4 ms·

> "data base" was a term in use predating that 1963 publication I agree, and actually reading through some of it only reinforces the feeling. I suppose the rea

by refset 2y ago

> "data base" was a term in use predating that 1963 publication I agree, and actually reading through some of it only reinforces the feeling. I suppose the real answer could well still be CLASSIFIED, if it was even recorded in the first place.

gregw2 2y ago
Interesting. Makes sense. Per SIGMOD 2006 paper "'A veritable bucket of facts'- origins of the data base management system", https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/1147376.1147382 https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/1147376.1147382 / https://www.tomandmaria.com/Tom/Writing/VeritableBucketOfFactsSIGMOD.pdf https://www.tomandmaria.com/Tom/Writing/VeritableBucketOfFac... , "The data base concept derives from early military on-line systems" The term "base" used with data would correlate well with the military term for "base" and perhaps adds some color to its original context. Perhaps a "data base" originated as "A safe refuge of facts from which you would learn, train, and launch a defense or an attack?" Or perhaps its a "base" (basis) of facts from which you operate in a military operation? Or perhaps someone else non-military used the term first but it picked up early resonance in the military community due to its additional connotations for them or their management? Anyway, TIL. I wonder whether a FOIA request to NSA or DoD would turn up anything.
- gregw2 2y ago
  Counterargument: Actually, Oxford English Dictionary says: "OED's earliest evidence for [the term] database is from 1953, in Sociometry." (Source: https://www.oed.com/dictionary/database_n#:~:text=Where%20does%20the%20noun%20database,base%20n https://www.oed.com/dictionary/database_n#:~:text=Where%20do....) (Perhaps this Sociometry? : https://www.jstor.org/stable/i329357 https://www.jstor.org/stable/i329357 ?)
  - refset 2y ago
    I could also believe many groups arrived at the term independently, deriving naturally from conversation along the lines of: "These are the data on which decisions are based" See also Rich Hickey's definition of "basis". I bet he spent a good while digging into the etymology.

by refset 2y ago

gregw2 2y ago

Interesting. Makes sense. Per SIGMOD 2006 paper "'A veritable bucket of facts'- origins of the data base management system", https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/1147376.1147382 https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/1147376.1147382 / https://www.tomandmaria.com/Tom/Writing/VeritableBucketOfFactsSIGMOD.pdf https://www.tomandmaria.com/Tom/Writing/VeritableBucketOfFac... , "The data base concept derives from early military on-line systems" The term "base" used with data would correlate well with the military term for "base" and perhaps adds some color to its original context. Perhaps a "data base" originated as "A safe refuge of facts from which you would learn, train, and launch a defense or an attack?" Or perhaps its a "base" (basis) of facts from which you operate in a military operation? Or perhaps someone else non-military used the term first but it picked up early resonance in the military community due to its additional connotations for them or their management? Anyway, TIL. I wonder whether a FOIA request to NSA or DoD would turn up anything.

gregw2 2y ago
Counterargument: Actually, Oxford English Dictionary says: "OED's earliest evidence for [the term] database is from 1953, in Sociometry." (Source: https://www.oed.com/dictionary/database_n#:~:text=Where%20does%20the%20noun%20database,base%20n https://www.oed.com/dictionary/database_n#:~:text=Where%20do....) (Perhaps this Sociometry? : https://www.jstor.org/stable/i329357 https://www.jstor.org/stable/i329357 ?)
- refset 2y ago
  I could also believe many groups arrived at the term independently, deriving naturally from conversation along the lines of: "These are the data on which decisions are based" See also Rich Hickey's definition of "basis". I bet he spent a good while digging into the etymology.