view release on metacpan or  search on metacpan

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

dink is  /dink/ n. Said of a machine that has the {bitty box}   nature; a machine too small to be worth bothering with --- sometimes   the system you're currently forced to work on.  First heard from an   MIT hacker (BADOB) working on a CP/M system w...
dink2 is  then from fans of 32-bit architectures about   16-bit machines.  "GNUMACS will never work on that dink machine."   Probably derived from mainstream `dinky', which isn't sufficiently   pejorative. 
dinosaur is  n. 1. Any hardware requiring raised flooring and special   power.  Used especially of old minis and mainframes, in contrast   with newer microprocessor-based machines.  In a famous quote from   the 1988 UNIX EXPO, Bill Joy compared the m...
dinosaur2 is  grazing dinosaur "with a truck outside pumping   its bodily fluids through it".  IBM was not amused.  Compare   {big iron}; see also {mainframe}.  2. [IBM] A very conservative   user; a {zipperhead}. 
dinosaur pen is  n. A traditional {mainframe} computer room complete with   raised flooring, special power, its own ultra-heavy-duty air   conditioning, and a side order of Halon fire extinguishers.  See   {boa}.
dinosaurs mating is  n. Said to occur when yet another {big iron}   merger or buyout occurs; reflects a perception by hackers that   these signal another stage in the long, slow dying of the   {mainframe} industry.  In its glory days of the 1960s, it...
dinosaurs mating2 is  Control Data, General   Electric, Honeywell, NCR, RCA, and Univac.  RCA and GE sold out   early, and it was `IBM and the Bunch' (Burroughs, Univac, NCR,   Control Data, and Honeywell) for a while.  Honeywell was bought out   by ...
dinosaurs mating3 is  Unisys (in 1984 --- this   was when the phrase `dinosaurs mating' was coined); and as this is   written AT&T is attempting to recover from a disastrously bad first   6 years in the hardware industry by absorbing NCR.  More such ...
dirty power is  n. Electrical mains voltage that is unfriendly to   the delicate innards of computers.  Spikes, {drop-outs}, average   voltage significantly higher or lower than nominal, or just plain   noise can all cause problems of varying subtlet...
Discordianism is  /dis-kor'di-*n-ism/ n. The veneration of   {Eris}, a.k.a. Discordia; widely popular among hackers.   Discordianism was popularized by Robert Anton Wilson's   `Illuminatus!' trilogy as a sort of self-subverting Dada-Zen   for Western...
Discordianism2 is  seriously but   is far more serious than most jokes.  Consider, for example, the   Fifth Commandment of the Pentabarf, from `Principia   Discordia' "A Discordian is Prohibited of Believing What he   Reads."  Discordianism is usuall...
Discordianism3 is  theory/joke involving millennia-long warfare between the   anarcho-surrealist partisans of Eris and a malevolent,   authoritarian secret society called the Illuminati.  See   appendix B, {Church of the SubGenius}, and {ha ha only  ...
disk farm is  n. (also {laundromat}) A large room or rooms filled   with disk drives (esp. {washing machine}s).
display hack is  n. A program with the same approximate purpose as a   kaleidoscope to make pretty pictures.  Famous display hacks   include {munching squares}, {smoking clover}, the BSD UNIX   `rain(6)' program, `worms(6)' on miscellaneous UNIXes,  ...
display hack2 is  hacks can also be   implemented without programming by creating text files containing   numerous escape sequences for interpretation by a video terminal;   one notable example displayed, on any VT100, a Christmas tree with   twinkli...
display hack3 is  The {hack   value} of a display hack is proportional to the esthetic value of   the images times the cleverness of the algorithm divided by the   size of the code.  Syn. {psychedelicware}. 
Dissociated Press is  [play on `Associated Press'; perhaps inspired   by a reference in the 1949 Bugs Bunny cartoon "What's Up,   Doc?"] n.  An algorithm for transforming any text into potentially   humorous garbage even more efficiently than by pass...
Dissociated Press2 is  printing any N consecutive   words (or letters) in the text.  Then at every step you search for   any random occurrence in the original text of the last N   words (or letters) already printed and then print the next word or   l...
Dissociated Press3 is  Here is a short   example of word-based Dissociated Press applied to an earlier   version of this Jargon File     wart n. A small, crocky {feature} that sticks out of     an array (C has no checks for this).  This is relatively...
Dissociated Press4 is  bent so as to be     not worth paying attention to the medium in question.   Here is a short example of letter-based Dissociated Press applied   to the same source     window sysIWYG n. A bit was named aften /bee't*/ prefer    ...
Dissociated Press5 is  cast a     chuckle on neithout getting into useful informash speech     makes removing a featuring a move or usage actual     abstractionsidered interj. Indeed spectace logic or problem!   A hackish idle pastime is to apply let...
Dissociated Press6 is  of text and {vgrep} the output in hopes of finding   an interesting new word.  (In the preceding example, `window   sysIWYG' and `informash' show some promise.)  Iterated applications   of Dissociated Press usually yield better...
Dissociated Press7 is  `travesty generators' have been employed with   considerable satirical effect to the utterances of USENET flamers;   see {pseudo}. 
distribution is  n. 1. A software source tree packaged for   distribution; but see {kit}.  2. A vague term encompassing   mailing lists and USENET newsgroups (but not {BBS} {fora}); any   topic-oriented message channel with multiple recipients.  3. A...
distribution2 is  correlated with   geography) to which propagation of a USENET message is restricted;   a much-underutilized feature. 
do protocol is  [from network protocol programming] vi. To perform an   interaction with somebody or something that follows a clearly   defined procedure.  For example, "Let's do protocol with the   check" at a restaurant means to ask for the check, ...
do protocol2 is  collect money from everybody, generate   change as necessary, and pay the bill.  See {protocol}. 
doc is  /dok/ n. Common spoken and written shorthand for   `documentation'.  Often used in the plural `docs' and in the   construction `doc file' (documentation available on-line).
doco is  /do'koh/ [orig. in-house jargon at Symbolics] n. A   documentation writer.  See also {devo} and {mango}.
documentation is  n. The multiple kilograms of macerated, pounded,   steamed, bleached, and pressed trees that accompany most modern   software or hardware products (see also {tree-killer}).  Hackers   seldom read paper documentation and (too) often ...
documentation2 is  terse and on-line.  A common comment on   this is "You can't {grep} dead trees".  See {drool-proof   paper}, {verbiage}. 
dodgy is  adj. Syn. with {flaky}.  Preferred outside the U.S.
dogcow is  /dog'kow/ n. See {Moof}.
dogwash is  /dog'wosh/ [From a quip in the `urgency' field of a very   optional software change request, ca. 1982.  It was something like   "Urgency Wash your dog first".] 1. n. A project of minimal   priority, undertaken as an escape from more serio...
dogwash2 is   Many games and much {freeware} get   written this way. 
domainist is  /doh-mayn'ist/ adj. 1. Said of an {{Internet   address}} (as opposed to a {bang path}) because the part to the   right of the `@' specifies a nested series of `domains';   for example, eric@snark.thyrsus.com specifies the machine   call...
domainist2 is  within the   top-level domain called com.  See also {big-endian}, sense 2.   2. Said of a site, mailer, or routing program which knows how to   handle domainist addresses.  3. Said of a person (esp. a site   admin) who prefers domain a...
domainist3 is  prosyletizes for domainist addressing and disdains {bang   path}s.  This is now (1991) semi-obsolete, as most sites have   converted. 
Don't do that, then! is  [from an old doctor's office joke about a   patient with a trivial complaint] Stock response to a user   complaint.  "When I type control-S, the whole system comes to a   halt for thirty seconds."  "Don't do that, then!" (or ...
dongle is  /dong'gl/ n. 1. A security or {copy-protection} device   for commercial microcomputer programs consisting of a serialized   EPROM and some drivers in a D-25 connector shell, which must be   connected to an I/O port of the computer while th...
dongle2 is  query the port at startup and at   programmed intervals thereafter, and terminate if it does not   respond with the dongle's programmed validation code.  Thus, users   can make as many copies of the program as they want but must pay   for...
dongle3 is  initially a failure, as   users disliked tying up a serial port this way.  Most dongles on   the market today (1991) will pass data through the port and monitor   for {magic} codes (and combinations of status lines) with minimal   if any ...
dongle4 is  --- this   innovation was necessary to allow daisy-chained dongles for   multiple pieces of software.  The devices are still not widely   used, as the industry has moved away from copy-protection schemes   in general.  2. By extension, an...
dongle5 is  required for a program to function.  See   {dongle-disk}. 
dongle-disk is  /don'gl disk/ n. See {dongle}; a `dongle-disk'   is a floppy disk with some coding that allows an application to   identify it uniquely.  It can therefore be used as a {dongle}.   Also called a `key disk'.
donuts is  n.obs. A collective noun for any set of memory bits.  This is   extremely archaic and may no longer be live jargon; it dates from the   days of ferrite-{core} memories in which each bit was implemented by   a doughnut-shaped magnetic flip-...
doorstop is  n. Used to describe equipment that is non-functional and   halfway expected to remain so, especially obsolete equipment kept   around for political reasons or ostensibly as a backup.  "When we   get another Wyse-50 in here, that ADM 3 wi...
dot file is  [UNIX] n. A file which is not visible to normal   directory-browsing tools (on UNIX, files named with a leading dot   are, by convention, not normally presented in directory listings).   Many programs define one or more dot files in whic...
dot file2 is  be optionally recorded; a user can   customize the program's behavior by creating the appropriate file in   the current or home directory.  See also {rc file}. 
double bucky is  adj. Using both the CTRL and META keys.  "The   command to burn all LEDs is double bucky F."   This term originated on the Stanford extended-ASCII keyboard, and   was later taken up by users of the {space-cadet keyboard} at   MIT.  A...
double bucky2 is  {bucky bits}   (control and meta shifting keys) were nice, but there weren't   enough of them; you could type only 512 different characters on a   Stanford keyboard.  An obvious way to address this was simply to   add more shifting ...
double bucky3 is  keyboard with that many shifting keys is hard on touch-typists, who   don't like to move their hands away from the home position on the   keyboard.  It was half-seriously suggested that the extra shifting   keys be implemented as pe...
double bucky4 is  much like playing a full pipe organ.  This idea is mentioned   in a parody of a very fine song by Jeffrey Moss called   "Rubber Duckie", which was published in `The Sesame   Street Songbook' (Simon and Schuster 1971, ISBN 671-21036-...
double bucky5 is  1978, in celebration of the   Stanford keyboard   See also {meta bit}, {cokebottle}, and {quadruple bucky}. 
double DECkers is  n. Used to describe married couples in which both   partners work for Digital Equipment Corporation.
doubled sig is  [USENET] n. A {sig block} that has been included   twice in a {USENET} article or, less commonly, in an electronic   mail message.  An article or message with a doubled sig can be   caused by improperly configured software.  More ofte...
doubled sig2 is  experience in electronic   communication.  See {BIFF}, {pseudo}. 
down is  1. adj. Not operating.  "The up escalator is down" is   considered a humorous thing to say, and "The elevator is down"   always means "The elevator isn't working" and never refers to   what floor the elevator is on.  With respect to computer...
down2 is  mainstream; the extension to other kinds   of machine is still hackish.  2. `go down' vi. To stop   functioning; usually said of the {system}.  The message from the   {console} that every hacker hates to hear from the operator is   "The sys...
down3 is  down',   `bring down' vt. To deactivate purposely, usually for repair work   or {PM}.  "I'm taking the system down to work on that bug in the   tape drive."  Occasionally one hears the word `down' by itself   used as a verb in this vt. sens...
download is  vt. To transfer data or (esp.) code from a larger `host'   system (esp. a {mainframe}) over a digital comm link to a smaller   `client' system, esp. a microcomputer or specialized peripheral.   Oppose {upload}.   However, note that groun...
download2 is  rule for this term.  Space-to-earth transmission is always download   and the reverse upload regardless of the relative size of the   computers involved.  So far the in-space machines have invariably   been smaller; thus the upload/down...
DP is  /D-P/ n. 1. Data Processing.  Listed here because,   according to hackers, use of the term marks one immediately as a   {suit}.  See {DPer}.  2. Common abbrev for {Dissociated   Press}.
DPB is  /d*-pib'/ [from the PDP-10 instruction set] vt. To plop   something down in the middle.  Usage silly.  "DPB   yourself into that couch there."  The connotation would be that   the couch is full except for one slot just big enough for you to  ...
DPB2 is  the name of a PDP-10   instruction that inserts some bits into the middle of some other   bits.  This usage has been kept alive by the Common LISP function   of the same name. 
DPer is  /dee-pee-er/ n. Data Processor.  Hackers are absolutely   amazed that {suit}s use this term self-referentially.   "*Computers* process data, not people!"  See {DP}.
dragon is  n. [MIT] A program similar to a {daemon}, except that it   is not invoked at all, but is instead used by the system to perform   various secondary tasks.  A typical example would be an accounting   program, which keeps track of who is logg...
dragon2 is  etc.  Under ITS, many terminals displayed   a list of people logged in, where they were, what they were   running, etc., along with some random picture (such as a unicorn,   Snoopy, or the Enterprise), which was generated by the `name   d...
dragon3 is  and most other OSes   this would be called a `background demon' or {daemon}.  The   best-known UNIX example of a dragon is `cron(1)'.  At SAIL,   they called this sort of thing a `phantom'. 
Dragon Book is  n. The classic text `Compilers Principles,   Techniques and Tools', by Alfred V. Aho, Ravi Sethi, and Jeffrey D.   Ullman (Addison-Wesley 1986; ISBN 0-201-10088-6), so called because   of the cover design featuring a dragon labeled `c...
Dragon Book2 is  bearing the lance `LALR parser   generator' among his other trappings.  This one is more   specifically known as the `Red Dragon Book' (1986); an earlier   edition, sans Sethi and titled `Principles Of Compiler Design'   (Alfred V. A...
Dragon Book3 is  ISBN   0-201-00022-9), was the `Green Dragon Book' (1977).  (Also `New   Dragon Book', `Old Dragon Book'.)  The horsed knight and the   Green Dragon were warily eying each other at a distance; now the   knight is typing (wearing gaun...
Dragon Book4 is  representation of the Red Dragon's head while the rest   of the beast extends back in normal space.  See also {{book   titles}}. 
drain is  [IBM] v. Syn. for {flush} (sense 2).  Has a connotation   of finality about it; one speaks of draining a device before taking   it offline.
dread high-bit disease is  n. A condition endemic to PRIME (a.k.a.   PR1ME) minicomputers that results in all the characters having   their high (0x80) bit ON rather than OFF.  This of course makes   transporting files to other systems much more diff...
dread high-bit disease2 is  devices.  It is reported that   PRIME adopted the reversed-8-bit convention in order to save   25 cents per serial line per machine.  This probably qualifies as one   of the most {cretinous} design tradeoffs ever made.  Se...
dread high-bit disease3 is  (including the Atari 800) have exhibited   similar brain damage. 
DRECNET is  /drek'net/ [from Yiddish/German `dreck', meaning   dirt] n. Deliberate distortion of DECNET, a networking protocol   used in the {VMS} community.  So called because DEC helped write   the Ethernet specification and then (either stupidly o...
DRECNET2 is  violated that spec in the design   of DRECNET in a way that made it incompatible.  See also   {connector conspiracy}. 
driver is  n. 1. The {main loop} of an event-processing program;   the code that gets commands and dispatches them for execution.   2. [techspeak] In `device driver', code designed to handle a   particular peripheral device such as a magnetic disk or...
driver2 is  `driver' also means a program that translates some   device-independent or other common format to something a real   device can actually understand. 
droid is  n. A person (esp. a low-level bureaucrat or   service-business employee) exhibiting most of the following   characteristics (a) na"ive trust in the wisdom of the parent   organization or `the system'; (b) a propensity to believe   obvious n...
droid2 is  computers!);   blind faith; (c) a rule-governed mentality, one unwilling or unable   to look beyond the `letter of the law' in exceptional   situations; and (d) no interest in fixing that which is broken; an   "It's not my job, man" attitu...
droid3 is  supermarket checkout assistant and   bank clerk; the syndrome is also endemic in low-level government   employees.  The implication is that the rules and official   procedures constitute software that the droid is executing.  This   become...
droid4 is  properly debugged.   The term `droid mentality' is also used to describe the mindset   behind this behavior. Compare {suit}, {marketroid}; see   {-oid}. 
drool-proof paper is  n. Documentation that has been obsessively {dumbed   down}, to the point where only a {cretin} could bear to read it, is   said to have succumbed to the `drool-proof paper syndrome' or to   have been `written on drool-proof pape...
drool-proof paper2 is  from Apple's LaserWriter manual "Do not expose   your LaserWriter to open fire or flame." 
drop on the floor is  vt. To react to an error condition by silently   discarding messages or other valuable data.  "The gateway   ran out of memory, so it just started dropping packets on the   floor."  Also frequently used of faulty mail and netnew...
drop on the floor2 is  {black hole}, {bit bucket}. 
drop-ins is  [prob. by analogy with {drop-outs}] n. Spurious   characters appearing on a terminal or console as a result of line noise or   a system malfunction of some sort.  Esp. used when these are   interspersed with one's own typed input.  Compa...
drop-outs is  n. 1. A variety of `power glitch' (see {glitch});   momentary 0 voltage on the electrical mains.  2. Missing characters   in typed input due to software malfunction or system saturation   (this can happen under UNIX when a bad connectio...
drop-outs2 is  spurious character interrupts).  3. Mental   glitches; used as a way of describing those occasions when the mind   just seems to shut down for a couple of beats.  See {glitch},   {fried}. 
drugged is  adj. (also `on drugs') 1. Conspicuously stupid,   heading toward {brain-damaged}.  Often accompanied by a   pantomime of toking a joint (but see appendix B).  2. Of hardware,   very slow relative to normal performance.
drunk mouse syndrome is  n. A malady exhibited by the mouse pointing   device of some computers.  The typical symptom is for the mouse   cursor on the screen to move in random directions and not in sync   with the motion of the actual mouse.  Can usu...
drunk mouse syndrome2 is  and plugging it back again.  Another   recommended fix for optical mice is to rotate your mouse pad   90 degrees.   At Xerox PARC in the 1970s, most people kept a can of copier   cleaner (isopropyl alcohol) at their desks.  ...
drunk mouse syndrome3 is  up enough {cruft} to be unreliable, the mouse   was doused in cleaner, which restored it for a while.  However,   this operation left a fine residue that accelerated the accumulation   of cruft, so the dousings became more a...
drunk mouse syndrome4 is  declared `alcoholic' and sent to the clinic to be   dried out in a CFC ultrasonic bath. 
dumbass attack is  /duhm'as *-tak'/ [Purdue] n. Notional cause of a   novice's mistake made by the experienced, especially one made while   running as root under UNIX, e.g., typing `rm -r *' or   `mkfs' on a mounted file system.  Compare {adger}.
dumbed down is  adj. Simplified, with a strong connotation of   *over*simplified.  Often, a {marketroid} will insist that the   interfaces and documentation of software be dumbed down after the   designer has burned untold gallons of midnight oil mak...
dump is  n. 1. An undigested and voluminous mass of information about a   problem or the state of a system, especially one routed to the   slowest available output device (compare {core dump}), and most   especially one consisting of hex or octal {ru...
dump2 is  memory, mass storage, or some file.  In {elder   days}, debugging was generally done by `groveling over' a dump   (see {grovel}); increasing use of high-level languages and   interactive debuggers has made this uncommon, and the term `dump'...
dump3 is  backup.  This usage is   typical only at large timesharing installations. 
dup killer is  /d[y]oop kill'r/ [FidoNet] n. Software that is   supposed to detect and delete duplicates of a message that may   have reached the FidoNet system via different routes.
dup loop is  /d[y]oop loop/ (also `dupe loop') [FidoNet] n. An   incorrectly configured system or network gateway may propagate   duplicate messages on one or more {echo}es, with different   identification information that renders {dup killer}s   ine...
dup loop2 is  eventually reaches a   system through which it has already passed (with the original   identification information), all systems passed on the way back to   that system are said to be involved in a {dup loop}. 
dusty deck is  n. Old software (especially applications) which one is   obliged to remain compatible with (or to maintain).  The term   implies that the software in question is a holdover from card-punch   days.  Used esp. when referring to old scien...
dusty deck2 is  of which was written in FORTRAN   and very poorly documented but is believed to be too expensive to   replace.  See {fossil}. 
DWIM is  /dwim/ [acronym, `Do What I Mean'] 1. adj. Able to guess, sometimes   even correctly, the result intended when bogus input was provided.   2. n.,obs. The BBNLISP/INTERLISP function that attempted to   accomplish this feat by correcting many ...
DWIM2 is  Occasionally, an interjection hurled at a   balky computer, esp. when one senses one might be tripping over   legalisms (see {legalese}).   Warren Teitelman originally wrote DWIM to fix his typos and   spelling errors, so it was somewhat id...
DWIM3 is  make hash of anyone else's typos if they were   stylistically different.  This led a number of victims of DWIM to   claim the acronym stood for `Damn Warren's Infernal Machine!'.   In one notorious incident, Warren added a DWIM feature to t...
DWIM4 is  One day another hacker   there typed `delete *$' to free up some disk space.  (The editor   there named backup files by appending `$' to the original file   name, so he was trying to delete any backup files left over from   old editing sess...
DWIM5 is  editor   backup files, so DWIM helpfully reported `*$ not found, assuming   you meant 'delete *'.'  It then started to delete all the files on   the disk!  The hacker managed to stop it with a {Vulcan nerve   pinch} after only a half dozen ...
DWIM6 is  said he had been sorely tempted to go to Warren's   office, tie Warren down in his chair in front of his workstation,   and then type `delete *$' twice.   DWIM is often suggested in jest as a desired feature for a complex   program; it is a...
DWIM7 is  instruction the ideal computer would have.  Back when proofs of   program correctness were in vogue, there were also jokes about   `DWIMC' (Do What I Mean, Correctly).  A related term, more often   seen as a verb, is DTRT (Do The Right Thin...
dynner is  /din'r/ 32 bits, by analogy with {nybble} and {{byte}}.  Usage rare and extremely silly.  See also {playte}, {tayste}, {crumb}.*earthquake [IBM] n. The ultimate real-world shock test for   computer hardware.  Hackish sources at IBM deny th...
dynner2 is  initiated by the company to test   quality-assurance procedures at its California plants. 
Easter egg is  n. 1. A message hidden in the object code of a program   as a joke, intended to be found by persons disassembling or   browsing the code.  2. A message, graphic, or sound effect emitted   by a program (or, on a PC, the BIOS ROM) in res...
Easter egg2 is  or keystrokes, intended as a joke or   to display program credits.  One well-known early Easter egg found   in a couple of OSes caused them to respond to the command   `make love' with `not war?'.  Many personal computers   have much ...
Easter egg3 is  lists of the   developers' names, political exhortations, snatches of music, and   (in one case) graphics images of the entire development team. 
Easter egging is  [IBM] n. The act of replacing unrelated parts more or   less at random in hopes that a malfunction will go away.  Hackers   consider this the normal operating mode of {field circus} techs and   do not love them for it.  Compare {sho...
eat flaming death is  imp. A construction popularized among hackers by   the infamous {CPU Wars} comic; supposed to derive from a famously   turgid line in a WWII-era anti-Nazi propaganda comic that ran   "Eat flaming death, non-Aryan mongrels!" or s...
eat flaming death2 is  reported that the Firesign Theater's   1975 album "In The Next World, You're On Your Own" included the   phrase "Eat flaming death, fascist media pigs"; this may have been   an influence).  Used in humorously overblown expressi...

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

tube2 is  someone elses terminal.  "Tube me that   note?" 
tube time is  n. Time spent at a terminal or console.  More inclusive   than hacking time; commonly used in discussions of what parts of   ones environment one uses most heavily.  "I find Im spending too   much of my tube time reading mail since I st...
tunafish is  n. In hackish lore, refers to the mutated punchline of   an age-old joke to be found at the bottom of the manual pages of   `tunefs(8) in the original {BSD} 4.2 distribution.  The   joke was removed in later releases once commercial site...
tunafish2 is  to the `tuning of   file-system parameters for optimum performance, and at the bottom   of a few pages of wizardly inscriptions was a `BUGS section   consisting of the line "You can tune a file system, but you cant   tunafish".  Variant...
tunafish3 is  though it has been excised from some versions by humorless   management {droid}s.  The [nt]roff source for SunOS 4.1.1   contains a comment apparently designed to prevent this "Take this   out and a Unix Demon will dog your steps from n...
tune is  [from automotive or musical usage] vt. To optimize a program   or system for a particular environment, esp. by adjusting numerical   parameters designed as {hook}s for tuning, e.g., by changing   `#define lines in C.  One may `tune for time ...
tune2 is  memory use), or   `tune for configuration (most efficient use of hardware).  See   {bum}, {hot spot}, {hand-hacking}. 
turbo nerd is  n. See {computer geek}.
turist is  /toorist/ n. Var. sp. of {tourist}, q.v.  Also in   adjectival form, `turistic.  Poss. influenced by {luser} and   `Turing.
tweak is  vt. 1. To change slightly, usually in reference to a value.   Also used synonymously with {twiddle}.  If a program is almost   correct, rather than figure out the precise problem you might   just keep tweaking it until it works.  See {frobn...
tweak2 is  debugging}.  2. To {tune}   or {bum} a program; preferred usage in the U.K. 
TWENEX is  /tweneks/ n. The TOPS-20 operating system by DEC ---   the second proprietary OS for the PDP-10 --- preferred by most   PDP-10 hackers over TOPS-10 (that is, by those who were not   {{ITS}} or {{WAITS}} partisans).  TOPS-20 began in 1969 a...
TWENEX2 is  system using special paging   hardware.  By the early 1970s, almost all of the systems on the   ARPANET ran TENEX.  DEC purchased the rights to TENEX from BBN and   began work to make it their own.  The first in-house code name for   the ...
TWENEX3 is  Operating System);   when customers started asking questions, the name was changed to   SNARK so DEC could truthfully deny that there was any project   called VIROS.  When the name SNARK became known, the name was   briefly reversed to be...
TWENEX4 is  it was discovered that `krans meant `funeral shroud in   Swedish.  Ultimately DEC picked TOPS-20 as the name of the   operating system, and it was as TOPS-20 that it was marketed.  The   hacker community, mindful of its origins, quickly d...
TWENEX5 is  TENEX), even though by this   point very little of the original TENEX code remained (analogously   to the differences between AT&T V6 UNIX and BSD).  DEC people   cringed when they heard "TWENEX", but the term caught on   nevertheless (th...
TWENEX6 is  TWENEX was successful and very popular; in fact, there was a period   in the early 1980s when it commanded as fervent a culture of   partisans as UNIX or ITS --- but DECs decision to scrap all the   internal rivals to the VAX architecture...
TWENEX7 is  DEC-20 and put a sad end to TWENEXs brief day in   the sun.  DEC attempted to convince TOPS-20 hackers to convert to   {VMS}, but instead, by the late 1980s, most of the TOPS-20   hackers had migrated to UNIX. 
twiddle is  n. 1. Tilde (ASCII 1111110, `~).  Also   called `squiggle, `sqiggle (sic --- pronounced /skigl/),   and `twaddle, but twiddle is the most common term.  2. A small   and insignificant change to a program.  Usually fixes one bug and   gener...
twiddle2 is  something in a small   way.  Bits, for example, are often twiddled.  Twiddling a switch or   knob implies much less sense of purpose than toggling or tweaking   it; see {frobnicate}.  To speak of twiddling a bit connotes   aimlessness, a...
twiddle3 is  the   bit; `toggling a bit has a more specific meaning (see {bit   twiddling}, {toggle}). 
twink is  /twink/ [UCSC] n. Equivalent to {read-only user}.  Also   reported on the USENET group soc.motss; may derive from gay   slang for a cute young thing with nothing upstairs.
two pi is  quant. The number of years it takes to finish ones   thesis.  Occurs in stories in the following form "He started on   his thesis; 2 pi years later..."
two-to-the-N is  quant. An amount much larger than {N} but smaller   than {infinity}.  "I have 2-to-the-N things to do before I can   go out for lunch" means you probably wont show up.
twonkie is  /twonkee/ n. The software equivalent of a Twinkie (a   variety of sugar-loaded junk food, or (in gay slang) the male   equivalent of `chick); a useless `feature added to look sexy   and placate a {marketroid} (compare {Saturday-night   sp...
twonkie2 is  Twonky", title menace   of a classic SF short story by Lewis Padgett (Henry Kuttner and   C. L. Moore), first published in the September 1942   `Astounding Science Fiction and subsequently much   anthologized.*UBD /U-B-D/ [abbreviation f...
twonkie3 is  to close out trouble reports obviously due to   utter cluelessness on the user's part.  Compare {pilot error};   oppose {PBD}; see also {brain-damaged}. 
UN*X is  n. Used to refer to the UNIX operating system (a trademark of   AT&T) in writing, but avoiding the need for the ugly   {(TM)} typography.   Also used to refer to any or all varieties of Unixoid operating   systems.  Ironically, lawyers now s...
UN*X2 is  TM-postfix has no legal force, but the asterisk usage   is entrenched anyhow.  It has been suggested that there may be a   psychological connection to practice in certain religions   (especially Judaism) in which the name of the deity is ne...
UN*X3 is  `G--d' is used.  See also   {glob}. 
undefined external reference is  excl. [UNIX] A message from UNIX's   linker.  Used in speech to flag loose ends or dangling references   in an argument or discussion.
under the hood is  prep. [hot-rodder talk] 1. Used to introduce the   underlying implementation of a product (hardware, software, or   idea).  Implies that the implementation is not intuitively obvious   from the appearance, but the speaker is about ...
under the hood2 is  now look under the hood to see   how ...." 2. Can also imply that the implementation is much   simpler than the appearance would indicate "Under the hood, we   are just fork/execing the shell."  3. Inside a chassis, as in   "Under...
undocumented feature is  n. See {feature}.
uninteresting is  adj. 1. Said of a problem that, although   {nontrivial}, can be solved simply by throwing sufficient   resources at it.  2. Also said of problems for which a solution   would neither advance the state of the art nor be fun to design...
uninteresting2 is  problems as intolerable wastes of   time, to be solved (if at all) by lesser mortals.  *Real*   hackers (see {toolsmith}) generalize uninteresting problems   enough to make them interesting and solve them --- thus solving the   ori...
uninteresting3 is  {SMOP};   compare {toy problem}, oppose {interesting}. 
UNIX is  /yoo'niks/ [In the authors' words, "A weak pun on   Multics"] n. (also `Unix') An interactive time-sharing system   originally invented in 1969 by Ken Thompson after Bell Labs left   the Multics project, originally so he could play games on ...
UNIX2 is  inventor of C, is considered   a co-author of the system.  The turning point in UNIX's history   came when it was reimplemented almost entirely in C during   1972--1974, making it the first source-portable OS.  UNIX   subsequently underwent...
UNIX3 is  many different people, resulting in a uniquely flexible and   developer-friendly environment.  In 1991, UNIX is the most widely   used multiuser general-purpose operating system in the world.  Many   people consider this the most important ...
UNIX4 is  opposition (but see {UNIX weenie} and {UNIX   conspiracy} for an opposing point of view).  See {Version 7},   {BSD}, {USG UNIX}. 
UNIX brain damage is  n. Something that has to be done to break a     network program (typically a mailer) on a non-UNIX system so that   it will interoperate with UNIX systems. The hack may qualify as   `UNIX brain damage' if the program conforms to...
UNIX brain damage2 is  question does not.  UNIX brain damage   happens because it is much easier for other (minority) systems to   change their ways to match non-conforming behavior than it is to   change all the hundreds of thousands of UNIX systems...
UNIX brain damage3 is  is a {kluge} in a mail server to    recognize bare line feed (the UNIX newline) as an equivalent form   to the Internet standard newline, which is a carriage return   followed by a line feed.  Such things can make even a harden...
UNIX conspiracy is  [ITS] n. According to a conspiracy theory long   popular among {{ITS}} and {{TOPS-20}} fans, UNIX's growth is the   result of a plot, hatched during the 1970s at Bell Labs, whose   intent was to hobble AT&T's competitors by making...
UNIX conspiracy2 is  evolution was to be under AT&T's   control.  This would be accomplished by disseminating an operating   system that is apparently inexpensive and easily portable, but also   relatively unreliable and insecure (so as to require co...
UNIX conspiracy3 is  was lent a substantial impetus   in 1984 by the paper referenced in the {back door} entry.   In this view, UNIX was designed to be one of the first computer   viruses (see {virus}) --- but a virus spread to computers indirectly  ...
UNIX conspiracy4 is  directly through disks and   networks.  Adherents of this `UNIX virus' theory like to cite the   fact that the well-known quotation "UNIX is snake oil" was   uttered by DEC president Kenneth Olsen shortly before DEC began   activ...
UNIX conspiracy5 is  workstations.  (Olsen now   claims to have been misquoted.) 
UNIX weenie is  [ITS] n. 1. A derogatory play on `UNIX wizard', common   among hackers who use UNIX by necessity but would prefer   alternatives.  The implication is that although the person in question   may consider mastery of UNIX arcana to be a w...
UNIX weenie2 is  is the ability to tolerate (and the bad   taste to wallow in) the incoherence and needless complexity that is   alleged to infest many UNIX programs.  "This shell script tries to   parse its arguments in 69 bletcherous ways.  It must...
UNIX weenie3 is  2. A derogatory term for anyone   who engages in uncritical praise of UNIX.  Often appearing in the   context "stupid UNIX weenie".  See {Weenix}, {UNIX   conspiracy}.  See also {weenie}. 
unixism is  n. A piece of code or a coding technique that depends on the   protected multi-tasking environment with relatively low   process-spawn overhead that exists on virtual-memory UNIX systems.   Common {unixism}s include gratuitous use of `for...
unixism2 is  undocumented but well-known features of   UNIX libraries such as `stdio(3)' are supported elsewhere;   reliance on {obscure} side-effects of system calls (use of   `sleep(2)' with a 0 argument to clue the scheduler that   you're willing ...
unixism3 is  assumption that freshly allocated memory is zeroed; and the assumption   that fragmentation problems won't arise from never `free()'ing   memory.  Compare {vaxocentrism}; see also {New Jersey}. 
unswizzle is  v. See {swizzle}.
unwind the stack is  vi. 1. [techspeak] During the execution of a   procedural language, one is said to `unwind the stack' from a   called procedure up to a caller when one discards the stack frame   and any number of frames above it, popping back up...
unwind the stack2 is  this is done with   `longjmp'/`setjmp', in LISP with `throw/catch'.   See also {smash the stack}.  2. People can unwind the stack as   well, by quickly dealing with a bunch of problems "Oh heck, let's   do lunch.  Just a second ...
unwind-protect is  [MIT from the name of a LISP operator] n. A task you   must remember to perform before you leave a place or finish a   project.  "I have an unwind-protect to call my advisor."
up is  adj. 1. Working, in order.  "The down escalator is up."   Oppose {down}.  2. `bring up' vt. To create a working   version and start it.  "They brought up a down system."    3. `come up' vi. To become ready for production use.
upload is  /uhp'lohd/ v. 1. [techspeak] To transfer programs or data   over a digital communications link from a smaller or peripheral   `client' system to a larger or central `host' one.  A transfer in   the other direction is, of course, called a {...
upload2 is  ground-to-space comm under that entry).   2. [speculatively] To move the essential patterns and algorithms   that make up one's mind from one's brain into a computer.  Only   those who are convinced that such patterns and algorithms captu...
upload3 is  prospect with   gusto. 
upthread is  adv. Earlier in the discussion (see {thread}), i.e.,   `above'. "As Joe pointed out upthread, ..."  See also   {followup}.
urchin is  n. See {munchkin}.
USENET is  /yoos'net/ or /yooz'net/ [from `Users' Network'] n.   A distributed {bboard} (bulletin board) system supported mainly   by UNIX machines.  Originally implemented in 1979-1980 by Steve   Bellovin, Jim Ellis, Tom Truscott, and Steve Daniel a...
USENET2 is  become international in scope   and is now probably the largest decentralized information utility   in existence.  As of early 1991, it hosts well over   700 {newsgroup}s and an average of 16 megabytes (the equivalent   of several thousan...
USENET3 is    discussion, chatter, and {flamage} every day. 
user is  n. 1. Someone doing `real work' with the computer, using   it as a means rather than an end.  Someone who pays to use a   computer.  See {real user}.  2. A programmer who will believe   anything you tell him.  One who asks silly questions.  ...
user2 is  is true that users ask   questions (of necessity).  Sometimes they are thoughtful or deep.   Very often they are annoying or downright stupid, apparently   because the user failed to think for two seconds or look in the   documentation befo...
user3 is  3. Someone who uses a program from the outside, however skillfully,   without getting into the internals of the program.  One who reports   bugs instead of just going ahead and fixing them.   The general theory behind this term is that ther...
user4 is  program there are implementors (hackers)   and {luser}s.  The users are looked down on by hackers to a mild   degree because they don't understand the full ramifications of the   system in all its glory.  (The few users who do are known as ...
user5 is  a skilled hacker   may be a user with respect to some program he himself does not   hack.  A LISP hacker might be one who maintains LISP or one who   uses LISP (but with the skill of a hacker).  A LISP user is one who   uses LISP, whether s...
user6 is  between the two terms; the subtle distinctions must be resolved by   context. 
user-friendly is  adj. Programmer-hostile.  Generally used by hackers in   a critical tone, to describe systems that hold the user's hand so   obsessively that they make it painful for the more experienced and   knowledgeable to get any work done.  S...
user-friendly2 is  {Macintrash}, {user-obsequious}. 
user-obsequious is  adj. Emphatic form of {user-friendly}.  Connotes   a system so verbose, inflexible, and determinedly simple-minded   that it is nearly unusable.  "Design a system any fool can use and   only a fool will want to use it."  See {WIMP...
USG UNIX is  /U-S-G yoo'niks/ n. Refers to AT&T UNIX   commercial versions after {Version 7}, especially System III and   System V releases 1, 2, and 3.  So called because during most of   the life-span of those versions AT&T's support crew was calle...
UTSL is  // [UNIX] n. On-line acronym for `Use the Source, Luke' (a   pun on Obi-Wan Kenobi's "Use the Force, Luke!" in `Star   Wars') --- analogous to {RTFM} but more polite.  This is a   common way of suggesting that someone would be best off readi...
UTSL2 is  feature is causing confusion,   rather than making yet another futile pass through the manuals or   broadcasting questions that haven't attracted {wizard}s to   answer them.  In theory, this is appropriately directed only at   associates of...
UTSL3 is  practice,   bootlegs of UNIX source code (made precisely for reference   purposes) are so ubiquitous that one may utter this at almost   anyone on {the network} without concern.  In the near future   (this written in 1991) source licenses m...
UTSL4 is  recent release of the Mach 3.0 microkernal,   given the continuing efforts of the {GNU} project, and with the   4.4BSD release on the horizon, complete free source code for   UNIX-clone toolsets and kernels should soon be widely available. 
UUCPNET is  n. The store-and-forward network consisting of all the   world's connected UNIX machines (and others running some clone of   the UUCP (UNIX-to-UNIX CoPy) software).  Any machine reachable only   via a {bang path} is on UUCPNET.  See {netw...
UUCPNET2 is  permutation of ADV (i.e.,   {ADVENT}), used to avoid a particular {admin}'s continual   search-and-destroy sweeps for the game] n. A leisure-time activity   of certain hackers involving the covert exploration of the `secret'   parts of l...
UUCPNET3 is  elevators,   maintenance crawlways, steam tunnels, and the like.  A few go so   far as to learn locksmithing in order to synthesize vadding keys.   The verb is `to vad' (compare {phreaking}).   The most extreme and dangerous form of vadd...
UUCPNET4 is  surfing', a sport played by wrasslin'   down a thousand-pound elevator car with a 3-foot piece of   string, and then exploiting this mastery in various stimulating   ways (such as elevator hopping, shaft exploration, rat-racing, and   th...
UUCPNET5 is  try this at home!    See also {hobbit} (sense 2). 
vanilla is  [from the default flavor of ice cream in the U.S.] adj.   Ordinary {flavor}, standard.  When used of food, very often does   not mean that the food is flavored with vanilla extract!  For   example, `vanilla wonton soup' means ordinary won...
vanilla2 is  soup.  Applied to hardware and   software, as in "Vanilla Version 7 UNIX can't run on a   vanilla 11/34."  Also used to orthogonalize chip nomenclature; for   instance, a 74V00 means what TI calls a 7400, as distinct from   a 74LS00, etc...
vanilla3 is  the   latter means `default', whereas vanilla simply means `ordinary'.   For example, when hackers go on a {great-wall}, hot-and-sour   wonton soup is the {canonical} wonton soup to get (because that   is what most of them usually order)...
vannevar is  /van'*-var/ n. A bogus technological prediction or   a foredoomed engineering concept, esp. one that fails by   implicitly assuming that technologies develop linearly,   incrementally, and in isolation from one another when in fact the  ...
vannevar2 is  revolutions are   common, and competition is the rule.  The prototype was Vannevar   Bush's prediction of `electronic brains' the size of the Empire   State Building with a Niagara-Falls-equivalent cooling system for   their tubes and r...
vannevar3 is  effect had   already been demonstrated.  Other famous vannevars have included   magnetic-bubble memory, LISP machines, {videotex}, and a paper from   the late 1970s that computed a purported ultimate limit on areal   density for ICs tha...
vannevar4 is  of 5 years later. 
vaporware is  /vay'pr-weir/ n. Products announced far in advance of   any release (which may or may not actually take place).
var is  /veir/ or /var/ n. Short for `variable'.  Compare {arg},   {param}.
VAX is  /vaks/ n. 1. [from Virtual Address eXtension] The most   successful minicomputer design in industry history, possibly   excepting its immediate ancestor, the PDP-11.  Between its release   in 1978 and its eclipse by {killer micro}s after abou...
VAX2 is  favorite machine of them all, esp.   after the 1982 release of 4.2 BSD UNIX (see {BSD}).  Esp.   noted for its large, assembler-programmer-friendly instruction set   --- an asset that became a liability after the RISC revolution.   2. A majo...
VAX3 is  here because   its alleged sales pitch, "Nothing sucks like a VAX!" became a   sort of battle-cry of RISC partisans.  Ironically, the slogan was   *not* actually used by the Vax vacuum-cleaner people, but was   actually that of a rival brand...
VAX4 is  an...").  It is claimed, however, that DEC actually   entered a cross-licensing deal with the vacuum-Vax people that   allowed them to market VAX computers in the U.K. in return for not   challenging the vacuum cleaner trademark in the U.S. 
VAXectomy is  /vak-sek't*-mee/ [by analogy with `vasectomy'] n. A   VAX removal.  DEC's Microvaxen, especially, are much slower than   newer RISC-based workstations such as the SPARC.  Thus, if one knows   one has a replacement coming, VAX removal ca...
VAXen is  /vak'sn/ [from `oxen', perhaps influenced by `vixen'] n.   (alt. `vaxen') The plural canonically used among hackers for the   DEC VAX computers.  "Our installation has four PDP-10s and twenty   vaxen."  See {boxen}.
vaxherd is  n. /vaks'herd/ [from `oxherd'] A VAX operator.
vaxism is  /vak'sizm/ n. A piece of code that exhibits   {vaxocentrism} in critical areas.  Compare {PC-ism},   {unixism}.
vaxocentrism is  /vak`soh-sen'trizm/ [analogy with   `ethnocentrism'] n. A notional disease said to afflict   C programmers who persist in coding according to certain assumptions that are    valid (esp. under UNIX) on {VAXen} but false elsewhere. Amo...
vaxocentrism2 is  validly be accused of vaxocentrism   even if he or she has never seen a VAX.  Some of these assumptions   (esp. 2--5) were valid on the PDP-11, the original C machine, and   became endemic years before the VAX.  The terms `vaxocentr...
vaxocentrism3 is  have been used synonymously. 
vdiff is  /vee'dif/ v.,n. Visual diff.  The operation of finding   differences between two files by {eyeball search}.  The term   `optical diff' has also been reported.  See {diff}.
veeblefester is  /vee'b*l-fes`tr/ [from the "Born Loser"   comix via Commodore; prob. originally from `Mad' Magazine's   `Veeblefeetzer' parodies ca. 1960] n. Any obnoxious person engaged   in the (alleged) professions of marketing or management.  An...
Venus flytrap is  [after the insect-eating plant] n. See {firewall   machine}.
verbage is  /ver'b*j/ n. A deliberate misspelling and mispronunciation of   {verbiage} that assimilates it to the word `garbage'.  Compare   {content-free}.  More pejorative than `verbiage'.
verbiage is  n. When the context involves a software or hardware   system, this refers to {{documentation}}.  This term borrows the   connotations of mainstream `verbiage' to suggest that the   documentation is of marginal utility and that the motive...
verbiage2 is  with the ostensible subject. 
Version 7 is  alt. V7 /vee' se'vn/ n. The 1978 unsupported release of   {{UNIX}} ancestral to all current commercial versions.  Before   the release of the POSIX/SVID standards, V7's features were often   treated as a UNIX portability baseline.  See ...
Version 72 is  old-timers impatient with commercialization and   kernel bloat still maintain that V7 was the Last True UNIX. 
vgrep is  /vee'grep/ v.,n. Visual grep.  The operation of finding   patterns in a file optically rather than digitally.  See {grep};   compare {vdiff}.
vi is  /V-I/, *not* /vi/ and *never* /siks/ [from   `Visual Interface'] n. A screen editor crufted together by Bill Joy   for an early {BSD} version.  Became the de facto standard UNIX   editor and a nearly undisputed hacker favorite until the rise o...
vi2 is  frustrate new users no end,   as it will neither take commands while expecting input text nor   vice versa, and the default setup provides no indication of which   mode one is in (one correspondent accordingly reports that he has   often hear...
vi3 is  Nevertheless it   is still widely used (about half the respondents in a 1991 USENET   poll preferred it), and even EMACS fans often resort to it as a   mail editor and for small editing jobs (mainly because it starts up   faster than bulky EM...
videotex is  n. obs. An electronic service offering people the   privilege of paying to read the weather on their television screens   instead of having somebody read it to them for free while they   brush their teeth.  The idea bombed everywhere it ...
videotex2 is  time videotex was practical   the installed base of personal computers could hook up to   timesharing services and do the things for which videotex might   have been worthwhile better and cheaper.  Videotex planners badly   overestimate...
videotex3 is    computer and the cost of local intelligence at the user's end.   Like the {gorilla arm} effect, this has been a cautionary tale   to hackers ever since.  See also {vannevar}. 
virgin is  adj. Unused; pristine; in a known initial state.  "Let's   bring up a virgin system and see if it crashes again."  (Esp.   useful after contracting a {virus} through {SEX}.)  Also, by   extension, buffers and the like within a program that...