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cretinous is  /kret'n-*s/ or /kreet'n-*s/ adj. Wrong; stupid;   non-functional; very poorly designed.  Also used pejoratively of   people.  See {dread high-bit disease} for an example.   Approximate synonyms {bletcherous}, `bagbiting' (see   {bagbite...
crippleware is  n. 1. Software that has some important functionality   deliberately removed, so as to entice potential users to pay for a   working version.  2. [Cambridge] {Guiltware} that exhorts you to   donate to some charity (compare {careware})...
crippleware2 is  can be upgraded to a more expensive   model by a trivial change (e.g., cutting a jumper). 
critical mass is  n. In physics, the minimum amount of fissionable   material required to sustain a chain reaction.  Of a software   product, describes a condition of the software such that fixing one   bug introduces one plus {epsilon} bugs.  When s...
critical mass2 is  be discarded and rewritten. 
crlf is  /ker'l*f/, sometimes /kru'l*f/ or /C-R-L-F/ n. (often   capitalized as `CRLF') A carriage return (CR) followed by a line   feed (LF).  More loosely, whatever it takes to get you from the   end of one line of text to the beginning of the next...
crlf2 is  {{UNIX}} influence this usage   has become less common (UNIX uses a bare line feed as its `CRLF'). 
crock is  [from the obvious mainstream scatologism] n. 1. An awkward   feature or programming technique that ought to be made cleaner.   Using small integers to represent error codes without the   program interpreting them to the user (as in, for exa...
crock2 is  for a process that dies due   to {segfault}).  2. A technique that works acceptably, but which   is quite prone to failure if disturbed in the least, for example   depending on the machine opcodes having particular bit patterns so   that y...
crock3 is  tightly woven,   almost completely unmodifiable structure.  See {kluge},   {brittle}.  Also in the adjectives `crockish' and   `crocky', and the nouns `crockishness' and `crockitude'. 
cross-post is  [USENET] vi. To post a single article simultaneously to   several newsgroups.  Distinguished from posting the article   repeatedly, once to each newsgroup, which causes people to see it   multiple times (this is very bad form).  Gratui...
cross-post2 is  line directing responses to a single followup   group is frowned upon, as it tends to cause {followup} articles   to go to inappropriate newsgroups when people respond to only one   part of the original posting. 
crudware is  /kruhd'weir/ n. Pejorative term for the hundreds of   megabytes of low-quality {freeware} circulated by user's groups   and BBS systems in the micro-hobbyist world.  "Yet *another*   set of disk catalog utilities for {{MS-DOS}}?  What cr...
cruft is  /kruhft/ [back-formation from {crufty}] 1. n. An   unpleasant substance.  The dust that gathers under your bed is   cruft; the TMRC Dictionary correctly noted that attacking it with a   broom only produces more.  2. n. The results of shoddy...
cruft2 is  pun on `hand craft'] To   write assembler code for something normally (and better) done by a   compiler (see {hand-hacking}).  4. n. Excess; superfluous junk.   Esp. used of redundant or superseded code. 
cruft together is  vt. (also `cruft up') To throw together   something ugly but temporarily workable.  Like vt. {kluge up},   but more pejorative.  "There isn't any program now to reverse all   the lines of a file, but I can probably cruft one togeth...
cruft together2 is  together}, {hack up}, {kluge up},   {crufty}. 
cruftsmanship is  /kruhfts'm*n-ship / n. [from {cruft}] The   antithesis of craftsmanship.
crufty is  /kruhf'tee/ [origin unknown; poss. from `crusty' or   `cruddy'] adj. 1. Poorly built, possibly over-complex.  The   {canonical} example is "This is standard old crufty DEC   software".  In fact, one fanciful theory of the origin of `crufty...
crufty2 is  `crusty' applied to DEC   software so old that the `s' characters were tall and skinny, looking   more like `f' characters.  2. Unpleasant, especially to the touch,   often with encrusted junk.  Like spilled coffee smeared with peanut   b...
crufty3 is  (sometimes spelled   `cruftie') n. A small crufty object (see {frob}); often one   that doesn't fit well into the scheme of things.  "A LISP property   list is a good place to store crufties (or, collectively,   {random} cruft)." 
crumb is  n. Two binary digits; a {quad}.  Larger than a {bit},   smaller than a {nybble}.  Considered silly.  Syn. {tayste}.
crunch is  1. vi. To process, usually in a time-consuming or   complicated way.  Connotes an essentially trivial operation that is   nonetheless painful to perform.  The pain may be due to the   triviality's being embedded in a loop from 1 to 1,000,0...
crunch2 is  {number-crunching}."  2. vt. To   reduce the size of a file by a complicated scheme that produces bit   configurations completely unrelated to the original data, such as   by a Huffman code.  (The file ends up looking like a paper documen...
crunch3 is  wad.)  Since such   compression usually takes more computations than simpler methods   such as run-length encoding, the term is doubly appropriate.  (This   meaning is usually used in the construction `file crunch(ing)' to   distinguish i...
crunch4 is  3. n. The character `#'.  Used at XEROX and CMU, among other   places.  See {{ASCII}}.  4. vt. To squeeze program source into a   minimum-size representation that will still compile or execute.   The term came into being specifically for ...
crunch5 is  crunched BASIC source in order to make it run more   quickly (it was a wholly interpretive BASIC, so the number of   characters mattered).  {Obfuscated C Contest} entries are often   crunched; see the first example under that entry. 
cruncha cruncha cruncha is  /kruhn'ch* kruhn'ch* kruhn'ch*/ interj.   An encouragement sometimes muttered to a machine bogged down in a   serious {grovel}.  Also describes a notional sound made by   groveling hardware.  See {wugga wugga}, {grind} (se...
cryppie is  /krip'ee/ n. A cryptographer.  One who hacks or implements   cryptographic software or hardware.
CTSS is  /C-T-S-S/ n. Compatible Time-Sharing System.  An early   (1963) experiment in the design of interactive time-sharing   operating systems, ancestral to {{Multics}}, {{UNIX}}, and   {{ITS}}.  The name {{ITS}} (Incompatible Time-sharing System)...
CTSS2 is  and to express some basic   differences in philosophy about the way I/O services should be   presented to user programs. 
CTY is  /sit'ee/ or /C-T-Y/ n. [MIT] The terminal physically   associated with a computer's system {{console}}.  The term is a   contraction of `Console {tty}', that is, `Console TeleTYpe'.   This {{ITS}}- and {{TOPS-10}}-associated term has become l...
CTY2 is  refer to the CTY as `the   console'. 
cube is  n. 1. [short for `cubicle'] A module in the open-plan   offices used at many programming shops.  "I've got the manuals in   my cube."  2. A NeXT machine (which resembles a matte-black cube).
cubing is  [parallel with `tubing'] vi. 1. Hacking on an IPSC (Intel   Personal SuperComputer) hypercube.  "Louella's gone cubing   *again*!!"  2. Hacking Rubik's Cube or related puzzles,   either physically or mathematically.  3. An indescribable fo...
cursor dipped in X is  n. There are a couple of metaphors in English   of the form `pen dipped in X' (perhaps the most common values of X   are `acid', `bile', and `vitriol').  These map over neatly to this   hackish usage (the cursor being what move...
cursor dipped in X2 is  composing on-line).  "Talk about a {nastygram}!  He   must've had his cursor dipped in acid when he wrote that one!" 
cuspy is  /kuhs'pee/ [WPI from the DEC acronym CUSP, for `Commonly   Used System Program', i.e., a utility program used by many people]   adj. 1. (of a program) Well-written.  2. Functionally excellent.  A   program that performs well and interfaces ...
cuspy2 is  [NYU] Said of an attractive woman, especially one   regarded as available.  Implies a certain curvaceousness. 
cut a tape is  [poss. fr. mainstream `cut a check' or from the   recording industry's `cut a record'] vi. To write a software or   document distribution on magnetic tape for shipment.  Has nothing   to do with physically cutting the medium!  Though t...
cut a tape2 is  speaks of analogously `cutting a disk'   or anything else in this sense. 
cybercrud is  /si'ber-kruhd/ [coined by Ted Nelson] n. Obfuscatory   tech-talk.  Verbiage with a high {MEGO} factor.  The computer   equivalent of bureaucratese.
cyberpunk is  /si'ber-puhnk/ [orig. by SF writer Bruce Bethke and/or   editor Gardner Dozois] n.,adj. A subgenre of SF launched in 1982   by William Gibson's epoch-making novel `Neuromancer' (though   its roots go back through Vernor Vinge's `True Na...
cyberpunk2 is  Brunner's 1975 novel `The Shockwave   Rider').  Gibson's near-total ignorance of computers and the   present-day hacker culture enabled him to speculate about the role   of computers and hackers in the future in ways hackers have since...
cyberpunk3 is  tremendously stimulating.   Gibson's work was widely imitated, in particular by the short-lived   but innovative "Max Headroom" TV series.  See {cyberspace},   {ice}, {go flatline}. 
cyberspace is  /si'ber-spays/ n. 1. Notional `information-space'   loaded with visual cues and navigable with brain-computer   interfaces called `cyberspace decks'; a characteristic prop of   {cyberpunk} SF.  At the time of this writing (mid-1991),  ...
cyberspace2 is  reality} interfaces   modeled explicitly on Gibsonian cyberspace are already under way,   using more conventional devices such as glove sensors and binocular   TV headsets.  Few hackers are prepared to deny outright the   possibility ...
cyberspace3 is  network   (see {network, the}).  2. Occasionally, the metaphoric location   of the mind of a person in {hack mode}.  Some hackers report   experiencing strong eidetic imagery when in hack mode;   interestingly, independent reports fro...
cyberspace4 is  common features to the experience.  In particular,   the dominant colors of this subjective `cyberspace' are often   gray and silver, and the imagery often involves constellations of   marching dots, elaborate shifting patterns of lin...
cycle is  1. n. The basic unit of computation.  What every hacker   wants more of (noted hacker Bill Gosper describes himself as a   "cycle junkie"). One can describe an instruction as taking so   many `clock cycles'.  Often the computer can access i...
cycle2 is  one speaks also of   `memory cycles'.  These are technical meanings of {cycle}.  The   jargon meaning comes from the observation that there are only so   many cycles per second, and when you are sharing a computer the   cycles get divided ...
cycle3 is  computer spends working on your program rather than someone else's,   the faster your program will run.  That's why every hacker wants   more cycles so he can spend less time waiting for the computer to   respond.  2. By extension, a notio...
cycle4 is  emphasizing that lots of things compete for the typical   hacker's think time.  "I refused to get involved with the Rubik's   Cube back when it was big.  Knew I'd burn too many cycles on it if   I let myself."  3. vt. Syn. {bounce}, {120 r...
cycle5 is  the machine again, that serial port's   still hung." 
cycle crunch is  n. A situation where the number of people trying to   use the computer simultaneously has reached the point where no one   can get enough cycles because they are spread too thin and the   system has probably begun to {thrash}.  This ...
cycle crunch2 is  applied to timesharing.  Usually the only   solution is to buy more computer.  Happily, this has rapidly become   easier in recent years, so much so that the very term `cycle   crunch' now has a faintly archaic flavor; most hackers ...
cycle crunch3 is  opposed to traditional   timesharing systems. 
cycle drought is  n. A scarcity of cycles.  It may be due to a {cycle   crunch}, but it could also occur because part of the computer is   temporarily not working, leaving fewer cycles to go around.   "The {high moby} is {down}, so we're running with...
cycle drought2 is  There will be a cycle drought   until it's fixed." 
cycle of reincarnation is  [coined by Ivan Sutherland ca. 1970] n.   Term used to refer to a well-known effect whereby function in a   computing system family is migrated out to special-purpose   peripheral hardware for speed, then the peripheral evo...
cycle of reincarnation2 is  its job, then somebody notices that   it is inefficient to support two asymmetrical processors in the   architecture and folds the function back into the main CPU, at   which point the cycle begins again.  Several iteratio...
cycle of reincarnation3 is  graphics-processor design, and at least   one or two in communications and floating-point processors.  Also   known as `the Wheel of Life', `the Wheel of Samsara', and other   variations of the basic Hindu/Buddhist theolog...
cycle server is  n. A powerful machine that exists primarily for   running large {batch} jobs.  Implies that interactive tasks such as   editing are done on other machines on the network, such as   workstations.*D.C. Power Lab n. The former site of {...
cycle server2 is  funny because the obvious connection to electrical   engineering was nonexistent --- the lab was named for a Donald C.   Power.  Compare {Marginal Hacks}. 
daemon is  /day'mn/ or /dee'mn/ [from the mythological meaning,   later rationalized as the acronym `Disk And Execution MONitor'] n.   A program that is not invoked explicitly, but lies dormant waiting   for some condition(s) to occur.  The idea is t...
daemon2 is  not be aware that a daemon is lurking (though   often a program will commit an action only because it knows that it   will implicitly invoke a daemon).  For example, under {{ITS}}   writing a file on the {LPT} spooler's directory would in...
daemon3 is  print the file.  The advantage is   that programs wanting (in this example) files printed need not   compete for access to the {LPT}.  They simply enter their   implicit requests and let the daemon decide what to do with them.   Daemons a...
daemon4 is  and may   either live forever or be regenerated at intervals.  Daemon and   {demon} are often used interchangeably, but seem to have   distinct connotations.  The term `daemon' was introduced to   computing by {CTSS} people (who pronounce...
daemon5 is  ITS called a {dragon}.  Although the   meaning and the pronunciation have drifted, we think this glossary   reflects current (1991) usage. 
dangling pointer is  n. A reference that doesn't actually lead   anywhere (in C and some other languages, a pointer that doesn't   actually point at anything valid).  Usually this is because it   formerly pointed to something that has moved or disapp...
dangling pointer2 is  of its techspeak meaning; for   example, a local phone number for a person who has since moved to the   other coast is a dangling pointer. 
Datamation is  /day`t*-may'sh*n/ n. A magazine that many hackers   assume all {suit}s read.  Used to question an unbelieved quote,   as in "Did you read that in `Datamation?'" It used to   publish something hackishly funny every once in a while, like...
Datamation2 is  but it has since become much   more exclusively {suit}-oriented and boring. 
day mode is  n. See {phase} (sense 1).  Used of people only.
dd is  /dee-dee/ [UNIX from IBM {JCL}] vt. Equivalent to {cat}   or {BLT}.  This was originally the name of a UNIX copy command   with special options suitable for block-oriented devices.  Often   used in heavy-handed system maintenance, as in "Let's...
dd2 is  the boot PROM to load it back on to   a new disk".  The UNIX `dd(1)' was designed with a weird,   distinctly non-UNIXy keyword option syntax reminiscent of IBM   System/360 JCL (which had a similar DD command); though the command   filled a n...
dd3 is  The   jargon usage is now very rare outside UNIX sites and now nearly   obsolete even there, as `dd(1)' has been {deprecated} for a   long time (though it has no exact replacement).  Replaced by   {BLT} or simple English `copy'. 
DDT is  /D-D-T/ n. 1. Generic term for a program that assists in   debugging other programs by showing individual machine instructions   in a readable symbolic form and letting the user change them.  In   this sense the term DDT is now archaic, havin...
DDT2 is  names of individual programs like   `dbx', `adb', `gdb', or `sdb'.  2. [ITS] Under   MIT's fabled {{ITS}} operating system, DDT (running under the alias   HACTRN) was also used as the {shell} or top level command   language used to execute o...
DDT3 is  specific DDTs (sense 1) supported on early DEC hardware.  The DEC   PDP-10 Reference Handbook (1969) contained a footnote on the first   page of the documentation for DDT which illuminates the origin of   the term     Historical footnote DDT...
DDT4 is  computer in 1961.  At that time DDT stood for "DEC Debugging Tape".     Since then, the idea of an on-line debugging program has propagated     throughout the computer industry.  DDT programs are now available     for all DEC computers.  Sin...
DDT5 is  used, the more descriptive name "Dynamic Debugging     Technique" has been adopted, retaining the DDT acronym.  Confusion     between DDT-10 and another well known pesticide,     dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (C14-H9-Cl5) should be minim...
DDT6 is  apparently mutually exclusive,     class of bugs.   Sadly, this quotation was removed from later editions of the   handbook after the {suit}s took over and DEC became much more   `businesslike'. 
de-rezz is  /dee-rez'/ [from `de-resolve' via the movie "Tron"]   (also `derez') 1. vi. To disappear or dissolve; the image that goes   with it is of an object breaking up into raster lines and static   and then dissolving.  Occasionally used of a pe...
de-rezz2 is  mentally rather than physically.   Usage extremely silly, also rare.  This verb was actually invented   as *fictional* hacker jargon, and adopted in a spirit of irony   by real hackers years after the fact.  2. vt. On a Macintosh, many  ...
de-rezz3 is  are managed in small   segments of the program file known as `resources'. The standard   resource compiler is Rez.  The standard resource decompiler is   DeRez.  Thus, decompiling a resource is `derezzing'.  Usage very   common. 
dead code is  n. Routines that can never be accessed because all calls   to them have been removed, or code that cannot be reached because   it is guarded by a control structure that provably must always   transfer control somewhere else.  The presen...
dead code2 is  errors due to alterations in the program or   significant changes in the assumptions and environment of the   program (see also {software rot}); a good compiler should report   dead code so a maintainer can think about what it means.  ...
DEADBEEF is  /ded-beef/ n. The hexadecimal word-fill pattern for   freshly allocated memory (decimal -21524111) under a number of   IBM environments, including the RS/6000.  As in "Your program is   DEADBEEF" (meaning gone, aborted, flushed from memo...
DEADBEEF2 is  boundary, of course, you have   BEEFDEAD. 
deadlock is  n. 1. [techspeak] A situation wherein two or more   processes are unable to proceed because each is waiting for one of   the others to do something.  A common example is a program   communicating to a server, which may find itself waitin...
deadlock2 is  anything more to it, while the   server is similarly waiting for more input from the controlling   program before outputting anything.  (It is reported that this   particular flavor of deadlock is sometimes called a `starvation   deadlo...
deadlock3 is  properly used for   situations where a program can never run simply because it never   gets high enough priority.  Another common flavor is   `constipation', where each process is trying to send stuff to   the other but all buffers are ...
deadlock4 is  See {deadly embrace}.  2. Also used of   deadlock-like interactions between humans, as when two people meet   in a narrow corridor, and each tries to be polite by moving aside   to let the other pass, but they end up swaying from side t...
deadlock5 is  they always both move the same   way at the same time. 
deadly embrace is  n. Same as {deadlock}, though usually used only when   exactly 2 processes are involved.  This is the more popular term in   Europe, while {deadlock} predominates in the United States.
Death Star is  [from the movie "Star Wars"] 1. The AT&T corporate   logo, which appears on computers sold by AT&T and bears an uncanny   resemblance to the `Death Star' in the movie.  This usage is   particularly common among partisans of {BSD} UNIX,...
Death Star2 is  inferior and AT&T as a bad guy.  Copies   still circulate of a poster printed by Mt. Xinu showing a starscape   with a space fighter labeled 4.2 BSD streaking away from a broken   AT&T logo wreathed in flames.  2. AT&T's internal maga...
Death Star3 is  incorrectly done AT&T logo   in which the inner circle in the top left is dark instead of light   --- a frequent result of dark-on-light logo images. 
DEC Wars is  n. A 1983 {USENET} posting by Alan Hastings and Steve Tarr   spoofing the "Star Wars" movies in hackish terms.  Some years   later, ESR (disappointed by Hastings and Tarr's failure to exploit a   great premise more thoroughly) posted a 3...
DEC Wars2 is  WARS"; the two are often confused. 
DEChead is  /dek'hed/ n. 1. A DEC {field servoid}.  Not flattering.   2. [from `deadhead'] A Grateful Dead fan working at DEC.
deckle is  /dek'l/ [from dec- and {nickle}] n. Two {nickle}s;   10 bits.  Reported among developers for Mattel's GI 1600 (the   Intellivision games processor), a chip with 16-bit-wide RAM but   10-bit-wide ROM.
deep hack mode is  n. See {hack mode}.
deep magic is  [poss. from C. S. Lewis's "Narnia" books] n. An   awesomely arcane technique central to a program or system, esp. one   not generally published and available to hackers at large (compare   {black art}); one that could only have been co...
deep magic2 is  optimization techniques and many aspects of   {OS} design used to be {deep magic}; many techniques in   cryptography, signal processing, graphics, and AI still are.   Compare {heavy wizardry}.  Esp. found in comments of the form   "De...
deep space is  n. 1. Describes the notional location of any program   that has gone {off the trolley}.  Esp. used of programs that   just sit there silently grinding long after either failure or some   output is expected.  "Uh oh.  I should have gott...
deep space2 is  in deep space somewhere." Compare   {buzz}, {catatonic}, {hyperspace}.  2. The metaphorical   location of a human so dazed and/or confused or caught up in some   esoteric form of {bogosity} that he or she no longer responds   coherent...
defenestration is  [from the traditional Czechoslovak method of   assassinating prime ministers, via SF fandom] n. 1. Proper karmic   retribution for an incorrigible punster.  "Oh, ghod, that was   *awful*!"  "Quick! Defenestrate him!"  2. The act of...
defenestration2 is  better response time from a   full-screen program.  This comes from the dictionary meaning of   `defenestrate', which is to throw something out a window.  3. The   act of discarding something under the assumption that it will   im...
defenestration3 is  left."  "Well,   why don't you defenestrate that 100 megs worth of old core dumps?"   4. [proposed] The requirement to support a command-line interface.   "It has to run on a VT100."  "Curses!  I've been   defenestrated!" 
defined as is  adj. In the role of, usually in an organization-chart   sense.  "Pete is currently defined as bug prioritizer."  Compare   {logical}.
dehose is  /dee-hohz/ vt. To clear a {hosed} condition.
delint is  /dee-lint/ v. To modify code to remove problems detected   when {lint}ing.
delta is  n. 1. [techspeak] A quantitative change, especially a small   or incremental one (this use is general in physics and   engineering).  "I just doubled the speed of my program!"  "What   was the delta on program size?"  "About 30 percent."  (...
delta2 is  increased its size by only 30   percent.)  2. [UNIX] A {diff}, especially a {diff} stored   under the set of version-control tools called SCCS (Source Code   Control System) or RCS (Revision Control System).  3. n. A small   quantity, but ...
delta3 is    {delta} and {epsilon} stems from the traditional use of these   letters in mathematics for very small numerical quantities,   particularly in `epsilon-delta' proofs in limit theory (as in the   differential calculus).  The term {delta} i...
delta4 is  mentioned, to mean a quantity that is   slightly bigger than {epsilon} but still very small.  "The cost   isn't epsilon, but it's delta" means that the cost isn't totally   negligible, but it is nevertheless very small.  Common   construct...
delta5 is  epsilon of   ---' that is, close to and even closer to. 
demented is  adj. Yet another term of disgust used to describe a   program.  The connotation in this case is that the program works as   designed, but the design is bad.  Said, for example, of a program   that generates large numbers of meaningless e...
demented2 is  brink of imminent collapse.  Compare   {wonky}, {bozotic}. 

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

TECO is  /teekoh/ obs. 1. vt. Originally, to edit using the TECO   editor in one of its infinite variations (see below).  2. vt.,obs.   To edit even when TECO is *not* the editor being used!  This   usage is rare and now primarily historical.  2. [or...
TECO2 is  and COrrector; later, `Text   Editor and COrrector] n. A text editor developed at MIT and   modified by just about everybody.  With all the dialects included,   TECO might have been the most prolific editor in use before   {EMACS}, to which...
TECO3 is  powerful programming-language-like features and its unspeakably   hairy syntax.  It is literally the case that every string of   characters is a valid TECO program (though probably not a useful   one); one common hacker game used to be ment...
TECO4 is  corresponding to human names did.  As an example   of TECOs obscurity, here is a TECO program that takes a list of   names such as     Loser, J. Random     Quux, The Great     Dick, Moby   sorts them alphabetically according to surname, and...
TECO5 is  comma, to produce the following     Moby Dick     J. Random Loser     The Great Quux   The program is     [1 J^P$L$$     J <.-Z; .,(S,$ -D .)FX1 @F^B $K L I $ G1 L>$$   (where ^B means `Control-B (ASCII 0000010) and $ is actually   an {ALT}...
TECO6 is  fact, this very program was used to produce the second, sorted   list from the first list.  The first hack at it had a {bug} GLS   (the author) had accidentally omitted the `@ in front   of `F^B, which as anyone can see is clearly the {Wron...
TECO7 is  There is no space to describe all the   features of TECO, but it may be of interest that `^P means   `sort and `J<.-Z; ... L> is an idiomatic series of commands   for `do once for every line.   In mid-1991, TECO is pretty much one with the ...
TECO8 is  affections of hackerdom by {EMACS}.   Descendants of an early (and somewhat lobotomized) version adopted   by DEC can still be found lurking on VMS and a couple of crufty   PDP-11 operating systems, however, and ports of the more advanced  ...
TECO9 is  antiquarian interest.  See   also {retrocomputing}, {write-only language}. 
tee is  n.,vt. [Purdue] A carbon copy of an electronic transmission.   "Oh, youre sending him the {bits} to that?  Slap on a tee for   me."  From the UNIX command `tee(1), itself named after a   pipe fitting (see {plumbing}).  Can also mean `save one...
Telerat is  /tel*-rat/ n. Unflattering hackerism for `Teleray, a   line of extremely losing terminals.  See also {terminak},   {sun-stools}, {HP-SUX}.
TELNET is  /telnet/ vt. To communicate with another Internet host   using the {TELNET} program.  TOPS-10 people used the word   IMPCOM, since that was the program name for them.  Sometimes   abbreviated to TN /T-N/.  "I usually TN over to SAIL just t...
ten-finger interface is  n. The interface between two networks that   cannot be directly connected for security reasons; refers to the   practice of placing two terminals side by side and having an   operator read from one and type into the other.
tense is  adj. Of programs, very clever and efficient.  A tense piece   of code often got that way because it was highly {bum}med, but   sometimes it was just based on a great idea.  A comment in a clever   routine by Mike Kazar, once a grad-student ...
tense2 is  will bring tears to your eyes."  A tense   programmer is one who produces tense code. 
tenured graduate student is  n. One who has been in graduate school   for 10 years (the usual maximum is 5 or 6) a `ten-yeared   student (get it?).  Actually, this term may be used of any grad   student beginning in his seventh year.  Students dont r...
tenured graduate student2 is  professors do, but a tenth-year graduate   student has probably been around the university longer than any   untenured professor. 
tera- is  /ter*/ [SI] pref. See {{quantifiers}}.
teraflop club is  /ter*-flop kluhb/ [FLOP = Floating Point   Operation] n. A mythical association of people who consume outrageous   amounts of computer time in order to produce a few simple pictures   of glass balls with intricate ray-tracing techni...
teraflop club2 is  said to have been the founder. 
terminak is  /termi-nak`/ [Caltech, ca. 1979] n. Any malfunctioning   computer terminal.  A common failure mode of Lear-Siegler ADM 3a   terminals caused the `L key to produce the `K code instead;   complaints about this tended to look like "Terminak...
terminak2 is  {sun-stools}, {Telerat},   {HP-SUX}. 
terminal brain death is  n. The extreme form of {terminal illness}   (sense 1).  What someone who has obviously been hacking   continuously for far too long is said to be suffering from.
terminal illness is  n. 1. Syn. {raster burn}.  2. The `burn-in   condition your CRT tends to get if you dont have a screen saver.
terminal junkie is  [UK] n. A {wannabee} or early   {larval stage} hacker who spends most of his or her time wandering   the directory tree and writing {noddy} programs just to get   a fix of computer time.  Variants include `terminal   jockey, `cons...
terminal junkie2 is  `console jockey seems to imply more expertise than the other   three (possibly because of the exalted status of the {{console}}   relative to an ordinary terminal).  See also {twink},   {read-only user}. 
terpri is  /terpree/ [from LISP 1.5 (and later, MacLISP)] vi. To   output a {newline}.  Now rare as jargon, though still used as   techspeak in Common LISP.  It is a contraction of `TERminate PRInt   line, named for the fact that, on early OSes, no c...
terpri2 is  line was formed, so this operation   terminated the line and emitted the output. 
test is  n. 1. Real users bashing on a prototype long enough to get   thoroughly acquainted with it, with careful monitoring and followup   of the results.  2. Some bored random user trying a couple of the   simpler features with a developer looking ...
test2 is  mistakes.  Judging by the quality of most   software, the second definition is far more prevalent.  See also   {demo}. 
TeX is  /tekh/ n. An extremely powerful {macro}-based   text formatter written by Donald E. Knuth, very popular in the   computer-science community (it is good enough to have displaced   UNIX `troff(1), the other favored formatter, even at many   UNI...
TeX2 is  correct (guttural)   pronunciation, and the correct spelling (all caps, squished   together, with the E depressed below the baseline; the   mixed-case `TeX is considered an acceptable kluge on ASCII-only   devices).  Fans like to proliferate...
TeX3 is  TeXnician (TeX user), TeXhacker (TeX   programmer), TeXmaster (competent TeX programmer), TeXhax,   and TeXnique.   Knuth began TeX because he had become annoyed at the declining   quality of the typesetting in volumes I--III of his monument...
TeX4 is  {bible}).  In a   manifestation of the typical hackish urge to solve the problem at   hand once and for all, he began to design his own typesetting   language.  He thought he would finish it on his sabbatical in 1978;   he was wrong by only ...
TeX5 is  frozen around 1985, but volume IV of `The Art of Computer   Programming has yet to appear as of mid-1991.  The impact and   influence of TeXs design has been such that nobody minds this   very much.  Many grand hackish projects have started ...
TeX6 is  something else; Knuths diversion was   simply on a grander scale than most. 
text is  n. 1. [techspeak] Executable code, esp. a `pure code   portion shared between multiple instances of a program running in a   multitasking OS (compare {English}).  2. Textual material in the   mainstream sense; data in ordinary {{ASCII}} or {...
text2 is   "Those are text files;   you can review them using the editor."  These two contradictory   senses confuse hackers, too. 
thanks in advance is  [USENET] Conventional net.politeness ending a   posted request for information or assistance.  Sometimes written   `advTHANKSance or `aTdHvAaNnKcSe or abbreviated `TIA.  See   {net.-}, {netiquette}.
the X that can be Y is not the true X is  Yet another instance of   hackerdoms peculiar attraction to mystical references --- a common   humorous way of making exclusive statements about a class of   things.  The template is from the `Tao te Ching "T...
the X that can be Y is not the true X2 is  true Tao."  The implication   is often that the X is a mystery accessible only to the   enlightened.  See the {trampoline} entry for an example, and   compare {has the X nature}. 
theology is  n. 1. Ironically or humorously used to refer to   {religious issues}.  2. Technical fine points of an abstruse   nature, esp. those where the resolution is of theoretical   interest but is relatively {marginal} with respect to actual use...
theology2 is  software issues with a   heavy AI or language-design component, such as the smart-data vs.   smart-programs dispute in AI. 
theory is  n. The consensus, idea, plan, story, or set of rules that   is currently being used to inform a behavior.  This is a   generalization and abuse of the technical meaning.  "Whats the   theory on fixing this TECO loss?"  "Whats the theory on...
theory2 is  "Whats the current theory   on letting lusers on during the day?"  "The theory behind this   change is to fix the following well-known screw...." 
thinko is  /thingkoh/ [by analogy with `typo] n. A momentary,   correctable glitch in mental processing, especially one involving   recall of information learned by rote; a bubble in the stream of   consciousness.  Syn. {braino}.  Compare {mouso}.
This time, for sure! is  excl. Ritual affirmation frequently uttered   during protracted debugging sessions involving numerous small   obstacles (e.g., attempts to bring up a UUCP connection).  For the   proper effect, this must be uttered in a fruit...
This time, for sure!2 is  heard "Hey, Rocky!  Watch me pull a   rabbit out of my hat!"  The {canonical} response is, of course,   "But that trick *never* works!"  See {{Humor, Hacker}}. 
thrash is  vi. To move wildly or violently, without accomplishing   anything useful.  Paging or swapping systems that are overloaded   waste most of their time moving data into and out of core (rather   than performing useful computation) and are the...
thrash2 is  changing his mind (esp. about what to   work on next) is said to be thrashing.  A person frantically trying   to execute too many tasks at once (and not spending enough time on   any single task) may also be described as thrashing.  Compa...
thread is  n. [USENET, GEnie, CompuServe] Common abbreviation of   `topic thread, a more or less continuous chain of postings on a   single topic.
three-finger salute is  n. Syn. {Vulcan nerve pinch}.
thud is  n. 1. Yet another meta-syntactic variable (see {foo}).   It is reported that at CMU from the mid-1970s the canonical series of   these was `foo, `bar, `thud, `blat.  2. Rare term   for the hash character, `# (ASCII 0100011).  See {ASCII} for...
thunk is  /thuhnk/ n. 1. "A piece of coding which provides an   address", according to P. Z. Ingerman, who invented thunks   in 1961 as a way of binding actual parameters to their formal   definitions in Algol-60 procedure calls.  If a procedure is c...
thunk2 is  formal parameter, the compiler   generates a {thunk} to compute the expression and leave the   address of the result in some standard location.  2. Later   generalized into an expression, frozen together with its   environment, for later e...
thunk3 is  in techspeak is called a `closure).  The process of   unfreezing these thunks is called `forcing.  3. A   {stubroutine}, in an overlay programming environment, that loads   and jumps to the correct overlay.  Compare {trampoline}.   4. Peop...
thunk4 is  manner.  "It   occurred to me the other day that I am rather accurately modeled by   a thunk --- I frequently need to be forced to completion." ---   paraphrased from a {plan file}.   Historical note There are a couple of onomatopoeic myth...
thunk5 is  The most common is that   it is the sound made by data hitting the stack; another holds that   the sound is that of the data hitting an accumulator.  Yet another   holds that it is the sound of the expression being unfrozen at   argument-e...
thunk6 is  inventors, it   was coined after they realized (in the wee hours after hours of   discussion) that the type of an argument in Algol-60 could be   figured out in advance with a little compile-time thought,   simplifying the evaluation machi...
thunk7 is  thought of; thus it was christened a `thunk,   which is "the past tense of `think at two in the morning". 
tick is  n. 1. A {jiffy} (sense 1).  2. In simulations, the   discrete unit of time that passes between iterations of the   simulation mechanism.  In AI applications, this amount of time is   often left unspecified, since the only constraint of inter...
tick2 is  AI simulation is often   pejoratively referred to as `tick-tick-tick simulation,   especially when the issue of simultaneity of events with long,   independent chains of causes is {handwave}d. 3. In the FORTH   language, a single quote char...
tick-list features is  [Acorn Computers] n. Features in software or   hardware that customers insist on but never use (calculators in   desktop TSRs and that sort of thing).  The American equivalent   would be `checklist features, but this jargon sen...
tickle a bug is  vt. To cause a normally hidden bug to manifest   through some known series of inputs or operations.  "You can   tickle the bug in the Paradise VGA cards highlight handling by   trying to set bright yellow reverse video."
tiger team is  [U.S. military jargon] n. A team whose purpose is to   penetrate security, and thus test security measures.  These people   are paid professionals who do hacker-type tricks, e.g., leave   cardboard signs saying "bomb" in critical defen...
tiger team2 is  "Your codebooks have been stolen"   (they usually havent been) inside safes, etc.  After a successful   penetration, some high-ranking security type shows up the next   morning for a `security review and finds the sign, note, etc.,   ...
tiger team3 is  of tiger teams   sometimes lead to early retirement for base commanders and security   officers (see the {patch} entry for an example).   A subset of tiger teams are professional {cracker}s, testing the   security of military computer...
tiger team4 is  via networks or supposedly `secure comm channels.  Some of   their escapades, if declassified, would probably rank among the   greatest hacks of all times.  The term has been adopted in   commercial computer-security circles in this m...
time sink is  [poss. by analogy with `heat sink or `current sink] n.   A project that consumes unbounded amounts of time.
time T is  /tim T/ n. 1. An unspecified but usually well-understood   time, often used in conjunction with a later time T+1.   "Well meet on campus at time T or at Louies at   time T+1" means, in the context of going out for dinner   "We can meet on ...
time T2 is  Louies   itself a bit later."  (Louies is a Chinese restaurant in Palo Alto   that is a favorite with hackers.)  Had the number 30 been used instead   of the number 1, it would have implied that the travel time from   campus to Louies is ...
time T3 is  hasnt been decided on yet), you can meet half an hour later at   Louies than you could on campus and end up eating at the same time.   See also {since time T equals minus infinity}. 
times-or-divided-by is  [by analogy with `plus-or-minus] quant. Term   occasionally used when describing the uncertainty associated with a   scheduling estimate, for either humorous or brutally honest effect.   For a software project, the factor is u...
tinycrud is  /tinee-kruhd/ n. A pejorative used by habitues of older   game-oriented {MUD} versions for TinyMUDs and other   user-extensible {MUD} variants; esp. common among users of the   rather violent and competitive AberMUD and MIST systems.  Th...
tinycrud2 is  how (allegedly)   inconsistent and lacking in genuine atmosphere the scenarios   generated in user extensible MUDs can be.  Other common knocks on   them are that they feature little overall plot, bad game topology,   little competitive...
tinycrud3 is  alleged   horrors of the TinyMUD code itself.  This dispute is one of the MUD   worlds hardiest perennial {holy wars}. 
tip of the ice-cube is  [IBM] n. The visible part of something small and   insignificant.  Used as an ironic comment in situations where `tip   of the iceberg might be appropriate if the subject were actually   nontrivial.
tired iron is  [IBM] n. Hardware that is perfectly functional but   far enough behind the state of the art to have been superseded by new   products, presumably with sufficient improvement in bang-per-buck that   the old stuff is starting to look a b...
tits on a keyboard is  n. Small bumps on certain keycaps to keep   touch-typists registered (usually on the `5 of a numeric keypad,   and on the `F and `J of a QWERTY keyboard).
TLA is  /T-L-A/ [Three-Letter Acronym] n. 1. Self-describing   acronym for a species with which computing terminology is infested.   2. Any confusing acronym.  Examples include MCA, FTP, SNA, CPU,   MMU, SCCS, DMU, FPU, NNTP, TLA.  People who like th...
TLA2 is  three letters, just as not all four-letter   words have four letters.  One also hears of `ETLA (Extended   Three-Letter Acronym, pronounced /ee tee el ay/) being used to   describe four-letter acronyms.  The term `SFLA (Stupid Four-Letter   ...
TLA3 is  {YABA}.   The self-effacing phrase "TDM TLA" (Too Damn Many...) is   often used to bemoan the plethora of TLAs in use.  In 1989, a   random of the journalistic persuasion asked hacker Paul Boutin   "What do you think will be the biggest prob...
TLA4 is  straight-faced response "There are only   17,000 three-letter acronyms." (To be exact, there are 26^3   = 17,576.) 
TMRC is  /tmerk/ n. The Tech Model Railroad Club at MIT, one of   the wellsprings of hacker culture.  The 1959 `Dictionary of   the TMRC Language compiled by Peter Samson included several terms   which became basics of the hackish vocabulary (see esp...
TMRC2 is  legendary layout was already a marvel of   complexity.  The control system alone featured about 1200 relays.   There were {scram switch}es located at numerous places around   the room that could be pressed if something undesirable was about...
TMRC3 is  an obstruction.   Another feature of the system was a digital clock on the dispatch   board.  Normally it ran at some multiple of real time, but if   someone hit a scram switch the clock stopped and the display was   replaced with the word ...
TMRC4 is  the Bibliography), gives a   stimulating account of those early years.  TMRCs Power and Signals   group included most of the early PDP-1 hackers and the people who   later bacame the core of the MIT AI Lab staff.  Thirty years later   that ...
TMRC5 is  lexicon   accordingly includes a number of entries from a recent revision of   the TMRC Dictionary. 
to a first approximation is  1. [techspeak] When one is doing certain   numerical computations, an approximate solution may be computed by   any of several heuristic methods, then refined to a final value.   By using the starting point of a first app...
to a first approximation2 is  algorithm that converges more quickly to the   correct result.  2. In jargon, a preface to any comment that   indicates that the comment is only approximately true.  The remark   "To a first approximation, I feel good" m...
to a first approximation3 is  reveal that not all is perfect (e.g., a   nagging cough still remains after an illness). 
to a zeroth approximation is  [from `to a first approximation] A   *really* sloppy approximation; a wild guess.  Compare   {social science number}.
toast is  1. n. Any completely inoperable system or component, esp.   one that has just crashed and burned "Uh, oh ... I think the   serial board is toast."  2. vt. To cause a system to crash   accidentally, especially in a manner that requires manua...
toast2 is  {firewall machine} again." 
toaster is  n. 1. The archetypal really stupid application for an   embedded microprocessor controller; often used in comments that   imply that a scheme is inappropriate technology (but see   {elevator controller}).  "{DWIM} for an assembler?  Thatd...
toaster2 is  toaster!"  2. A very, very dumb   computer. "You could run this program on any dumb toaster."  See   {bitty box}, {Get a real computer!}, {toy}, {beige toaster}.   3. A Macintosh, esp. the Classic Mac.  Some hold that this is   implied b...
toaster3 is  my box   without toasters, but since then Ive added two boards and a second   disk drive." 
toeprint is  n. A {footprint} of especially small size.
toggle is  vt. To change a {bit} from whatever state it is in to the   other state; to change from 1 to 0 or from 0 to 1.  This comes from   `toggle switches, such as standard light switches, though the   word `toggle actually refers to the mechanism...
toggle2 is  which it is flipped rather than to the   fact that the switch has two positions.  There are four things you   can do to a bit set it (force it to be 1), clear (or zero) it,   leave it alone, or toggle it.  (Mathematically, one would say t...
toggle3 is  functions of one boolean   argument, but saying that is much less fun than talking about   toggling bits.) 
tool is  1. n. A program used primarily to create, manipulate, modify,   or analyze other programs, such as a compiler or an editor or a   cross-referencing program.  Oppose {app}, {operating system}.   2. [UNIX] An application program with a simple,...
tool2 is  interface designed specifically to be used   in programmed combination with other tools (see {filter}).   3. [MIT general to students there] vi. To work; to study (connotes   tedium).  The TMRC Dictionary defined this as "to set ones brain ...
tool3 is  A student who   studies too much and hacks too little.  (MITs student humor   magazine rejoices in the name `Tool and Die.) 
toolsmith is  n. The software equivalent of a tool-and-die specialist;   one who specializes in making the {tool}s with which other   programmers create applications.  See also {uninteresting}.
topic drift is  n. Term used on GEnie, USENET and other electronic   fora to describe the tendency of a {thread} to drift away from   the original subject of discussion (and thus, from the Subject   header of the originating message), or the results ...
topic drift2 is  reminders that the discussion has   strayed off any useful track.  "I think we started with a question   about Nivens last book, but weve ended up discussing the sexual   habits of the common marmoset.  Now *thats* topic drift!" 
topic group is  n. Syn. {forum}.
TOPS-10 is  /tops-ten/ n. DECs proprietary OS for the fabled {PDP-10}   machines, long a favorite of hackers but now effectively extinct.   A fountain of hacker folklore; see appendix A.  See also {{ITS}},   {{TOPS-20}}, {{TWENEX}}, {VMS}, {operating...
TOPS-102 is  BOTS-10 (from `bottoms-ten) as a comment on the   inappropriateness of describing it as the top of anything. 
TOPS-20 is  /tops-twentee/ n. See {{TWENEX}}.
toto is  /tohtoh/ n. This is reported to be the default scratch   file name among French-speaking programmers --- in other words, a   francophone {foo}.
tourist is  [ITS] n. A guest on the system, especially one who   generally logs in over a network from a remote location for {comm   mode}, email, games, and other trivial purposes.  One step below   {luser}.  Hackers often spell this {turist}, perha...
tourist2 is  {luser} (this also expresses the   ITS cultures penchant for six-letterisms).  Compare {twink},   {read-only user}. 
tourist information is  n. Information in an on-line display that is   not immediately useful, but contributes to a viewers gestalt of   whats going on with the software or hardware behind it.  Whether a   given piece of info falls in this category d...
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...