When & where did the term 'host' originate?

I've often wondered about this, but I've never seen a satisfactory answer.

I have a lot of technical hobbies (electronics, computers, RC etc) where you have to house your projects in an enclosure. This is invariably called a housing, case or enclosure. It is never called a 'host'.

Hand held lasers, and specifically LPF, is the only place you ever see the term 'host' used to mean housing or enclosure.

The term is of course used in other fields, especially computing, but in that usage it means something quite different (e.g. a host computer which is part of a network).

So, old ones, when and where did the use of the term 'host' to mean enclosure for hand held laser begin? Who is to blame? OWN UP!

I don't like the term either, but the closest analogue I can find is "a living animal or plant from which a parasite obtains nutrition." As in, the laser parts are using the flashlight just as a parasite uses the host.

I used to use "case," but some get confused and think of carrying case. "Casing" works better.

It almost seems to be using this definition. Host (biology), organism harboring another organism on or in itself. So the housing is a host for the laser diode and components?

John Capelo said:

It almost seems to be using this definition. Host (biology), organism harboring another organism on or in itself. So the housing is a host for the laser diode and components?

Click to expand...

That's the definition I think applies as well. The laser is like a parasite inside the flashlight body.

When I first started reading on this site I wondered the same thing. I thought "pill" was a weird term also. My thinking is that in medicine a pill carries a payload (the drug) and a pill in this hobby also carries a payload (driver and if it's still a flashlight the LED). Is "pill" also used in flashlight forums or just here?

I think pill is used in most flashlight communities as well - as far as I can tell, anyway.

I like the term host, to be honest. Makes it more clear what hobby you are talking about. That said, it makes sense to use the word host back when all hosts were ripped up flashlights made sense. Now, with a lot more built-for-laser hosts, it makes less sense, but we were essentially leeching off of the flashlight community for their flashlights and tearing up their insides, replacing them with our own, much like viruses and the like do - tear up the genetic material or organelles of the host cell and replace it with their own.

:evil:

As said before, I think the most logical reason is that most laser 'cases' weren't intended to house lasers in the first place. Most people here put lasers in the cases of flashlights or other cases they can easily get their hands on those. The word 'host' is then probably used more because of that, think of a flashlight case that is 'hosting' a laser.

A web host is close to the same definition, the server is the host that your web sight resides, or to be the host of a party, the guests are not parasites the earth is the host for all living creature though I do not veiw all living creatures as parasites., whats funny is the word is used for many things and a newer definition is needed, an epmty flashlight is a host even if you fill it with a flashlight not a laser. I take to mean, to be accommodating. From the old form of host or hostess

The word pill is also used in other area's of electronics. CB'ers use it when describing their booster amps, perhaps stating "I've got a 6 pill that does a clean 800 watts". What they are referring to of course is the number of transistors inside the amplifier. They are round and look suspiciously like aspirin tablets with leads out the side.

Host is a pretty good term for the flashlight body. It accomodates the laser guts. Host doesnt have to mean parasite (like in the biological sense). It could mean home e.g. "I am hosting a laser party at my place. Come on over - 7pm it starts", or computers: "The host is the windows 7 operating system, and the linux distrubution is running as a guest in VMware".

The laser guts are simply a permenant guest inside the flashlight body. How could you call a laser a parasite? oh of course - they keep emptying my wallet *grin*