Amethyst

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BSD2 is  The BSD versions (4.1, 4.2,   and 4.3) and the commercial versions derived from them (SunOS, ULTRIX,   and Mt. Xinu) held the technical lead in the UNIX world until   AT&T's successful standardization efforts after about 1986, and are   stil...
bubble sort is  n. Techspeak for a particular sorting technique in   which pairs of adjacent values in the list to be sorted are   compared and interchanged if they are out of order; thus, list   entries `bubble upward' in the list until they bump in...
bubble sort2 is  is not very good relative to other   methods and is the one typically stumbled on by {na"ive} and   untutored programmers, hackers consider it the {canonical}   example of a na"ive algorithm.  The canonical example of a really   *bad...
bubble sort3 is  might be used   out of ignorance, but any use of bogo-sort could issue only from   brain damage or willful perversity. 
bucky bits is  /buh'kee bits/ n. 1. obs. The bits produced by the   CONTROL and META shift keys on a SAIL keyboard, resulting in a   9-bit keyboard character set.  The MIT AI TV (Knight) keyboards   extended this with TOP and separate left and right ...
bucky bits2 is  character set; later, LISP Machines   added such keys as SUPER, HYPER, and GREEK (see {space-cadet   keyboard}).  2. By extension, bits associated with `extra' shift   keys on any keyboard, e.g., the ALT on an IBM PC or command and   ...
bucky bits3 is  that `bucky bits' were named for Buckminster Fuller   during a period when he was consulting at Stanford.  Actually,   `Bucky' was Niklaus Wirth's nickname when *he* was at   Stanford; he first suggested the idea of an EDIT key to set...
bucky bits4 is  character.  This was used in a   number of editors written at Stanford or in its environs (TV-EDIT   and NLS being the best-known).  The term spread to MIT and CMU   early and is now in general use.  See {double bucky},   {quadruple b...
buffer overflow is  n. What happens when you try to stuff more data   into a buffer (holding area) than it can handle.  This may be due   to a mismatch in the processing rates of the producing and   consuming processes (see {overrun}), or because the...
buffer overflow2 is  data that must accumulate before a   piece of it can be processed. For example, in a text-processing   tool that {crunch}es a line at a time, a short line buffer can   result in {lossage} as input from a long line overflows the  ...
buffer overflow3 is  defensive programming   would check for overflow on each character and stop accepting data   when the buffer is full up.  The term is used of and by humans in a   metaphorical sense. "What time did I agree to meet you?  My buffer...
buffer overflow4 is  phone my buffer is   going to overflow."  See also {spam}, {overrun screw}. 
bug is  n. An unwanted and unintended property of a program or hardware,   esp. one that causes it to malfunction.  Antonym of {feature}.   Examples "There's a bug in the editor it writes things out   backwards."  "The system crashed because of a har...
bug2 is  few bugs"  (i.e., Fred is a good   guy, but he has a few personality problems).   Historical note Some have said this term came from telephone   company usage, in which "bugs in a telephone cable" were blamed   for noisy lines, but this appe...
bug3 is  Admiral Grace Hopper (an early computing pioneer better   known for inventing {COBOL}) liked to tell a story in which a   technician solved a persistent {glitch} in the Harvard Mark II   machine by pulling an actual insect out from between t...
bug4 is  subsequently promulgated   {bug} in its hackish sense as a joke about the incident (though,   as she was careful to admit, she was not there when it happened).   For many years the logbook associated with the incident and the   actual bug in...
bug5 is  Naval   Surface Warfare Center.  The entire story, with a picture of the   logbook and the moth taped into it, is recorded in the `Annals of   the History of Computing', Vol. 3, No. 3 (July 1981), pp. 285--286.   The text of the log entry (f...
bug6 is  Panel F (moth) in relay.  First actual case of bug being   found".  This wording seems to establish that the term was already in use   at the time in its current specific sense.  Indeed, the use of   `bug' to mean an industrial defect was al...
bug7 is  and `bug' in the sense of an disruptive event   goes back to Shakespeare!  In the first edition of Samuel Johnson's   dictionary one meaning of `bug' is "A frightful object; a walking   spectre"; this is traced to `bugbear', a Welsh term for...
bug8 is  complete the circle) has recently   been reintroduced into the popular lexicon through fantasy   role-playing games.   In any case, in jargon the word almost never refers to insects.   Here is a plausible conversation that never actually hap...
bug9 is  "What do you mean?  I don't see any ants in it."   "That's the bug."   [There has been a widespread myth that the original bug was moved   to the Smithsonian, and an earlier version of this entry so   asserted.  A correspondent who thought t...
bug10 is  there.  While investigating this, your editor   discovered that the NSWC still had the bug, but had unsuccessfully   tried to get the Smithsonian to accept it --- and that the present   curator of the History of American Technology Museum d...
bug11 is  a worthwhile exhibit.   Thus, the process of investigating the original-computer-bug bug   may have fixed it in an entirely unexpected way, by making the myth   true!  --- ESR] 
bug-compatible is  adj. Said of a design or revision that has been   badly compromised by a requirement to be compatible with   {fossil}s or {misfeature}s in other programs or (esp.)   previous releases of itself. "MS-DOS 2.0 used \ as a path   separ...
bug-compatible2 is  choice of / as an   option character in 1.0." 
bug-for-bug compatible is  n. Same as {bug-compatible}, with the   additional implication that much tedious effort went into ensuring   that each (known) bug was replicated.
buglix is  /buhg'liks/ n. Pejorative term referring to DEC's ULTRIX   operating system in its earlier *severely* buggy versions.   Still used to describe ULTRIX, but without venom.  Compare   {HP-SUX}.
bulletproof is  adj. Used of an algorithm or implementation considered   extremely {robust}; lossage-resistant; capable of correctly   recovering from any imaginable exception condition.  This is a rare   and valued quality.  Syn. {armor-plated}.
bum is  1. vt. To make highly efficient, either in time or space,   often at the expense of clarity.  "I managed to bum three more   instructions out of that code."  "I spent half the night bumming   the interrupt code."  2. To squeeze out excess; to...
bum2 is  whatever it was removed from (without   changing function; this distinguishes the process from a   {featurectomy}).  3. n. A small change to an algorithm, program,   or hardware device to make it more efficient.  "This hardware bum   makes t...
bum3 is  uncommon, largely   superseded by v. {tune} (and n. {tweak}, {hack}), though   none of these exactly capture sense 2.  All these uses are rare in   Commonwealth hackish, because in the parent dialects of English   `bum' is a rude synonym for...
bump is  vt. Synonym for increment.  Has the same meaning as   C's ++ operator.  Used esp. of counter variables, pointers, and index   dummies in `for', `while', and `do-while' loops.
burble is  [from Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky"] v. Like {flame},   but connotes that the source is truly clueless and ineffectual   (mere flamers can be competent).  A term of deep contempt.   "There's some guy on the phone burbling about how he got ...
buried treasure is  n. A surprising piece of code found in some   program.  While usually not wrong, it tends to vary from {crufty}   to {bletcherous}, and has lain undiscovered only because it was   functionally correct, however horrible it is.  Use...
buried treasure2 is  anything *but* treasure.  Buried   treasure almost always needs to be dug up and removed.  "I just   found that the scheduler sorts its queue using {bubble sort}!   Buried treasure!" 
burn-in period is  n. 1. A factory test designed to catch systems   with {marginal} components before they get out the door; the   theory is that burn-in will protect customers by outwaiting the   steepest part of the {bathtub curve} (see {infant   m...
burn-in period2 is  length in which a person   using a computer is so intensely involved in his project that he   forgets basic needs such as food, drink, sleep, etc.  Warning   Excessive burn-in can lead to burn-out.  See {hack mode},   {larval stag...
burst page is  n. Syn. {banner}, sense 1.
busy-wait is  vi. Used of human behavior, conveys that the subject is   busy waiting for someone or something, intends to move instantly as   soon as it shows up, and thus cannot do anything else at the   moment.  "Can't talk now, I'm busy-waiting ti...
busy-wait2 is  `busy-wait' means to wait on an event by   {spin}ning through a tight or timed-delay loop that polls for   the event on each pass, as opposed to setting up an interrupt   handler and continuing execution on another part of the task.  T...
busy-wait3 is  time-sharing systems where   a busy-waiting program may {hog} the processor. 
buzz is  vi. 1. Of a program, to run with no indication of progress   and perhaps without guarantee of ever finishing; esp. said of   programs thought to be executing tight loops of code.  A program   that is buzzing appears to be {catatonic}, but yo...
buzz2 is  buzzing loop may eventually end of its own   accord.  "The program buzzes for about 10 seconds trying to sort   all the names into order."  See {spin}; see also {grovel}.   2. [ETA Systems] To test a wire or printed circuit trace for   cont...
buzz3 is   Some wire   faults will pass DC tests but fail a buzz test.  3. To process an   array or list in sequence, doing the same thing to each element.   "This loop buzzes through the tz array looking for a terminator   type." 
BWQ is  /B-W-Q/ [IBM acronym, `Buzz Word Quotient'] The   percentage of buzzwords in a speech or documents.  Usually roughly   proportional to {bogosity}.  See {TLA}.
by hand is  adv. Said of an operation (especially a repetitive,   trivial, and/or tedious one) that ought to be performed   automatically by the computer, but which a hacker instead has to   step tediously through.  "My mailer doesn't have a command ...
by hand2 is  replying to, so I have to do it   by hand."  This does not necessarily mean the speaker has to   retype a copy of the message; it might refer to, say, dropping into   a {subshell} from the mailer, making a copy of one's mailbox file,   r...
by hand3 is  and bottom of the   message in question, deleting the rest of the file, inserting `>'   characters on each line, writing the file, leaving the editor,   returning to the mailer, reading the file in, and later remembering   to delete the ...
byte is  /bit/ [techspeak] n. A unit of memory or data equal to   the amount used to represent one character; on modern architectures   this is usually 8 bits, but may be 9 on 36-bit machines.  Some   older architectures used `byte' for quantities of...
byte2 is  `bytes' that were actually bitfields of   1 to 36 bits!  These usages are now obsolete, and even 9-bit bytes   have become rare in the general trend toward power-of-2 word sizes.   Historical note The term originated in 1956 during the earl...
byte3 is  originally it was   described as 1 to 6 bits (typical I/O equipment of the period   used 6-bit chunks of information).  The move to an 8-bit byte   happened in late 1956, and this size was later adopted and   promulgated as a standard by th...
byte4 is  mutating the word `bite' so it would not be accidentally   misspelled as {bit}.  See also {nybble}. 
bytesexual is  /bit`sek'shu-*l/ adj. Said of hardware, denotes   willingness to compute or pass data in either {big-endian} or   {little-endian} format (depending, presumably, on a {mode bit}   somewhere).  See also {NUXI problem}.*C n. 1. The third ...
bytesexual2 is  1000011.  3. The name of a programming language designed by   Dennis Ritchie during the early 1970s and immediately used to   reimplement {{UNIX}}.  So called because many features derived   from an earlier compiler named `B' in comme...
bytesexual3 is  Stroustrup settled the   question by designing C++, there was a humorous debate over whether   C's successor should be named `D' or `P'.  C became immensely   popular outside Bell Labs after about 1980 and is now the dominant   langua...
bytesexual4 is  programming.   See also {languages of choice}, {indent style}.   C is often described, with a mixture of fondness and disdain   varying according to the speaker, as "a language that combines   all the elegance and power of assembly la...
bytesexual5 is  maintainability of assembly language". 
calculator is  [Cambridge] n. Syn. for {bitty box}.
can is  vt. To abort a job on a time-sharing system.  Used esp. when the   person doing the deed is an operator, as in "canned from the   {{console}}".  Frequently used in an imperative sense, as in "Can   that print job, the LPT just popped a sprock...
can2 is  that the ASCII character with mnemonic CAN   (0011000) was used as a kill-job character on some early OSes. 
canonical is  [historically, `according to religious law'] adj. The   usual or standard state or manner of something.  This word has a   somewhat more technical meaning in mathematics.  Two formulas such   as 9 + x and x + 9 are said to be equivalent...
canonical2 is  second one is in `canonical   form' because it is written in the usual way, with the highest   power of x first.  Usually there are fixed rules you can use   to decide whether something is in canonical form.  The jargon   meaning, a re...
canonical3 is    present loading in computer-science culture largely through its   prominence in Alonzo Church's work in computation theory and   mathematical logic (see {Knights of the Lambda Calculus}).   Compare {vanilla}.   This word has an inter...
canonical4 is  not use the adjective `canonical' in any of the senses defined   above with any regularity; they do however use the nouns `canon' and   `canonicity' (not *canonicalness or *canonicality). The `canon' of   a given author is the complete...
canonical5 is  usage is familiar to Sherlock Holmes fans as well as   to literary scholars).  `*The* canon' is the body of works in   a given field (e.g., works of literature, or of art, or of music)   deemed worthwhile for students to study and for ...
canonical6 is  non-techspeak academic usages derive ultimately from the   historical meaning, specifically the classification of the books of   the Bible into two groups by Christian theologians.  The   `canonical' books were the ones widely accepted...
canonical7 is  authority.  The   `deuterocanonical' books (literally `secondarily canonical';   also known as the `Apochrypha') were held to be of lesser   authority --- indeed they have been held in such low esteem that to   this day they are omitte...
canonical8 is  this term with a playfulness that makes an ironic   contrast with its historical meaning.  A true story One Bob   Sjoberg, new at the MIT AI Lab, expressed some annoyance at the use   of jargon.  Over his loud objections, GLS and RMS m...
canonical9 is  in his presence, and eventually it   began to sink in.  Finally, in one conversation, he used the word   `canonical' in jargon-like fashion without thinking.  Steele   "Aha!  We've finally got you talking jargon too!"  Stallman   "What...
canonical10 is  `canonical' in the   canonical way."   Of course, canonicality depends on context, but it is implicitly   defined as the way *hackers* normally expect things to be.   Thus, a hacker may claim with a straight face that `according to   ...
card is  n. 1. An electronic printed-circuit board (see also {tall   card}, {short card}.  2. obs. Syn. {{punched card}}.
card walloper is  n. An EDP programmer who grinds out batch programs   that do stupid things like print people's paychecks.  Compare   {code grinder}.  See also {{punched card}}, {eighty-column   mind}.
careware is  /keir'weir/ n. {Shareware} for which either the   author suggests that some payment be made to a nominated charity   or a levy directed to charity is included on top of the   distribution charge.  Syn. {charityware}; compare   {cripplewa...
cargo cult programming is  n. A style of (incompetent) programming   dominated by ritual inclusion of code or program structures that   serve no real purpose.  A cargo cult programmer will usually   explain the extra code as a way of working around s...
cargo cult programming2 is  neither the bug nor the reason   the code apparently avoided the bug was ever fully understood   (compare {shotgun debugging}, {voodoo programming}).   The term `cargo cult' is a reference to aboriginal religions that   gr...
cargo cult programming3 is  The practices of   these cults center on building elaborate mockups of airplanes and   military style landing strips in the hope of bringing the return of   the god-like airplanes that brought such marvelous cargo during t...
cargo cult programming4 is  Richard Feynman's   characterization of certain practices as "cargo cult science" in   his book `Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman' (W. W. Norton   & Co, New York 1985, ISBN 0-393-01921-7). 
case and paste is  [from `cut and paste'] n. 1. The addition of a new   {feature} to an existing system by selecting the code from an   existing feature and pasting it in with minor changes.  Common in   telephony circles because most operations in a...
case and paste2 is  statements.  Leads to {software bloat}.   In some circles of EMACS users this is called `programming by   Meta-W', because Meta-W is the EMACS command for copying a block of   text to a kill buffer in preparation to pasting it in ...
case and paste3 is  implying that the programmer is acting   mindlessly rather than thinking carefully about what is required to   integrate the code for two similar cases. 
casters-up mode is  [IBM] n. Yet another synonym for `broken' or   `down'.
casting the runes is  n. What a {guru} does when you ask him or her   to run a particular program and type at it because it never works   for anyone else; esp. used when nobody can ever see what the guru   is doing different from what J. Random Luser...
casting the runes2 is  {examining the entrails}; also see   the AI koan about Tom Knight in appendix A. 
cat is  [from `catenate' via {{UNIX}} `cat(1)'] vt.   1. [techspeak] To spew an entire file to the screen or some other   output sink without pause.  2. By extension, to dump large amounts   of data at an unprepared target or with no intention of bro...
cat2 is   Rare outside UNIX sites.  See   also {dd}, {BLT}.   Among UNIX fans, `cat(1)' is considered an excellent example   of user-interface design, because it outputs the file contents   without such verbosity as spacing or headers between the fil...
cat3 is  to consist of lines of text,   but works with any sort of data.   Among UNIX-haters, `cat(1)' is considered the {canonical}   example of *bad* user-interface design.  This because it is more   often used to {blast} a file to standard output ...
cat4 is  `cat' for the former   operation is just as unintuitive as, say, LISP's {cdr}.   Of such oppositions are {holy wars} made.... 
catatonic is  adj. Describes a condition of suspended animation in   which something is so {wedged} or {hung} that it makes no   response.  If you are typing on a terminal and suddenly the   computer doesn't even echo the letters back to the screen a...
catatonic2 is  it to do, then the computer   is suffering from catatonia (possibly because it has crashed).   "There I was in the middle of a winning game of {nethack} and it   went catatonic on me!  Aaargh!" Compare {buzz}. 
cdr is  /ku'dr/ or /kuh'dr/ [from LISP] vt. To skip past the   first item from a list of things (generalized from the LISP   operation on binary tree structures, which returns a list   consisting of all but the first element of its argument).  In the...
cdr2 is  elements  "Shall we   cdr down the agenda?"  Usage silly.  See also {loop through}.   Historical note The instruction format of the IBM 7090 that hosted   the original LISP implementation featured two 15-bit fields called   the `address' and...
cdr3 is  originally   `Contents of Decrement part of Register'.  Similarly, `car' stood   for `Contents of Address part of Register'.   The cdr and car operations have since become bases for   formation of compound metaphors in non-LISP contexts.  GL...
cdr4 is  in which strings were   represented as linked lists; the get-character and skip-character   operations were of course called CHAR and CHDR. 
chad is  /chad/ n. 1. The perforated edge strips on printer paper, after   they have been separated from the printed portion.  Also called   {selvage} and {perf}.  2. obs. The confetti-like paper bits punched   out of cards or paper tape; this was al...
chad2 is  `keypunch droppings'.   Historical note One correspondent believes `chad' (sense 2)   derives from the Chadless keypunch (named for its inventor), which   cut little u-shaped tabs in the card to make a hole when the tab   folded back, rathe...
chad3 is   clear that if the Chadless keypunch didn't make them, then the   stuff that other keypunches made had to be `chad'. 
chad box is  n. {Iron Age} card punches contained boxes inside them,   about the size of a lunchbox (or in some models a large   wastebasket), that held the {chad} (sense 2).  You had to open   the covers of the card punch periodically and empty the ...
chad box2 is  the equivalent device in the CPU   enclosure, which was typically across the room in another great   gray-and-blue box. 
chain is  [orig. from BASIC's `CHAIN' statement] vi. To hand off   execution to a child or successor without going through the   {OS} command interpreter that invoked it.  The state of the   parent program is lost and there is no returning to it.  Th...
chain2 is  memory-limited micros and is   still widely supported for backward compatibility, the jargon usage   is semi-obsolescent; in particular, most UNIX programmers will   think of this as an {exec}.  Oppose the more modern {subshell}. 
char is  /keir/ or /char/; rarely, /kar/ n. Shorthand for   `character'.  Esp. used by C programmers, as `char' is   C's typename for character data.
charityware is  /char'it-ee-weir`/ n. Syn. {careware}.
chase pointers is  1. vi. To go through multiple levels of   indirection, as in traversing a linked list or graph structure.   Used esp. by programmers in C, where explicit pointers are a very   common data type.  This is techspeak, but it remains ja...
chase pointers2 is  chasing pointers.  Bob said you   could tell me who to talk to about...." See {dangling   pointer} and {snap}.  2. [Cambridge] `pointer chase' or   `pointer hunt' The process of going through a dump   (interactively or on a large ...
chase pointers3 is  following dynamic data-structures.  Used only in a   debugging context. 
chemist is  [Cambridge] n. Someone who wastes computer time on   {number-crunching} when you'd far rather the machine were doing   something more productive, such as working out anagrams of your   name or printing Snoopy calendars or running {life} p...
chemist2 is  actually studies chemistry. 
Chernobyl chicken is  n. See {laser chicken}.
Chernobyl packet is  /cher-noh'b*l pak'*t/ n. A network packet that   induces {network meltdown} (the result of a {broadcast storm}),   in memory of the 1987 nuclear accident at Chernobyl in the Ukraine.   The typical case of this is an IP Ethernet d...
Chernobyl packet2 is  both source and destination Ether and IP   address set as the respective broadcast addresses for the   subnetworks being gated between.  Compare {Christmas tree   packet}. 
chicken head is  [Commodore] n. The Commodore Business Machines logo,   which strongly resembles a poultry part.  Rendered in ASCII as   `C='.  With the arguable exception of the Amiga (see {amoeba}),   Commodore's machines are notoriously crocky lit...
chicken head2 is  Thus, this usage may owe something to   Philip K.  Dick's novel `Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?'   (the basis for the movie `Blade Runner'), in which a   `chickenhead' is a mutant with below-average intelligence. 
chiclet keyboard is  n. A keyboard with small rectangular or   lozenge-shaped rubber or plastic keys that look like pieces of   chewing gum.  (Chiclets is the brand name of a variety of chewing   gum that does in fact resemble the keys of chiclet key...
chiclet keyboard2 is  IBM PCjr keyboard.  Vendors   unanimously liked these because they were cheap, and a lot of early   portable and laptop products got launched using them.  Customers   rejected the idea with almost equal unanimity, and chiclets a...
chine nual is  /sheen'yu-*l/ [MIT] n.,obs. The Lisp Machine Manual, so   called because the title was wrapped around the cover so only those   letters showed on the front.
Chinese Army technique is  n. Syn. {Mongolian Hordes technique}.
choke is  v. To reject input, often ungracefully.  "Nuls make System   V's `lpr(1)' choke."  "I tried building an {EMACS} binary to   use {X}, but `cpp(1)' choked on all those `#define's."   See {barf}, {gag}, {vi}.
chomp is  vi. To {lose}; specifically, to chew on something of   which more was bitten off than one can.  Probably related to   gnashing of teeth.  See {bagbiter}.  A hand gesture commonly   accompanies this.  To perform it, hold the four fingers   t...
chomp2 is  tips.  Now open and   close your hand rapidly to suggest a biting action (much like what   Pac-Man does in the classic video game, though this pantomime seems   to predate that).  The gesture alone means `chomp chomp' (see   Verb Doubling ...
chomp3 is  Prependices).  The hand may be pointed at the object of complaint,   and for real emphasis you can use both hands at once.  Doing this   to a person is equivalent to saying "You chomper!"  If you point   the gesture at yourself, it is a hu...
chomp4 is  You might do this if someone told you that a program   you had written had failed in some surprising way and you felt dumb   for not having anticipated it. 

factpacks/jargon-split.fact  view on Meta::CPAN

EXCH is  /eks'ch*/ or /eksch/ vt. To exchange two things, each for the   other; to swap places.  If you point to two people sitting down and   say "Exch!", you are asking them to trade places.  EXCH,   meaning EXCHange, was originally the name of a P...
EXCH2 is  contents of a register and a memory location.   Many newer hackers tend to be thinking instead of the PostScript   exchange operator (which is usually written in lowercase). 
excl is  /eks'kl/ n. Abbreviation for `exclamation point'.  See   {bang}, {shriek}, {{ASCII}}.
EXE is  /eks'ee/ or /eek'see/ or /E-X-E/ n. An executable   binary file.  Some operating systems (notably MS-DOS, VMS, and   TWENEX) use the extension .EXE to mark such files.  This usage is   also occasionally found among UNIX programmers even thoug...
exec is  /eg-zek'/ vt.,n.  1. [UNIX from `execute'] Synonym for   {chain}, derives from the `exec(2)' call.  2. [from   `executive'] obs. The command interpreter for an {OS} (see   {shell}); term esp. used around mainframes, and prob. derived from   ...
exec2 is  systems.  3. At IBM,   the equivalent of a shell command file (among VM/CMS users).   The mainstream `exec' as an abbreviation for (human) executive is   *not* used.  To a hacker, an `exec' is a always a program,   never a person. 
left as an exercise is  [from technical books] Used to complete a   proof when one doesn't mind a {handwave}, or to avoid one   entirely.  The complete phrase is "The proof (or the rest) is left as   an exercise for the reader."  This comment *has* o...
left as an exercise2 is  research problems by authors possessed of   either an evil sense of humor or a vast faith in the capabilities   of their audiences. 
eyeball search is  n. To look for something in a mass of code or data   with one's own native optical sensors, as opposed to using some   sort of pattern matching software like {grep} or any other   automated search tool.  Also called a {vgrep}; comp...
eyeball search2 is  `fabricate'] v. 1. To produce chips from a   design that may have been created by someone at another company.   Fabbing chips based on the designs of others is the activity of a   {silicon foundry}.  To a hacker, `fab' is practica...
eyeball search3 is  line' the production system   (lithography, diffusion, etching, etc.) for chips at a chip   manufacturer.  Different `fab lines' are run with different   process parameters, die sizes, or technologies, or simply to   provide more ...
face time is  n. Time spent interacting with somebody face-to-face (as   opposed to via electronic links).  "Oh, yeah, I spent some face   time with him at the last Usenix."
factor is  n. See {coefficient}.
fall over is  [IBM] vi. Yet another synonym for {crash} or {lose}.   `Fall over hard' equates to {crash and burn}.
fall through is  v. (n. `fallthrough', var. `fall-through') 1. To   exit a loop by exhaustion, i.e., by having fulfilled its exit   condition rather than via a break or exception condition that exits   from the middle of it.  This usage appears to be...
fall through2 is  1950s.  2. To fail a test that would have   passed control to a subroutine or some other distant portion of code.   3. In C, `fall-through' occurs when the flow of execution in a   switch statement reaches a `case' label other than ...
fall through3 is  passing a point where one would   normally expect to find a `break'.  A trivial example   The variant spelling `/* FALL THRU */' is also common.   The effect of this code is to `do_green()' when color is   `GREEN', `do_red()' when c...
fall through4 is  other than `PINK', and   (and this is the important part) `do_pink()' *and then*   `do_red()' when color is `PINK'.  Fall-through is   {considered harmful} by some, though there are contexts (such as   the coding of state machines) ...
fall through5 is  considered good practice to include a comment   highlighting the fall-through where one would normally expect a   break. 
fandango on core is  [UNIX/C hackers, from the Mexican dance] n.   In C, a wild pointer that runs out of bounds, causing a {core   dump}, or corrupts the `malloc(3)' {arena} in such a way as   to cause mysterious failures later on, is sometimes said ...
fandango on core2 is  low-end personal machines without an   MMU, this can corrupt the OS itself, causing massive lossage.   Other frenetic dances such as the rhumba, cha-cha, or watusi, may   be substituted.  See {aliasing bug}, {precedence lossage}...
FAQ list is  /F-A-Q list/ [USENET] n. A compendium of accumulated   lore, posted periodically to high-volume newsgroups in an attempt   to forestall Frequently Asked Questions.  This lexicon itself   serves as a good example of a collection of one ki...
FAQ list2 is  regular posting.  Examples "What   is the proper type of NULL?"  and "What's that funny name for   the `#' character?" are both Frequently Asked Questions.   Several extant FAQ lists do (or should) make reference to the   Jargon File (t...
FAQL is  /fa'kl/ n. Syn. {FAQ list}.
farming is  [Adelaide University, Australia] n. What the heads of a   disk drive are said to do when they plow little furrows in the   magnetic media.  Associated with a {crash}.  Typically used as   follows "Oh no, the machine has just crashed; I ho...
fascist is  adj. 1. Said of a computer system with excessive or   annoying security barriers, usage limits, or access policies.  The   implication is that said policies are preventing hackers from   getting interesting work done.  The variant `fascis...
fascist2 is  poss. by analogy with   `touristic' (see {tourist}).  2. In the design of languages   and other software tools, `the fascist alternative' is the most   restrictive and structured way of capturing a particular function;   the implication ...
fascist3 is  simplify   the implementation or provide tighter error checking.  Compare   {bondage-and-discipline language}, but that term is global rather   than local. 
faulty is  adj. Non-functional; buggy.  Same denotation as   {bletcherous}, {losing}, q.v., but the connotation is much   milder.
fd leak is  /ef dee leek/ n. A kind of programming bug analogous to a   {core leak}, in which a program fails to close file descriptors   (`fd's) after file operations are completed, and thus eventually   runs out of them.  See {leak}.
fear and loathing is  [from Hunter Thompson] n. A state inspired by the   prospect of dealing with certain real-world systems and standards   that are totally {brain-damaged} but ubiquitous --- Intel 8086s,   or {COBOL}, or {{EBCDIC}}, or any {IBM} m...
fear and loathing2 is  RS/6000).  "Ack!  They want PCs to be able to   talk to the AI machine.  Fear and loathing time!" 
feature is  n. 1. A good property or behavior (as of a program).   Whether it was intended or not is immaterial.  2. An intended   property or behavior (as of a program).  Whether it is good or not   is immaterial (but if bad, it is also a {misfeatur...
feature2 is  in particular, one that is   purposely inconsistent because it works better that way --- such an   inconsistency is therefore a {feature} and not a {bug}.  This   kind of feature is sometimes called a {miswart}; see that entry   for a cl...
feature3 is  is   gratuitous or unnecessary, though perhaps also impressive or cute.   For example, one feature of Common LISP's `format' function is   the ability to print numbers in two different Roman-numeral formats   (see {bells, whistles, and g...
feature4 is  put in to help someone else but that happens to be in your   way.  6. A bug that has been documented.  To call something a   feature sometimes means the author of the program did not consider   the particular case, and that the program r...
feature5 is  strictly incorrect.  A standard joke is that a   bug can be turned into a {feature} simply by documenting it   (then theoretically no one can complain about it because it's in   the manual), or even by simply declaring it to be good.  "T...
feature6 is  common catchphrase.  See also   {feetch feetch}, {creeping featurism}, {wart}, {green   lightning}.   The relationship among bugs, features, misfeatures, warts, and   miswarts might be clarified by the following hypothetical exchange   b...
feature7 is  seat doesn't recline."   B "That's not a bug, that's a feature.  There is an emergency   exit door built around the window behind you, and the route has to   be kept clear."   A "Oh.  Then it's a misfeature; they should have increased th...
feature8 is  if they'd increased spacing in only one section it   would have been a wart --- they would've had to make   nonstandard-length ceiling panels to fit over the displaced   seats."   A "A miswart, actually.  If they increased spacing throug...
feature9 is  of the profit margin.  So   unequal spacing would actually be the Right Thing."   B "Indeed."   {Undocumented feature} is a common, allegedly humorous euphemism   for a {bug}. 
feature creature is  [poss. fr. slang `creature feature' for a horror   movie] n. One who loves to add features to designs or programs,   perhaps at the expense of coherence, concision, or {taste}.  See   also {feeping creaturism}, {creeping featuris...
feature shock is  [from Alvin Toffler's book title `Future   Shock'] n.  A user's (or programmer's!) confusion when confronted   with a package that has too many features and poor introductory   material.
featurectomy is  /fee`ch*r-ek't*-mee/ n. The act of removing a   feature from a program.  Featurectomies come in two flavors, the   `righteous' and the `reluctant'.  Righteous featurectomies are   performed because the remover believes the program wo...
featurectomy2 is  there is already an equivalent and   better way to achieve the same end.  (This is not quite the same   thing as removing a {misfeature}.)  Reluctant featurectomies are   performed to satisfy some external constraint such as code si...
feep is  /feep/ 1. n. The soft electronic `bell' sound of a   display terminal (except for a VT-52); a beep (in fact, the   microcomputer world seems to prefer {beep}).  2. vi. To cause   the display to make a feep sound.  ASR-33s (the original TTYs)...
feep2 is  that ring.  Alternate forms   {beep}, `bleep', or just about anything suitably   onomatopoeic.  (Jeff MacNelly, in his comic strip "Shoe", uses   the word `eep' for sounds made by computer terminals and video   games; this is perhaps the cl...
feep3 is  `breedle' was sometimes heard at SAIL, where the terminal   bleepers are not particularly soft (they sound more like the   musical equivalent of a raspberry or Bronx cheer; for a close   approximation, imagine the sound of a Star Trek commu...
feep4 is  `feeper' on a VT-52 has been   compared to the sound of a '52 Chevy stripping its gears.  See also   {ding}. 
feeper is  /fee'pr/ n. The device in a terminal or workstation (usually   a loudspeaker of some kind) that makes the {feep} sound.
feeping creature is  [from {feeping creaturism}] n. An unnecessary   feature; a bit of {chrome} that, in the speaker's judgment, is   the camel's nose for a whole horde of new features.
feeping creaturism is  /fee'ping kree`ch*r-izm/ n. A deliberate   spoonerism for {creeping featurism}, meant to imply that the   system or program in question has become a misshapen creature of   hacks.  This term isn't really well defined, but it so...
feeping creaturism2 is  heard it.  It is probably reinforced   by an image of terminals prowling about in the dark making their   customary noises. 
feetch feetch is  /feech feech/ interj. If someone tells you about   some new improvement to a program, you might respond "Feetch,   feetch!"  The meaning of this depends critically on vocal   inflection.  With enthusiasm, it means something like "Bo...
feetch feetch2 is  Grudgingly or with obvious doubt, it   means "I don't know; it sounds like just one more unnecessary and   complicated thing".  With a tone of resignation, it means, "Well,   I'd rather keep it simple, but I suppose it has to be do...
fence is  n. 1. A sequence of one or more distinguished   ({out-of-band}) characters (or other data items), used to   delimit a piece of data intended to be treated as a unit (the   computer-science literature calls this a `sentinel').  The NUL   (AS...
fence2 is  in C is a fence.   Hex FF is probably the most common fence character after NUL.  See   {zigamorph}.  2. [among users of optimizing compilers] Any   technique, usually exploiting knowledge about the compiler, that   blocks certain optimiza...
fence3 is  available or are overkill.  Typically a hack "I call a dummy   procedure there to force a flush of the optimizer's   register-coloring info" can be expressed by the shorter "That's a   fence procedure". 
fencepost error is  n. 1. A problem with the discrete equivalent of a   boundary condition.  Often exhibited in programs by iterative   loops.  From the following problem "If you build a fence 100 feet   long with posts 10 feet apart, how many posts ...
fencepost error2 is  answer than the obvious 10.  For   example, suppose you have a long list or array of items, and want   to process items m through n; how many items are there?  The   obvious answer is n - m, but that is off by one; the right   an...
fencepost error3 is  `obvious'   formula would have a fencepost error in it.  See also {zeroth}   and {off-by-one error}, and note that not all off-by-one errors   are fencepost errors.  The game of Musical Chairs involves a   catastrophic off-by-one...
fencepost error4 is  chairs, but it's not a fencepost error.  Fencepost   errors come from counting things rather than the spaces between   them, or vice versa, or by neglecting to consider whether one   should count one or both ends of a row.  2. Oc...
fencepost error5 is  regular spacing of inputs, which can (for   instance) screw up your hash table. 
fepped out is  /fept owt/ adj. The Symbolics 3600 Lisp Machine has a   Front-End Processor called a `FEP' (compare sense 2 of {box}).   When the main processor gets {wedged}, the FEP takes control of   the keyboard and screen.  Such a machine is said...
FidoNet is  n. A worldwide hobbyist network of personal computers   which exchange mail, discussion groups, and files.  Founded in 1984   and originally consisting only of IBM PCs and compatibles, FidoNet   now includes such diverse machines as Apple...
FidoNet2 is  Though it is much younger than {USENET},   FidoNet is already (in early 1991) a significant fraction of   USENET's size at some 8000 systems. 
field circus is  [a derogatory pun on `field service'] n. The field   service organization of any hardware manufacturer, but especially   DEC.  There is an entire genre of jokes about DEC field circus   engineers     Q How can you recognize a DEC fie...
field circus2 is   A He's changing each tire to see which one is flat.     Q How can you recognize a DEC field circus engineer        who is out of gas?     A He's changing each tire to see which one is flat.   There is also the `Field Circus Cheer' ...
field circus3 is  Maynard! Maynard!     Don't mess with us!     We're mean and we're tough!     If you get us confused     We'll screw up your stuff.   (DEC's service HQ is located in Maynard, Massachusetts.) 
field servoid is  [play on `android'] /fee'ld ser'voyd/ n.   Representative of a field service organization (see {field   circus}).  This has many of the implications of {droid}.
Fight-o-net is  [FidoNet] n. Deliberate distortion of {FidoNet},   often applied after a flurry of {flamage} in a particular   {echo}, especially the SYSOP echo or Fidonews (see {'Snooze}).
File Attach is  [FidoNet] 1. n. A file sent along with a mail message   from one BBS to another.  2. vt. Sending someone a file by using   the File Attach option in a BBS mailer.
File Request is  [FidoNet] 1. n. The {FidoNet} equivalent of   {FTP}, in which one BBS system automatically dials another and   {snarf}s one or more files.  Files are often announced as being   "available for {FReq}" in the same way that files are an...
File Request2 is  FTP" on the Internet.   2. vt. The act of getting a copy of a file by using the File   Request option of the BBS mailer. 
filk is  /filk/ [from SF fandom, where a typo for `folk' was   adopted as a new word] n.,v. A `filk' is a popular or folk song   with lyrics revised or completely new lyrics, intended for humorous   effect when read and/or to be sung late at night at...
filk2 is  subgenre of these called `computer filks',   written by hackers and often containing rather sophisticated   technical humor.  See {double bucky} for an example. 
film at 11 is  [MIT in parody of TV newscasters] Used in conversation   to announce ordinary events, with a sarcastic implication that   these events are earth-shattering.  "{{ITS}} crashes; film at 11."   "Bug found in scheduler; film at 11."
filter is  [orig. {{UNIX}}, now also in {{MS-DOS}}] n. A program that   processes an input data stream into an output data stream in some   well-defined way, and does no I/O to anywhere else except possibly   on error conditions; one designed to be u...
Finagle's Law is  n. The generalized or `folk' version of   {Murphy's Law}, fully named "Finagle's Law of Dynamic   Negatives" and usually rendered "Anything that can go wrong,   will".  One variant favored among hackers is "The perversity of   the U...
Finagle's Law2 is  {Hanlon's   Razor}).  The label `Finagle's Law' was popularized by SF author   Larry Niven in several stories depicting a frontier culture of   asteroid miners; this `Belter' culture professed a religion   and/or running joke invol...
Finagle's Law3 is  his mad prophet Murphy. 
fine is  [WPI] adj. Good, but not good enough to be {cuspy}.  The word   `fine' is used elsewhere, of course, but without the implicit   comparison to the higher level implied by {cuspy}.
finger is  [WAITS, via BSD UNIX] 1. n. A program that displays a   particular user or all users logged on the system or a remote   system.  Typically shows full name, last login time, idle time,   terminal line, and terminal location (where applicabl...
finger2 is  the user.  2. vt. To apply finger   to a username.  3. vt. By extension, to check a human's current   state by any means.  "Foodp?"  "T!"  "OK, finger Lisa and see   if she's idle."  4. Any picture (composed of ASCII characters)   depicti...
finger3 is  component of one's   plan file to deter the curious fingerer (sense 2), it has entered   the arsenal of some {flamer}s. 
finger-pointing syndrome is  n. All-too-frequent result of bugs, esp.   in new or experimental configurations.  The hardware vendor points   a finger at the software.  The software vendor points a finger   at the hardware.  All the poor users get is ...
firebottle is  n. A large, primitive, power-hungry active electrical   device, similar in function to a FET but constructed out of glass,   metal, and vacuum.  Characterized by high cost, low density, low   reliability, high-temperature operation, an...
firebottle2 is  mistakenly called a `tube' in the U.S.   or a `valve' in England; another hackish term is {glassfet}. 
firefighting is  n. 1. What sysadmins have to do to correct sudden   operational problems.  An opposite of hacking.  "Been hacking your   new newsreader?"  "No, a power glitch hosed the network and I spent   the whole afternoon fighting fires."  2. T...
firefighting2 is  nights at a project, esp. to get it out   before deadline.  See also {gang bang}, {Mongolian Hordes   technique}; however, the term `firefighting' connotes that the   effort is going into chasing bugs rather than adding features. 
firewall code is  n. The code you put in a system (say, a telephone   switch) to make sure that the users can't do any damage. Since   users always want to be able to do everything but never want to   suffer for any mistakes, the construction of a fi...
firewall code2 is  coding but also of interface   presentation, so that users don't even get curious about those   corners of a system where they can burn themselves. 
firewall machine is  n. A dedicated gateway machine with special   security precautions on it, used to service outside network   connections and dial-in lines.  The idea is to protect a cluster of   more loosely administered machines hidden behind it...
firewall machine2 is  an inexpensive micro-based   UNIX box kept clean of critical data, with a bunch of modems and   public network ports on it but just one carefully watched   connection back to the rest of the cluster.  The special   precautions m...
firewall machine3 is  even a   complete {iron box} keyable to particular incoming IDs or   activity patterns.  Syn. {flytrap}, {Venus flytrap}. 
fireworks mode is  n. The mode a machine is sometimes said to be in when   it is performing a {crash and burn} operation.
firmy is  /fer'mee/ Syn. {stiffy} (a 3.5-inch floppy disk).
fish is  [Adelaide University, Australia] n. 1. Another metasyntactic   variable.  See {foo}.  Derived originally from the Monty Python   skit in the middle of "The Meaning of Life" entitled "Find the   Fish".  2. A pun for `microfiche'.  A microfich...
FISH queue is  [acronym, by analogy with FIFO (First In, First Out)]   n. `First In, Still Here'.  A joking way of pointing out that   processing of a particular sequence of events or requests has   stopped dead.  Also `FISH mode' and `FISHnet'; the ...
FISH queue2 is  running really slowly or   exhibiting extreme flakiness. 
fix is  n.,v. What one does when a problem has been reported too many   times to be ignored.
flag is  n. A variable or quantity that can take on one of two   values; a bit, particularly one that is used to indicate one of two   outcomes or is used to control which of two things is to be done.   "This flag controls whether to clear the screen...
flag2 is  status word contains several flag   bits."  Used of humans analogously to {bit}.  See also   {hidden flag}, {mode bit}. 
flag day is  n. A software change that is neither forward- nor   backward-compatible, and which is costly to make and costly to   reverse.  "Can we install that without causing a flag day for all   users?"  This term has nothing to do with the use of...
flag day2 is  two values.  It came into use   when a massive change was made to the {{Multics}} timesharing   system to convert from the old ASCII code to the new one; this was   scheduled for Flag Day (a U.S. holiday), June 14, 1966.  See also   {ba...
flaky is  adj. (var sp. `flakey') Subject to frequent {lossage}.   This use is of course related to the common slang use of the word   to describe a person as eccentric, crazy, or just unreliable.  A   system that is flaky is working, sort of --- eno...
flaky2 is  --- but fails frequently enough that the   odds in favor of finishing what you start are low.  Commonwealth   hackish prefers {dodgy} or {wonky}. 
flamage is  /flay'm*j/ n. Flaming verbiage, esp. high-noise,   low-signal postings to {USENET} or other electronic {fora}.   Often in the phrase `the usual flamage'.  `Flaming' is the act   itself; `flamage' the content; a `flame' is a single flaming...
flame is  1. vi. To post an email message intended to insult and   provoke.  2. vi. To speak incessantly and/or rabidly on some   relatively uninteresting subject or with a patently ridiculous   attitude.  3. vt. Either of senses 1 or 2, directed wit...
flame2 is  people.  4. n. An instance of   flaming.  When a discussion degenerates into useless controversy,   one might tell the participants "Now you're just flaming" or   "Stop all that flamage!" to try to get them to cool down (so to   speak).   ...
flame3 is  to 1976, adds "I   am 99% certain that the use of `flame' originated at WPI.  Those   who made a nuisance of themselves insisting that they needed to use   a TTY for `real work' came to be known as `flaming asshole lusers'.   Other particu...
flame4 is  ravers',   which shortened to `flaming ravers', and ultimately `flamers'.  I   remember someone picking up on the Human Torch pun, but I don't   think `flame on/off' was ever much used at WPI."  See also   {asbestos}.   The term may have b...
flame5 is    places; it is also reported that `flaming' was in use to mean   something like `interminably drawn-out semi-serious discussions'   (late-night bull sessions) at Carleton College during 1968--1971. 
flame bait is  n. A posting intended to trigger a {flame war}, or one   that invites flames in reply.
flame on is  vi.,interj.  1. To begin to {flame}.  The punning   reference to Marvel Comics's Human Torch is no longer widely   recognized.  2. To continue to flame.  See {rave}, {burble}.
flame war is  n. (var. `flamewar') An acrimonious dispute,   especially when conducted on a public electronic forum such as   {USENET}.
flamer is  n. One who habitually {flame}s.  Said esp. of obnoxious   {USENET} personalities.
flap is  vt. 1. To unload a DECtape (so it goes flap, flap,   flap...).  Old-time hackers at MIT tell of the days when the   disk was device 0 and {microtape}s were 1, 2,... and   attempting to flap device 0 would instead start a motor banging   insi...
flap2 is  to unload any   magnetic tape.  See also {macrotape}.  Modern cartridge tapes no   longer actually flap, but the usage has remained. 
flarp is  /flarp/ [Rutgers University] n. Yet another metasyntactic   variable (see {foo}).  Among those who use it, it is associated   with a legend that any program not containing the word `flarp'   somewhere will not work.  The legend is discreetl...
flarp2 is  which *do* contain the magic word. 

factpacks/jargon-split.fact  view on Meta::CPAN

retcon2 is  continuity) while completely   changing their interpretation.  E.g., revealing that a whole season   of "Dallas" was a dream was a retcon.  2. vt. To write such a   story about a character or fictitious object.  "Byrne has   retconned Sup...
retcon3 is  unbreakable."   "Marvelman's old adventures were retconned into synthetic   dreams."  "Swamp Thing was retconned from a transformed person   into a sentient vegetable."   [This is included because it is a good example of hackish linguisti...
retcon4 is  to computers.  The word   `retcon' will probably spread through comics fandom and lose its   association with hackerdom within a couple of years; for the   record, it started here. --- ESR] 
RETI is  v. Syn. {RTI}
retrocomputing is  /ret'-roh-k*m-pyoo'ting/ n. Refers to emulations   of way-behind-the-state-of-the-art hardware or software, or   implementations of never-was-state-of-the-art; esp. if such   implementations are elaborate practical jokes and/or par...
retrocomputing2 is  the most widely distributed   retrocomputing utility was the `pnch(6)' or `bcd(6)'   program on V7 and other early UNIX versions, which would accept up   to 80 characters of text argument and display the corresponding   pattern in...
retrocomputing3 is  retrocomputing   hacks have included the programming language {INTERCAL}, a   {JCL}-emulating shell for UNIX, the card-punch-emulating editor   named 029, and various elaborate PDP-11 hardware emulators and RT-11   OS emulators wr...
RFC is  /R-F-C/ [Request For Comment] n. One of a long-established   series of numbered Internet standards widely followed by commercial   and PD software in the Internet and UNIX communities.  Perhaps the   single most influential one has been RFC-8...
RFC2 is  RFCs are unusual in that they are   floated by technical experts acting on their own initiative and   reviewed by the Internet at large, rather than formally promulgated   through an institution such as ANSI.  For this reason, they remain   ...
RFE is  /R-F-E/ n. 1. [techspeak] Request For Enhancement.  2. [from   `Radio Free Europe', Bellcore and Sun] Radio Free Ethernet, a system   (originated by Peter Langston) for broadcasting audio among Sun   SPARCstations over the ethernet.
rib site is  [by analogy with {backbone site}] n. A machine that   has an on-demand high-speed link to a {backbone site} and serves   as a regional distribution point for lots of third-party traffic in   email and USENET news.  Compare {leaf site}, {...
rice box is  [from ham radio slang] n. Any Asian-made commodity   computer, esp. an 80x86-based machine built to IBM PC-compatible   ISA or EISA-bus standards.
Right Thing is  n. That which is {compellingly} the correct or   appropriate thing to use, do, say, etc.  Often capitalized, always   emphasized in speech as though capitalized.  Use of this term often   implies that in fact reasonable people may dis...
Right Thing2 is  do when it sees `(mod a 0)'?  Should   it return `a', or give a divide-by-0 error?"  Oppose   {Wrong Thing}. 
RL is  // [MUD community] n. Real Life.  "Firiss laughs in RL"   means that Firiss's player is laughing.  Oppose {VR}.
roach is  [Bell Labs] vt. To destroy, esp. of a data structure.  Hardware   gets {toast}ed or {fried}, software gets roached.
robust is  adj. Said of a system that has demonstrated an ability to   recover gracefully from the whole range of exceptional inputs and   situations in a given environment.  One step below {bulletproof}.   Carries the additional connotation of elega...
robust2 is  detail.  Compare {smart}, oppose   {brittle}. 
rococo is  adj. {Baroque} in the extreme.  Used to imply that a   program has become so encrusted with the software equivalent of   gold leaf and curlicues that they have completely swamped the   underlying design.  Called after the later and more ex...
rococo2 is  decoration prevalent during the   mid-1700s in Europe.  Fred Brooks (the man who coined   {second-system effect}) said "Every program eventually becomes   rococo, and then rubble." 
rogue is  [UNIX] n. A Dungeons-and-Dragons-like game using character   graphics, written under BSD UNIX and subsequently ported to other   UNIX systems.  The original BSD `curses(3)' screen-handling   package was hacked together by Ken Arnold to supp...
rogue2 is  UNIX's most important   and heavily used application libraries.  Nethack, Omega, Larn, and   an entire subgenre of computer dungeon games all took off from the   inspiration provided by `rogue(6)'.  See {nethack}. 
room-temperature IQ is  [IBM] quant. 80 or below.  Used in describing the   expected intelligence range of the {luser}.  "Well, but   how's this interface going to play with the room-temperature IQ   crowd?"  See {drool-proof paper}.  This is a much ...
root is  [UNIX] n. 1. The {superuser} account that ignores   permission bits, user number 0 on a UNIX system.  This account   has the user name `root'.  The term {avatar} is also used.   2. The top node of the system directory structure (home directo...
root2 is  privileged   system-maintenance login on any OS.  See {root mode}, {go root}. 
root mode is  n. Syn. with {wizard mode} or `wheel mode'.  Like   these, it is often generalized to describe privileged states in   systems other than OSes.
rot13 is  /rot ther'teen/ [USENET from `rotate alphabet   13 places'] n., v. The simple Caesar-cypher encryption that replaces   each English letter with the one 13 places forward or back along   the alphabet, so that "The butler did it!" becomes "Gu...
rot132 is  and posting programs include a   rot13 feature.  It is used to enclose the text in a sealed wrapper   that the reader must choose to open --- e.g., for posting things   that might offend some readers, or answers to puzzles.  A major   adva...
rot133 is  it   is self-inverse, so the same code can be used for encoding and   decoding. 
rotary debugger is  [Commodore] n. Essential equipment for those   late-night or early-morning debugging sessions.  Mainly used as   sustenance for the hacker.  Comes in many decorator colors, such as   Sausage, Pepperoni, and Garbage.  See {pizza, A...
RSN is  // adj. See {Real Soon Now}.
RTFAQ is  /R-T-F-A-Q/ [USENET primarily written, by analogy with   {RTFM}] imp. Abbrev. for `Read the FAQ!', an exhortation that   the person addressed ought to read the newsgroup's {FAQ list}   before posting questions.
RTFM is  /R-T-F-M/ [UNIX] imp. Acronym for `Read The Fucking   Manual'.  1. Used by {guru}s to brush off questions they   consider trivial or annoying.  Compare {Don't do that, then!}   2. Used when reporting a problem to indicate that you aren't jus...
RTFM2 is  figure out how to   interface UNIX to my toaster, and yes, I have RTFM."  Unlike   sense 1, this use is considered polite.  See also   {RTFAQ}, {RTM}.  The variant RTFS, where S = `Standard',   has also been reported.  Compare {UTSL}. 
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...