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RTI is  /R-T-I/ interj. The mnemonic for the `return from   interrupt' instruction on many computers including the 6502 and   6800.  The variant `RETI' is found among former Z80 hackers (almost   nobody programs these things in assembler anymore).  E...
RTI2 is  end a conversational digression.   See {pop}; see also {POPJ}. 
RTM is  /R-T-M/ [USENET acronym for `Read The Manual']   1. Politer variant of {RTFM}.  2. Robert T. Morris, perpetrator   of the great Internet worm of 1988; villain to many, na"ive hacker   gone wrong to a few.  Morris claimed that the worm that br...
RTM2 is  experiment that got out of   control as the result of a coding error.  After the storm of negative   publicity that followed this blunder, Morris's name on ITS was   hacked from RTM to {RTFM}. 
rude is  [WPI] adj. 1. (of a program) Badly written.  2. Functionally   poor, e.g., a program that is very difficult to use because of   gratuitously poor (random?) design decisions.  See {cuspy}.
runes is  pl.n. 1. Anything that requires {heavy wizardry} or   {black art} to {parse} core dumps, JCL commands, APL, or code   in a language you haven't a clue how to read.  Compare {casting   the runes}, {Great Runes}.  2. Special display character...
runic is  adj. Syn. {obscure}.  VMS fans sometimes refer to UNIX as   `Runix'; UNIX fans return the compliment by expanding VMS to `Very   Messy Syntax' or `Vachement Mauvais Syst`eme' (French; lit.   "Cowlike Bad System", idiomatically "Bitchy Bad S...
rusty iron is  n. Syn. {tired iron}.  It has been claimed that this   is the inevitable fate of {water MIPS}.
rusty memory is  n. Mass-storage that uses iron-oxide-based magnetic   media (esp. tape and the pre-Winchester removable disk packs used   in {washing machine}s).  Compare {donuts}.*S/N ratio // n. (also `s/n ratio', `sn ratio').  Syn.   {signal-to-n...
sacred is  adj. Reserved for the exclusive use of something (an   extension of the standard meaning).  Often means that anyone may   look at the sacred object, but clobbering it will screw whatever it   is sacred to.  The comment "Register 7 is sacre...
sacred2 is  program would be interpreted by a hacker   to mean that if any *other* part of the program changes the   contents of register 7, dire consequences are likely to ensue. 
saga is  [WPI] n. A cuspy but bogus raving story about N random   broken people.
sagan is  /say'gn/ [from Carl Sagan's TV series "Cosmos"; think   "billions and billions"] n. A large quantity of anything.   "There's a sagan different ways to tweak EMACS."  "The   U.S. Government spends sagans on bombs and welfare --- hard to say ...
SAIL is  /sayl/, not /S-A-I-L/ n. 1. Stanford Artificial   Intelligence Lab.  An important site in the early development of   LISP; with the MIT AI Lab, BBN, CMU, and the UNIX community, one of   the major wellsprings of technical innovation and hack...
SAIL2 is  entry for details).  The SAIL   machines were officially shut down in late May 1990, scant weeks   after the MIT AI Lab's ITS cluster was officially decommissioned.   2. The Stanford Artificial Intelligence Language used at SAIL   (sense 1)...
SAIL3 is  coroutining   facility and some new data types intended for building search trees   and association lists. 
salescritter is  /sayls'kri`tr/ n. Pejorative hackerism for a computer   salesperson.  Hackers tell the following joke     Q. What's the difference between a used-car dealer and a        computer salesman?     A. The used-car dealer knows he's lying....
salescritter2 is  that salescritters are   self-selected for stupidity (after all, if they had brains and the   inclination to use them, they'd be in programming).  The terms   `salesthing' and `salesdroid' are also common.  Compare   {marketroid}, {...
salsman is  /salz'm*n/ v. To flood a mailing list or newsgroup with   huge amounts of useless, trivial or redundant information.  From   the name of a hacker who has frequently done this on some widely   distributed mailing lists.
salt mines is  n. Dense quarters housing large numbers of programmers   working long hours on grungy projects, with some hope of seeing the   end of the tunnel in N years.  Noted for their absence of sunshine.   Compare {playpen}, {sandbox}.
salt substrate is  [MIT] n. Collective noun used to refer to potato   chips, pretzels, saltines, or any other form of snack food   designed primarily as a carrier for sodium chloride.  From the   technical term `chip substrate', used to refer to the ...
salt substrate2 is  of integrated circuits are deposited. 
same-day service is  n. Ironic term used to describe long response   time, particularly with respect to {{MS-DOS}} system calls (which   ought to require only a tiny fraction of a second to execute).   Such response time is a major incentive for prog...
same-day service2 is  {well-behaved}.  See also {PC-ism}. 
sandbender is  [IBM] n. A person involved with silicon lithography and   the physical design of chips.  Compare {ironmonger}, {polygon   pusher}.
sandbox is  n. (or `sandbox, the') Common term for the   R&D department at many software and computer companies (where hackers   in commercial environments are likely to be found).  Half-derisive,   but reflects the truth that research is a form of c...
sanity check is  n. 1. The act of checking a piece of code (or   anything else, e.g., a USENET posting) for completely stupid mistakes.   Implies that the check is to make sure the author was sane when it   was written; e.g., if a piece of scientific...
sanity check2 is  was giving unexpected results, one might   first look at the nesting of parentheses or the coding of the   formula, as a {sanity check}, before looking at the more complex   I/O or data structure manipulation routines, much less the...
sanity check3 is  2. A run-time test,   either validating input or ensuring that the program hasn't screwed   up internally (producing an inconsistent value or state). 
Saturday night special is  [from police slang for a cheap handgun] n.   A program or feature kluged together during off hours, under a   deadline, and in response to pressure from a {salescritter}.   Such hacks are dangerously unreliable, but all too...
say is  vt. 1. To type to a terminal.  "To list a directory   verbosely, you have to say `ls -l'."  Tends to imply a   {newline}-terminated command (a `sentence').  2. A computer   may also be said to `say' things to you, even if it doesn't have   a ...
say2 is  terminal in response   to your commands.  Hackers find it odd that this usage confuses   {mundane}s. 
science-fiction fandom is  n. Another voluntary subculture having a   very heavy overlap with hackerdom; most hackers read SF and/or   fantasy fiction avidly, and many go to `cons' (SF conventions) or   are involved in fandom-connected activities suc...
science-fiction fandom2 is  Some hacker jargon originated in SF fandom;   see {defenestration}, {great-wall}, {cyberpunk}, {h}, {ha ha   only serious}, {IMHO}, {mundane}, {neep-neep}, {Real   Soon Now}.  Additionally, the jargon terms {cowboy},   {cy...
science-fiction fandom3 is  {virus},   {wetware}, {wirehead}, and {worm} originated in SF   stories. 
scram switch is  [from the nuclear power industry] n. An   emergency-power-off switch (see {Big Red Switch}), esp. one   positioned to be easily hit by evacuating personnel.  In general,   this is *not* something you {frob} lightly; these often   ini...
scram switch2 is  and are installed   in a {dinosaur pen} for use in case of electrical fire or in   case some luckless {field servoid} should put 120 volts across   himself while {Easter egging}. 
scratch is  1. [from `scratchpad'] adj. Describes a data   structure or recording medium attached to a machine for testing or   temporary-use purposes; one that can be {scribble}d on without   loss.  Usually in the combining forms `scratch memory',  ...
scratch2 is  tape',   `scratch volume'.  See {scratch monkey}.  2. [primarily   IBM] vt. To delete (as in a file). 
scratch monkey is  n. As in "Before testing or reconfiguring, always   mount a {scratch monkey}", a proverb used to advise caution when   dealing with irreplaceable data or devices.  Used to refer to any   scratch volume hooked to a computer during a...
scratch monkey2 is  precious resource or data that might otherwise get   trashed.   This term preserves the memory of Mabel, the Swimming Wonder   Monkey, star of a biological research program at the University of   Toronto ca. 1986.  Mabel was not (...
scratch monkey3 is  university had spent years teaching her how to swim,   breathing through a regulator, in order to study the effects of   different gas mixtures on her physiology.  Mabel suffered an   untimely demise one day when DEC {PM}ed the PD...
scratch monkey4 is  {provocative maintainance}).   It is recorded that, after calming down an understandably irate   customer sufficiently to ascertain the facts of the matter, a DEC   troubleshooter called up the {field circus} manager responsible  ...
scratch monkey5 is  all the consequences to humans were so amusing; the sysop of   the machine in question was nearly thrown in jail at the behest of   certain clueless droids at the local `humane' society.  The moral   is clear When in doubt, always...
screw is  [MIT] n. A {lose}, usually in software.  Especially used for   user-visible misbehavior caused by a bug or misfeature.  This use   has become quite widespread outside MIT.
screwage is  /skroo'*j/ n. Like {lossage} but connotes that the   failure is due to a designed-in misfeature rather than a simple   inadequacy or a mere bug.
scribble is  n. To modify a data structure in a random and   unintentionally destructive way.  "Bletch! Somebody's   disk-compactor program went berserk and scribbled on the i-node   table."  "It was working fine until one of the allocation routines ...
scribble2 is  {trash}; compare {mung},   which conveys a bit more intention, and {mangle}, which is more   violent and final. 
scrog is  /skrog/ [Bell Labs] vt. To damage, trash, or corrupt a   data structure.  "The list header got scrogged."  Also reported   as `skrog', and ascribed to the comic strip "The Wizard of   Id".  Equivalent to {scribble} or {mangle}.
scrool is  /skrool/ [from the pioneering Roundtable chat system in   Houston ca. 1984; prob. originated as a typo for `scroll'] n. The   log of old messages, available for later perusal or to help one get   back in synch with the conversation. It was...
scrool2 is  because an early version of the roundtable   software had a bug where it would dump all 8K of scrool on a user's   terminal. 
scrozzle is  /skroz'l/ vt. Used when a self-modifying code segment runs   incorrectly and corrupts the running program or vital data.  "The   damn compiler scrozzled itself again!"
SCSI is  [Small Computer System Interface] n. A bus-independent   standard for system-level interfacing between a computer and   intelligent devices.  Typically annotated in literature with `sexy'   (/sek'see/), `sissy' (/sis'ee/), and `scuzzy' (/sku...
SCSI2 is  being the overwhelmingly   predominant form, much to the dismay of the designers and their   marketing people.  One can usually assume that a person who   pronounces it /S-C-S-I/ is clueless. 
search-and-destroy mode is  n. Hackerism for the search-and-replace   facility in an editor, so called because an incautiously chosen   match pattern can cause {infinite} damage.
second-system effect is  n. (sometimes, more euphoniously,   `second-system syndrome') When one is designing the successor to   a relatively small, elegant, and successful system, there is a   tendency to become grandiose in one's success and design ...
second-system effect2 is  The term was first   used by Fred Brooks in his classic `The Mythical Man-Month   Essays on Software Engineering' (Addison-Wesley, 1975; ISBN   0-201-00650-2).  It described the jump from a set of nice, simple   operating sy...
second-system effect3 is  360 series.  A similar effect can also happen in an evolving   system; see {Brooks's Law}, {creeping elegance}, {creeping   featurism}.  See also {{Multics}}, {OS/2}, {X}, {software   bloat}.   This version of the jargon lex...
second-system effect4 is  much truth for comfort) as an example of   second-system effect run amok on jargon-1.... 
secondary damage is  n. When a fatal error occurs (esp. a   {segfault}) the immediate cause may be that a pointer has been   trashed due to a previous {fandango on core}.  However, this   fandango may have been due to an *earlier* fandango, so no   a...
secondary damage2 is  the damage occurred.   "The data structure was clobbered, but it was secondary damage."   By extension, the corruption resulting from N cascaded   fandangoes on core is `Nth-level damage'.  There is at least   one case on record...
secondary damage3 is  actually dug up the underlying bug behind an instance of   seventh-level damage!  The hacker who accomplished this   near-superhuman feat was presented with an award by his fellows. 
security through obscurity is  n. A name applied by hackers to most OS   vendors' favorite way of coping with security holes --- namely,   ignoring them and not documenting them and trusting that nobody   will find out about them and that people who ...
security through obscurity2 is  This never works for long and occasionally   sets the world up for debacles like the {RTM} worm of 1988, but once   the brief moments of panic created by such events subside most   vendors are all too willing to turn o...
security through obscurity3 is  fixing the bugs would siphon off the resources   needed to implement the next user-interface frill on marketing's   wish list --- and besides, if they started fixing security bugs   customers might begin to *expect* it...
security through obscurity4 is  merchantability gave them some sort of *right*   to a system with fewer holes in it than a shotgunned Swiss cheese,   and then where would we be?   Historical note It is claimed (with dissent from {{ITS}} fans who   sa...
security through obscurity5 is  in a positive   sense) that this term was first used in the USENET newsgroup in   comp.sys.apollo during a campaign to get HP/Apollo to fix   security problems in its UNIX-{clone} Aegis/DomainOS.  They   didn't change ...
SED is  [TMRC, from `Light-Emitting Diode'] /S-E-D/ n.   Smoke-emitting diode.  A {friode} that lost the war. See   {LER}.
segfault is  n.,vi. Syn. {segment}, {seggie}.
seggie is  /seg'ee/ [UNIX] n. Shorthand for {segmentation fault}   reported from Britain.
segment is  /seg'ment/ vi. To experience a {segmentation fault}.   Confusingly, this is often pronounced more like the noun `segment'   than like mainstream v. segment; this is because it is actually a   noun shorthand that has been verbed.
segmentation fault is  n. [UNIX] 1. An error in which a running program   attempts to access memory not allocated to it and {core dump}s   with a segmentation violation error.  2. To lose a train of   thought or a line of reasoning.  Also uttered as ...
segv is  /seg'vee/ n.,vi. Yet another synonym for {segmentation   fault} (actually, in this case, `segmentation violation').
self-reference is  n. See {self-reference}.
selvage is  /sel'v*j/ [from sewing] n. See {chad} (sense 1).
semi is  /se'mee/ or /se'mi/ 1. n. Abbreviation for   `semicolon', when speaking.  "Commands to {grind} are   prefixed by semi-semi-star" means that the prefix is `;;*',   not 1/4 of a star.  2. A prefix used with words such as   `immediately' as a q...
semi2 is  "Semi-immediately." (That is, maybe not for an hour.)  "We did   consider that possibility semi-seriously."  See also   {infinite}. 
semi-infinite is  n. See {infinite}.
senior bit is  [IBM] n. Syn. {meta bit}.
server is  n. A kind of {daemon} that performs a service for the   requester and which often runs on a computer other than the one on   which the server runs.  A particularly common term on the Internet,   which is rife with `name servers', `domain s...
SEX is  /seks/ [Sun Users' Group & elsewhere] n. 1. Software   EXchange.  A technique invented by the blue-green algae hundreds of   millions of years ago to speed up their evolution, which had been   terribly slow up until then.  Today, SEX parties ...
SEX2 is  course, these are no longer limited to   exchanges of genetic software).  In general, SEX parties are a   {Good Thing}, but unprotected SEX can propagate a {virus}.   See also {pubic directory}.  2. The rather Freudian mnemonic   often used ...
SEX3 is  the   PDP-11 and many other architectures.   DEC's engineers nearly got a PDP-11 assembler that used the   `SEX' mnemonic out the door at one time, but (for once)   marketing wasn't asleep and forced a change.  That wasn't the last   time th...
SEX4 is  8086   Primer', who was one of the original designers of the 8086, noted   that there was originally a `SEX' instruction on that   processor, too.  He says that Intel management got cold feet and   decreed that it be changed, and thus the in...
SEX5 is  (depending on what was being extended).   Amusingly, the Intel 8048 (the microcontroller used in IBM PC   keyboards) is also missing straight `SEX' but has logical-or   and logical-and instructions `ORL' and `ANL'.   The Motorola 6809, used ...
SEX6 is  actually had an official `SEX' instruction; the 6502   in the Apple II it competed with did not.  British hackers thought   this made perfect mythic sense; after all, it was commonly   observed, you could have sex with a dragon, but you can'...
sex changer is  n. Syn. {gender mender}.
shareware is  /sheir'weir/ n. {Freeware} (sense 1) for which the   author requests some payment, usually in the accompanying   documentation files or in an announcement made by the software   itself.  Such payment may or may not buy additional suppor...
shelfware is  /shelfweir/ n. Software purchased on a whim (by an   individual user) or in accordance with policy (by a corporation or   government agency), but not actually required for any particular use.   Therefore, it often ends up on some shelf.
shell is  [orig. {{Multics}} techspeak, widely propagated via UNIX] n.   1. [techspeak] The command interpreter used to pass commands to an   operating system; so called because it is the part of the operating   system that interfaces with the outsid...
shell2 is  program that mediates access to a special resource   or {server} for convenience, efficiency, or security reasons; for   this meaning, the usage is usually `a shell around' whatever.   This sort of program is also called a `wrapper'. 
shell out is  [UNIX] n. To spawn an interactive {subshell} from   within a program (e.g., a mailer or editor).  "Bang foo runs foo in   a subshell, while bang alone shells out."
shift left logical is  [from any of various machines'   instruction sets] 1. vi. To move oneself to the left (right).  To   move out of the way.  2. imper. "Get out of that (my) seat!  You   can shift to that empty one to the left (right)."  Often   ...
shift left logical2 is  instead of   `shift left'.  Sometimes heard as LSH /lish/, from the {PDP-10}   instruction set.  See {Programmer's Cheer}. 
shitogram is  /shit'oh-gram/ n. A *really* nasty piece of email.   Compare {nastygram}, {flame}.
short card is  n. A half-length IBM PC expansion card or adapter that   will fit in one of the two short slots located towards the right   rear of a standard chassis (tucked behind the floppy disk drives).   See also {tall card}.
shotgun debugging is  n. The software equivalent of {Easter egging};   the making of relatively undirected changes to software in the hope   that a bug will be perturbed out of existence.  This almost never   works, and usually introduces more bugs.
showstopper is  n. A hardware or (especially) software bug that makes   an implementation effectively unusable; one that absolutely has to   be fixed before development can go on.  Opposite in connotation   from its original theatrical use, which ref...
shriek is  n. See {excl}.  Occasional CMU usage, also in common use   among APL fans and mathematicians, especially category theorists.
Shub-Internet is  /shuhb in't*r-net/ [MUD from H. P. Lovecraft's   evil fictional deity `Shub-Niggurath', the Black Goat with a   Thousand Young] n.  The harsh personification of the Internet,   Beast of a Thousand Processes, Eater of Characters, Ava...
Shub-Internet2 is  the hideous multi-tendriled entity   formed of all the manifold connections of the net.  A sect of   MUDders worships Shub-Internet, sacrificing objects and praying for   good connections.  To no avail --- its purpose is malign and...
Shub-Internet3 is  slowdown.  Often heard as in   "Freela casts a tac nuke at Shub-Internet for slowing her down."   (A forged response often follows along the lines of "Shub-Internet   gulps down the tac nuke and burps happily.")  Also cursed by use...
Shub-Internet4 is  slows down.  The dread   name of Shub-Internet is seldom spoken aloud, as it is said that   repeating it three times will cause the being to wake, deep within its   lair beneath the Pentagon. 
sidecar is  n. 1. Syn. {slap on the side}.  Esp. used of add-ons   for the late and unlamented IBM PCjr.  2. The IBM PC compatibility   box that could be bolted onto the side of an Amiga.  Designed and   produced by Commodore, it broke all of the com...
sidecar2 is  other peripherals, it was by {magic}. 
sig block is  /sig blok/ [UNIX often written `.sig' there] n.   Short for `signature', used specifically to refer to the   electronic signature block that most UNIX mail- and news-posting   software will {automagically} append to outgoing mail and ne...
sig block2 is  quite an art form, including an   ASCII logo or one's choice of witty sayings (see {sig quote},   {fool file}); but many consider large sigs a waste of   {bandwidth}, and it has been observed that the size of one's sig   block is usual...
sig block3 is  and   level of prestige on the net. 
sig quote is  /sig kwoht/ [USENET] n. A maxim, quote, proverb, joke,   or slogan embedded in one's {sig block} and intended to convey   something of one's philosophical stance, pet peeves, or sense of   humor. "Calm down, it's only ones and zeroes."
signal-to-noise ratio is  [from analog electronics] n. Used by hackers   in a generalization of its technical meaning.  `Signal' refers to   useful information conveyed by some communications medium, and   `noise' to anything else on that medium.  He...
signal-to-noise ratio2 is  paying attention to the medium in question.   Figures for such metaphorical ratios are never given.  The term is   most often applied to {USENET} newsgroups during {flame war}s.   Compare {bandwidth}.  See also {coefficient...
silicon is  n. Hardware, esp. ICs or microprocessor-based computer   systems (compare {iron}).  Contrasted with software.  See also   {sandbender}.
silicon foundry is  n. A company that {fab}s chips to the designs of   others.  As of the late 1980s, the combination of silicon foundries   and good computer-aided design software made it much easier for   hardware-designing startup companies to com...
silicon foundry2 is  silicon foundry is that the distance from the   actual chip-fabrication processes reduces designers' control of detail.   This is somewhat analogous to the use of {HLL}s versus coding in   assembler. 
silly walk is  [from Monty Python's Flying Circus] vi. 1. A ridiculous   procedure required to accomplish a task.  Like {grovel}, but more   {random} and humorous.  "I had to silly-walk through half the   /usr directories to find the maps file."  2. ...
silo is  n. The FIFO input-character buffer in an RS-232 line card.  So   called from DEC terminology used on DH and DZ line cards for the   VAX and PDP-11, presumably because it was a storage space for   fungible stuff that you put in the top and to...
Silver Book is  n. Jensen and Wirth's infamous `Pascal User Manual   and Report', so called because of the silver cover of the   widely distributed Springer-Verlag second edition of 1978 (ISBN   0-387-90144-2).  See {{book titles}}, {Pascal}.
since time T equals minus infinity is  adj. A long time ago; for as   long as anyone can remember; at the time that some particular frob   was first designed.  Usually the word `time' is omitted.  See also   {time T}.
sitename is  /sit'naym/ [UNIX/Internet] n. The unique electronic   name of a computer system, used to identify it in UUCP mail,   USENET, or other forms of electronic information interchange.  The   folklore interest of sitenames stems from the creat...
sitename2 is  Interpreting a sitename is not unlike   interpreting a vanity license plate; one has to mentally unpack it,   allowing for mono-case and length restrictions and the lack of   whitespace.  Hacker tradition deprecates dull,   institutiona...
sitename3 is  and   clever coinages (except that it is considered appropriate for the   official public gateway machine of an organization to bear the   organization's name or acronym).  Mythological references, cartoon   characters, animal names, an...