# User (computing) > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/User_(computing) > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/User_(computing).md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_(computing) > Source revision: 1357110148 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Person who uses a computer or network service For information on usernames within Wikipedia, see [Wikipedia:Username](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Username). Within a [computer program](/source/Computer_program) or [website](/source/Website), a user is often represented by an abstract [icon](/source/Computer_icon) of a person. A list of users in a chat room on [Soulseek](/source/Soulseek), with [country flags](/source/National_flag) to indicate where each user is from Operating systems Common features Process management Interrupts Memory management File system Device drivers Networking Security Input/output v t e A **user** is a [person](/source/Person) who uses a [computer](/source/Computer) or [network](/source/Computer_network) [service](/source/Service_(systems_architecture)). A user typically has a **user account** and is recognized by the system through a **username**.[a] Some [software](/source/Software) products provide services to other systems and have no direct [end users](/source/End_user). ## End user Main article: [End user](/source/End_user) End users are the ultimate human users (also referred to as [operators](/source/Operator_(profession))) of a software product. The end user stands in contrast to users who support or maintain the product such as [sysops](/source/Sysop), [database administrators](/source/Database_administrator) and [computer technicians](/source/Computer_technician). The term is used to abstract and distinguish those who only use the software from the developers of the system, who enhance the software for end users.[1] In [user-centered design](/source/User-centered_design), it also distinguishes the software operator from the client who pays for its development and other [stakeholders](/source/Stakeholder_(corporate)) who may not directly use the software, but help establish its [requirements](/source/Software_requirements).[2][3] This abstraction is primarily useful in designing the [user interface](/source/User_interface), and refers to a relevant subset of characteristics that most expected users would have in common. In user-centered design, [personas](/source/Persona_(user-centered_design)) are created to represent the types of users. It is sometimes specified for each persona which types of user interfaces it is comfortable with (due to previous experience or the interface's inherent simplicity), and what technical expertise and degree of knowledge it has in specific fields or [disciplines](/source/Discipline). When few constraints are imposed on the end-user category, especially when designing programs for use by the general public, it is common practice to expect minimal technical expertise or previous training in end users.[4] The [end-user development](/source/End-user_development) discipline blurs the typical distinction between users and developers. It designates activities or techniques in which people who are not professional developers create automated behavior and complex data objects without significant knowledge of a programming language. Systems whose [actor](/source/Actor_(UML)) is another system or a [software agent](/source/Software_agent) have no direct end users. ## User account A user's account allows a user to [authenticate](/source/Authentication) to a system and potentially to receive [authorization](/source/Authorization) to [access](/source/Access_control) resources provided by or connected to that system; however, authentication does not imply authorization. To log into an account, a user is typically required to [authenticate](/source/Authenticate) oneself with a [password](/source/Password) or other [credentials](/source/Credentials) for the purposes of [accounting](/source/Accounting), [security](/source/Computer_security), logging, and [resource management](/source/Resource_management). 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, through a process known as [identity correlation](/source/Identity_correlation). In [Unix](/source/Unix) systems, the username is correlated with a [user identifier](/source/User_identifier) or *user ID*. Computer systems operate in one of two types based on what kind of users they have: - Single-user systems do not have a concept of several user accounts. - [Multi-user](/source/Multi-user) systems have such a concept, and require users to identify themselves before using the system. Each user account on a multi-user system typically has a [home directory](/source/Home_directory), in which to store [files](/source/Computer_file) pertaining exclusively to that user's activities, which is protected from access by other users (though a [system administrator](/source/System_administrator) may have access). User accounts often contain a public [user profile](/source/User_profile), which contains basic information provided by the account's owner. The files stored in the home directory (and all other directories in the system) have file system permissions which are inspected by the [operating system](/source/Operating_system) to determine which users are granted access to read or execute a file, or to store a new file in that directory. While systems expect most user accounts to be used by only a single person, many systems have a special account intended to allow anyone to use the system, such as the username "anonymous" for [anonymous FTP](/source/Anonymous_FTP) and the username "guest" for a guest account. ### Password storage On [Unix](/source/Unix) systems, local user accounts are stored in the file [/etc/passwd](/source/Passwd#Password_file), while user passwords may be stored at [/etc/shadow](/source/Passwd#Shadow_file) in its [hashed](/source/Cryptographic_hash) form.[5] On [Microsoft Windows](/source/Microsoft_Windows), user passwords can be managed within the Credential Manager program.[6][*[better source needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability#Questionable_sources)*] The passwords are located in the Windows profile directory.[7] ### Username format Various computer operating-systems and applications expect/enforce different rules for the format. In [Microsoft Windows](/source/Microsoft_Windows) environments, for example, note the potential use of:[8] - User Principal Name (UPN) format – for example: UserName@Example.com - Down-Level Logon Name format – for example: DOMAIN\UserName ## Terminology Some [usability](/source/Usability) professionals have expressed their dislike of the term "user" and have proposed changing it.[9] [Don Norman](/source/Don_Norman) stated that "One of the horrible words we use is 'users'. I am on a crusade to get rid of the word 'users'. I would prefer to call them 'people'."[10] The term "user" may imply lack of the technical expertise required to fully understand how computer systems and software products work.[11] [Power users](/source/Power_user) use advanced features of programs, though they are not necessarily capable of [computer programming](/source/Computer_programming) and [system administration](/source/System_administration).[12][13] ## See also - [1% rule (Internet culture)](/source/1%25_rule_(Internet_culture)) - [Anonymous post](/source/Anonymous_post) - [Prosumer](/source/Prosumer) - [Pseudonym](/source/Pseudonym) - [End-user computing](/source/End-user_computing), systems in which non-programmers can create working applications. - [End-user database](/source/Database#End-user_database), a collection of data developed by individual end-users. - [End-user development](/source/End-user_development), a technique that allows people who are not professional developers to perform programming tasks, i.e. to create or modify software. - [End-user license agreement](/source/End-user_license_agreement) (*EULA*), a contract between a supplier of software and its purchaser, granting the right to use it. - [Luser](/source/Luser) - [Namechk](/source/Namechk) - [Nickname](/source/Nickname#Computing) - [Registered user](/source/Registered_user) - [User error](/source/User_error) - [User agent](/source/User_agent) - [User experience](/source/User_experience) - [User space](/source/User_space) ## Notes 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Other terms for username include **login name**, **screenname** (or **screen name**), **account name**, **nickname** (or **nick**) **display name** and **handle**, which is derived from the identical [citizens band radio](/source/Citizens_band_radio) term.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Ko, Andrew J.; Abraham, Robin; Beckwith, Laura; Blackwell, Alan; Burnett, Margaret; Erwig, Martin; Scaffidi, Chris; Lawrance, Joseph; Lieberman, Henry; Myers, Brad; Rosson, Mary Beth; Rothermel, Gregg; Shaw, Mary; Wiedenbeck, Susan (April 2011). ["The State of the Art in End-User Software Engineering"](http://web.media.mit.edu/~lieber/Publications/End-User-Software-Engineering.pdf) (PDF). *ACM Computing Surveys*. **43** (3): 1–44. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1145/1922649.1922658](https://doi.org/10.1145%2F1922649.1922658). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [9435548](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:9435548). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20110401200320/http://web.media.mit.edu/~lieber/Publications/End-User-Software-Engineering.pdf) (PDF) from the original on 1 April 2011. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Understanding Organizational Stakeholders for Design Success"](https://boxesandarrows.com/understanding-organizational-stakeholders-for-design-success/). 2004-05-06. Retrieved 2016-08-31. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Rigsbee, Sarah, and William B. Fitzpatrick. "[User-Centered Design: A Case Study on Its Application to the Tactical Tomahawk Weapons Control System.](http://www.jhuapl.edu/techdigest/td/td3101/31_01_Rigsbee.pdf) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20171014065231/http://www.jhuapl.edu/techdigest/td/td3101/31_01_Rigsbee.pdf) 2017-10-14 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)"*Johns Hopkins APL Technical Digest* 31.1 (2012): 76–82. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["What is end user?"](http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/E/end_user.html). September 1996. Retrieved November 7, 2010. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["What is /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow files"](https://alaedine07.github.io/posts/passwd-shadow/). 7 March 2021. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["\[Solved\] Where Are Passwords Stored in Windows 10/11"](https://www.passfab.com/windows-tips/where-are-passwords-stored-in-windows-10.html). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["Password Storage Locations For Popular Windows Applications"](https://www.nirsoft.net/articles/saved_password_location.html). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["User Name Formats"](https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa380525%28v=vs.85%29.aspx). *MSDN*. Developer technologies. Microsoft. Retrieved 2016-01-11. The down-level logon name format is used to specify a [domain](/source/Windows_domain) and a user account in that domain [...]. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Don Norman (17 November 2008). ["Words Matter. Talk About People: Not Customers, Not Consumers, Not Users"](https://web.archive.org/web/20190825233932/https://jnd.org/words_matter_talk_about_people_not_customers_not_consumers_not_users/). Archived from [the original](https://jnd.org/words_matter_talk_about_people_not_customers_not_consumers_not_users/) on 25 August 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2019. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-centre-finesthour_11-0)** ["Don Norman at UX Week 2008 © Adaptive Path"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgJcUHC3qJ8). February 2010. [Archived](https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/WgJcUHC3qJ8) from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 8 November 2010 – via YouTube. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-:0_12-0)** [Jargon File](/source/Jargon_File) entry for ["User"](http://catb.org/jargon/html/U/user.html). Retrieved November 7, 2010. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** ["Power Users' Guide"](https://help.sap.com/saphelp_nw70ehp2/helpdata/en/1e/013f420e09b26be10000000a155106/frameset.htm). *SAP Help Portal*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20150627173157/https://help.sap.com/saphelp_nw70ehp2/helpdata/en/1e/013f420e09b26be10000000a155106/frameset.htm) from the original on Jun 27, 2015. Retrieved 2015-01-14. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** Chen, Raymond (Feb 2012). ["Windows Confidential: Power to the Power User"](https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/hh824683.aspx). *Microsoft*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20150404094645/https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/hh824683.aspx) from the original on Apr 4, 2015. Retrieved 2015-01-14. Authority control databases: National Czech Republic --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [User (computing)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_(computing)) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_(computing)?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.