TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:RE: STYLE: Is Firmware always Firmware? From:KMcLauchlan -at- chrysalis-its -dot- com To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 20 Nov 2001 14:31:36 -0500
Jonathan,
We always make the distinction between:
- Firmware version such'n'such (that's currently
living on your system, Mr./Ms. Customer)
versus
- Firmware Update version thus-and-so (that's
currently in the form of a file, waiting to
be installed (to replace Firmware such'n'such)).
Once it's installed, it becomes the new Firmware version...
We *might* on occasion refer to the "Firmware Update software"
when telling people to download the latest file for their
system. But the code that's living on their system is
always just "the Firmware" or "Firmware version x.y.z".
So, your problem doesn't exist.
Whew! Aren't you glad you had an imaginary problem?
(Or... is that an UnReal problem? It's been decades since
I studied any math...)
> The tech writer before me was in the process of circulating a
> document for comments and I'm getting a lot of comments where
> she made this awkward statement about "must contain firmware
> operating software release 1.01.00".
>
> She referring to firmware that must be loaded into the
> product. Usually this is done by the manufacturer, but it can
> be done by the installer or customer. So my question is this,
> is firmware always firmware, or is firmware considered
> software when it's on a floppy disk and shipped to the customer.
>
> The more I think about it, the more bizarre it gets. I think
> I'm going to just use the term "firmware" and keep it as
> simple as possible, but knowing the guys that review the
> document, someone's going to raise a fuss over this and try
> to make it more complicated than it is.
Collect Royalties, Not Rejection Letters! Tell us your rejection story when you
submit your manuscript to iUniverse Nov. 6 -Dec. 15 and get five free copies of
your book. What are you waiting for? http://www.iuniverse.com/media/techwr
Your monthly sponsorship message here reaches more than
5000 technical writers, providing 2,500,000+ monthly impressions.
Contact Eric (ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com) for details and availability.
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
