Difference between revisions of "User"
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The term is sometimes used to refer to a [[process]] (or similar locus of computation) which is doing things on behalf of, or at the direction of, the human. | The term is sometimes used to refer to a [[process]] (or similar locus of computation) which is doing things on behalf of, or at the direction of, the human. | ||
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| + | On machines which have [[hardware]] support for time-sharing, the [[Central Processing Unit|CPU]] usually has two modes, 'User' and '[[Kernel]]'; in the former certain [[instruction]]s which can disturb the overall operation for other users are prohibited, and only allowed to the [[operating system]], which runs in the latter mode. | ||
{{semi-stub}} | {{semi-stub}} | ||
[[Category: Basics]] | [[Category: Basics]] | ||
Latest revision as of 15:00, 18 December 2018
A user is generally the human on whose behalf a particular computation is being done. On a time-sharing system, it would be the person logged in to the system over a terminal (real or virtual). On a personal computer, it would be the person using that PC.
The term is sometimes used to refer to a process (or similar locus of computation) which is doing things on behalf of, or at the direction of, the human.
On machines which have hardware support for time-sharing, the CPU usually has two modes, 'User' and 'Kernel'; in the former certain instructions which can disturb the overall operation for other users are prohibited, and only allowed to the operating system, which runs in the latter mode.
