4 ms·

A little tangential, but I didn't know there was a utility called `finger`. Is this supposed to be a profile directory envisioned for an Internet back when it w

A little tangential, but I didn't know there was a utility called `finger`. Is this supposed to be a profile directory envisioned for an Internet back when it was more decentralized?

JadeNB 7y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finger_protocol https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finger_protocol
ocschwar 7y ago
Wow, I'm old
- esotericn 7y ago
  /CTCP FINGER ocschwar
  - ocschwar 7y ago
    Your comment is the #5 Google suggestion for "CTCP FINGER"
- vichu 7y ago
  I’m likely not as, but kids in undergrad still “finger”ed people at my school as late as 2016. Can’t say anything about after that though :)
- gadders 7y ago
  How else were you supposed to find out about the status of ID games?
fortran77 7y ago
There was a time when nobody was "NAT"ed and basically every workstation had an Internet Address. I would sit at my office at Olivetti Advanced Technlogy and be able to "finger" people's workstations at Sun, HP, and Adobe and see what they were up to.
- ocschwar 7y ago
  In my undergrad years, if the campus police got a panicky parent call, they'd send an officer to the computer club to ask us to finger every host on the campus.
mindslight 7y ago
We shall not talk about it due to the connotations of its name, but rest assured those responsible have been liquidated.
- shantly 7y ago
  I'm pretty sure it was intended in the sense of "to finger a suspect" (cf git blame) rather than anything vulgar. I think the tendency to take anything, in nearly any context, that could even maybe be vulgar, as vulgar 100% of the time, is actually relatively recent.
  - zrobotics 7y ago
    Have you ever read Shakespeare's work? Taking things in a vulgar context, especially for humor, is certainly nothing new.
    - shantly 7y ago
      No I mean just refusing to let any mention of some normal use of a word go without taking it that way. I'm reasonably up on my Shakespeare (LOL "up on" LOL) so I know of the joys of double entendre and innuendo. It just seems like any innocent word or phrase that could be taken that way now must be avoided in a way that it didn't have to be as recently as 2-3 decades ago—which is a source of a good deal of humor for us now, as we mine historical media for things unavoidably funny to the modern, finely-tuned-to-spot-imaginary-sexual-references-in-everything mind, despite (often—not always) the same slang being in use back then.
      - zrobotics 7y ago
        Fair point, although I think that is a function of society becoming less formal. For instance, much of the lingo in the trades (historically less formal) is purposely slightly vulgar. For example, first thing that comes to mind is male/female terminology for things like sockets & connectors. The terminology only makes sense if one considers it in a vulgar context, and it isn't a recent usage (I've seen repair manuals from the early 20s that use this terminology). What may make it seem to be changing is that society (or more particularly, white-collar workers & pop culture) has gotten far less formal than it used to be. Even non-tech companies are moving away from suits as required office attire, the only professionals I know personally who still wear suits to the office are lawyers or in the financial industry (which have always had a conservative, slow to change reputation). Edit: typos & formatting
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

A little tangential, but I didn't know there was a utility called `finger`. Is this supposed to be a profile directory envisioned for an Internet back when it was more decentralized?

JadeNB 7y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finger_protocol https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finger_protocol

ocschwar 7y ago

Wow, I'm old

esotericn 7y ago
/CTCP FINGER ocschwar
- ocschwar 7y ago
  Your comment is the #5 Google suggestion for "CTCP FINGER"
vichu 7y ago
I’m likely not as, but kids in undergrad still “finger”ed people at my school as late as 2016. Can’t say anything about after that though :)
gadders 7y ago
How else were you supposed to find out about the status of ID games?

fortran77 7y ago

There was a time when nobody was "NAT"ed and basically every workstation had an Internet Address. I would sit at my office at Olivetti Advanced Technlogy and be able to "finger" people's workstations at Sun, HP, and Adobe and see what they were up to.

ocschwar 7y ago
In my undergrad years, if the campus police got a panicky parent call, they'd send an officer to the computer club to ask us to finger every host on the campus.

mindslight 7y ago

We shall not talk about it due to the connotations of its name, but rest assured those responsible have been liquidated.

shantly 7y ago
I'm pretty sure it was intended in the sense of "to finger a suspect" (cf git blame) rather than anything vulgar. I think the tendency to take anything, in nearly any context, that could even maybe be vulgar, as vulgar 100% of the time, is actually relatively recent.
- zrobotics 7y ago
  Have you ever read Shakespeare's work? Taking things in a vulgar context, especially for humor, is certainly nothing new.
  - shantly 7y ago
    No I mean just refusing to let any mention of some normal use of a word go without taking it that way. I'm reasonably up on my Shakespeare (LOL "up on" LOL) so I know of the joys of double entendre and innuendo. It just seems like any innocent word or phrase that could be taken that way now must be avoided in a way that it didn't have to be as recently as 2-3 decades ago—which is a source of a good deal of humor for us now, as we mine historical media for things unavoidably funny to the modern, finely-tuned-to-spot-imaginary-sexual-references-in-everything mind, despite (often—not always) the same slang being in use back then.
    - zrobotics 7y ago
      Fair point, although I think that is a function of society becoming less formal. For instance, much of the lingo in the trades (historically less formal) is purposely slightly vulgar. For example, first thing that comes to mind is male/female terminology for things like sockets & connectors. The terminology only makes sense if one considers it in a vulgar context, and it isn't a recent usage (I've seen repair manuals from the early 20s that use this terminology). What may make it seem to be changing is that society (or more particularly, white-collar workers & pop culture) has gotten far less formal than it used to be. Even non-tech companies are moving away from suits as required office attire, the only professionals I know personally who still wear suits to the office are lawyers or in the financial industry (which have always had a conservative, slow to change reputation). Edit: typos & formatting

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]