Amethyst

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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. 
beta is  /bay't*/, /be't*/ or (Commonwealth) /bee't*/ n. 1. In   the {Real World}, software often goes through two stages of   testing Alpha (in-house) and Beta (out-house?).  Software is said   to be `in beta'.  2. Anything that is new and experimen...
beta2 is  means that he is still testing   for compatibility and reserving judgment.  3. Beta software is   notoriously buggy, so `in beta' connotes flakiness.   Historical note More formally, to beta-test is to test a   pre-release (potentially unre...
beta3 is  making it available to selected customers and users.  This term   derives from early 1960s terminology for product cycle checkpoints,   first used at IBM but later standard throughout the industry.   `Alpha Test' was the unit, module, or co...
beta4 is  system test.  These themselves came from earlier   A- and B-tests for hardware.  The A-test was a feasibility and   manufacturability evaluation done before any commitment to design   and development.  The B-test was a demonstration that th...
beta5 is  The C-test   (corresponding to today's beta) was the B-test performed on early   samples of the production design. 
BFI is  /B-F-I/ n. See {brute force and ignorance}.  Also   encountered in the variant `BFMI', `brute force and   *massive* ignorance'.
bible is  n. 1. One of a small number of fundamental source books   such as {Knuth} and {K&R}.  2. The most detailed and   authoritative reference for a particular language, operating   system, or other complex software system.
BiCapitalization is  n. The act said to have been performed on   trademarks (such as NeXT, {NeWS}, VisiCalc, FrameMaker,   TK!solver, EasyWriter) that have been raised above the ruck of   common coinage by nonstandard capitalization.  Too many   {mar...
BiCapitalization2 is  really cute, even   the 2,317th time they do it.  Compare {studlycaps}. 
BIFF is  /bif/ [USENET] n. The most famous {pseudo}, and the   prototypical {newbie}.  Articles from BIFF are characterized by   all uppercase letters sprinkled liberally with bangs, typos,   `cute' misspellings (EVRY BUDY LUVS GOOD OLD BIFF CUZ HE"S...
BIFF2 is  IN CAPITULL LETTRS LIKE   THIS!!!), use (and often misuse) of fragments of {talk mode}   abbreviations, a long {sig block} (sometimes even a {doubled   sig}), and unbounded na"ivet'e.  BIFF posts articles using his elder   brother's VIC-20....
BIFF3 is    appear to come from a variety of sites.  However, {BITNET} seems to   be the most frequent origin.  The theory that BIFF is a denizen of   BITNET is supported by BIFF's (unfortunately invalid) electronic   mail address BIFF@BIT.NET. 
biff is  /bif/ vt. To notify someone of incoming mail.  From the   BSD utility `biff(1)', which was in turn named after the   implementor's dog (it barked whenever the mailman came).  No   relation to {BIFF}.
Big Gray Wall is  n. What faces a {VMS} user searching for   documentation.  A full VMS kit comes on a pallet, the documentation   taking up around 15 feet of shelf space before the addition of layered   products such as compilers, databases, multive...
Big Gray Wall2 is  Recent (since VMS version 5) DEC   documentation comes with gray binders; under VMS version 4 the   binders were orange (`big orange wall'), and under version 3   they were blue.  See {VMS}. 
big iron is  n. Large, expensive, ultra-fast computers.  Used generally   of {number-crunching} supercomputers such as Crays, but can include   more conventional big commercial IBMish mainframes.  Term of   approval; compare {heavy metal}, oppose {di...
Big Red Switch is  [IBM] n. The power switch on a computer, esp. the   `Emergency Pull' switch on an IBM {mainframe} or the power switch   on an IBM PC where it really is large and red.  "This !@%$%   {bitty box} is hung again; time to hit the Big Re...
Big Red Switch2 is  tune with the company's passion for   {TLA}s, this is often acronymized as `BRS' (this has also   become established on FidoNet and in the PC {clone} world).  It   is alleged that the emergency pull switch on an IBM 360/91 actuall...
Big Red Switch3 is  power feed; the BRSes on   more recent machines physically drop a block into place so that   they can't be pushed back in.  People get fired for pulling them,   especially inappropriately (see also {molly-guard}).  Compare   {powe...
the Big Room is  n. The extremely large room with the blue ceiling   and intensely bright light (during the day) or black ceiling with   lots of tiny night-lights (during the night) found outside all   computer installations.  "He can't come to the p...
big win is  n. Serendipity.  "Yes, those two physicists discovered   high-temperature superconductivity in a batch of ceramic that had   been prepared incorrectly according to their experimental schedule.   Small mistake; big win!" See {win big}.
big-endian is  [From Swift's `Gulliver's Travels' via the famous   paper `On Holy Wars and a Plea for Peace' by Danny Cohen,   USC/ISI IEN 137, dated April 1, 1980] adj. 1. Describes a computer   architecture in which, within a given multi-byte numer...
big-endian2 is  has the lowest address   (the word is stored `big-end-first').  Most processors, including   the IBM 370 family, the {PDP-10}, the Motorola microprocessor   families, and most of the various RISC designs current in mid-1991,   are big...
big-endian3 is  {NUXI   problem}.  2. An {{Internet address}} the wrong way round.  Most   of the world follows the Internet standard and writes email   addresses starting with the name of the computer and ending up with   the name of the country.  I...
big-endian4 is  decided to do it the other way round before the Internet domain   standard was established; e.g., me@uk.ac.wigan.cs.  Most gateway   sites have {ad-hockery} in their mailers to handle this, but can   still be confused.  In particular,...
big-endian5 is  (domain uk) or Czechoslovakia (domain cs). 
bignum is  /big'nuhm/ [orig. from MIT MacLISP] n. 1. [techspeak] A   multiple-precision computer representation for very large integers.   More generally, any very large number.  "Have you ever looked at   the United States Budget?  There's bignums f...
bignum2 is  numbers on the dice are called   `bignums', especially a roll of double fives or double sixes   (compare {moby}, sense 4).  See also {El Camino Bignum}.   Sense 1 may require some explanation.  Most computer languages   provide a kind of ...
bignum3 is  integers are usually very limited in size; usually they must be   smaller than than 2^{31} (2,147,483,648) or (on a losing   {bitty box}) 2^{15} (32,768).  If you want to work with   numbers larger than that, you have to use floating-poin...
bignum4 is  six or seven decimal places.   Computer languages that provide bignums can perform exact   calculations on very large numbers, such as 1000!  (the factorial   of 1000, which is 1000 times 999 times 998 times ... times 2   times 1). 
bigot is  n. A person who is religiously attached to a particular   computer, language, operating system, editor, or other tool (see   {religious issues}).  Usually found with a specifier; thus,   `cray bigot', {ITS bigot}, `APL bigot', `VMS bigot', ...
bigot2 is  distinguished from mere   partisans or zealots by the fact that they refuse to learn   alternatives even when the march of time and/or technology is   threatening to obsolete the favored tool.  It is said "You can   tell a bigot, but you c...
bit is  [from the mainstream meaning and `Binary digIT'] n.   1. [techspeak] The unit of information; the amount of information   obtained by asking a yes-or-no question for which the two outcomes   are equally probable.  2. [techspeak] A computation...
bit2 is  values, such as true and false or 0 and 1.   3. A mental flag a reminder that something should be done   eventually.  "I have a bit set for you."  (I haven't seen you for   a while, and I'm supposed to tell or ask you something.)  4. More   ...
bit3 is  of belief.  "I have   a bit set that says that you were the last guy to hack on EMACS."   (Meaning "I think you were the last guy to hack on EMACS, and what   I am about to say is predicated on this, so please stop me if this   isn't true.")...
bit4 is  way of indicating that   you intend only a short interruption for a question that can   presumably be answered yes or no.   A bit is said to be `set' if its value is true or 1, and   `reset' or `clear' if its value is false or 0.  One   spea...
bit5 is  or   `invert' a bit is to change it, either from 0 to 1 or from   1 to 0.  See also {flag}, {trit}, {mode bit}. 
bit bang is  n. Transmission of data on a serial line, when   accomplished by rapidly tweaking a single output bit at the   appropriate times.  The technique is a simple   loop with eight OUT and SHIFT instruction pairs for each byte.   Input is more...
bit bang2 is  and output   at the same time) is one way to separate the real hackers from the   {wannabee}s.   Bit bang was used on certain early models of Prime computers,   presumably when UARTs were too expensive, and on archaic Z80 micros   with ...
bit bang3 is  instance of the   {cycle of reincarnation}, this technique is now (1991) coming   back into use on some RISC architectures because it consumes such   an infinitesimal part of the processor that it actually makes sense   not to have a UA...
bit bashing is  n. (alt. `bit diddling' or {bit twiddling}) Term   used to describe any of several kinds of low-level programming   characterized by manipulation of {bit}, {flag}, {nybble},   and other smaller-than-character-sized pieces of data; the...
bit bashing2 is  encryption algorithms, checksum   and error-correcting codes, hash functions, some flavors of   graphics programming (see {bitblt}), and assembler/compiler code   generation.  May connote either tedium or a real technical   challenge...
bit bashing3 is  decoding for   the new tape driver looks pretty solid but the bit-bashing for the   control registers still has bugs."  See also {bit bang},   {mode bit}. 
bit bucket is  n. 1. The universal data sink (originally, the   mythical receptacle used to catch bits when they fall off the end   of a register during a shift instruction).  Discarded, lost, or   destroyed data is said to have `gone to the bit buck...
bit bucket2 is  {/dev/null}.  Sometimes amplified as `the Great   Bit Bucket in the Sky'.  2. The place where all lost mail and news   messages eventually go.  The selection is performed according to   {Finagle's Law}; important mail is much more lik...
bit bucket3 is  mail, which has an almost 100% probability   of getting delivered.  Routing to the bit bucket is automatically   performed by mail-transfer agents, news systems, and the lower   layers of the network.  3. The ideal location for all un...
bit bucket4 is  article to the bit bucket."   Such a request is guaranteed to overflow one's mailbox with flames.   4. Excuse for all mail that has not been sent.  "I mailed you   those figures last week; they must have ended in the bit bucket."   Co...
bit bucket5 is  in jest.  It is based on the fanciful   notion that bits are objects that are not destroyed but only   misplaced.  This appears to have been a mutation of an earlier term   `bit box', about which the same legend was current; old-time ...
bit bucket6 is  told that when the CPU   stored bits into memory it was actually pulling them `out of the   bit box'.  See also {chad box}.   Another variant of this legend has it that, as a consequence of the   `parity preservation law', the number ...
bit bucket7 is  equal the number of 0 bits.  Any imbalance results in   bits filling up the bit bucket.  A qualified computer technician   can empty a full bit bucket as part of scheduled maintenance. 
bit decay is  n. See {bit rot}.  People with a physics background   tend to prefer this one for the analogy with particle decay.  See   also {computron}, {quantum bogodynamics}.
bit rot is  n. Also {bit decay}.  Hypothetical disease the existence   of which has been deduced from the observation that unused programs   or features will often stop working after sufficient time has   passed, even if `nothing has changed'.  The t...
bit rot2 is  were radioactive.  As time passes, the   contents of a file or the code in a program will become   increasingly garbled.   There actually are physical processes that produce such effects   (alpha particles generated by trace radionuclide...
bit rot3 is  change the contents of a computer memory   unpredictably, and various kinds of subtle media failures can   corrupt files in mass storage), but they are quite rare (and   computers are built with error-detecting circuitry to compensate   ...
bit rot4 is  hackers that cosmic   rays are among the causes of such events turns out to be a myth;   see the {cosmic rays} entry for details.   The term {software rot} is almost synonymous.  Software rot is   the effect, bit rot the notional cause. 
bit twiddling is  n. 1. (pejorative) An exercise in {tuning} in   which incredible amounts of time and effort go to produce little   noticeable improvement, often with the result that the code has   become incomprehensible.  2. Aimless small modifica...
bit twiddling2 is  goal.  3. Approx. syn. for {bit   bashing}; esp. used for the act of frobbing the device control   register of a peripheral in an attempt to get it back to a known   state. 
bit-paired keyboard is  n. obs. (alt. `bit-shift keyboard') A   non-standard keyboard layout that seems to have originated with   the Teletype ASR-33 and remained common for several years on early   computer equipment.  The ASR-33 was a mechanical de...
bit-paired keyboard2 is  generate the character codes from   keystrokes was by some physical linkage.  The design of the ASR-33   assigned each character key a basic pattern that could be modified   by flipping bits if the SHIFT or the CTRL key was p...
bit-paired keyboard3 is  more of a Rube Goldberg kluge than it   already was, the design had to group characters that shared the   same basic bit pattern on one key.   This is why the characters !"#$%&'() appear where they do on a   Teletype (thankfu...
bit-paired keyboard4 is  was   *not* the weirdest variant of the {QWERTY} layout widely   seen, by the way; that prize should probably go to one of several   (differing) arrangements on IBM's even clunkier 026 and 029 card   punches.   When electroni...
bit-paired keyboard5 is  there   was no agreement in the industry over how the keyboards should be   laid out.  Some vendors opted to emulate the Teletype keyboard,   while others used the flexibility of electronic circuitry to make   their product l...
bit-paired keyboard6 is  alternatives   became known as `bit-paired' and `typewriter-paired' keyboards.  To   a hacker, the bit-paired keyboard seemed far more logical --- and   because most hackers in those days had never learned to touch-type,   th...
bit-paired keyboard7 is  users to adapt   keyboards to the typewriter standard.   The doom of the bit-paired keyboard was the large-scale   introduction of the computer terminal into the normal office   environment, where out-and-out technophobes wer...
bit-paired keyboard8 is  `typewriter-paired' standard became universal,   `bit-paired' hardware was quickly junked or relegated to dusty   corners, and both terms passed into disuse. 
bitblt is  /bit'blit/ n. [from {BLT}, q.v.] 1. Any of a family   of closely related algorithms for moving and copying rectangles of   bits between main and display memory on a bit-mapped device, or   between two areas of either main or display memory...
bitblt2 is  the case of overlapping source and   destination rectangles is what makes BitBlt tricky).  2. Synonym   for {blit} or {BLT}.  Both uses are borderline techspeak. 
BITNET is  /bit'net/ [acronym Because It's Time NETwork] n.   Everybody's least favorite piece of the network (see {network,   the}).  The BITNET hosts are a collection of IBM dinosaurs and   VAXen (the latter with lobotomized comm hardware) that com...
BITNET2 is  images (see {eighty-column   mind}); thus, they tend to mangle the headers and text of   third-party traffic from the rest of the ASCII/RFC-822 world with   annoying regularity.  BITNET is also notorious as the apparent home   of {BIFF}. 
bits is  n.pl. 1. Information.  Examples "I need some bits about file   formats."  ("I need to know about file formats.")  Compare {core   dump}, sense 4.  2. Machine-readable representation of a document,   specifically as contrasted with paper  "I ...
bits2 is  does anyone know where I can get the bits?".   See {softcopy}, {source of all good bits} See also {bit}. 
bitty box is  /bit'ee boks/ n. 1. A computer sufficiently small,   primitive, or incapable as to cause a hacker acute claustrophobia   at the thought of developing software for it.  Especially used of   small, obsolescent, single-tasking-only persona...
bitty box2 is  Sinclair, VIC-20, TRS-80, or IBM PC.   2. [Pejorative]  More generally, the opposite of `real computer'   (see {Get a real computer!}).  See also {mess-dos},   {toaster}, and {toy}. 
bixie is  /bik'see/ n. Variant {emoticon}s used on BIX (the Byte   Information eXchange).  The {smiley} bixie is <@_@>, apparently   intending to represent two cartoon eyes and a mouth.  A few others   have been reported.
black art is  n. A collection of arcane, unpublished, and (by   implication) mostly ad-hoc techniques developed for a particular   application or systems area (compare {black magic}).  VLSI design   and compiler code optimization were (in their begin...
black art2 is  art; as theory developed they   became {deep magic}, and once standard textbooks had been written,   became merely {heavy wizardry}.  The huge proliferation of formal   and informal channels for spreading around new computer-related   ...
black art3 is  made both the term   `black art' and what it describes less common than formerly.  See   also {voodoo programming}. 
black hole is  n. When a piece of email or netnews disappears   mysteriously between its origin and destination sites (that is,   without returning a {bounce message}) it is commonly said to have   `fallen into a black hole'.  "I think there's a blac...
black hole2 is  site foovax has been dropping   a lot of stuff on the floor lately (see {drop on the floor}).   The implied metaphor of email as interstellar travel is interesting   in itself.  Compare {bit bucket}. 
black magic is  n. A technique that works, though nobody really   understands why.  More obscure than {voodoo programming}, which   may be done by cookbook.  Compare also {black art}, {deep   magic}, and {magic number} (sense 2).
blast is  1. vt.,n. Synonym for {BLT}, used esp. for large data   sends over a network or comm line.  Opposite of {snarf}.  Usage   uncommon.  The variant `blat' has been reported.  2. vt.   [HP/Apollo] Synonymous with {nuke} (sense 3).  Sometimes th...
blast2 is  Blast them (y/n)?' would   appear in the command window upon logout. 
blat is  n. 1. Syn. {blast}, sense 1.  2. See {thud}.
bletch is  /blech/ [from Yiddish/German `brechen', to vomit, poss.   via comic-strip exclamation `blech'] interj.  Term of disgust.   Often used in "Ugh, bletch".  Compare {barf}.
bletcherous is  /blech'*-r*s/ adj. Disgusting in design or function;   esthetically unappealing.  This word is seldom used of people.   "This keyboard is bletcherous!" (Perhaps the keys don't work very   well, or are misplaced.)  See {losing}, {creti...
bletcherous2 is  The term {bletcherous}   applies to the esthetics of the thing so described; similarly for   {cretinous}.  By contrast, something that is `losing' or   `bagbiting' may be failing to meet objective criteria.  See also   {bogus} and {r...
bletcherous3 is  meaning than any of the above. 
blinkenlights is  /blink'*n-litz/ n. Front-panel diagnostic lights   on a computer, esp. a {dinosaur}.  Derives from the last word of   the famous   blackletter-Gothic   sign in mangled pseudo-German that once graced about half the   computer rooms i...
blinkenlights2 is  in   its entirety as follows                   ACHTUNG!  ALLES LOOKENSPEEPERS!        Das computermachine ist nicht fuer gefingerpoken und mittengrabben.        Ist easy schnappen der springenwerk, blowenfusen und poppencorken     ...
blinkenlights3 is  bei das dumpkopfen.        Das rubbernecken sichtseeren keepen das cotten-pickenen hans in das        pockets muss; relaxen und watchen das blinkenlichten.   This silliness dates back at least as far as 1959 at Stanford   Universit...
blinkenlights4 is  early 1960s,   when it was reported at London University's ATLAS computing site.   There are several variants of it in circulation, some of which   actually do end with the word `blinkenlights'.   In an amusing example of turnabout...
blinkenlights5 is  their own versions of the blinkenlights poster in   fractured English, one of which is reproduced here                               ATTENTION        This room is fullfilled mit special electronische equippment.        Fingergrabbi...
blinkenlights6 is  computers is        allowed for die experts only!  So all the "lefthanders" stay away        and do not disturben the brainstorming von here working        intelligencies.  Otherwise you will be out thrown and kicked        andersw...
blinkenlights7 is  astaunished        the blinkenlights.   See also {geef}. 
blit is  /blit/ vt. 1. To copy a large array of bits from one part   of a computer's memory to another part, particularly when the   memory is being used to determine what is shown on a display   screen.  "The storage allocator picks through the tabl...
blit2 is  memory, and then blits it all back   down again."  See {bitblt}, {BLT}, {dd}, {cat},   {blast}, {snarf}.  More generally, to perform some operation   (such as toggling) on a large array of bits while moving them.   2. All-capitalized as `BL...
blit3 is  designed by Rob Pike at Bell Labs, later commercialized as   the AT&T 5620.  (The folk etymology from `Bell Labs Intelligent   Terminal' is incorrect.) 
blitter is  /blit'r/ n. A special-purpose chip or hardware system   built to perform {blit} operations, esp. used for fast   implementation of bit-mapped graphics.  The Commodore Amiga and a   few other micros have these, but in 1991 the trend is awa...
blitter2 is  reincarnation}).  Syn. {raster   blaster}. 
blivet is  /bliv'*t/ [allegedly from a World War II military term   meaning "ten pounds of manure in a five-pound bag"] n. 1. An   intractable problem.  2. A crucial piece of hardware that can't be   fixed or replaced if it breaks.  3. A tool that ha...
blivet2 is  programmers that it has become an   unmaintainable tissue of hacks.  4. An out-of-control but   unkillable development effort.  5. An embarrassing bug that pops up   during a customer demo.   This term has other meanings in other technica...
blivet3 is  hardware engineers of various kinds it   seems to mean any random object of unknown purpose (similar to   hackish use of {frob}).  It has also been used to describe an   amusing trick-the-eye drawing resembling a three-pronged fork that  ...
blivet4 is  until one realizes that   the parts fit together in an impossible way. 
block is  [from process scheduling terminology in OS theory] 1. vi.   To delay or sit idle while waiting for something.  "We're blocking   until everyone gets here."  Compare {busy-wait}.  2. `block   on' vt. To block, waiting for (something).  "Lunc...
block transfer computations is  n. From the television series   "Dr. Who", in which it referred to computations so fiendishly   subtle and complex that they could not be performed by machines.   Used to refer to any task that should be expressible as...

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

bug6 is  Panel F (moth) in relay.  First actual case of bug being   found".  This wording seems to establish that the term was already in use   at the time in its current specific sense.  Indeed, the use of   `bug' to mean an industrial defect was al...
bug7 is  and `bug' in the sense of an disruptive event   goes back to Shakespeare!  In the first edition of Samuel Johnson's   dictionary one meaning of `bug' is "A frightful object; a walking   spectre"; this is traced to `bugbear', a Welsh term for...
bug8 is  complete the circle) has recently   been reintroduced into the popular lexicon through fantasy   role-playing games.   In any case, in jargon the word almost never refers to insects.   Here is a plausible conversation that never actually hap...
bug9 is  "What do you mean?  I don't see any ants in it."   "That's the bug."   [There has been a widespread myth that the original bug was moved   to the Smithsonian, and an earlier version of this entry so   asserted.  A correspondent who thought t...
bug10 is  there.  While investigating this, your editor   discovered that the NSWC still had the bug, but had unsuccessfully   tried to get the Smithsonian to accept it --- and that the present   curator of the History of American Technology Museum d...
bug11 is  a worthwhile exhibit.   Thus, the process of investigating the original-computer-bug bug   may have fixed it in an entirely unexpected way, by making the myth   true!  --- ESR] 
bug-compatible is  adj. Said of a design or revision that has been   badly compromised by a requirement to be compatible with   {fossil}s or {misfeature}s in other programs or (esp.)   previous releases of itself. "MS-DOS 2.0 used \ as a path   separ...
bug-compatible2 is  choice of / as an   option character in 1.0." 
bug-for-bug compatible is  n. Same as {bug-compatible}, with the   additional implication that much tedious effort went into ensuring   that each (known) bug was replicated.
buglix is  /buhg'liks/ n. Pejorative term referring to DEC's ULTRIX   operating system in its earlier *severely* buggy versions.   Still used to describe ULTRIX, but without venom.  Compare   {HP-SUX}.
bulletproof is  adj. Used of an algorithm or implementation considered   extremely {robust}; lossage-resistant; capable of correctly   recovering from any imaginable exception condition.  This is a rare   and valued quality.  Syn. {armor-plated}.
bum is  1. vt. To make highly efficient, either in time or space,   often at the expense of clarity.  "I managed to bum three more   instructions out of that code."  "I spent half the night bumming   the interrupt code."  2. To squeeze out excess; to...
bum2 is  whatever it was removed from (without   changing function; this distinguishes the process from a   {featurectomy}).  3. n. A small change to an algorithm, program,   or hardware device to make it more efficient.  "This hardware bum   makes t...
bum3 is  uncommon, largely   superseded by v. {tune} (and n. {tweak}, {hack}), though   none of these exactly capture sense 2.  All these uses are rare in   Commonwealth hackish, because in the parent dialects of English   `bum' is a rude synonym for...
bump is  vt. Synonym for increment.  Has the same meaning as   C's ++ operator.  Used esp. of counter variables, pointers, and index   dummies in `for', `while', and `do-while' loops.
burble is  [from Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky"] v. Like {flame},   but connotes that the source is truly clueless and ineffectual   (mere flamers can be competent).  A term of deep contempt.   "There's some guy on the phone burbling about how he got ...
buried treasure is  n. A surprising piece of code found in some   program.  While usually not wrong, it tends to vary from {crufty}   to {bletcherous}, and has lain undiscovered only because it was   functionally correct, however horrible it is.  Use...
buried treasure2 is  anything *but* treasure.  Buried   treasure almost always needs to be dug up and removed.  "I just   found that the scheduler sorts its queue using {bubble sort}!   Buried treasure!" 
burn-in period is  n. 1. A factory test designed to catch systems   with {marginal} components before they get out the door; the   theory is that burn-in will protect customers by outwaiting the   steepest part of the {bathtub curve} (see {infant   m...
burn-in period2 is  length in which a person   using a computer is so intensely involved in his project that he   forgets basic needs such as food, drink, sleep, etc.  Warning   Excessive burn-in can lead to burn-out.  See {hack mode},   {larval stag...
burst page is  n. Syn. {banner}, sense 1.
busy-wait is  vi. Used of human behavior, conveys that the subject is   busy waiting for someone or something, intends to move instantly as   soon as it shows up, and thus cannot do anything else at the   moment.  "Can't talk now, I'm busy-waiting ti...
busy-wait2 is  `busy-wait' means to wait on an event by   {spin}ning through a tight or timed-delay loop that polls for   the event on each pass, as opposed to setting up an interrupt   handler and continuing execution on another part of the task.  T...
busy-wait3 is  time-sharing systems where   a busy-waiting program may {hog} the processor. 
buzz is  vi. 1. Of a program, to run with no indication of progress   and perhaps without guarantee of ever finishing; esp. said of   programs thought to be executing tight loops of code.  A program   that is buzzing appears to be {catatonic}, but yo...
buzz2 is  buzzing loop may eventually end of its own   accord.  "The program buzzes for about 10 seconds trying to sort   all the names into order."  See {spin}; see also {grovel}.   2. [ETA Systems] To test a wire or printed circuit trace for   cont...
buzz3 is   Some wire   faults will pass DC tests but fail a buzz test.  3. To process an   array or list in sequence, doing the same thing to each element.   "This loop buzzes through the tz array looking for a terminator   type." 
BWQ is  /B-W-Q/ [IBM acronym, `Buzz Word Quotient'] The   percentage of buzzwords in a speech or documents.  Usually roughly   proportional to {bogosity}.  See {TLA}.
by hand is  adv. Said of an operation (especially a repetitive,   trivial, and/or tedious one) that ought to be performed   automatically by the computer, but which a hacker instead has to   step tediously through.  "My mailer doesn't have a command ...
by hand2 is  replying to, so I have to do it   by hand."  This does not necessarily mean the speaker has to   retype a copy of the message; it might refer to, say, dropping into   a {subshell} from the mailer, making a copy of one's mailbox file,   r...
by hand3 is  and bottom of the   message in question, deleting the rest of the file, inserting `>'   characters on each line, writing the file, leaving the editor,   returning to the mailer, reading the file in, and later remembering   to delete the ...
byte is  /bit/ [techspeak] n. A unit of memory or data equal to   the amount used to represent one character; on modern architectures   this is usually 8 bits, but may be 9 on 36-bit machines.  Some   older architectures used `byte' for quantities of...
byte2 is  `bytes' that were actually bitfields of   1 to 36 bits!  These usages are now obsolete, and even 9-bit bytes   have become rare in the general trend toward power-of-2 word sizes.   Historical note The term originated in 1956 during the earl...
byte3 is  originally it was   described as 1 to 6 bits (typical I/O equipment of the period   used 6-bit chunks of information).  The move to an 8-bit byte   happened in late 1956, and this size was later adopted and   promulgated as a standard by th...
byte4 is  mutating the word `bite' so it would not be accidentally   misspelled as {bit}.  See also {nybble}. 
bytesexual is  /bit`sek'shu-*l/ adj. Said of hardware, denotes   willingness to compute or pass data in either {big-endian} or   {little-endian} format (depending, presumably, on a {mode bit}   somewhere).  See also {NUXI problem}.*C n. 1. The third ...
bytesexual2 is  1000011.  3. The name of a programming language designed by   Dennis Ritchie during the early 1970s and immediately used to   reimplement {{UNIX}}.  So called because many features derived   from an earlier compiler named `B' in comme...
bytesexual3 is  Stroustrup settled the   question by designing C++, there was a humorous debate over whether   C's successor should be named `D' or `P'.  C became immensely   popular outside Bell Labs after about 1980 and is now the dominant   langua...
bytesexual4 is  programming.   See also {languages of choice}, {indent style}.   C is often described, with a mixture of fondness and disdain   varying according to the speaker, as "a language that combines   all the elegance and power of assembly la...
bytesexual5 is  maintainability of assembly language". 
calculator is  [Cambridge] n. Syn. for {bitty box}.
can is  vt. To abort a job on a time-sharing system.  Used esp. when the   person doing the deed is an operator, as in "canned from the   {{console}}".  Frequently used in an imperative sense, as in "Can   that print job, the LPT just popped a sprock...
can2 is  that the ASCII character with mnemonic CAN   (0011000) was used as a kill-job character on some early OSes. 
canonical is  [historically, `according to religious law'] adj. The   usual or standard state or manner of something.  This word has a   somewhat more technical meaning in mathematics.  Two formulas such   as 9 + x and x + 9 are said to be equivalent...
canonical2 is  second one is in `canonical   form' because it is written in the usual way, with the highest   power of x first.  Usually there are fixed rules you can use   to decide whether something is in canonical form.  The jargon   meaning, a re...
canonical3 is    present loading in computer-science culture largely through its   prominence in Alonzo Church's work in computation theory and   mathematical logic (see {Knights of the Lambda Calculus}).   Compare {vanilla}.   This word has an inter...
canonical4 is  not use the adjective `canonical' in any of the senses defined   above with any regularity; they do however use the nouns `canon' and   `canonicity' (not *canonicalness or *canonicality). The `canon' of   a given author is the complete...
canonical5 is  usage is familiar to Sherlock Holmes fans as well as   to literary scholars).  `*The* canon' is the body of works in   a given field (e.g., works of literature, or of art, or of music)   deemed worthwhile for students to study and for ...
canonical6 is  non-techspeak academic usages derive ultimately from the   historical meaning, specifically the classification of the books of   the Bible into two groups by Christian theologians.  The   `canonical' books were the ones widely accepted...
canonical7 is  authority.  The   `deuterocanonical' books (literally `secondarily canonical';   also known as the `Apochrypha') were held to be of lesser   authority --- indeed they have been held in such low esteem that to   this day they are omitte...
canonical8 is  this term with a playfulness that makes an ironic   contrast with its historical meaning.  A true story One Bob   Sjoberg, new at the MIT AI Lab, expressed some annoyance at the use   of jargon.  Over his loud objections, GLS and RMS m...
canonical9 is  in his presence, and eventually it   began to sink in.  Finally, in one conversation, he used the word   `canonical' in jargon-like fashion without thinking.  Steele   "Aha!  We've finally got you talking jargon too!"  Stallman   "What...
canonical10 is  `canonical' in the   canonical way."   Of course, canonicality depends on context, but it is implicitly   defined as the way *hackers* normally expect things to be.   Thus, a hacker may claim with a straight face that `according to   ...
card is  n. 1. An electronic printed-circuit board (see also {tall   card}, {short card}.  2. obs. Syn. {{punched card}}.
card walloper is  n. An EDP programmer who grinds out batch programs   that do stupid things like print people's paychecks.  Compare   {code grinder}.  See also {{punched card}}, {eighty-column   mind}.
careware is  /keir'weir/ n. {Shareware} for which either the   author suggests that some payment be made to a nominated charity   or a levy directed to charity is included on top of the   distribution charge.  Syn. {charityware}; compare   {cripplewa...
cargo cult programming is  n. A style of (incompetent) programming   dominated by ritual inclusion of code or program structures that   serve no real purpose.  A cargo cult programmer will usually   explain the extra code as a way of working around s...
cargo cult programming2 is  neither the bug nor the reason   the code apparently avoided the bug was ever fully understood   (compare {shotgun debugging}, {voodoo programming}).   The term `cargo cult' is a reference to aboriginal religions that   gr...
cargo cult programming3 is  The practices of   these cults center on building elaborate mockups of airplanes and   military style landing strips in the hope of bringing the return of   the god-like airplanes that brought such marvelous cargo during t...
cargo cult programming4 is  Richard Feynman's   characterization of certain practices as "cargo cult science" in   his book `Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman' (W. W. Norton   & Co, New York 1985, ISBN 0-393-01921-7). 
case and paste is  [from `cut and paste'] n. 1. The addition of a new   {feature} to an existing system by selecting the code from an   existing feature and pasting it in with minor changes.  Common in   telephony circles because most operations in a...
case and paste2 is  statements.  Leads to {software bloat}.   In some circles of EMACS users this is called `programming by   Meta-W', because Meta-W is the EMACS command for copying a block of   text to a kill buffer in preparation to pasting it in ...
case and paste3 is  implying that the programmer is acting   mindlessly rather than thinking carefully about what is required to   integrate the code for two similar cases. 
casters-up mode is  [IBM] n. Yet another synonym for `broken' or   `down'.
casting the runes is  n. What a {guru} does when you ask him or her   to run a particular program and type at it because it never works   for anyone else; esp. used when nobody can ever see what the guru   is doing different from what J. Random Luser...
casting the runes2 is  {examining the entrails}; also see   the AI koan about Tom Knight in appendix A. 
cat is  [from `catenate' via {{UNIX}} `cat(1)'] vt.   1. [techspeak] To spew an entire file to the screen or some other   output sink without pause.  2. By extension, to dump large amounts   of data at an unprepared target or with no intention of bro...
cat2 is   Rare outside UNIX sites.  See   also {dd}, {BLT}.   Among UNIX fans, `cat(1)' is considered an excellent example   of user-interface design, because it outputs the file contents   without such verbosity as spacing or headers between the fil...
cat3 is  to consist of lines of text,   but works with any sort of data.   Among UNIX-haters, `cat(1)' is considered the {canonical}   example of *bad* user-interface design.  This because it is more   often used to {blast} a file to standard output ...
cat4 is  `cat' for the former   operation is just as unintuitive as, say, LISP's {cdr}.   Of such oppositions are {holy wars} made.... 
catatonic is  adj. Describes a condition of suspended animation in   which something is so {wedged} or {hung} that it makes no   response.  If you are typing on a terminal and suddenly the   computer doesn't even echo the letters back to the screen a...
catatonic2 is  it to do, then the computer   is suffering from catatonia (possibly because it has crashed).   "There I was in the middle of a winning game of {nethack} and it   went catatonic on me!  Aaargh!" Compare {buzz}. 
cdr is  /ku'dr/ or /kuh'dr/ [from LISP] vt. To skip past the   first item from a list of things (generalized from the LISP   operation on binary tree structures, which returns a list   consisting of all but the first element of its argument).  In the...
cdr2 is  elements  "Shall we   cdr down the agenda?"  Usage silly.  See also {loop through}.   Historical note The instruction format of the IBM 7090 that hosted   the original LISP implementation featured two 15-bit fields called   the `address' and...
cdr3 is  originally   `Contents of Decrement part of Register'.  Similarly, `car' stood   for `Contents of Address part of Register'.   The cdr and car operations have since become bases for   formation of compound metaphors in non-LISP contexts.  GL...
cdr4 is  in which strings were   represented as linked lists; the get-character and skip-character   operations were of course called CHAR and CHDR. 
chad is  /chad/ n. 1. The perforated edge strips on printer paper, after   they have been separated from the printed portion.  Also called   {selvage} and {perf}.  2. obs. The confetti-like paper bits punched   out of cards or paper tape; this was al...
chad2 is  `keypunch droppings'.   Historical note One correspondent believes `chad' (sense 2)   derives from the Chadless keypunch (named for its inventor), which   cut little u-shaped tabs in the card to make a hole when the tab   folded back, rathe...
chad3 is   clear that if the Chadless keypunch didn't make them, then the   stuff that other keypunches made had to be `chad'. 
chad box is  n. {Iron Age} card punches contained boxes inside them,   about the size of a lunchbox (or in some models a large   wastebasket), that held the {chad} (sense 2).  You had to open   the covers of the card punch periodically and empty the ...
chad box2 is  the equivalent device in the CPU   enclosure, which was typically across the room in another great   gray-and-blue box. 
chain is  [orig. from BASIC's `CHAIN' statement] vi. To hand off   execution to a child or successor without going through the   {OS} command interpreter that invoked it.  The state of the   parent program is lost and there is no returning to it.  Th...
chain2 is  memory-limited micros and is   still widely supported for backward compatibility, the jargon usage   is semi-obsolescent; in particular, most UNIX programmers will   think of this as an {exec}.  Oppose the more modern {subshell}. 
char is  /keir/ or /char/; rarely, /kar/ n. Shorthand for   `character'.  Esp. used by C programmers, as `char' is   C's typename for character data.
charityware is  /char'it-ee-weir`/ n. Syn. {careware}.
chase pointers is  1. vi. To go through multiple levels of   indirection, as in traversing a linked list or graph structure.   Used esp. by programmers in C, where explicit pointers are a very   common data type.  This is techspeak, but it remains ja...
chase pointers2 is  chasing pointers.  Bob said you   could tell me who to talk to about...." See {dangling   pointer} and {snap}.  2. [Cambridge] `pointer chase' or   `pointer hunt' The process of going through a dump   (interactively or on a large ...
chase pointers3 is  following dynamic data-structures.  Used only in a   debugging context. 
chemist is  [Cambridge] n. Someone who wastes computer time on   {number-crunching} when you'd far rather the machine were doing   something more productive, such as working out anagrams of your   name or printing Snoopy calendars or running {life} p...
chemist2 is  actually studies chemistry. 
Chernobyl chicken is  n. See {laser chicken}.
Chernobyl packet is  /cher-noh'b*l pak'*t/ n. A network packet that   induces {network meltdown} (the result of a {broadcast storm}),   in memory of the 1987 nuclear accident at Chernobyl in the Ukraine.   The typical case of this is an IP Ethernet d...
Chernobyl packet2 is  both source and destination Ether and IP   address set as the respective broadcast addresses for the   subnetworks being gated between.  Compare {Christmas tree   packet}. 
chicken head is  [Commodore] n. The Commodore Business Machines logo,   which strongly resembles a poultry part.  Rendered in ASCII as   `C='.  With the arguable exception of the Amiga (see {amoeba}),   Commodore's machines are notoriously crocky lit...
chicken head2 is  Thus, this usage may owe something to   Philip K.  Dick's novel `Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?'   (the basis for the movie `Blade Runner'), in which a   `chickenhead' is a mutant with below-average intelligence. 
chiclet keyboard is  n. A keyboard with small rectangular or   lozenge-shaped rubber or plastic keys that look like pieces of   chewing gum.  (Chiclets is the brand name of a variety of chewing   gum that does in fact resemble the keys of chiclet key...
chiclet keyboard2 is  IBM PCjr keyboard.  Vendors   unanimously liked these because they were cheap, and a lot of early   portable and laptop products got launched using them.  Customers   rejected the idea with almost equal unanimity, and chiclets a...
chine nual is  /sheen'yu-*l/ [MIT] n.,obs. The Lisp Machine Manual, so   called because the title was wrapped around the cover so only those   letters showed on the front.
Chinese Army technique is  n. Syn. {Mongolian Hordes technique}.
choke is  v. To reject input, often ungracefully.  "Nuls make System   V's `lpr(1)' choke."  "I tried building an {EMACS} binary to   use {X}, but `cpp(1)' choked on all those `#define's."   See {barf}, {gag}, {vi}.
chomp is  vi. To {lose}; specifically, to chew on something of   which more was bitten off than one can.  Probably related to   gnashing of teeth.  See {bagbiter}.  A hand gesture commonly   accompanies this.  To perform it, hold the four fingers   t...
chomp2 is  tips.  Now open and   close your hand rapidly to suggest a biting action (much like what   Pac-Man does in the classic video game, though this pantomime seems   to predate that).  The gesture alone means `chomp chomp' (see   Verb Doubling ...
chomp3 is  Prependices).  The hand may be pointed at the object of complaint,   and for real emphasis you can use both hands at once.  Doing this   to a person is equivalent to saying "You chomper!"  If you point   the gesture at yourself, it is a hu...
chomp4 is  You might do this if someone told you that a program   you had written had failed in some surprising way and you felt dumb   for not having anticipated it. 
chomper is  n. Someone or something that is chomping; a loser.  See   {loser}, {bagbiter}, {chomp}.
Christmas tree is  n. A kind of RS-232 line tester or breakout box   featuring rows of blinking red and green LEDs suggestive of   Christmas lights.
Christmas tree packet is  n. A packet with every single option set for   whatever protocol is in use.  See {kamikaze packet}, {Chernobyl   packet}.  (The term doubtless derives from a fanciful image of each   little option bit being represented by a ...
chrome is  [from automotive slang via wargaming] n. Showy features   added to attract users but contributing little or nothing to   the power of a system.  "The 3D icons in Motif are just chrome,   but they certainly are *pretty* chrome!"  Distinguis...
chrome2 is  that the latter are usually   added to gratify developers' own desires for featurefulness.    Often used as a term of contempt. 
chug is  vi. To run slowly; to {grind} or {grovel}.  "The disk is   chugging like crazy."
Church of the SubGenius is  n. A mutant offshoot of   {Discordianism} launched in 1981 as a spoof of fundamentalist   Christianity by the `Reverend' Ivan Stang, a brilliant satirist   with a gift for promotion.  Popular among hackers as a rich source...
Church of the SubGenius2 is  "Bob" the divine   drilling-equipment salesman, the Benevolent Space Xists, and the   Stark Fist of Removal.  Much SubGenius theory is concerned with the   acquisition of the mystical substance or quality of   `slack'. 
Cinderella Book is  [CMU] n. `Introduction to Automata Theory,   Languages, and Computation', by John Hopcroft and Jeffrey Ullman,   (Addison-Wesley, 1979).  So called because the cover depicts a girl   (putatively Cinderella) sitting in front of a R...
Cinderella Book2 is  coming out of it.  The back cover depicts the   girl with the device in shambles after she has pulled on the rope.   See also {{book titles}}. 
CI$ is  // n. Hackerism for `CIS', CompuServe Information Service.   The dollar sign refers to CompuServe's rather steep line charges.  Often   used in {sig block}s just before a CompuServe address.  Syn.   {Compu$erve}.
Classic C is  /klas'ik C/ [a play on `Coke Classic'] n. The   C programming language as defined in the first edition of {K&R},   with some small additions.  It is also known as `K&R C'.  The name   came into use while C was being standardized by the ...
Classic C2 is  This is sometimes applied   elsewhere thus, `X Classic', where X = Star Trek (referring to the   original TV series) or X = PC (referring to IBM's ISA-bus machines   as opposed to the PS/2 series).  This construction is especially   us...
Classic C3 is  versions are considered   serious losers relative to the older ones. 
clean is  1. adj. Used of hardware or software designs, implies   `elegance in the small', that is, a design or implementation that   may not hold any surprises but does things in a way that is   reasonably intuitive and relatively easy to comprehend...
clean2 is  or {crufty}.  2. v. To remove   unneeded or undesired files in a effort to reduce clutter  "I'm   cleaning up my account." "I cleaned up the garbage and now have   100 Meg free on that partition." 
CLM is  /C-L-M/ [Sun `Career Limiting Move'] 1. n. An action   endangering one's future prospects of getting plum projects and   raises, and possibly one's job  "His Halloween costume was a   parody of his manager.  He won the prize for `best CLM'." ...

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

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'.

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

hungry puppy is  n. Syn. {slopsucker}.
hungus is  /huhng'g*s/ [perhaps related to slang `humongous'] adj.   Large, unwieldy, usually unmanageable.  "TCP is a hungus piece of   code."  "This is a hungus set of modifications."
hyperspace is  /hi'per-spays/ n. A memory location that is *far*   away from where the program counter should be pointing, often   inaccessible because it is not even mapped in.  "Another core   dump --- looks like the program jumped off to hyperspac...
hyperspace2 is  never-never land}.)  This   usage is from the SF notion of a spaceship jumping `into   hyperspace', that is, taking a shortcut through higher-dimensional   space --- in other words, bypassing this universe.  The variant   `east hypers...
hyperspace3 is  hackers.*I didn't change anything! interj. An aggrieved cry often heard as   bugs manifest during a regression test.  The {canonical} reply to   this assertion is "Then it works just the same as it did before,   doesn't it?"  See also...
hyperspace4 is  applications programmers trying to blame an obvious applications   problem on an unrelated systems software change, for example a   divide-by-0 fault after terminals were added to a network.   Usually, their statement is found to be f...
hyperspace5 is  admit some major restructuring of the   program that shouldn't have broken anything, in their opinion,   but which actually {hosed} the code completely. 
I see no X here. is  Hackers (and the interactive computer games they   write) traditionally favor this slightly marked usage over other   possible equivalents such as "There's no X here!" or "X is   missing."  or "Where's the X?".  This goes back to...
I see no X here.2 is  respond in this wise if you asked   it to do something involving an object not present at your location   in the game. 
i14y is  // n. Abbrev. for `interoperability', with the `14'   replacing fourteen letters.  Used in the {X} (windows)   community.  Refers to portability and compatibility of data formats   (even binary ones) between different programs or implementat...
i18n is  // n. Abbrev. for `internationali{z,s}ation', with the 18   replacing 18 letters.  Used in the {X} (windows) community.
IBM is  /I-B-M/ Inferior But Marketable; It's Better Manually;   Insidious Black Magic; It's Been Malfunctioning; Incontinent Bowel   Movement; and a near-{infinite} number of even less complimentary   expansions, including `International Business Ma...
IBM2 is  illustrate the considerable   antipathy most hackers have long felt toward the `industry leader'   (see {fear and loathing}).   What galls hackers about most IBM machines above the PC level isn't   so much that they are underpowered and over...
IBM3 is  but that the designs are incredibly archaic,   {crufty}, and {elephantine} ... and you can't *fix* them   --- source code is locked up tight, and programming tools are   expensive, hard to find, and bletcherous to use once you've found   the...
IBM4 is  family this may have   begun to change --- but then, we thought that when the PC-RT came   out, too.   In the spirit of universal peace and brotherhood, this lexicon now   includes a number of entries attributed to `IBM'; these derive from s...
IBM5 is  circulated within IBM's own   beleaguered hacker underground. 
IBM discount is  n. A price increase.  Outside IBM, this derives from   the common perception that IBM products are generally overpriced   (see {clone}); inside, it is said to spring from a belief that   large numbers of IBM employees living in an ar...
ice is  [coined by USENETter Tom Maddox, popularized by William   Gibson's cyberpunk SF novels acronym for `Intrusion   Countermeasure Electronics'] Security software (in Gibson's novels,   software that responds to intrusion by attempting to literal...
ice2 is  program designed for   cracking security on a system.  Neither term is in serious use yet   as of mid-1991, but many hackers find the metaphor attractive, and   each may develop a denotation in the future. 
ifdef out is  /if'def owt/ v. Syn. for {condition out}, specific   to {C}.
ill-behaved is  adj. 1. [numerical analysis] Said of an algorithm or   computational method that tends to blow up because of accumulated   roundoff error or poor convergence properties.  2. Software that   bypasses the defined {OS} interfaces to do t...
ill-behaved2 is  itself, often in a way that depends on the   hardware of the machine it is running on or which is nonportable or   incompatible with other pieces of software.  In the IBM PC/MS-DOS   world, there is a folk theorem (nearly true) to th...
ill-behaved3 is  and performance penalties in the OS   interface) all interesting applications are ill-behaved.  See also   {bare metal}. Oppose {well-behaved}, compare {PC-ism}.  See   {mess-dos}. 
IMHO is  // [from SF fandom via USENET; acronym for `In My Humble   Opinion']  "IMHO, mixed-case C names should be avoided, as   mistyping something in the wrong case can cause hard-to-detect   errors --- and they look too Pascalish anyhow."  Also se...
IMHO2 is  Not-So-Humble Opinion) and IMAO   (In My Arrogant Opinion). 
in the extreme is  adj. A preferred superlative suffix for many hackish   terms.  See, for example, `obscure in the extreme' under {obscure},   and compare {highly}.
incantation is  n. Any particularly arbitrary or obscure command that   one must mutter at a system to attain a desired result.  Not used   of passwords or other explicit security features.  Especially used   of tricks that are so poorly documented t...
incantation2 is  compiler normally locates initialized data   in the data segment, but if you {mutter} the right incantation they   will be forced into text space." 
include is  vt. [USENET] 1. To duplicate a portion (or whole) of   another's message (typically with attribution to the source) in a   reply or followup, for clarifying the context of one's response.   See the the discussion of inclusion styles under...
include2 is  `#include <disclaimer.h>'   has appeared in {sig block}s to refer to a notional `standard   disclaimer file'. 
include war is  n. Excessive multi-leveled including within a   discussion {thread}, a practice that tends to annoy readers.  In   a forum with high-traffic newsgroups, such as USENET, this can lead   to {flame}s and the urge to start a {kill file}.
indent style is  [C programmers] n. The rules one uses to indent code   in a readable fashion; a subject of {holy wars}.  There are four   major C indent styles, described below; all have the aim of   making it easier for the reader to visually track...
indent style2 is  significant variable is the placement of   `{' and `}' with respect to the statement(s) they   enclose and the guard or controlling statement (`if',   `else', `for', `while', or `do') on the block,   if any.   `K&R style' --- Named ...
indent style3 is  examples in {K&R} are formatted this way.  Also called `kernel   style' because the UNIX kernel is written in it, and the `One True   Brace Style' (abbrev. 1TBS) by its partisans.  The basic indent   shown here is eight spaces (or o...
indent style4 is  seen, but are much less common.     if (cond) {             <body>     }   `Allman style' --- Named for Eric Allman, a Berkeley hacker who   wrote a lot of the BSD utilities in it (it is sometimes called   `BSD style').  Resembles n...
indent style5 is  indent per level shown here is eight spaces, but four is just   as common (esp. in C++ code).     if (cond)     {             <body>     }   `Whitesmiths style' --- popularized by the examples that came   with Whitesmiths C, an earl...
indent style6 is  level shown here is eight spaces, but four is occasionally seen.     if (cond)             {             <body>             }   `GNU style' --- Used throughout GNU EMACS and the Free Software   Foundation code, and just about nowher...
indent style7 is  level, with `{' and `}' halfway between the   outer and inner indent levels.     if (cond)       {         <body>       }   Surveys have shown the Allman and Whitesmiths styles to be the most   common, with about equal mind shares. ...
indent style8 is  now much less common (the opening brace tends to   get lost against the right paren of the guard part in an `if'   or `while', which is a {Bad Thing}).  Defenders of 1TBS   argue that any putative gain in readability is less importa...
indent style9 is  vertical space, which enables   one to see more code on one's screen at once.  Doubtless these   issues will continue to be the subject of {holy wars}. 
index is  n. See {coefficient}.
infant mortality is  n. It is common lore among hackers that the   chances of sudden hardware failure drop off exponentially with a   machine's time since power-up (that is, until the relatively   distant time at which enough mechanical wear in I/O d...
infant mortality2 is  components has accumulated for the   machine to start going senile).  Up to half of all chip and wire   failures happen within a new system's first few weeks; such   failures are often referred to as `infant mortality' problems ...
infant mortality3 is  syndrome').  See   {bathtub curve}, {burn-in period}. 
infinite is  adj. Consisting of a large number of objects; extreme.   Used very loosely as in "This program produces infinite   garbage."  "He is an infinite loser."  The word most likely to   follow `infinite', though, is {hair} (it has been pointed...
infinite2 is  of infinite hair).  These   uses are abuses of the word's mathematical meaning.  The term   `semi-infinite', denoting an immoderately large amount of some   resource, is also heard.  "This compiler is taking a semi-infinite   amount of ...
infinite loop is  n. One that never terminates (that is, the machine   {spin}s or {buzz}es forever; the usual symptom is   {catatonia}).  There is a standard joke that has been made about   each generation's exemplar of the ultra-fast machine "The Cr...
infinite loop2 is  loop in under 2 seconds!" 
infinity is  n. 1. The largest value that can be represented in a   particular type of variable (register, memory location, data type,   whatever).  2. `minus infinity' The smallest such value, not   necessarily or even usually the simple negation of...
infinity2 is  arithmetic, infinity is   2^{N-1} - 1 but minus infinity is - (2^{N-1}),   not -(2^{N-1} - 1).  Note also that this is different from   "time T equals minus infinity", which is closer to a   mathematician's usage of infinity. 
insanely great is  adj. [Mac community, from Steve Jobs; also BSD UNIX   people via Bill Joy] Something so incredibly {elegant} that it is   imaginable only to someone possessing the most puissant of   {hacker}-natures.
INTERCAL is  /in't*r-kal/ [said by the authors to stand for   `Compiler Language With No Pronounceable Acronym'] n. A   computer language designed by Don Woods and James Lyon in 1972.   INTERCAL is purposely different from all other computer   langua...
INTERCAL2 is  written language,   being totally unspeakable.  An excerpt from the INTERCAL Reference   Manual will make the style of the language clear        It is a well-known and oft-demonstrated fact that a person whose        work is incomprehen...
INTERCAL3 is        one were to state that the simplest way to store a value of 65536        in a 32-bit INTERCAL variable is          DO 1 <- #0$#256        any sensible programmer would say that that was absurd.  Since this        is indeed the sim...
INTERCAL4 is  look        foolish in front of his boss, who would of course have happened to        turn up, as bosses are wont to do.  The effect would be no less        devastating for the programmer having been correct.   INTERCAL has many other p...
INTERCAL5 is  more unspeakable.  The Woods-Lyons implementation was actually used   by many (well, at least several) people at Princeton.  The language   has been recently reimplemented as C-INTERCAL and is consequently   enjoying an unprecedented le...
INTERCAL6 is  alt.lang.intercal newsgroup devoted to the study and ...   appreciation of the language on USENET. 
interesting is  adj. In hacker parlance, this word has strong   connotations of `annoying', or `difficult', or both.  Hackers   relish a challenge, and enjoy wringing all the irony possible out   of the ancient Chinese curse "May you live in interest...
Internet address is  n. 1. [techspeak] An absolute network address of   the form foo@bar.baz, where foo is a user name, bar is a   {sitename}, and baz is a `domain' name, possibly including   periods itself.  Contrast with {bang path}; see also {netw...
Internet address2 is  Internet machines and most UUCP   sites can now resolve these addresses, thanks to a large amount of   behind-the-scenes magic and PD software written since 1980 or so.   See also {bang path}, {domainist}.  2. More loosely, any ...
Internet address3 is  this includes {bang   path} addresses and some internal corporate and government   networks.   Reading Internet addresses is something of an art.  Here are the   four most important top-level functional Internet domains followed...
Internet address4 is  com          commercial organizations     edu          educational institutions     gov          U.S. government civilian sites     mil          U.S. military sites   Note that most of the sites in the com and edu domains are in...
Internet address5 is  the U.S. outside the functional domains     su          sites in the Soviet Union (see {kremvax}).     uk          sites in the United Kingdom   Within the us domain, there are subdomains for the fifty   states, each generally w...
Internet address6 is  abbreviation.  Within the uk domain, there is an ac subdomain for   academic sites and a co domain for commercial ones.  Other   top-level domains may be divided up in similar ways. 
interrupt is  1. [techspeak] n. On a computer, an event that   interrupts normal processing and temporarily diverts   flow-of-control through an "interrupt handler" routine.  See also   {trap}.  2. interj. A request for attention from a hacker.   Oft...
interrupt2 is  seen Joe   recently?"  See {priority interrupt}.  3. Under MS-DOS, the   term `interrupt' is nearly synonymous with `system call', because   the OS and BIOS routines are both called using the INT instruction   (see {{interrupt list, th...
interrupt3 is  bypass the OS (going directly to a BIOS interrupt) to get   reasonable performance. 
interrupt list, the is  [MS-DOS] n. The list of all known software   interrupt calls (both documented and undocumented) for IBM PCs and   compatibles, maintained and made available for free redistribution   by Ralf Brown (ralf@cs.cmu.edu).  As of ear...
interrupts locked out is  When someone is ignoring you.  In a   restaurant, after several fruitless attempts to get the waitress's   attention, a hacker might well observe "She must have interrupts   locked out".  The synonym `interrupts disabled' is...
interrupts locked out2 is  have one's interrupt mask bit set"   or "interrupts masked out" is also heard.  See also {spl}. 
iron is  n. Hardware, especially older and larger hardware of   {mainframe} class with big metal cabinets housing relatively   low-density electronics (but the term is also used of modern   supercomputers).  Often in the phrase {big iron}.  Oppose   ...
Iron Age is  n. In the history of computing, 1961--1971 --- the   formative era of commercial {mainframe} technology, when {big   iron} {dinosaur}s ruled the earth.  These began with the delivery   of the first PDP-1, coincided with the dominance of ...
Iron Age2 is  introduction of the first commercial   microprocessor (the Intel 4004) in 1971.  See also {Stone Age};   compare {elder days}. 
iron box is  [UNIX/Internet] n. A special environment set up to trap   a {cracker} logging in over remote connections long enough to be   traced.  May include a modified {shell} restricting the hacker's   movements in unobvious ways, and `bait' files...
iron box2 is  on.  See also {back door}, {firewall   machine}, {Venus flytrap}, and Clifford Stoll's account in   `The Cuckoo's Egg' of how he made and used one (see   the Bibliography).  Compare {padded cell}. 
ironmonger is  [IBM] n. Derogatory.  A hardware specialist.  Compare   {sandbender}, {polygon pusher}.
ITS is  /I-T-S/ n. 1. Incompatible Time-sharing System, an   influential but highly idiosyncratic operating system written for   PDP-6s and PDP-10s at MIT and long used at the MIT AI Lab.  Much   AI-hacker jargon derives from ITS folklore, and to hav...
ITS2 is  instantly as an old-timer of the most   venerable sort.  ITS pioneered many important innovations,   including transparent file sharing between machines and   terminal-independent I/O.  After about 1982, most actual work was   shifted to new...
ITS3 is  essentially as a hobby and service to the hacker community.  The   shutdown of the lab's last ITS machine in May 1990 marked the end   of an era and sent old-time hackers into mourning nationwide (see   {high moby}).  The Royal Institute of ...
ITS4 is  `live' ITS site at its computer museum (right next   to the only TOPS-10 system still on the Internet), so ITS is still   alleged to hold the record for OS in longest continuous use   (however, {{WAITS}} is a credible rival for this palm).  ...
ITS5 is  operating-system perfection   worshiped by a bizarre, fervent retro-cult of old-time hackers and   ex-users (see {troglodyte}, sense 2).  ITS worshipers manage   somehow to continue believing that an OS maintained by   assembly-language hand...
ITS6 is  6-character filenames in one directory per account remains superior   to today's state of commercial art (their venom against UNIX is   particularly intense).  See also {holy wars},   {Weenix}. 
IWBNI is  // [acronym] `It Would Be Nice If'.  Compare {WIBNI}.
IYFEG is  // [USENET] Abbreviation for `Insert Your Favorite Ethnic   Group'.  Used as a meta-name when telling racist jokes on the net to   avoid offending anyone.  See {JEDR}.*J. Random /J rand'm/ n. [generalized from {J. Random Hacker}]   Arbitrar...
IYFEG2 is  often   prefixed to a noun to make a name out of it.  It means roughly   `some particular' or `any specific one'.  "Would you let   J. Random Loser marry your daughter?"  The most common uses are   `J. Random Hacker', `J. Random Loser', an...
IYFEG3 is  be allowed to {gun} down other   people?"), but it can be used simply as an elaborate version of   {random} in any sense. 
J. Random Hacker is  [MIT] /J rand'm hak'r/ n. A mythical figure   like the Unknown Soldier; the archetypal hacker nerd.  See   {random}, {Suzie COBOL}.  This may originally have been   inspired or influenced by `J. Fred Muggs', a show-biz chimpanzee...
jaggies is  /jag'eez/ n. The `stairstep' effect observable when an   edge (esp. a linear edge of very shallow or steep slope) is   rendered on a pixel device (as opposed to a vector display).
JCL is  /J-C-L/ n. 1. IBM's supremely {rude} Job Control   Language.  JCL is the script language used to control the execution   of programs in IBM's batch systems.  JCL has a very {fascist}   syntax, and some versions will, for example, {barf} if tw...
JCL2 is  programmers confronted   with JCL simply copy a working file (or card deck), changing the   file names.  Someone who actually understands and generates unique   JCL is regarded with the mixed respect one gives to someone who   memorizes the ...
JCL3 is    itself sometimes sing "Who's the breeder of the crud that mangles   you and me?  I-B-M, J-C-L, M-o-u-s-e" to the tune of the   "Mickey Mouse Club" theme to express their opinion of the   beast.  2. A comparative for any very {rude} softwar...
JCL4 is  as bad as JCL."  As with   {COBOL}, JCL is often used as an archetype of ugliness even by   those who haven't experienced it.  See also {IBM}, {fear and   loathing}. 
JEDR is  // n. Synonymous with {IYFEG}.  At one time, people in   the USENET newsgroup rec.humor.funny tended to use `JEDR'   instead of {IYFEG} or `<ethnic>'; this stemmed from a public   attempt to suppress the group once made by a loser with initi...
JEDR2 is  joke posted there.  (The   practice was {retcon}ned by the expanding these initials as   `Joke Ethnic/Denomination/Race'.)  After much sound and fury JEDR   faded away; this term appears to be doing likewise.  JEDR's only   permanent effect...
JEDR3 is  `sensitivity' arguments for censorship so thoroughly that more   recent attempts to raise them have met with immediate and   near-universal rejection. 
JFCL is  /jif'kl/, /jaf'kl/, /j*-fi'kl/ vt., obs. (alt.   `jfcl') To cancel or annul something.  "Why don't you jfcl that   out?"  The fastest do-nothing instruction on older models of the   PDP-10 happened to be JFCL, which stands for "Jump if Flag ...
JFCL2 is  something useful, but is a very   fast no-operation if no flag is specified.  Geoff Goodfellow, one   of the jargon-1 co-authors, has long had JFCL on the license plate   of his BMW.  Usage rare except among old-time PDP-10 hackers. 
jiffy is  n. 1. The duration of one tick of the system clock on the   computer (see {tick}).  Often one AC cycle time (1/60 second in   the U.S. and Canada, 1/50 most other places), but more recently   1/100 sec has become common.  "The swapper runs ...
jiffy2 is  memory management routine is executed once for   every 6 ticks of the clock, or about ten times a second.   2. Confusingly, the term is sometimes also used for a 1-millisecond   {wall time} interval.  3. Indeterminate time from a few secon...
jiffy3 is  certainly not now and   possibly never.  This is a bit contrary to the more widespread use   of the word.  Oppose {nano}. See also {Real Soon Now}. 
job security is  n. When some piece of code is written in a   particularly {obscure} fashion, and no good reason (such as time   or space optimization) can be discovered, it is often said that the   programmer was attempting to increase his job secur...
job security2 is  for maintenance).  This sour joke   seldom has to be said in full; if two hackers are looking over some   code together and one points at a section and says "job security",   the other one may just nod. 
jock is  n. 1. A programmer who is characterized by large and somewhat   brute-force programs.  See {brute force}.  2. When modified by   another noun, describes a specialist in some particular computing   area.  The compounds `compiler jock' and `sy...
jock2 is  examples of this. 
joe code is  /joh' kohd`/ n. 1. Code that is overly {tense} and   unmaintainable.  "{Perl} may be a handy program, but if you look   at the source, it's complete joe code."  2. Badly written,   possibly buggy code.   Correspondents wishing to remain ...
joe code2 is  the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and observed   that usage has drifted slightly; the original sobriquet `Joe code'   was intended in sense 1. 
JR[LN] is  /J-R-L/, /J-R-N/ n. The names JRL and JRN   were sometimes used as example names when discussing a kind of user   ID used under {{TOPS-10}}; they were understood to be the initials   of (fictitious) programmers named `J. Random Loser' and ...
JR[LN]2 is  example, if one said "To log   in, type log one comma jay are en" (that is, "log 1,JRN"), the   listener would have understood that he should use his own computer   ID in place of `JRN'. 
JRST is  /jerst/ [based on the PDP-10 jump instruction] v.,obs. To   suddenly change subjects, with no intention of returning to the   previous topic.  Usage rather rare except among PDP-10 diehards, and   considered silly.  See also {AOS}.
juggling eggs is  vi. Keeping a lot of {state} in your head while   modifying a program.  "Don't bother me now, I'm juggling eggs",   means that an interrupt is likely to result in the program's being   scrambled.  In the classic first-contact SF nov...
juggling eggs2 is  and Jerry Pournelle, an alien describes a   very difficult task by saying "We juggle priceless eggs in   variable gravity."  That is a very hackish use of language.  See   also {hack mode}. 
jump off into never-never land is  [from J. M. Barrie's `Peter   Pan'] v. Same as {branch to Fishkill}, but more common in   technical cultures associated with non-IBM computers that use the   term `jump' rather than `branch'.  Compare {hyperspace}.*...
jump off into never-never land2 is  used both as a   spoken word and a written suffix (like {meg} and {gig} for   megabyte and gigabyte).  See {{quantifiers}}. 
K&R is  [Kernighan and Ritchie] n. Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie's   book `The C Programming Language', esp. the classic and influential   first edition (Prentice-Hall 1978; ISBN 0-113-110163-3).  Syn.   {White Book}, {Old Testament}.  See also ...
kahuna is  /k*-hoo'nuh/ [IBM from the Hawaiian title for a shaman] n.   Synonym for {wizard}, {guru}.
kamikaze packet is  n. The `official' jargon for what is more commonly   called a {Christmas tree packet}. RFC-1025, `TCP and IP Bake Off'   says     10 points for correctly being able to process a "Kamikaze"     packet (AKA nastygram, christmas tree...
kamikaze packet2 is  is, correctly handle a segment with the     maximum combination of features at once (e.g., a SYN URG PUSH     FIN segment with options and data).   See also {Chernobyl packet}. 
kangaroo code is  n. Syn. {spaghetti code}.
ken is  /ken/ n. 1. [UNIX] Ken Thompson, principal inventor of   UNIX.  In the early days he used to hand-cut distribution tapes,   often with a note that read "Love, ken".  Old-timers still use   his first name (sometimes uncapitalized, because it's...
ken2 is  third-person reference; it is widely   understood (on USENET, in particular) that without a last name   `Ken' refers only to Ken Thompson.  Similarly, Dennis without last   name means Dennis Ritchie (and he is often known as dmr).  See   als...
ken3 is  This was   originated by the Software Support group at Symbolics because the   two greatest flamers in the user community were both named Ken. 

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

macro5 is  application control language (whether or not the language is   actually translated by text expansion), and for macro-like entities   such as the `keyboard macros' supported in some text editors   (and PC TSR or Macintosh INIT/CDEV keyboard...
macro- is  pref. Large.  Opposite of {micro-}.  In the mainstream   and among other technical cultures (for example, medical people)   this competes with the prefix {mega-}, but hackers tend to   restrict the latter to quantification.
macrology is  /mak-rol'*-jee/ n. 1. Set of usually complex or crufty   macros, e.g., as part of a large system written in {LISP},   {TECO}, or (less commonly) assembler.  2. The art and science   involved in comprehending a macrology in sense 1.  Som...
macrology2 is  not unlike archeology,   ecology, or {theology}, hence the sound-alike construction.  See   also {boxology}. 
macrotape is  /ma'kroh-tayp/ n. An industry-standard reel of tape, as   opposed to a {microtape}.
maggotbox is  /mag'*t-boks/ n. See {Macintrash}.  This is even   more derogatory.
magic is  adj. 1. As yet unexplained, or too complicated to explain;   compare {automagically} and (Arthur C.) Clarke's Third Law:   "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from   magic."  "TTY echoing is controlled by a large numb...
magic2 is  computes the parity of an 8-bit   byte in three instructions."  2. Characteristic of something that   works although no one really understands why (this is especially called   {black magic}).  3. [Stanford] A feature not generally   public...
magic3 is  impossible, or a feature   formerly in that category but now unveiled.  Compare {black   magic}, {wizardly}, {deep magic}, {heavy wizardry}.   For more about hackish `magic', see appendix A. 
magic cookie is  [UNIX] n. 1. Something passed between routines or   programs that enables the receiver to perform some operation; a   capability ticket or opaque identifier.  Especially used of small   data objects that contain data encoded in a str...
magic cookie2 is   E.g., on non-UNIX OSes with a   non-byte-stream model of files, the result of `ftell(3)' may   be a magic cookie rather than a byte offset; it can be passed to   `fseek(3)', but not operated on in any meaningful way.  The   phrase ...
magic cookie3 is  a result   whose contents are not defined but which can be passed back to the   same or some other program later.  2. An in-band code for   changing graphic rendition (e.g., inverse video or underlining) or   performing other contro...
magic cookie4 is  leave a blank on the screen corresponding to mode-change magic   cookies; this was also called a {glitch}.  See also {cookie}. 
magic number is  [UNIX/C] n. 1. In source code, some non-obvious   constant whose value is significant to the operation of a program   and that is inserted inconspicuously in-line ({hardcoded}),   rather than expanded in by a symbol set by a commente...
magic number2 is  are bad style.  2. A   number that encodes critical information used in an algorithm in   some opaque way.  The classic examples of these are the numbers   used in hash or CRC functions, or the coefficients in a linear   congruentia...
magic number3 is  sense   actually predates and was ancestral to the more common sense 1.   3. Special data located at the beginning of a binary data file to   indicate its type to a utility.  Under UNIX, the system and various   applications program...
magic number4 is  types of executable file by looking for a magic number.  Once upon   a time, these magic numbers were PDP-11 branch instructions that   skipped over header data to the start of executable code; the 0407,   for example, was octal for...
magic number5 is  {wizard} knows the spells to create magic numbers.  How do   you choose a fresh magic number of your own?  Simple --- you pick   one at random.  See?  It's magic! 
magic smoke is  n. A substance trapped inside IC packages that enables   them to function (also called `blue smoke'; this is similar to   the archaic `phlogiston' hypothesis about combustion).  Its   existence is demonstrated by what happens when a c...
magic smoke2 is  out, so it doesn't work any more.  See   {smoke test}, {let the smoke out}.   USENETter Jay Maynard tells the following story: "Once, while   hacking on a dedicated Z80 system, I was testing code by blowing   EPROMs and plugging them...
magic smoke3 is  One time, I plugged one in backwards.  I only discovered that   *after* I realized that Intel didn't put power-on lights under   the quartz windows on the tops of their EPROMs --- the die was   glowing white-hot.  Amazingly, the EPRO...
magic smoke4 is  full of zeros, then erased it again.  For all I know,   it's still in service.  Of course, this is because the magic smoke   didn't get let out."  Compare the original phrasing of {Murphy's   Law}. 
main loop is  n. Software tools are often written to perform some   actions repeatedly on whatever input is handed to them, terminating   when there is no more input or they are explicitly told to go away.   In such programs, the loop that gets and p...
mainframe is  n. This term originally referred to the cabinet   containing the central processor unit or `main frame' of a   room-filling {Stone Age} batch machine.  After the emergence of   smaller `minicomputer' designs in the early 1970s, the   tr...
mainframe2 is  as `mainframe   computers' and eventually just as mainframes.  The term carries the   connotation of a machine designed for batch rather than interactive   use, though possibly with an interactive timesharing operating   system retrofi...
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}.
MS-DOS is  /M-S-dos/ [MicroSoft Disk Operating System] n. A   {clone} of {{CP/M}} for the 8088 crufted together in 6 weeks by   hacker Tim Paterson, who is said to have regretted it ever since.   Numerous features, including vaguely UNIX-like but rat...
MS-DOS2 is  redirection, and pipelines, were   hacked into 2.0 and subsequent versions; as a result, there are two   or more incompatible versions of many system calls, and MS-DOS   programmers can never agree on basic things like what character to  ...
MS-DOS3 is  case-sensitive.  The   resulting mess is now the highest-unit-volume OS in history.  Often   known simply as DOS, which annoys people familiar with other   similarly abbreviated operating systems (the name goes back to the   mid-1960s, wh...
MS-DOS4 is  operating   system for the 360).  Some people like to pronounce DOS like   "dose", as in "I don't work on dose, man!", or to compare it   to a dose of brain-damaging drugs (a slogan button in wide   circulation among hackers exhorts: "MS-...
mu is  /moo/ The correct answer to the classic trick question   "Have you stopped beating your wife yet?".  Assuming that you   have no wife or you have never beaten your wife, the answer "yes"   is wrong because it implies that you used to beat your...
mu2 is  because it suggests that you   have one and are still beating her.  According to various   Discordians and Douglas Hofstadter (see the Bibliography), the   correct answer is usually "mu", a Japanese word alleged to mean   "Your question canno...
mu3 is  assumptions".  Hackers tend to be sensitive to logical   inadequacies in language, and many have adopted this suggestion   with enthusiasm.  The word `mu' is actually from Chinese, meaning   `nothing'; it is used in mainstream Japanese in tha...
mu4 is  the Discordian question-denying   use.  It almost certainly derives from overgeneralization of the   answer in the following well-known Rinzei Zen teaching riddle:     A monk asked Joshu, "Does a dog have the Buddha nature?"     Joshu retorte...
mu5 is  Koans}, and Douglas   Hofstadter's `G"odel, Escher, Bach' (pointer in the   Bibliography). 
mudhead is  n. Commonly used to refer to a {MUD} player who   sleeps, breathes, and eats MUD.  Mudheads have been known to fail   their degrees, drop out, etc., with the consolation, however, that   they made wizard level.  When encountered in person...
mudhead2 is  topics: the tactic, character, or wizard   that is supposedly always unfairly stopping him/her from becoming a   wizard or beating a favorite MUD, and the MUD he or she is writing   or going to write because all existing MUDs are so drea...
multician is  /muhl-ti'shn/ [coined at Honeywell, ca. 1970] n.   Competent user of {{Multics}}.  Perhaps oddly, no one has ever   promoted the analogous `Unician'.
Multics is  /muhl'tiks/ n. [from "MULTiplexed Information and   Computing Service"] An early (late 1960s) timesharing operating   system co-designed by a consortium including MIT, GE, and Bell   Laboratories.  Very innovative for its time --- among o...
Multics2 is  treating all devices uniformly as special   files.  All the members but GE eventually pulled out after   determining that {second-system effect} had bloated Multics to   the point of practical unusability (the `lean' predecessor in   que...
Multics3 is  Multics after   buying out GE's computer group, but it was never very successful   (among other things, on some versions one was commonly required to   enter a password to log out).  One of the developers left in the   lurch by the proje...
Multics4 is  which led directly to the birth of {{UNIX}}.  For this and other   reasons, aspects of the Multics design remain a topic of occasional   debate among hackers.  See also {brain-damaged} and {GCOS}. 
multitask is  n. Often used of humans in the same meaning it has for   computers, to describe a person doing several things at once (but   see {thrash}).  The term `multiplex', from communications   technology (meaning to handle more than one channel...
mumblage is  /muhm'bl*j/ n. The topic of one's mumbling (see {mumble}).   "All that mumblage" is used like "all that stuff" when it is   not quite clear how the subject of discussion works, or like "all that   crap" when `mumble' is being used as an ...
mumble is  interj. 1. Said when the correct response is too   complicated to enunciate, or the speaker has not thought it out.   Often prefaces a longer answer, or indicates a general reluctance   to get into a long discussion.  "Don't you think that...
mumble2 is  a hybrid reference-count   transaction garbage collector, if the cache is big enough and there   are some extra cache bits for the microcode to use?"  "Well,   mumble ... I'll have to think about it."  2. Sometimes used as   an expression...
mumble3 is  {VAX}."  "Mumble!"  Common variant: `mumble frotz' (see   {frotz}; interestingly, one does not say `mumble frobnitz'   even though `frotz' is short for `frobnitz').  3. Yet another   metasyntactic variable, like {foo}.  4. When used as a ...
mumble4 is  understand you".  5. Sometimes used   in `public' contexts on-line as a placefiller for things one is   barred from giving details about.  For example, a poster with   pre-released hardware in his machine might say "Yup, my machine   now ...
mumble5 is  I'm testing for   Mumbleco." 
munch is  [often confused with {mung}, q.v.] vt. To transform   information in a serial fashion, often requiring large amounts of   computation.  To trace down a data structure.  Related to {crunch}   and nearly synonymous with {grovel}, but connotes...
munching is  n. Exploration of security holes of someone else's   computer for thrills, notoriety, or to annoy the system manager.   Compare {cracker}.  See also {hacked off}.
munching squares is  n. A {display hack} dating back to the PDP-1   (ca. 1962, reportedly discovered by Jackson Wright), which employs a   trivial computation (repeatedly plotting the graph Y = X XOR T for   successive values of T --- see {HAKMEM} it...
munching squares2 is  display of moving and growing squares that devour the   screen.  The initial value of T is treated as a parameter, which,   when well-chosen, can produce amazing effects.  Some of these,   later (re)discovered on the LISP machin...
munching squares3 is  (try AND for XOR and toggling points   instead of plotting them), `munching w's', and `munching   mazes'.  More generally, suppose a graphics program produces an   impressive and ever-changing display of some basic form, foo, on...
munching squares4 is  relatively simple program;   then the program (or the resulting display) is likely to be   referred to as `munching foos' (this is a good example of the use   of the word {foo} as a metasyntactic variable). 
munchkin is  /muhnch'kin/ [from the squeaky-voiced little people in   L. Frank Baum's `The Wizard of Oz'] n. A teenage-or-younger micro   enthusiast hacking BASIC or something else equally constricted.  A   term of mild derision --- munchkins are ann...
munchkin2 is  passing through a {larval stage}.  The term   {urchin} is also used.  See also {wannabee}, {bitty box}. 
mundane is  [from SF fandom] n. 1. A person who is not in science   fiction fandom.  2. A person who is not in the computer industry.   In this sense, most often an adjectival modifier as in "in my   mundane life...." See also {Real World}.
mung is  /muhng/ alt. `munge' /muhnj/ [in 1960 at MIT, `Mash   Until No Good'; sometime after that the derivation from the   {{recursive acronym}} `Mung Until No Good' became standard] vt.   1. To make changes to a file, esp. large-scale and irrevoca...
mung2 is  usually accidentally,   occasionally maliciously.  The system only mungs things   maliciously; this is a consequence of {Finagle's Law}.  See   {scribble}, {mangle}, {trash}, {nuke}.  Reports from   {USENET} suggest that the pronunciation /...
mung3 is  spelling `mung' is still common in program   comments (compare the widespread confusion over the proper spelling   of {kluge}).  3. The kind of beans of which the sprouts are used   in Chinese food.  (That's their real name!  Mung beans!  R...
Music is  n. A common extracurricular interest of hackers (compare   {{science-fiction fandom}}, {{oriental food}}; see also   {filk}).  Hackish folklore has long claimed that musical and   programming abilities are closely related, and there has bee...
Music2 is  that supports this.   Hackers, as a rule, like music and often develop musical   appreciation in unusual and interesting directions.  Folk music is   very big in hacker circles; so is electronic music, and the sort of   elaborate instrumen...
Music3 is  `progressive' and isn't recorded much any more.  The hacker's   musical range tends to be wide; many can listen with equal   appreciation to (say) Talking Heads, Yes, Gentle Giant, Spirogyra,   Scott Joplin, Tangerine Dream, King Sunny Ade...
Music4 is  Concerti.  It is also apparently true that   hackerdom includes a much higher concentration of talented amateur   musicians than one would expect from a similar-sized control group   of {mundane} types. 
mutter is  vt. To quietly enter a command not meant for the ears, eyes,   or fingers of ordinary mortals.  Often used in `mutter an   {incantation}'.  See also {wizard}.
N is  /N/ quant. 1. A large and indeterminate number of objects:   "There were N bugs in that crock!"  Also used in its   original sense of a variable name: "This crock has N bugs,   as N goes to infinity."  (The true number of bugs is always   at le...
N2 is  inherited   from the current context.  For example, when a meal is being   ordered at a restaurant, N may be understood to mean however   many people there are at the table.  From the remark "We'd like to   order N wonton soups and a family di...
N3 is  person at the table   wants to eat only soup, even though you don't know how many people   there are (see {great-wall}).  3. `Nth': adj. The   ordinal counterpart of N, senses #1 and #2.  "Now for the   Nth and last time..." In the specific co...
N4 is  assumed to   be at least 4, and is usually 5 or more (see {tenured graduate   student}).  See also {{random numbers}}, {two-to-the-n}. 
nailed to the wall is  [like a trophy] adj. Said of a bug finally   eliminated after protracted, and even heroic, effort.
nailing jelly is  vi. See {like nailing jelly to a tree}.
na"ive is  adj. Untutored in the perversities of some particular   program or system; one who still tries to do things in an intuitive   way, rather than the right way (in really good designs these   coincide, but most designs aren't `really good' in...
na"ive2 is  unrelated to general   maturity or competence, or even competence at any other specific   program.  It is a sad commentary on the primitive state of   computing that the natural opposite of this term is often claimed   to be `experienced ...
na"ive user is  n. A {luser}.  Tends to imply someone who is   ignorant mainly owing to inexperience.  When this is applied to   someone who *has* experience, there is a definite implication   of stupidity.
NAK is  /nak/ [from the ASCII mnemonic for 0010101] interj.   1. On-line joke answer to {ACK}?: "I'm not here."   2. On-line answer to a request for chat: "I'm not available."   3. Used to politely interrupt someone to tell them you don't   understan...
NAK2 is  stopped making   sense.  See {ACK}, sense 3.  "And then, after we recode the   project in COBOL...."  "Nak, Nak, Nak!  I thought I heard you   say COBOL!" 
nano is  /nan'oh/ [CMU: from `nanosecond'] n. A brief period of   time.  "Be with you in a nano" means you really will be free   shortly, i.e., implies what mainstream people mean by "in a   jiffy" (whereas the hackish use of `jiffy' is quite differe...
nano- is  [SI: the next quantifier below {micro-}; meaning *   10^{-9}] pref. Smaller than {micro-}, and used in the same rather   loose and connotative way.  Thus, one has {{nanotechnology}}   (coined by hacker K. Eric Drexler) by analogy with   `mi...
nano-2 is  architectures have a   `nanocode' level below `microcode'.  Tom Duff at Bell Labs has   also pointed out that "Pi seconds is a nanocentury".   See also {{quantifiers}}, {pico-}, {nanoacre}, {nanobot},   {nanocomputer}, {nanofortnight}. 
nanoacre is  /nan'oh-ay`kr/ n. A unit (about 2 mm square) of real   estate on a VLSI chip.  The term gets its giggle value from the   fact that VLSI nanoacres have costs in the same range as real acres   once one figures in design and fabrication-set...
nanobot is  /nan'oh-bot/ n. A robot of microscopic proportions,   presumably built by means of {{nanotechnology}}.  As yet, only   used informally (and speculatively!).  Also called a `nanoagent'.
nanocomputer is  /nan'oh-k*m-pyoo'tr/ n. A computer whose switching   elements are molecular in size.  Designs for mechanical   nanocomputers which use single-molecule sliding rods for their   logic have been proposed.  The controller for a {nanobot}...
nanofortnight is  [Adelaide University] n. 1 fortnight * 10^-9,   or about 1.2 msec.  This unit was used largely by students doing   undergraduate practicals.  See {microfortnight}, {attoparsec},   and {micro-}.
nanotechnology is  /nan'-oh-tek-no`l*-jee/ n. A hypothetical   fabrication technology in which objects are designed and built with   the individual specification and placement of each separate atom.   The first unequivocal nanofabrication experiments...
nanotechnology2 is  with the deposition of individual xenon   atoms on a nickel substrate to spell the logo of a certain very   large computer company.  Nanotechnology has been a hot topic in the   hacker subculture ever since the term was coined by ...

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

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...
sacred2 is  program would be interpreted by a hacker   to mean that if any *other* part of the program changes the   contents of register 7, dire consequences are likely to ensue. 
saga is  [WPI] n. A cuspy but bogus raving story about N random   broken people.
sagan is  /say'gn/ [from Carl Sagan's TV series "Cosmos"; think   "billions and billions"] n. A large quantity of anything.   "There's a sagan different ways to tweak EMACS."  "The   U.S. Government spends sagans on bombs and welfare --- hard to say ...
SAIL is  /sayl/, not /S-A-I-L/ n. 1. Stanford Artificial   Intelligence Lab.  An important site in the early development of   LISP; with the MIT AI Lab, BBN, CMU, and the UNIX community, one of   the major wellsprings of technical innovation and hack...
SAIL2 is  entry for details).  The SAIL   machines were officially shut down in late May 1990, scant weeks   after the MIT AI Lab's ITS cluster was officially decommissioned.   2. The Stanford Artificial Intelligence Language used at SAIL   (sense 1)...
SAIL3 is  coroutining   facility and some new data types intended for building search trees   and association lists. 
salescritter is  /sayls'kri`tr/ n. Pejorative hackerism for a computer   salesperson.  Hackers tell the following joke     Q. What's the difference between a used-car dealer and a        computer salesman?     A. The used-car dealer knows he's lying....
salescritter2 is  that salescritters are   self-selected for stupidity (after all, if they had brains and the   inclination to use them, they'd be in programming).  The terms   `salesthing' and `salesdroid' are also common.  Compare   {marketroid}, {...
salsman is  /salz'm*n/ v. To flood a mailing list or newsgroup with   huge amounts of useless, trivial or redundant information.  From   the name of a hacker who has frequently done this on some widely   distributed mailing lists.
salt mines is  n. Dense quarters housing large numbers of programmers   working long hours on grungy projects, with some hope of seeing the   end of the tunnel in N years.  Noted for their absence of sunshine.   Compare {playpen}, {sandbox}.
salt substrate is  [MIT] n. Collective noun used to refer to potato   chips, pretzels, saltines, or any other form of snack food   designed primarily as a carrier for sodium chloride.  From the   technical term `chip substrate', used to refer to the ...
salt substrate2 is  of integrated circuits are deposited. 
same-day service is  n. Ironic term used to describe long response   time, particularly with respect to {{MS-DOS}} system calls (which   ought to require only a tiny fraction of a second to execute).   Such response time is a major incentive for prog...
same-day service2 is  {well-behaved}.  See also {PC-ism}. 
sandbender is  [IBM] n. A person involved with silicon lithography and   the physical design of chips.  Compare {ironmonger}, {polygon   pusher}.
sandbox is  n. (or `sandbox, the') Common term for the   R&D department at many software and computer companies (where hackers   in commercial environments are likely to be found).  Half-derisive,   but reflects the truth that research is a form of c...
sanity check is  n. 1. The act of checking a piece of code (or   anything else, e.g., a USENET posting) for completely stupid mistakes.   Implies that the check is to make sure the author was sane when it   was written; e.g., if a piece of scientific...
sanity check2 is  was giving unexpected results, one might   first look at the nesting of parentheses or the coding of the   formula, as a {sanity check}, before looking at the more complex   I/O or data structure manipulation routines, much less the...
sanity check3 is  2. A run-time test,   either validating input or ensuring that the program hasn't screwed   up internally (producing an inconsistent value or state). 
Saturday night special is  [from police slang for a cheap handgun] n.   A program or feature kluged together during off hours, under a   deadline, and in response to pressure from a {salescritter}.   Such hacks are dangerously unreliable, but all too...
say is  vt. 1. To type to a terminal.  "To list a directory   verbosely, you have to say `ls -l'."  Tends to imply a   {newline}-terminated command (a `sentence').  2. A computer   may also be said to `say' things to you, even if it doesn't have   a ...
say2 is  terminal in response   to your commands.  Hackers find it odd that this usage confuses   {mundane}s. 
science-fiction fandom is  n. Another voluntary subculture having a   very heavy overlap with hackerdom; most hackers read SF and/or   fantasy fiction avidly, and many go to `cons' (SF conventions) or   are involved in fandom-connected activities suc...
science-fiction fandom2 is  Some hacker jargon originated in SF fandom;   see {defenestration}, {great-wall}, {cyberpunk}, {h}, {ha ha   only serious}, {IMHO}, {mundane}, {neep-neep}, {Real   Soon Now}.  Additionally, the jargon terms {cowboy},   {cy...
science-fiction fandom3 is  {virus},   {wetware}, {wirehead}, and {worm} originated in SF   stories. 
scram switch is  [from the nuclear power industry] n. An   emergency-power-off switch (see {Big Red Switch}), esp. one   positioned to be easily hit by evacuating personnel.  In general,   this is *not* something you {frob} lightly; these often   ini...
scram switch2 is  and are installed   in a {dinosaur pen} for use in case of electrical fire or in   case some luckless {field servoid} should put 120 volts across   himself while {Easter egging}. 
scratch is  1. [from `scratchpad'] adj. Describes a data   structure or recording medium attached to a machine for testing or   temporary-use purposes; one that can be {scribble}d on without   loss.  Usually in the combining forms `scratch memory',  ...
scratch2 is  tape',   `scratch volume'.  See {scratch monkey}.  2. [primarily   IBM] vt. To delete (as in a file). 
scratch monkey is  n. As in "Before testing or reconfiguring, always   mount a {scratch monkey}", a proverb used to advise caution when   dealing with irreplaceable data or devices.  Used to refer to any   scratch volume hooked to a computer during a...
scratch monkey2 is  precious resource or data that might otherwise get   trashed.   This term preserves the memory of Mabel, the Swimming Wonder   Monkey, star of a biological research program at the University of   Toronto ca. 1986.  Mabel was not (...
scratch monkey3 is  university had spent years teaching her how to swim,   breathing through a regulator, in order to study the effects of   different gas mixtures on her physiology.  Mabel suffered an   untimely demise one day when DEC {PM}ed the PD...
scratch monkey4 is  {provocative maintainance}).   It is recorded that, after calming down an understandably irate   customer sufficiently to ascertain the facts of the matter, a DEC   troubleshooter called up the {field circus} manager responsible  ...
scratch monkey5 is  all the consequences to humans were so amusing; the sysop of   the machine in question was nearly thrown in jail at the behest of   certain clueless droids at the local `humane' society.  The moral   is clear When in doubt, always...
screw is  [MIT] n. A {lose}, usually in software.  Especially used for   user-visible misbehavior caused by a bug or misfeature.  This use   has become quite widespread outside MIT.
screwage is  /skroo'*j/ n. Like {lossage} but connotes that the   failure is due to a designed-in misfeature rather than a simple   inadequacy or a mere bug.
scribble is  n. To modify a data structure in a random and   unintentionally destructive way.  "Bletch! Somebody's   disk-compactor program went berserk and scribbled on the i-node   table."  "It was working fine until one of the allocation routines ...
scribble2 is  {trash}; compare {mung},   which conveys a bit more intention, and {mangle}, which is more   violent and final. 
scrog is  /skrog/ [Bell Labs] vt. To damage, trash, or corrupt a   data structure.  "The list header got scrogged."  Also reported   as `skrog', and ascribed to the comic strip "The Wizard of   Id".  Equivalent to {scribble} or {mangle}.
scrool is  /skrool/ [from the pioneering Roundtable chat system in   Houston ca. 1984; prob. originated as a typo for `scroll'] n. The   log of old messages, available for later perusal or to help one get   back in synch with the conversation. It was...
scrool2 is  because an early version of the roundtable   software had a bug where it would dump all 8K of scrool on a user's   terminal. 
scrozzle is  /skroz'l/ vt. Used when a self-modifying code segment runs   incorrectly and corrupts the running program or vital data.  "The   damn compiler scrozzled itself again!"
SCSI is  [Small Computer System Interface] n. A bus-independent   standard for system-level interfacing between a computer and   intelligent devices.  Typically annotated in literature with `sexy'   (/sek'see/), `sissy' (/sis'ee/), and `scuzzy' (/sku...
SCSI2 is  being the overwhelmingly   predominant form, much to the dismay of the designers and their   marketing people.  One can usually assume that a person who   pronounces it /S-C-S-I/ is clueless. 
search-and-destroy mode is  n. Hackerism for the search-and-replace   facility in an editor, so called because an incautiously chosen   match pattern can cause {infinite} damage.
second-system effect is  n. (sometimes, more euphoniously,   `second-system syndrome') When one is designing the successor to   a relatively small, elegant, and successful system, there is a   tendency to become grandiose in one's success and design ...
second-system effect2 is  The term was first   used by Fred Brooks in his classic `The Mythical Man-Month   Essays on Software Engineering' (Addison-Wesley, 1975; ISBN   0-201-00650-2).  It described the jump from a set of nice, simple   operating sy...
second-system effect3 is  360 series.  A similar effect can also happen in an evolving   system; see {Brooks's Law}, {creeping elegance}, {creeping   featurism}.  See also {{Multics}}, {OS/2}, {X}, {software   bloat}.   This version of the jargon lex...
second-system effect4 is  much truth for comfort) as an example of   second-system effect run amok on jargon-1.... 
secondary damage is  n. When a fatal error occurs (esp. a   {segfault}) the immediate cause may be that a pointer has been   trashed due to a previous {fandango on core}.  However, this   fandango may have been due to an *earlier* fandango, so no   a...
secondary damage2 is  the damage occurred.   "The data structure was clobbered, but it was secondary damage."   By extension, the corruption resulting from N cascaded   fandangoes on core is `Nth-level damage'.  There is at least   one case on record...
secondary damage3 is  actually dug up the underlying bug behind an instance of   seventh-level damage!  The hacker who accomplished this   near-superhuman feat was presented with an award by his fellows. 
security through obscurity is  n. A name applied by hackers to most OS   vendors' favorite way of coping with security holes --- namely,   ignoring them and not documenting them and trusting that nobody   will find out about them and that people who ...
security through obscurity2 is  This never works for long and occasionally   sets the world up for debacles like the {RTM} worm of 1988, but once   the brief moments of panic created by such events subside most   vendors are all too willing to turn o...
security through obscurity3 is  fixing the bugs would siphon off the resources   needed to implement the next user-interface frill on marketing's   wish list --- and besides, if they started fixing security bugs   customers might begin to *expect* it...
security through obscurity4 is  merchantability gave them some sort of *right*   to a system with fewer holes in it than a shotgunned Swiss cheese,   and then where would we be?   Historical note It is claimed (with dissent from {{ITS}} fans who   sa...
security through obscurity5 is  in a positive   sense) that this term was first used in the USENET newsgroup in   comp.sys.apollo during a campaign to get HP/Apollo to fix   security problems in its UNIX-{clone} Aegis/DomainOS.  They   didn't change ...
SED is  [TMRC, from `Light-Emitting Diode'] /S-E-D/ n.   Smoke-emitting diode.  A {friode} that lost the war. See   {LER}.
segfault is  n.,vi. Syn. {segment}, {seggie}.
seggie is  /seg'ee/ [UNIX] n. Shorthand for {segmentation fault}   reported from Britain.
segment is  /seg'ment/ vi. To experience a {segmentation fault}.   Confusingly, this is often pronounced more like the noun `segment'   than like mainstream v. segment; this is because it is actually a   noun shorthand that has been verbed.
segmentation fault is  n. [UNIX] 1. An error in which a running program   attempts to access memory not allocated to it and {core dump}s   with a segmentation violation error.  2. To lose a train of   thought or a line of reasoning.  Also uttered as ...
segv is  /seg'vee/ n.,vi. Yet another synonym for {segmentation   fault} (actually, in this case, `segmentation violation').
self-reference is  n. See {self-reference}.
selvage is  /sel'v*j/ [from sewing] n. See {chad} (sense 1).
semi is  /se'mee/ or /se'mi/ 1. n. Abbreviation for   `semicolon', when speaking.  "Commands to {grind} are   prefixed by semi-semi-star" means that the prefix is `;;*',   not 1/4 of a star.  2. A prefix used with words such as   `immediately' as a q...
semi2 is  "Semi-immediately." (That is, maybe not for an hour.)  "We did   consider that possibility semi-seriously."  See also   {infinite}. 
semi-infinite is  n. See {infinite}.

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

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...
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...