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A link to google with no additional information kinda defeats the idea of forums. Sheesh.
I used dongles for a few years as security to prevent theft of software I wrote. The dongle sat on the printer port connection as a pass-through, and had a one lead button security that looked like a hearing aid battery that dropped into the dongle. The program was then encrypted and could only be accessed if the dongle was in place.
Anything that sits on a port and does something is technically a dongle. I guess that makes most USB devices dongles these days.
I guess the initial interpretation/meaning of the "dongle" has changed over the years.
At least, for me. Receivers that were coupled with a device were not really called a "dongle", so a wireless mouse receiver was just that, a "receiver" because without the mouse, it has no "functionality" by itself.
In the same manner, a printer cable by itself is just that, a cable and not a dongle. A wireless adapter is different because it needs nothing else, it connects to the computer and provides wireless signal communication.
Regardless of the port or whether the device has a cable attached or not, it brings additional functionality to the machine it's attached to using a port on the computer.
A more common dongle example would be a USB hub, a hub that offers additional different ports to the user.
I think as years passed the meaning have changed a bit as new technologies and devices emerged.
These days the terms like "receiver" and "adapter" have become interchangeable with dongle.
I, hardly ever use the term dongle. I simply use whatever the item is, if it is a wireless USB receiver, I say just that.
I don't like using vague, generic terms when I am talking about specific computer hardware. It helps eliminate confusion and misunderstanding.
These days the terms like "receiver" and "adapter" have become interchangeable with dongle.
Yes, it's probably technically improper to use dongle in that instance, but.. Lots of things like that.. Example.. SQL.. 99% of people say See-Quil. i 'spell' it.. S-Q-L. Why? Because, it's an abbreviation Structured Query Language.
Linux.. Most people use the short "I".. Li-nux.. I use the long I.. Why? Because the guy who wrote it was named Linus. Which uses the long I.
So, dongle will be used, probably improperly, for alot of things in todays world.. I use one quite often.. I have a software package that requires a license dongle. That dongle isn't plugged into the PC, the software doesn't work. Those are.. Actually rather rare nowadays.
its just simply a 'device' inline, on some wire, be it RJ45, coax etc, that does something and for some reason needs to be there.
I think we got introduced to the term when ISDN/DSL got put into peoples homes over telco and the regular phone, had to be insulated from the frequencies of the digital portion of the telco transmission, without it, phone calls sounded like crap - if they worked at all. (we are more civilized today, its all digital and some gizmo allows regular old joe phones to talk over the ethernet as a packet switched device.)
I have seen 'dongles' used today to convert VGA to HDMI video as they have gizmos inside to allow old computers using VGA or Svideo to speka HDMI, and, you get one with your USB-C phones to convert between USB2+ to C and so forth.
Yes, it's probably technically improper to use dongle in that instance, but.. Lots of things like that.. Example.. SQL.. 99% of people say See-Quil. i 'spell' it.. S-Q-L. Why? Because, it's an abbreviation Structured Query Language.
Linux.. Most people use the short "I".. Li-nux.. I use the long I.. Why? Because the guy who wrote it was named Linus. Which uses the long I.
So, dongle will be used, probably improperly, for alot of things in todays world.. I use one quite often.. I have a software package that requires a license dongle. That dongle isn't plugged into the PC, the software doesn't work. Those are.. Actually rather rare nowadays.
Do you say SCUBA? or do you say S-C-U-B-A? what about Laser? SWAT?
I believe that Torvalds himself uses the 'short i"? Perhaps it has something to do with his finnish accent actually making his first name sound like 'Leenis'...?
To the OP - dongle was originally a software licensing control. Basically you need to have it in order to run said software (mostly used on a serial or parallel port). Kind of a MFA for licensing if you will. That has essentially transformed into a generic term of any non-peripheral you'd plug into a port (mostly USB these days).
I think as with many terms - it gets generalized to a point where it no longer is as specific as the original meaning. Router, modem switch, etc. are some common ones I see being interchanged by the general consumer. These are actually three specific devices with specific functions. And it can confuse things when trying to troubleshoot network issues. Of course, it doesn't help when all three can come in the same housing.
Yes, it's probably technically improper to use dongle in that instance, but.. Lots of things like that.. Example.. SQL.. 99% of people say See-Quil. i 'spell' it.. S-Q-L. Why? Because, it's an abbreviation Structured Query Language.
I agree on this.
Quote:
Linux.. Most people use the short "I".. Li-nux.. I use the long I.. Why? Because the guy who wrote it was named Linus. Which uses the long I.
Hmmm, based on this, you might want to reconsider that theory! Also, he initially named it "Freax" (free Unix) when he uploaded it to the school server but the FTP admin renamed the directory to Linux and the name stuck.
Also, to be technically correct, it should be called GNU/Linux.
I suppose same thing happens when people say "I ride a Harley" even though it is Harley-Davidson.
PS. Also, to my crazy ears, dongle sounds like a slang term for a certain male body part!
Last edited by TurcoLoco; 08-15-2023 at 04:35 PM..
its just simply a 'device' inline, on some wire, be it RJ45, coax etc, that does something and for some reason needs to be there.
I think we got introduced to the term when ISDN/DSL got put into peoples homes over telco and the regular phone, had to be insulated from the frequencies of the digital portion of the telco transmission, without it, phone calls sounded like crap - if they worked at all. (we are more civilized today, its all digital and some gizmo allows regular old joe phones to talk over the ethernet as a packet switched device.)
I have seen 'dongles' used today to convert VGA to HDMI video as they have gizmos inside to allow old computers using VGA or Svideo to speka HDMI, and, you get one with your USB-C phones to convert between USB2+ to C and so forth.
This is the way. The word "dongle" is used 'round these parts to describe anything you're plugging into your computer to plug something else in. I.E, HDMI adapter, USB hub, RJ45 to USB adapter, etc. etc.
My work laptop is all USB-C (but the new one finally added an HDMI port to that!), so I got lotsa dongles.
My last one was pure USB-C. Nice and thin, but it amazed me how often I found myself needing to connect to HDMI with it!
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