[W/K] :: user

  User \Us"er\, n.
     1. One who uses. --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Law) Enjoyment of property; use. --Mozley & W.
        [1913 Webster]

  user
       n 1: a person who makes use of a thing; someone who uses or
            employs something
       2: a person who uses something or someone selfishly or
          unethically [syn: exploiter]
       3: a person who takes drugs [syn: drug user, substance
          abuser]

  45 Moby Thesaurus words for "user":
     LSD user, acidhead, addict, alcoholic, buyer, chain smoker,
     cocaine sniffer, cokie, consumer, cubehead, dipsomaniac,
     dope fiend, doper, droit du seigneur, drug abuser, drug addict,
     drug user, drunkard, employer, enjoyer, enjoyment of property,
     fiend, freak, glue sniffer, habitual, head, heavy smoker, hophead,
     hype, imperfect usufruct, junkie, marijuana smoker, methhead,
     narcotics addict, operator, owner, perfect usufruct, pillhead,
     pothead, purchaser, right of use, snowbird, speed freak, tripper,
     usufruct
  
  

  user n. 1. Someone doing `real work' with the computer, using it as a
     means rather than an end. Someone who pays to use a computer. See real
     user. 2. A programmer who will believe anything you tell him. One who
     asks silly questions. [GLS observes: This is slightly unfair. It is true
     that users ask questions (of necessity). Sometimes they are thoughtful
     or deep. Very often they are annoying or downright stupid, apparently
     because the user failed to think for two seconds or look in the
     documentation before bothering the maintainer.] See luser. 3. Someone
     who uses a program from the outside, however skillfully, without getting
     into the internals of the program. One who reports bugs instead of just
     going ahead and fixing them.
  
     The general theory behind this term is that there are two classes of
     people who work with a program: there are implementors (hackers) and
     lusers. The 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 few users who do are known as `real winners'.) The term is a
     relative one: 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.
  
  

  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 bugs 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)