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User (computing)
 
 
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In computing
Computing

Computing is usually defined as the activity of using and developing computer technology, computer hardware and computer software. It is the computer-specific part of information technology....
, a user is a person who uses a computer
Computer

A computer is a machine that manipulates Data according to a list of Code .The first devices that resemble modern computers date to the mid-20th century , although the computer concept and various machines similar to computers existed earlier....
 or Internet
Internet

The Internet is a global network of interconnected computers, enabling users to share information along multiple channels. Typically, a computer that connects to the Internet can access information from a vast array of available server and other computers by moving information from them to the computer's local memory....
 service. A user may have a user account that identifies the user by a username (also user name), screenname (also screen name), or "handle", which is derived from the identical Citizen's Band radio term. To log in
Login

selfref|For Wikipedia login, see...
 to an account, a user is typically required to authenticate himself with a password
Password

A password is a secret word or string of Character that is used for authentication, to prove identity or gain access to a resource . The password must be kept Secrecy from those not allowed access....
 or other credentials for the purposes of accounting, security
Computer security

Computer security is a branch of technology known as information security as applied to computers. The objective of computer security can include protection of information from theft or corruption, or the preservation of availability, as defined in the security policy....
, logging
Data logging

Data logging is the practice of recording sequential data, often Chronology....
, and resource management
Resource management

In organizational studies, resource management is the efficient and effective deployment for an organization's resources when they are needed. Such resources may include financial resources, inventory, human skills, production resources, or information technology ....
.

Users are also widely characterized as the class of people that use a system without complete technical expertise required to fully understand the system.






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Encyclopedia


In computing
Computing

Computing is usually defined as the activity of using and developing computer technology, computer hardware and computer software. It is the computer-specific part of information technology....
, a user is a person who uses a computer
Computer

A computer is a machine that manipulates Data according to a list of Code .The first devices that resemble modern computers date to the mid-20th century , although the computer concept and various machines similar to computers existed earlier....
 or Internet
Internet

The Internet is a global network of interconnected computers, enabling users to share information along multiple channels. Typically, a computer that connects to the Internet can access information from a vast array of available server and other computers by moving information from them to the computer's local memory....
 service. A user may have a user account that identifies the user by a username (also user name), screenname (also screen name), or "handle", which is derived from the identical Citizen's Band radio term. To log in
Login

selfref|For Wikipedia login, see...
 to an account, a user is typically required to authenticate himself with a password
Password

A password is a secret word or string of Character that is used for authentication, to prove identity or gain access to a resource . The password must be kept Secrecy from those not allowed access....
 or other credentials for the purposes of accounting, security
Computer security

Computer security is a branch of technology known as information security as applied to computers. The objective of computer security can include protection of information from theft or corruption, or the preservation of availability, as defined in the security policy....
, logging
Data logging

Data logging is the practice of recording sequential data, often Chronology....
, and resource management
Resource management

In organizational studies, resource management is the efficient and effective deployment for an organization's resources when they are needed. Such resources may include financial resources, inventory, human skills, production resources, or information technology ....
.

Users are also widely characterized as the class of people that use a system without complete technical expertise required to fully understand the system. In most hacker-related contexts, they are also divided into lusers and power users. Both are terms of opprobriation, but the latter connotes a "know-it-all" attitude. See also End-user (computer science)
End-user (computer science)

The end-user is a concept in software engineering, referring to an abstraction of the group of persons who will ultimately operate a piece of software ....
.

Semantics

A user account allows one to authenticate
Authentication

Authentication is the act of establishing or confirming something as authentic, that is, that claims made by or about the subject are true....
 to system services. It also generally provides one with the opportunity to be authorized
Authorization

Authorization is the function of specifying access rights to resources, which is related to information security and computer security in general and to access control in particular....
 to access them. However, authentication does not automatically imply authorization. Once the user has logged on, the operating system will often use an identifier such as an integer to refer to them, rather than their username. On Unix
Unix

Unix is a computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of American Telephone & Telegraph employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson , Dennis Ritchie, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna....
 systems this is called the user identifier
User identifier (Unix)

On Unix-like operating systems, users are identified within the kernel by an unsigned integer value called a user identifier, often abbreviated to UID or User ID....
 or user id. These accounts also create better performance throughout the computer as the different applications are spread out and do not all run at once while you are using one account.

Computer systems are divided into two groups based on what kind of users they have:
  • single-user systems do not have a concept of several user accounts
  • multi-user
    Multi-user

    Multi-user is a term that defines an operating system or application software that allows concurrent access by multiple User s of a computer. Time-sharing systems are multi-user systems....
     systems have such a concept, and require users to identify themselves before using the system.


See also

  • Nickname
    Nickname

    A nickname is a descriptive name given in place of or in addition to the official name of a person, place or thing. Another class of nickname is the familiar or truncated form of the proper name, such as Bob, Bobby, Rob, Robbie, and Bert for Robert, more properly called a short name....
  • Password
    Password

    A password is a secret word or string of Character that is used for authentication, to prove identity or gain access to a resource . The password must be kept Secrecy from those not allowed access....
  • Moniker
    Moniker

    "Moniker" is another term for a "nickname", "pseudonym", or "cognomen."Typically, the title is used as a personal or professional name, instead of the person's given name, for works of art, music, books, or performances....
  • Unified login