This is a debate that has resurfaced numerous times over at least the last 40 years that I can remember.<p>I've never been 100% comfortable with "user", but I can't think of a suitable replacement that holds across the board. "Person" or "human" is fine for those situations where it's only people who will be interacting with the software, but it's silly for those where it's not (or not solely) people, so it's not a generic replacement. "User" works for everything.<p>I object to "consumer" on both technical grounds ("consumer" means the entity is just ingesting, but in most software the user is also "feeding" the the system that is "consuming" their data), and because I think the term is more dehumanizing and insulting than "user".<p>So, from my point of view, "user" isn't an awesome term but I've made peace with it as the best compromise available.