why it's called an appliance (Re: TurnKey Linux: new project builds Ubuntu based Live CD appliances)

[Liraz Siri]

S'orlok Reaves wrote:
> 
> Interesting stuff --I like the "Live CD with ____"
> approach to distribution.

Thanks, once we work out the kinks with our current crop of beta 
appliances we're going to open the flood gates and you can expect to see 
a whole lot more of these appliances for every major opensource 
application and then some. For those interested in following up on the 
project, I recommend subscribing to the turnkeylinux-users mailing list 
and/or our website RSS news feed.

> I am wondering... why do you call them "appliances".
> For the longest time, I thought Turnkey Linux was
> meant to install Linux on your toaster, microwave,
> etc. Why not "backend", "application", "framework", or
> something like that? Is "appliance" a buzzword in the
> open source community that I'm unaware of?

Sorry if the terminology confused you. "Appliance" is short for 
"software appliance", which is a fairly well known buzzword:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_appliance

We omitted the "software" from the name because it's redundant when you 
are talking about Live CDs.

BTW, I think a software appliance is called an appliance for the same 
reason a toaster or microwave is called an appliance. Its not a general 
purpose tool, but rather something that serves only one specific role.

Cheers,
Liraz