2014 at 21:10
Sorry but I have to vehemently disagree.
We are more or less "technicians" or at least "experts with some technical knowledge", and from the completely technical point of view, none of those tags (technical terms) means the same:
boot: "boot process involves all the phases involved on turn on the computer and get ready to use the operational system."
startup: "the system startup sequence after the OS' kernel is loaded. Contrast with boot, which covers what happens before the kernel is loaded."
as can be seen, from the technical point of view, the boot occurs first, and then the startup. They are intimately related, I agree, but they are completely different process. I can boot up my system without doing a startup and I can startup a system without needing the boot process, by restarting.
For the same motives, restart and reboot are different process. The later requires that the energy is drained of the system and that the POST process is executed, the former doesn't.
boot-time looks to me like it should be replaced with performance, since, whenever you are measuring the boot time of your system, you are doing it to profile or improve the performance during the process.
boot-failure seems like a mixture of boot problems and startup problems, it needs cleaning and remove the tag.
So, I agree that something is to be done with those tags, but merging them all isn't the solution. Cleaning and disambiguating seems like the actual solutions.
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1Knowing that there is a difference between the meaning of two tags is great, but it doesn't matter if 90% of all users don't have that understanding and use the tag incorrectly. Unless you want to permanently watch for new questions with the tag and retag them accordingly.– Oliver Salzburg ModCommented Jul 14, 2014 at 20:17
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We are more or less "technicians" or at least "experts with some technical knowledge", and from the completely technical point of view, none of those tags (technical terms) means the same- we are not all experts or technicians. Nearly of my answers on SU has been due to my better use of Google than the person posting the question ha ha!! I think a single tag is better as it aids clarity; if the user wants to state the boot type, then they can in their post. For example if I asked a question about my CPU, I'd tag it CPU and then define the make/model in the post.– DaveCommented Jul 15, 2014 at 11:18 -
@OliverSalzburg so, look at the bright side, we have 10% that do know how to tag correctly a question of these topics, doing The Right Thing™. If we merge them, we are telling them two things: that they weren't doing the right thing, or that they were wrong. Both of them are counterproductive. Also, the 90% doesn't know the difference? Isn't it better to teach them rather than leaving them in the dark? I know it seems like a titanic task, but, hey, is a 1:9 proportion of knowing vs not knowing. I think we can all pool resources and teach 9 people each about boot/startup, no?– BraiamCommented Jul 16, 2014 at 16:00
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@DaveRook congratulations. That means that your searching skills are better than the answerer. But it doesn't mean there are other experts that do not google for their answers (for starters, me), base it all in experience or experimentations and know the difference between a tag and other. Those are the kind of guys that we need, since they are the infamous "experts". Also, you are putting backwards why does the tags exist: "Tags connect experts with questions they will be able to answer.".– BraiamCommented Jul 16, 2014 at 16:08
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Their main propose are not for the people asking questions, but for the people answering.– BraiamCommented Jul 16, 2014 at 16:09
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3@Braiam You can't teach people anything by cleanup up behind them. It would be awesome if active people reviewed every new question and retagged it appropriately, but that isn't happening. So you have to come up with a practical solution. The time between turning on a device and being able to interact with the operating system really doesn't deserve multiple tags IMHO. Neither does the reverse operation. While all your points are perfectly valid, I'd always much rather get rid of a tag, than trying to establish the proper meaning of one that hardly serves any purpose anyway.– Oliver Salzburg ModCommented Jul 16, 2014 at 17:49
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boot tag: "boot process involves all the phases involved on turn on the computer and get ready to use the operational system." then startup tag: "Contrast with boot, which covers what happens before the kernel is loaded." If I looked at only those two tag descriptions, how on Earth would I be less confused than I was before, when the "startup" tag can't even be accurate about the referenced "boot" tag's purpose!?– userCommented Jul 19, 2014 at 15:28
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@MichaelKjörling I see that they are not using the same terms (kernel and OS), so it could be mildly confusing, but I think the line can be drawn.– BraiamCommented Jul 19, 2014 at 15:55
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@Braiam To me an "operational system" is one that can be used by the user to perform work; it is operational for its intended purpose. "Before the kernel is loaded", on the other hand, pretty much means firmware and boot loader stages only. Pretty big difference IMO.– userCommented Jul 19, 2014 at 15:56
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@MichaelKjörling OS means "Operating System", IMO, also, you can have the whole boot process without a OS kernel, but you can't have an OS without the kernel. That is where the difference lies, again IMO.– BraiamCommented Jul 19, 2014 at 16:03
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@Braiam The quoted "boot" tag wiki says "operational system", not "operating system".– userCommented Jul 19, 2014 at 16:45
restartis different. It includesshutdown.