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wallpaper3 is  commands to begin   and end transcript files were `WALBEG' and `WALEND',   with default file `WALL PAPER' (the space was a path   delimiter).  2. The background pattern used on graphical   workstations (this is techspeak under the `Win...
wallpaper4 is  3. `wallpaper file' n. The file that   contains the wallpaper information before it is actually printed on   paper.  (Even if you don't intend ever to produce a real paper copy   of the file, it is still called a wallpaper file.) 
wango is  /wang'goh/ n. Random bit-level {grovel}ling going on in   a system during some unspecified operation.  Often used in   combination with {mumble}.  For example "You start with the `.o'   file, run it through this postprocessor that does mumb...
wango2 is  object-oriented executable." 
wank is  /wangk/ [Columbia University prob. by mutation from   Commonwealth slang v. `wank', to masturbate] n.,v. Used much as   {hack} is elsewhere, as a noun denoting a clever technique or   person or the result of such cleverness.  May describe (n...
wank2 is  sake ("Quit wanking, let's go get   supper!")  or (more positively) a {wizard}.  Adj.  `wanky'   describes something particularly clever (a person, program, or   algorithm).  Conversations can also get wanky when there are too   many wanks ...
wank3 is  by an   overload of the `wankometer' (compare {bogometer}).  When the   wankometer overloads, the conversation's subject must be changed,   or all non-wanks will leave.  Compare `neep-neeping' (under   {neep-neep}).  Usage U.S. only.  In Br...
wank4 is  *extremely* rude and is best avoided unless one   intends to give offense. 
wannabee is  /won'*-bee/ (also, more plausibly, spelled `wannabe')   [from a term recently used to describe Madonna fans who dress,   talk, and act like their idol; prob. originally from biker slang]   n. A would-be {hacker}.  The connotations of thi...
wannabee2 is  and exposure of the subject.  Used of   a person who is in or might be entering {larval stage}, it is   semi-approving; such wannabees can be annoying but most hackers   remember that they, too, were once such creatures.  When used of  ...
wannabee3 is  writer, or {suit}, it is   derogatory, implying that said person is trying to cuddle up to the   hacker mystique but doesn't, fundamentally, have a prayer of   understanding what it is all about.  Overuse of terms from this lexicon   is...
wannabee4 is  Compare   {newbie}.   Historical note The wannabee phenomenon has a slightly different   flavor now (1991) than it did ten or fifteen years ago.  When the   people who are now hackerdom's tribal elders were in {larval   stage}, the proc...
wannabee5 is  unconscious   and unaffected by models known in popular culture --- communities   formed spontaneously around people who, *as individuals*, felt   irresistibly drawn to do hackerly things, and what wannabees   experienced was a fairly p...
wannabee6 is  wizardly.  Those days of innocence are gone forever;   society's adaptation to the advent of the microcomputer after 1980   included the elevation of the hacker as a new kind of folk hero,   and the result is that some people semi-consc...
wannabee7 is  hackish prestige by fitting the   popular image of hackers.  Fortunately, to do this really well, one   has to actually become a wizard.  Nevertheless, old-time hackers   tend to share a poorly articulated disquiet about the change; amo...
wannabee8 is  about the effects of   public compendia of lore like this one. 
warm boot is  n. See {boot}.
wart is  n. A small, {crock}y {feature} that sticks out of an   otherwise {clean} design.  Something conspicuous for localized   ugliness, especially a special-case exception to a general rule.   For example, in some versions of `csh(1)', single quot...
wart2 is  except `!'.  In ANSI C,   the `??' syntax used obtaining ASCII characters in a foreign   environment is a wart.  See also {miswart}. 
washing machine is  n. Old-style 14-inch hard disks in floor-standing   cabinets.  So called because of the size of the cabinet and the   `top-loading' access to the media packs --- and, of course, they   were always set on `spin cycle'.  The washing...
washing machine2 is  it is even used in Russian hacker   jargon.  See also {walking drives}.  The thick channel cables   connecting these were called `bit hoses' (see {hose}). 
water MIPS is  n. (see {MIPS}, sense 2) Large, water-cooled   machines of either today's ECL-supercomputer flavor or yesterday's   traditional {mainframe} type.
wave a dead chicken is  v. To perform a ritual in the direction of   crashed software or hardware that one believes to be futile but   is nevertheless necessary so that others are satisfied that an   appropriate degree of effort has been expended.  "...
wave a dead chicken2 is  code, but I really think we've run into an   OS bug."  Compare {voodoo programming}, {rain dance}. 
weasel is  n. [Cambridge] A na"ive user, one who deliberately or   accidentally does things that are stupid or ill-advised.  Roughly   synonymous with {loser}.
wedged is  [from a common description of recto-cranial inversion] adj.   1. To be stuck, incapable of proceeding without help.  This is   different from having crashed.  If the system has crashed, then it   has become totally non-functioning.  If the...
wedged2 is  something but cannot make progress; it may be capable   of doing a few things, but not be fully operational.  For example,   a process may become wedged if it {deadlock}s with another (but   not all instances of wedging are deadlocks).  B...
wedged3 is  {hung}.  See also {gronk}, {locked   up}, {hosed}.  Describes a {deadlock}ed condition.  2. Often   refers to humans suffering misconceptions.  "He's totally wedged   --- he's convinced that he can levitate through meditation."   3. [UNIX...
wedged4 is  TTY left in   a losing state by abort of a screen-oriented program or one that   has messed with the line discipline in some obscure way. 
wedgie is  [Fairchild] n. A bug.  Prob. related to {wedged}.
wedgitude is  /wedj'i-t[y]ood/ n. The quality or state of being   {wedged}.
weeble is  /weeb'l/ [Cambridge] interj. Used to denote frustration,   usually at amazing stupidity.  "I stuck the disk in upside down."   "Weeble...." Compare {gurfle}.
weeds is  n. 1. Refers to development projects or algorithms that have   no possible relevance or practical application.  Comes from `off in   the weeds'.  Used in phrases like "lexical analysis for microcode   is serious weeds...."  2. At CDC/ETA be...
weeds2 is  weeds' was equivalent to IBM's {branch to   Fishkill} and mainstream hackerdom's {jump off into never-never   land}. 
weenie is  n. 1. When used with a qualifier (for example, as in   {UNIX weenie}, VMS weenie, IBM weenie) this can be either an   insult or a term of praise, depending on context, tone of voice,   and whether or not it is applied by a person who consi...
weenie2 is  weenie.  Implies that the weenie   has put a major investment of time, effort, and concentration into   the area indicated; whether this is positive or negative depends on   the hearer's judgment of how the speaker feels about that area. ...
weenie3 is  character, `;' (ASCII   0111011). 
Weenix is  /wee'niks/ [ITS] n. A derogatory term for {{UNIX}},   derived from {UNIX weenie}.  According to one noted ex-ITSer, it   is "the operating system preferred by Unix Weenies typified by   poor modularity, poor reliability, hard file deletion...
Weenix2 is  everywhere, and users who believe   that these are all advantages".  Some ITS fans behave as though   they believe UNIX stole a future that rightfully belonged to them.   See {{ITS}}, sense 2. 
well-behaved is  adj. 1. [primarily {{MS-DOS}}] Said of software   conforming to system interface guidelines and standards.   Well-behaved software uses the operating system to do chores such   as keyboard input, allocating memory and drawing graphic...
well-behaved2 is  does its job quietly and   without counterintuitive effects.  Esp. said of software having   an interface spec sufficiently simple and well-defined that it can   be used as a {tool} by other software. See {cat}. 
well-connected is  adj. Said of a computer installation, this means   that it has reliable email links with {the network} and/or that   it relays a large fraction of available {USENET} newsgroups.   `Well-known' can be almost synonymous, but also imp...
well-connected2 is  many (due perhaps to an archive service   or active USENET users). 
wetware is  /wet'weir/ [prob. from the novels of Rudy Rucker] n.   1. The human nervous system, as opposed to computer hardware or   software.  "Wetware has 7 plus or minus 2 temporary registers."   2. Human beings (programmers, operators, administra...
wetware2 is  opposed to the system's hardware or   software.  See {liveware}, {meatware}. 
whacker is  [University of Maryland from {hacker}] n. 1. A person,   similar to a {hacker}, who enjoys exploring the details of   programmable systems and how to stretch their capabilities.   Whereas a hacker tends to produce great hacks, a whacker o...
whacker2 is  in question.  Whackers are often   quite egotistical and eager to claim {wizard} status,   regardless of the views of their peers.  2. A person who is good at   programming quickly, though rather poorly and ineptly. 
whales is  n. See {like kicking dead whales down the beach}.
wheel is  [from slang `big wheel' for a powerful person] n. A   person who has an active a {wheel bit}.  "We need to find a   wheel to un{wedge} the hung tape drives."
wheel bit is  n. A privilege bit that allows the possessor to perform   some restricted operation on a timesharing system, such as read or   write any file on the system regardless of protections, change or   look at any address in the running monito...
wheel bit2 is  create jobs and user accounts.  The term was   invented on the TENEX operating system, and carried over to   TOPS-20, XEROX-IFS, and others.  The state of being in a privileged   logon is sometimes called `wheel mode'.  This term enter...
wheel bit3 is  mid-1980s and has been gaining   popularity there (esp. at university sites).  See also {root}. 
wheel wars is  [Stanford University] A period in {larval stage}   during which student hackers hassle each other by attempting to log   each other out of the system, delete each other's files, and   otherwise wreak havoc, usually at the expense of th...
White Book is  n. Syn. {K&R}.
whizzy is  [Sun] adj. (alt. `wizzy') Describes a {cuspy} program;   one that is feature-rich and well presented.
WIBNI is  // [Bell Labs Wouldn't It Be Nice If] n. What most   requirements documents and specifications consist entirely of.   Compare {IWBNI}.
widget is  n. 1. A meta-thing.  Used to stand for a real object in   didactic examples (especially database tutorials).  Legend has it   that the original widgets were holders for buggy whips.  "But   suppose the parts list for a widget has 52 entrie...
widget2 is  user interface object in   {X} graphical user interfaces. 
wiggles is  n. [scientific computation] In solving partial differential   equations by finite difference and similar methods, wiggles are   sawtooth (up-down-up-down) oscillations at the shortest wavelength   representable on the grid.  If an algorit...
wiggles2 is  unstable waveform, so it grows to dominate the   solution.  Alternatively, stable (though inaccurate) wiggles can be   generated near a discontinuity by a Gibbs phenomenon. 
WIMP environment is  n. [acronymic from `Window, Icon, Menu, Pointing   device (or Pull-down menu)'] A graphical-user-interface-based   environment such as {X} or the Macintosh interface, as described   by a hacker who prefers command-line interfaces...
WIMP environment2 is  extensibility.  See {menuitis},   {user-obsequious}. 
win is  [MIT] 1. vi. To succeed.  A program wins if no unexpected   conditions arise, or (especially) if it sufficiently {robust} to   take exceptions in stride.  2. n. Success, or a specific instance   thereof.  A pleasing outcome.  A {feature}.  Em...
win2 is  `hyper-win' (often used   interjectively as a reply).  For some reason `suitable win' is   also common at MIT, usually in reference to a satisfactory solution   to a problem.  Oppose {lose}; see also {big win}, which isn't   quite just an in...
win big is  vi. To experience serendipity.  "I went shopping and won   big; there was a 2-for-1 sale." See {big win}.
win win is  interj. Expresses pleasure at a {win}.
Winchester is  n. Informal generic term for `floating-head'   magnetic-disk drives in which the read-write head planes over the   disk surface on an air cushion.  The name arose because the   original 1973 engineering prototype for what later became ...
Winchester2 is  volumes; 30--30 became   `Winchester' when somebody noticed the similarity to the common   term for a famous Winchester rifle (in the latter, the first 30   referred to caliber and the second to the grain weight of the   charge). 
winged comments is  n. Comments set on the same line as code, as   opposed to {boxed comments}.  In C, for example     d = sqrt(x*x + y*y);  /* distance from origin */   Generally these refer only to the action(s) taken on that line.
winkey is  n. (alt. `winkey face')  See {emoticon}.
winnage is  /win'*j/ n. The situation when a lossage is corrected, or   when something is winning.
winner is  1. n. An unexpectedly good situation, program, programmer,   or person.  "So it turned out I could use a {lexer} generator   instead of hand-coding my own pattern recognizer.  What a win!"   2. `real winner' Often sarcastic, but also used ...
winner2 is  {user}). "He's a real winner --- never   reports a bug till he can duplicate it and send in an   example." 
winnitude is  /win'*-t[y]ood/ n. The quality of winning (as opposed   to {winnage}, which is the result of winning).  "Guess what?   They tweaked the microcode and now the LISP interpreter runs twice   as fast as it used to." "That's really great!  B...
winnitude2 is  a half-hour's winnage on the   next run of my program."  Perhaps curiously, the obvious antonym   `lossitude' is rare. 
wired is  n. See {hardwired}.
wirehead is  /wir'hed/ n. [prob. from SF slang for an   electrical-brain-stimulation addict] 1. A hardware hacker,   especially one who concentrates on communications hardware.  2. An   expert in local-area networks.  A wirehead can be a network   so...
wirehead2 is  ability to deal with   network hardware, down to the smallest component.  Wireheads are   known for their ability to lash up an Ethernet terminator from   spare resistors, for example. 
wish list is  n. A list of desired features or bug fixes that probably   won't get done for a long time, usually because the person   responsible for the code is too busy or can't think of a clean way   to do it.  "OK, I'll add automatic filename com...
wish list2 is  interface." Compare {tick-list features}. 
within delta of is  adj. See {delta}.
within epsilon of is  adj. See {epsilon}.
wizard is  n. 1. A person who knows how a complex piece of software   or hardware works (that is, who {grok}s it); esp. someone who   can find and fix bugs quickly in an emergency.  Someone is a   {hacker} if he or she has general hacking ability, bu...
wizard2 is  if he or she has specific detailed   knowledge of that thing.  A good hacker could become a wizard for   something given the time to study it.  2. A person who is permitted   to do things forbidden to ordinary people; one who has {wheel} ...
wizard3 is  esp. a UNIX systems   programmer.  This usage is well enough established that `UNIX   Wizard' is a recognized job title at some corporations and to most   headhunters.  See {guru}, {lord high fixer}.  See also   {deep magic}, {heavy wizar...
wizard4 is  dance}, {voodoo programming}, {wave a   dead chicken}. 
Wizard Book is  n. Hal Abelson and Jerry Sussman's `Structure   and Interpretation of Computer Programs' (MIT Press, 1984; ISBN   0-262-01077-1, an excellent computer science text used in   introductory courses at MIT.  So called because of the wizar...
Wizard Book2 is  LISP/Scheme   world. 
wizard mode is  [from {rogue}] n. A special access mode of a program or   system, usually passworded, that permits some users godlike   privileges.  Generally not used for operating systems themselves   (`root mode' or `wheel mode' would be used inst...
wizardly is  adj. Pertaining to wizards.  A wizardly {feature} is one   that only a wizard could understand or use properly.
womb box is  n. 1. [TMRC] Storage space for equipment.  2. [proposed]   A variety of hard-shell equipment case with heavy interior padding   and/or shaped carrier cutouts in a foam-rubber matrix; mundanely   called a `flight case'.  Used for delicate...
WOMBAT is  [Waste Of Money, Brains, And Time] adj. Applied to problems   which are both profoundly {uninteresting} in themselves and   unlikely to benefit anyone interesting even if solved.  Often used   in fanciful constructions such as `wrestling w...
WOMBAT2 is  {SMOP}.  Also note the rather different   usage as a meta-syntactic variable in {{Commonwealth Hackish}}. 
wonky is  /wong'kee/ [from Australian slang] adj. Yet another   approximate synonym for {broken}.  Specifically connotes a   malfunction that produces behavior seen as crazy, humorous, or   amusingly perverse.  "That was the day the printer's font lo...
wonky2 is  out in Tengwar."  Also in   `wonked out'.  See {funky}, {demented}, {bozotic}. 
workaround is  n. A temporary {kluge} inserted in a system under   development or test in order to avoid the effects of a {bug} or   {misfeature} so that work can continue.  Theoretically,   workarounds are always replaced by {fix}es; in practice,   ...
workaround2 is  workarounds in the   first couple of releases.  "The code died on NUL characters in the   input, so I fixed it to interpret them as spaces."  "That's not a   fix, that's a workaround!" 
working as designed is  [IBM] adj. 1. In conformance to a wrong or   inappropriate specification; useful, but misdesigned.   2. Frequently used as a sardonic comment on a program's utility.   3. Unfortunately also used as a bogus reason for not accep...
working as designed2 is  this sense is used in   official documents!  See {BAD}. 
worm is  [from `tapeworm' in John Brunner's novel `The   Shockwave Rider', via XEROX PARC] n. A program that propagates   itself over a network, reproducing itself as it goes.  Compare   {virus}.  Nowadays the term has negative connotations, as it is...
worm2 is  Perhaps the   best-known example was Robert T. Morris's `Internet Worm' of 1988,   a `benign' one that got out of control and hogged hundreds of   Suns and VAXen across the U.S.  See also {cracker}, {RTM},   {Trojan horse}, {ice}. 
wound around the axle is  adj. In an infinite loop.  Often used by older   computer types.
wrap around is  vi. (also n. `wraparound' and v. shorthand `wrap')   1. [techspeak] The action of a counter that starts over at zero or at   `minus infinity' (see {infinity}) after its maximum value has   been reached, and continues incrementing, eit...
wrap around2 is  because of an overflow (as when a car's   odometer starts over at 0).  2. To change {phase} gradually and   continuously by maintaining a steady wake-sleep cycle somewhat   longer than 24 hours, e.g., living six long (28-hour) days i...
wrap around3 is  rate of 10 microhertz). 
write-only code is  [a play on `read-only memory'] n. Code so   arcane, complex, or ill-structured that it cannot be modified or   even comprehended by anyone but its author, and possibly not even   by him/her.  A {Bad Thing}.
write-only language is  n. A language with syntax (or semantics)   sufficiently dense and bizarre that any routine of significant size   is {write-only code}.  A sobriquet applied occasionally to C and   often to APL, though {INTERCAL} and {TECO} cer...
write-only memory is  n. The obvious antonym to `read-only   memory'.  Out of frustration with the long and seemingly useless   chain of approvals required of component specifications, during   which no actual checking seemed to occur, an engineer at...
write-only memory2 is  a write-only memory and included   it with a bunch of other specifications to be approved.  This   inclusion came to the attention of Signetics {management} only   when regular customers started calling and asking for pricing  ...
write-only memory3 is  edition of the data   book and requested the return of the `erroneous' ones.  Later,   around 1974, Signetics bought a double-page spread in `Electronics'   magazine's April issue and used the spec as an April Fools' Day   joke...
write-only memory4 is  characteristic curves, the   25120 "fully encoded, 9046 x N, Random Access, write-only-memory"   data sheet included diagrams of "bit capacity vs. Temp.",   "Iff vs. Vff", "Number of pins remaining vs. number of socket   insert...
write-only memory5 is  required a   6.3 VAC VFF supply, a +10V VCC, and VDD of 0V,   +/- 2%. 
Wrong Thing is  n. A design, action, or decision that is clearly   incorrect or inappropriate.  Often capitalized; always emphasized   in speech as if capitalized.  The opposite of the {Right Thing};   more generally, anything that is not the Right T...
Wrong Thing2 is  of the best', the merely good --- although   good --- is nevertheless the Wrong Thing. "In C, the default is for   module-level declarations to be visible everywhere, rather than   just within the module.  This is clearly the Wrong T...
wugga wugga is  /wuh'g* wuh'g*/ n. Imaginary sound that a computer   program makes as it labors with a tedious or difficult task.   Compare {cruncha cruncha cruncha}, {grind} (sense 4).
WYSIWYG is  /wiz'ee-wig/ adj. Describes a user interface under which   "What You See Is What You Get", as opposed to one that uses   more-or-less obscure commands which do not result in immediate   visual feedback.  The term can be mildly derogatory,...
WYSIWYG2 is  {user-friendly} interfaces targeted   at non-programmers; a hacker has no fear of obscure commands.   On the other hand, EMACS was one of the very first WYSIWYG editors,   replacing (actually, at first overlaying) the extremely obscure, ...
WYSIWYG3 is  environment}.  [Oddly   enough, this term has already made it into the OED. --- ESR]*X /X/ n. 1. Used in various speech and writing contexts (also   in lowercase) in roughly its algebraic sense of `unknown within a   set defined by conte...
WYSIWYG4 is  680x0 stands for 68000, 68010, 68020, 68030, or 68040, and 80x86   stands for 80186, 80286 80386 or 80486 (note that a UNIX hacker   might write these as 680[0-4]0 and 80[1-4]86 or 680?0 and 80?86   respectively; see {glob}).  2. [after ...
WYSIWYG5 is  `W'] An over-sized, over-featured,   over-engineered and incredibly over-complicated window system   developed at MIT and widely used on UNIX systems. 
XOFF is  /X'of/ n. Syn. {control-s}.