What's the difference between an application and a program?
this post was submitted on 22 May 2025
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The original Macintosh had an Applications folder. App is what I use to cut through tech speak for people at work because the shortcut is less daunting. They have apps on their phone. They must not be scary like Programs and Applications.
Historically, an app is something with very limited uses, and a program is more powerful.
Adobe PhotoShop is a program. Apple Photos is an app.
I'd say it gets a little different with command line utilities
maybe "utility" is the appropriate term here, but I'd call something like grep a program, not an application (again
"utility" also works).
To be sure, grep is extremely powerful, but its scope is limited.
The meme is good and all, but seeing it makes me feel irrationally annoyed because the first place I saw it was a rascist pleroma (fediverse software; mastodon but rasict) instance that had it embedded in the frontend. This just reminds me of it.
It's worse if you have ever worked in food service. "App" is short for "appetizer".
::cries in very specific form of confusion::
I powered on my computer, my app started, which started my main app, which started my essential apps, which started my app that I use to open my other app, which I use to go to my other app that I use to watch other apps being used by otgher people.
You will get an invisible candy if you can correctly decode this.
I'll bite: I powered on my computer. My bios started which started my init process, which started my daemons, which started my login manager (maybe slim), which started my DE (maybe gnome), which I use to go to my browser in order to watch other people stream video games.
I'm dicey on what the browser is being used for - maybe security software? - but I feel like it's plausible.
Double plus good!
I miss when game had content patches instead of dlc
They trying the Algorithm to AI nowdays.
The word app has been around forever, first appearing in the 1970s (according to some dictionaries I just googled). Pendulum swung towards “programs” and we have since swung back to the correct term.
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