Talk:On-premises software

Grammar

The article did contain the sentence:

The sometimes-used term “on-premise software” is grammatically incorrect because the word premises is already singular rather than plural.

However, I have deleted that sentence because I can find no evidence for it (such as a dictionary entry).

The phrase "on-premise software" gets 900,000 hits on Google, including Microsoft's website here: http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/licensing-options/enterprise.aspx

Does anyone know of a dictionary entry or such like that suggests "on-premise" is incorrect? I understand the poster's comment that "premises" is a plural noun with a different meaning that the singular noun "premise". However, I think this is a case of a technically incorrect word becoming correct through its popular use, rather like "okay" has become an acceptable spelling for "OK". Jojikiba (talk) 10:45, 17 June 2011 (UTC)

You did right. I myself believe in "Descriptive Grammar" rather than "Prescriptive Grammar". Descriptive Grammar says whatever people commonly use is correct and the science of grammar is only device for recording them. Nonetheless, Wikipedia:Verifiability says every statement needs source. This statement didn't. Fleet Command (talk) 15:34, 17 June 2011 (UTC)

I have found out the following:

1) "on-premise software" gets 900,000 hits on Google, compared with 316,000 for "on-premises software".

2) Both spellings appear on websites of companies such as Microsoft and IBM.

• Microsoft..."on-premises software" http://www.microsoft.com/cloud/interop/
• Microsoft...""on-premise software" http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/licensing-options/enterprise.aspx
• IBM..."on-premises software" http://www.ibm.com/search/csass/search?sn=mh&q=%22on-premises%20software%22&lang=en&cc=us&en=utf
• IBM..."on-premise software" http://www.ibm.com/search/csass/search?sn=mh&q=%22on-premise%20software%22&lang=en&cc=us&en=utf

Therefore, I thought it might be a good idea to add this sentence to the article:

The spelling "on-premise software" is also widely seen and may have become an accepted variant, though technically it is a misspelling since "premises" in the sense of "building and land near to it" is a noun that is only used in the plural.

Jojikiba (talk) 01:48, 18 June 2011 (UTC)

I think it is a very bad idea (and bad edit). Per WP:UNDUE, the issue of spelling, which is not a major issue, does not need so much coverage; we must drop the whole issue. As for which spelling to use, apparently both spellings are in use; therefore, per WP:RETAIN, we must retain the original spelling.

In addition, allow me to remind you that this article has no source. Right now, both spellings are equally worthless. Fleet Command (talk) 10:47, 18 June 2011 (UTC)

Yes, I take those points on board. I have duly undone the edits I previously made, so that the whole issue of spelling is not mentioned in the article.Jojikiba (talk) 12:30, 18 June 2011 (UTC)

[user:guest] Hi, I suggest adding a subsection or a link with reference to the risks of using software off-premises

I want to ask about another grammar issue: should it be "on-premises" or "on premises"? The Merrian-Webster online has it without hyphen (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/on%20premises) but I've seen it written with hyphen in several places. And there are even some discussion about it (https://www.englishforums.com/English/IsPremisesPremises/bvdcpn/post.htm, http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/53682/would-the-adjectival-form-of-on-the-premises-be-on-premise-on-premise-or-on). What do you think? Gnustavo2 (talk) 14:02, 18 March 2017 (UTC)

I have cleaned up the POV in the "Etymology and correct usage" section which included such editorializing language as "That's why we say..". Premises is simply the plural of premise. Originally both of these terms meant the same thing: logical presupposition(s). They came to refer to property in the context of legal documents where a premise or premises meant previously stated delineations of property. Premises is more widely-understood to mean "property" because legal documents typically dealt with multiple properties or aspects of property delineation at a time. However, "premise" can also mean property per the source I provided. "Premises" can also be the plural of "premise" in a logical sense. Another reason "on-premise" makes more sense is that adjectives should be singular, not plural, in English. It's ironic that people insisting on linguistic purity are using "premises" exclusively to mean "property" when this meaning only emerged relatively recently from legal shorthand and was never approved by a council of British elders and high judges. If people really want to be use "correct" English they should spell it premisses because it used to be spelled this way hundreds of years ago. Or at least call it "on-the-premises" software. If you were a gramatically conscientious security guard, you wouldn't tell somebody "Leave premises immediately!" - you'd include the common article "the" - "Leave THE premises" - so shouldn't it be "On-THE-premises"? I think this article URL should also change to ***/on-premise_software because on-premise is the widely preferred usage now. 73.15.66.70 (talk) 15:38, 8 October 2019 (UTC)

References

Examples provided for software transition from on-prem to cloud

The sentence "Microsoft previously provided on-premises ERP such as SharePoint2010 for automation of corporate-wide business system of large corporations" is at least dubious for what relates to correctness since SharePoint (every version so far) cannot be classified as an ERP (Enterprise Resources Planning) tool; I'd rather refer to it as a collaborative platform. I suggest to refer to the descriptions given in the official Microsoft pages [1] Corrado72 (talk) 18:50, 18 October 2023 (UTC)