Amethyst

 view release on metacpan or  search on metacpan

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

accumulator is  n. 1. Archaic term for a register.  On-line use of it   as a synonym for `register' is a fairly reliable indication that   the user has been around for quite a while and/or that the   architecture under discussion is quite old.  The t...
accumulator2 is  microprocessor registers, for example, though   symbolic names for arithmetic registers beginning in `A' derive   from historical use of the term `accumulator' (and not, actually,   from `arithmetic').  Confusingly, though, an `A' re...
accumulator3 is  `address', as for example on the   Motorola 680x0 family.  2. A register being used for arithmetic or   logic (as opposed to addressing or a loop index), especially one   being used to accumulate a sum or count of many items.  This u...
accumulator4 is  stretch of code.  "The   FOOBAZ routine uses A3 as an accumulator."  3. One's in-basket   (esp. among old-timers who might use sense 1).  "You want this   reviewed?  Sure, just put it in the accumulator."  (See {stack}.) 
ACK is  /ak/ interj. 1. [from the ASCII mnemonic for 0000110]   Acknowledge.  Used to register one's presence (compare mainstream   *Yo!*).  An appropriate response to {ping} or {ENQ}.   2. [from the comic strip "Bloom County"] An exclamation of   su...
ACK2 is  Semi-humorous.   Generally this sense is not spelled in caps (ACK) and is   distinguished by a following exclamation point.  3. Used to   politely interrupt someone to tell them you understand their point   (see {NAK}).  Thus, for example, y...
ACK3 is  with "Ack.  Ack.  Ack.  I get it now".   There is also a usage "ACK?" (from sense 1) meaning "Are you   there?", often used in email when earlier mail has produced no   reply, or during a lull in {talk mode} to see if the person has   gone a...
ACK4 is  course {NAK}   (sense 2), i.e., "I'm not here"). 
ad-hockery is  /ad-hok'*r-ee/ [Purdue] n. 1. Gratuitous assumptions   made inside certain programs, esp. expert systems, which lead to   the appearance of semi-intelligent behavior but are in fact   entirely arbitrary.  For example, fuzzy-matching in...
ad-hockery2 is  against a symbol table can make it look as   though a program knows how to spell.  2. Special-case code to cope   with some awkward input that would otherwise cause a program to   {choke}, presuming normal inputs are dealt with in som...
ad-hockery3 is  `ad-hackery', `ad-hocity'   (/ad-hos'*-tee/).  See also {ELIZA effect}. 
Ada is  n. A {{Pascal}}-descended language that has been made   mandatory for Department of Defense software projects by the   Pentagon.  Hackers are nearly unanimous in observing that,   technically, it is precisely what one might expect given that ...
Ada2 is  committee, crockish, difficult   to use, and overall a disastrous, multi-billion-dollar boondoggle   (one common description is "The PL/I of the 1980s").  Hackers   find Ada's exception-handling and inter-process communication   features par...
Ada3 is  daughter of   Lord Byron who became the world's first programmer while   cooperating with Charles Babbage on the design of his mechanical   computing engines in the mid-1800s) would almost certainly blanch   at the use to which her name has ...
Ada4 is  been said about it is that there is probably a good   small language screaming to get out from inside its vast,   {elephantine} bulk. 
adger is  /aj'r/ [UCLA] vt. To make a bonehead move with consequences   that could have been foreseen with a slight amount of mental   effort.  E.g., "He started removing files and promptly adgered the   whole project".  Compare {dumbass attack}.
admin is  /ad-min'/ n. Short for `administrator'; very commonly   used in speech or on-line to refer to the systems person in charge   on a computer.  Common constructions on this include `sysadmin'   and `site admin' (emphasizing the administrator's...
admin2 is  or `newsadmin' (focusing specifically   on news).  Compare {postmaster}, {sysop}, {system   mangler}. 
ADVENT is  /ad'vent/ n. The prototypical computer adventure game, first   implemented on the {PDP-10} by Will Crowther as an attempt at   computer-refereed fantasy gaming, and expanded into a   puzzle-oriented game by Don Woods.  Now better known as ...
ADVENT2 is  system permitted only 6-letter   filenames.  See also {vadding}.   This game defined the terse, dryly humorous style now expected in   text adventure games, and popularized several tag lines that have   become fixtures of hacker-speak  "A...
ADVENT3 is  see no X here" (for some noun X).  "You are in a   maze of twisty little passages, all alike."  "You are in a little   maze of twisty passages, all different."  The `magic words'   {xyzzy} and {plugh} also derive from this game.   Crowthe...
ADVENT4 is  of the   Mammoth & Flint Ridge cave system; it actually *has* a   `Colossal Cave' and a `Bedquilt' as in the game, and the `Y2' that   also turns up is cavers' jargon for a map reference to a secondary   entrance. 
AI-complete is  /A-I k*m-pleet'/ [MIT, Stanford by analogy with   `NP-complete' (see {NP-})] adj. Used to describe problems or   subproblems in AI, to indicate that the solution presupposes a   solution to the `strong AI problem' (that is, the synthe...
AI-complete2 is  problem that is AI-complete is, in   other words, just too hard.   Examples of AI-complete problems are `The Vision Problem'   (building a system that can see as well as a human) and `The   Natural Language Problem' (building a syste...
AI-complete3 is  language as well as a human).  These may appear   to be modular, but all attempts so far (1991) to solve them have   foundered on the amount of context information and `intelligence'   they seem to require. See also {gedanken}. 
AI koans is  /A-I koh'anz/ pl.n. A series of pastiches of Zen   teaching riddles created by Danny Hillis at the MIT AI Lab around   various major figures of the Lab's culture (several are included in   appendix A).  See also {ha ha only serious}, {mu...
AIDS is  /aydz/ n. Short for A* Infected Disk Syndrome (`A*' is a   {glob} pattern that matches, but is not limited to, Apple),   this condition is quite often the result of practicing unsafe   {SEX}.  See {virus}, {worm}, {Trojan horse},   {virgin}.
airplane rule is  n. "Complexity increases the possibility of   failure; a twin-engine airplane has twice as many engine problems   as a single-engine airplane."  By analogy, in both software and   electronics, the rule that simplicity increases robu...
airplane rule2 is  correspondingly argued that the   right way to build reliable systems is to put all your eggs in one   basket, after making sure that you've built a really *good*   basket. 
aliasing bug is  n. A class of subtle programming errors that can   arise in code that does dynamic allocation, esp. via   `malloc(3)' or equivalent.  If more than one pointer addresses   (`aliases for') a given hunk of storage, it may happen that th...
aliasing bug2 is  then referenced through   another, which may lead to subtle (and possibly intermittent) lossage   depending on the state and the allocation history of the malloc   {arena}.  Avoidable by use of allocation strategies that never   ali...
aliasing bug3 is  higher-level   languages, such as {LISP}, which employ a garbage collector   (see {GC}).  Also called a {stale pointer bug}.  See also   {precedence lossage}, {smash the stack}, {fandango on core},   {memory leak}, {overrun screw}, ...
aliasing bug4 is  nowadays associated with   C programming, it was already in use in a very similar sense in the   Algol-60 and FORTRAN communities in the 1960s. 
all-elbows is  adj. Of a TSR (terminate-and-stay-resident) IBM PC   program, such as the N pop-up calendar and calculator utilities   that circulate on {BBS} systems unsociable.  Used to describe a   program that rudely steals the resources that it n...
all-elbows2 is  also be resident.  One particularly   common form of rudeness is lock-up due to programs fighting over   the keyboard interrupt.  See also {mess-dos}. 
alpha particles is  n. See {bit rot}.
ALT is  /awlt/ 1. n. The ALT shift key on an IBM PC or {clone}.   2. [possibly lowercased] n. The `clover' or `Command' key on a   Macintosh; use of this term usually reveals that the speaker hacked   PCs before coming to the Mac (see also {command k...
ALT2 is  reserve `ALT' for the Option key.  3. n.obs.   [PDP-10] Alternate name for the ASCII ESC character (ASCII   0011011), after the keycap labeling on some older terminals.  Also   `ALTMODE' (/awlt'mohd/).  This character was almost never   pron...
ALT3 is  under   TOPS-10 --- always ALT, as in "Type ALT ALT to end a TECO   command" or "ALT U onto the system" (for "log onto the [ITS]   system").  This was probably because ALT is more convenient to say   than `escape', especially when followed b...
ALT4 is  *and* a character, for that matter). 
alt bit is  /awlt bit/ [from alternate] adj. See {meta bit}.
Aluminum Book is  [MIT] n. `Common LISP The Language', by   Guy L.  Steele Jr. (Digital Press, first edition 1984, second   edition 1990).  Note that due to a technical screwup some printings   of the second edition are actually of a color the author...
Aluminum Book2 is  also {{book titles}}. 
amoeba is  n. Humorous term for the Commodore Amiga personal computer.
amp off is  [Purdue] vt. To run in {background}.  From the UNIX shell `&'   operator.
amper is  n. Common abbreviation for the name of the ampersand (`&',   ASCII 0100110) character.  See {ASCII} for other synonyms.
angle brackets is  n. Either of the characters `<' (ASCII   0111100) and `>' (ASCII 0111110) (ASCII less-than or   greater-than signs).  The {Real World} angle brackets used by   typographers are actually taller than a less-than or greater-than   sig...
angry fruit salad is  n. A bad visual-interface design that uses too   many colors.  This derives, of course, from the bizarre day-glo   colors found in canned fruit salad.  Too often one sees similar   affects from interface designers using color wi...
angry fruit salad2 is  tendency to create displays that are flashy and   attention-getting but uncomfortable for long-term use. 
AOS is  1. /aws/ (East Coast), /ay-os/ (West Coast) [based on a   PDP-10 increment instruction] vt.,obs. To increase the amount of   something.  "AOS the campfire."  Usage considered silly, and now   obsolete.  Now largely supplanted by {bump}.  See ...
AOS2 is  supported at one time by Data General.  This   was pronounced /A-O-S/ or /A-os/.  A spoof of the standard   AOS system administrator's manual (`How to load and generate   your AOS system') was created, issued a part number, and circulated   ...
AOS3 is  goad and   levitate your chaos system'.  3. Algebraic Operating System, in   reference to those calculators which use infix instead of postfix   (reverse Polish) notation.   Historical note AOS in sense 1 was the name of a {PDP-10}   instruc...
AOS4 is  computer and added   1 to it; AOS meant `Add One and do not Skip'.  Why, you may ask,   does the `S' stand for `do not Skip' rather than for `Skip'?  Ah,   here was a beloved piece of PDP-10 folklore.  There were eight such   instructions AO...
AOS5 is  instruction   if the result was Equal to zero; AOSG added 1 and then skipped if   the result was Greater than 0; AOSN added 1 and then skipped   if the result was Not 0; AOSA added 1 and then skipped Always;   and so on.  Just plain AOS didn...
AOS6 is  For similar reasons, AOJ meant `Add One and do not Jump'.  Even   more bizarre, SKIP meant `do not SKIP'!  If you wanted to skip the   next instruction, you had to say `SKIPA'.  Likewise, JUMP meant   `do not JUMP'; the unconditional form wa...
AOS7 is  By some quirk of the 10's design, the {JRST}   (Jump and ReSTore flag with no flag specified) was actually faster   and so was invariably used.  Such were the perverse mysteries of   assembler programming. 
app is  /ap/ n. Short for `application program', as opposed to a   systems program.  What systems vendors are forever chasing   developers to create for their environments so they can sell more   boxes.  Hackers tend not to think of the things they t...
app2 is  parlance the term excludes compilers,   program editors, games, and messaging systems, though a user would   consider all those to be apps.  Oppose {tool}, {operating   system}. 
arc is  [primarily MSDOS] vt. To create a compressed {archive} from a   group of files using SEA ARC, PKWare PKARC, or a compatible   program.  Rapidly becoming obsolete as the ARC compression method   is falling into disuse, having been replaced by ...
arc2 is  feather}, {zip}. 
arc wars is  [primarily MSDOS] n. {holy wars} over which archiving   program one should use.  The first arc war was sparked when System   Enhancement Associates (SEA) sued PKWare for copyright and   trademark infringement on its ARC program.  PKWare'...
arc wars2 is  and speed while largely   retaining compatibility (it introduced a new compression type that   could be disabled for backward-compatibility).  PKWare settled out   of court to avoid enormous legal costs (both SEA and PKWare are   small ...
arc wars3 is  of PKARC was   changed to PKPAK.  The public backlash against SEA for bringing   suit helped to hasten the demise of ARC as a standard when PKWare   and others introduced new, incompatible archivers with better   compression algorithms....
archive is  n. 1. A collection of several files bundled into one file   by a program such as `ar(1)', `tar(1)', `cpio(1)',   or {arc} for shipment or archiving (sense 2).  See also {tar   and feather}.  2. A collection of files or archives (sense 1) ...
archive2 is  {FTP} or an email server. 
arena is  [UNIX] n. The area of memory attached to a process by   `brk(2)' and `sbrk(2)' and used by `malloc(3)' as   dynamic storage.  So named from a semi-mythical `malloc   corrupt arena' message supposedly emitted when some early versions   becam...
arena2 is  {aliasing   bug}, {memory leak}, {smash the stack}. 
arg is  /arg/ n. Abbreviation for `argument' (to a function),   used so often as to have become a new word (like `piano' from   `pianoforte').  "The sine function takes 1 arg, but the   arc-tangent function can take either 1 or 2 args."  Compare   {p...
armor-plated is  n. Syn. for {bulletproof}.
asbestos is  adj. Used as a modifier to anything intended to protect   one from {flame}s.  Important cases of this include {asbestos   longjohns} and {asbestos cork award}, but it is used more   generally.
asbestos cork award is  n. Once, long ago at MIT, there was a {flamer}   so consistently obnoxious that another hacker designed, had made,   and distributed posters announcing that said flamer had been   nominated for the `asbestos cork award'.  Pers...
asbestos cork award2 is  application of the cork should consult the   etymology under {flame}.  Since then, it is agreed that only a   select few have risen to the heights of bombast required to earn   this dubious dignity --- but there is no agreeme...
asbestos longjohns is  n. Notional garments often donned by {USENET}   posters just before emitting a remark they expect will elicit   {flamage}.  This is the most common of the {asbestos} coinages.   Also `asbestos underwear', `asbestos overcoat', e...
attoparsec is  n. `atto-' is the standard SI prefix for   multiplication by 10^{-18}.  A parsec (parallax-second) is   3.26 light-years; an attoparsec is thus 3.26 * 10^{-18} light   years, or about 3.1 cm (thus, 1 attoparsec/{microfortnight}   equal...
attoparsec2 is  be in use   (though probably not very seriously) among hackers in the U.K.  See   {micro-}. 
autobogotiphobia is  /aw'to-boh-got`*-foh'bee-*/ n. See {bogotify}.
automagically is  /aw-toh-maj'i-klee/ or /aw-toh-maj'i-k*l-ee/ adv.   Automatically, but in a way that, for some reason (typically   because it is too complicated, or too ugly, or perhaps even too   trivial), the speaker doesn't feel like explaining ...
automagically2 is  compiler generates C, then automagically   invokes `cc(1)' to produce an executable." 
avatar is  [CMU, Tektronix] n. Syn. {root}, {superuser}.  There   are quite a few UNIX machines on which the name of the superuser   account is `avatar' rather than `root'.  This quirk was   originated by a CMU hacker who disliked the term `superuser...
avatar2 is  hacker at Tektronix. 
awk is  1. n. [UNIX techspeak] An interpreted language for massaging   text data developed by Alfred Aho, Peter Weinberger, and Brian   Kernighan (the name is from their initials).  It is characterized   by C-like syntax, a declaration-free approach ...
awk2 is  associative arrays, and field-oriented text   processing.  See also {Perl}.  2. n.  Editing term for an   expression awkward to manipulate through normal {regexp}   facilities (for example, one containing a {newline}).  3. vt. To   process d...
awk3 is  security of a system deliberately left   in place by designers or maintainers.  The motivation for this is   not always sinister; some operating systems, for example, come out   of the box with privileged accounts intended for use by field  ...
awk4 is  maintenance programmers.   Historically, back doors have often lurked in systems longer than   anyone expected or planned, and a few have become widely known.   The infamous {RTM} worm of late 1988, for example, used a back door   in the {BS...
awk5 is  1983 Turing Award lecture to the ACM revealed the   existence of a back door in early UNIX versions that may have   qualified as the most fiendishly clever security hack of all time.   The C compiler contained code that would recognize when ...
awk6 is  insert some code   recognizing a password chosen by Thompson, giving him entry to the   system whether or not an account had been created for him.   Normally such a back door could be removed by removing it from the   source code for the com...
awk7 is  recompile the compiler, you have to *use* the compiler --- so   Thompson also arranged that the compiler would *recognize when   it was compiling a version of itself*, and insert into the   recompiled compiler the code to insert into the rec...
awk8 is  entry --- and, of course, the code to   recognize itself and do the whole thing again the next time around!   And having done this once, he was then able to recompile the   compiler from the original sources, leaving his back door in place  ...
awk9 is  The talk that revealed this truly moby hack was published as   "Reflections on Trusting Trust", `Communications of the   ACM 27', 8 (August 1984), pp. 761--763.   Syn. {trap door}; may also be called a `wormhole'.  See also   {iron box}, {cr...
backbone cabal is  n. A group of large-site administrators who pushed   through the {Great Renaming} and reined in the chaos of {USENET}   during most of the 1980s.  The cabal {mailing list} disbanded in   late 1988 after a bitter internal catfight, ...
backbone site is  n. A key USENET and email site; one that processes   a large amount of third-party traffic, especially if it is the home   site of any of the regional coordinators for the USENET maps.   Notable backbone sites as of early 1991 inclu...
backbone site2 is  University, UC Berkeley, DEC's Western   Research Laboratories, Ohio State University, and the University of   Texas.  Compare {rib site}, {leaf site}. 
backgammon is See {bignum}, {moby}, and {pseudoprime}.
background is  n.,adj.,vt.  To do a task `in background' is to do   it whenever {foreground} matters are not claiming your undivided   attention, and `to background' something means to relegate it to   a lower priority.  "For now, we'll just print a ...
background2 is  graph-printing problem in background."   Note that this implies ongoing activity but at a reduced level or   in spare time, in contrast to mainstream `back burner' (which   connotes benign neglect until some future resumption of activ...
background3 is  processing that they have   queued up for their unconscious minds (a tack that one can often   fruitfully take upon encountering an obstacle in creative work).   Compare {amp off}, {slopsucker}.   Technically, a task running in backgr...
background4 is  was started (and often running at a lower   priority); oppose {foreground}.  Nowadays this term is primarily   associated with {{UNIX}}, but it appears to have been first used   in this sense on OS/360. 
backspace and overstrike is  interj. Whoa!  Back up.  Used to suggest   that someone just said or did something wrong.  Common among   APL programmers.
backward combatability is  /bak'w*rd k*m-bat'*-bil'*-tee/ [from   `backward compatibility'] n. A property of hardware or software   revisions in which previous protocols, formats, and layouts are   discarded in favor of `new and improved' protocols, ...
backward combatability2 is  making the transition between major   releases.  When the change is so drastic that the old formats are   not retained in the new version, it is said to be `backward   combatable'.  See {flag day}. 
BAD is  /B-A-D/ [IBM acronym, `Broken As Designed'] adj.  Said   of a program that is {bogus} because of bad design and misfeatures   rather than because of bugginess.  See {working as designed}.
Bad Thing is  [from the 1930 Sellar & Yeatman parody `1066 And   All That'] n. Something that can't possibly result in improvement   of the subject.  This term is always capitalized, as in "Replacing   all of the 9600-baud modems with bicycle courier...
Bad Thing2 is  Thing}.  British correspondents confirm   that {Bad Thing} and {Good Thing} (and prob. therefore {Right   Thing} and {Wrong Thing}) come from the book referenced in the   etymology, which discusses rulers who were Good Kings but Bad   ...
Bad Thing3 is  mainstream idiom on the   British side of the pond. 
bag on the side is  n. An extension to an established hack that is   supposed to add some functionality to the original.  Usually   derogatory, implying that the original was being overextended and   should have been thrown away, and the new product ...
bag on the side2 is  phrase, `to hang a bag on the side   [of]'.  "C++?  That's just a bag on the side of C ...." "They   want me to hang a bag on the side of the accounting system." 
bagbiter is  /bag'bit-*r/ n. 1. Something, such as a program or a   computer, that fails to work, or works in a remarkably clumsy   manner.  "This text editor won't let me make a file with a line   longer than 80 characters!  What a bagbiter!"  2. A ...
bagbiter2 is  inadvertently or otherwise, typically by   failing to program the computer properly.  Synonyms {loser},   {cretin}, {chomper}.  3. adj. `bagbiting' Having the   quality of a bagbiter.  "This bagbiting system won't let me   compute the f...
bagbiter3 is  {losing},   {cretinous}, {bletcherous}, `barfucious' (under   {barfulous}) and `chomping' (under {chomp}).  4. `bite   the bag' vi. To fail in some manner.  "The computer keeps crashing   every 5 minutes."  "Yes, the disk controller is ...
bagbiter4 is  of these terms was almost undoubtedly   obscene, possibly referring to the scrotum, but in their current   usage they have become almost completely sanitized.   A program called Lexiphage on the old MIT AI PDP-10 would draw on   a selec...
bagbiter5 is  BAG" in   ornate letters, and then a pair of jaws biting pieces of it off.   This is the first and to date only known example of a program   *intended* to be a bagbiter. 
bamf is  /bamf/ 1. [from old X-Men comics] interj. Notional sound made   by a person or object teleporting in or out of the hearer's   vicinity.  Often used in {virtual reality} (esp. {MUD})   electronic {fora} when a character wishes to make a drama...
bamf2 is  magical transformation, used in virtual   reality {fora} like sense 1.  3. [from `Don Washington's   Survival Guide'] n. Acronym for `Bad-Ass Mother Fucker', used to   refer to one of the handful of nastiest monsters on an LPMUD or   other ...
banana label is  n. The labels often used on the sides of {macrotape}   reels, so called because they are shaped roughly like blunt-ended   bananas.  This term, like macrotapes themselves, is still current   but visibly headed for obsolescence.
banana problem is  n. [from the story of the little girl who said "I   know how to spell `banana', but I don't know when to stop"].  Not   knowing where or when to bring a production to a close (compare   {fencepost error}).  One may say `there is a ...
banana problem2 is  defined or incorrect termination conditions,   or in discussing the evolution of a design that may be succumbing   to featuritis (see also {creeping elegance}, {creeping   featuritis}).  See item 176 under {HAKMEM}, which describe...
banana problem3 is  implementation.bandwidth n. 1. Used by hackers in a generalization of its   technical meaning as the volume of information per unit time that a   computer, person, or transmission medium can handle.  "Those are   amazing graphics,...
banana problem4 is    bandwidth, I guess."  Compare {low-bandwidth}.  2. Attention   span.  3. On {USENET}, a measure of network capacity that is   often wasted by people complaining about how items posted by others   are a waste of bandwidth. 
bang is  1. n. Common spoken name for `!' (ASCII 0100001),   especially when used in pronouncing a {bang path} in spoken   hackish.  In {elder days} this was considered a CMUish usage,   with MIT and Stanford hackers preferring {excl} or {shriek};   ...
bang2 is  it (esp. via the   term {bang path}) and it is now certainly the most common spoken   name for `!'.  Note that it is used exclusively for   non-emphatic written `!'; one would not say "Congratulations   bang" (except possibly for humorous p...
bang3 is  exact characters `foo!' one would speak "Eff oh oh   bang".  See {shriek}, {{ASCII}}.  2. interj. An exclamation   signifying roughly "I have achieved enlightenment!", or "The   dynamite has cleared out my brain!"  Often used to acknowledge...
bang4 is  immediately after one has   been called on it. 
bang on is  vt. To stress-test a piece of hardware or software "I   banged on the new version of the simulator all day yesterday and it   didn't crash once.  I guess it is ready to release."  The term   {pound on} is synonymous.
bang path is  n. An old-style UUCP electronic-mail address specifying   hops to get from some assumed-reachable location to the addressee,   so called because each {hop} is signified by a {bang} sign.   Thus, for example, the path ...!bigsite!foovax!...
bang path2 is  to machine bigsite (presumably   a well-known location accessible to everybody) and from there   through the machine foovax to the account of user me on   barbox.   In the bad old days of not so long ago, before autorouting mailers   b...
bang path3 is  compound bang addresses   using the { } convention (see {glob}) to give paths from   *several* big machines, in the hopes that one's correspondent   might be able to get mail to one of them reliably (example   ...!{seismo, ut-sally, ih...
bang path4 is  10 hops were not uncommon in 1981.  Late-night dial-up   UUCP links would cause week-long transmission times.  Bang paths   were often selected by both transmission time and reliability, as   messages would often get lost.  See {{Inter...
banner is  n. 1. The title page added to printouts by most print   spoolers (see {spool}).  Typically includes user or account ID   information in very large character-graphics capitals.  Also called   a `burst page', because it indicates where to bu...
banner2 is  one user's printout from the next.  2. A   similar printout generated (typically on multiple pages of fan-fold   paper) from user-specified text, e.g., by a program such as UNIX's   `banner({1,6})'.  3. On interactive software, a first sc...
banner3 is  and/or a copyright notice. 
bar is  /bar/ n. 1. The second metasyntactic variable, after {foo}   and before {baz}.  "Suppose we have two functions FOO and BAR.   FOO calls BAR...."  2. Often appended to {foo} to produce   {foobar}.
bare metal is  n. 1. New computer hardware, unadorned with such   snares and delusions as an {operating system}, an {HLL}, or   even assembler.  Commonly used in the phrase `programming on the   bare metal', which refers to the arduous work of {bit b...
bare metal2 is  for a new machine.  Real   bare-metal programming involves things like building boot proms and   BIOS chips, implementing basic monitors used to test device   drivers, and writing the assemblers that will be used to write the   compil...
bare metal3 is  real   development environment.  2. `Programming on the bare metal' is   also used to describe a style of {hand-hacking} that relies on   bit-level peculiarities of a particular hardware design, esp.   tricks for speed and space optim...
bare metal4 is  overlapping instructions (or, as in the famous case described in   appendix A, interleaving of opcodes on a magnetic drum to minimize   fetch delays due to the device's rotational latency).  This sort of   thing has become less common...
bare metal5 is  and machine resources have changed, but is still found in   heavily constrained environments such as industrial embedded systems.   See {real programmer}.   In the world of personal computing, bare metal programming (especially   in s...
bare metal6 is  considered a   {Good Thing}, or at least a necessary thing (because these   machines have often been sufficiently slow and poorly designed   to make it necessary; see {ill-behaved}).  There, the term   usually refers to bypassing the ...
bare metal7 is  application to directly access device registers and machine   addresses.  "To get 19.2 kilobaud on the serial port, you need to   get down to the bare metal."  People who can do this sort of thing   are held in high regard. 
barf is  /barf/ [from mainstream slang meaning `vomit']   1. interj.  Term of disgust.  This is the closest hackish   equivalent of the Val\-speak "gag me with a spoon". (Like, euwww!)   See {bletch}.  2. vi. To say "Barf!" or emit some similar   exp...
barf2 is  hack and he   barfed" means only that he complained about it, not that he   literally vomited.  3. vi. To fail to work because of unacceptable   input.  May mean to give an error message.  Examples "The   division operation barfs if you try...
barf3 is  operation checks for an attempt to divide by zero, and   if one is encountered it causes the operation to fail in some   unspecified, but generally obvious, manner.) "The text editor   barfs if you try to read in a new file before writing o...
barf4 is  Commonwealth hackish,   `barf' is generally replaced by `puke' or `vom'.  {barf}   is sometimes also used as a metasyntactic variable, like {foo} or   {bar}. 
barfulation is  /bar`fyoo-lay'sh*n/ interj. Variation of {barf}   used around the Stanford area.  An exclamation, expressing disgust.   On seeing some particularly bad code one might exclaim,   "Barfulation!  Who wrote this, Quux?"
barfulous is  /bar'fyoo-l*s/ adj. (alt. `barfucious',   /bar-fyoo-sh*s/) Said of something that would make anyone barf,   if only for esthetic reasons.
baroque is  adj. Feature-encrusted; complex; gaudy; verging on   excessive.  Said of hardware or (esp.) software designs, this has   many of the connotations of {elephantine} or {monstrosity} but is   less extreme and not pejorative in itself.  "Meta...
baroque2 is  variations to its letterform output.   Now *that* is baroque!"  See also {rococo}. 
BartleMUD is  /bar'tl-muhd/ n. Any of the MUDs derived from the   original MUD game by Richard Bartle (see {MUD}).  BartleMUDs are   noted for their (usually slightly offbeat) humor, dry but friendly   syntax, and lack of adjectives in object descrip...
BartleMUD2 is  `brand172', for instance (see {brand   brand brand}).  Some MUDders intensely dislike Bartle and this   term, and prefer to speak of `MUD-1'. 
BASIC is  n. A programming language, originally designed for   Dartmouth's experimental timesharing system in the   early 1960s, which has since become the leading cause of   brain-damage in proto-hackers.  This is another case (like   {Pascal}) of t...
BASIC2 is  deliberately designed as an educational toy gets taken too   seriously.  A novice can write short BASIC programs (on the order of   10--20 lines) very easily; writing anything longer is (a) very   painful, and (b) encourages bad habits tha...
BASIC3 is  hack in a real language.  This wouldn't be so   bad if historical accidents hadn't made BASIC so common on low-end   micros.  As it is, it ruins thousands of potential wizards a year. 
batch is  adj. 1. Non-interactive.  Hackers use this somewhat more   loosely than the traditional technical definitions justify; in   particular, switches on a normally interactive program that prepare   it to receive non-interactive command input ar...
batch2 is  switches.  A `batch file' is a series of   instructions written to be handed to an interactive program running   in batch mode.  2. Performance of dreary tasks all at one sitting.   "I finally sat down in batch mode and wrote out checks fo...
batch3 is  electricity back on next   week..." 3. Accumulation of a number of small tasks that can be   lumped together for greater efficiency.  "I'm batching up those   letters to send sometime" "I'm batching up bottles to take to the   recycling ce...
bathtub curve is  n. Common term for the curve (resembling an   end-to-end section of one of those claw-footed antique bathtubs)   that describes the expected failure rate of electronics with time   initially high, dropping to near 0 for most of the ...
bathtub curve2 is  `tires out'.  See also {burn-in   period}, {infant mortality}. 
baud is  /bawd/ [simplified from its technical meaning] n. Bits per   second.  Hence kilobaud or Kbaud, thousands of bits per second.   The technical meaning is `level transitions per second'; this   coincides with bps only for two-level modulation w...
baud2 is  are aware of these nuances but blithely   ignore them. 
baud barf is  /bawd barf/ n. The garbage one gets on the monitor   when using a modem connection with some protocol setting (esp.   line speed) incorrect, or when someone picks up a voice extension   on the same line, or when really bad line noise di...
baud barf2 is  completely {random}, by the way;   hackers with a lot of serial-line experience can usually tell   whether the device at the other end is expecting a higher or lower   speed than the terminal is set to.  *Really* experienced ones   can...
baz is  /baz/ [Stanford corruption of {bar}] n. 1. The third   metasyntactic variable, after {foo} and {bar} and before   {quux} (or, occasionally, `qux'; or local idiosyncracies like   `rag', `zowie', etc.).  "Suppose we have three functions FOO,BAR...
baz2 is  BAZ...."   2. interj. A term of mild annoyance.  In this usage the term is   often drawn out for 2 or 3 seconds, producing an effect not unlike   the bleating of a sheep; /baaaaaaz/.  3. Occasionally appended to   {foo} to produce `foobaz'. 
bboard is  /bee'bord/ [contraction of `bulletin board'] n.   1. Any electronic bulletin board; esp. used of {BBS} systems   running on personal micros, less frequently of a USENET   {newsgroup} (in fact, use of the term for a newsgroup generally   ma...
bboard2 is  BBS world or as   a real old-timer predating USENET).  2. At CMU and other colleges   with similar facilities, refers to campus-wide electronic bulletin   boards.  3. The term `physical bboard' is sometimes used to   refer to a old-fashio...
bboard3 is  it refers to a particular one outside the CS Lounge.   In either of senses 1 or 2, the term is usually prefixed by the   name of the intended board (`the Moonlight Casino bboard' or   `market bboard'); however, if the context is clear, th...
bboard4 is  name alone, as in (at CMU) "Don't   post for-sale ads on general". 
BBS is  /B-B-S/ [acronym, `Bulletin Board System'] n. An electronic   bulletin board system; that is, a message database where people can   log in and leave broadcast messages for others grouped (typically)   into {topic group}s.  Thousands of local ...
BBS2 is  U.S., typically run by amateurs for fun   out of their homes on MS-DOS boxes with a single modem line each.   Fans of USENET and Internet or the big commercial timesharing   bboards such as CompuServe and GEnie tend to consider local BBSes  ...
BBS3 is  but they serve a   valuable function by knitting together lots of hackers and users in   the personal-micro world who would otherwise be unable to exchange   code at all. 
beam is  [from Star Trek Classic's "Beam me up, Scotty!"] vt. To   transfer {softcopy} of a file electronically; most often in   combining forms such as `beam me a copy' or `beam that over to   his site'.  Compare {blast}, {snarf}, {BLT}.
beanie key is  [Mac users] n. See {command key}.
beep is  n.,v. Syn. {feep}.  This term seems to be preferred among micro   hobbyists.
beige toaster is  n. A Macintosh. See {toaster}; compare   {Macintrash}, {maggotbox}.
bells and whistles is  [by analogy with the toyboxes on theater   organs] n. Features added to a program or system to make it more   {flavorful} from a hacker's point of view, without necessarily   adding to its utility for its primary function.  Dis...
bells and whistles2 is  to attract users.  "Now that we've   got the basic program working, let's go back and add some bells and   whistles."  No one seems to know what distinguishes a bell from a   whistle. 
bells, whistles, and gongs is  n. A standard elaborated form of   {bells and whistles}; typically said with a pronounced and ironic   accent on the `gongs'.
benchmark is  [techspeak] n. An inaccurate measure of computer   performance.  "In the computer industry, there are three kinds of   lies lies, damn lies, and benchmarks."  Well-known ones include   Whetstone, Dhrystone, Rhealstone (see {h}), the Gab...
benchmark2 is  SPECmark suite, and LINPACK.  See   also {machoflops}, {MIPS}. 
Berkeley Quality Software is  adj. (often abbreviated `BQS') Term used   in a pejorative sense to refer to software that was apparently   created by rather spaced-out hackers late at night to solve some   unique problem.  It usually has nonexistent, ...
Berkeley Quality Software2 is  been tested on at least two examples,   and core dumps when anyone else attempts to use it.  This term was   frequently applied to early versions of the `dbx(1)' debugger.   See also {Berzerkeley}. 
berklix is  /berk'liks/ n.,adj. [contraction of `Berkeley UNIX'] See   {BSD}.  Not used at Berkeley itself.  May be more common among   {suit}s attempting to sound like cognoscenti than among hackers,   who usually just say `BSD'.
berserking is  vi. A {MUD} term meaning to gain points *only*   by killing other players and mobiles (non-player characters).   Hence, a Berserker-Wizard is a player character that has achieved   enough points to become a wizard, but only by killing ...
berserking2 is  frowned upon because of its   inherently antisocial nature, but some MUDs have a `berserker   mode' in which a player becomes *permanently* berserk, can   never flee from a fight, cannot use magic, gets no score for   treasure, but do...
berserking3 is  wizards can seriously damage your elf!" 
Berzerkeley is  /b*r-zer'klee/ [from `berserk', via the name of a   now-deceased record label] n. Humorous distortion of `Berkeley'   used esp. to refer to the practices or products of the   {BSD} UNIX hackers.  See {software bloat}, {Missed'em-five}...
Berzerkeley2 is  use of this term in reference to the cultural and   political peculiarities of UC Berkeley as a whole has been reported   from as far back as the 1960s. 

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

English2 is  readable as English.  Usage used mostly by   old-time hackers, though recognizable in context.  2. The official   name of the database language used by the Pick Operating System,   actually a sort of crufty interpreted BASIC with delusio...
English3 is  {marketroid}s to say "Yes, and you   can program our computers in English!" to ignorant {suit}s   without quite running afoul of the truth-in-advertising laws. 
enhancement is  n. {Marketroid}-speak for a bug {fix}.  This abuse   of language is a popular and time-tested way to turn incompetence   into increased revenue.  A hacker being ironic would instead call   the fix a {feature} --- or perhaps save some ...
ENQ is  /enkw/ or /enk/ [from the ASCII mnemonic ENQuire for   0000101] An on-line convention for querying someone's availability.   After opening a {talk mode} connection to someone apparently in   heavy hack mode, one might type `SYN SYN ENQ?' (the...
ENQ2 is  bytes), and expect a return   of {ACK} or {NAK} depending on whether or not the person felt   interruptible.  Compare {ping}, {finger}, and the usage of   `FOO?' listed under {talk mode}. 
EOF is  /E-O-F/ [acronym, `End Of File'] n. 1. [techspeak] Refers   esp. to whatever {out-of-band} value is returned by   C's sequential character-input functions (and their equivalents in   other environments) when end of file has been reached.  Thi...
EOF2 is  V6 UNIX, but was   originally 0.  2. Used by extension in non-computer contexts when a   human is doing something that can be modeled as a sequential read   and can't go further.  "Yeah, I looked for a list of 360 mnemonics   to post as a jo...
EOF3 is  had   was a {JCL} manual."  See also {EOL}. 
EOL is  /E-O-L/ [End Of Line] n. Syn. for {newline}, derived   perhaps from the original CDC6600 Pascal.  Now rare, but widely   recognized and occasionally used for brevity.  Used in the   example entry under {BNF}.  See also {EOF}.
EOU is  /E-O-U/ n. The mnemonic of a mythical ASCII control   character (End Of User) that could make an ASR-33 Teletype explode   on receipt.  This parodied the numerous obscure delimiter and   control characters left in ASCII from the days when it ...
EOU2 is  teletypes than computers (e.g.,   FS, GS, RS, US, EM, SUB, ETX, and esp. EOT).  It is worth   remembering that ASR-33s were big, noisy mechanical beasts with a   lot of clattering parts; the notion that one might explode was   nowhere near a...
EOU3 is  sitting in   front of a {tube} or flatscreen today. 
epoch is  [UNIX prob. from astronomical timekeeping] n. The time and   date corresponding to 0 in an operating system's clock and   timestamp values.  Under most UNIX versions the epoch is 000000   GMT, January 1, 1970.  System time is measured in se...
epoch2 is  problems may ensue when the clock   wraps around (see {wrap around}), which is not necessarily a   rare event; on systems counting 10 ticks per second, a signed   32-bit count of ticks is good only for 6.8 years.  The   1-tick-per-second c...
epoch3 is  2038, assuming word lengths don't increase by then.  See also   {wall time}. 
epsilon is  [see {delta}] 1. n. A small quantity of anything.  "The   cost is epsilon."  2. adj. Very small, negligible; less than   {marginal}.  "We can get this feature for epsilon cost."   3. `within epsilon of' close enough to be indistinguishabl...
epsilon2 is  closer than being `within   delta of'.  "That's not what I asked for, but it's within   epsilon of what I wanted."  Alternatively, it may mean not close   enough, but very little is required to get it there "My program   is within epsilo...
epsilon squared is  n. A quantity even smaller than {epsilon}, as   small in comparison to epsilon as epsilon is to something normal;   completely negligible.  If you buy a supercomputer for a million   dollars, the cost of the thousand-dollar termin...
epsilon squared2 is  of the ten-dollar cable to connect them   is epsilon squared.  Compare {lost in the underflow}, {lost   in the noise}. 
the era is  Syn. {epoch}.  Webster's Unabridged makes these words   almost synonymous, but `era' usually connotes a span of time rather   than a point in time.  The {epoch} usage is recommended.
Eric Conspiracy is  n. A shadowy group of mustachioed hackers named   Eric first pinpointed as a sinister conspiracy by an infamous   talk.bizarre posting ca. 1986; this was doubtless influenced by the   numerous `Eric' jokes in the Monty Python oeuv...
Eric Conspiracy2 is  more mustachioed Erics in hackerdom than   the frequency of these three traits can account for unless they are   correlated in some arcane way.  Well-known examples include Eric   Allman (he of the `Allman style' described under ...
Eric Conspiracy3 is  NNTP); your editor has heard from about   fourteen others by email, and the organization line `Eric   Conspiracy Secret Laboratories' now emanates regularly from more   than one site. 
Eris is  /e'ris/ n. The Greek goddess of Chaos, Discord, Confusion,   and Things You Know Not Of; her name was latinized to Discordia and   she was worshiped by that name in Rome.  Not a very friendly deity   in the Classical original, she was reinve...
Eris2 is  creative anarchy starting in 1959 by the   adherents of {Discordianism} and has since been a semi-serious   subject of veneration in several `fringe' cultures, including   hackerdom.  See {Discordianism}, {Church of the SubGenius}. 
erotics is  /ee-ro'tiks/ n. [Helsinki University of Technology,   Finland] n. English-language university slang for electronics.   Often used by hackers in Helsinki, maybe because good electronics   excites them and makes them warm.
essentials is  n. Things necessary to maintain a productive and secure   hacking environment.  "A jug of wine, a loaf of bread, a   20-megahertz 80386 box with 8 meg of core and a 300-megabyte disk   supporting full UNIX with source and X windows and...
essentials2 is  Internet site, and thou." 
evil is  adj. As used by hackers, implies that some system, program,   person, or institution is sufficiently maldesigned as to be not   worth the bother of dealing with.  Unlike the adjectives in the   {cretinous}/{losing}/{brain-damaged} series, `e...
evil2 is  design, but rather a set of goals or   design criteria fatally incompatible with the speaker's.  This is   more an esthetic and engineering judgment than a moral one in the   mainstream sense.  "We thought about adding a {Blue Glue}   inter...
evil3 is   "{TECO}   is neat, but it can be pretty evil if you're prone to typos."   Often pronounced with the first syllable lengthened, as /eeee'vil/. 
exa- is  /ek's*/ [SI] pref. See {{quantifiers}}.
examining the entrails is  n. The process of {grovel}ling through a   core dump or hex image in the attempt to discover the bug that   brought a program or system down.  Compare {runes},   {incantation}, {black art}, {desk check}.
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}. 

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

garbage collect is  vi. (also `garbage collection', n.) See {GC}.
garply is  /gar'plee/ [Stanford] n. Another meta-syntactic variable (see   {foo}); once popular among SAIL hackers.
gas is  [as in `gas chamber'] 1. interj. A term of disgust and   hatred, implying that gas should be dispensed in generous   quantities, thereby exterminating the source of irritation.  "Some   loser just reloaded the system for no reason!  Gas!"  2....
gas2 is  something ought to be flushed out of   mercy.  "The system's getting {wedged} every few minutes.   Gas!"  3. vt.  To {flush} (sense 1).  "You should gas that old   crufty software."  4. [IBM] n. Dead space in nonsequentially   organized file...
gas3 is  deleted;   the compression operation that removes it is called `degassing' (by   analogy, perhaps, with the use of the same term in vacuum   technology). 5. [IBM] n.  Empty space on a disk that has been   clandestinely allocated against futu...
gaseous is  adj. Deserving of being {gas}sed.  Disseminated by   Geoff Goodfellow while at SRI; became particularly popular after   the Moscone-Milk killings in San Francisco, when it was learned   that the defendant Dan White (a politician who had s...
gaseous2 is  chamber under Proposition 7 if   convicted of first-degree murder (he was eventually convicted of   manslaughter). 
GC is  /G-C/ [from LISP terminology; `Garbage Collect']   1. vt. To clean up and throw away useless things.  "I think I'll   GC the top of my desk today."  When said of files, this is   equivalent to {GFR}.  2. vt. To recycle, reclaim, or put to   an...
GC2 is  garbage collector   process.   `Garbage collection' is computer-science jargon for a particular   class of strategies for dynamically reallocating computer memory.   One such strategy involves periodically scanning all the data in   memory an...
GC3 is  useless data   items are then discarded so that the memory they occupy can be   recycled and used for another purpose.  Implementations of the LISP   language usually use garbage collection.   In jargon, the full phrase is sometimes heard but...
GC4 is  it is shorter.  Note that there is an   ambiguity in usage that has to be resolved by context "I'm going   to garbage-collect my desk" usually means to clean out the   drawers, but it could also mean to throw away or recycle the desk   itself...
GCOS is  /jee'kohs/ n. A {quick-and-dirty} {clone} of   System/360 DOS that emerged from GE around 1970; originally called   GECOS (the General Electric Comprehensive Operating System).  Later   kluged to support primitive timesharing and transaction...
GCOS2 is  computer division by Honeywell, the name   was changed to General Comprehensive Operating System (GCOS).   Other OS groups at Honeywell began referring to it as `God's Chosen   Operating System', allegedly in reaction to the GCOS crowd's   ...
GCOS3 is  superiority of their   product.  All this might be of zero interest, except for two facts   (1) The GCOS people won the political war, and this led in the   orphaning and eventual death of Honeywell {{Multics}}, and   (2) GECOS/GCOS left on...
GCOS4 is  systems at Bell Labs were GCOS machines for print spooling and   various other services; the field added to `/etc/passwd' to   carry GCOS ID information was called the `GECOS field' and   survives today as the `pw_gecos' member used for the...
GCOS5 is  information.  GCOS later played a   major role in keeping Honeywell a dismal also-ran in the mainframe   market, and was itself ditched for UNIX in the late 1980s when   Honeywell retired its aging {big iron} designs. 
GECOS is  /jee'kohs/ n. See {{GCOS}}.
gedanken is  /g*-don'kn/ adj. Ungrounded; impractical; not   well-thought-out; untried; untested.  `Gedanken' is a German word   for `thought'.  A thought experiment is one you carry out in your   head.  In physics, the term `gedanken experiment' is ...
gedanken2 is  impractical to carry out, but useful   to consider because you can reason about it theoretically.  (A   classic gedanken experiment of relativity theory involves thinking   about a man in an elevator accelerating through space.)  Gedank...
gedanken3 is  but you have to be careful.   It's too easy to idealize away some important aspect of the real world   in contructing your `apparatus'.   Among hackers, accordingly, the word has a pejorative connotation.   It is said of a project, espe...
gedanken4 is  research, that is written up in grand detail (typically as a Ph.D.   thesis) without ever being implemented to any great extent.  Such a   project is usually perpetrated by people who aren't very good   hackers or find programming dista...
gedanken5 is  thesis' is usually marked by an obvious lack of intuition   about what is programmable and what is not, and about what does and   does not constitute a clear specification of an algorithm.  See   also {AI-complete}, {DWIM}. 
geef is  v. [ostensibly from `gefingerpoken'] vt. Syn. {mung}.  See   also {blinkenlights}.
geek out is  vi. To temporarily enter techno-nerd mode while in a   non-hackish context, for example at parties held near computer   equipment.  Especially used when you need to do something highly   technical and don't have time to explain "Pardon m...
gen is  /jen/ n.,v. Short for {generate}, used frequently in both spoken   and written contexts.
gender mender is  n. A cable connector shell with either two male or two   female connectors on it, used to correct the mismatches that result   when some {loser} didn't understand the RS232C specification and   the distinction between DTE and DCE.  ...
gender mender2 is  original D-25 or the IBM PC's bogus D-9 format.   Also called `gender bender', `gender blender', `sex   changer', and even `homosexual adapter'; however, there appears   to be some confusion as to whether a `male homosexual adapter...
gender mender3 is  on both sides (connects two   males). 
General Public Virus is  n. Pejorative name for some versions of the   {GNU} project {copyleft} or General Public License (GPL), which   requires that any tools or {app}s incorporating copylefted code   must be source-distributed on the same counter-...
General Public Virus2 is  alleged that the copyleft `infects' software   generated with GNU tools, which may in turn infect other software   that reuses any of its code.  The Free Software Foundation's   official position as of January 1991 is that c...
General Public Virus3 is  "programs textually incorporating   significant amounts of GNU code", and that the `infection' is not   passed on to third parties unless actual GNU source is transmitted   (as in, for example, use of the Bison parser skelet...
General Public Virus4 is  the {copyleft} language   is `boobytrapped' has caused many developers to avoid using GNU   tools and the GPL.  Recent (July 1991) changes in the language of   the version 2.00 language may eliminate this problem. 
generate is  vt. To produce something according to an algorithm or   program or set of rules, or as a (possibly unintended) side effect   of the execution of an algorithm or program.  The opposite of   {parse}.  This term retains its mechanistic conn...
generate2 is  of human behavior.  "The guy is   rational most of the time, but mention nuclear energy around him   and he'll generate {infinite} flamage." 
gensym is  /jen'sim/ [from MacLISP for `generated symbol'] 1. v.   To invent a new name for something temporary, in such a way that   the name is almost certainly not in conflict with one already in   use.  2. n.  The resulting name.  The canonical f...
gensym2 is  represents a number; any LISP hacker would   recognize G0093 (for example) as a gensym.  3. A freshly generated   data structure with a gensymmed name.  These are useful for storing   or uniquely identifying crufties (see {cruft}). 
Get a life! is  imp. Hacker-standard way of suggesting that the person   to whom you are speaking has succumbed to terminal geekdom (see   {computer geek}).  Often heard on {USENET}, esp. as a way of   suggesting that the target is taking some obscur...
Get a life!2 is  exhortation was popularized by   William Shatner on a "Saturday Night Live" episode in a speech that   ended "Get a *life*!", but some respondents believe it to   have been in use before then. 
Get a real computer! is  imp. Typical hacker response to news that   somebody is having trouble getting work done on a system that   (a) is single-tasking, (b) has no hard disk, or (c) has an address   space smaller than 4 megabytes.  This is as of m...
Get a real computer!2 is  computer' rises with time, and it may well   be (for example) that machines with character-only displays will be   generally considered `unreal' in a few years (GLS points out that   they already are in some circles).  See {...
GFR is  /G-F-R/ vt. [ITS] From `Grim File Reaper', an ITS and Lisp   Machine utility.  To remove a file or files according to some   program-automated or semi-automatic manual procedure, especially   one designed to reclaim mass storage space or redu...
GFR2 is  actually moved files to tape).  Often   generalized to pieces of data below file level.  "I used to have   his phone number, but I guess I {GFR}ed it."  See also   {prowler}, {reaper}.  Compare {GC}, which discards only   provably worthless ...
gig is  /jig/ or /gig/ [SI] n. See {{quantifiers}}.
giga- is  /ji'ga/ or /gi'ga/ [SI] pref. See {{quantifiers}}.
GIGO is  /gi'goh/ [acronym] 1. `Garbage In, Garbage Out' ---   usually said in response to {luser}s who complain that a program   didn't complain about faulty data.  Also commonly used to describe   failures in human decision making due to faulty, in...
GIGO2 is  In, Gospel Out' this more recent   expansion is a sardonic comment on the tendency human beings have   to put excessive trust in `computerized' data. 
gillion is  /gil'y*n/ or /jil'y*n/ [formed from {giga-} by analogy   with mega/million and tera/trillion] n. 10^9. Same as an   American billion or a British `milliard'.  How one pronounces   this depends on whether one speaks {giga-} with a hard or ...
GIPS is  /gips/ or /jips/ [analogy with {MIPS}] n.   Giga-Instructions per Second (also possibly `Gillions of   Instructions per Second'; see {gillion}).  In 1991, this is used   of only a handful of highly parallel machines, but this is expected   t...
glark is  /glark/ vt. To figure something out from context.  "The   System III manuals are pretty poor, but you can generally glark the   meaning from context."  Interestingly, the word was originally   `glork'; the context was "This gubblick contain...
glark2 is  the overall pluggandisp can be glorked [sic]   from context" (David Moser, quoted by Douglas Hofstadter in his   "Metamagical Themas" column in the January 1981 `Scientific   American').  It is conjectured that hackish usage mutated the ve...
glark3 is  established jargon   term.  Compare {grok}, {zen}. 
glass is  [IBM] n. Synonym for {silicon}.
glass tty is  /glas T-T-Y/ or /glas ti'tee/ n. A terminal that   has a display screen but which, because of hardware or software   limitations, behaves like a teletype or some other printing   terminal, thereby combining the disadvantages of both lik...
glass tty2 is  display hacks, and like a   display terminal, it doesn't produce hard copy.  An example is the   early `dumb' version of Lear-Siegler ADM 3 (without cursor   control).  See {tube}, {tty}.  See appendix A for an   interesting true story...
glassfet is  /glas'fet/ [by analogy with MOSFET, the acronym for   `Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor'] n. Syn.   {firebottle}, a humorous way to refer to a vacuum tube.
glitch is  /glich/ [from German `glitschen' to slip, via Yiddish   `glitshen', to slide or skid] 1. n. A sudden interruption in   electric service, sanity, continuity, or program function.   Sometimes recoverable.  An interruption in electric service...
glitch2 is  This is of grave concern   because it usually crashes all the computers.  In jargon, though, a   hacker who got to the middle of a sentence and then forgot how he   or she intended to complete it might say, "Sorry, I just   glitched".  2....
glitch3 is    [Stanford] To scroll a display screen, esp. several lines at a   time.  {{WAITS}} terminals used to do this in order to avoid   continuous scrolling, which is distracting to the eye.  4. obs.   Same as {magic cookie}, sense 2.   All the...
glitch4 is  technical   meaning the term has to hardware people.  If the inputs of a   circuit change, and the outputs change to some {random} value for   some very brief time before they settle down to the correct value,   then that is called a glit...
glitch5 is  depending on what the circuit is connected to.  This term is   techspeak, found in electronics texts. 
glob is  /glob/, *not* /glohb/ [UNIX] vt.,n. To expand special   characters in a wildcarded name, or the act of so doing (the action   is also called `globbing').  The UNIX conventions for filename   wildcarding have become sufficiently pervasive tha...
glob2 is  English, especially in email or news on   technical topics.  Those commonly encountered include the following     *          wildcard for any string (see also {UN*X})       ?          wildcard for any character (generally read this way only...
glob3 is  a word)     []          delimits a wildcard matching any of the enclosed characters     {}          alternation of comma-separated alternatives; thus, `foo{baz,qux}'          would be read as `foobaz' or `fooqux'   Some examples "He said hi...
glob4 is  "I don't read talk.politics.*" (any of the   talk.politics subgroups on {USENET}).  Other examples are given   under the entry for {X}.  Compare {regexp}.   Historical note The jargon usage derives from `glob', the   name of a subprogram th...
glob5 is  versions of the UNIX shell. 
glork is  /glork/ 1. interj. Term of mild surprise, usually tinged with   outrage, as when one attempts to save the results of 2 hours of   editing and finds that the system has just crashed.  2. Used as a   name for just about anything.  See {foo}. ...
glork2 is  used reflexively.  "My program just glorked   itself."  See also {glark}. 
glue is  n. Generic term for any interface logic or protocol that   connects two component blocks.  For example,  {Blue   Glue} is IBM's SNA protocol, and hardware designers call anything   used to connect large VLSI's or circuit blocks `glue logic'.
gnarly is  /nar'lee/ adj. Both {obscure} and {hairy} in the   sense of complex.  "{Yow}! --- the tuned assembler   implementation of BitBlt is really gnarly!"  From a similar but   less specific usage in surfer slang.
GNU is  /gnoo/, *not* /noo/ 1. [acronym `GNU's Not UNIX!',   see {{recursive acronym}}] A UNIX-workalike development effort of   the Free Software Foundation headed by Richard Stallman   (rms@gnu.ai.mit.edu).  GNU EMACS and the GNU C compiler, two to...
GNU2 is  very popular in hackerdom   and elsewhere.  The GNU project was designed partly to proselytize   for RMS's position that information is community property and all   software source should be shared.  One of its slogans is "Help   stamp out s...
GNU3 is  controversial   (because it implicitly denies any right of designers to own,   assign, and sell the results of their labors), many hackers who   disagree with RMS have nevertheless cooperated to produce large   amounts of high-quality softwa...
GNU4 is  Software Foundation's imprimatur.  See {EMACS},   {copyleft}, {General Public Virus}.  2. Noted UNIX hacker   John Gilmore (gnu@toad.com), founder of USENET's anarchic alt.*   hierarchy. 
GNUMACS is  /gnoo'maks/ [contraction of `GNU EMACS'] Often-heard   abbreviated name for the {GNU} project's flagship tool, {EMACS}.   Used esp. in contrast with {GOSMACS}.
go flatline is  [from cyberpunk SF, refers to flattening of EEG traces   upon brain-death] vi., also adjectival `flatlined'. 1. To die,   terminate, or fail, esp. irreversibly.  In hacker parlance, this is   used of machines only, human death being c...
go flatline2 is  employ jargon-jokes.  2. To go completely   quiescent; said of machines undergoing controlled shutdown.  "You   can suffer file damage if you shut down UNIX but power off before   the system has gone flatline."  3. Of a video tube, t...
go flatline3 is  sees is a bright horizontal line   bisecting the screen. 
go root is  [UNIX] vi. To temporarily enter {root mode} in order   to perform a privileged operation.  This use is deprecated in   Australia, where v. `root' refers to animal sex.
go-faster stripes is  [UK] Syn. {chrome}.
gobble is  vt. To consume or to obtain.  The phrase `gobble up' tends to   imply `consume', while `gobble down' tends to imply `obtain'.   "The output spy gobbles characters out of a {tty} output buffer."   "I guess I'll gobble down a copy of the doc...
Godzillagram is  /god-zil'*-gram/ n. [from Japan's national hero]   1. A network packet that in theory is a broadcast to every machine   in the universe.  The typical case of this is an IP datagram whose   destination IP address is [255.255.255.255]....
Godzillagram2 is  enough to attempt to implement this!  2. A   network packet of maximum size.  An IP Godzillagram has   65,536 octets. 
golden is  adj. [prob. from folklore's `golden egg'] When used to   describe a magnetic medium (e.g., `golden disk', `golden tape'),   describes one containing a tested, up-to-spec, ready-to-ship   software version.  Compare {platinum-iridium}.
golf-ball printer is  n. The IBM 2741, a slow but letter-quality   printing device and terminal based on the IBM Selectric typewriter.   The `golf ball' was a round object bearing reversed embossed   images of 88 different characters arranged on four...
golf-ball printer2 is  font by swapping in a different golf   ball.  This was the technology that enabled APL to use a   non-EBCDIC, non-ASCII, and in fact completely non-standard   character set.  This put it 10 years ahead of its time --- where it ...
golf-ball printer3 is  character displays   gave way to programmable bit-mapped devices with the flexibility to   support other character sets. 
gonk is  /gonk/ vt.,n. 1. To prevaricate or to embellish the truth   beyond any reasonable recognition.  It is alleged that in German   the term is (mythically) `gonken'; in Spanish the verb becomes   `gonkar'.  "You're gonking me.  That story you ju...
gonk2 is  for example, "Du gonkst mir" (You're   pulling my leg).  See also {gonkulator}.  2. [British] To grab some   sleep at an odd time; compare {gronk out}. 
gonkulator is  /gon'kyoo-lay-tr/ [from the old "Hogan's Heroes" TV   series] n. A pretentious piece of equipment that actually serves no   useful purpose.  Usually used to describe one's least favorite   piece of computer hardware.  See {gonk}.
gonzo is  /gon'zoh/ [from Hunter S. Thompson] adj. Overwhelming;   outrageous; over the top; very large, esp. used of collections of   source code, source files, or individual functions.  Has some of the   connotations of {moby} and {hairy}, but with...
Good Thing is  n.,adj. Often capitalized; always pronounced as if   capitalized.  1. Self-evidently wonderful to anyone in a position   to notice "The Trailblazer's 19.2Kbaud PEP mode with on-the-fly   Lempel-Ziv compression is a Good Thing for sites...
Good Thing2 is  possibly have any ill   side-effects and may save considerable grief later "Removing the   self-modifying code from that shared library would be a Good   Thing."  3. When said of software tools or libraries, as in "YACC   is a Good Th...
Good Thing3 is   drastically reduced a programmer's work load.  Oppose {Bad   Thing}. 
gorilla arm is  n. The side-effect that destroyed touch-screens as a   mainstream input technology despite a promising start in the early   1980s.  It seems the designers of all those {spiffy} touch-menu   systems failed to notice that humans aren't ...
gorilla arm2 is  their faces making small motions.  After more than   a very few selections, the arm begins to feel sore, cramped, and   oversized; hence `gorilla arm'.  This is now considered a classic   cautionary tale to human-factors designers; "...
gorilla arm3 is  "How is this going to fly in *real*   use?". 
gorp is  /gorp/ [CMU perhaps from the canonical hiker's food, Good   Old Raisins and Peanuts] Another metasyntactic variable, like   {foo} and {bar}.
GOSMACS is  /goz'maks/ [contraction of `Gosling EMACS'] n. The first   {EMACS}-in-C implementation, predating but now largely eclipsed by   {GNUMACS}.  Originally freeware; a commercial version is now   modestly popular as `UniPress EMACS'.  The auth...
Gosperism is  /gos'p*r-izm/ A hack, invention, or saying by   arch-hacker R. William (Bill) Gosper.  This notion merits its own   term because there are so many of them.  Many of the entries in   {HAKMEM} are Gosperisms; see also {life}.
gotcha is  n. A {misfeature} of a system, especially a programming   language or environment, that tends to breed bugs or mistakes because   it behaves in an unexpected way.  For example, a classic gotcha in {C}   is the fact that `if (a=b) {code;}' ...
gotcha2 is  correct.  It puts the value of `b' into `a'   and then executes `code' if `a' is non-zero.  What the   programmer probably meant was `if (a==b) {code;}',   which executes `code' if `a' and `b' are equal. 
GPL is  /G-P-L/ n. Abbrev. for `General Public License' in   widespread use; see {copyleft}.
GPV is  /G-P-V/ n. Abbrev. for {General Public Virus} in   widespread use.
grault is  /grawlt/ n. Yet another meta-syntactic variable, invented by   Mike Gallaher and propagated by the {GOSMACS} documentation.  See   {corge}.
gray goo is  n. A hypothetical substance composed of {sagan}s of   sub-micron-sized self-replicating robots programmed to make copies   of themselves out of whatever is available.  The image that goes   with the term is one of the entire biosphere of...
gray goo2 is  goo.  This is the simplest of the   {{nanotechnology}} disaster scenarios, easily refuted by arguments   from energy requirements and elemental abundances.  Compare {blue   goo}. 
Great Renaming is  n. The {flag day} on which all of the non-local   groups on the {USENET} had their names changed from the net.-   format to the current multiple-hierarchies scheme.
Great Runes is  n. Uppercase-only text or display messages.  Some   archaic operating systems still emit these.  See also {runes},   {smash case}, {fold case}.   Decades ago, back in the days when it was the sole supplier of   long-distance hardcopy ...
Great Runes2 is  Corporation was faced with a major design choice.  To shorten code   lengths and cut complexity in the printing mechanism, it had been   decided that teletypes would use a monocase font, either ALL UPPER   or all lower.  The question...
Great Runes3 is  conducted on readability under various conditions of bad ribbon,   worn print hammers, etc.  Lowercase won; it is less dense and has   more distinctive letterforms, and is thus much easier to read both   under ideal conditions and wh...
Great Runes4 is  obscured.  The results were filtered up through {management}.   The chairman of Teletype killed the proposal because it failed one   incredibly important criterion     "It would be impossible to spell the name of the Deity correctly....
Great Runes5 is  folklore has it) superstition   triumphed over utility.  Teletypes were the major input devices on   most early computers, and terminal manufacturers looking for   corners to cut naturally followed suit until well into the 1970s.   T...
Great Runes6 is  Runes for thirty years. 
great-wall is  [from SF fandom] vi.,n. A mass expedition to an   oriental restaurant, esp. one where food is served family-style   and shared.  There is a common heuristic about the amount of food   to order, expressed as "Get N - 1 entrees"; the val...
great-wall2 is  the group, can be inferred from   context (see {N}).  See {{oriental food}}, {ravs},   {stir-fried random}. 
Green Book is  n. 1. One of the three standard PostScript references   `PostScript Language Program Design', bylined `Adobe Systems'   (Addison-Wesley, 1988; QA76.73.P67P66 ISBN; 0-201-14396-8); see   also {Red Book}, {Blue Book}).  2. Informal name ...
Green Book2 is  SmallTalk `Smalltalk-80   Bits of History, Words of Advice', by Glenn Krasner   (Addison-Wesley, 1983; QA76.8.S635S58; ISBN 0-201-11669-3) (this,   too, is associated with blue and red books).  3. The `X/Open   Compatibility Guide'.  ...
Green Book3 is  environment that is a proper superset of POSIX/SVID; also includes   descriptions of a standard utility toolkit, systems administrations   features, and the like.  This grimoire is taken with particular   seriousness in Europe.  See {...
Green Book4 is  Operating Systems Interface standard has been dubbed "The   Ugly Green Book".  5. Any of the 1992 standards which will be   issued by the CCITT's tenth plenary assembly.  Until now, these   have changed color each review cycle (1984 w...
Green Book5 is  is rumored that this convention is   going to be dropped before 1992.  These include, among other   things, the X.400 email standard and the Group 1 through 4 fax   standards.  See also {{book titles}}. 
green bytes is  n. 1. Meta-information embedded in a file, such as   the length of the file or its name; as opposed to keeping such   information in a separate description file or record.  The term   comes from an IBM user's group meeting (ca. 1962) ...
green bytes2 is  debated and the diagram of the file on   the blackboard had the `green bytes' drawn in green.  2. By   extension, the non-data bits in any self-describing format.  "A   GIF file contains, among other things, green bytes describing th...
green bytes3 is  {out-of-band},   {zigamorph}, {fence} (sense 1). 
green card is  n. [after the `IBM System/360 Reference Data'   card] This is used for any summary of an assembly language, even if   the color is not green.  Less frequently used now because of the   decrease in the use of assembly language.  "I'll g...
green card2 is  addressing mode for that instruction."   Some green cards are actually booklets.   The original green card became a yellow card when the System/370   was introduced, and later a yellow booklet.  An anecdote from IBM   refers to a scen...
green card3 is  room   at Yorktown in 1978.  A luser overheard one of the programmers ask   another "Do you have a green card?"  The other grunted and   passed the first a thick yellow booklet.  At this point the luser   turned a delicate shade of ol...
green card4 is  return.  See also {card}. 
green lightning is  [IBM] n. 1. Apparently random flashing streaks on   the face of 3278-9 terminals while a new symbol set is being   downloaded.  This hardware bug was left deliberately unfixed, as   some genius within IBM suggested it would let th...
green lightning2 is  That, it certainly does.  Later   microprocessor-driven IBM color graphics displays were actually   *programmed* to produce green lightning!  2. [proposed] Any   bug perverted into an alleged feature by adroit rationalization or ...
green lightning3 is  the 88000   architecture `compatibility logic', but I call it green   lightning".  See also {feature}. 
green machine is  n. A computer or peripheral device that has been   designed and built to military specifications for field equipment   (that is, to withstand mechanical shock, extremes of temperature   and humidity, and so forth).  Comes from the o...
Green's Theorem is  [TMRC] prov. For any story, in any group of people   there will be at least one person who has not heard the story.   [The name of this theorem is a play on a fundamental theorem in   calculus. --- ESR]
grep is  /grep/ [from the qed/ed editor idiom g/re/p , where   re stands for a regular expression, to Globally search for the   Regular Expression and Print the lines containing matches to it,   via {{UNIX}} `grep(1)'] vt. To rapidly scan a file or f...
grep2 is  pattern.  By extension, to look   for something by pattern.  "Grep the bulletin board for the system   backup schedule, would you?"  See also {vgrep}. 
grind is  vt. 1. [MIT and Berkeley] To format code, especially LISP   code, by indenting lines so that it looks pretty.  This usage was   associated with the MacLISP community and is now rare;   {prettyprint} was and is the generic term for such   op...
grind2 is  version of a   document from the nroff, troff, TeX, or Scribe source.  The BSD   program `vgrind(1)' grinds code for printing on a Versatec   bitmapped printer.  3. To run seemingly interminably, esp. (but   not necessarily) if performing ...
grind3 is  Similar to {crunch} or {grovel}.  Grinding has a   connotation of using a lot of CPU time, but it is possible to grind   a disk, network, etc.  See also {hog}.  4. To make the whole   system slow.  "Troff really grinds a PDP-11."  5. `grin...
grind crank is  n. A mythical accessory to a terminal.  A crank on the   side of a monitor, which when operated makes a zizzing noise and   causes the computer to run faster.  Usually one does not refer to a   grind crank out loud, but merely makes t...
grind crank2 is  {grind} and {wugga wugga}.   Historical note At least one real machine actually had a grind   crank --- the R1, a research machine built toward the end of the   days of the great vacuum tube computers, in 1959.  R1 (also known as   `...
grind crank3 is  as `The Rice   University Computer' (TRUC)) had a single-step/free-run switch for   use when debugging programs.  Since single-stepping through a large   program was rather tedious, there was also a crank with a cam and   gear arrang...
grind crank4 is  button.   This allowed one to `crank' through a lot of code, then slow down   to single-step for a bit when you got near the code of interest, poke   at some registers using the console typewriter, and then keep on   cranking. 
gritch is  /grich/ 1. n. A complaint (often caused by a {glitch}).   2. vi. To complain.  Often verb-doubled "Gritch gritch".  3. A   synonym for {glitch} (as verb or noun).
grok is  /grok/, var. /grohk/ [from the novel `Stranger in   a Strange Land', by Robert A. Heinlein, where it is a Martian word   meaning literally `to drink' and metaphorically `to be one   with'] vt. 1. To understand, usually in a global sense.  Co...
grok2 is  Contrast {zen}, similar   supernal understanding as a single brief flash.  See also   {glark}.  2. Used of programs, may connote merely sufficient   understanding.  "Almost all C compilers grok the `void' type   these days." 
gronk is  /gronk/ [popularized by Johnny Hart's comic strip   "B.C." but the word apparently predates that] vt. 1. To   clear the state of a wedged device and restart it.  More severe   than `to {frob}'.  2. [TMRC] To cut, sever, smash, or   similarl...
gronk2 is  diskette   drives.  In particular, the microfloppies on a Commodore Amiga go   "grink, gronk". 
gronk out is  vi. To cease functioning.  Of people, to go home and go   to sleep.  "I guess I'll gronk out now; see you all tomorrow."
gronked is  adj. 1. Broken.  "The teletype scanner was gronked, so   we took the system down."  2. Of people, the condition of feeling   very tired or (less commonly) sick.  "I've been chasing that bug   for 17 hours now and I am thoroughly gronked!"...
gronked2 is  same as {gronk} used of   hardware, but connotes depression or mental/emotional problems in   people. 
grovel is  vi. 1. To work interminably and without apparent progress.   Often used transitively with `over' or `through'.  "The file   scavenger has been groveling through the file directories for 10   minutes now."  Compare {grind} and {crunch}.  Em...
grovel2 is  examine minutely or in complete detail.   "The compiler grovels over the entire source program before   beginning to translate it."  "I grovelled through all the   documentation, but I still couldn't find the command I wanted." 
grunge is  /gruhnj/ n. 1. That which is grungy, or that which makes   it so.  2. [Cambridge] Code which is inaccessible due to changes in   other parts of the program.  The preferred term in North America is   {dead code}.
gubbish is  /guhb'*sh/ [a portmanteau of `garbage' and `rubbish'?]   n. Garbage; crap; nonsense.  "What is all this gubbish?"  The   opposite portmanteau `rubbage' is also reported.
guiltware is  /gilt'weir/ n. 1. A piece of {freeware} decorated   with a message telling one how long and hard the author worked on   it and intimating that one is a no-good freeloader if one does not   immediately send the poor suffering martyr gobs...
gumby is  /guhm'bee/ [from a class of Monty Python characters, poss.   themselves named after the 1960s claymation character] n. An act of   minor but conspicuous stupidity, often in `gumby maneuver' or   `pull a gumby'.
gun is  [ITS from the `GUN' command] vt. To forcibly   terminate a program or job (computer, not career).  "Some idiot   left a background process running soaking up half the cycles, so I   gunned it."  Compare {can}.
gunch is  /guhnch/ [TMRC] vt. To push, prod, or poke at a device   that has almost produced the desired result.  Implies a threat to   {mung}.
gurfle is  /ger'fl/ interj. An expression of shocked disbelief.  "He   said we have to recode this thing in FORTRAN by next week.   Gurfle!"  Compare {weeble}.
guru is  n. 1. [UNIX] An expert.  Implies not only {wizard} skill   but also a history of being a knowledge resource for others.  Less   often, used (with a qualifier) for other experts on other systems,   as in `VMS guru'.  See {source of all good b...
guru2 is  UNIX.  When the system crashes, a   cryptic message "GURU MEDITATION #XXXXXXXX.YYYYYYYY" appears,   indicating what the problem was.  An Amiga guru can figure things   out from the numbers.  Generally a {guru} event must be followed   by a ...
guru3 is  A method of `marking' common words,   i.e., calling attention to the fact that they are being used in a   nonstandard, ironic, or humorous way.  Originated in the fannish   catchphrase "Bheer is the One True Ghod!" from decades ago.   H-inf...
guru4 is  into the 1960s   counterculture via underground comix, and into early hackerdom   either from the counterculture or from SF fandom (the three overlapped   heavily at the time).  More recently, the h infix has become an   expected feature of...
guru5 is  etc.); this is prob. patterning on the original Whetstone (the name   of a laboratory) but influenced by the fannish/counterculture   h infix. 
ha ha only serious is  [from SF fandom, orig. as mutation of HHOK,   `Ha Ha Only Kidding'] A phrase (often seen abbreviated as HHOS)   that aptly captures the flavor of much hacker discourse.  Applied   especially to parodies, absurdities, and ironic...
ha ha only serious2 is  to contain a possibly disquieting amount of   truth, or truths that are constructed on in-joke and self-parody.   This lexicon contains many examples of ha-ha-only-serious in both   form and content.  Indeed, the entirety of h...
ha ha only serious3 is  ha-ha-only-serious by hackers themselves; to take it   either too lightly or too seriously marks a person as an outsider,   a {wannabee}, or in {larval stage}.  For further   enlightenment on this subject, consult any Zen mast...
hack is  1. n. Originally, a quick job that produces what is needed,   but not well.  2. n. An incredibly good, and perhaps very   time-consuming, piece of work that produces exactly what is needed.   3. vt. To bear emotionally or physically.  "I can...
hack2 is  something (typically a program).  In an   immediate sense "What are you doing?"  "I'm hacking TECO."   In a general (time-extended) sense "What do you do around here?"   "I hack TECO."  More generally, "I hack `foo'" is roughly   equivalent...
hack3 is  "I   hack solid-state physics."  5. vt. To pull a prank on.  See   sense 2 and {hacker} (sense 5).  6. vi. To interact with a   computer in a playful and exploratory rather than goal-directed   way.  "Whatcha up to?"  "Oh, just hacking."  7...
hack4 is  Constructions on this term abound.  They include `happy   hacking' (a farewell), `how's hacking?' (a friendly greeting   among hackers) and `hack, hack' (a fairly content-free but   friendly comment, often used as a temporary farewell).  Fo...
hack5 is   See also {neat hack},   {real hack}. 
hack attack is  [poss. by analogy with `Big Mac Attack' from ads   for the McDonald's fast-food chain; the variant `big hack attack'   is reported] n. Nearly synonymous with {hacking run}, though the   latter more strongly implies an all-nighter.
hack mode is  n. 1. What one is in when hacking, of course.  2. More   specifically, a Zen-like state of total focus on The Problem that   may be achieved when one is hacking (this is why every good hacker   is part mystic).  Ability to enter such co...
hack mode2 is  wizardliness; it is one of the most   important skills learned during {larval stage}.  Sometimes   amplified as `deep hack mode'.   Being yanked out of hack mode (see {priority interrupt}) may be   experienced as a physical shock, and ...
hack mode3 is  little habituating.  The intensity of this   experience is probably by itself sufficient explanation for the   existence of hackers, and explains why many resist being promoted   out of positions where they can code.  See also {cybersp...
hack mode4 is  etiquette will appear quite odd to an   observer unaware of the high value placed on hack mode.  For   example, if someone appears at your door, it is perfectly okay to   hold up a hand (without turning one's eyes away from the screen)...
hack mode5 is  type, and interact with the   computer for quite some time before further acknowledging the   other's presence (of course, he or she is reciprocally free to   leave without a word).  The understanding is that you might be in   {hack mo...
hack mode6 is  your   head, and you dare not {swap} that context out until you have   reached a good point to pause. See also {juggling eggs}. 
hack on is  vt. To {hack}; implies that the subject is some   pre-existing hunk of code that one is evolving, as opposed to   something one might {hack up}.
hack together is  vt. To throw something together so it will work.   Unlike `kluge together' or {cruft together}, this does not   necessarily have negative connotations.
hack up is  vt. To {hack}, but generally implies that the result is   a hack in sense 1 (a quick hack).  Contrast this with {hack on}.   To `hack up on' implies a {quick-and-dirty} modification to an   existing system.  Contrast {hacked up}; compare ...
hack value is  n. Often adduced as the reason or motivation for   expending effort toward a seemingly useless goal, the point being   that the accomplished goal is a hack.  For example, MacLISP had   features for reading and printing Roman numerals, ...
hack value2 is  See {display hack} for one   method of computing hack value, but this cannot really be   explained.  As a great artist once said of jazz "If you hafta ask,   you ain't never goin' to find out." 
hack-and-slay is  v. (also `hack-and-slash') 1. To play a {MUD}   or go mudding, especially with the intention of {berserking} for   pleasure.  2. To undertake an all-night programming/hacking   session, interspersed with stints of mudding as a chang...
hack-and-slay2 is  academic network amongst students   who worked nights and logged onto Essex University's MUDs during   public-access hours (2 A.M. to 7 A.M.).  Usually more   mudding than work was done in these sessions. 
hacked off is  [analogous to `pissed off'] adj. Said of system   administrators who have become annoyed, upset, or touchy owing to   suspicions that their sites have been or are going to be victimized   by crackers, or used for inappropriate, technic...
hacked off2 is  activities.  For example, having unreadable   files in your home directory called `worm', `lockpick', or `goroot'   would probably be an effective (as well as impressively obvious and   stupid) way to get your sysadmin hacked off at y...
hacked up is  adj. Sufficiently patched, kluged, and tweaked that the   surgical scars are beginning to crowd out normal tissue (compare   {critical mass}).  Not all programs that are hacked become   `hacked up'; if modifications are done with some e...
hacked up2 is  maintainability, the software may emerge better for   the experience.  Contrast {hack up}. 
hacker is  [originally, someone who makes furniture with an axe] n.   1. A person who enjoys exploring the details of programmable   systems and how to stretch their capabilities, as opposed to most   users, who prefer to learn only the minimum neces...
hacker2 is  (even obsessively) or who enjoys   programming rather than just theorizing about programming.  3. A   person capable of appreciating {hack value}.  4. A person who is   good at programming quickly.  5. An expert at a particular program,  ...
hacker3 is  it; as in `a UNIX   hacker'.  (Definitions 1 through 5 are correlated, and people who fit   them congregate.)  6. An expert or enthusiast of any kind.  One   might be an astronomy hacker, for example.  7. One who enjoys the   intellectual...
hacker4 is  circumventing   limitations.  8. [deprecated] A malicious meddler who tries to   discover sensitive information by poking around.  Hence `password   hacker', `network hacker'.  See {cracker}.   It is better to be described as a hacker by ...
hacker5 is  Hackers consider themselves something of an   elite (a meritocracy based on ability), though one to which new   members are gladly welcome.  There is thus a certain ego   satisfaction to be had in identifying yourself as a hacker (but if ...
hacker6 is  quickly be labeled   {bogus}). 
hacking run is  [analogy with `bombing run' or `speed run'] n. A   hack session extended long outside normal working times, especially   one longer than 12 hours.  May cause you to `change phase the hard   way' (see {phase}).
Hacking X for Y is  [ITS] n. The information ITS made publicly   available about each user (the INQUIR record) was a sort of form in   which the user could fill out fields.  On display, two of these   fields were combined into a project description o...
Hacking X for Y2 is  `"Hacking perceptrons for   Minsky"').  This form of description became traditional and has   since been carried over to other systems with more general   facilities for self-advertisement (such as UNIX {plan file}s). 
Hackintosh is  n. 1. An Apple Lisa that has been hacked into emulating a   Macintosh (also called a `Mac XL').  2. A Macintosh assembled   from parts theoretically belonging to different models in the line.
hackish is  /hak'ish/ adj. (also {hackishness} n.) 1. Said of   something that is or involves a hack.  2. Of or pertaining to   hackers or the hacker subculture.  See also {true-hacker}.
hackishness is  n. The quality of being or involving a hack.  This   term is considered mildly silly.  Syn.  {hackitude}.
hackitude is  n. Syn. {hackishness}; this word is considered sillier.
hair is  [back-formation from {hairy}] n. The complications that   make something hairy.  "Decoding {TECO} commands requires a   certain amount of hair."  Often seen in the phrase `infinite   hair', which connotes extreme complexity.  Also in `hairif...

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

mainframe3 is  built   by IBM, Unisys, and the other great {dinosaur}s surviving from   computing's {Stone Age}.   It is common wisdom among hackers that the mainframe architectural   tradition is essentially dead (outside of the tiny market for   {n...
mainframe4 is  having been   swamped by the recent huge advances in IC technology and low-cost   personal computing.  As of 1991, corporate America hasn't quite   figured this out yet, though the wave of failures, takeovers, and   mergers among tradi...
mainframe5 is    the wind (see {dinosaurs mating}). 
management is  n. 1. Corporate power elites distinguished primarily by   their distance from actual productive work and their chronic   failure to manage (see also {suit}).  Spoken derisively, as in   "*Management* decided that ...".  2. Mythically, ...
management2 is  world's minor irritations.   Hackers' satirical public notices are often signed `The Mgt'; this   derives from the `Illuminatus' novels (see the Bibliography). 
mandelbug is  /mon'del-buhg/ [from the Mandelbrot set] n. A bug   whose underlying causes are so complex and obscure as to make its   behavior appear chaotic or even non-deterministic.  This term   implies that the speaker thinks it is a {Bohr bug}, ...
manged is  /monjd/ [probably from the French `manger' or Italian   `mangiare', to eat; perhaps influenced by English n. `mange',   `mangy'] adj. Refers to anything that is mangled or damaged,   usually beyond repair.  "The disk was manged after the e...
mangle is  vt. Used similarly to {mung} or {scribble}, but more violent   in its connotations; something that is mangled has been   irreversibly and totally trashed.
mangler is  [DEC] n. A manager.  Compare {mango}; see also   {management}.  Note that {system mangler} is somewhat different   in connotation.
mango is  /mang'go/ [orig. in-house jargon at Symbolics] n. A manager.   Compare {mangler}.  See also {devo} and {doco}.
marbles is  [from mainstream "lost all his/her marbles"] pl.n. The   minimum needed to build your way further up some hierarchy of tools   or abstractions.  After a bad system crash, you need to determine   if the machine has enough marbles to come u...
marbles2 is  rebuild from backups, or if you need to rebuild   from scratch.  "This compiler doesn't even have enough marbles to   compile `Hello World'." 
marginal is  adj. 1. Extremely small.  "A marginal increase in   {core} can decrease {GC} time drastically."  In everyday   terms, this means that it is a lot easier to clean off your desk if   you have a spare place to put some of the junk while you...
marginal2 is  merit.  "This proposed new   feature seems rather marginal to me."  3. Of extremely small   probability of {win}ning.  "The power supply was rather marginal   anyway; no wonder it fried." 
Marginal Hacks is  n. Margaret Jacks Hall, a building into which the   Stanford AI Lab was moved near the beginning of the 1980s (from the   {D. C. Power Lab}).
marginally is  adv. Slightly.  "The ravs here are only marginally   better than at Small Eating Place."  See {epsilon}.
marketroid is  /mar'k*-troyd/ alt. `marketing slime',   `marketing droid', `marketeer' n. A member of a company's   marketing department, esp. one who promises users that the next   version of a product will have features that are not actually   sche...
marketroid2 is  to implement,   and/or are in violation of the laws of physics; and/or one who   describes existing features (and misfeatures) in ebullient,   buzzword-laden adspeak.  Derogatory.  Compare {droid}.*   martian: n. A packet sent on a TC...
marketroid3 is  test loopback interface [127.0.0.1].  This means   that it will come back at you labeled with a source address that   is clearly not of this earth.  "The domain server is getting lots   of packets from Mars.  Does that gateway have a ...
massage: vt. Vague term used to describe `smooth' transformations of is    a data set into a different form, esp. transformations that do   not lose information.  Connotes less pain than {munch} or {crunch}.   "He wrote a program that massages X bitm...
math-out: [poss. from `white-out' (the blizzard variety)] n. A is    paper or presentation so encrusted with mathematical or other   formal notation as to be incomprehensible.  This may be a device   for concealing the fact that it is actually {conte...
Matrix: [FidoNet] n. 1. What the Opus BBS software and sysops call is    {FidoNet}.  2. Fanciful term for a {cyberspace} expected to   emerge from current networking experiments (see {network, the}).   Some people refer to the totality of present net...
Mbogo, Dr. Fred: /*m-boh'goh, dok'tr fred/ [Stanford] n. The is    archetypal man you don't want to see about a problem, esp. an   incompetent professional; a shyster.  "Do you know a good eye   doctor?"  "Sure, try Mbogo Eye Care and Professional Dr...
Mbogo, Dr. Fred: /*m-boh'goh, dok'tr fred/ [Stanford] n. The2 is  between {bogus} and the   original Dr. Mbogo, a witch doctor who was Gomez Addams' physician   on the old "Addams Family" TV show.  See also   {fred}. 
meatware is  n. Synonym for {wetware}.  Less common.
meeces is  /mees'*z/ [TMRC] n. Occasional furry visitors who are not   {urchin}s.  [That is, mice. This may no longer be in live use; it   clearly derives from the refrain of the early-1960s cartoon character   Mr. Jinx: "I hate meeces to *pieces*!" ...
meg is  /meg/ n. See {{quantifiers}}.
mega- is  /me'g*/ [SI] pref. See {{quantifiers}}.
megapenny is  /meg'*-pen`ee/ n. $10,000 (1 cent * 10^6).   Used semi-humorously as a unit in comparing computer cost and   performance figures.
MEGO is  /me'goh/ or /mee'goh/ [`My Eyes Glaze Over', often `Mine Eyes   Glazeth (sic) Over', attributed to the futurologist Herman Kahn]   Also `MEGO factor'.  1. n. A {handwave} intended to confuse the   listener and hopefully induce agreement beca...
MEGO2 is  not understanding what is going on.  MEGO is   usually directed at senior management by engineers and contains a   high proportion of {TLA}s.  2. excl. An appropriate response to   MEGO tactics.  3. Among non-hackers this term often refers ...
MEGO3 is  glaze, but to the eye-glazing   reaction itself, which may be triggered by the mere threat of   technical detail as effectively as by an actual excess of it. 
meltdown, network is  n.  See {network meltdown}.
meme is  /meem/ [coined on analogy with `gene' by Richard   Dawkins] n. An idea considered as a {replicator}, esp. with   the connotation that memes parasitize people into propagating them   much as viruses do.  Used esp. in the phrase `meme complex'...
meme2 is  memes that form an   organized belief system, such as a religion.  This lexicon is an   (epidemiological) vector of the `hacker subculture' meme complex;   each entry might be considered a meme.  However, `meme' is often   misused to mean `...
meme3 is  acceptance of the idea that in humans (and presumably other tool-   and language-using sophonts) cultural evolution by selection of   adaptive ideas has superseded biological evolution by selection of   hereditary traits.  Hackers find this...
meme plague is  n. The spread of a successful but pernicious {meme},   esp. one that parasitizes the victims into giving their all to   propagate it.  Astrology, BASIC, and the other guy's religion are   often considered to be examples.  This usage i...
meme plague2 is  `joiner' ideologies like Naziism or various   forms of millennarian Christianity have exhibited plague-like cycles   of exponential growth followed by collapses to small reservoir   populations. 
memetics is  /me-met'iks/ [from {meme}] The study of memes.  As of   mid-1991, this is still an extremely informal and speculative   endeavor, though the first steps towards at least statistical rigor   have been made by H. Keith Henson and others.  ...
memetics2 is  among hackers, who like to see   themselves as the architects of the new information ecologies in   which memes live and replicate. 
memory leak is  n. An error in a program's dynamic-store allocation   logic that causes it to fail to reclaim discarded memory, leading   to eventual collapse due to memory exhaustion.  Also (esp. at   CMU) called {core leak}.  See {aliasing bug}, {f...
memory leak2 is  {precedence lossage}, {overrun   screw}, {leaky heap}, {leak}. 
menuitis is  /men`yoo-i:'tis/ n. Notional disease suffered by software   with an obsessively simple-minded menu interface and no escape.   Hackers find this intensely irritating and much prefer the   flexibility of command-line or language-style inte...
menuitis2 is  macros or a special-purpose   language in which one can encode useful hacks.  See   {user-obsequious}, {drool-proof paper}, {WIMP environment},   {for the rest of us}. 
mess-dos is  /mes-dos/ n. Derisory term for MS-DOS.  Often followed   by the ritual banishing "Just say No!"  See {{MS-DOS}}.  Most   hackers (even many MS-DOS hackers) loathe MS-DOS for its   single-tasking nature, its limits on application size, it...
mess-dos2 is  IBMness (see {fear and   loathing}).  Also `mess-loss', `messy-dos', `mess-dog',   `mess-dross', `mush-dos', and various combinations thereof.  In   Ireland and the U.K. it is even sometimes called `Domestos' after a   brand of toilet c...
meta is  /me't*/ or /may't*/ or (Commonwealth) /mee't*/ [from   analytic philosophy] adj.,pref. One level of description up.   A meta-syntactic variable is a variable in notation used to describe   syntax, and meta-language is language used to descri...
meta2 is  briefly, but much hacker humor turns   on deliberate confusion between meta-levels.  See {{Humor,   Hacker}}. 
meta bit is  n. The top bit of an 8-bit character, which is on in   character values 128--255.  Also called {high bit}, {alt bit},   or {hobbit}.  Some terminals and consoles (see {space-cadet   keyboard}) have a META shift key.  Others (including,  ...
meta bit2 is  machines) have an   ALT key.  See also {bucky bits}. 
MFTL is  /M-F-T-L/ [acronym: `My Favorite Toy Language'] 1. adj.   Describes a talk on a programming language design that is heavy on   the syntax (with lots of BNF), sometimes even talks about semantics   (e.g., type systems), but rarely, if ever, h...
MFTL2 is  broadly applied to talks --- even when   the topic is not a programming language --- in which the subject   matter is gone into in unnecessary and meticulous detail at the   sacrifice of any conceptual content.  "Well, it was a typical MFTL...
MFTL3 is  which the developers are   passionate (often to the point of prosyletic zeal) but no one else   cares about.  Applied to the language by those outside the   originating group.  "He cornered me about type resolution in his   MFTL."   The fir...
MFTL4 is  MFTL is   usually to write a compiler for it, then bootstrap the design away   from contamination by lesser languages by writing a compiler for it   in itself.  Thus, the standard put-down question at an MFTL talk is   "Has it been used for...
MFTL5 is  other hand, a language that *cannot* be used to write   its own compiler is beneath contempt... 
mickey is  n. The resolution unit of mouse movement.  It has been   suggested that the `disney' will become a benchmark unit for   animation graphics performance.
mickey mouse program is  n. North American equivalent of a {noddy}   (that is, trivial) program.  Doesn't necessarily have the   belittling connotations of mainstream slang "Oh, that's just   mickey mouse stuff!"; sometimes trivial programs can be ve...
micro- is  pref. 1. Very small; this is the root of its use as a   quantifier prefix.  2. A quantifier prefix, calling for   multiplication by 10^{-6} (see {{quantifiers}}).  Neither   of these uses is peculiar to hackers, but hackers tend to fling  ...
micro-2 is  countenanced in   standard English.  It is recorded, for example, that one   CS professor used to characterize the standard length of his   lectures as a microcentury --- that is, about 52.6 minutes (see   also {attoparsec}, {nanoacre}, a...
micro-3 is  or human-scale --- that is,   capable of being maintained or comprehended or manipulated by one   human being.  This sense is generalized from `microcomputer',   and is esp. used in contrast with `macro-' (the corresponding   Greek prefix...
micro-4 is  global (or   {macro-}).  Thus a hacker might say that buying a smaller car to   reduce pollution only solves a microproblem; the macroproblem of   getting to work might be better solved by using mass transit,   moving to within walking di...
micro-5 is  microfloppies n. 3.5-inch floppies, as opposed to 5.25-inch   {vanilla} or mini-floppies and the now-obsolete 8-inch variety.   This term may be headed for obsolescence as 5.25-inchers pass out   of use, only to be revived if anybody floa...
micro-6 is  {stiffy}, {minifloppies}. 
microfortnight is  n. About 1.2 sec. The VMS operating system has a   lot of tuning parameters that you can set with the SYSGEN utility,   and one of these is TIMEPROMPTWAIT, the time the system will wait   for an operator to set the correct date and...
microfortnight2 is  current value is bogus.  This time is specified   in microfortnights! 
microLenat is  /mi:-kroh-len'-*t/ n. See {bogosity}.
microReid is  /mi:'kroh-reed/ n. See {bogosity}.
Microsloth Windows is  /mi:'kroh-sloth` win'dohz/ n. Hackerism for   `Microsoft Windows', a windowing system for the IBM-PC which is so   limited by bug-for-bug compatibility with {mess-dos} that it is   agonizingly slow on anything less than a fast ...
microtape is  /mi:'kroh-tayp/ n. Occasionally used to mean a   DECtape, as opposed to a {macrotape}.  A DECtape is a small   reel, about 4 inches in diameter, of magnetic tape about an inch   wide.  Unlike drivers for today's {macrotape}s, microtape ...
microtape2 is  therefore could be   used to support file systems and even for swapping (this was   generally done purely for {hack value}, as they were far too   slow for practical use).  In their heyday they were used in pretty   much the same ways ...
microtape3 is  portable way to save and transport files and programs.  Apparently   the term `microtape' was actually the official term used within   DEC for these tapes until someone coined the word `DECtape',   which, of course, sounded sexier to t...
middle-endian is  adj. Not {big-endian} or {little-endian}.   Used of perverse byte orders such as 3-4-1-2 or 2-1-4-3,   occasionally found in the packed-decimal formats of minicomputer   manufacturers who shall remain nameless.  See {NUXI problem}.
milliLampson is  /mil'*-lamp`sn/ n. A unit of talking speed,   abbreviated mL.  Most people run about 200 milliLampsons.  Butler   Lampson (a CS theorist and systems implementor highly regarded   among hackers) goes at 1000.  A few people speak faste...
milliLampson2 is  the (sometimes widely disparate) rates   at which people can generate ideas and actually emit them in   speech.  For example, noted computer architect C. Gordon Bell   (designer of the PDP-11) is said, with some awe, to think at abo...
milliLampson3 is  frequently reduced to   fragments of sentences as his mouth tries to keep up with his   speeding brain. 
minifloppies is  n. 5.25-inch {vanilla} floppy disks, as opposed to   3.5-inch or {microfloppies} and the now-obsolescent 8-inch   variety.  At one time, this term was a trademark of Shugart   Associates for their SA-400 minifloppy drive.  Nobody pai...
MIPS is  /mips/ [acronym] n. 1. A measure of computing speed;   formally, `Million Instructions Per Second' (that's 10^6   per second, not 2^{20}!); often rendered by hackers as   `Meaningless Indication of Processor Speed' or in other   unflattering...
MIPS2 is  attitude   about the value of most {benchmark} claims, said attitude being   one of the great cultural divides between hackers and   {marketroid}s.  The singular is sometimes `1 MIP' even though   this is clearly etymologically wrong.  See ...
MIPS3 is  especially large computers, considered   abstractly as sources of {computron}s.  "This is just a   workstation; the heavy MIPS are hidden in the basement."  3. The   corporate name of a particular RISC-chip company; among other   things, th...
MIPS4 is  3100   workstation series.  4. Acronym for `Meaningless Information per   Second' (a joke, prob. from sense 1). 
misbug is  /mis-buhg/ [MIT] n. An unintended property of a program   that turns out to be useful; something that should have been a   {bug} but turns out to be a {feature}.  Usage: rare.  Compare   {green lightning}. See {miswart}.
misfeature is  /mis-fee'chr/ or /mis'fee`chr/ n. A feature that   eventually causes lossage, possibly because it is not adequate for   a new situation which has evolved.  It is not the same as a bug,   because fixing it involves a substantial philoso...
misfeature2 is  involved.  A misfeature is different   from a simple unforeseen side effect; the term implies that the   misfeature was actually carefully planned to be that way, but   its future consequences or circumstances just weren't predicted  ...
misfeature3 is  having thought ahead   about it at all.  Many misfeatures (especially in user-interface   design) arise because the designers/implementors mistook their   personal tastes for laws of nature.  Often a former feature becomes   a misfeat...
misfeature4 is  parameters   subsequently changed (possibly only in the judgment of the   implementors).  "Well, yeah, it is kind of a misfeature that file   names are limited to 6 characters, but the original implementors   wanted to save directory ...
Missed'em-five is  n. Pejorative hackerism for AT&T System V UNIX,   generally used by {BSD} partisans in a bigoted mood.  (The   synonym `SysVile' is also encountered.)  See {software bloat},   {Berzerkeley}.
miswart is  /mis-wort/ [from {wart} by analogy with {misbug}] n.   A {feature} that superficially appears to be a {wart} but has been   determined to be the {Right Thing}.  For example, in some versions   of the {EMACS} text editor, the `transpose ch...
miswart2 is  characters on either side of the cursor on the   screen, *except* when the cursor is at the end of a line, in   which case the two characters before the cursor are exchanged.   While this behavior is perhaps surprising, and certainly   i...
miswart3 is  extensive experimentation   to be what most users want.  This feature is a miswart. 
mod is  vt.,n. 1. Short for `modify' or `modification'.  Very   commonly used --- in fact the full terms are considered markers   that one is being formal.  The plural `mods' is used esp. with   reference to bug fixes or minor design changes in hardw...
mod2 is  {patch} sets or a {diff}.   2. Short for {modulo} but used *only* for its techspeak sense. 
mode is  n. A general state, usually used with an adjective   describing the state.  Use of the word `mode' rather than   `state' implies that the state is extended over time, and   probably also that some activity characteristic of that state is   b...
mode2 is  thesis mode."  In its   jargon sense, `mode' is most often attributed to people, though it is   sometimes applied to programs and inanimate objects. In particular,   see {hack mode}, {day mode}, {night mode}, {demo mode},   {fireworks mode}...
mode3 is  also often hears the verbs `enable' and `disable' used in   connection with jargon modes.  Thus, for example, a sillier way of   saying "I'm going to crash" is "I'm going to enable crash mode   now".  One might also hear a request to "disab...
mode bit is  n. A {flag}, usually in hardware, that selects between   two (usually quite different) modes of operation.  The connotations   are different from {flag} bit in that mode bits are mainly   written during a boot or set-up phase, are seldom...
mode bit2 is  lifetime of an ordinary program.  The   classic example was the EBCDIC-vs.-ASCII bit (#12) of the Program   Status Word of the IBM 360.  Another was the bit on a PDP-12 that   controlled whether it ran the PDP-8 or the LINC instruction ...
modulo is  /mo'dyu-loh/ prep. Except for.  From mathematical   terminology; one can consider saying that 4 = 22 except for   the 9s (4 = 22 mod 9).  "Well, LISP seems to work okay now,   modulo that {GC} bug."  "I feel fine today modulo a slight   he...
molly-guard is  /mol'ee-gard/ [University of Illinois] n. A shield   to prevent tripping of some {Big Red Switch} by clumsy or   ignorant hands.  Originally used of some plexiglass covers   improvised for the BRS on an IBM 4341 after a programmer's t...
molly-guard2 is  twice in one day.  Later   generalized to covers over stop/reset switches on disk drives and   networking equipment. 
Mongolian Hordes technique is  n. Development by {gang bang}   (poss. from the Sixties counterculture expression `Mongolian   clusterfuck' for a public orgy).  Implies that large numbers of   inexperienced programmers are being put on a job better pe...
Mongolian Hordes technique2 is  `Chinese Army technique';   see also {Brooks's Law}. 
monkey up is  vt. To hack together hardware for a particular task,   especially a one-shot job.  Connotes an extremely {crufty} and   consciously temporary solution.  Compare {hack up}, {kluge up},   {cruft together}, {cruft together}.
monkey, scratch is  n.  See {scratch monkey}.
monstrosity is  1. n. A ridiculously {elephantine} program or system,   esp. one that is buggy or only marginally functional.  2. The   quality of being monstrous (see `Overgeneralization' in the discussion   of jargonification).  See also {baroque}.
Moof is  /moof/ [MAC users] n. The Moof or `dogcow' is a   semi-legendary creature that lurks in the depths of the Macintosh   Technical Notes Hypercard stack V3.1; specifically, the full story   of the dogcow is told in technical note #31 (the parti...
Moof2 is  `Clarus').  Option-shift-click will   cause it to emit a characteristic `Moof!' or `!fooM' sound.   *Getting* to tech note 31 is the hard part; to discover how   to do that, one must needs examine the stack script with a hackerly   eye.  Cl...
Moof3 is  if you   choose `Page Setup...' with a LaserWriter selected and click on   the `Options' button. 
Moore's Law is  /morz law/ prov. The observation that the logic   density of silicon integrated circuits has closely followed the   curve (bits per square inch)  = 2^{(n - 1962)}; that is, the   amount of information storable in one square inch of si...
Moore's Law2 is  since the technology was   invented.  See also {Parkinson's Law of Data}. 
moria is  /mor'ee-*/ n. Like {nethack} and {rogue}, one of the   large PD Dungeons-and-Dragons-like simulation games, available for   a wide range of machines and operating systems.  Extremely   addictive and a major consumer of time better used for ...
MOTAS is  /moh-toz/ [USENET: Member Of The Appropriate Sex, after   {MOTOS} and {MOTSS}] n. A potential or (less often) actual sex   partner.  See also {SO}.
MOTOS is  /moh-tohs/ [acronym from the 1970 U.S. census forms via   USENET: Member Of The Opposite Sex] n. A potential or (less often)   actual sex partner.  See {MOTAS}, {MOTSS}, {SO}.  Less   common than MOTSS or {MOTAS}, which have largely displac...
MOTSS is  /mots/ or /M-O-T-S-S/ [from the 1970 U.S. census forms   via USENET, Member Of The Same Sex] n. Esp. one considered as a   possible sexual partner.  The gay-issues newsgroup on USENET is   called soc.motss.  See {MOTOS} and {MOTAS}, which d...
mouse ahead is  vi. Point-and-click analog of `type ahead'.  To   manipulate a computer's pointing device (almost always a mouse in   this usage, but not necessarily) and its selection or command   buttons before a computer program is ready to accept...
mouse ahead2 is  accepting the input.  Handling this   properly is rare, but it can help make a {WIMP environment} much   more usable, assuming the users are familiar with the behavior of the   user interface. 
mouse around is  vi. To explore public portions of a large system, esp.   a network such as Internet via {FTP} or {TELNET}, looking for   interesting stuff to {snarf}.
mouse belt is  n. See {rat belt}.
mouse droppings is  [MS-DOS] n. Pixels (usually single) that are not   properly restored when the mouse pointer moves away from a   particular location on the screen, producing the appearance that   the mouse pointer has left droppings behind.  The m...
mouse droppings2 is  that write to the screen memory   corresponding to the mouse pointer's current location without   hiding the mouse pointer first, and mouse drivers that do not quite   support the graphics mode in use. 
mouse elbow is  n. A tennis-elbow-like fatigue syndrome resulting from   excessive use of a {WIMP environment}.  Similarly, `mouse   shoulder'; GLS reports that he used to get this a lot before he   taught himself to be ambimoustrous.
mouso is  /mow'soh/ n. [by analogy with `typo'] An error in mouse usage   resulting in an inappropriate selection or graphic garbage on the   screen.  Compare {thinko}, {braino}.

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

random numbers2 is  as `the least random number'; see 23.     23          Sacred number of Eris, Goddess of Discord (along with 17 and 5).     42          The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and          Everything. (Note that ...
random numbers3 is  69          From the sexual act.  This one was favored in MIT's ITS culture.     105          69 hex = 105 decimal, and 69 decimal = 105 octal.     666          The Number of the Beast.   For further enlightenment, consult the `Pr...
random numbers4 is  to the Galaxy', `The Joy of Sex',   and the Christian Bible (Revelation 138).  See also   {Discordianism} or consult your pineal gland.   One common rhetorical maneuver uses any of the canonical random   numbers as placeholders fo...
random numbers5 is  arguments, for arbitrary values of 42." "There are 69 ways   to leave your lover, for 69 = 50."  This is especially likely when   the speaker has uttered a random number and realizes that it was   not recognized as such, but even ...
random numbers6 is  this fashion.  A related joke is that pi   equals 3 --- for small values of pi and large values of 3. 
randomness is  n. An inexplicable misfeature; gratuitous inelegance.   Also, a {hack} or {crock} that depends on a complex   combination of coincidences (or, possibly, the combination upon   which the crock depends for its accidental failure to malfu...
randomness2 is  40--57 by putting the character   in the four-bit accumulator field of an XCT and then extracting six bits   --- the low 2 bits of the XCT opcode are the right thing." "What   randomness!" 
rape is  vt. 1. To {screw} someone or something, violently; in   particular, to destroy a program or information irrecoverably.   Often used in describing file-system damage.  "So-and-so was   running a program that did absolute disk I/O and ended up...
rape2 is  a piece of hardware for parts. 
rare mode is  [UNIX] adj. CBREAK mode (character-by-character with   interrupts enabled).  Distinguished from {raw mode} and `cooked   mode'; the phrase "a sort of half-cooked (rare?) mode" is used   in the V7/BSD manuals to describe the mode.  Usage...
raster blaster is  n. [Cambridge] Specialized hardware for   {bitblt} operations (a {blitter}).  Allegedly inspired by   `Rasta Blasta', British slang for the sort of portable stereo   Americans call a `boom box' or `ghetto blaster'.
raster burn is  n. Eyestrain brought on by too many hours of looking at   low-res, poorly tuned, or glare-ridden monitors, esp. graphics   monitors.  See {terminal illness}.
rat belt is  n. A cable tie, esp. the sawtoothed, self-locking plastic   kind that you can remove only by cutting (as opposed to a random   twist of wire or a twist tie or one of those humongous metal clip   frobs).  Small cable ties are `mouse belts...
rave is  [WPI] vi. 1. To persist in discussing a specific subject.   2. To speak authoritatively on a subject about which one knows   very little.  3. To complain to a person who is not in a position   to correct the difficulty.  4. To purposely anno...
rave2 is  evangelize.  See {flame}.  6. Also used to   describe a less negative form of blather, such as friendly   bullshitting.  `Rave' differs slightly from {flame} in that   `rave' implies that it is the persistence or obliviousness of the   pers...
rave3 is  implies somewhat   more strongly that the tone is offensive as well. 
rave on! is  imp. Sarcastic invitation to continue a {rave}, often by   someone who wishes the raver would get a clue but realizes this is   unlikely.
ravs is  /ravz/, also `Chinese ravs' n. Jiao-zi (steamed or   boiled) or Guo-tie (pan-fried).  A Chinese appetizer, known   variously in the plural as dumplings, pot stickers (the literal   translation of guo-tie), and (around Boston) `Peking Ravioli...
ravs2 is  which among hackers always   means the Chinese kind rather than the Italian kind.  Both consist   of a filling in a pasta shell, but the Chinese kind includes no   cheese, uses a thinner pasta, has a pork-vegetable filling (good   ones incl...
ravs3 is  either by   steaming or frying.  A rav or dumpling can be cooked any way, but a   potsticker is always the fried kind (so called because it sticks to   the frying pot and has to be scraped off).  "Let's get   hot-and-sour soup and three ord...
raw mode is  n. A mode that allows a program to transfer bits directly   to or from an I/O device without any processing, abstraction, or   interpretation by the operating system.  Compare {rare}.  This is   techspeak under UNIX, jargon elsewhere.
rc file is  /R-C fil/ [UNIX from the startup script   `/etc/rc', but this is commonly believed to have been named   after older scripts to `run commands'] n. Script file containing   startup instructions for an application program (or an entire   ope...
rc file2 is  commands of the   sort that might have been invoked manually once the system was   running but are to be executed automatically each time the system   starts up.  See also {dot file}. 
RE is  /R-E/ n. Common spoken and written shorthand for {regexp}.
read-only user is  n. Describes a {luser} who uses computers almost   exclusively for reading USENET, bulletin boards, and/or email,   rather than writing code or purveying useful information.  See   {twink}, {terminal junkie}, {lurker}.
README file is  n. By convention, the top-level directory of a UNIX   source distribution always contains a file named `README' (or   READ.ME, or rarely ReadMe or some other variant), which is a   hacker's-eye introduction containing a pointer to mor...
README file2 is  miscellaneous revision history notes, etc.   When asked, hackers invariably relate this to the famous scene in   Lewis Carroll's `Alice's Adventures In Wonderland' in which   Alice confronts magic munchies labeled "Eat Me" and "Drink...
real estate is  n. May be used for any critical resource measured in   units of area.  Most frequently used of `chip real estate', the   area available for logic on the surface of an integrated circuit   (see also {nanoacre}).  May also be used of fl...
real estate2 is  on a crowded desktop (whether   physical or electronic). 
real hack is  n. A {crock}.  This is sometimes used affectionately;   see {hack}.
real operating system is  n. The sort the speaker is used to.  People   from the academic community are likely to issue comments like   "System V?  Why don't you use a *real* operating system?",   people from the commercial/industrial UNIX sector are...
real operating system2 is  a *real* operating   system?", and people from IBM object "UNIX?  Why don't   you use a *real* operating system?"  See {holy wars},   {religious issues}, {proprietary}, {Get a real computer!} 
real programmer is  [indirectly, from the book `Real Men Don't   Eat Quiche'] n. A particular sub-variety of hacker one possessed   of a flippant attitude toward complexity that is arrogant even   when justified by experience.  The archetypal `real p...
real programmer2 is  metal} and is very good at same,   remembers the binary opcodes for every machine he has ever   programmed, thinks that HLLs are sissy, and uses a debugger to edit   his code because full-screen editors are for wimps.  Real   Pro...
real programmer3 is  been {bum}med   into a state of {tense}ness just short of rupture.  Real   Programmers never use comments or write documentation "If it was   hard to write", says the Real Programmer, "it should be hard to   understand."  Real Pr...
real programmer4 is  were never in their spec sheets; in fact, they are seldom really   happy unless doing so.  A Real Programmer's code can awe with its   fiendish brilliance, even as its crockishness appalls.  Real   Programmers live on junk food a...
real programmer5 is  walls, and terrify the crap out of other programmers ---   because someday, somebody else might have to try to understand   their code in order to change it.  Their successors generally   consider it a {Good Thing} that there are...
real programmer6 is  For a famous (and somewhat more   positive) portrait of a Real Programmer, see "The Story of   Mel" in appendix A. 
Real Soon Now is  [orig. from SF's fanzine community, popularized by   Jerry Pournelle's column in `BYTE'] adv. 1. Supposed to be available   (or fixed, or cheap, or whatever) real soon now according to   somebody, but the speaker is quite skeptical....
Real Soon Now2 is  commitments permit one to get to it (in other   words, don't hold your breath).  Often abbreviated RSN. 
real time is  1. [techspeak] adj. Describes an application which requires a   program to respond to stimuli within some small upper limit of   response time (typically milli- or microseconds).  Process control   at a chemical plant is the classic exa...
real time2 is  special operating systems (because everything else   must take a back seat to response time) and speed-tuned hardware.   2. adv. In jargon, refers to doing something while people are watching   or waiting.  "I asked her how to find the...
real time3 is  stack and she came up with an algorithm in   real time." 
real user is  n. 1. A commercial user.  One who is paying *real*   money for his computer usage.  2. A non-hacker.  Someone using the   system for an explicit purpose (a research project, a course, etc.)   other than pure exploration.  See {user}.  H...
real user2 is  real users.  "I need this fixed so I can do a   problem set.  I'm not complaining out of randomness, but as a real   user."  See also {luser}. 
Real World is  n. 1. Those institutions at which `programming' may   be used in the same sentence as `FORTRAN', `{COBOL}',   `RPG', `{IBM}', `DBASE', etc.  Places where programs do such   commercially necessary but intellectually uninspiring things a...
Real World2 is  2. The location of   non-programmers and activities not related to programming.  3. A   bizarre dimension in which the standard dress is shirt and tie and   in which a person's working hours are defined as 9 to 5 (see   {code grinder}...
Real World3 is  fellow, he's left MIT and gone into the Real World."  Used   pejoratively by those not in residence there.  In conversation,   talking of someone who has entered the Real World is not unlike   speaking of a deceased person.  See also ...
reality check is  n. 1. The simplest kind of test of software or   hardware; doing the equivalent of asking it what 2 + 2 is   and seeing if you get 4.  The software equivalent of a   {smoke test}.  2. The act of letting a {real user} try out   proto...
reaper is  n. A {prowler} that {GFR}s files.  A file removed in   this way is said to have been `reaped'.
rectangle slinger is  n. See {polygon pusher}.
recursion is  n. See {recursion}.  See also {tail recursion}.
recursive acronym is  pl.n. A hackish (and especially MIT) tradition   is to choose acronyms that refer humorously to themselves or to   other acronyms.  The classic examples were two MIT editors called   EINE ("EINE Is Not EMACS") and ZWEI ("ZWEI Wa...
recursive acronym2 is  a Scheme compiler called   LIAR (Liar Imitates Apply Recursively), and {GNU} (q.v.,   sense 1) stands for "GNU's Not UNIX!" --- and a company with   the name CYGNUS, which expands to "Cygnus, Your GNU Support".   See also {mung...
Red Book is  n. 1. Informal name for one of the three standard   references on PostScript (`PostScript Language Reference   Manual', Adobe Systems (Addison-Wesley, 1985; QA76.73.P67P67; ISBN   0-201-10174-2); the others are known as the {Green Book} ...
Red Book2 is  one of the 3 standard   references on Smalltalk (`Smalltalk-80 The Interactive   Programming Environment' by Adele Goldberg (Addison-Wesley, 1984;   QA76.8.S635G638; ISBN 0-201-11372-4); this too is associated with   blue and green book...
Red Book3 is    CCITT eighth plenary assembly.  Until now, these have changed color   each review cycle (1988 was {Blue Book}, 1992 will be {Green   Book}); however, it is rumored that this convention is going to be   dropped before 1992.  These incl...
Red Book4 is  and the Group 1 through 4 fax standards.  4. The   new version of the {Green Book} (sense 4) --- IEEE 1003.1-1990, a.k.a   ISO 9945-1 --- is (because of the color and the fact that it is   printed on A4 paper) known in the U.S.A. as "th...
Red Book5 is  and in Europe as "the Ugly Red Book   That's A Sensible Size".  5. The NSA `Trusted Network   Interpretation' companion to the {Orange Book}.  See also   {{book titles}}. 
regexp is  /reg'eksp/ [UNIX] n. (alt. `regex' or `reg-ex')   1. Common written and spoken abbreviation for `regular   expression', one of the wildcard patterns used, e.g., by UNIX   utilities such as `grep(1)', `sed(1)', and `awk(1)'.   These use con...
regexp2 is  those   described under {glob}.  For purposes of this lexicon, it is   sufficient to note that regexps also allow complemented character   sets using `^'; thus, one can specify `any non-alphabetic   character' with `[^A-Za-z]'.  2. Name o...
regexp3 is  portable C, written by revered USENETter   Henry Spencer (henry@zoo.toronto.edu). 
reinvent the wheel is  v. To design or implement a tool equivalent to   an existing one or part of one, with the implication that doing so   is silly or a waste of time.  This is often a valid criticism.   On the other hand, automobiles don't use woo...
reinvent the wheel2 is  be reinvented many times before you get them   right.  On the third hand, people reinventing the wheel do tend to   come up with the moral equivalent of a trapezoid with an offset   axle. 
religious issues is  n. Questions which seemingly cannot be raised   without touching off {holy wars}, such as "What is the best   operating system (or editor, language, architecture, shell, mail   reader, news reader)?", "What about that Heinlein gu...
religious issues2 is  Jargon File?"  See {holy wars};   see also {theology}, {bigot}.   This term is an example of {ha ha only serious}.  People   actually develop the most amazing and religiously intense   attachments to their tools, even when the t...
religious issues3 is  thing one can do when one stumbles into the   crossfire is mumble {Get a life!} and leave --- unless, of course,   one's *own* unassailably rational and obviously correct   choices are being slammed. 
replicator is  n. Any construct that acts to produce copies of itself;   this could be a living organism, an idea (see {meme}), a program   (see {worm}, {wabbit}, and {virus}), a pattern in a cellular   automaton (see {life}, sense 1), or (speculativ...
replicator2 is  claimed by some that {{UNIX}} and {C}   are the symbiotic halves of an extremely successful replicator; see   {UNIX conspiracy}. 
reply is  n. See {followup}.
reset is  [the MUD community] v. In AberMUD, to bring all dead mobiles   to life and move items back to their initial starting places. New   players who can't find anything shout "Reset! Reset!" quite a bit.   Higher-level players shout back "No way!...
reset2 is  found.  Used in {RL}, it means to put things back   to the way they were when you found them. 
restriction is  n. A {bug} or design error that limits a program's   capabilities, and which is sufficiently egregious that nobody can   quite work up enough nerve to describe it as a {feature}.  Often   used (esp. by {marketroid} types) to make it s...
restriction2 is  been intended by the designers all   along, or was forced upon them by arcane technical constraints of a   nature no mere user could possibly comprehend (these claims are   almost invariably false).   Old-time hacker Joseph M. Newcom...
restriction3 is  quantifiable but arbitrary restriction, you should make it either a   power of 2 or a power of 2 minus 1.  If you impose a limit of   17 items in a list, everyone will know it is a random number --- on   the other hand, a limit of 15...
restriction4 is  0- or 1-based indexing in binary) and you will get less   {flamage} for it.  Limits which are round numbers in base 10 are   always especially suspect. 
retcon is  /ret'kon/ [`retroactive continuity', from the USENET   newsgroup rec.arts.comics] 1. n. The common situation in pulp   fiction (esp. comics or soap operas) where a new story `reveals'   things about events in previous stories, usually leav...
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...

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

tourist information2 is  for at any given time.  The `bytes free   information at the bottom of an MS-DOS `dir display is   tourist information; so (most of the time) is the TIME information   in a UNIX `ps(1) display. 
touristic is  adj. Having the quality of a {tourist}.  Often used   as a pejorative, as in `losing touristic scum.  Often spelled   `turistic or `turistik, so that phrase might be more properly   rendered `lusing turistic scum.
toy is  n. A computer system; always used with qualifiers.   1. `nice toy One that supports the speakers hacking style   adequately.  2. `just a toy A machine that yields   insufficient {computron}s for the speakers preferred uses.  This   is not con...
toy2 is  least be fun.   It is also strongly conditioned by ones expectations; Cray XMP   users sometimes consider the Cray-1 a `toy, and certainly all RISC   boxes and mainframes are toys by their standards.  See also {Get   a real computer!}. 
toy language is  n. A language useful for instructional purposes or   as a proof-of-concept for some aspect of computer-science theory,   but inadequate for general-purpose programming.  {Bad Thing}s   can result when a toy language is promoted as a ...
toy language2 is  (see {bondage-and-discipline   language}); the classic example is {{Pascal}}.  Several moderately   well-known formalisms for conceptual tasks such as programming Turing   machines also qualify as toy languages in a less negative se...
toy problem is  [AI] n. A deliberately oversimplified case of a   challenging problem used to investigate, prototype, or test   algorithms for a real problem.  Sometimes used pejoratively.  See   also {gedanken}, {toy program}.
toy program is  n. 1. One that can be readily comprehended; hence, a   trivial program (compare {noddy}).  2. One for which the effort   of initial coding dominates the costs through its life cycle.   See also {noddy}.
trampoline is  n. An incredibly {hairy} technique, found in some   {HLL} and program-overlay implementations (e.g., on the   Macintosh), that involves on-the-fly generation of small executable   (and, likely as not, self-modifying) code objects to do...
trampoline2 is  pieces of {live data} are called   `trampolines.  Trampolines are notoriously difficult to understand   in action; in fact, it is said by those who use this term that the   trampoline that doesnt bend your brain is not the true   tram...
trap is  1. n. A program interrupt, usually an interrupt caused by   some exceptional situation in the user program.  In most cases, the   OS performs some action, then returns control to the program.   2. vi. To cause a trap.  "These instructions tr...
trap2 is  to indicate the cause of the   trap.  "The monitor traps all input/output instructions."   This term is associated with assembler programming (`interrupt   or `exception is more common among {HLL} programmers) and   appears to be fading int...
trap3 is  assembler continues to shrink.  However, it is still important to   computer architects and systems hackers (see {system},   sense 1), who use it to distinguish deterministically repeatable   exceptions from timing-dependent ones (such as I...
trap door is  alt. `trapdoor n. 1. Syn. {back door}.   2. [techspeak] A `trap-door function is one which is easy to   compute but very difficult to compute the inverse of.  Such   functions have important applications in cryptography, specifically   ...
trash is  vt. To destroy the contents of (said of a data structure).   The most common of the family of near-synonyms including {mung},   {mangle}, and {scribble}.
tree-killer is  [Sun] n. 1. A printer.  2. A person who wastes paper.   This should be interpreted in a broad sense; `wasting paper   includes the production of {spiffy} but {content-free} documents.   Thus, most {suit}s are tree-killers.
trit is  /trit/ [by analogy with `bit] n. One base-3 digit; the   amount of information conveyed by a selection among one of three   equally likely outcomes (see also {bit}).  These arise, for   example, in the context of a {flag} that should actuall...
trit2 is  as yes, no, or unknown.  Trits are   sometimes jokingly called `3-state bits.  A trit may be   semi-seriously referred to as `a bit and a half, although it is   linearly equivalent to 1.5849625 bits (that is,   log2(3)   bits). 
trivial is  adj. 1. Too simple to bother detailing.  2. Not worth the   speakers time.  3. Complex, but solvable by methods so well known   that anyone not utterly {cretinous} would have thought of them   already.  4. Any problem one has already solv...
trivial2 is  evaluates to `Ive seen it before).   Hackers notions of triviality may be quite at variance with those   of non-hackers.  See {nontrivial}, {uninteresting}. 
troglodyte is  [Commodore] n. 1. A hacker who never leaves his   cubicle.  The term `Gnoll (from Dungeons & Dragons) is also   reported.  2. A curmudgeon attached to an obsolescent computing   environment.  The combination `ITS troglodyte was flung a...
troglodyte2 is  wringle-wrangle attending the   2.x.x revision of the Jargon File; at least one of the people it   was intended to describe adopted it with pride. 
troglodyte mode is  [Rice University] n. Programming with the lights   turned off, sunglasses on, and the terminal inverted (black on   white) because youve been up for so many days straight that your   eyes hurt (see {raster burn}).  Loud music blar...
troglodyte mode2 is  optional but recommended.  See {larval   stage}, {hack mode}. 
Trojan horse is  [coined by MIT-hacker-turned-NSA-spook Dan Edwards]   n. A program designed to break security or damage a system that is   disguised as something else benign, such as a directory lister,   archiver, a game, or (in one notorious 1990 ...
Trojan horse2 is  destroy viruses!  See {back door}, {virus},   {worm}. 
true-hacker is  [analogy with `trufan from SF fandom] n. One who   exemplifies the primary values of hacker culture, esp. competence   and helpfulness to other hackers.  A high compliment.  "He spent   6 hours helping me bring up UUCP and netnews on ...
true-hacker2 is  act of a true-hacker."  Compare   {demigod}, oppose {munchkin}. 
tty is  /T-T-Y/ [UNIX], /titee/ [ITS, but some UNIX people say it   this way as well; this pronunciation is not considered to have   sexual undertones] n. 1. A terminal of the teletype variety,   characterized by a noisy mechanical printer, a very li...
tty2 is   Usage antiquated (like the   TTYs themselves).  See also {bit-paired keyboard}.   2. [especially UNIX] Any terminal at all; sometimes used to refer   to the particular terminal controlling a given job. 
tube is  1. n. A CRT terminal.  Never used in the mainstream sense of   TV; real hackers dont watch TV, except for Loony Toons, Rocky &   Bullwinkle, Trek Classic, the Simpsons, and the occasional cheesy   old swashbuckler movie (see appendix B).  2....
tube2 is  someone elses terminal.  "Tube me that   note?" 
tube time is  n. Time spent at a terminal or console.  More inclusive   than hacking time; commonly used in discussions of what parts of   ones environment one uses most heavily.  "I find Im spending too   much of my tube time reading mail since I st...
tunafish is  n. In hackish lore, refers to the mutated punchline of   an age-old joke to be found at the bottom of the manual pages of   `tunefs(8) in the original {BSD} 4.2 distribution.  The   joke was removed in later releases once commercial site...
tunafish2 is  to the `tuning of   file-system parameters for optimum performance, and at the bottom   of a few pages of wizardly inscriptions was a `BUGS section   consisting of the line "You can tune a file system, but you cant   tunafish".  Variant...
tunafish3 is  though it has been excised from some versions by humorless   management {droid}s.  The [nt]roff source for SunOS 4.1.1   contains a comment apparently designed to prevent this "Take this   out and a Unix Demon will dog your steps from n...
tune is  [from automotive or musical usage] vt. To optimize a program   or system for a particular environment, esp. by adjusting numerical   parameters designed as {hook}s for tuning, e.g., by changing   `#define lines in C.  One may `tune for time ...
tune2 is  memory use), or   `tune for configuration (most efficient use of hardware).  See   {bum}, {hot spot}, {hand-hacking}. 
turbo nerd is  n. See {computer geek}.
turist is  /toorist/ n. Var. sp. of {tourist}, q.v.  Also in   adjectival form, `turistic.  Poss. influenced by {luser} and   `Turing.
tweak is  vt. 1. To change slightly, usually in reference to a value.   Also used synonymously with {twiddle}.  If a program is almost   correct, rather than figure out the precise problem you might   just keep tweaking it until it works.  See {frobn...
tweak2 is  debugging}.  2. To {tune}   or {bum} a program; preferred usage in the U.K. 
TWENEX is  /tweneks/ n. The TOPS-20 operating system by DEC ---   the second proprietary OS for the PDP-10 --- preferred by most   PDP-10 hackers over TOPS-10 (that is, by those who were not   {{ITS}} or {{WAITS}} partisans).  TOPS-20 began in 1969 a...
TWENEX2 is  system using special paging   hardware.  By the early 1970s, almost all of the systems on the   ARPANET ran TENEX.  DEC purchased the rights to TENEX from BBN and   began work to make it their own.  The first in-house code name for   the ...
TWENEX3 is  Operating System);   when customers started asking questions, the name was changed to   SNARK so DEC could truthfully deny that there was any project   called VIROS.  When the name SNARK became known, the name was   briefly reversed to be...
TWENEX4 is  it was discovered that `krans meant `funeral shroud in   Swedish.  Ultimately DEC picked TOPS-20 as the name of the   operating system, and it was as TOPS-20 that it was marketed.  The   hacker community, mindful of its origins, quickly d...
TWENEX5 is  TENEX), even though by this   point very little of the original TENEX code remained (analogously   to the differences between AT&T V6 UNIX and BSD).  DEC people   cringed when they heard "TWENEX", but the term caught on   nevertheless (th...
TWENEX6 is  TWENEX was successful and very popular; in fact, there was a period   in the early 1980s when it commanded as fervent a culture of   partisans as UNIX or ITS --- but DECs decision to scrap all the   internal rivals to the VAX architecture...
TWENEX7 is  DEC-20 and put a sad end to TWENEXs brief day in   the sun.  DEC attempted to convince TOPS-20 hackers to convert to   {VMS}, but instead, by the late 1980s, most of the TOPS-20   hackers had migrated to UNIX. 
twiddle is  n. 1. Tilde (ASCII 1111110, `~).  Also   called `squiggle, `sqiggle (sic --- pronounced /skigl/),   and `twaddle, but twiddle is the most common term.  2. A small   and insignificant change to a program.  Usually fixes one bug and   gener...
twiddle2 is  something in a small   way.  Bits, for example, are often twiddled.  Twiddling a switch or   knob implies much less sense of purpose than toggling or tweaking   it; see {frobnicate}.  To speak of twiddling a bit connotes   aimlessness, a...
twiddle3 is  the   bit; `toggling a bit has a more specific meaning (see {bit   twiddling}, {toggle}). 
twink is  /twink/ [UCSC] n. Equivalent to {read-only user}.  Also   reported on the USENET group soc.motss; may derive from gay   slang for a cute young thing with nothing upstairs.
two pi is  quant. The number of years it takes to finish ones   thesis.  Occurs in stories in the following form "He started on   his thesis; 2 pi years later..."
two-to-the-N is  quant. An amount much larger than {N} but smaller   than {infinity}.  "I have 2-to-the-N things to do before I can   go out for lunch" means you probably wont show up.
twonkie is  /twonkee/ n. The software equivalent of a Twinkie (a   variety of sugar-loaded junk food, or (in gay slang) the male   equivalent of `chick); a useless `feature added to look sexy   and placate a {marketroid} (compare {Saturday-night   sp...
twonkie2 is  Twonky", title menace   of a classic SF short story by Lewis Padgett (Henry Kuttner and   C. L. Moore), first published in the September 1942   `Astounding Science Fiction and subsequently much   anthologized.*UBD /U-B-D/ [abbreviation f...
twonkie3 is  to close out trouble reports obviously due to   utter cluelessness on the user's part.  Compare {pilot error};   oppose {PBD}; see also {brain-damaged}. 
UN*X is  n. Used to refer to the UNIX operating system (a trademark of   AT&T) in writing, but avoiding the need for the ugly   {(TM)} typography.   Also used to refer to any or all varieties of Unixoid operating   systems.  Ironically, lawyers now s...
UN*X2 is  TM-postfix has no legal force, but the asterisk usage   is entrenched anyhow.  It has been suggested that there may be a   psychological connection to practice in certain religions   (especially Judaism) in which the name of the deity is ne...
UN*X3 is  `G--d' is used.  See also   {glob}. 
undefined external reference is  excl. [UNIX] A message from UNIX's   linker.  Used in speech to flag loose ends or dangling references   in an argument or discussion.
under the hood is  prep. [hot-rodder talk] 1. Used to introduce the   underlying implementation of a product (hardware, software, or   idea).  Implies that the implementation is not intuitively obvious   from the appearance, but the speaker is about ...
under the hood2 is  now look under the hood to see   how ...." 2. Can also imply that the implementation is much   simpler than the appearance would indicate "Under the hood, we   are just fork/execing the shell."  3. Inside a chassis, as in   "Under...
undocumented feature is  n. See {feature}.
uninteresting is  adj. 1. Said of a problem that, although   {nontrivial}, can be solved simply by throwing sufficient   resources at it.  2. Also said of problems for which a solution   would neither advance the state of the art nor be fun to design...
uninteresting2 is  problems as intolerable wastes of   time, to be solved (if at all) by lesser mortals.  *Real*   hackers (see {toolsmith}) generalize uninteresting problems   enough to make them interesting and solve them --- thus solving the   ori...
uninteresting3 is  {SMOP};   compare {toy problem}, oppose {interesting}. 
UNIX is  /yoo'niks/ [In the authors' words, "A weak pun on   Multics"] n. (also `Unix') An interactive time-sharing system   originally invented in 1969 by Ken Thompson after Bell Labs left   the Multics project, originally so he could play games on ...
UNIX2 is  inventor of C, is considered   a co-author of the system.  The turning point in UNIX's history   came when it was reimplemented almost entirely in C during   1972--1974, making it the first source-portable OS.  UNIX   subsequently underwent...
UNIX3 is  many different people, resulting in a uniquely flexible and   developer-friendly environment.  In 1991, UNIX is the most widely   used multiuser general-purpose operating system in the world.  Many   people consider this the most important ...
UNIX4 is  opposition (but see {UNIX weenie} and {UNIX   conspiracy} for an opposing point of view).  See {Version 7},   {BSD}, {USG UNIX}. 
UNIX brain damage is  n. Something that has to be done to break a     network program (typically a mailer) on a non-UNIX system so that   it will interoperate with UNIX systems. The hack may qualify as   `UNIX brain damage' if the program conforms to...
UNIX brain damage2 is  question does not.  UNIX brain damage   happens because it is much easier for other (minority) systems to   change their ways to match non-conforming behavior than it is to   change all the hundreds of thousands of UNIX systems...
UNIX brain damage3 is  is a {kluge} in a mail server to    recognize bare line feed (the UNIX newline) as an equivalent form   to the Internet standard newline, which is a carriage return   followed by a line feed.  Such things can make even a harden...
UNIX conspiracy is  [ITS] n. According to a conspiracy theory long   popular among {{ITS}} and {{TOPS-20}} fans, UNIX's growth is the   result of a plot, hatched during the 1970s at Bell Labs, whose   intent was to hobble AT&T's competitors by making...
UNIX conspiracy2 is  evolution was to be under AT&T's   control.  This would be accomplished by disseminating an operating   system that is apparently inexpensive and easily portable, but also   relatively unreliable and insecure (so as to require co...
UNIX conspiracy3 is  was lent a substantial impetus   in 1984 by the paper referenced in the {back door} entry.   In this view, UNIX was designed to be one of the first computer   viruses (see {virus}) --- but a virus spread to computers indirectly  ...
UNIX conspiracy4 is  directly through disks and   networks.  Adherents of this `UNIX virus' theory like to cite the   fact that the well-known quotation "UNIX is snake oil" was   uttered by DEC president Kenneth Olsen shortly before DEC began   activ...
UNIX conspiracy5 is  workstations.  (Olsen now   claims to have been misquoted.) 
UNIX weenie is  [ITS] n. 1. A derogatory play on `UNIX wizard', common   among hackers who use UNIX by necessity but would prefer   alternatives.  The implication is that although the person in question   may consider mastery of UNIX arcana to be a w...
UNIX weenie2 is  is the ability to tolerate (and the bad   taste to wallow in) the incoherence and needless complexity that is   alleged to infest many UNIX programs.  "This shell script tries to   parse its arguments in 69 bletcherous ways.  It must...
UNIX weenie3 is  2. A derogatory term for anyone   who engages in uncritical praise of UNIX.  Often appearing in the   context "stupid UNIX weenie".  See {Weenix}, {UNIX   conspiracy}.  See also {weenie}. 
unixism is  n. A piece of code or a coding technique that depends on the   protected multi-tasking environment with relatively low   process-spawn overhead that exists on virtual-memory UNIX systems.   Common {unixism}s include gratuitous use of `for...
unixism2 is  undocumented but well-known features of   UNIX libraries such as `stdio(3)' are supported elsewhere;   reliance on {obscure} side-effects of system calls (use of   `sleep(2)' with a 0 argument to clue the scheduler that   you're willing ...
unixism3 is  assumption that freshly allocated memory is zeroed; and the assumption   that fragmentation problems won't arise from never `free()'ing   memory.  Compare {vaxocentrism}; see also {New Jersey}. 
unswizzle is  v. See {swizzle}.
unwind the stack is  vi. 1. [techspeak] During the execution of a   procedural language, one is said to `unwind the stack' from a   called procedure up to a caller when one discards the stack frame   and any number of frames above it, popping back up...
unwind the stack2 is  this is done with   `longjmp'/`setjmp', in LISP with `throw/catch'.   See also {smash the stack}.  2. People can unwind the stack as   well, by quickly dealing with a bunch of problems "Oh heck, let's   do lunch.  Just a second ...
unwind-protect is  [MIT from the name of a LISP operator] n. A task you   must remember to perform before you leave a place or finish a   project.  "I have an unwind-protect to call my advisor."
up is  adj. 1. Working, in order.  "The down escalator is up."   Oppose {down}.  2. `bring up' vt. To create a working   version and start it.  "They brought up a down system."    3. `come up' vi. To become ready for production use.
upload is  /uhp'lohd/ v. 1. [techspeak] To transfer programs or data   over a digital communications link from a smaller or peripheral   `client' system to a larger or central `host' one.  A transfer in   the other direction is, of course, called a {...
upload2 is  ground-to-space comm under that entry).   2. [speculatively] To move the essential patterns and algorithms   that make up one's mind from one's brain into a computer.  Only   those who are convinced that such patterns and algorithms captu...
upload3 is  prospect with   gusto. 
upthread is  adv. Earlier in the discussion (see {thread}), i.e.,   `above'. "As Joe pointed out upthread, ..."  See also   {followup}.
urchin is  n. See {munchkin}.
USENET is  /yoos'net/ or /yooz'net/ [from `Users' Network'] n.   A distributed {bboard} (bulletin board) system supported mainly   by UNIX machines.  Originally implemented in 1979-1980 by Steve   Bellovin, Jim Ellis, Tom Truscott, and Steve Daniel a...
USENET2 is  become international in scope   and is now probably the largest decentralized information utility   in existence.  As of early 1991, it hosts well over   700 {newsgroup}s and an average of 16 megabytes (the equivalent   of several thousan...
USENET3 is    discussion, chatter, and {flamage} every day. 
user is  n. 1. Someone doing `real work' with the computer, using   it as a means rather than an end.  Someone who pays to use a   computer.  See {real user}.  2. A programmer who will believe   anything you tell him.  One who asks silly questions.  ...
user2 is  is true that users ask   questions (of necessity).  Sometimes they are thoughtful or deep.   Very often they are annoying or downright stupid, apparently   because the user failed to think for two seconds or look in the   documentation befo...
user3 is  3. Someone who uses a program from the outside, however skillfully,   without getting into the internals of the program.  One who reports   bugs instead of just going ahead and fixing them.   The general theory behind this term is that ther...
user4 is  program there are implementors (hackers)   and {luser}s.  The users are looked down on by hackers to a mild   degree because they don't understand the full ramifications of the   system in all its glory.  (The few users who do are known as ...
user5 is  a skilled hacker   may be a user with respect to some program he himself does not   hack.  A LISP hacker might be one who maintains LISP or one who   uses LISP (but with the skill of a hacker).  A LISP user is one who   uses LISP, whether s...
user6 is  between the two terms; the subtle distinctions must be resolved by   context. 
user-friendly is  adj. Programmer-hostile.  Generally used by hackers in   a critical tone, to describe systems that hold the user's hand so   obsessively that they make it painful for the more experienced and   knowledgeable to get any work done.  S...
user-friendly2 is  {Macintrash}, {user-obsequious}. 
user-obsequious is  adj. Emphatic form of {user-friendly}.  Connotes   a system so verbose, inflexible, and determinedly simple-minded   that it is nearly unusable.  "Design a system any fool can use and   only a fool will want to use it."  See {WIMP...
USG UNIX is  /U-S-G yoo'niks/ n. Refers to AT&T UNIX   commercial versions after {Version 7}, especially System III and   System V releases 1, 2, and 3.  So called because during most of   the life-span of those versions AT&T's support crew was calle...
UTSL is  // [UNIX] n. On-line acronym for `Use the Source, Luke' (a   pun on Obi-Wan Kenobi's "Use the Force, Luke!" in `Star   Wars') --- analogous to {RTFM} but more polite.  This is a   common way of suggesting that someone would be best off readi...
UTSL2 is  feature is causing confusion,   rather than making yet another futile pass through the manuals or   broadcasting questions that haven't attracted {wizard}s to   answer them.  In theory, this is appropriately directed only at   associates of...
UTSL3 is  practice,   bootlegs of UNIX source code (made precisely for reference   purposes) are so ubiquitous that one may utter this at almost   anyone on {the network} without concern.  In the near future   (this written in 1991) source licenses m...
UTSL4 is  recent release of the Mach 3.0 microkernal,   given the continuing efforts of the {GNU} project, and with the   4.4BSD release on the horizon, complete free source code for   UNIX-clone toolsets and kernels should soon be widely available. 
UUCPNET is  n. The store-and-forward network consisting of all the   world's connected UNIX machines (and others running some clone of   the UUCP (UNIX-to-UNIX CoPy) software).  Any machine reachable only   via a {bang path} is on UUCPNET.  See {netw...
UUCPNET2 is  permutation of ADV (i.e.,   {ADVENT}), used to avoid a particular {admin}'s continual   search-and-destroy sweeps for the game] n. A leisure-time activity   of certain hackers involving the covert exploration of the `secret'   parts of l...
UUCPNET3 is  elevators,   maintenance crawlways, steam tunnels, and the like.  A few go so   far as to learn locksmithing in order to synthesize vadding keys.   The verb is `to vad' (compare {phreaking}).   The most extreme and dangerous form of vadd...
UUCPNET4 is  surfing', a sport played by wrasslin'   down a thousand-pound elevator car with a 3-foot piece of   string, and then exploiting this mastery in various stimulating   ways (such as elevator hopping, shaft exploration, rat-racing, and   th...
UUCPNET5 is  try this at home!    See also {hobbit} (sense 2). 
vanilla is  [from the default flavor of ice cream in the U.S.] adj.   Ordinary {flavor}, standard.  When used of food, very often does   not mean that the food is flavored with vanilla extract!  For   example, `vanilla wonton soup' means ordinary won...
vanilla2 is  soup.  Applied to hardware and   software, as in "Vanilla Version 7 UNIX can't run on a   vanilla 11/34."  Also used to orthogonalize chip nomenclature; for   instance, a 74V00 means what TI calls a 7400, as distinct from   a 74LS00, etc...
vanilla3 is  the   latter means `default', whereas vanilla simply means `ordinary'.   For example, when hackers go on a {great-wall}, hot-and-sour   wonton soup is the {canonical} wonton soup to get (because that   is what most of them usually order)...

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

wiggles is  n. [scientific computation] In solving partial differential   equations by finite difference and similar methods, wiggles are   sawtooth (up-down-up-down) oscillations at the shortest wavelength   representable on the grid.  If an algorit...
wiggles2 is  unstable waveform, so it grows to dominate the   solution.  Alternatively, stable (though inaccurate) wiggles can be   generated near a discontinuity by a Gibbs phenomenon. 
WIMP environment is  n. [acronymic from `Window, Icon, Menu, Pointing   device (or Pull-down menu)'] A graphical-user-interface-based   environment such as {X} or the Macintosh interface, as described   by a hacker who prefers command-line interfaces...
WIMP environment2 is  extensibility.  See {menuitis},   {user-obsequious}. 
win is  [MIT] 1. vi. To succeed.  A program wins if no unexpected   conditions arise, or (especially) if it sufficiently {robust} to   take exceptions in stride.  2. n. Success, or a specific instance   thereof.  A pleasing outcome.  A {feature}.  Em...
win2 is  `hyper-win' (often used   interjectively as a reply).  For some reason `suitable win' is   also common at MIT, usually in reference to a satisfactory solution   to a problem.  Oppose {lose}; see also {big win}, which isn't   quite just an in...
win big is  vi. To experience serendipity.  "I went shopping and won   big; there was a 2-for-1 sale." See {big win}.
win win is  interj. Expresses pleasure at a {win}.
Winchester is  n. Informal generic term for `floating-head'   magnetic-disk drives in which the read-write head planes over the   disk surface on an air cushion.  The name arose because the   original 1973 engineering prototype for what later became ...
Winchester2 is  volumes; 30--30 became   `Winchester' when somebody noticed the similarity to the common   term for a famous Winchester rifle (in the latter, the first 30   referred to caliber and the second to the grain weight of the   charge). 
winged comments is  n. Comments set on the same line as code, as   opposed to {boxed comments}.  In C, for example     d = sqrt(x*x + y*y);  /* distance from origin */   Generally these refer only to the action(s) taken on that line.
winkey is  n. (alt. `winkey face')  See {emoticon}.
winnage is  /win'*j/ n. The situation when a lossage is corrected, or   when something is winning.
winner is  1. n. An unexpectedly good situation, program, programmer,   or person.  "So it turned out I could use a {lexer} generator   instead of hand-coding my own pattern recognizer.  What a win!"   2. `real winner' Often sarcastic, but also used ...
winner2 is  {user}). "He's a real winner --- never   reports a bug till he can duplicate it and send in an   example." 
winnitude is  /win'*-t[y]ood/ n. The quality of winning (as opposed   to {winnage}, which is the result of winning).  "Guess what?   They tweaked the microcode and now the LISP interpreter runs twice   as fast as it used to." "That's really great!  B...
winnitude2 is  a half-hour's winnage on the   next run of my program."  Perhaps curiously, the obvious antonym   `lossitude' is rare. 
wired is  n. See {hardwired}.
wirehead is  /wir'hed/ n. [prob. from SF slang for an   electrical-brain-stimulation addict] 1. A hardware hacker,   especially one who concentrates on communications hardware.  2. An   expert in local-area networks.  A wirehead can be a network   so...
wirehead2 is  ability to deal with   network hardware, down to the smallest component.  Wireheads are   known for their ability to lash up an Ethernet terminator from   spare resistors, for example. 
wish list is  n. A list of desired features or bug fixes that probably   won't get done for a long time, usually because the person   responsible for the code is too busy or can't think of a clean way   to do it.  "OK, I'll add automatic filename com...
wish list2 is  interface." Compare {tick-list features}. 
within delta of is  adj. See {delta}.
within epsilon of is  adj. See {epsilon}.
wizard is  n. 1. A person who knows how a complex piece of software   or hardware works (that is, who {grok}s it); esp. someone who   can find and fix bugs quickly in an emergency.  Someone is a   {hacker} if he or she has general hacking ability, bu...
wizard2 is  if he or she has specific detailed   knowledge of that thing.  A good hacker could become a wizard for   something given the time to study it.  2. A person who is permitted   to do things forbidden to ordinary people; one who has {wheel} ...
wizard3 is  esp. a UNIX systems   programmer.  This usage is well enough established that `UNIX   Wizard' is a recognized job title at some corporations and to most   headhunters.  See {guru}, {lord high fixer}.  See also   {deep magic}, {heavy wizar...
wizard4 is  dance}, {voodoo programming}, {wave a   dead chicken}. 
Wizard Book is  n. Hal Abelson and Jerry Sussman's `Structure   and Interpretation of Computer Programs' (MIT Press, 1984; ISBN   0-262-01077-1, an excellent computer science text used in   introductory courses at MIT.  So called because of the wizar...
Wizard Book2 is  LISP/Scheme   world. 
wizard mode is  [from {rogue}] n. A special access mode of a program or   system, usually passworded, that permits some users godlike   privileges.  Generally not used for operating systems themselves   (`root mode' or `wheel mode' would be used inst...
wizardly is  adj. Pertaining to wizards.  A wizardly {feature} is one   that only a wizard could understand or use properly.
womb box is  n. 1. [TMRC] Storage space for equipment.  2. [proposed]   A variety of hard-shell equipment case with heavy interior padding   and/or shaped carrier cutouts in a foam-rubber matrix; mundanely   called a `flight case'.  Used for delicate...
WOMBAT is  [Waste Of Money, Brains, And Time] adj. Applied to problems   which are both profoundly {uninteresting} in themselves and   unlikely to benefit anyone interesting even if solved.  Often used   in fanciful constructions such as `wrestling w...
WOMBAT2 is  {SMOP}.  Also note the rather different   usage as a meta-syntactic variable in {{Commonwealth Hackish}}. 
wonky is  /wong'kee/ [from Australian slang] adj. Yet another   approximate synonym for {broken}.  Specifically connotes a   malfunction that produces behavior seen as crazy, humorous, or   amusingly perverse.  "That was the day the printer's font lo...
wonky2 is  out in Tengwar."  Also in   `wonked out'.  See {funky}, {demented}, {bozotic}. 
workaround is  n. A temporary {kluge} inserted in a system under   development or test in order to avoid the effects of a {bug} or   {misfeature} so that work can continue.  Theoretically,   workarounds are always replaced by {fix}es; in practice,   ...
workaround2 is  workarounds in the   first couple of releases.  "The code died on NUL characters in the   input, so I fixed it to interpret them as spaces."  "That's not a   fix, that's a workaround!" 
working as designed is  [IBM] adj. 1. In conformance to a wrong or   inappropriate specification; useful, but misdesigned.   2. Frequently used as a sardonic comment on a program's utility.   3. Unfortunately also used as a bogus reason for not accep...
working as designed2 is  this sense is used in   official documents!  See {BAD}. 
worm is  [from `tapeworm' in John Brunner's novel `The   Shockwave Rider', via XEROX PARC] n. A program that propagates   itself over a network, reproducing itself as it goes.  Compare   {virus}.  Nowadays the term has negative connotations, as it is...
worm2 is  Perhaps the   best-known example was Robert T. Morris's `Internet Worm' of 1988,   a `benign' one that got out of control and hogged hundreds of   Suns and VAXen across the U.S.  See also {cracker}, {RTM},   {Trojan horse}, {ice}. 
wound around the axle is  adj. In an infinite loop.  Often used by older   computer types.
wrap around is  vi. (also n. `wraparound' and v. shorthand `wrap')   1. [techspeak] The action of a counter that starts over at zero or at   `minus infinity' (see {infinity}) after its maximum value has   been reached, and continues incrementing, eit...
wrap around2 is  because of an overflow (as when a car's   odometer starts over at 0).  2. To change {phase} gradually and   continuously by maintaining a steady wake-sleep cycle somewhat   longer than 24 hours, e.g., living six long (28-hour) days i...
wrap around3 is  rate of 10 microhertz). 
write-only code is  [a play on `read-only memory'] n. Code so   arcane, complex, or ill-structured that it cannot be modified or   even comprehended by anyone but its author, and possibly not even   by him/her.  A {Bad Thing}.
write-only language is  n. A language with syntax (or semantics)   sufficiently dense and bizarre that any routine of significant size   is {write-only code}.  A sobriquet applied occasionally to C and   often to APL, though {INTERCAL} and {TECO} cer...
write-only memory is  n. The obvious antonym to `read-only   memory'.  Out of frustration with the long and seemingly useless   chain of approvals required of component specifications, during   which no actual checking seemed to occur, an engineer at...
write-only memory2 is  a write-only memory and included   it with a bunch of other specifications to be approved.  This   inclusion came to the attention of Signetics {management} only   when regular customers started calling and asking for pricing  ...
write-only memory3 is  edition of the data   book and requested the return of the `erroneous' ones.  Later,   around 1974, Signetics bought a double-page spread in `Electronics'   magazine's April issue and used the spec as an April Fools' Day   joke...
write-only memory4 is  characteristic curves, the   25120 "fully encoded, 9046 x N, Random Access, write-only-memory"   data sheet included diagrams of "bit capacity vs. Temp.",   "Iff vs. Vff", "Number of pins remaining vs. number of socket   insert...
write-only memory5 is  required a   6.3 VAC VFF supply, a +10V VCC, and VDD of 0V,   +/- 2%. 
Wrong Thing is  n. A design, action, or decision that is clearly   incorrect or inappropriate.  Often capitalized; always emphasized   in speech as if capitalized.  The opposite of the {Right Thing};   more generally, anything that is not the Right T...
Wrong Thing2 is  of the best', the merely good --- although   good --- is nevertheless the Wrong Thing. "In C, the default is for   module-level declarations to be visible everywhere, rather than   just within the module.  This is clearly the Wrong T...
wugga wugga is  /wuh'g* wuh'g*/ n. Imaginary sound that a computer   program makes as it labors with a tedious or difficult task.   Compare {cruncha cruncha cruncha}, {grind} (sense 4).
WYSIWYG is  /wiz'ee-wig/ adj. Describes a user interface under which   "What You See Is What You Get", as opposed to one that uses   more-or-less obscure commands which do not result in immediate   visual feedback.  The term can be mildly derogatory,...
WYSIWYG2 is  {user-friendly} interfaces targeted   at non-programmers; a hacker has no fear of obscure commands.   On the other hand, EMACS was one of the very first WYSIWYG editors,   replacing (actually, at first overlaying) the extremely obscure, ...
WYSIWYG3 is  environment}.  [Oddly   enough, this term has already made it into the OED. --- ESR]*X /X/ n. 1. Used in various speech and writing contexts (also   in lowercase) in roughly its algebraic sense of `unknown within a   set defined by conte...
WYSIWYG4 is  680x0 stands for 68000, 68010, 68020, 68030, or 68040, and 80x86   stands for 80186, 80286 80386 or 80486 (note that a UNIX hacker   might write these as 680[0-4]0 and 80[1-4]86 or 680?0 and 80?86   respectively; see {glob}).  2. [after ...
WYSIWYG5 is  `W'] An over-sized, over-featured,   over-engineered and incredibly over-complicated window system   developed at MIT and widely used on UNIX systems. 
XOFF is  /X'of/ n. Syn. {control-s}.
xor is  /X'or/, /kzor/ conj. Exclusive or.  `A xor B' means   `A or B, but not both'.  "I want to get cherry pie xor a   banana split."  This derives from the technical use of the term as   a function on truth-values that is true if exactly one of it...
xref is  /X'ref/ vt., n. Hackish standard abbreviation for   `cross-reference'.
XXX is  /X-X-X/ n. A marker that attention is needed.   Commonly used in program comments to indicate areas that are kluged   up or need to be.  Some hackers liken `XXX' to the notional   heavy-porn movie rating.
xyzzy is  /X-Y-Z-Z-Y/, /X-Y-ziz'ee/, /ziz'ee/, or /ik-ziz'ee/   [from the ADVENT game] adj.  The {canonical} `magic word'.   This comes from {ADVENT}, in which the idea is to explore an   underground cave with many rooms and to collect the treasures ...
xyzzy2 is  appropriate time, you can   move instantly between two otherwise distant points.  If, therefore,   you encounter some bit of {magic}, you might remark on this   quite succinctly by saying simply "Xyzzy!"  "Ordinarily you   can't look at so...
xyzzy3 is  if   you type quadruple-bucky-clear the system will let you do it   anyway."  "Xyzzy!"  Xyzzy has actually been implemented as an   undocumented no-op command on several OSes; in Data General's   AOS/VS, for example, it would typically res...
xyzzy4 is  if the magic was invoked at the   wrong spot or before a player had performed the action that enabled   the word.  See also {plugh}. 
YA- is  [Yet Another] abbrev. In hackish acronyms this almost   invariably expands to {Yet Another}, following the precedent set   by UNIX `yacc(1)'.  See {YABA}.
YABA is  /ya'b*/ [Cambridge] n. Yet Another Bloody Acronym.  Whenever   some program is being named, someone invariably suggests that it be   given a name that is acronymic.  The response from those with a   trace of originality is to remark ironical...
YABA2 is  `YABA-compatible'.  Also used in response to questions   like "What is WYSIWYG?"  See also {TLA}. 
YAUN is  /yawn/ [Acronym for `Yet Another UNIX Nerd'] n. Reported   from the San Diego Computer Society (predominantly a microcomputer   users' group) as a good-natured punning insult aimed at UNIX   zealots.
Yellow Book is  [proposed] n. The print version of this Jargon File;   `The New Hacker's Dictionary', forthcoming from MIT Press,   1991.  Includes all the material in the File, plus a Foreword by   Guy L.  Steele and a Preface by Eric S. Raymond.  M...
Yellow Book2 is  typeset and includes almost all of the   infamous Crunchly cartoons by the Great Quux, each attached to an   appropriate entry. 
Yet Another is  adj. [From UNIX's `yacc(1)', `Yet Another Compiler-   Compiler', a LALR parser generator]  1. Of your own work A humorous   allusion often used in titles to acknowledge that the topic is not   original, though the content is.  As in `...
Yet Another2 is  Simulated Annealing Algorithm'.  2. Of others'   work Describes something of which there are far too many.  See   also {YA-}, {YABA}, {YAUN}. 
You are not expected to understand this is  cav. [UNIX] The canonical   comment describing something {magic} or too complicated to   bother explaining properly.  From an infamous comment in the   context-switching code of the V6 UNIX kernel.
You know you've been hacking too long when... is  The set-up line   for a genre of one-liners told by hackers about themselves.  These   include the following   * not only do you check your email more often than your paper     mail, but you remember ...
You know you've been hacking too long when...2 is  postal one.   * your {SO} kisses you on the neck and the first thing you     think is "Uh, oh, {priority interrupt}."   * you go to balance your checkbook and discover that you're     doing it in oct...
You know you've been hacking too long when...3 is  value than your car.   * in your universe, `round numbers' are powers of 2, not 10.   * more than once, you have woken up recalling a dream in     some programming language.   * you realize you have ...
You know you've been hacking too long when...4 is  early version of this entry said "All but one of these   have been reliably reported as hacker traits (some of them quite   often).  Even hackers may have trouble spotting the ringer."  The   ringer ...
You know you've been hacking too long when...5 is  made up out   of whole cloth.  Although more respondents picked that one   out as fiction than any of the others, I also received multiple   independent reports of its actually happening. --- ESR] 
Your mileage may vary is  cav. [from the standard disclaimer attached   to EPA mileage ratings by American car manufacturers] 1. A ritual   warning often found in UNIX freeware distributions.  Translates   roughly as "Hey, I tried to write this porta...
Your mileage may vary2 is  system?"  2. A qualifier more   generally attached to advice.  "I find that sending flowers works   well, but your mileage may vary." 
Yow! is  /yow/ [from "Zippy the Pinhead" comix] interj. A favored hacker   expression of humorous surprise or emphasis.  "Yow!  Check out what   happens when you twiddle the foo option on this display hack!"   Compare {gurfle}.
yoyo mode is  n. The state in which the system is said to be when it   rapidly alternates several times between being up and being down.   Interestingly (and perhaps not by coincidence), many hardware   vendors give out free yoyos at Usenix exhibits....
yoyo mode2 is  SIGPLAN '88.  Tourists   staying at one of Atlanta's most respectable hotels were   subsequently treated to the sight of 200 of the country's top   computer scientists testing yo-yo algorithms in the lobby. 
Yu-Shiang Whole Fish is  /yoo-shyang hohl fish/ n. obs. The   character gamma (extended SAIL ASCII 0001001), which with a loop in   its tail looks like a little fish swimming down the page.  The term   is actually the name of a Chinese dish in which ...
Yu-Shiang Whole Fish2 is  covered with Yu-Shiang (or Yu-Hsiang)   sauce.  Usage primarily by people on the MIT LISP Machine, which   could display this character on the screen.  Tends to elicit   incredulity from people who hear about it second-hand....
zap is  1. n. Spiciness.  2. vt. To make food spicy.  3. vt. To make   someone `suffer' by making his food spicy.  (Most hackers love   spicy food.  Hot-and-sour soup is considered wimpy unless it makes   you wipe your nose for the rest of the meal.)...
zap2 is  correct; esp. used when the action   is performed with a debugger or binary patching tool.  Also implies   surgical precision.  "Zap the debug level to 6 and run it again."   In the IBM mainframe world, binary patches are applied to programs...
zap3 is  `superzap', whose file name is   `IMASPZAP' (I M A SuPerZAP).  5. vt. To erase or reset.  6. To   {fry} a chip with static electricity. "Uh oh --- I think that   lightning strike may have zapped the disk controller." 
zapped is  adj. Spicy.  This term is used to distinguish between food   that is hot (in temperature) and food that is *spicy*-hot.   For example, the Chinese appetizer Bon Bon Chicken is a kind of   chicken salad that is cold but zapped; by contrast,...
zapped2 is  zapped.  See also {{oriental food}},   {laser chicken}.  See {zap}, senses 1 and 2. 
zen is  vt. To figure out something by meditation or by a sudden flash   of enlightenment.  Originally applied to bugs, but occasionally   applied to problems of life in general.  "How'd you figure out the   buffer allocation problem?"  "Oh, I zenned...
zen2 is  time-extended version of zenning a system.   Compare {hack mode}.  See also {guru}. 
zero is  vt. 1. To set to 0.  Usually said of small pieces of data,   such as bits or words (esp. in the construction `zero out').  2. To   erase; to discard all data from.  Said of disks and directories,   where `zeroing' need not involve actually w...
zero2 is  zeroed.  One may speak of something being   `logically zeroed' rather than being `physically zeroed'.  See   {scribble}. 
zero-content is  adj. Syn. {content-free}.
zeroth is  /zee'rohth/ adj. First.  Among software designers, comes   from C's and LISP's 0-based indexing of arrays.  Hardware people   also tend to start counting at 0 instead of 1; this is natural   since, e.g., the 256 states of 8 bits correspond...
zeroth2 is  the digital devices known as `counters'   count in this way.   Hackers and computer scientists often like to call the first   chapter of a publication `chapter 0', especially if it is of an   introductory nature (one of the classic instan...
zeroth3 is  recent years this trait has also been   observed among many pure mathematicians (who have an independent   tradition of numbering from 0).  Zero-based numbering tends to   reduce {fencepost error}s, though it cannot eliminate them   entir...
zigamorph is  /zig'*-morf/ n. Hex FF (11111111) when used as a   delimiter or {fence} character.  Usage primarily at IBM   shops.
zip is  [primarily MS-DOS] vt. To create a compressed archive from a   group of files using PKWare's PKZIP or a compatible archiver.  Its   use is spreading now that portable implementations of the algorithm   have been written.  Commonly used as fol...
zip2 is  See {arc}, {tar and feather}. 
zipperhead is  [IBM] n. A person with a closed mind.
zombie is  [UNIX] n. A process that has died but has not yet   relinquished its process table slot (because the parent process   hasn't executed a `wait(2)' for it yet).  These can be seen in   `ps(1)' listings occasionally.  Compare {orphan}.
zorch is  /zorch/ 1. [TMRC] v. To attack with an inverse heat sink.   2. [TMRC] v. To travel, with v approaching c [that   is, with velocity approaching lightspeed --- ESR].  3. [MIT] v. To   propel something very quickly.  "The new comm software is ...
zorch2 is  the network."  4. [MIT] n.   Influence.  Brownie points.  Good karma.  The intangible and fuzzy   currency in which favors are measured.  "I'd rather not ask him   for that just yet; I think I've used up my quota of zorch with him   for th...
zorch3 is  ability.  "I think   I'll {punt} that change for now; I've been up for 30 hours   and I've run out of zorch." 
Zork is  /zork/ n. The second of the great early experiments in computer   fantasy gaming; see {ADVENT}.  Originally written on MIT-DM   during the late 1970s, later distributed with BSD UNIX and   commercialized as `The Zork Trilogy' by Infocom.
zorkmid is  /zork'mid/ n. The canonical unit of currency in   hacker-written games.  This originated in {zork} but has spread   to {nethack} and is referred to in several other games.= [^A-Za-z] (see {regexp}) =
'Snooze is  /snooz/ [FidoNet] n. Fidonews, the weekly official on-line   newsletter of FidoNet.  As the editorial policy of Fidonews is   "anything that arrives, we print", there are often large articles   completely unrelated to FidoNet, which in tu...
(TM) is  // [USENET] ASCII rendition of the trademark-superscript symbol   appended to phrases that the author feels should be recorded for   posterity, perhaps in future editions of this lexicon.  Sometimes   used ironically as a form of protest aga...
(TM)2 is  algorithm patents and `look and feel' lawsuits.  See   also {UN*X}. 
-oid is  [from `android'] suff. 1. This suffix is used as in   mainstream English to indicate a poor imitation, a counterfeit, or   some otherwise slightly bogus resemblance.  Hackers will happily   use it with all sorts of non-Greco/Latin stem words...
-oid2 is  mainstream English.  For example, "He's a   nerdoid" means that he superficially resembles a nerd but can't   make the grade; a `modemoid' might be a 300-baud box (Real Modems   run at 9600); a `computeroid' might be any {bitty box}.  The  ...
-oid3 is  {chiclet keyboard},   but would have to be written; spoken, it would confuse the listener   as to the speaker's city of origin.  2. There is a more specific   sense of `oid' as an indicator for `resembling an android'   which in the past ha...
-oid4 is  hackers.  It too has recently (in 1991) started to go mainstream   (most notably in the term `trendoid' for victims of terminal   hipness).  This is probably traceable to the popularization of the   term {droid} in "Star Wars" and its seque...