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You can find it by a +search for the following line: + + + + + +#======= THIS IS THE JARGON FILE, VERSION 4.0.0, 24 JUL 1996 =======# + + +The Jargon Lexicon +****************** + += A = +===== + +:abbrev: /*-breev'/, /*-brev'/ /n./ Common abbreviation for + `abbreviation'. + +:ABEND: /a'bend/, /*-bend'/ /n./ [ABnormal END] Abnormal + termination (of software); {crash}; {lossage}. Derives from + an error message on the IBM 360; used jokingly by hackers but + seriously mainly by {code grinder}s. Usually capitalized, but + may appear as `abend'. Hackers will try to persuade you that + ABEND is called `abend' because it is what system operators do to + the machine late on Friday when they want to call it a day, and + hence is from the German `Abend' = `Evening'. + +:accumulator: /n. obs./ 1. Archaic term for a register. On-line + use of it as a synonym for `register' is a fairly reliable + indication that the user has been around for quite a while and/or + that the architecture under discussion is quite old. The term in + full is almost never used of microprocessor registers, for example, + though symbolic names for arithmetic registers beginning in `A' + derive from historical use of the term `accumulator' (and not, + actually, from `arithmetic'). Confusingly, though, an `A' + register name prefix may also stand for `address', as for + example on the Motorola 680x0 family. 2. A register being used for + arithmetic or logic (as opposed to addressing or a loop index), + especially one being used to accumulate a sum or count of many + items. This use is in context of a particular routine or stretch + of code. "The FOOBAZ routine uses A3 as an accumulator." + 3. One's in-basket (esp. among old-timers who might use sense 1). + "You want this reviewed? Sure, just put it in the accumulator." + (See {stack}.) + +:ACK: /ak/ /interj./ 1. [from the ASCII mnemonic for 0000110] + Acknowledge. Used to register one's presence (compare mainstream + *Yo!*). An appropriate response to {ping} or {ENQ}. + 2. [from the comic strip "Bloom County"] An exclamation of + surprised disgust, esp. in "Ack pffft!" Semi-humorous. + Generally this sense is not spelled in caps (ACK) and is + distinguished by a following exclamation point. 3. Used to + politely interrupt someone to tell them you understand their point + (see {NAK}). Thus, for example, you might cut off an overly + long explanation with "Ack. Ack. Ack. I get it now". + + There is also a usage "ACK?" (from sense 1) meaning "Are you + there?", often used in email when earlier mail has produced no + reply, or during a lull in {talk mode} to see if the person has + gone away (the standard humorous response is of course {NAK} + (sense 2), i.e., "I'm not here"). + +:Acme: /n./ The canonical supplier of bizarre, elaborate, and + non-functional gadgetry -- where Rube Goldberg and Heath Robinson + shop. Describing some X as an "Acme X" either means "This is + {insanely great}", or, more likely, "This looks {insanely + great} on paper, but in practice it's really easy to shoot yourself + in the foot with it." Compare {pistol}. + + This term, specially cherished by American hackers and explained + here for the benefit of our overseas brethren, comes from the + Warner Brothers' series of "Roadrunner" cartoons. In these + cartoons, the famished Wile E. Coyote was forever attempting to + catch up with, trap, and eat the Roadrunner. His attempts usually + involved one or more high-technology Rube Goldberg devices -- + rocket jetpacks, catapults, magnetic traps, high-powered + slingshots, etc. These were usually delivered in large cardboard + boxes, labeled prominently with the Acme name. These devices + invariably malfunctioned in violent and improbable ways. + +:acolyte: /n. obs./ [TMRC] An {OSU} privileged enough to + submit data and programs to a member of the {priesthood}. + +:ad-hockery: /ad-hok'*r-ee/ /n./ [Purdue] 1. Gratuitous + assumptions made inside certain programs, esp. expert systems, + which lead to the appearance of semi-intelligent behavior but are + in fact entirely arbitrary. For example, fuzzy-matching of + input tokens that might be typing errors against a symbol table can + make it look as though a program knows how to spell. + 2. Special-case code to cope with some awkward input that would + otherwise cause a program to {choke}, presuming normal inputs + are dealt with in some cleaner and more regular way. Also called + `ad-hackery', `ad-hocity' (/ad-hos'*-tee/), `ad-crockery'. + See also {ELIZA effect}. + +:Ada:: /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 kind + of endorsement by fiat; designed by 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 particularly hilarious. Ada Lovelace (the 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 latterly been put; the kindest + thing that has been said about it is that there is probably a good + small language screaming to get out from inside its vast, + {elephantine} bulk. + +:adger: /aj'r/ /vt./ [UCLA mutant of {nadger}, poss. from + the middle name of an infamous {tenured graduate student}] To + make a bonehead move with consequences that could have been + foreseen with even slight mental effort. E.g., "He started + removing files and promptly adgered the whole project". Compare + {dumbass attack}. + +:admin: /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 + role as a site contact for email and news) or `newsadmin' + (focusing specifically on news). Compare {postmaster}, + {sysop}, {system mangler}. + +:ADVENT: /ad'vent/ /n./ The prototypical computer adventure + game, first designed by Will Crowther on the {PDP-10} in the + mid-1970s as an attempt at computer-refereed fantasy gaming, and + expanded into a puzzle-oriented game by Don Woods at Stanford in + 1976. Now better known as Adventure, but the {{TOPS-10}} + operating system permitted only six-letter filenames. See also + {vadding}, {Zork}, and {Infocom}. + + This game defined the terse, dryly humorous style since expected in + text adventure games, and popularized several tag lines that have + become fixtures of hacker-speak: "A huge green fierce snake bars + the way!" "I 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. + + Crowther, by the way, participated in the exploration 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. + +:AFAIK: // /n./ [Usenet] Abbrev. for "As Far As I Know". + +:AFJ: // /n./ Written-only abbreviation for "April Fool's + Joke". Elaborate April Fool's hoaxes are a long-established + tradition on Usenet and Internet; see {kremvax} for an example. + In fact, April Fool's Day is the *only* seasonal holiday + consistently marked by customary observances on Internet and other + hacker networks. + +:AI: /A-I/ /n./ Abbreviation for `Artificial Intelligence', + so common that the full form is almost never written or spoken + among hackers. + +:AI-complete: /A-I k*m-pleet'/ /adj./ [MIT, Stanford: by + analogy with `NP-complete' (see {NP-})] Used to describe + problems or subproblems in AI, to indicate that the solution + presupposes a solution to the `strong AI problem' (that is, the + synthesis of a human-level intelligence). A 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 system that can understand + and speak a natural language as well as a human). These may appear + to be modular, but all attempts so far (1996) to solve them have + foundered on the amount of context information and `intelligence' + they seem to require. See also {gedanken}. + +:AI koans: /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 + under {AI Koans} in Appendix A). See also {ha ha + only serious}, {mu}, and {{hacker humor}}. + +:AIDS: /aydz/ /n./ Short for A* Infected Disk Syndrome (`A*' + is a {glob} pattern that matches, but is not limited to, Apple + or Amiga), this condition is quite often the result of practicing + unsafe {SEX}. See {virus}, {worm}, {Trojan horse}, + {virgin}. + +:AIDX: /ayd'k*z/ /n./ Derogatory term for IBM's perverted + version of Unix, AIX, especially for the AIX 3.? used in the IBM + RS/6000 series (some hackers think it is funnier just to pronounce + "AIX" as "aches"). A victim of the dreaded "hybridism" + disease, this attempt to combine the two main currents of the Unix + stream ({BSD} and {USG Unix}) became a {monstrosity} to + haunt system administrators' dreams. For example, if new accounts + are created while many users are logged on, the load average jumps + quickly over 20 due to silly implementation of the user databases. + For a quite similar disease, compare {HP-SUX}. Also, compare + {Macintrash}, {Nominal Semidestructor}, {Open DeathTrap}, + {ScumOS}, {sun-stools}. + +:airplane rule: /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 robustness. It 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. See also {KISS + Principle}. + +:aliasing bug: /n./ A class of subtle programming errors that + can arise in code that does dynamic allocation, esp. via + `malloc(3)' or equivalent. If several pointers address + (`aliases for') a given hunk of storage, it may happen that the + storage is freed or reallocated (and thus moved) through one alias + and 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 alias allocated core, or by use of + 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}, {memory smash}, + {overrun screw}, {spam}. + + Historical note: Though this term 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: /adj./ [MS-DOS] 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 needs without considering that other TSRs may + also be resident. One particularly common form of rudeness is + lock-up due to programs fighting over the keyboard interrupt. See + {rude}, also {mess-dos}. + +:alpha particles: /n./ See {bit rot}. + +:alt: /awlt/ 1. /n./ The alt shift key on an IBM PC or + {clone} keyboard; see {bucky bits}, sense 2 (though typical + PC usage does not simply set the 0200 bit). 2. /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 + {feature key}). Some Mac hackers, confusingly, reserve `alt' + for the Option key (and it is so labeled on some Mac II keyboards). + 3. /n.,obs/. [PDP-10; often capitalized to ALT] 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 pronounced `escape' on an ITS system, + in {TECO}, or 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 usage probably arose because alt is + more convenient to say than `escape', especially when followed by + another alt or a character (or another alt *and* a character, + for that matter). 4. The alt hierarchy on Usenet, the tree of + newsgroups created by users without a formal vote and approval + procedure. There is a myth, not entirely implausible, that + alt is acronymic for "anarchists, lunatics, and terrorists"; + but in fact it is simply short for "alternative". + +:alt bit: /awlt bit/ [from alternate] /adj./ See {meta + bit}. + +:altmode: /n./ Syn. {alt} sense 3. + +:Aluminum Book: /n./ [MIT] "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 describes + succinctly as "yucky green". See also {{book titles}}. + +:amoeba: /n./ Humorous term for the Commodore Amiga personal + computer. + +:amp off: /vt./ [Purdue] To run in {background}. From the + Unix shell `&' operator. + +:amper: /n./ Common abbreviation for the name of the ampersand + (`&', ASCII 0100110) character. See {{ASCII}} for other synonyms. + +:angle brackets: /n./ Either of the characters `<' (ASCII + 0111100) and `>' (ASCII 0111110) (ASCII less-than or + greater-than signs). Typographers in the {Real World} use angle + brackets which are either taller and slimmer (the ISO `Bra' and + `Ket' characters), or significantly smaller (single or double + guillemets) than the less-than and greater-than signs. + See {broket}, {{ASCII}}. + +:angry fruit salad: /n./ A bad visual-interface design that + uses too many colors. (This term derives, of course, from the + bizarre day-glo colors found in canned fruit salad.) Too often one + sees similar effects from interface designers using color window + systems such as {X}; there is a tendency to create displays that + are flashy and attention-getting but uncomfortable for long-term + use. + +:annoybot: /*-noy-bot/ /n./ [IRC] See {robot}. + +:ANSI: /an'see/ 1. /n./ [techspeak] The American National + Standards Institute. ANSI, along with the International +Organization + for Standards (ISO), standardized the C programming language (see + {K&R}, {Classic C}), and promulgates many other important + software standards. 2. /n./ [techspeak] A terminal may be said to +be + `ANSI' if it meets the ANSI X.364 standard for terminal control. + Unfortunately, this standard was both over-complicated and too + permissive. It has been retired and replaced by the ECMA-48 + standard, which shares both flaws. 3. /n./ [BBS jargon] The set of + screen-painting codes that most MS-DOS and Amiga computers accept. + This comes from the ANSI.SYS device driver that must be loaded on + an MS-DOS computer to view such codes. Unfortunately, neither DOS + ANSI nor the BBS ANSIs derived from it exactly match the ANSI X.364 + terminal standard. For example, the ESC-[1m code turns on the bold + highlight on large machines, but in IBM PC/MS-DOS ANSI, it turns on + `intense' (bright) colors. Also, in BBS-land, the term `ANSI' is + often used to imply that a particular computer uses or can emulate + the IBM high-half character set from MS-DOS. Particular use + depends on context. Occasionally, the vanilla ASCII character set + is used with the color codes, but on BBSs, ANSI and `IBM + characters' tend to go together. + +:AOS: 1. /aws/ (East Coast), /ay'os/ (West Coast) /vt. obs./ + To increase the amount of something. "AOS the campfire." + [based on a PDP-10 increment instruction] Usage: + considered silly, and now obsolete. Now largely supplanted by + {bump}. See {SOS}. 2. /n./ A {{Multics}}-derived OS + 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 as + photocopy folklore; it was called "How to Goad and Levitate + your CHAOS System". 3. /n./ Algebraic Operating System, in +reference + to those calculators which use infix instead of postfix (reverse + Polish) notation. 4. A {BSD}-like operating system for the IBM + RT. + + Historical note: AOS in sense 1 was the name of a {PDP-10} + instruction that took any memory location in the 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: AOSE added 1 and then skipped the next 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't say when to skip, so it never + skipped. + + 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 was JUMPA. However, hackers + never did this. 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: /ap/ /n./ Short for `application program', as opposed + to a systems program. Apps are 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 + themselves run as apps; thus, in hacker parlance the term excludes + compilers, program editors, games, and messaging systems, though a + user would consider all those to be apps. (Broadly, an app is + often a self-contained environment for performing some well-defined + task such as `word processing'; hackers tend to prefer more + general-purpose tools.) See {killer app}; oppose {tool}, + {operating system}. + +:arena: [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 `malloc: corrupt arena' + message emitted when some early versions detected an impossible + value in the free block list. See {overrun screw}, {aliasing + bug}, {memory leak}, {memory smash}, {smash the stack}. + +:arg: /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 {param}, {parm}, {var}. + +:ARMM: /n./ [acronym, `Automated Retroactive Minimal + Moderation'] A Usenet robot created by Dick Depew of Munroe Falls, + Ohio. ARMM was intended to automatically cancel posts from + anonymous-posting sites. Unfortunately, the robot's recognizer for + anonymous postings triggered on its own automatically-generated + control messages! Transformed by this stroke of programming + ineptitude into a monster of Frankensteinian proportions, it broke + loose on the night of March 31, 1993 and proceeded to {spam} + news.admin.policy with a recursive explosion of over 200 + messages. + + ARMM's bug produced a recursive {cascade} of messages each of which + mechanically added text to the ID and Subject and some other + headers of its parent. This produced a flood of messages in which + each header took up several screens and each message ID and subject + line got longer and longer and longer. + + Reactions varied from amusement to outrage. The pathological + messages crashed at least one mail system, and upset people paying + line charges for their Usenet feeds. One poster described the ARMM + debacle as "instant Usenet history" (also establishing the term + {despew}), and it has since been widely cited as a cautionary + example of the havoc the combination of good intentions and + incompetence can wreak on a network. Compare {Great Worm, the}; + {sorcerer's apprentice mode}. See also {software laser}, + {network meltdown}. + +:armor-plated: /n./ Syn. for {bulletproof}. + +:asbestos: /adj./ Used as a modifier to anything intended to + protect one from {flame}s; also in other highly + {flame}-suggestive usages. See, for example, {asbestos + longjohns} and {asbestos cork award}. + +:asbestos cork award: /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'. (Any reader in + doubt as to the intended 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 agreement on *which* + few. + +:asbestos longjohns: /n./ Notional garments 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', etc. + +:ASCII:: /as'kee/ /n./ [acronym: American Standard Code for + Information Interchange] The predominant character set encoding of + present-day computers. The modern version uses 7 bits for each + character, whereas most earlier codes (including an early version + of ASCII) used fewer. This change allowed the inclusion of + lowercase letters -- a major {win} -- but it did not provide + for accented letters or any other letterforms not used in English + (such as the German sharp-S + or the ae-ligature + which is a letter in, for example, Norwegian). It could be worse, + though. It could be much worse. See {{EBCDIC}} to understand how. + + Computers are much pickier and less flexible about spelling than + humans; thus, hackers need to be very precise when talking about + characters, and have developed a considerable amount of verbal + shorthand for them. Every character has one or more names -- some + formal, some concise, some silly. Common jargon names for ASCII + characters are collected here. See also individual entries for + {bang}, {excl}, {open}, {ques}, {semi}, {shriek}, + {splat}, {twiddle}, and {Yu-Shiang Whole Fish}. + + This list derives from revision 2.3 of the Usenet ASCII + pronunciation guide. Single characters are listed in ASCII order; + character pairs are sorted in by first member. For each character, + common names are given in rough order of popularity, followed by + names that are reported but rarely seen; official ANSI/CCITT names + are surrounded by brokets: <>. Square brackets mark the + particularly silly names introduced by {INTERCAL}. The + abbreviations "l/r" and "o/c" stand for left/right and + "open/close" respectively. Ordinary parentheticals provide some + usage information. + +! + Common: {bang}; pling; excl; shriek; <exclamation mark>. Rare: + factorial; exclam; smash; cuss; boing; yell; wow; hey; wham; + eureka; [spark-spot]; soldier. + +" + Common: double quote; quote. Rare: literal mark; double-glitch; + <quotation marks>; <dieresis>; dirk; [rabbit-ears]; double prime. + +# + Common: number sign; pound; pound sign; hash; sharp; {crunch}; + hex; [mesh]. Rare: grid; crosshatch; octothorpe; flash; + <square>, pig-pen; tictactoe; scratchmark; thud; thump; {splat}. + +$ + Common: dollar; <dollar sign>. Rare: currency symbol; buck; + cash; string (from BASIC); escape (when used as the echo of ASCII + ESC); ding; cache; [big money]. + +% + Common: percent; <percent sign>; mod; grapes. Rare: + [double-oh-seven]. + +& + Common: <ampersand>; amper; and. Rare: address (from C); + reference (from C++); andpersand; bitand; background (from + `sh(1)'); pretzel; amp. [INTERCAL called this `ampersand'; what + could be sillier?] + +' + Common: single quote; quote; <apostrophe>. Rare: prime; glitch; + tick; irk; pop; [spark]; <closing single quotation mark>; <acute + accent>. + +( ) + + Common: l/r paren; l/r parenthesis; left/right; open/close; + paren/thesis; o/c paren; o/c parenthesis; l/r parenthesis; l/r + banana. Rare: so/already; lparen/rparen; <opening/closing + parenthesis>; o/c round bracket, l/r round bracket, [wax/wane]; + parenthisey/unparenthisey; l/r ear. + +* + Common: star; [{splat}]; <asterisk>. Rare: wildcard; gear; + dingle; mult; spider; aster; times; twinkle; glob (see {glob}); + {Nathan Hale}. + ++ + Common: <plus>; add. Rare: cross; [intersection]. + +, + Common: <comma>. Rare: <cedilla>; [tail]. + +- + Common: dash; <hyphen>; <minus>. Rare: [worm]; option; dak; + bithorpe. + +. + Common: dot; point; <period>; <decimal point>. Rare: radix + point; full stop; [spot]. + +/ + Common: slash; stroke; <slant>; forward slash. Rare: diagonal; + solidus; over; slak; virgule; [slat]. + +: + Common: <colon>. Rare: dots; [two-spot]. + +; + Common: <semicolon>; semi. Rare: weenie; [hybrid], pit-thwong. + +< > + Common: <less/greater than>; bra/ket; l/r angle; l/r angle + bracket; l/r broket. Rare: from/{into, towards}; read from/write + to; suck/blow; comes-from/gozinta; in/out; crunch/zap (all from + UNIX); [angle/right angle]. + += + Common: <equals>; gets; takes. Rare: quadrathorpe; [half-mesh]. + +? + Common: query; <question mark>; {ques}. Rare: whatmark; [what]; + wildchar; huh; hook; buttonhook; hunchback. + +@ + Common: at sign; at; strudel. Rare: each; vortex; whorl; + [whirlpool]; cyclone; snail; ape; cat; rose; cabbage; <commercial + at>. + +V + Rare: [book]. + +[ ] + Common: l/r square bracket; l/r bracket; <opening/closing + bracket>; bracket/unbracket. Rare: square/unsquare; [U turn/U + turn back]. + +\ + Common: backslash; escape (from C/UNIX); reverse slash; slosh; + backslant; backwhack. Rare: bash; <reverse slant>; reversed + virgule; [backslat]. + +^ + Common: hat; control; uparrow; caret; <circumflex>. Rare: + chevron; [shark (or shark-fin)]; to the (`to the power of'); + fang; pointer (in Pascal). + +_ + Common: <underline>; underscore; underbar; under. Rare: score; + backarrow; skid; [flatworm]. + +` + Common: backquote; left quote; left single quote; open quote; + <grave accent>; grave. Rare: backprime; [backspark]; + unapostrophe; birk; blugle; back tick; back glitch; push; + <opening single quotation mark>; quasiquote. + +{ } + Common: o/c brace; l/r brace; l/r squiggly; l/r squiggly + bracket/brace; l/r curly bracket/brace; <opening/closing brace>. + Rare: brace/unbrace; curly/uncurly; leftit/rytit; l/r squirrelly; + [embrace/bracelet]. + +| + Common: bar; or; or-bar; v-bar; pipe; vertical bar. Rare: + <vertical line>; gozinta; thru; pipesinta (last three from UNIX); + [spike]. + +~ + Common: <tilde>; squiggle; {twiddle}; not. Rare: approx; wiggle; + swung dash; enyay; [sqiggle (sic)]. + + The pronunciation of `#' as `pound' is common in the U.S. + but a bad idea; {{Commonwealth Hackish}} has its own, rather more + apposite use of `pound sign' (confusingly, on British keyboards + the pound graphic + happens to replace `#'; thus Britishers sometimes + call `#' on a U.S.-ASCII keyboard `pound', compounding the + American error). The U.S. usage derives from an old-fashioned + commercial practice of using a `#' suffix to tag pound weights + on bills of lading. The character is usually pronounced `hash' + outside the U.S. There are more culture wars over the correct + pronunciation of this character than any other, which has led to + the {ha ha only serious} suggestion that it be pronounced + `shibboleth' (see Judges 12.6 in a Christian Bible). + + The `uparrow' name for circumflex and `leftarrow' name for + underline are historical relics from archaic ASCII (the 1963 + version), which had these graphics in those character positions + rather than the modern punctuation characters. + + The `swung dash' or `approximation' sign is not quite the same + as tilde in typeset material + but the ASCII tilde serves for both (compare {angle + brackets}). + + Some other common usages cause odd overlaps. The `#', + `$', `>', and `&' characters, for example, are all + pronounced "hex" in different communities because various + assemblers use them as a prefix tag for hexadecimal constants (in + particular, `#' in many assembler-programming cultures, + `$' in the 6502 world, `>' at Texas Instruments, and + `&' on the BBC Micro, Sinclair, and some Z80 machines). See + also {splat}. + + The inability of ASCII text to correctly represent any of the + world's other major languages makes the designers' choice of 7 bits + look more and more like a serious {misfeature} as the use of + international networks continues to increase (see {software + rot}). Hardware and software from the U.S. still tends to embody + the assumption that ASCII is the universal character set and that + characters have 7 bits; this is a a major irritant to people who + want to use a character set suited to their own languages. + Perversely, though, efforts to solve this problem by proliferating + `national' character sets produce an evolutionary pressure to use + a *smaller* subset common to all those in use. + +:ASCII art: /n./ The fine art of drawing diagrams using the + ASCII character set (mainly `|', `-', `/', `\', + and `+'). Also known as `character graphics' or `ASCII + graphics'; see also {boxology}. Here is a serious + example: + + o----)||(--+--|<----+ +---------o + D O + L )||( | | | C U + A I )||( +-->|-+ | +-\/\/-+--o - T + C N )||( | | | | P + E )||( +-->|-+--)---+--)|--+-o U + )||( | | | GND T + o----)||(--+--|<----+----------+ + + A power supply consisting of a full wave rectifier circuit + feeding a capacitor input filter circuit + + And here are some very silly examples: + + |\/\/\/| ____/| ___ |\_/| ___ + | | \ o.O| ACK! / \_ |` '| _/ \ + | | =(_)= THPHTH! / \/ \/ \ + | (o)(o) U / \ + C _) (__) \/\/\/\ _____ /\/\/\/ + | ,___| (oo) \/ \/ + | / \/-------\ U (__) + /____\ || | \ /---V `v'- oo ) + / \ ||---W|| * * |--| || |`. |_/\ + + //-o-\\ + ____---=======---____ + ====___\ /.. ..\ /___==== Klingons rule OK! + // ---\__O__/--- \\ + \_\ /_/ + + There is an important subgenre of ASCII art that puns on the + standard character names in the fashion of a rebus. + + +--------------------------------------------------------+ + | ^^^^^^^^^^^^ | + | ^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^ | + | ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ | + | ^^^^^^^ B ^^^^^^^^^ | + | ^^^^^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ | + +--------------------------------------------------------+ + " A Bee in the Carrot Patch " + + Within humorous ASCII art, there is for some reason an entire + flourishing subgenre of pictures of silly cows. Four of these are + reproduced in the silly examples above, here are three more: + + (__) (__) (__) + (\/) ($$) (**) + /-------\/ /-------\/ /-------\/ + / | 666 || / |=====|| / | || + * ||----|| * ||----|| * ||----|| + ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ + Satanic cow This cow is a Yuppie Cow in love + +Finally, here's a magnificent example of ASCII art depicting an +Edwardian train station in Dunedin, New Zealand: + + .-. + /___\ + |___| + |]_[| + / I \ + JL/ | \JL + .-. i () | () i .-. + |_| .^. /_\ LJ=======LJ /_\ .^. |_| + ._/___\._./___\_._._._._.L_J_/.-. .-.\_L_J._._._._._/___\._./___\._._._ + ., |-,-| ., L_J |_| [I] |_| L_J ., |-,-| ., ., + JL |-O-| JL L_J%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%L_J JL |-O-| JL JL + IIIIII_HH_'-'-'_HH_IIIIII|_|=======H=======|_|IIIIII_HH_'-'-'_HH_IIIIII_HH_ + -------[]-------[]-------[_]----\.=I=./----[_]-------[]-------[]--------[]- + _/\_ ||\\_I_//|| _/\_ [_] []_/_L_J_\_[] [_] _/\_ ||\\_I_//|| _/\_ ||\ + |__| ||=/_|_\=|| |__|_|_| _L_L_J_J_ |_|_|__| ||=/_|_\=|| |__| ||- + |__| |||__|__||| |__[___]__--__===__--__[___]__| |||__|__||| |__| ||| + IIIIIII[_]IIIII[_]IIIIIL___J__II__|_|__II__L___JIIIII[_]IIIII[_]IIIIIIII[_] + \_I_/ [_]\_I_/[_] \_I_[_]\II/[]\_\I/_/[]\II/[_]\_I_/ [_]\_I_/[_] \_I_/ [_] + ./ \.L_J/ \L_J./ L_JI I[]/ \[]I IL_J \.L_J/ \L_J./ \.L_J + | |L_J| |L_J| L_J| |[]| |[]| |L_J |L_J| |L_J| |L_J + |_____JL_JL___JL_JL____|-|| |[]| |[]| ||-|_____JL_JL___JL_JL_____JL_J + + There is a newsgroup, alt.ascii.art, devoted to this + genre; however, see also {warlording}. + +:ASCIIbetical order: /as'kee-be'-t*-kl or'dr/ /adj.,n./ Used + to indicate that data is sorted in ASCII collated order rather than + alphabetical order. This lexicon is sorted in something close to + ASCIIbetical order, but with case ignored and entries beginning + with non-alphabetic characters moved to the end. + +:atomic: /adj./ [from Gk. `atomos', indivisible] + 1. Indivisible; cannot be split up. For example, an instruction + may be said to do several things `atomically', i.e., all the + things are done immediately, and there is no chance of the + instruction being half-completed or of another being interspersed. + Used esp. to convey that an operation cannot be screwed up by + interrupts. "This routine locks the file and increments the + file's semaphore atomically." 2. [primarily techspeak] Guaranteed + to complete successfully or not at all, usu. refers to database + transactions. If an error prevents a partially-performed + transaction from proceeding to completion, it must be "backed out," + as the database must not be left in an inconsistent state. + + Computer usage, in either of the above senses, has none of the + connotations that `atomic' has in mainstream English (i.e. of + particles of matter, nuclear explosions etc.). + +:attoparsec: /n./ About an inch. `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} equals about 1 inch/sec). This unit + is reported to be in use (though probably not very seriously) among + hackers in the U.K. See {micro-}. + +:autobogotiphobia: /aw'toh-boh-got`*-foh'bee-*/ /n./ See + {bogotify}. + +:automagically: /aw-toh-maj'i-klee/ /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 to you. See {magic}. "The + C-INTERCAL compiler generates C, then automagically invokes + `cc(1)' to produce an executable." + + This term is quite old, going back at least to the mid-70s and + probably much earlier. The word `automagic' occurred in +advertising + (for a shirt-ironing gadget) as far back as the late 1940s. + +:avatar: /n./ Syn. 1. Among people working on virtual reality + and {cyberspace} interfaces, an "avatar" is an icon or + representation of a user in a shared virtual reality. The term is + sometimes used on {MUD}s. 2. [CMU, Tektronix] {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', and was propagated through an ex-CMU hacker at + Tektronix. + +:awk: /awk/ 1. /n./ [Unix techspeak] An interpreted language + for massaging text data developed by Alfred Aho, Peter Weinberger, + and Brian Kernighan (the name derives from their initials). It is + characterized by C-like syntax, a declaration-free approach to + variable typing and declarations, 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 data using `awk(1)'. + += B = +===== + +:back door: /n./ A hole in the security of a system + deliberately left in place by designers or maintainers. The + motivation for such holes is not always sinister; some operating + systems, for example, come out of the box with privileged accounts + intended for use by field service technicians or the vendor's + maintenance programmers. Syn. {trap door}; may also be called a + `wormhole'. See also {iron box}, {cracker}, {worm}, + {logic bomb}. + + Historically, back doors have often lurked in systems longer than + anyone expected or planned, and a few have become widely known. + Ken Thompson's 1983 Turing Award lecture to the ACM admitted the + existence of a back door in early Unix versions that may have + qualified as the most fiendishly clever security hack of all time. + In this scheme, the C compiler contained code that would recognize + when the `login' command was being recompiled and 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 compiler and recompiling the compiler. But to + 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 recompiled + `login' the code to allow Thompson 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; the hack perpetuated itself + invisibly, leaving the back door in place and active but with no + trace in the sources. + + The talk that suggested this truly moby hack was published as + "Reflections on Trusting Trust", "Communications of the ACM + 27", 8 (August 1984), pp. 761--763 (text available at + http://www.acm.org/classics). Ken Thompson has since + confirmed that this hack was implemented and that the Trojan Horse + code did appear in the login binary of a Unix Support group + machine. Ken says the crocked compiler was never distributed. + Your editor has heard two separate reports that suggest that the + crocked login did make it out of Bell Labs, notably to BBN, and + that it enabled at least one late-night login across the network by + someone using the login name `kt'. + +:backbone cabal: /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: /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 1993, when this sense of + the term was beginning to pass out of general use due to wide + availability of cheap Internet connections, included uunet and + the mail machines at Rutgers University, UC Berkeley, {DEC}'s + Western Research Laboratories, Ohio State University, and the + University of Texas. Compare {rib site}, {leaf site}. + + [1996 update: This term is seldom heard any more. The UUCP network + world that gave it meaning has nearly disappeared; everyone is on + the Internet now and network traffic is distributed in very + different patterns. --ESR] + +:backgammon:: See {bignum} (sense 3), {moby} (sense 4), + and {pseudoprime}. + +:background: /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 + list of nodes and links; I'm working on the 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 activity). Some people prefer to use the term for 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 background is detached from the + terminal where it 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: /interj./ Whoa! Back up. Used to + suggest that someone just said or did something wrong. Common + among APL programmers. + +:backward combatability: /bak'w*rd k*m-bat'*-bil'*-tee/ /n./ + [CMU, Tektronix: from `backward compatibility'] A property of + hardware or software revisions in which previous protocols, + formats, layouts, etc. are irrevocably discarded in favor of `new + and improved' protocols, formats, and layouts, leaving the previous + ones not merely deprecated but actively defeated. (Too often, the + old and new versions cannot definitively be distinguished, such + that lingering instances of the previous ones yield crashes or + other infelicitous effects, as opposed to a simple "version + mismatch" message.) A backwards compatible change, on the other + hand, allows old versions to coexist without crashes or error + messages, but too many major changes incorporating elaborate + backwards compatibility processing can lead to extreme {software + bloat}. See also {flag day}. + +:BAD: /B-A-D/ /adj./ [IBM: acronym, `Broken As Designed'] + Said of a program that is {bogus} because of bad design and + misfeatures rather than because of bugginess. See {working as + designed}. + +:Bad Thing: /n./ [from the 1930 Sellar & Yeatman parody "1066 + And All That"] 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 couriers would + be a Bad Thing". Oppose {Good 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 Things. This has apparently created a mainstream + idiom on the British side of the pond. + +:bag on the side: /n./ [prob. originally related to a + colostomy bag] 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 is ugly, + inelegant, or bloated. Also /v./ 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: /bag'bi:t-*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 person who has + caused you some trouble, inadvertently or otherwise, typically by + failing to program the computer properly. Synonyms: {loser}, + {cretin}, {chomper}. 3. `bite the bag' /vi./ To fail in some + manner. "The computer keeps crashing every five minutes." + "Yes, the disk controller is really biting the bag." The + original loading of these terms was almost undoubtedly obscene, + possibly referring to the scrotum, but in their current usage they + have become almost completely sanitized. + + ITS's `lexiphage' program was the first and to date only known + example of a program *intended* to be a bagbiter. + +:bagbiting: /adj./ Having the quality of a {bagbiter}. + "This bagbiting system won't let me compute the factorial of a + negative number." Compare {losing}, {cretinous}, + {bletcherous}, `barfucious' (under {barfulous}) and + `chomping' (under {chomp}). + +:balloonian variable: /n./ [Commodore users; perh. a deliberate + phonetic mangling of `boolean variable'?] Any variable that + doesn't actually hold or control state, but must nevertheless be + declared, checked, or set. A typical balloonian variable started + out as a flag attached to some environment feature that either + became obsolete or was planned but never implemented. + Compatibility concerns (or politics attached to same) may require + that such a flag be treated as though it were {live}. + +:bamf: /bamf/ 1. [from X-Men comics; originally "bampf"] + /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 dramatic entrance or exit. 2. The sound of magical + transformation, used in virtual reality {fora} like MUDs. 3. In + MUD circles, "bamf" is also used to refer to the act by which a + MUD server sends a special notification to the MUD client to switch + its connection to another server ("I'll set up the old site to + just bamf people over to our new location."). 4. Used by MUDders + on occasion in a more general sense related to sense 3, to refer to + directing someone to another location or resource ("A user was + asking about some technobabble so I bamfed them to + http://www.ccil.org/jargon/jargon.html.") + +:banana label: /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: /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 problem' of an algorithm with poorly 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 describes a banana problem in a {Dissociated + Press} implementation. Also, see {one-banana problem} for a + superficially similar but unrelated usage. + +: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, but I missed some of the detail -- not enough + 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: 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}; + but the spread of Unix has carried `bang' with 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 purposes), but if one wanted + to specify the 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 + that one has perpetrated a {thinko} immediately after one has + been called on it. + +:bang on: /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 for release." The + term {pound on} is synonymous. + +:bang path: /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!barbox!me directs people to route their mail + 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 + became commonplace, people often published 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, ihnp4}!rice!beta!gamma!me). Bang paths + of 8 to 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 {{Internet address}}, + {network, the}, and {sitename}. + +:banner: /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 burst + (tear apart) fanfold paper to separate 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 screen containing a logo and/or author credits and/or a + copyright notice. + +:bar: /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: /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 bashing} + needed to create these basic tools 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 + compiler back ends that will give the new machine a 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 optimization that rely on crocks such as + overlapping instructions (or, as in the famous case described in + {The Story of Mel, a Real Programmer} (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 as the relative costs of programming time and + machine resources have changed, but is still found in heavily + constrained environments such as industrial embedded systems, and + in the code of hackers who just can't let go of that low-level + control. See {Real Programmer}. + + In the world of personal computing, bare metal programming + (especially in sense 1 but sometimes also in sense 2) is often + considered a {Good Thing}, or at least a necessary evil + (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 BIOS or OS + interface and writing the 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 well are held in high regard. + +:barf: /barf/ /n.,v./ [from mainstream slang meaning `vomit'] + 1. /interj./ Term of disgust. This is the closest hackish + equivalent of the Valspeak "gag me with a spoon". (Like, euwww!) + See {bletch}. 2. /vi./ To say "Barf!" or emit some similar + expression of disgust. "I showed him my latest 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, perhaps with a suitable error message, perhaps + not. Examples: "The division operation barfs if you try to divide + by 0." (That is, the division 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 + out the old one." See {choke}, {gag}. In Commonwealth + Hackish, `barf' is generally replaced by `puke' or `vom'. + {barf} is sometimes also used as a {metasyntactic variable}, + like {foo} or {bar}. + +:barfmail: /n./ Multiple {bounce message}s accumulating to + the level of serious annoyance, or worse. The sort of thing that + happens when an inter-network mail gateway goes down or wonky. + +:barfulation: /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: /bar'fyoo-l*s/ /adj./ (alt. `barfucious', + /bar-fyoo-sh*s/) Said of something that would make anyone + barf, if only for esthetic reasons. + +:barney: /n./ In Commonwealth hackish, `barney' is to + {fred} (sense #1) as {bar} is to {foo}. That is, people + who commonly use `fred' as their first metasyntactic variable + will often use `barney' second. The reference is, of course, to + Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble in the Flintstones cartoons. + +:baroque: /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. "Metafont even + has features to introduce random variations to its letterform + output. Now *that* is baroque!" See also {rococo}. + +:BASIC: /bay'-sic/ /n./ [acronym: Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic + Instruction Code] 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. Edsger W. Dijkstra observed in "Selected + Writings on Computing: A Personal Perspective" that "It is + practically impossible to teach good programming style to students + that have had prior exposure to BASIC: as potential programmers + they are mentally mutilated beyond hope of regeneration." This is + another case (like {Pascal}) of the cascading lossage that + happens when a language 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 + (a) is very painful, and (b) encourages bad habits that will make + it harder to use more powerful languages well. 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. + + [1995: Some languages called `BASIC' aren't quite this nasty any + more, having acquired Pascal- and C-like procedures and control + structures and shed their line numbers. --ESR] + +:batch: /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 are often referred to + as `batch mode' 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 for all + those bills; I guess they'll turn the electricity back on next + week..." 3. `batching up': 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 center." + +:bathtub curve: /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 system's + lifetime, then rising again as it `tires out'. See also + {burn-in period}, {infant mortality}. + +:baud: /bawd/ /n./ [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 with + no framing or stop bits. Most hackers are aware of these nuances + but blithely ignore them. + + Historical note: `baud' was originally a unit of telegraph + signalling speed, set at one pulse per second. It was proposed at + the International Telegraph Conference of 1927, and named after + J.M.E. Baudot (1845--1903), the French engineer who constructed + the first successful teleprinter. + +:baud barf: /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 disrupts + the connection. Baud barf is not 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 identify particular speeds. + +:baz: /baz/ /n./ 1. The third {metasyntactic variable} + "Suppose we have three functions: FOO, BAR, and BAZ. FOO calls + BAR, which calls BAZ...." (See also {fum}) 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'. + + Earlier versions of this lexicon derived `baz' as a Stanford + corruption of {bar}. However, Pete Samson (compiler of the + {TMRC} lexicon) reports it was already current when he joined TMRC + in 1958. He says "It came from "Pogo". Albert the Alligator, + when vexed or outraged, would shout `Bazz Fazz!' or `Rowrbazzle!' + The club layout was said to model the (mythical) New England + counties of Rowrfolk and Bassex (Rowrbazzle mingled with + (Norfolk/Suffolk/Middlesex/Essex)." + +:bboard: /bee'bord/ /n./ [contraction of `bulletin board'] + 1. Any electronic bulletin board; esp. used of {BBS} systems + running on personal micros, less frequently of a Usenet + {newsgroup} (in fact, use of this term for a newsgroup generally + marks one either as a {newbie} fresh in from the 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 an old-fashioned, non-electronic cork-and-thumbtack memo board. + At CMU, 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, the better-read + bboards may be referred to by name alone, as in (at CMU) "Don't + post for-sale ads on general". + +:BBS: /B-B-S/ /n./ [abbreviation, `Bulletin Board System'] 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 BBS systems + are in operation throughout the 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 the low-rent district of the hacker culture, 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. See also {bboard}. + +:beam: /vt./ [from Star Trek Classic's "Beam me up, Scotty!"] + 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: /n./ [Mac users] See {command key}. + +:beep: /n.,v./ Syn. {feep}. This term is techspeak under + MS-DOS and OS/2, and seems to be generally preferred among micro + hobbyists. + +:beige toaster: /n./ A Macintosh. See {toaster}; compare + {Macintrash}, {maggotbox}. + +:bells and whistles: /n./ [by analogy with the toyboxes on theater + organs] 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. Distinguished from + {chrome}, which is intended 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: /n./ A standard elaborated form of + {bells and whistles}; typically said with a pronounced and + ironic accent on the `gongs'. + +:benchmark: [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 Gabriel LISP + benchmarks (see {gabriel}), the SPECmark suite, and LINPACK. + See also {machoflops}, {MIPS}, {smoke and mirrors}. + +:Berkeley Quality Software: /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, incomplete, + or incorrect documentation, has 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}. + + Note to British and Commonwealth readers: that's /berk'lee/, not + /bark'lee/ as in British Received Pronunciation. + +:berklix: /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'. + +:Berzerkeley: /b*r-zer'klee/ /n./ [from `berserk', via the + name of a now-deceased record label] Humorous distortion of + `Berkeley' used esp. to refer to the practices or products of the + {BSD} Unix hackers. See {software bloat}, + {Missed'em-five}, {Berkeley Quality Software}. + + Mainstream 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: /bay't*/, /be't*/ or (Commonwealth) /bee't*/ /n./ + 1. Mostly working, but still under test; usu. used with `in': `in + beta'. In the {Real World}, systems (hardware or software) + software often go through two stages of release testing: Alpha + (in-house) and Beta (out-house?). Beta releases are generally made + to a group of lucky (or unlucky) trusted customers. + 2. Anything that is new and experimental. "His girlfriend is in + beta" means that he is still testing for compatibility and + reserving judgment. 3. Flaky; dubious; suspect (since beta + software is notoriously buggy). + + Historical note: More formally, to beta-test is to test a + pre-release (potentially unreliable) version of a piece of software + by making it available to selected (or self-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 component test + phase; `Beta Test' was initial 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 the engineering model functioned as specified. + The C-test (corresponding to today's beta) was the B-test performed + on early samples of the production design. + +:BFI: /B-F-I/ /n./ See {brute force and ignorance}. Also + encountered in the variants `BFMI', `brute force and + *massive* ignorance' and `BFBI' `brute force and bloody + ignorance'. + +:bible: /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: /n./ The act said to have been performed on + trademarks (such as {PostScript}, NeXT, {NeWS}, VisiCalc, + FrameMaker, TK!solver, EasyWriter) that have been raised above the + ruck of common coinage by nonstandard capitalization. Too many + {marketroid} types think this sort of thing is really cute, even + the 2,317th time they do it. Compare {studlycaps}. + +:B1FF: /bif/ [Usenet] (alt. `BIFF') /n./ The most famous + {pseudo}, and the prototypical {newbie}. Articles from B1FF + feature all uppercase letters sprinkled liberally with bangs, + typos, `cute' misspellings (EVRY BUDY LUVS GOOD OLD BIFF CUZ + HE"S A K00L DOOD AN HE RITES REEL AWESUM THINGZ 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 naivete. B1FF posts articles using his + elder brother's VIC-20. B1FF's location is a mystery, as his + articles appear to come from a variety of sites. However, + {BITNET} seems to be the most frequent origin. The theory that + B1FF is a denizen of BITNET is supported by B1FF's (unfortunately + invalid) electronic mail address: B1FF@BIT.NET. + + [1993: Now It Can Be Told! My spies inform me that B1FF was + originally created by Joe Talmadge <jat@cup.hp.com>, also the + author of the infamous and much-plagiarized "Flamer's Bible". + The BIFF filter he wrote was later passed to Richard Sexton, who + posted BIFFisms much more widely. Versions have since been posted + for the amusement of the net at large. --ESR] + +:biff: /bif/ /vt./ To notify someone of incoming mail. From + the BSD utility `biff(1)', which was in turn named after a + friendly golden Labrador who used to chase frisbees in the halls at + UCB while 4.2BSD was in development. There was a legend that it + had a habit of barking whenever the mailman came, but the author of + `biff' says this is not true. No relation to {B1FF}. + +:Big Gray Wall: /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, multivendor + networking, and programming tools. 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}. Often contracted to `Gray Wall'. + +:big iron: /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 {dinosaur}. + +:Big Red Switch: /n./ [IBM] 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 Red + Switch." Sources at IBM report that, in tune with the company's + passion for {TLA}s, this is often abbreviated 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 actually fired a non-conducting bolt into the main power + feed; the BRSes on more recent mainframes 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 {power cycle}, {three-finger + salute}, {120 reset}; see also {scram switch}. + +:Big Room, the: /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 phone + right now, he's somewhere out in the Big Room." + +:big win: /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: /adj./ [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] 1. Describes a + computer architecture in which, within a given multi-byte numeric + representation, the most significant byte 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 late 1995, are big-endian. Big-endian byte order is + also sometimes called `network order'. See {little-endian}, + {middle-endian}, {NUXI problem}, {swab}. 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. In the U.K. the Joint Networking Team had decided to do + it the other way round before the Internet domain standard was + established. Most gateway sites have {ad-hockery} in their + mailers to handle this, but can still be confused. In particular, + the address me@uk.ac.bris.pys.as could be interpreted in + JANET's big-endian way as one in the U.K. (domain uk) or in the + standard little-endian way as one in the domain as (American + Samoa) on the opposite side of the world. + +:bignum: /big'nuhm/ /n./ [orig. from MIT MacLISP] + 1. [techspeak] A multiple-precision computer representation for + very large integers. 2. More generally, any very large number. + "Have you ever looked at the United States Budget? There's + bignums for you!" 3. [Stanford] In backgammon, large numbers on + the dice 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 data called `integer', but such computer + integers are usually very limited in size; usually they must be + smaller than than 2^(31) (2,147,483,648) or (on a + {bitty box}) 2^(15) (32,768). If you want to work + with numbers larger than that, you have to use floating-point + numbers, which are usually accurate to only 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). For example, this value for 1000! was computed by the + MacLISP system using bignums: + + 40238726007709377354370243392300398571937486421071 + 46325437999104299385123986290205920442084869694048 + 00479988610197196058631666872994808558901323829669 + 94459099742450408707375991882362772718873251977950 + 59509952761208749754624970436014182780946464962910 + 56393887437886487337119181045825783647849977012476 + 63288983595573543251318532395846307555740911426241 + 74743493475534286465766116677973966688202912073791 + 43853719588249808126867838374559731746136085379534 + 52422158659320192809087829730843139284440328123155 + 86110369768013573042161687476096758713483120254785 + 89320767169132448426236131412508780208000261683151 + 02734182797770478463586817016436502415369139828126 + 48102130927612448963599287051149649754199093422215 + 66832572080821333186116811553615836546984046708975 + 60290095053761647584772842188967964624494516076535 + 34081989013854424879849599533191017233555566021394 + 50399736280750137837615307127761926849034352625200 + 01588853514733161170210396817592151090778801939317 + 81141945452572238655414610628921879602238389714760 + 88506276862967146674697562911234082439208160153780 + 88989396451826324367161676217916890977991190375403 + 12746222899880051954444142820121873617459926429565 + 81746628302955570299024324153181617210465832036786 + 90611726015878352075151628422554026517048330422614 + 39742869330616908979684825901254583271682264580665 + 26769958652682272807075781391858178889652208164348 + 34482599326604336766017699961283186078838615027946 + 59551311565520360939881806121385586003014356945272 + 24206344631797460594682573103790084024432438465657 + 24501440282188525247093519062092902313649327349756 + 55139587205596542287497740114133469627154228458623 + 77387538230483865688976461927383814900140767310446 + 64025989949022222176590433990188601856652648506179 + 97023561938970178600408118897299183110211712298459 + 01641921068884387121855646124960798722908519296819 + 37238864261483965738229112312502418664935314397013 + 74285319266498753372189406942814341185201580141233 + 44828015051399694290153483077644569099073152433278 + 28826986460278986432113908350621709500259738986355 + 42771967428222487575867657523442202075736305694988 + 25087968928162753848863396909959826280956121450994 + 87170124451646126037902930912088908694202851064018 + 21543994571568059418727489980942547421735824010636 + 77404595741785160829230135358081840096996372524230 + 56085590370062427124341690900415369010593398383577 + 79394109700277534720000000000000000000000000000000 + 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 + 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 + 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 + 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 + 000000000000000000. + +:bigot: /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', + `Berkeley bigot'. Real bigots can be 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 truly said "You + can tell a bigot, but you can't tell him much." Compare + {weenie}. + +:bit: /n./ [from the mainstream meaning and `Binary digIT'] + 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 computational quantity that + can take on one of two 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 + generally, a (possibly incorrect) mental state 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.") + + "I just need one bit from you" is a polite 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 speaks of + setting and clearing bits. To {toggle} or `invert' a bit is + to change it, either from 0 to 1 or from 1 to 0. See also + {flag}, {trit}, {mode bit}. + + The term `bit' first appeared in print in the computer-science + sense in 1949, and seems to have been coined by early computer + scientist John Tukey. Tukey records that it evolved over a lunch + table as a handier alternative to `bigit' or `binit'. + +:bit bang: /n./ Transmission of data on a serial line, when + accomplished by rapidly tweaking a single output bit, in software, + at the appropriate times. The technique is a simple loop with + eight OUT and SHIFT instruction pairs for each byte. Input is more + interesting. And full duplex (doing input 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 a Zilog PIO but no SIO. In an interesting instance of the + {cycle of reincarnation}, this technique returned to use in the + early 1990s on some RISC architectures because it consumes such + an infinitesimal part of the processor that it actually makes sense + not to have a UART. Compare {cycle of reincarnation}. + +:bit bashing: /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; + these include low-level device control, 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 (more usually the former). "The command 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: /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 bucket'. On + {{Unix}}, often used for {/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 likely + to end up in the bit bucket than junk 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 + unwanted mail responses: "Flames about this 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 landed in the + bit bucket." Compare {black hole}. + + This term is used purely 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 + hackers also report that trainees used to be 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 of 1 bits that go to the bit + bucket must 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: /n./ See {bit rot}. People with a physics + background tend to prefer this variant for the analogy with + particle decay. See also {computron}, {quantum + bogodynamics}. + +:bit rot: /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 + theory explains that bits decay as if they 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 radionuclides in ceramic chip + packages, for example, can 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 + for them). The notion long favored among 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: /n./ 1. (pejorative) An exercise in tuning (see + {tune}) in which incredible amounts of time and effort go to + produce little noticeable improvement, often with the result that + the code becomes incomprehensible. 2. Aimless small modification + to a program, esp. for some pointless 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: /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 device (see + {EOU}), so the only way to 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 pressed. In + order to avoid making the thing 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. + + Looking at the ASCII chart, we find: + + high low bits + bits 0000 0001 0010 0011 0100 0101 0110 0111 1000 1001 + 010 ! " # $ % & ' ( ) + 011 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + + This is why the characters !"#$%&'() appear where they do on a + Teletype (thankfully, they didn't use shift-0 for space). This 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 electronic terminals became popular, in the early 1970s, 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 look like an office typewriter. These 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, + there was little pressure from the pioneering 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 were expected to use + the equipment. The `typewriter-paired' standard became universal, + `bit-paired' hardware was quickly junked or relegated to dusty + corners, and both terms passed into disuse. + +:bitblt: /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 (the + requirement to do the {Right Thing} in 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: /bit'net/ /n./ [acronym: Because It's Time NETwork] + 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 communicate + using 80-character {{EBCDIC}} card 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 was also notorious as the + apparent home of {B1FF}. + +:bits: /pl.n./ 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 have only a photocopy of the Jargon File; does anyone + know where I can get the bits?". See {softcopy}, {source of + all good bits} See also {bit}. + +:bitty box: /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 on or for it. + Especially used of small, obsolescent, single-tasking-only personal + machines such as the Atari 800, Osborne, 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: /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: /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 beginnings) + considered classic examples of black 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 technologies during the last twenty years has made + both the term `black art' and what it describes less common than + formerly. See also {voodoo programming}. + +:black hole: /n./ What a piece of email or netnews has fallen + into if it disappears mysteriously between its origin and + destination sites (that is, without returning a {bounce + message}). "I think there's a black hole at foovax!" conveys + suspicion that 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: /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). + +:Black Screen of Death: n. [prob. related to the + Floating Head of Death in a famous "Far Side" cartoon.] A + failure mode of {Microsloth Windows}. On an attempt to launch a + DOS box, a networked Windows system not uncommonly blanks the + screen and locks up the PC so hard that it requires a cold + {boot} to recover. This unhappy phenomenon is known as The Black + Screen of Death. + +:Black Thursday: n. February 8th, 1996 -- the day of the + signing into law of the {CDA}, so called by analogy with the + catastrophic "Black Friday" in 1929 that began the Great + Depression. + +:blammo: /v./ [Oxford Brookes University and alumni, UK] To + forcibly remove someone from any interactive system, especially + talker systems. The operators, who may remain hidden, may `blammo' + a user who is misbehaving. Very similar to MIT {gun}; in fact, + the `blammo-gun' is a notional device used to `blammo' someone. + While in actual fact the only incarnation of the blammo-gun is the + command used to forcibly eject a user, operators speak of different + levels of blammo-gun fire; e.g., a blammo-gun to `stun' will + temporarily remove someone, but a blammo-gun set to `maim' will + stop someone coming back on for a while. + +:blargh: /blarg/ /n./ [MIT] The opposite of {ping}, sense + 5; an exclamation indicating that one has absorbed or is emitting a + quantum of unhappiness. Less common than {ping}. + +:blast: 1. /v.,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 the + message `Unable to kill all processes. Blast them (y/n)?' + would appear in the command window upon logout. + +:blat: /n./ 1. Syn. {blast}, sense 1. 2. See {thud}. + +:bletch: /blech/ /interj./ [from Yiddish/German `brechen', to + vomit, poss. via comic-strip exclamation `blech'] Term + of disgust. Often used in "Ugh, bletch". Compare {barf}. + +:bletcherous: /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}, + {cretinous}, {bagbiting}, {bogus}, and {random}. 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 {random}, which + have richer and wider shades of meaning than any of the above. + +:blink: /vi.,n./ To use a navigator or off-line message reader + to minimize time spent on-line to a commercial network service. + As of late 1994, this term was said to be in wide use in the UK, + but is rare or unknown in the US. + +:blinkenlights: /blink'*n-li:tz/ /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 in the + English-speaking world. One version ran in its entirety as + follows: + + ACHTUNG! ALLES LOOKENSPEEPERS! Das + computermachine ist nicht fuer gefingerpoken und mittengrabben. + Ist easy schnappen der springenwerk, blowenfusen und poppencorken + mit spitzensparken. Ist nicht fuer gewerken 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 + University and had already gone international by the 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-is-fair-play, German hackers + have developed 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. + Fingergrabbing and pressing the cnoeppkes from the 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 + anderswhere! Also: please keep still and only watchen + astaunished the blinkenlights. + + See also {geef}. + + Old-time hackers sometimes get nostalgic for blinkenlights because + they were so much more fun to look at than a blank panel. Sadly, + very few computers still have them (the three LEDs on a PC keyboard + certainly don't count). The obvious reasons (cost of wiring, cost + of front-panel cutouts, almost nobody needs or wants to interpret + machine-register states on the fly anymore) are only part of the + story. Another part of it is that radio-frequency leakage from the + lamp wiring was beginning to be a problem as far back as transistor + machines. But the most fundamental fact is that there are very few + signals slow enough to blink an LED these days! With slow CPUs, + you could watch the bus register or instruction counter tick, but + at 33/66/150MHz it's all a blur. + +:blit: /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 table and copies + the good parts up into high 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. Sometimes + all-capitalized as `BLIT': an early experimental bit-mapped + terminal designed by Rob Pike at Bell Labs, later commercialized as + the AT&T 5620. (The folk etymology from `Bell Labs Intelligent + Terminal' is incorrect. Its creators liked to claim that "Blit" + stood for the Bacon, Lettuce, and Interactive Tomato.) + +:blitter: /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 sine 1990 the trend is away from + them (however, see {cycle of reincarnation}). Syn. {raster + blaster}. + +:blivet: /bliv'*t/ /n./ [allegedly from a World War II + military term meaning "ten pounds of manure in a five-pound bag"] + 1. An intractable problem. 2. A crucial piece of hardware that + can't be fixed or replaced if it breaks. 3. A tool that has been + hacked over by so many incompetent 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. 6. In the subjargon of computer security + specialists, a denial-of-service attack performed by hogging + limited resources that have no access controls (for example, shared + spool space on a multi-user system). + + This term has other meanings in other technical cultures; among + experimental physicists and 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 + appears to depict a three-dimensional object until one realizes + that the parts fit together in an impossible way. + +:BLOB: 1. /n./ [acronym: Binary Large OBject] Used by database + people to refer to any random large block of bits that needs to be + stored in a database, such as a picture or sound file. The + essential point about a BLOB is that it's an object that cannot be + interpreted within the database itself. 2. /v./ To {mailbomb} + someone by sending a BLOB to him/her; esp. used as a mild threat. + "If that program crashes again, I'm going to BLOB the core dump to + you." + +:block: /v./ [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). "Lunch is + blocked on Phil's arrival." + +:block transfer computations: /n./ [from the television series + "Dr. Who"] 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 an algorithm in theory, but isn't. + (The Z80's LDIR instruction, "Computed Block Transfer with + increment", may also be relevant) + +:Bloggs Family, the: /n./ An imaginary family consisting of + Fred and Mary Bloggs and their children. Used as a standard + example in knowledge representation to show the difference between + extensional and intensional objects. For example, every occurrence + of "Fred Bloggs" is the same unique person, whereas occurrences + of "person" may refer to different people. Members of the Bloggs + family have been known to pop up in bizarre places such as the DEC + Telephone Directory. Compare {Mbogo, Dr. Fred}. + +:blow an EPROM: /bloh *n ee'prom/ /v./ (alt. `blast an + EPROM', `burn an EPROM') To program a read-only memory, e.g. + for use with an embedded system. This term arose because the + programming process for the Programmable Read-Only Memories (PROMs) + that preceded present-day Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memories + (EPROMs) involved intentionally blowing tiny electrical fuses on + the chip. The usage lives on (it's too vivid and expressive to + discard) even though the write process on EPROMs is nondestructive. + +:blow away: /vt./ To remove (files and directories) from + permanent storage, generally by accident. "He reformatted the + wrong partition and blew away last night's netnews." Oppose + {nuke}. + +:blow out: /vi./ [prob. from mining and tunneling jargon] Of + software, to fail spectacularly; almost as serious as {crash and + burn}. See {blow past}, {blow up}, {die horribly}. + +:blow past: /vt./ To {blow out} despite a safeguard. "The + server blew past the 5K reserve buffer." + +:blow up: /vi./ 1. [scientific computation] To become unstable. + Suggests that the computation is diverging so rapidly that it will + soon overflow or at least go {nonlinear}. 2. Syn. {blow + out}. + +:BLT: /B-L-T/, /bl*t/ or (rarely) /belt/ /n.,vt./ Synonym + for {blit}. This is the original form of {blit} and the + ancestor of {bitblt}. It referred to any large bit-field copy + or move operation (one resource-intensive memory-shuffling + operation done on pre-paged versions of ITS, WAITS, and TOPS-10 was + sardonically referred to as `The Big BLT'). The jargon usage has + outlasted the {PDP-10} BLock Transfer instruction from which + {BLT} derives; nowadays, the assembler mnemonic {BLT} almost + always means `Branch if Less Than zero'. + +:Blue Book: /n./ 1. Informal name for one of the three standard + references on the page-layout and graphics-control language + {{PostScript}} ("PostScript Language Tutorial and Cookbook", + Adobe Systems, Addison-Wesley 1985, QA76.73.P67P68, ISBN + 0-201-10179-3); the other three official guides are known as the + {Green Book}, the {Red Book}, and the {White Book} (sense + 2). 2. Informal name for one of the three standard references on + Smalltalk: "Smalltalk-80: The Language and its + Implementation", David Robson, Addison-Wesley 1983, QA76.8.S635G64, + ISBN 0-201-11371-63 (this book also has green and red siblings). + 3. Any of the 1988 standards issued by the CCITT's ninth plenary + assembly. These include, among other things, the X.400 email spec + and the Group 1 through 4 fax standards. See also {{book + titles}}. + +:blue box: /n./ 1. obs. Once upon a time, before + all-digital switches made it possible for the phone companies to + move them out of band, one could actually hear the switching tones + used to route long-distance calls. Early {phreaker}s built + devices called `blue boxes' that could reproduce these tones, + which could be used to commandeer portions of the phone network. + (This was not as hard as it may sound; one early phreak acquired + the sobriquet `Captain Crunch' after he proved that he could + generate switching tones with a plastic whistle pulled out of a box + of Captain Crunch cereal!) There were other colors of box with more + specialized phreaking uses; red boxes, black boxes, silver boxes, + etc. 2. /n./ An {IBM} machine, especially a large (non-PC) + one. + +:Blue Glue: /n./ [IBM] IBM's SNA (Systems Network + Architecture), an incredibly {losing} and {bletcherous} + communications protocol widely favored at commercial shops that + don't know any better. The official IBM definition is "that which + binds blue boxes together." See {fear and loathing}. It may + not be irrelevant that {Blue Glue} is the trade name of a 3M + product that is commonly used to hold down the carpet squares to + the removable panel floors common in {dinosaur pen}s. A + correspondent at U. Minn. reports that the CS department there has + about 80 bottles of the stuff hanging about, so they often refer to + any messy work to be done as `using the blue glue'. + +:blue goo: /n./ Term for `police' {nanobot}s intended to + prevent {gray goo}, denature hazardous waste, destroy pollution, + put ozone back into the stratosphere, prevent halitosis, and + promote truth, justice, and the American way, etc. The term + `Blue Goo' can be found in Dr. Seuss's "Fox In Socks" to + refer to a substance much like bubblegum. `Would you like to + chew blue goo, sir?'. See {{nanotechnology}}. + +:blue wire: /n./ [IBM] Patch wires added to circuit boards at + the factory to correct design or fabrication problems. These may + be necessary if there hasn't been time to design and qualify + another board version. Compare {purple wire}, {red wire}, + {yellow wire}. + +:blurgle: /bler'gl/ /n./ [UK] Spoken {metasyntactic + variable}, to indicate some text that is obvious from context, or + which is already known. If several words are to be replaced, + blurgle may well be doubled or tripled. "To look for something in + several files use `grep string blurgle blurgle'." In each case, + "blurgle blurgle" would be understood to be replaced by the file + you wished to search. Compare {mumble}, sense 7. + +:BNF: /B-N-F/ /n./ 1. [techspeak] Acronym for `Backus-Naur + Form', a metasyntactic notation used to specify the syntax of + programming languages, command sets, and the like. Widely used for + language descriptions but seldom documented anywhere, so that it + must usually be learned by osmosis from other hackers. Consider + this BNF for a U.S. postal address: + + <postal-address> ::= <name-part> <street-address> <zip-part> + + <personal-part> ::= <name> | <initial> "." + + <name-part> ::= <personal-part> <last-name> [<jr-part>] <EOL> + | <personal-part> <name-part> + + <street-address> ::= [<apt>] <house-num> <street-name> <EOL> + + <zip-part> ::= <town-name> "," <state-code> <ZIP-code> <EOL> + + This translates into English as: "A postal-address consists of a + name-part, followed by a street-address part, followed by a + zip-code part. A personal-part consists of either a first name or + an initial followed by a dot. A name-part consists of either: a + personal-part followed by a last name followed by an optional + `jr-part' (Jr., Sr., or dynastic number) and end-of-line, or a + personal part followed by a name part (this rule illustrates the + use of recursion in BNFs, covering the case of people who use + multiple first and middle names and/or initials). A street address + consists of an optional apartment specifier, followed by a street + number, followed by a street name. A zip-part consists of a + town-name, followed by a comma, followed by a state code, followed + by a ZIP-code followed by an end-of-line." Note that many things + (such as the format of a personal-part, apartment specifier, or + ZIP-code) are left unspecified. These are presumed to be obvious + from context or detailed somewhere nearby. See also {parse}. + 2. Any of a number number of variants and extensions of BNF proper, + possibly containing some or all of the {regexp} wildcards such + as `*' or `+'. In fact the example above isn't the pure + form invented for the Algol-60 report; it uses `[]', which was + introduced a few years later in IBM's PL/I definition but is now + universally recognized. 3. In {{science-fiction fandom}}, a + `Big-Name Fan' (someone famous or notorious). Years ago a fan + started handing out black-on-green BNF buttons at SF conventions; + this confused the hacker contingent terribly. + +:boa: [IBM] /n./ Any one of the fat cables that lurk under the + floor in a {dinosaur pen}. Possibly so called because they + display a ferocious life of their own when you try to lay them + straight and flat after they have been coiled for some time. It is + rumored within IBM that channel cables for the 370 are limited to + 200 feet because beyond that length the boas get dangerous -- and + it is worth noting that one of the major cable makers uses the + trademark `Anaconda'. + +:board: /n./ 1. In-context synonym for {bboard}; sometimes + used even for Usenet newsgroups (but see usage note under + {bboard}, sense 1). 2. An electronic circuit board. + +:boat anchor: /n./ 1. Like {doorstop} but more severe; + implies that the offending hardware is irreversibly dead or + useless. "That was a working motherboard once. One lightning + strike later, instant boat anchor!" 2. A person who just takes up + space. 3. Obsolete but still working hardware, especially + when used of an old S100-bus hobbyist system; originally a term of + annoyance, but became more and more affectionate as the hardware + became more and more obsolete. + +:bodysurf code: /n./ A program or segment of code written + quickly in the heat of inspiration without the benefit of formal + design or deep thought. Like its namesake sport, the result is + too often a wipeout that leaves the programmer eating sand. + +:BOF: /B-O-F/ or /bof/ /n./ Abbreviation for the phrase + "Birds Of a Feather" (flocking together), an informal discussion + group and/or bull session scheduled on a conference program. It is + not clear where or when this term originated, but it is now + associated with the USENIX conferences for Unix techies and was + already established there by 1984. It was used earlier than that + at DECUS conferences and is reported to have been common at SHARE + meetings as far back as the early 1960s. + +:BOFH: // /n./ Acronym, Bastard Operator From Hell. A system + administrator with absolutely no tolerance for {luser}s. "You + say you need more filespace? <massive-global-delete> Seems to me + you have plenty left..." Many BOFHs (and others who would be + BOFHs if they could get away with it) hang out in the newsgroup + alt.sysadmin.recovery, although there has also been created a + top-level newsgroup hierarchy (bofh.*) of their own. + + Several people have written stories about BOFHs. The set usually + considered canonical is by Simon Travaglia and may be found at the + Bastard Home Page, + http://prime-mover.cc.waikato.ac.nz/Bastard.html. + +:bogo-sort: /boh`goh-sort'/ /n./ (var. `stupid-sort') The + archetypical perversely awful algorithm (as opposed to {bubble + sort}, which is merely the generic *bad* algorithm). + Bogo-sort is equivalent to repeatedly throwing a deck of cards in + the air, picking them up at random, and then testing whether they + are in order. It serves as a sort of canonical example of + awfulness. Looking at a program and seeing a dumb algorithm, one + might say "Oh, I see, this program uses bogo-sort." Compare + {bogus}, {brute force}, {Lasherism}. + +:bogometer: /boh-gom'-*t-er/ /n./ A notional instrument for + measuring {bogosity}. Compare the `wankometer' described in + the {wank} entry; see also {bogus}. + +:bogon: /boh'gon/ /n./ [by analogy with + proton/electron/neutron, but doubtless reinforced after 1980 by the + similarity to Douglas Adams's `Vogons'; see the {Bibliography} + in Appendix C and note that Arthur Dent actually mispronounces + `Vogons' as `Bogons' at one point] 1. The elementary particle of + bogosity (see {quantum bogodynamics}). For instance, "the + Ethernet is emitting bogons again" means that it is broken or + acting in an erratic or bogus fashion. 2. A query packet sent from + a TCP/IP domain resolver to a root server, having the reply bit set + instead of the query bit. 3. Any bogus or incorrectly formed + packet sent on a network. 4. By synecdoche, used to refer to any + bogus thing, as in "I'd like to go to lunch with you but I've got + to go to the weekly staff bogon". 5. A person who is bogus or + who says bogus things. This was historically the original usage, + but has been overtaken by its derivative senses 1--4. See also + {bogosity}, {bogus}; compare {psyton}, {fat electrons}, + {magic smoke}. + + The bogon has become the type case for a whole bestiary of nonce + particle names, including the `clutron' or `cluon' (indivisible + particle of cluefulness, obviously the antiparticle of the bogon) + and the futon (elementary particle of {randomness}, or sometimes + of lameness). These are not so much live usages in themselves as + examples of a live meta-usage: that is, it has become a standard + joke or linguistic maneuver to "explain" otherwise mysterious + circumstances by inventing nonce particle names. And these imply + nonce particle theories, with all their dignity or lack thereof (we + might note parenthetically that this is a generalization from + "(bogus particle) theories" to "bogus (particle theories)"!). + Perhaps such particles are the modern-day equivalents of trolls and + wood-nymphs as standard starting-points around which to construct + explanatory myths. Of course, playing on an existing word (as in + the `futon') yields additional flavor. Compare {magic + smoke}. + +:bogon filter: /boh'gon fil'tr/ /n./ Any device, software or + hardware, that limits or suppresses the flow and/or emission of + bogons. "Engineering hacked a bogon filter between the Cray and + the VAXen, and now we're getting fewer dropped packets." See also + {bogosity}, {bogus}. + +:bogon flux: /boh'gon fluhks/ /n./ A measure of a supposed + field of {bogosity} emitted by a speaker, measured by a + {bogometer}; as a speaker starts to wander into increasing + bogosity a listener might say "Warning, warning, bogon flux is + rising". See {quantum bogodynamics}. + +:bogosity: /boh-go's*-tee/ /n./ 1. The degree to which + something is {bogus}. At CMU, bogosity is measured with a + {bogometer}; in a seminar, when a speaker says something bogus, + a listener might raise his hand and say "My bogometer just + triggered". More extremely, "You just pinned my bogometer" + means you just said or did something so outrageously bogus that it + is off the scale, pinning the bogometer needle at the highest + possible reading (one might also say "You just redlined my + bogometer"). The agreed-upon unit of bogosity is the + {microLenat}. 2. The potential field generated by a {bogon + flux}; see {quantum bogodynamics}. See also {bogon flux}, + {bogon filter}, {bogus}. + +:bogotify: /boh-go't*-fi:/ /vt./ To make or become bogus. A + program that has been changed so many times as to become completely + disorganized has become bogotified. If you tighten a nut too hard + and strip the threads on the bolt, the bolt has become bogotified + and you had better not use it any more. This coinage led to the + notional `autobogotiphobia' defined as `the fear of becoming + bogotified'; but is not clear that the latter has ever been + `live' jargon rather than a self-conscious joke in jargon about + jargon. See also {bogosity}, {bogus}. + +:bogue out: /bohg owt/ /vi./ To become bogus, suddenly and + unexpectedly. "His talk was relatively sane until somebody asked + him a trick question; then he bogued out and did nothing but + {flame} afterwards." See also {bogosity}, {bogus}. + +:bogus: /adj./ 1. Non-functional. "Your patches are bogus." + 2. Useless. "OPCON is a bogus program." 3. False. "Your + arguments are bogus." 4. Incorrect. "That algorithm is bogus." + 5. Unbelievable. "You claim to have solved the halting problem + for Turing Machines? That's totally bogus." 6. Silly. "Stop + writing those bogus sagas." + + Astrology is bogus. So is a bolt that is obviously about to break. + So is someone who makes blatantly false claims to have solved a + scientific problem. (This word seems to have some, but not all, of + the connotations of {random} -- mostly the negative ones.) + + It is claimed that `bogus' was originally used in the hackish sense + at Princeton in the late 1960s. It was spread to CMU and Yale by + Michael Shamos, a migratory Princeton alumnus. A glossary of bogus + words was compiled at Yale when the word was first popularized (see + {autobogotiphobia} under {bogotify}). The word spread into + hackerdom from CMU and MIT. By the early 1980s it was also + current in something like the hackish sense in West Coast teen + slang, and it had gone mainstream by 1985. A correspondent from + Cambridge reports, by contrast, that these uses of `bogus' grate on + British nerves; in Britain the word means, rather specifically, + `counterfeit', as in "a bogus 10-pound note". + +:Bohr bug: /bohr buhg/ /n./ [from quantum physics] A repeatable + {bug}; one that manifests reliably under a possibly unknown but + well-defined set of conditions. Antonym of {heisenbug}; see also + {mandelbug}, {schroedinbug}. + +:boink: /boynk/ [Usenet: variously ascribed to the TV + series "Cheers" "Moonlighting", and "Soap"] + 1. /v./ To have sex with; compare {bounce}, sense 3. (This is + mainstream slang.) In Commonwealth hackish the variant `bonk' is + more common. 2. /n./ After the original Peter Korn `Boinkon' + {Usenet} parties, used for almost any net social gathering, + e.g., Miniboink, a small boink held by Nancy Gillett in 1988; + Minniboink, a Boinkcon in Minnesota in 1989; Humpdayboinks, + Wednesday get-togethers held in the San Francisco Bay Area. + Compare {@-party}. 3. Var of `bonk'; see {bonk/oif}. + +:bomb: 1. /v./ General synonym for {crash} (sense 1) except + that it is not used as a noun; esp. used of software or OS + failures. "Don't run Empire with less than 32K stack, it'll + bomb." 2. /n.,v./ Atari ST and Macintosh equivalents of a Unix + `panic' or Amiga {guru} (sense 2), in which icons of little + black-powder bombs or mushroom clouds are displayed, indicating + that the system has died. On the Mac, this may be accompanied by a + decimal (or occasionally hexadecimal) number indicating what went + wrong, similar to the Amiga {guru meditation} number. + {{MS-DOS}} machines tend to get {locked up} in this situation. + +:bondage-and-discipline language: /n./ A language (such as + {{Pascal}}, {{Ada}}, APL, or Prolog) that, though ostensibly + general-purpose, is designed so as to enforce an author's theory of + `right programming' even though said theory is demonstrably + inadequate for systems hacking or even vanilla general-purpose + programming. Often abbreviated `B&D'; thus, one may speak of + things "having the B&D nature". See {{Pascal}}; oppose + {languages of choice}. + +:bonk/oif: /bonk/, /oyf/ /interj./ In the {MUD} + community, it has become traditional to express pique or censure by + `bonking' the offending person. Convention holds that one should + acknowledge a bonk by saying `oif!' and there is a myth to the + effect that failing to do so upsets the cosmic bonk/oif balance, + causing much trouble in the universe. Some MUDs have implemented + special commands for bonking and oifing. See also {talk mode}. + +:book titles:: There is a tradition in hackerdom of + informally tagging important textbooks and standards documents with + the dominant color of their covers or with some other conspicuous + feature of the cover. Many of these are described in this lexicon + under their own entries. See {Aluminum Book}, {Blue Book}, + {Camel Book}, {Cinderella Book}, {Devil Book}, {Dragon + Book}, {Green Book}, {Orange Book}, {Pink-Shirt Book}, + {Purple Book}, {Red Book}, {Silver Book}, {White Book}, + {Wizard Book}, {Yellow Book}, and {bible}; see also + {rainbow series}. Since about 1983 this tradition has gotten a + boost from the popular O'Reilly Associates line of technical books, + which usually feature some kind of exotic animal on the + cover. + +:boot: /v.,n./ [techspeak; from `by one's bootstraps'] To + load and initialize the operating system on a machine. This usage + is no longer jargon (having passed into techspeak) but has given + rise to some derivatives that are still jargon. + + The derivative `reboot' implies that the machine hasn't been down + for long, or that the boot is a {bounce} (sense 4) intended to + clear some state of {wedgitude}. This is sometimes used of + human thought processes, as in the following exchange: "You've + lost me." "OK, reboot. Here's the theory...." + + This term is also found in the variants `cold boot' (from + power-off condition) and `warm boot' (with the CPU and all + devices already powered up, as after a hardware reset or software + crash). + + Another variant: `soft boot', reinitialization of only part of a + system, under control of other software still running: "If + you're running the {mess-dos} emulator, control-alt-insert will + cause a soft-boot of the emulator, while leaving the rest of the + system running." + + Opposed to this there is `hard boot', which connotes hostility + towards or frustration with the machine being booted: "I'll have + to hard-boot this losing Sun." "I recommend booting it + hard." One often hard-boots by performing a {power cycle}. + + Historical note: this term derives from `bootstrap loader', a short + program that was read in from cards or paper tape, or toggled in + from the front panel switches. This program was always very short + (great efforts were expended on making it short in order to + minimize the labor and chance of error involved in toggling it in), + but was just smart enough to read in a slightly more complex + program (usually from a card or paper tape reader), to which it + handed control; this program in turn was smart enough to read the + application or operating system from a magnetic tape drive or disk + drive. Thus, in successive steps, the computer `pulled itself up + by its bootstraps' to a useful operating state. Nowadays the + bootstrap is usually found in ROM or EPROM, and reads the first + stage in from a fixed location on the disk, called the `boot + block'. When this program gains control, it is powerful enough to + load the actual OS and hand control over to it. + +:bottom feeder: /n./ Syn. for {slopsucker}, derived from the + fishermen's and naturalists' term for finny creatures who subsist + on the primordial ooze. + +:bottom-up implementation: /n./ Hackish opposite of the + techspeak term `top-down design'. It is now received wisdom in + most programming cultures that it is best to design from higher + levels of abstraction down to lower, specifying sequences of action + in increasing detail until you get to actual code. Hackers often + find (especially in exploratory designs that cannot be closely + specified in advance) that it works best to *build* things in + the opposite order, by writing and testing a clean set of primitive + operations and then knitting them together. + +:bounce: /v./ 1. [perhaps by analogy to a bouncing check] An + electronic mail message that is undeliverable and returns an error + notification to the sender is said to `bounce'. See also + {bounce message}. 2. [Stanford] To play volleyball. The + now-demolished {D. C. Power Lab} building used by the Stanford + AI Lab in the 1970s had a volleyball court on the front lawn. From + 5 P.M. to 7 P.M. was the scheduled maintenance time for the + computer, so every afternoon at 5 would come over the intercom the + cry: "Now hear this: bounce, bounce!", followed by Brian McCune + loudly bouncing a volleyball on the floor outside the offices of + known volleyballers. 3. To engage in sexual intercourse; prob. + from the expression `bouncing the mattress', but influenced by + Roo's psychosexually loaded "Try bouncing me, Tigger!" from the + "Winnie-the-Pooh" books. Compare {boink}. 4. To casually + reboot a system in order to clear up a transient problem. Reported + primarily among {VMS} users. 5. [VM/CMS programmers] + *Automatic* warm-start of a machine after an error. "I + logged on this morning and found it had bounced 7 times during the + night" 6. [IBM] To {power cycle} a peripheral in order to reset + it. + +:bounce message: /n./ [Unix] Notification message returned to sender + by a site unable to relay {email} to the intended {{Internet + address}} recipient or the next link in a {bang path} (see + {bounce}, sense 1). Reasons might include a nonexistent or + misspelled username or a {down} relay site. Bounce messages can + themselves fail, with occasionally ugly results; see {sorcerer's + apprentice mode} and {software laser}. The terms `bounce + mail' and `barfmail' are also common. + +:boustrophedon: /n./ [from a Greek word for turning like an ox + while plowing] An ancient method of writing using alternate + left-to-right and right-to-left lines. This term is actually + philologists' techspeak and typesetters' jargon. Erudite hackers + use it for an optimization performed by some computer typesetting + software and moving-head printers. The adverbial form + `boustrophedonically' is also found (hackers purely love + constructions like this). + +:box: /n./ 1. A computer; esp. in the construction `foo + box' where foo is some functional qualifier, like + `graphics', or the name of an OS (thus, `Unix box', `MS-DOS + box', etc.) "We preprocess the data on Unix boxes before handing + it up to the mainframe." 2. [IBM] Without qualification but + within an SNA-using site, this refers specifically to an IBM + front-end processor or FEP /F-E-P/. An FEP is a small computer + necessary to enable an IBM {mainframe} to communicate beyond the + limits of the {dinosaur pen}. Typically used in expressions + like the cry that goes up when an SNA network goes down: "Looks + like the {box} has fallen over." (See {fall over}.) See also + {IBM}, {fear and loathing}, {fepped out}, {Blue Glue}. + +:boxed comments: /n./ Comments (explanatory notes attached to + program instructions) that occupy several lines by themselves; so + called because in assembler and C code they are often surrounded by + a box in a style something like this: + + /************************************************* + * + * This is a boxed comment in C style + * + *************************************************/ + + Common variants of this style omit the asterisks in column 2 or add + a matching row of asterisks closing the right side of the box. The + sparest variant omits all but the comment delimiters themselves; + the `box' is implied. Oppose {winged comments}. + +:boxen: /bok'sn/ /pl.n./ [by analogy with {VAXen}] + Fanciful plural of {box} often encountered in the phrase `Unix + boxen', used to describe commodity {{Unix}} hardware. The + connotation is that any two Unix boxen are interchangeable. + +:boxology: /bok-sol'*-jee/ /n./ Syn. {ASCII art}. This + term implies a more restricted domain, that of box-and-arrow + drawings. "His report has a lot of boxology in it." Compare + {macrology}. + +:bozotic: /boh-zoh'tik/ or /boh-zo'tik/ /adj./ [from the name of + a TV clown even more losing than Ronald McDonald] Resembling + or having the quality of a bozo; that is, clownish, ludicrously + wrong, unintentionally humorous. Compare {wonky}, + {demented}. Note that the noun `bozo' occurs in slang, but + the mainstream adjectival form would be `bozo-like' or (in New + England) `bozoish'. + +:BQS: /B-Q-S/ /adj./ Syn. {Berkeley Quality Software}. + +:brain dump: /n./ The act of telling someone everything one + knows about a particular topic or project. Typically used when + someone is going to let a new party maintain a piece of code. + Conceptually analogous to an operating system {core dump} in + that it saves a lot of useful {state} before an exit. "You'll + have to give me a brain dump on FOOBAR before you start your new + job at HackerCorp." See {core dump} (sense 4). At Sun, this + is also known as `TOI' (transfer of information). + +:brain fart: /n./ The actual result of a {braino}, as + opposed to the mental glitch that is the braino itself. E.g., + typing `dir' on a Unix box after a session with DOS. + +:brain-damaged: /adj./ 1. [generalization of `Honeywell Brain + Damage' (HBD), a theoretical disease invented to explain certain + utter cretinisms in Honeywell {{Multics}}] /adj./ Obviously + wrong; {cretinous}; {demented}. There is an implication that + the person responsible must have suffered brain damage, because he + should have known better. Calling something brain-damaged is + really bad; it also implies it is unusable, and that its failure to + work is due to poor design rather than some accident. "Only six + monocase characters per file name? Now *that's* + brain-damaged!" 2. [esp. in the Mac world] May refer to free + demonstration software that has been deliberately crippled in some + way so as not to compete with the commercial product it is intended + to sell. Syn. {crippleware}. + +:brain-dead: /adj./ Brain-damaged in the extreme. It tends to + imply terminal design failure rather than malfunction or simple + stupidity. "This comm program doesn't know how to send a break + -- how brain-dead!" + +:braino: /bray'no/ /n./ Syn. for {thinko}. See also + {brain fart}. + +:branch to Fishkill: /n./ [IBM: from the location of one of the + corporation's facilities] Any unexpected jump in a program that + produces catastrophic or just plain weird results. See {jump + off into never-never land}, {hyperspace}. + +:bread crumbs: /n./ Debugging statements inserted into a + program that emit output or log indicators of the program's + {state} to a file so you can see where it dies or pin down the + cause of surprising behavior. The term is probably a reference to + the Hansel and Gretel story from the Brothers Grimm; in several + variants, a character leaves a trail of bread crumbs so as not to + get lost in the woods. + +:break: 1. /vt./ To cause to be {broken} (in any sense). + "Your latest patch to the editor broke the paragraph commands." + 2. /v./ (of a program) To stop temporarily, so that it may +debugged. + The place where it stops is a `breakpoint'. 3. [techspeak] + /vi./ To send an RS-232 break (two character widths of line high) + over a serial comm line. 4. [Unix] /vi./ To strike whatever key + currently causes the tty driver to send SIGINT to the current + process. Normally, break (sense 3), delete or {control-C} does + this. 5. `break break' may be said to interrupt a conversation + (this is an example of verb doubling). This usage comes from radio + communications, which in turn probably came from landline + telegraph/teleprinter usage, as badly abused in the Citizen's Band + craze a few years ago. + +:break-even point: /n./ In the process of implementing a new + computer language, the point at which the language is sufficiently + effective that one can implement the language in itself. That is, + for a new language called, hypothetically, FOOGOL, one has reached + break-even when one can write a demonstration compiler for FOOGOL + in FOOGOL, discard the original implementation language, and + thereafter use working versions of FOOGOL to develop newer ones. + This is an important milestone; see {MFTL}. + + Since this entry was first written, several correspondents have + reported that there actually was a compiler for a tiny Algol-like + language called Foogol floating around on various {VAXen} in the + early and mid-1980s. A FOOGOL implementation is available at the + Retrocomputing Museum http://www.ccil.org/retro. + +:breath-of-life packet: /n./ [XEROX PARC] An Ethernet packet + that contains bootstrap (see {boot}) code, periodically sent out + from a working computer to infuse the `breath of life' into any + computer on the network that has happened to crash. Machines + depending on such packets have sufficient hardware or firmware code + to wait for (or request) such a packet during the reboot process. + See also {dickless workstation}. + + The notional `kiss-of-death packet', with a function + complementary to that of a breath-of-life packet, is recommended + for dealing with hosts that consume too many network resources. + Though `kiss-of-death packet' is usually used in jest, there is + at least one documented instance of an Internet subnet with limited + address-table slots in a gateway machine in which such packets were + routinely used to compete for slots, rather like Christmas shoppers + competing for scarce parking spaces. + +:breedle: /n./ See {feep}. + +:bring X to its knees: /v./ To present a machine, operating + system, piece of software, or algorithm with a load so extreme or + {pathological} that it grinds to a halt. "To bring a MicroVAX + to its knees, try twenty users running {vi} -- or four running + {EMACS}." Compare {hog}. + +:brittle: /adj./ Said of software that is functional but easily + broken by changes in operating environment or configuration, or by + any minor tweak to the software itself. Also, any system that + responds inappropriately and disastrously to abnormal but expected + external stimuli; e.g., a file system that is usually totally + scrambled by a power failure is said to be brittle. This term is + often used to describe the results of a research effort that were + never intended to be robust, but it can be applied to commercially + developed software, which displays the quality far more often than + it ought to. Oppose {robust}. + +:broadcast storm: /n./ An incorrect packet broadcast on a + network that causes most hosts to respond all at once, typically + with wrong answers that start the process over again. See + {network meltdown}; compare {mail storm}. + +:brochureware: /n./ Planned but non-existent product like + {vaporware}, but with the added implication that marketing is + actively selling and promoting it (they've printed brochures). + Brochureware is often deployed as a strategic weapon; the idea is + to con customers into not committing to an existing product of the + competition's. It is a safe bet that when a brochureware product + finally becomes real, it will be more expensive than and inferior + to the alternatives that had been available for years. + +:broken: /adj./ 1. Not working properly (of programs). + 2. Behaving strangely; especially (when used of people) exhibiting + extreme depression. + +:broken arrow: /n./ [IBM] The error code displayed on line 25 + of a 3270 terminal (or a PC emulating a 3270) for various kinds of + protocol violations and "unexpected" error conditions (including + connection to a {down} computer). On a PC, simulated with + `->/_', with the two center characters overstruck. + + Note: to appreciate this term fully, it helps to know that `broken + arrow' is also military jargon for an accident involving nuclear + weapons.... + +:BrokenWindows: /n./ Abusive hackerism for the {crufty} and + {elephantine} {X} environment on Sun machines; properly + called `OpenWindows'. + +:broket: /broh'k*t/ or /broh'ket`/ /n./ [by analogy with + `bracket': a `broken bracket'] Either of the characters + `<' and `>', when used as paired enclosing delimiters. + This word originated as a contraction of the phrase `broken + bracket', that is, a bracket that is bent in the middle. (At MIT, + and apparently in the {Real World} as well, these are usually + called {angle brackets}.) + +:Brooks's Law: /prov./ "Adding manpower to a late software + project makes it later" -- a result of the fact that the expected + advantage from splitting work among N programmers is + O(N) (that is, proportional to N), but the complexity + and communications cost associated with coordinating and then + merging their work is O(N^2) (that is, proportional to the + square of N). The quote is from Fred Brooks, a manager of + IBM's OS/360 project and author of "The Mythical Man-Month" + (Addison-Wesley, 1975, ISBN 0-201-00650-2), an excellent early book + on software engineering. The myth in question has been most + tersely expressed as "Programmer time is fungible" and Brooks + established conclusively that it is not. Hackers have never + forgotten his advice; too often, {management} still does. See + also {creationism}, {second-system effect}, {optimism}. + +:browser: /n./ A program specifically designed to help users view + and navigate hypertext, on-line documentation, or a database. + While this general sense has been present in jargon for a long + time, the proliferation of browsers for the World Wide Web after + 1992 has made it much more popular and provided a central or + default meaning of the word previously lacking in hacker usage. + Nowadays, if someone mentions using a `browser' without + qualification, one may assume it is a Web browser. + +:BRS: /B-R-S/ /n./ Syn. {Big Red Switch}. This + abbreviation is fairly common on-line. + +:brute force: /adj./ Describes a primitive programming style, + one in which the programmer relies on the computer's processing + power instead of using his or her own intelligence to simplify the + problem, often ignoring problems of scale and applying naive + methods suited to small problems directly to large ones. The term + can also be used in reference to programming style: brute-force + programs are written in a heavyhanded, tedious way, full of + repetition and devoid of any elegance or useful abstraction (see + also {brute force and ignorance}). + + The {canonical} example of a brute-force algorithm is associated + with the `traveling salesman problem' (TSP), a classical + {NP-}hard problem: Suppose a person is in, say, Boston, and + wishes to drive to N other cities. In what order should the + cities be visited in order to minimize the distance travelled? The + brute-force method is to simply generate all possible routes and + compare the distances; while guaranteed to work and simple to + implement, this algorithm is clearly very stupid in that it + considers even obviously absurd routes (like going from Boston to + Houston via San Francisco and New York, in that order). For very + small N it works well, but it rapidly becomes absurdly + inefficient when N increases (for N = 15, there are + already 1,307,674,368,000 possible routes to consider, and for + N = 1000 -- well, see {bignum}). Sometimes, + unfortunately, there is no better general solution than brute + force. See also {NP-}. + + A more simple-minded example of brute-force programming is finding + the smallest number in a large list by first using an existing + program to sort the list in ascending order, and then picking the + first number off the front. + + Whether brute-force programming should actually be considered + stupid or not depends on the context; if the problem is not + terribly big, the extra CPU time spent on a brute-force solution + may cost less than the programmer time it would take to develop a + more `intelligent' algorithm. Additionally, a more intelligent + algorithm may imply more long-term complexity cost and bug-chasing + than are justified by the speed improvement. + + Ken Thompson, co-inventor of Unix, is reported to have uttered the + epigram "When in doubt, use brute force". He probably intended + this as a {ha ha only serious}, but the original Unix kernel's + preference for simple, robust, and portable algorithms over + {brittle} `smart' ones does seem to have been a significant + factor in the success of that OS. Like so many other tradeoffs in + software design, the choice between brute force and complex, + finely-tuned cleverness is often a difficult one that requires both + engineering savvy and delicate esthetic judgment. + +:brute force and ignorance: /n./ A popular design technique at + many software houses -- {brute force} coding unrelieved by any + knowledge of how problems have been previously solved in elegant + ways. Dogmatic adherence to design methodologies tends to + encourage this sort of thing. Characteristic of early {larval + stage} programming; unfortunately, many never outgrow it. Often + abbreviated BFI: "Gak, they used a {bubble sort}! That's + strictly from BFI." Compare {bogosity}. + +:BSD: /B-S-D/ /n./ [abbreviation for `Berkeley Software + Distribution'] a family of {{Unix}} versions for the {DEC} + {VAX} and PDP-11 developed by Bill Joy and others at + {Berzerkeley} starting around 1980, incorporating paged virtual + memory, TCP/IP networking enhancements, and many other features. + The BSD versions (4.1, 4.2, and 4.3) and the commercial versions + derived from them (SunOS, ULTRIX, and Mt. Xinu) held the technical + lead in the Unix world until AT&T's successful standardization + efforts after about 1986, and are still widely popular. Note that + BSD versions going back to 2.9 are often referred to by their + version numbers, without the BSD prefix. See {4.2}, {{Unix}}, + {USG Unix}. + +:BUAF: // /n./ [abbreviation, from alt.fan.warlord] Big + Ugly ASCII Font -- a special form of {ASCII art}. Various + programs exist for rendering text strings into block, bloob, and + pseudo-script fonts in cells between four and six character cells + on a side; this is smaller than the letters generated by older + {banner} (sense 2) programs. These are sometimes used to render + one's name in a {sig block}, and are critically referred to as + `BUAF's. See {warlording}. + +:BUAG: // /n./ [abbreviation, from alt.fan.warlord] Big + Ugly ASCII Graphic. Pejorative term for ugly {ASCII art}, + especially as found in {sig block}s. For some reason, mutations + of the head of Bart Simpson are particularly common in the least + imaginative {sig block}s. See {warlording}. + +:bubble sort: /n./ Techspeak for a particular sorting technique + in which pairs of adjacent values in the list to be sorted are + compared and interchanged if they are out of order; thus, list + entries `bubble upward' in the list until they bump into one + with a lower sort value. Because it is not very good relative to + other methods and is the one typically stumbled on by {naive} + and untutored programmers, hackers consider it the {canonical} + example of a naive algorithm. The canonical example of a really + *bad* algorithm is {bogo-sort}. A bubble sort might be + used out of ignorance, but any use of bogo-sort could issue only + from brain damage or willful perversity. + +:bucky bits: /buh'kee bits/ /n./ 1. obs. The bits produced by + the CONTROL and META shift keys on a SAIL keyboard (octal 200 and + 400 respectively), resulting in a 9-bit keyboard character set. + The MIT AI TV (Knight) keyboards extended this with TOP and + separate left and right CONTROL and META keys, resulting in a + 12-bit character set; later, LISP Machines added such keys as + SUPER, HYPER, and GREEK (see {space-cadet keyboard}). 2. By + extension, bits associated with `extra' shift keys on any + keyboard, e.g., the ALT on an IBM PC or command and option keys on + a Macintosh. + + It has long been rumored that `bucky bits' were named for + Buckminster Fuller during a period when he was consulting at + Stanford. Actually, bucky bits were invented by Niklaus Wirth when + *he* was at Stanford in 1964--65; he first suggested the idea + of an EDIT key to set the 8th bit of an otherwise 7-bit ASCII + character). It seems that, unknown to Wirth, certain Stanford + hackers had privately nicknamed him `Bucky' after a prominent + portion of his dental anatomy, and this nickname transferred to the + bit. Bucky-bit commands were used in a number of editors written + at Stanford, including most notably TV-EDIT and NLS. + + The term spread to MIT and CMU early and is now in general use. + Ironically, Wirth himself remained unaware of its derivation for + nearly 30 years, until GLS dug up this history in early 1993! See + {double bucky}, {quadruple bucky}. + +:buffer chuck: /n./ Shorter and ruder syn. for {buffer + overflow}. + +:buffer overflow: /n./ What happens when you try to stuff more + data into a buffer (holding area) than it can handle. This may be + due to a mismatch in the processing rates of the producing and + consuming processes (see {overrun} and {firehose syndrome}), + or because the buffer is simply too small to hold all the data that + must accumulate before a piece of it can be processed. For + example, in a text-processing tool that {crunch}es a line at a + time, a short line buffer can result in {lossage} as input from + a long line overflows the buffer and trashes data beyond it. Good + defensive programming would check for overflow on each character + and stop accepting data when the buffer is full up. The term is + used of and by humans in a metaphorical sense. "What time did I + agree to meet you? My buffer must have overflowed." Or "If I + answer that phone my buffer is going to overflow." See also + {spam}, {overrun screw}. + +:bug: /n./ An unwanted and unintended property of a program or + piece of hardware, esp. one that causes it to malfunction. + Antonym of {feature}. Examples: "There's a bug in the editor: + it writes things out backwards." "The system crashed because of + a hardware bug." "Fred is a winner, but he has a few bugs" + (i.e., Fred is a good guy, but he has a few personality problems). + + Historical note: Admiral Grace Hopper (an early computing pioneer + better known for inventing {COBOL}) liked to tell a story in + which a technician solved a {glitch} in the Harvard Mark II + machine by pulling an actual insect out from between the contacts + of one of its relays, and she subsequently promulgated {bug} in + its hackish sense as a joke about the incident (though, as she was + careful to admit, she was not there when it happened). For many + years the logbook associated with the incident and the actual bug + in question (a moth) sat in a display case at the Naval Surface + Warfare Center (NSWC). The entire story, with a picture of the + logbook and the moth taped into it, is recorded in the "Annals + of the History of Computing", Vol. 3, No. 3 (July 1981), + pp. 285--286. + + The text of the log entry (from September 9, 1947), reads "1545 + Relay #70 Panel F (moth) in relay. First actual case of bug being + found". This wording establishes that the term was already + in use at the time in its current specific sense -- and Hopper + herself reports that the term `bug' was regularly applied to + problems in radar electronics during WWII. + + Indeed, the use of `bug' to mean an industrial defect was already + established in Thomas Edison's time, and a more specific and rather + modern use can be found in an electrical handbook from 1896 + ("Hawkin's New Catechism of Electricity", Theo. Audel & Co.) + which says: "The term `bug' is used to a limited extent to + designate any fault or trouble in the connections or working of + electric apparatus." It further notes that the term is "said to + have originated in quadruplex telegraphy and have been transferred + to all electric apparatus." + + The latter observation may explain a common folk etymology of the + term; that it came from telephone company usage, in which "bugs in + a telephone cable" were blamed for noisy lines. Though this + derivation seems to be mistaken, it may well be a distorted memory + of a joke first current among *telegraph* operators more than + a century ago! + + Or perhaps not a joke. Historians of the field inform us that the + term "bug" was regularly used in the early days of telegraphy to + refer to a variety of semi-automatic telegraphy keyers that would + send a string of dots if you held them down. In fact, the + Vibroplex keyers (which were among the most common of this type) + even had a graphic of a beetle on them! While the ability to send + repeated dots automatically was very useful for professional morse + code operators, these were also significantly trickier to use than + the older manual keyers, and it could take some practice to ensure + one didn't introduce extraneous dots into the code by holding the + key down a fraction too long. In the hands of an inexperienced + operator, a Vibroplex "bug" on the line could mean that a lot + of garbled Morse would soon be coming your way. + + Actually, use of `bug' in the general sense of a 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 + a variety of mythological monster which (to 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 happened: + + "There is a bug in this ant farm!" + + "What do you mean? I don't see any ants in it." + + "That's the bug." + + A careful discussion of the etymological issues can be found in a + paper by Fred R. Shapiro, 1987, "Entomology of the Computer Bug: + History and Folklore", American Speech 62(4):376-378. + + [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 to check discovered that the + bug was not there. While investigating this in late 1990, 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 their History of American Technology + Museum didn't know this and agreed that it would make a worthwhile + exhibit. It was moved to the Smithsonian in mid-1991, but due to + space and money constraints has not yet been exhibited. Thus, the + process of investigating the original-computer-bug bug fixed it in + an entirely unexpected way, by making the myth true! --ESR] + +:bug-compatible: /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 + separator to be bug-compatible with some cretin's choice of / as an + option character in 1.0." + +:bug-for-bug compatible: /n./ Same as {bug-compatible}, with + the additional implication that much tedious effort went into + ensuring that each (known) bug was replicated. + +:bug-of-the-month club: /n./ [from "book-of-the-month + club", a time-honored mail-order-marketing technique in the U.S.] + A mythical club which users of `sendmail(1)' (the UNIX mail + daemon) belong to; this was coined on the Usenet newsgroup + comp.security.unix at a time when sendmail security holes, which + allowed outside {cracker}s access to the system, were being + uncovered at an alarming rate, forcing sysadmins to update very + often. Also, more completely, `fatal security bug-of-the-month + club'. + +:buglix: /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 nearly + so much venom. Compare {AIDX}, {HP-SUX}, {Nominal + Semidestructor}, {Telerat}, {sun-stools}. + +:bulletproof: /adj./ Used of an algorithm or implementation + considered extremely {robust}; lossage-resistant; capable of + correctly recovering from any imaginable exception condition -- a + rare and valued quality. Syn. {armor-plated}. + +:bum: 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." In 1996, this term and the practice +it + describes are semi-obsolete. In {elder days}, John McCarthy + (inventor of {LISP}) used to compare some efficiency-obsessed + hackers among his students to "ski bums"; thus, optimization + became "program bumming", and eventually just "bumming". 2. To + squeeze out excess; to remove something in order to improve + 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 the jump instruction + faster." Usage: now 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 `buttocks'. + +:bump: /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: /v./ [from Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky"] 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 a DISK FULL error and it's all our comm software's fault." + This is mainstream slang in some parts of England. + +:buried treasure: /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. Used + sarcastically, because what is found 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: /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 + mortality}). 2. A period of indeterminate 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 stage}. + + Historical note: the origin of "burn-in" (sense 1) is apparently + the practice of setting a new-model airplane's brakes on fire, then + extinguishing the fire, in order to make them hold better. This +was + done on the first version of the U.S. spy-plane, the U-2. + +:burst page: /n./ Syn. {banner}, sense 1. + +:busy-wait: /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 till Bill gets + off the phone." + + Technically, `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. This + is a wasteful technique, best avoided on time-sharing systems where + a busy-waiting program may {hog} the processor. + +:buzz: /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 never + gets out of catatonia, while a 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 continuity by applying an AC rather than DC signal. 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: /B-W-Q/ /n./ [IBM: abbreviation, `Buzz Word Quotient'] + The percentage of buzzwords in a speech or documents. Usually + roughly proportional to {bogosity}. See {TLA}. + +:by hand: /adv./ 1. 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 to + include the text of the message I'm 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, + reading that into an editor, locating the top 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 file. Compare {eyeball search}. 2. By extension, + writing code which does something in an explicit or low-level way + for which a presupplied library routine ought to have been + available. "This cretinous B-tree library doesn't supply a decent + iterator, so I'm having to walk the trees by hand." + +:byte:: /bi:t/ /n./ [techspeak] 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 6 or 7 bits, and + the PDP-10 supported `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 was coined by Werner Buchholz in 1956 + during the early design phase for the IBM Stretch computer; + 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 the System/360. The word was + coined by mutating the word `bite' so it would not be + accidentally misspelled as {bit}. See also {nybble}. + +:bytesexual: /bi:t`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}. + +:bzzzt, wrong: /bzt rong/ /excl./ [Usenet/Internet] From a Robin + Williams routine in the movie "Dead Poets Society" spoofing + radio or TV quiz programs, such as *Truth or Consequences*, + where an incorrect answer earns one a blast from the buzzer and + condolences from the interlocutor. A way of expressing mock-rude + disagreement, usually immediately following an included quote from + another poster. The less abbreviated "*Bzzzzt*, wrong, but thank + you for playing" is also common; capitalization and emphasis of + the buzzer sound varies. + += C = +===== + +:C: /n./ 1. The third letter of the English alphabet. 2. ASCII + 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 commemoration of *its* parent, BCPL. + (BCPL was in turn descended from an earlier Algol-derived language, + CPL.) Before Bjarne 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 language in systems and + microcomputer applications 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 language with all the + readability and maintainability of assembly language". + +:C Programmer's Disease: /n./ The tendency of the undisciplined + C programmer to set arbitrary but supposedly generous static limits + on table sizes (defined, if you're lucky, by constants in header + files) rather than taking the trouble to do proper dynamic storage + allocation. If an application user later needs to put 68 elements + into a table of size 50, the afflicted programmer reasons that he + or she can easily reset the table size to 68 (or even as much as + 70, to allow for future expansion) and recompile. This gives the + programmer the comfortable feeling of having made the effort to + satisfy the user's (unreasonable) demands, and often affords the + user multiple opportunities to explore the marvelous consequences + of {fandango on core}. In severe cases of the disease, the + programmer cannot comprehend why each fix of this kind seems only + to further disgruntle the user. + +:C++: /C'-pluhs-pluhs/ /n./ Designed by Bjarne Stroustrup + of AT&T Bell Labs as a successor to {C}. Now one of the + {languages of choice}, although many hackers still grumble that + it is the successor to either Algol 68 or {Ada} (depending on + generation), and a prime example of {second-system effect}. + Almost anything that can be done in any language can be done in + C++, but it requires a {language lawyer} to know what is and + what is not legal-- the design is *almost* too large to hold + in even hackers' heads. Much of the {cruft} results from C++'s + attempt to be backward compatible with C. Stroustrup himself has + said in his retrospective book "The Design and Evolution of + C++" (p. 207), "Within C++, there is a much smaller and cleaner + language struggling to get out." [Many hackers would now add + "Yes, and it's called Java" --ESR] + +:calculator: [Cambridge] /n./ Syn. for {bitty box}. + +:Camel Book: /n./ Universally recognized nickname for the book + "Programming Perl", by Larry Wall and Randal L. Schwartz, + O'Reilly Associates 1991, ISBN 0-937175-64-1. The definitive + reference on {Perl}. + +:can: /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 + sprocket!" Synonymous with {gun}. It is said that the ASCII + character with mnemonic CAN (0011000) was used as a kill-job + character on some early OSes. Alternatively, this term may derive + from mainstream slang `canned' for being laid off or fired. + +:can't happen: The traditional program comment for code + executed under a condition that should never be true, for example a + file size computed as negative. Often, such a condition being true + indicates data corruption or a faulty algorithm; it is almost + always handled by emitting a fatal error message and terminating or + crashing, since there is little else that can be done. Some case + variant of "can't happen" is also often the text emitted if the + `impossible' error actually happens! Although "can't happen" + events are genuinely infrequent in production code, programmers + wise enough to check for them habitually are often surprised at how + frequently they are triggered during development and how many + headaches checking for them turns out to head off. See also + {firewall code} (sense 2). + +:candygrammar: /n./ A programming-language grammar that is + mostly {syntactic sugar}; the term is also a play on + `candygram'. {COBOL}, Apple's Hypertalk language, and a lot + of the so-called `4GL' database languages share this property. + The usual intent of such designs is that they be as English-like as + possible, on the theory that they will then be easier for unskilled + people to program. This intention comes to grief on the reality + that syntax isn't what makes programming hard; it's the mental + effort and organization required to specify an algorithm precisely + that costs. Thus the invariable result is that `candygrammar' + languages are just as difficult to program in as terser ones, and + far more painful for the experienced hacker. + + [The overtones from the old Chevy Chase skit on Saturday Night Live + should not be overlooked. This was a "Jaws" parody. + Someone lurking outside an apartment door tries all kinds of bogus + ways to get the occupant to open up, while ominous music plays in + the background. The last attempt is a half-hearted "Candygram!" + When the door is opened, a shark bursts in and chomps the poor + occupant. There is a moral here for those attracted to + candygrammars. Note that, in many circles, pretty much the same + ones who remember Monty Python sketches, all it takes is the word + "Candygram!", suitably timed, to get people rolling on the + floor. -- GLS] + +:canonical: /adj./ [historically, `according to religious law'] + 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 + because they mean the same thing, but the 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 relaxation of the technical meaning, acquired its + 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}. + + Non-technical academics do 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 body of authentic works by that author (this 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 scholars to investigate. + + The word `canon' has an interesting history. It derives + ultimately from the Greek + `kanon' + (akin to the English `cane') referring to a reed. Reeds were used + for measurement, and in Latin and later Greek the word `canon' + meant a rule or a standard. The establishment of a canon of + scriptures within Christianity was meant to define a standard or a + rule for the religion. The above non-techspeak academic usages + stem from this instance of a defined and accepted body of work. + Alongside this usage was the promulgation of `canons' (`rules') + for the government of the Catholic Church. The techspeak usages + ("according to religious law") derive from this use of the Latin + `canon'. + + Hackers invest 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 + incessant use of jargon. Over his loud objections, GLS and RMS + made a point of using as much of it as possible 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 did he say?" Steele: "Bob just used + `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 + religious law' is *not* the canonical meaning of + `canonical'. + +:card walloper: /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: /keir'weir/ /n./ A variety of {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 + {crippleware}, sense 2. + +:cargo cult programming: /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 some + bug encountered in the past, but usually 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 + grew up in the South Pacific after World War II. 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 the + war. Hackish usage probably derives from 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). + +:cascade: /n./ 1. A huge volume of spurious error-message + output produced by a compiler with poor error recovery. Too + frequently, one trivial syntax error (such as a missing `)' or + `}') throws the parser out of synch so that much of the remaining + program text is interpreted as garbaged or ill-formed. 2. A chain + of Usenet followups, each adding some trivial variation or riposte + to the text of the previous one, all of which is reproduced in the + new message; an {include war} in which the object is to create a + sort of communal graffito. + +:case and paste: /n./ [from `cut and paste'] 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 telephone switch are + selected using `case' 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 elsewhere. + The term is condescending, implying that the programmer is acting + mindlessly rather than thinking carefully about what is required to + integrate the code for two similar cases. + + At DEC, this is sometimes called `clone-and-hack' coding. + +:casters-up mode: /n./ [IBM, prob. fr. slang belly up] Yet + another synonym for `broken' or `down'. Usually connotes a + major failure. A system (hardware or software) which is `down' + may be already being restarted before the failure is noticed, + whereas one which is `casters up' is usually a good excuse to + take the rest of the day off (as long as you're not responsible for + fixing it). + +:casting the runes: /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 does. + Compare {incantation}, {runes}, {examining the entrails}; + also see the AI koan about Tom Knight in "{AI Koans}" + (Appendix A). + + A correspondent from England tells us that one of ICL's most + talented systems designers used to be called out occasionally to + service machines which the {field circus} had given up on. + Since he knew the design inside out, he could often find faults + simply by listening to a quick outline of the symptoms. He used to + play on this by going to some site where the field circus had just + spent the last two weeks solid trying to find a fault, and + spreading a diagram of the system out on a table top. He'd then + shake some chicken bones and cast them over the diagram, peer at + the bones intently for a minute, and then tell them that a certain + module needed replacing. The system would start working again + immediately upon the replacement. + +:cat: [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 browsing it + carefully. Usage: considered silly. Rare outside Unix sites. See + also {dd}, {BLT}. + + Among Unix fans, `cat(1)' is considered an excellent example + of user-interface design, because it delivers the file contents + without such verbosity as spacing or headers between the files, and + because it does not require the files 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, because of its + woefully unobvious name. It is far more often used to {blast} a + file to standard output than to concatenate two files. The name + `cat' for the former operation is just as unintuitive as, say, + LISP's {cdr}. + + Of such oppositions are {holy wars} made.... + +:catatonic: /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 as you + type, let alone do what you're asking 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}. + +:cd tilde: /C-D til-d*/ /vi./ To go home. From the Unix + C-shell and Korn-shell command `cd ~', which takes one to + one's `$HOME' (`cd' with no arguments happens to do the + same thing). By extension, may be used with other arguments; thus, + over an electronic chat link, `cd ~coffee' would mean "I'm + going to the coffee machine." + +:CDA: /C-D-A/ The "Communications Decency Act" of 1996, + passed on {Black Thursday} as section 502 of a major + telecommunications reform bill. The CDA made it a federal crime in + the USA to send a communication which is "obscene, + lewd, lascivious, filthy, or indecent, with intent to annoy, abuse, + threaten, or harass another person." It also threatens with + imprisonment anyone who "knowingly" makes accessible to minors + any message that "describes, in terms patently offensive as + measured by contemporary community standards, sexual or excretory + activities or organs". + + While the CDA was sold as a measure to protect minors from the + putative evils of pornography, the repressive political aims of the + bill were laid bare by the Hyde amendment, which intended to + outlaw discussion of abortion on the Internet. + + To say that this direct attack on First Amendment free-speech + rights was not well received on the Internet would be putting it + mildly. A firestorm of protest followed, including a February 29th + mass demonstration by thousands of netters who turned their + {home page}s black for 48 hours. Several civil-rights groups + and computing/telecommunications companies sought an immediate + injunction to block enforcement of the CDA pending a constitutional + challenge. This injunction was granted on the likelihood that + plaintiffs would prevail on the merits of the case. At time of + writing (Spring 1996), the fate of the CDA, and its effect on the + Internet, is still unknown. See also {Exon}. + + To join the fight against the CDA (if it's still law) and other + forms of Internet censorship, visit the Center for Democracy and + Technology Home Page at http://www.cdt.org. + +:cdr: /ku'dr/ or /kuh'dr/ /vt./ [from LISP] 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 + form `cdr down', to trace down a list of elements: "Shall we cdr + down the agenda?" Usage: silly. See also {loop through}. + + Historical note: The instruction format of the IBM 704 that hosted + the original LISP implementation featured two 15-bit fields called + the `address' and `decrement' parts. The term `cdr' was 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. GLS recalls, + for example, a programming project in which strings were + represented as linked lists; the get-character and skip-character + operations were of course called CHAR and CHDR. + +:chad: /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 has also been + called `chaff', `computer confetti', and `keypunch + droppings'. This use may now be mainstream; it has been reported + seen (1993) in directions for a card-based voting machine in + California. + + 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, rather than punching out a circle/rectangle; it was + clear that if the Chadless keypunch didn't make them, then the + stuff that other keypunches made had to be `chad'. There is a + legend that the word was originally acronymic, standing for + "Card Hole Aggregate Debris", but this has all the earmarks of + a bogus folk etymology. + +:chad box: /n./ A metal box about the size of a lunchbox (or in + some models a large wastebasket), for collecting the {chad} + (sense 2) that accumulated in {Iron Age} card punches. You had + to open the covers of the card punch periodically and empty the + chad box. The {bit bucket} was notionally the equivalent device + in the CPU enclosure, which was typically across the room in + another great gray-and-blue box. + +:chain: 1. /vi./ [orig. from BASIC's `CHAIN' statement] + 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. + Though this facility used to be common on 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'. 2. /n./ A series of linked data areas within an + operating system or application. `Chain rattling' is the process + of repeatedly running through the linked data areas searching for + one which is of interest to the executing program. The implication + is that there is a very large number of links on the chain. + +:channel: /n./ [IRC] The basic unit of discussion on {IRC}. + Once one joins a channel, everything one types is read by others on + that channel. Channels are named with strings that begin with a + `#' sign and can have topic descriptions (which are generally + irrelevant to the actual subject of discussion). Some notable + channels are `#initgame', `#hottub', and `#report'. + At times of international crisis, `#report' has hundreds of + members, some of whom take turns listening to various news services + and typing in summaries of the news, or in some cases, giving + first-hand accounts of the action (e.g., Scud missile attacks in + Tel Aviv during the Gulf War in 1991). + +:channel hopping: /n./ [IRC, GEnie] To rapidly switch channels + on {IRC}, or a GEnie chat board, just as a social butterfly + might hop from one group to another at a party. This term may + derive from the TV watcher's idiom, `channel surfing'. + +:channel op: /chan'l op/ /n./ [IRC] Someone who is endowed + with privileges on a particular {IRC} channel; commonly + abbreviated `chanop' or `CHOP'. These privileges include the + right to {kick} users, to change various status bits, and to + make others into CHOPs. + +:chanop: /chan'-op/ /n./ [IRC] See {channel op}. + +:char: /keir/ or /char/; rarely, /kar/ /n./ Shorthand for + `character'. Esp. used by C programmers, as `char' is C's + typename for character data. + +:charityware: /cha'rit-ee-weir`/ /n./ Syn. {careware}. + +:chase pointers: 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 jargon when + used of human networks. "I'm 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 {core dump} + (sense 1), interactively or on a large piece of paper printed with + hex {runes}, following dynamic data-structures. Used only in a + debugging context. + +:chawmp: /n./ [University of Florida] 16 or 18 bits (half of a + machine word). This term was used by FORTH hackers during the late + 1970s/early 1980s; it is said to have been archaic then, and may + now be obsolete. It was coined in revolt against the promiscuous + use of `word' for anything between 16 and 32 bits; `word' has + an additional special meaning for FORTH hacks that made the + overloading intolerable. For similar reasons, /gaw'bl/ (spelled + `gawble' or possibly `gawbul') was in use as a term for 32 or + 48 bits (presumably a full machine word, but our sources are + unclear on this). These terms are more easily understood if one + thinks of them as faithful phonetic spellings of `chomp' and + `gobble' pronounced in a Florida or other Southern U.S. dialect. + For general discussion of similar terms, see {nybble}. + +:check: /n./ A hardware-detected error condition, most commonly + used to refer to actual hardware failures rather than + software-induced traps. E.g., a `parity check' is the result of + a hardware-detected parity error. Recorded here because the word + often humorously extended to non-technical problems. For example, + the term `child check' has been used to refer to the problems + caused by a small child who is curious to know what happens when + s/he presses all the cute buttons on a computer's console (of + course, this particular problem could have been prevented with + {molly-guard}s). + +:chemist: /n./ [Cambridge] 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} + patterns. May or may not refer to someone who actually studies + chemistry. + +:Chernobyl chicken: /n./ See {laser chicken}. + +:Chernobyl packet: /cher-noh'b*l pak'*t/ /n./ A network + packet that induces a {broadcast storm} and/or {network + meltdown}, in memory of the April 1986 nuclear accident at + Chernobyl in Ukraine. The typical scenario involves an IP Ethernet + datagram that passes through a gateway with 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: /n./ [Commodore] 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 little + {bitty box}es (see also {PETSCII}). 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"; the + novel is now sold under that title), in which a `chickenhead' is + a mutant with below-average intelligence. + +:chiclet keyboard: /n./ A keyboard with a small, flat + 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 + keyboards.) Used esp. to describe the original 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 are not often seen on anything larger than a digital watch + any more. + +:chine nual: /sheen'yu-*l/ /n. obs./ [MIT] 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: /n./ Syn. {Mongolian Hordes + technique}. + +:choad: /chohd/ /n./ Synonym for `penis' used in + alt.tasteless and popularized by the denizens thereof. They + say: "We think maybe it's from Middle English but we're all too + damned lazy to check the OED." [I'm not. It isn't. --ESR] This + term is alleged to have been inherited through 1960s underground + comics, and to have been recently sighted in the Beavis and + Butthead cartoons. Speakers of the Hindi, Bengali and Gujarati + languages have confirmed that `choad' is in fact an Indian + vernacular word equivalent to `fuck'; it is therefore likely to + have entered English slang via the British Raj. + +:choke: /v./ 1. 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}. + 2. [MIT] More generally, to fail at any endeavor, but with some + flair or bravado; the popular definition is "to snatch defeat from + the jaws of victory." + +:chomp: /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 together and place the thumb against their 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}" in the "{Jargon + Construction}" section of the 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 humble but humorous admission of some failure. 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: /n./ Someone or something that is chomping; a loser. + See {loser}, {bagbiter}, {chomp}. + +:CHOP: /chop/ /n./ [IRC] See {channel op}. + +:Christmas tree: /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: /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 + different-colored light bulb, all turned on.) + +:chrome: /n./ [from automotive slang via wargaming] 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!" Distinguished from + {bells and whistles} by the fact that the latter are usually + added to gratify developers' own desires for featurefulness. + Often used as a term of contempt. + +:chug: /vi./ To run slowly; to {grind} or {grovel}. + "The disk is chugging like crazy." + +:Church of the SubGenius: /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 + of bizarre imagery and references such as "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: [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 Rube + Goldberg device and holding a rope coming out of it. On the back + cover, the device is in shambles after she has (inevitably) pulled + on the rope. See also {{book titles}}. + +:CI$: // /n./ Hackerism for `CIS', CompuServe Information + Service. The dollar sign refers to CompuServe's rather steep line + charges. Often used in {sig block}s just before a CompuServe + address. Syn. {Compu$erve}. + +:Classic C: /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 ANSI X3J11 + committee. Also `C Classic'. + + An analogous construction 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 used of + product series in which the newer versions are considered serious + losers relative to the older ones. + +:clean: 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 from the + outside. The antonym is `grungy' 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: /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'." 2. adj. + Denotes extreme severity of a bug, discovered by a customer and + obviously missed earlier because of poor testing: "That's a CLM + bug!" + +:clobber: /vt./ To overwrite, usually unintentionally: "I + walked off the end of the array and clobbered the stack." Compare + {mung}, {scribble}, {trash}, and {smash the stack}. + +:clocks: /n./ Processor logic cycles, so called because each + generally corresponds to one clock pulse in the processor's timing. + The relative execution times of instructions on a machine are + usually discussed in clocks rather than absolute fractions of a + second; one good reason for this is that clock speeds for various + models of the machine may increase as technology improves, and it + is usually the relative times one is interested in when discussing + the instruction set. Compare {cycle}. + +:clone: /n./ 1. An exact duplicate: "Our product is a clone of + their product." Implies a legal reimplementation from + documentation or by reverse-engineering. Also connotes lower + price. 2. A shoddy, spurious copy: "Their product is a clone of + our product." 3. A blatant ripoff, most likely violating + copyright, patent, or trade secret protections: "Your product is a + clone of my product." This use implies legal action is pending. + 4. `PC clone:' a PC-BUS/ISA or EISA-compatible 80x86-based + microcomputer (this use is sometimes spelled `klone' or + `PClone'). These invariably have much more bang for the buck + than the IBM archetypes they resemble. 5. In the construction + `Unix clone': An OS designed to deliver a Unix-lookalike + environment without Unix license fees, or with additional + `mission-critical' features such as support for real-time + programming. 6. /v./ To make an exact copy of something. "Let me + clone that" might mean "I want to borrow that paper so I can make + a photocopy" or "Let me get a copy of that file before you + {mung} it". + +:clone-and-hack coding: /n./ [DEC] Syn. {case and paste}. + +:clover key: /n./ [Mac users] See {feature key}. + +:clustergeeking: /kluh'st*r-gee`king/ /n./ [CMU] Spending + more time at a computer cluster doing CS homework than most people + spend breathing. + +:COBOL: /koh'bol/ /n./ [COmmon Business-Oriented Language] + (Synonymous with {evil}.) A weak, verbose, and flabby language + used by {card walloper}s to do boring mindless things on + {dinosaur} mainframes. Hackers believe that all COBOL + programmers are {suit}s or {code grinder}s, and no + self-respecting hacker will ever admit to having learned the + language. Its very name is seldom uttered without ritual + expressions of disgust or horror. One popular one is Edsger W. + Dijkstra's famous observation that "The use of COBOL cripples the + mind; its teaching should, therefore, be regarded as a criminal + offense." (from "Selected Writings on Computing: A Personal + Perspective") See also {fear and loathing}, {software + rot}. + +:COBOL fingers: /koh'bol fing'grz/ /n./ Reported from Sweden, + a (hypothetical) disease one might get from coding in COBOL. The + language requires code verbose beyond all reason (see + {candygrammar}); thus it is alleged that programming too much in + COBOL causes one's fingers to wear down to stubs by the endless + typing. "I refuse to type in all that source code again; it would + give me COBOL fingers!" + +:code grinder: /n./ 1. A {suit}-wearing minion of the sort + hired in legion strength by banks and insurance companies to + implement payroll packages in RPG and other such unspeakable + horrors. In its native habitat, the code grinder often removes the + suit jacket to reveal an underplumage consisting of button-down + shirt (starch optional) and a tie. In times of dire stress, the + sleeves (if long) may be rolled up and the tie loosened about half + an inch. It seldom helps. The {code grinder}'s milieu is about + as far from hackerdom as one can get and still touch a computer; + the term connotes pity. See {Real World}, {suit}. 2. Used + of or to a hacker, a really serious slur on the person's creative + ability; connotes a design style characterized by primitive + technique, rule-boundedness, {brute force}, and utter lack of + imagination. Compare {card walloper}; contrast {hacker}, + {Real Programmer}. + +:Code of the Geeks: /n./ see {geek code}. + +:code police: /n./ [by analogy with George Orwell's `thought + police'] A mythical team of Gestapo-like storm troopers that might + burst into one's office and arrest one for violating programming + style rules. May be used either seriously, to underline a claim + that a particular style violation is dangerous, or ironically, to + suggest that the practice under discussion is condemned mainly by + anal-retentive {weenie}s. "Dike out that goto or the code + police will get you!" The ironic usage is perhaps more common. + +:codes: /n./ [scientific computing] Programs. This usage is common + in people who hack supercomputers and heavy-duty + {number-crunching}, rare to unknown elsewhere (if you say + "codes" to hackers outside scientific computing, their + first association is likely to be "and cyphers"). + +:codewalker: /n./ A program component that traverses other + programs for a living. Compilers have codewalkers in their front + ends; so do cross-reference generators and some database front + ends. Other utility programs that try to do too much with source + code may turn into codewalkers. As in "This new `vgrind' + feature would require a codewalker to implement." + +:coefficient of X: /n./ Hackish speech makes heavy use of + pseudo-mathematical metaphors. Four particularly important + ones involve the terms `coefficient', `factor', `index', and + `quotient'. They are often loosely applied to things you cannot + really be quantitative about, but there are subtle distinctions + among them that convey information about the way the speaker + mentally models whatever he or she is describing. + + `Foo factor' and `foo quotient' tend to describe something for + which the issue is one of presence or absence. The canonical + example is {fudge factor}. It's not important how much you're + fudging; the term simply acknowledges that some fudging is needed. + You might talk of liking a movie for its silliness factor. + Quotient tends to imply that the property is a ratio of two + opposing factors: "I would have won except for my luck quotient." + This could also be "I would have won except for the luck factor", + but using *quotient* emphasizes that it was bad luck + overpowering good luck (or someone else's good luck overpowering + your own). + + `Foo index' and `coefficient of foo' both tend to imply + that foo is, if not strictly measurable, at least something that + can be larger or smaller. Thus, you might refer to a paper or + person as having a `high bogosity index', whereas you would be less + likely to speak of a `high bogosity factor'. `Foo index' suggests + that foo is a condensation of many quantities, as in the mundane + cost-of-living index; `coefficient of foo' suggests that foo is a + fundamental quantity, as in a coefficient of friction. The choice + between these terms is often one of personal preference; e.g., some + people might feel that bogosity is a fundamental attribute and thus + say `coefficient of bogosity', whereas others might feel it is a + combination of factors and thus say `bogosity index'. + +:cokebottle: /kohk'bot-l/ /n./ Any very unusual character, + particularly one you can't type because it it isn't on your + keyboard. MIT people used to complain about the + `control-meta-cokebottle' commands at SAIL, and SAIL people + complained right back about the `{altmode}-altmode-cokebottle' + commands at MIT. After the demise of the {space-cadet + keyboard}, `cokebottle' faded away as serious usage, but was + often invoked humorously to describe an (unspecified) weird or + non-intuitive keystroke command. It may be due for a second + inning, however. The OSF/Motif window manager, `mwm(1)', has + a reserved keystroke for switching to the default set of + keybindings and behavior. This keystroke is (believe it or not) + `control-meta-bang' (see {bang}). Since the exclamation point + looks a lot like an upside down Coke bottle, Motif hackers have + begun referring to this keystroke as `cokebottle'. See also + {quadruple bucky}. + +:cold boot: /n./ See {boot}. + +:COME FROM: /n./ A semi-mythical language construct dual to the + `go to'; `COME FROM' <label> would cause the referenced label + to act as a sort of trapdoor, so that if the program ever reached + it control would quietly and {automagically} be transferred to + the statement following the `COME FROM'. `COME FROM' + was first proposed in R. Lawrence Clark's "A Linguistic + Contribution to GOTO-less programming", which appeared in a 1973 + {Datamation} issue (and was reprinted in the April 1984 issue of + "Communications of the ACM"). This parodied the then-raging + `structured programming' {holy wars} (see {considered + harmful}). Mythically, some variants are the `assigned COME + FROM' and the `computed COME FROM' (parodying some nasty control + constructs in FORTRAN and some extended BASICs). Of course, + multi-tasking (or non-determinism) could be implemented by having + more than one `COME FROM' statement coming from the same + label. + + In some ways the FORTRAN `DO' looks like a `COME FROM' + statement. After the terminating statement number/`CONTINUE' + is reached, control continues at the statement following the DO. + Some generous FORTRANs would allow arbitrary statements (other than + `CONTINUE') for the statement, leading to examples like: + + DO 10 I=1,LIMIT + C imagine many lines of code here, leaving the + C original DO statement lost in the spaghetti... + WRITE(6,10) I,FROB(I) + 10 FORMAT(1X,I5,G10.4) + + in which the trapdoor is just after the statement labeled 10. + (This is particularly surprising because the label doesn't appear + to have anything to do with the flow of control at all!) + + While sufficiently astonishing to the unsuspecting reader, this + form of `COME FROM' statement isn't completely general. After + all, control will eventually pass to the following statement. The + implementation of the general form was left to Univac FORTRAN, + ca. 1975 (though a roughly similar feature existed on the IBM 7040 + ten years earlier). The statement `AT 100' would perform a + `COME FROM 100'. It was intended strictly as a debugging aid, + with dire consequences promised to anyone so deranged as to use it + in production code. More horrible things had already been + perpetrated in production languages, however; doubters need only + contemplate the `ALTER' verb in {COBOL}. + + `COME FROM' was supported under its own name for the first + time 15 years later, in C-INTERCAL (see {INTERCAL}, + {retrocomputing}); knowledgeable observers are still reeling + from the shock. + +:comm mode: /kom mohd/ /n./ [ITS: from the feature supporting + on-line chat; the term may spelled with one or two m's] Syn. for + {talk mode}. + +:command key: /n./ [Mac users] Syn. {feature key}. + +:comment out: /vt./ To surround a section of code with comment + delimiters or to prefix every line in the section with a comment + marker; this prevents it from being compiled or interpreted. Often + done when the code is redundant or obsolete, but is being left in + the source to make the intent of the active code clearer; also when + the code in that section is broken and you want to bypass it in + order to debug some other part of the code. Compare {condition + out}, usually the preferred technique in languages (such as {C}) + that make it possible. + +:Commonwealth Hackish:: /n./ Hacker jargon as spoken in + English outside the U.S., esp. in the British Commonwealth. It + is reported that Commonwealth speakers are more likely to pronounce + truncations like `char' and `soc', etc., as spelled (/char/, + /sok/), as opposed to American /keir/ and /sohsh/. Dots in + {newsgroup} names (especially two-component names) tend to be + pronounced more often (so soc.wibble is /sok dot wib'l/ rather + than /sohsh wib'l/). The prefix {meta} may be pronounced + /mee't*/; similarly, Greek letter beta is usually /bee't*/, + zeta is usually /zee't*/, and so forth. Preferred + {metasyntactic variable}s include {blurgle}, `eek', + `ook', `frodo', and `bilbo'; {wibble}, + `wobble', and in emergencies `wubble'; `flob', + `banana', `tom', `dick', `harry', + `wombat', `frog', {fish}, and so on and on (see + {foo}, sense 4). + + Alternatives to verb doubling include suffixes `-o-rama', + `frenzy' (as in feeding frenzy), and `city' (examples: "barf + city!" "hack-o-rama!" "core dump frenzy!"). Finally, note + that the American terms `parens', `brackets', and `braces' for (), + [], and {} are uncommon; Commonwealth hackish prefers + `brackets', `square brackets', and `curly brackets'. Also, the + use of `pling' for {bang} is common outside the United States. + + See also {attoparsec}, {calculator}, {chemist}, + {console jockey}, {fish}, {go-faster stripes}, + {grunge}, {hakspek}, {heavy metal}, {leaky heap}, + {lord high fixer}, {loose bytes}, {muddie}, {nadger}, + {noddy}, {psychedelicware}, {plingnet}, {raster + blaster}, {RTBM}, {seggie}, {spod}, {sun lounge}, + {terminal junkie}, {tick-list features}, {weeble}, + {weasel}, {YABA}, and notes or definitions under {Bad + Thing}, {barf}, {bogus}, {bum}, {chase pointers}, + {cosmic rays}, {crippleware}, {crunch}, {dodgy}, + {gonk}, {hamster}, {hardwarily}, {mess-dos}, + {nybble}, {proglet}, {root}, {SEX}, {tweak}, and + {xyzzy}. + +:compact: /adj./ Of a design, describes the valuable property + that it can all be apprehended at once in one's head. This + generally means the thing created from the design can be used with + greater facility and fewer errors than an equivalent tool that is + not compact. Compactness does not imply triviality or lack of + power; for example, C is compact and FORTRAN is not, but C is more + powerful than FORTRAN. Designs become non-compact through + accreting {feature}s and {cruft} that don't merge cleanly + into the overall design scheme (thus, some fans of {Classic C} + maintain that ANSI C is no longer compact). + +:compiler jock: /n./ See {jock} (sense 2). + +:compress: [Unix] /vt./ When used without a qualifier, + generally refers to {crunch}ing of a file using a particular C + implementation of compression by James A. Woods et al. and widely + circulated via {Usenet}; use of {crunch} itself in this sense + is rare among Unix hackers. Specifically, compress is built around + the Lempel-Ziv-Welch algorithm as described in "A Technique for + High Performance Data Compression", Terry A. Welch, "IEEE + Computer", vol. 17, no. 6 (June 1984), pp. 8--19. + +:Compu$erve: /n./ See {CI$}. Synonyms CompuSpend and + Compu$pend are also reported. + +:computer confetti: /n./ Syn. {chad}. Though this term is + common, this use of punched-card chad is not a good idea, as the + pieces are stiff and have sharp corners that could injure the eyes. + GLS reports that he once attended a wedding at MIT during which he + and a few other guests enthusiastically threw chad instead of + rice. The groom later grumbled that he and his bride had spent most + of the evening trying to get the stuff out of their hair. + +:computer geek: /n./ 1. One who eats (computer) bugs for a + living. One who fulfills all the dreariest negative stereotypes + about hackers: an asocial, malodorous, pasty-faced monomaniac with + all the personality of a cheese grater. Cannot be used by + outsiders without implied insult to all hackers; compare + black-on-black vs. white-on-black usage of `nigger'. A computer + geek may be either a fundamentally clueless individual or a + proto-hacker in {larval stage}. Also called `turbo nerd', + `turbo geek'. See also {propeller head}, {clustergeeking}, + {geek out}, {wannabee}, {terminal junkie}, {spod}, + {weenie}. 2. Some self-described computer geeks use this term + in a positive sense and protest sense 1 (this seems to have + been a post-1990 development). For one such argument, see + http://samsara.circus.com/~omni/geek.html. + +:computron: /kom'pyoo-tron`/ /n./ 1. A notional unit of + computing power combining instruction speed and storage capacity, + dimensioned roughly in instructions-per-second times + megabytes-of-main-store times megabytes-of-mass-storage. "That + machine can't run GNU Emacs, it doesn't have enough computrons!" + This usage is usually found in metaphors that treat computing power + as a fungible commodity good, like a crop yield or diesel + horsepower. See {bitty box}, {Get a real computer!}, + {toy}, {crank}. 2. A mythical subatomic particle that bears + the unit quantity of computation or information, in much the same + way that an electron bears one unit of electric charge (see also + {bogon}). An elaborate pseudo-scientific theory of computrons + has been developed based on the physical fact that the molecules in + a solid object move more rapidly as it is heated. It is argued + that an object melts because the molecules have lost their + information about where they are supposed to be (that is, they have + emitted computrons). This explains why computers get so hot and + require air conditioning; they use up computrons. Conversely, it + should be possible to cool down an object by placing it in the path + of a computron beam. It is believed that this may also explain why + machines that work at the factory fail in the computer room: the + computrons there have been all used up by the other hardware. + (This theory probably owes something to the "Warlock" stories + by Larry Niven, the best known being "What Good is a Glass + Dagger?", in which magic is fueled by an exhaustible natural + resource called `mana'.) + +:con: [from SF fandom] /n./ A science-fiction convention. Not + used of other sorts of conventions, such as professional meetings. + This term, unlike many others of SF-fan slang, is widely recognized + even by hackers who aren't {fan}s. "We'd been corresponding on + the net for months, then we met face-to-face at a con." + +:condition out: /vt./ To prevent a section of code from being + compiled by surrounding it with a conditional-compilation directive + whose condition is always false. The {canonical} examples of + these directives are `#if 0' (or `#ifdef notdef', though + some find the latter {bletcherous}) and `#endif' in C. + Compare {comment out}. + +:condom: /n./ 1. The protective plastic bag that accompanies + 3.5-inch microfloppy diskettes. Rarely, also used of (paper) disk + envelopes. Unlike the write protect tab, the condom (when left on) + not only impedes the practice of {SEX} but has also been shown + to have a high failure rate as drive mechanisms attempt to access + the disk -- and can even fatally frustrate insertion. 2. The + protective cladding on a {light pipe}. 3. `keyboard condom': + A flexible, transparent plastic cover for a keyboard, designed to + provide some protection against dust and {programming fluid} + without impeding typing. 4. `elephant condom': the plastic + shipping bags used inside cardboard boxes to protect hardware in + transit. 5. /n. obs./ A dummy directory `/usr/tmp/sh', created + to foil the Great Worm by exploiting a portability bug in one + of its parts. So named in the title of a comp.risks article by + Gene Spafford during the Worm crisis, and again in the text of + "The Internet Worm Program: An Analysis", Purdue Technical + Report CSD-TR-823. See {Great Worm, the}. + +:confuser: /n./ Common soundalike slang for `computer'. + Usually encountered in compounds such as `confuser room', + `personal confuser', `confuser guru'. Usage: silly. + +:connector conspiracy: /n./ [probably came into prominence with + the appearance of the KL-10 (one model of the {PDP-10}), none of + whose connectors matched anything else] The tendency of + manufacturers (or, by extension, programmers or purveyors of + anything) to come up with new products that don't fit together with + the old stuff, thereby making you buy either all new stuff or + expensive interface devices. The KL-10 Massbus connector was + actually *patented* by {DEC}, which reputedly refused to + license the design and thus effectively locked third parties out of + competition for the lucrative Massbus peripherals market. This + policy is a source of never-ending frustration for the diehards who + maintain older PDP-10 or VAX systems. Their CPUs work fine, but + they are stuck with dying, obsolescent disk and tape drives with + low capacity and high power requirements. + + (A closely related phenomenon, with a slightly different intent, is + the habit manufacturers have of inventing new screw heads so that + only Designated Persons, possessing the magic screwdrivers, can + remove covers and make repairs or install options. A good 1990s + example is the use of Torx screws for cable-TV set-top boxes. + Older Apple Macintoshes took this one step further, requiring not + only a hex wrench but a specialized case-cracking tool to open the + box.) + + In these latter days of open-systems computing this term has fallen + somewhat into disuse, to be replaced by the observation that + "Standards are great! There are so many of them to choose + from!" Compare {backward combatability}. + +:cons: /konz/ or /kons/ [from LISP] 1. /vt./ To add a new + element to a specified list, esp. at the top. "OK, cons picking + a replacement for the console TTY onto the agenda." 2. `cons + up': /vt./ To synthesize from smaller pieces: "to cons up an + example". + + In LISP itself, `cons' is the most fundamental operation for + building structures. It takes any two objects and returns a + `dot-pair' or two-branched tree with one object hanging from each + branch. Because the result of a cons is an object, it can be used + to build binary trees of any shape and complexity. Hackers think + of it as a sort of universal constructor, and that is where the + jargon meanings spring from. + +:considered harmful: /adj./ Edsger W. Dijkstra's note in the + March 1968 "Communications of the ACM", "Goto Statement + Considered Harmful", fired the first salvo in the structured + programming wars (text at http://www.acm.org/classics). + Amusingly, the ACM considered the resulting acrimony sufficiently + harmful that it will (by policy) no longer print an article taking + so assertive a position against a coding practice. In the ensuing + decades, a large number of both serious papers and parodies have + borne titles of the form "X considered Y". The + structured-programming wars eventually blew over with the + realization that both sides were wrong, but use of such titles has + remained as a persistent minor in-joke (the `considered silly' + found at various places in this lexicon is related). + +:console:: /n./ 1. The operator's station of a {mainframe}. + In times past, this was a privileged location that conveyed godlike + powers to anyone with fingers on its keys. Under Unix and other + modern timesharing OSes, such privileges are guarded by passwords + instead, and the console is just the {tty} the system was booted + from. Some of the mystique remains, however, and it is traditional + for sysadmins to post urgent messages to all users from the console + (on Unix, /dev/console). 2. On microcomputer Unix boxes, the main + screen and keyboard (as opposed to character-only terminals talking + to a serial port). Typically only the console can do real graphics + or run {X}. See also {CTY}. + +:console jockey: /n./ See {terminal junkie}. + +:content-free: /adj./ [by analogy with techspeak + `context-free'] Used of a message that adds nothing to the + recipient's knowledge. Though this adjective is sometimes applied + to {flamage}, it more usually connotes derision for + communication styles that exalt form over substance or are centered + on concerns irrelevant to the subject ostensibly at hand. Perhaps + most used with reference to speeches by company presidents and + other professional manipulators. "Content-free? Uh... that's + anything printed on glossy paper." (See also {four-color + glossies}.) "He gave a talk on the implications of electronic + networks for postmodernism and the fin-de-siecle aesthetic. It was + content-free." + +:control-C: /vi./ 1. "Stop whatever you are doing." From the + interrupt character used on many operating systems to abort a + running program. Considered silly. 2. /interj./ Among BSD Unix + hackers, the canonical humorous response to "Give me a break!" + +:control-O: /vi./ "Stop talking." From the character used on + some operating systems to abort output but allow the program to + keep on running. Generally means that you are not interested in + hearing anything more from that person, at least on that topic; a + standard response to someone who is flaming. Considered silly. + Compare {control-S}. + +:control-Q: /vi./ "Resume." From the ASCII DC1 or {XON} + character (the pronunciation /X-on/ is therefore also used), used + to undo a previous {control-S}. + +:control-S: /vi./ "Stop talking for a second." From the + ASCII DC3 or XOFF character (the pronunciation /X-of/ is + therefore also used). Control-S differs from {control-O} in + that the person is asked to stop talking (perhaps because you are + on the phone) but will be allowed to continue when you're ready to + listen to him -- as opposed to control-O, which has more of the + meaning of "Shut up." Considered silly. + +:Conway's Law: /prov./ The rule that the organization of the + software and the organization of the software team will be + congruent; originally stated as "If you have four groups working + on a compiler, you'll get a 4-pass compiler". + + The law was named after Melvin Conway, an early proto-hacker who + wrote an assembler for the Burroughs 220 called SAVE. (The name + `SAVE' didn't stand for anything; it was just that you lost fewer + card decks and listings because they all had SAVE written on them.) + + There is also Tom Cheatham's amendment of Conway's Law: + "If a group of N persons implements a COBOL compiler, there will be + N-1 passes. Someone in the group has to be the manager." + +:cookbook: /n./ [from amateur electronics and radio] A book of small + code segments that the reader can use to do various {magic} + things in programs. One current example is the + "{{PostScript}} Language Tutorial and Cookbook" by Adobe + Systems, Inc (Addison-Wesley, ISBN 0-201-10179-3), also known as + the {Blue Book} which has recipes for things like wrapping text + around arbitrary curves and making 3D fonts. Cookbooks, slavishly + followed, can lead one into {voodoo programming}, but are useful + for hackers trying to {monkey up} small programs in unknown + languages. This function is analogous to the role of phrasebooks + in human languages. + +:cooked mode: /n./ [Unix, by opposition from {raw mode}] The + normal character-input mode, with interrupts enabled and with + erase, kill and other special-character interpretations performed + directly by the tty driver. Oppose {raw mode}, {rare mode}. + This term is techspeak under Unix but jargon elsewhere; other + operating systems often have similar mode distinctions, and the + raw/rare/cooked way of describing them has spread widely along with + the C language and other Unix exports. Most generally, `cooked + mode' may refer to any mode of a system that does extensive + preprocessing before presenting data to a program. + +:cookie: /n./ A handle, transaction ID, or other token of + agreement between cooperating programs. "I give him a packet, he + gives me back a cookie." The claim check you get from a + dry-cleaning shop is a perfect mundane example of a cookie; the + only thing it's useful for is to relate a later transaction to this + one (so you get the same clothes back). Compare {magic cookie}; + see also {fortune cookie}. + +:cookie bear: /n. obs./ Original term, pre-Sesame-Street, for + what is now universally called a {cookie monster}. A + correspondent observes "In those days, hackers were actually + getting their yucks from...sit down now...Andy Williams. + Yes, *that* Andy Williams. Seems he had a rather hip (by the + standards of the day) TV variety show. One of the best parts of the + show was the recurring `cookie bear' sketch. In these sketches, a + guy in a bear suit tried all sorts of tricks to get a cookie out of + Williams. The sketches would always end with Williams shrieking + (and I don't mean figuratively), `No cookies! Not now, not + ever...NEVER!!!' And the bear would fall down. Great stuff." + +:cookie file: /n./ A collection of {fortune cookie}s in a + format that facilitates retrieval by a fortune program. There are + several different cookie files in public distribution, and site + admins often assemble their own from various sources including this + lexicon. + +:cookie jar: /n./ An area of memory set aside for storing + {cookie}s. Most commonly heard in the Atari ST community; many + useful ST programs record their presence by storing a distinctive + {magic number} in the jar. Programs can inquire after the + presence or otherwise of other programs by searching the contents + of the jar. + +:cookie monster: /n./ [from the children's TV program + "Sesame Street"] Any of a family of early (1970s) hacks + reported on {{TOPS-10}}, {{ITS}}, {{Multics}}, and elsewhere + that would lock up either the victim's terminal (on a time-sharing + machine) or the {{console}} (on a batch {mainframe}), + repeatedly demanding "I WANT A COOKIE". The required responses + ranged in complexity from "COOKIE" through "HAVE A COOKIE" and + upward. Folklorist Jan Brunvand (see {FOAF}) has described + these programs as urban legends (implying they probably never + existed) but they existed, all right, in several different + versions. See also {wabbit}. Interestingly, the term `cookie + monster' appears to be a {retcon}; the original term was + {cookie bear}. + +:copious free time: /n./ [Apple; orig. fr. the intro to Tom + Lehrer's song "It Makes A Fellow Proud To Be A Soldier"] + 1. [used ironically to indicate the speaker's lack of the quantity + in question] A mythical schedule slot for accomplishing tasks held + to be unlikely or impossible. Sometimes used to indicate that the + speaker is interested in accomplishing the task, but believes that + the opportunity will not arise. "I'll implement the automatic + layout stuff in my copious free time." 2. [Archly] Time reserved + for bogus or otherwise idiotic tasks, such as implementation of + {chrome}, or the stroking of {suit}s. "I'll get back to him + on that feature in my copious free time." + +:copper: /n./ Conventional electron-carrying network cable with + a core conductor of copper -- or aluminum! Opposed to {light + pipe} or, say, a short-range microwave link. + +:copy protection: /n./ A class of methods for preventing + incompetent pirates from stealing software and legitimate customers + from using it. Considered silly. + +:copybroke: /kop'ee-brohk/ /adj./ 1. [play on `copyright'] + Used to describe an instance of a copy-protected program that has + been `broken'; that is, a copy with the copy-protection scheme + disabled. Syn. {copywronged}. 2. Copy-protected software + which is unusable because of some bit-rot or bug that has confused + the anti-piracy check. See also {copy protection}. + +:copyleft: /kop'ee-left/ /n./ [play on `copyright'] 1. The + copyright notice (`General Public License') carried by {GNU} + {EMACS} and other Free Software Foundation software, granting reuse + and reproduction rights to all comers (but see also {General + Public Virus}). 2. By extension, any copyright notice intended to + achieve similar aims. + +:copywronged: /kop'ee-rongd/ /adj./ [play on `copyright'] + Syn. for {copybroke}. + +:core: /n./ Main storage or RAM. Dates from the days of + ferrite-core memory; now archaic as techspeak most places outside + IBM, but also still used in the Unix community and by old-time + hackers or those who would sound like them. Some derived idioms + are quite current; `in core', for example, means `in memory' + (as opposed to `on disk'), and both {core dump} and the `core + image' or `core file' produced by one are terms in favor. Some + varieties of Commonwealth hackish prefer {store}. + +:core cancer: /n./ A process that exhibits a slow but + inexorable resource {leak} -- like a cancer, it kills by + crowding out productive `tissue'. + +:core dump: /n./ [common {Iron Age} jargon, preserved by + Unix] 1. [techspeak] A copy of the contents of {core}, produced + when a process is aborted by certain kinds of internal error. + 2. By extension, used for humans passing out, vomiting, or + registering extreme shock. "He dumped core. All over the floor. + What a mess." "He heard about X and dumped core." + 3. Occasionally used for a human rambling on pointlessly at great + length; esp. in apology: "Sorry, I dumped core on you". 4. A + recapitulation of knowledge (compare {bits}, sense 1). Hence, + spewing all one knows about a topic (syn. {brain dump}), esp. + in a lecture or answer to an exam question. "Short, concise + answers are better than core dumps" (from the instructions to an + exam at Columbia). See {core}. + +:core leak: /n./ Syn. {memory leak}. + +:Core Wars: /n./ A game between `assembler' programs in a + simulated machine, where the objective is to kill your opponent's + program by overwriting it. Popularized by A. K. Dewdney's column + in "Scientific American" magazine, this was actually devised + by Victor Vyssotsky, Robert Morris Sr., and Dennis Ritchie in the + early 1960s (their original game was called `Darwin' and ran on a + PDP-1 at Bell Labs). See {core}. + +:corge: /korj/ /n./ [originally, the name of a cat] Yet + another {metasyntactic variable}, invented by Mike Gallaher and + propagated by the {GOSMACS} documentation. See {grault}. + +:cosmic rays: /n./ Notionally, the cause of {bit rot}. + However, this is a semi-independent usage that may be invoked as a + humorous way to {handwave} away any minor {randomness} that + doesn't seem worth the bother of investigating. "Hey, Eric -- I + just got a burst of garbage on my {tube}, where did that come + from?" "Cosmic rays, I guess." Compare {sunspots}, + {phase of the moon}. The British seem to prefer the usage + `cosmic showers'; `alpha particles' is also heard, because + stray alpha particles passing through a memory chip can cause + single-bit errors (this becomes increasingly more likely as memory + sizes and densities increase). + + Factual note: Alpha particles cause bit rot, cosmic rays do not + (except occasionally in spaceborne computers). Intel could not + explain random bit drops in their early chips, and one hypothesis + was cosmic rays. So they created the World's Largest Lead Safe, + using 25 tons of the stuff, and used two identical boards for + testing. One was placed in the safe, one outside. The hypothesis + was that if cosmic rays were causing the bit drops, they should see + a statistically significant difference between the error rates on + the two boards. They did not observe such a difference. Further + investigation demonstrated conclusively that the bit drops were due + to alpha particle emissions from thorium (and to a much lesser + degree uranium) in the encapsulation material. Since it is + impossible to eliminate these radioactives (they are uniformly + distributed through the earth's crust, with the statistically + insignificant exception of uranium lodes) it became obvious that + one has to design memories to withstand these hits. + +:cough and die: /v./ Syn. {barf}. Connotes that the program + is throwing its hands up by design rather than because of a bug or + oversight. "The parser saw a control-A in its input where it was + looking for a printable, so it coughed and died." Compare + {die}, {die horribly}, {scream and die}. + +:cowboy: /n./ [Sun, from William Gibson's {cyberpunk} SF] + Synonym for {hacker}. It is reported that at Sun this word is + often said with reverence. + +:CP/M:: /C-P-M/ /n./ [Control Program/Monitor; later + {retcon}ned to Control Program for Microcomputers] An early + microcomputer {OS} written by hacker Gary Kildall for 8080- and + Z80-based machines, very popular in the late 1970s but virtually + wiped out by MS-DOS after the release of the IBM PC in 1981. + Legend has it that Kildall's company blew its chance to write the + OS for the IBM PC because Kildall decided to spend a day IBM's reps + wanted to meet with him enjoying the perfect flying weather in his + private plane. Many of CP/M's features and conventions strongly + resemble those of early {DEC} operating systems such as + {{TOPS-10}}, OS/8, RSTS, and RSX-11. See {{MS-DOS}}, + {operating system}. + +:CPU Wars: /C-P-U worz/ /n./ A 1979 large-format comic by + Chas Andres chronicling the attempts of the brainwashed androids of + IPM (Impossible to Program Machines) to conquer and destroy the + peaceful denizens of HEC (Human Engineered Computers). This rather + transparent allegory featured many references to {ADVENT} and + the immortal line "Eat flaming death, minicomputer mongrels!" + (uttered, of course, by an IPM stormtrooper). It is alleged that + the author subsequently received a letter of appreciation on IBM + company stationery from the head of IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research + Laboratories (then, as now, one of the few islands of true + hackerdom in the IBM archipelago). The lower loop of the B in the + IBM logo, it is said, had been carefully whited out. See {eat + flaming death}. + +:crack root: /v./ To defeat the security system of a Unix + machine and gain {root} privileges thereby; see {cracking}. + +:cracker: /n./ One who breaks security on a system. Coined + ca. 1985 by hackers in defense against journalistic misuse of + {hacker} (q.v., sense 8). An earlier attempt to establish + `worm' in this sense around 1981--82 on Usenet was largely a + failure. + + Use of both these neologisms reflects a strong revulsion against + the theft and vandalism perpetrated by cracking rings. While it is + expected that any real hacker will have done some playful cracking + and knows many of the basic techniques, anyone past {larval + stage} is expected to have outgrown the desire to do so except for + immediate, benign, practical reasons (for example, if it's + necessary to get around some security in order to get some work + done). + + Thus, there is far less overlap between hackerdom and crackerdom + than the {mundane} reader misled by sensationalistic journalism + might expect. Crackers tend to gather in small, tight-knit, very + secretive groups that have little overlap with the huge, open + poly-culture this lexicon describes; though crackers often like to + describe *themselves* as hackers, most true hackers consider + them a separate and lower form of life. + + Ethical considerations aside, hackers figure that anyone who can't + imagine a more interesting way to play with their computers than + breaking into someone else's has to be pretty {losing}. Some + other reasons crackers are looked down on are discussed in the + entries on {cracking} and {phreaking}. See also + {samurai}, {dark-side hacker}, and {hacker ethic}. For a + portrait of the typical teenage cracker, see {warez + d00dz}. + +:cracking: /n./ The act of breaking into a computer system; + what a {cracker} does. Contrary to widespread myth, this does + not usually involve some mysterious leap of hackerly brilliance, + but rather persistence and the dogged repetition of a handful of + fairly well-known tricks that exploit common weaknesses in the + security of target systems. Accordingly, most crackers are only + mediocre hackers. + +:crank: /vt./ [from automotive slang] Verb used to describe the + performance of a machine, especially sustained performance. "This + box cranks (or, cranks at) about 6 megaflops, with a burst mode of + twice that on vectorized operations." + +:CrApTeX: /krap'tekh/ /n./ [University of York, England] Term + of abuse used to describe TeX and LaTeX when they don't work (when + used by TeXhackers), or all the time (by everyone else). The + non-TeX-enthusiasts generally dislike it because it is more verbose + than other formatters (e.g. {{troff}}) and because (particularly + if the standard Computer Modern fonts are used) it generates vast + output files. See {religious issues}, {{TeX}}. + +:crash: 1. /n./ A sudden, usually drastic failure. Most often + said of the {system} (q.v., sense 1), esp. of magnetic disk + drives (the term originally described what happens when the air + gap of a hard disk collapses). "Three {luser}s lost their + files in last night's disk crash." A disk crash that involves the + read/write heads dropping onto the surface of the disks and + scraping off the oxide may also be referred to as a `head crash', + whereas the term `system crash' usually, though not always, + implies that the operating system or other software was at fault. + 2. /v./ To fail suddenly. "Has the system just crashed?" + "Something crashed the OS!" See {down}. Also used + transitively to indicate the cause of the crash (usually a person + or a program, or both). "Those idiots playing {SPACEWAR} + crashed the system." 3. /vi./ Sometimes said of people hitting the + sack after a long {hacking run}; see {gronk out}. + +:crash and burn: /vi.,n./ A spectacular crash, in the mode of + the conclusion of the car-chase scene in the movie "Bullitt" + and many subsequent imitators (compare {die horribly}). Sun-3 + monitors losing the flyback transformer and lightning strikes on + VAX-11/780 backplanes are notable crash and burn generators. The + construction `crash-and-burn machine' is reported for a computer + used exclusively for alpha or {beta} testing, or reproducing + bugs (i.e., not for development). The implication is that it + wouldn't be such a disaster if that machine crashed, since only the + testers would be inconvenienced. + +:crawling horror: /n./ Ancient crufty hardware or software that + is kept obstinately alive by forces beyond the control of the + hackers at a site. Like {dusty deck} or {gonkulator}, but + connotes that the thing described is not just an irritation but an + active menace to health and sanity. "Mostly we code new stuff in + C, but they pay us to maintain one big FORTRAN II application from + nineteen-sixty-X that's a real crawling horror...." Compare + {WOMBAT}. + +:cray: /kray/ /n./ 1. (properly, capitalized) One of the line + of supercomputers designed by Cray Research. 2. Any supercomputer + at all. 3. The {canonical} {number-crunching} machine. + + The term is actually the lowercased last name of Seymour Cray, a + noted computer architect and co-founder of the company. Numerous + vivid legends surround him, some true and some admittedly invented + by Cray Research brass to shape their corporate culture and image. + +:cray instability: /n./ 1. A shortcoming of a program or + algorithm that manifests itself only when a large problem is being + run on a powerful machine (see {cray}). Generally more subtle + than bugs that can be detected in smaller problems running on a + workstation or mini. 2. More specifically, a shortcoming of + algorithms which are well behaved when run on gentle floating point + hardware (such as IEEE-standard or DEC) but which break down badly + when exposed to a Cray's unique `rounding' rules. + +:crayola: /kray-oh'l*/ /n./ A super-mini or -micro computer + that provides some reasonable percentage of supercomputer + performance for an unreasonably low price. Might also be a + {killer micro}. + +:crayola books: /n./ The {rainbow series} of National + Computer Security Center (NCSC) computer security standards (see + {Orange Book}). Usage: humorous and/or disparaging. + +:crayon: /n./ 1. Someone who works on Cray supercomputers. + More specifically, it implies a programmer, probably of the CDC + ilk, probably male, and almost certainly wearing a tie + (irrespective of gender). Systems types who have a Unix background + tend not to be described as crayons. 2. A {computron} (sense 2) + that participates only in {number-crunching}. 3. A unit of + computational power equal to that of a single Cray-1. There is a + standard joke about this usage that derives from an old Crayola + crayon promotional gimmick: When you buy 64 crayons you get a free + sharpener. + +:creationism: /n./ The (false) belief that large, innovative + software designs can be completely specified in advance and then + painlessly magicked out of the void by the normal efforts of a team + of normally talented programmers. In fact, experience has shown + repeatedly that good designs arise only from evolutionary, + exploratory interaction between one (or at most a small handful of) + exceptionally able designer(s) and an active user population --- + and that the first try at a big new idea is always wrong. + Unfortunately, because these truths don't fit the planning models + beloved of {management}, they are generally ignored. + +:creep: /v./ To advance, grow, or multiply inexorably. In + hackish usage this verb has overtones of menace and silliness, + evoking the creeping horrors of low-budget monster movies. + +:creeping elegance: /n./ Describes a tendency for parts of a + design to become {elegant} past the point of diminishing return, + something which often happens at the expense of the less + interesting parts of the design, the schedule, and other things + deemed important in the {Real World}. See also {creeping + featurism}, {second-system effect}, {tense}. + +:creeping featurism: /kree'ping fee'chr-izm/ /n./ + 1. Describes a systematic tendency to load more {chrome} and + {feature}s onto systems at the expense of whatever elegance they + may have possessed when originally designed. See also {feeping + creaturism}. "You know, the main problem with {BSD} Unix has + always been creeping featurism." 2. More generally, the tendency + for anything complicated to become even more complicated because + people keep saying "Gee, it would be even better if it had this + feature too". (See {feature}.) The result is usually a + patchwork because it grew one ad-hoc step at a time, rather than + being planned. Planning is a lot of work, but it's easy to add + just one extra little feature to help someone ... and then + another ... and another.... When creeping featurism gets + out of hand, it's like a cancer. Usually this term is used to + describe computer programs, but it could also be said of the + federal government, the IRS 1040 form, and new cars. A similar + phenomenon sometimes afflicts conscious redesigns; see + {second-system effect}. See also {creeping elegance}. + +:creeping featuritis: /kree'ping fee'-chr-i:`t*s/ /n./ + Variant of {creeping featurism}, with its own spoonerization: + `feeping creaturitis'. Some people like to reserve this form for + the disease as it actually manifests in software or hardware, as + opposed to the lurking general tendency in designers' minds. + (After all, -ism means `condition' or `pursuit of', whereas + -itis usually means `inflammation of'.) + +:cretin: /kret'in/ or /kree'tn/ /n./ Congenital {loser}; + an obnoxious person; someone who can't do anything right. It has + been observed that many American hackers tend to favor the British + pronunciation /kret'in/ over standard American /kree'tn/; it is + thought this may be due to the insidious phonetic influence of + Monty Python's Flying Circus. + +:cretinous: /kret'n-*s/ or /kreet'n-*s/ /adj./ Wrong; + stupid; non-functional; very poorly designed. Also used + pejoratively of people. See {dread high-bit disease} for an + example. Approximate synonyms: {bletcherous}, {bagbiting} + {losing}, {brain-damaged}. + +:crippleware: /n./ 1. Software that has some important + functionality deliberately removed, so as to entice potential users + to pay for a working version. 2. [Cambridge] Variety of + {guiltware} that exhorts you to donate to some charity (compare + {careware}, {nagware}). 3. Hardware deliberately crippled, + which can be upgraded to a more expensive model by a trivial change + (e.g., cutting a jumper). + + An excellent example of crippleware (sense 3) is Intel's 486SX + chip, which is a standard 486DX chip with the co-processor dyked + out (in some early versions it was present but disabled). To + upgrade, you buy a complete 486DX chip with *working* + co-processor (its identity thinly veiled by a different pinout) and + plug it into the board's expansion socket. It then disables the + SX, which becomes a fancy power sink. Don't you love Intel? + +:critical mass: /n./ In physics, the minimum amount of + fissionable material required to sustain a chain reaction. Of a + software product, describes a condition of the software such that + fixing one bug introduces one plus {epsilon} bugs. (This malady + has many causes: {creeping featurism}, ports to too many + disparate environments, poor initial design, etc.) When software + achieves critical mass, it can never be fixed; it can only be + discarded and rewritten. + +:crlf: /ker'l*f/, sometimes /kru'l*f/ or /C-R-L-F/ /n./ + (often capitalized as `CRLF') A carriage return (CR, ASCII 0001101) + followed by a line feed (LF, ASCII 0001010). More loosely, + whatever it takes to get you from the end of one line of text to + the beginning of the next line. See {newline}, {terpri}. + Under {{Unix}} influence this usage has become less common (Unix + uses a bare line feed as its `CRLF'). + +:crock: /n./ [from the American scatologism `crock of shit'] + 1. An awkward feature or programming technique that ought to be + made cleaner. For example, using small integers to represent error + codes without the program interpreting them to the user (as in, for + example, Unix `make(1)', which returns code 139 for a process + that dies due to {segfault}). 2. A technique that works + acceptably, but which is quite prone to failure if disturbed in the + least. For example, a too-clever programmer might write an + assembler which mapped instruction mnemonics to numeric opcodes + algorithmically, a trick which depends far too intimately on the + particular bit patterns of the opcodes. (For another example of + programming with a dependence on actual opcode values, see {The + Story of Mel, a Real Programmer} in Appendix A.) Many crocks + have a tightly woven, almost completely unmodifiable structure. + See {kluge}, {brittle}. The adjectives `crockish' and + `crocky', and the nouns `crockishness' and `crockitude', are + also used. + +:cross-post: [Usenet] /vi./ To post a single article + simultaneously to several newsgroups. Distinguished from posting + the article repeatedly, once to each newsgroup, which causes people + to see it multiple times (which is very bad form). Gratuitous + cross-posting without a Followup-To line directing responses to a + single followup group is frowned upon, as it tends to cause + {followup} articles to go to inappropriate newsgroups when + people respond to only one part of the original posting. + +:crudware: /kruhd'weir/ /n./ Pejorative term for the hundreds + of megabytes of low-quality {freeware} circulated by user's + groups and BBS systems in the micro-hobbyist world. "Yet + *another* set of disk catalog utilities for {{MS-DOS}}? + What crudware!" + +:cruft: /kruhft/ [back-formation from {crufty}] 1. /n./ An + unpleasant substance. The dust that gathers under your bed is + cruft; the TMRC Dictionary correctly noted that attacking it with a + broom only produces more. 2. /n./ The results of shoddy + construction. 3. /vt./ [from `hand cruft', pun on `hand craft'] + To write assembler code for something normally (and better) done by + a compiler (see {hand-hacking}). 4. /n./ Excess; superfluous + junk; used esp. of redundant or superseded code. 5. [University + of Wisconsin] /n./ Cruft is to hackers as gaggle is to geese; that + is, at UW one properly says "a cruft of hackers". + +:cruft together: /vt./ (also `cruft up') To throw together + something ugly but temporarily workable. Like /vt./ {kluge up}, + but more pejorative. "There isn't any program now to reverse all + the lines of a file, but I can probably cruft one together in about + 10 minutes." See {hack together}, {hack up}, {kluge up}, + {crufty}. + +:cruftsmanship: /kruhfts'm*n-ship / /n./ [from {cruft}] + The antithesis of craftsmanship. + +:crufty: /kruhf'tee/ /adj./ [origin unknown; poss. from + `crusty' or `cruddy'] 1. Poorly built, possibly over-complex. + The {canonical} example is "This is standard old crufty + {DEC} software". In fact, one fanciful theory of the origin of + `crufty' holds that was originally a mutation of `crusty' + applied to DEC software so old that the `s' characters were tall + and skinny, looking more like `f' characters. 2. Unpleasant, + especially to the touch, often with encrusted junk. Like spilled + coffee smeared with peanut butter and catsup. 3. Generally + unpleasant. 4. (sometimes spelled `cruftie') /n./ A small crufty + object (see {frob}); often one that doesn't fit well into the + scheme of things. "A LISP property list is a good place to store + crufties (or, collectively, {random} cruft)." + + This term is one of the oldest in the jargon and no one is sure of + its etymology, but it is suggestive that there is a Cruft Hall at + Harvard University which is part of the old physics building; it's + said to have been the physics department's radar lab during WWII. + To this day (early 1993) the windows appear to be full of random + techno-junk. MIT or Lincoln Labs people may well have coined the + term as a knock on the competition. + +:crumb: /n./ Two binary digits; a {quad}. Larger than a + {bit}, smaller than a {nybble}. Considered silly. + Syn. {tayste}. General discussion of such terms is under + {nybble}. + +:crunch: 1. /vi./ To process, usually in a time-consuming or + complicated way. Connotes an essentially trivial operation that is + nonetheless painful to perform. The pain may be due to the + triviality's being embedded in a loop from 1 to 1,000,000,000. + "FORTRAN programs do mostly {number-crunching}." 2. /vt./ To + reduce the size of a file by a complicated scheme that produces bit + configurations completely unrelated to the original data, such as + by a Huffman code. (The file ends up looking something like a + paper document would if somebody crunched the paper into a wad.) + Since such compression usually takes more computations than simpler + methods such as run-length encoding, the term is doubly + appropriate. (This meaning is usually used in the construction + `file crunch(ing)' to distinguish it from {number-crunching}.) + See {compress}. 3. /n./ The character `#'. Used at XEROX + and CMU, among other places. See {{ASCII}}. 4. /vt./ To squeeze + program source into a minimum-size representation that will still + compile or execute. The term came into being specifically for a + famous program on the BBC micro that crunched BASIC source in order + to make it run more quickly (it was a wholly interpretive BASIC, so + the number of characters mattered). {Obfuscated C Contest} + entries are often crunched; see the first example under that entry. + +:cruncha cruncha cruncha: /kruhn'ch* kruhn'ch* kruhn'ch*/ /interj./ + An encouragement sometimes muttered to a machine + bogged down in a serious {grovel}. Also describes a notional + sound made by groveling hardware. See {wugga wugga}, {grind} + (sense 3). + +:cryppie: /krip'ee/ /n./ A cryptographer. One who hacks or + implements cryptographic software or hardware. + +:CTSS: /C-T-S-S/ /n./ Compatible Time-Sharing System. An + early (1963) experiment in the design of interactive time-sharing + operating systems, ancestral to {{Multics}}, {{Unix}}, and + {{ITS}}. The name {{ITS}} (Incompatible Time-sharing System) + was a hack on CTSS, meant both as a joke and to express some basic + differences in philosophy about the way I/O services should be + presented to user programs. + +:CTY: /sit'ee/ or /C-T-Y/ /n./ [MIT] The terminal + physically associated with a computer's system {{console}}. The + term is a contraction of `Console {tty}', that is, `Console + TeleTYpe'. This {{ITS}}- and {{TOPS-10}}-associated term has + become less common, as most Unix hackers simply refer to the CTY as + `the console'. + +:cube: /n./ 1. [short for `cubicle'] A module in the + open-plan offices used at many programming shops. "I've got the + manuals in my cube." 2. A NeXT machine (which resembles a + matte-black cube). + +:cubing: /vi./ [parallel with `tubing'] 1. Hacking on an IPSC + (Intel Personal SuperComputer) hypercube. "Louella's gone cubing + *again*!!" 2. Hacking Rubik's Cube or related puzzles, + either physically or mathematically. 3. An indescribable form of + self-torture (see sense 1 or 2). + +:cursor dipped in X: /n./ There are a couple of metaphors in + English of the form `pen dipped in X' (perhaps the most common + values of X are `acid', `bile', and `vitriol'). These map + over neatly to this hackish usage (the cursor being what moves, + leaving letters behind, when one is composing on-line). "Talk + about a {nastygram}! He must've had his cursor dipped in acid + when he wrote that one!" + +:cuspy: /kuhs'pee/ /adj./ [WPI: from the {DEC} + abbreviation CUSP, for `Commonly Used System Program', i.e., a + utility program used by many people] 1. (of a program) + Well-written. 2. Functionally excellent. A program that performs + well and interfaces well to users is cuspy. See {rude}. + 3. [NYU] Said of an attractive woman, especially one regarded as + available. Implies a certain curvaceousness. + +:cut a tape: /vi./ To write a software or document distribution + on magnetic tape for shipment. Has nothing to do with physically + cutting the medium! Early versions of this lexicon claimed that + one never analogously speaks of `cutting a disk', but this has + since been reported as live usage. Related slang usages are + mainstream business's `cut a check', the recording industry's + `cut a record', and the military's `cut an order'. + + All of these usages reflect physical processes in obsolete + recording and duplication technologies. The first stage in + manufacturing an old-style vinyl record involved cutting grooves in + a stamping die with a precision lathe. More mundanely, the + dominant technology for mass duplication of paper documents in + pre-photocopying days involved "cutting a stencil", punching away + portions of the wax overlay on a silk screen. More directly, + paper tape with holes punched in it was an important early storage + medium. + +:cybercrud: /si:'ber-kruhd/ /n./ 1. [coined by Ted Nelson] + Obfuscatory tech-talk. Verbiage with a high {MEGO} factor. The + computer equivalent of bureaucratese. 2. Incomprehensible stuff + embedded in email. First there were the "Received" headers that + show how mail flows through systems, then MIME (Multi-purpose + Internet Mail Extensions) headers and part boundaries, and now huge + blocks of hex for PEM (Privacy Enhanced Mail) or PGP (Pretty Good + Privacy) digital signatures and certificates of authenticity. This + stuff all services a purpose and good user interfaces should hide + it, but all too often users are forced to wade through it. + +:cyberpunk: /si:'ber-puhnk/ /n.,adj./ [orig. by SF writer + Bruce Bethke and/or editor Gardner Dozois] A subgenre of SF + launched in 1982 by William Gibson's epoch-making novel + "Neuromancer" (though its roots go back through Vernor Vinge's + "True Names" (see the {Bibliography} in Appendix C) to + John Brunner's 1975 novel "The Shockwave Rider"). Gibson's + near-total ignorance of computers and the present-day hacker + culture enabled him to speculate about the role of computers and + hackers in the future in ways hackers have since found both + irritatingly na"ive and tremendously stimulating. Gibson's work + was widely imitated, in particular by the short-lived but + innovative "Max Headroom" TV series. See {cyberspace}, + {ice}, {jack in}, {go flatline}. + + Since 1990 or so, popular culture has included a movement or + fashion trend that calls itself `cyberpunk', associated especially + with the rave/techno subculture. Hackers have mixed feelings about + this. On the one hand, self-described cyberpunks too often seem to + be shallow trendoids in black leather who have substituted + enthusiastic blathering about technology for actually learning and + *doing* it. Attitude is no substitute for competence. On the + other hand, at least cyberpunks are excited about the right things + and properly respectful of hacking talent in those who have it. + The general consensus is to tolerate them politely in hopes that + they'll attract people who grow into being true hackers. + +:cyberspace: /si:'br-spays`/ /n./ 1. Notional + `information-space' loaded with visual cues and navigable with + brain-computer interfaces called `cyberspace decks'; a + characteristic prop of {cyberpunk} SF. Serious efforts to + construct {virtual reality} interfaces modeled explicitly on + Gibsonian cyberspace are under way, using more conventional devices + such as glove sensors and binocular TV headsets. Few hackers are + prepared to deny outright the possibility of a cyberspace someday + evolving out of the network (see {network, the}). 2. The + Internet or {Matrix} (sense #2) as a whole, considered as a + crude cyberspace (sense 1). Although this usage became widely + popular in the mainstream press during 1994 when the Internet + exploded into public awareness, it is strongly deprecated among + hackers because the Internet does not meet the high, SF-inspired + standards they have for true cyberspace technology. Thus, this use + of the term usually tags a {wannabee} or outsider. + 3. Occasionally, the metaphoric location of the mind of a person in + {hack mode}. Some hackers report experiencing strong eidetic + imagery when in hack mode; interestingly, independent reports from + multiple sources suggest that there are common features to the + experience. In particular, the dominant colors of this subjective + `cyberspace' are often gray and silver, and the imagery often + involves constellations of marching dots, elaborate shifting + patterns of lines and angles, or moire patterns. + +:cycle: 1. /n./ The basic unit of computation. What every + hacker wants more of (noted hacker Bill Gosper describes himself as + a "cycle junkie"). One can describe an instruction as taking so + many `clock cycles'. Often the computer can access its memory + once on every clock cycle, and so one speaks also of `memory + cycles'. These are technical meanings of {cycle}. The jargon + meaning comes from the observation that there are only so many + cycles per second, and when you are sharing a computer the cycles + get divided up among the users. The more cycles the computer + spends working on your program rather than someone else's, the + faster your program will run. That's why every hacker wants more + cycles: so he can spend less time waiting for the computer to + respond. 2. By extension, a notional unit of *human* thought + power, emphasizing that lots of things compete for the typical + hacker's think time. "I refused to get involved with the Rubik's + Cube back when it was big. Knew I'd burn too many cycles on it if + I let myself." 3. /vt./ Syn. {bounce} (sense 4), {120 reset}; + from the phrase `cycle power'. "Cycle the machine again, that + serial port's still hung." + +:cycle crunch: /n./ A situation wherein the number of people + trying to use a computer simultaneously has reached the point where + no one can get enough cycles because they are spread too thin and + the system has probably begun to {thrash}. This scenario is an + inevitable result of Parkinson's Law applied to timesharing. + Usually the only solution is to buy more computer. Happily, this + has rapidly become easier since the mid-1980s, so much so that the + very term `cycle crunch' now has a faintly archaic flavor; most + hackers now use workstations or personal computers as opposed to + traditional timesharing systems. + +:cycle drought: /n./ A scarcity of cycles. It may be due to a + {cycle crunch}, but it could also occur because part of the + computer is temporarily not working, leaving fewer cycles to go + around. "The {high moby} is {down}, so we're running with + only half the usual amount of memory. There will be a cycle + drought until it's fixed." + +:cycle of reincarnation: /n./ [coined in a paper by T. H. Myer + and I.E. Sutherland "On the Design of Display Processors", Comm. + ACM, Vol. 11, no. 6, June 1968)] Term used to refer to a well-known + effect whereby function in a computing system family is migrated + out to special-purpose peripheral hardware for speed, then the + peripheral evolves toward more computing power as it does its job, + then somebody notices that it is inefficient to support two + asymmetrical processors in the architecture and folds the function + back into the main CPU, at which point the cycle begins again. + + Several iterations of this cycle have been observed in + graphics-processor design, and at least one or two in + communications and floating-point processors. Also known as `the + Wheel of Life', `the Wheel of Samsara', and other variations of + the basic Hindu/Buddhist theological idea. See also {blitter}, + {bit bang}. + +:cycle server: /n./ A powerful machine that exists primarily + for running large compute-, disk-, or memory-intensive jobs. + Implies that interactive tasks such as editing are done on other + machines on the network, such as workstations. + +:cypherpunk: /n./ [from {cyberpunk}] Someone interested in the + uses of encryption via electronic ciphers for enhancing personal + privacy and guarding against tyranny by centralized, authoritarian + power structures, especially government. There is an active + cypherpunks mailing list at cypherpunks-request@toad.com + coordinating work on public-key encryption freeware, privacy, and + digital cash. See also {tentacle}. + += D = +===== + +:D. C. Power Lab: /n./ The former site of {{SAIL}}. Hackers + thought this was very funny because the obvious connection to + electrical engineering was nonexistent -- the lab was named for a + Donald C. Power. Compare {Marginal Hacks}. + +:daemon: /day'mn/ or /dee'mn/ /n./ [from the mythological + meaning, later rationalized as the acronym `Disk And Execution + MONitor'] A program that is not invoked explicitly, but lies + dormant waiting for some condition(s) to occur. The idea is that + the perpetrator of the condition need not be aware that a daemon is + lurking (though often a program will commit an action only because + it knows that it will implicitly invoke a daemon). For example, + under {{ITS}} writing a file on the {LPT} spooler's directory + would invoke the spooling daemon, which would then print the file. + The advantage is that programs wanting (in this example) files + printed need neither compete for access to nor understand any + idiosyncrasies of the {LPT}. They simply enter their implicit + requests and let the daemon decide what to do with them. Daemons + are usually spawned automatically by the system, and may either + live forever or be regenerated at intervals. + + Daemon and {demon} are often used interchangeably, but seem to + have distinct connotations. The term `daemon' was introduced to + computing by {CTSS} people (who pronounced it /dee'mon/) and + used it to refer to what ITS called a {dragon}. Although the + meaning and the pronunciation have drifted, we think this glossary + reflects current (1996) usage. + +:daemon book: /n./ "The Design and Implementation of the + 4.3BSD UNIX Operating System", by Samuel J. Leffler, Marshall Kirk + McKusick, Michael J. Karels, and John S. Quarterman (Addison-Wesley + Publishers, 1989, ISBN 0-201-06196-1) -- the standard reference + book on the internals of {BSD} Unix. So called because the + cover has a picture depicting a little devil (a visual play on + {daemon}) in sneakers, holding a pitchfork (referring to one of + the characteristic features of Unix, the `fork(2)' system + call). Also known as the {Devil Book}. + +:dahmum: /dah'mum/ /n./ [Usenet] The material of which + protracted {flame war}s, especially those about operating + systems, is composed. Homeomorphic to {spam}. The term + `dahmum' is derived from the name of a militant {OS/2} + advocate, and originated when an extensively crossposted + OS/2-versus-{Linux} debate was fed through {Dissociated + Press}. + +:dangling pointer: /n./ A reference that doesn't actually lead + anywhere (in C and some other languages, a pointer that doesn't + actually point at anything valid). Usually this happens because it + formerly pointed to something that has moved or disappeared. Used + as jargon in a generalization of its techspeak meaning; for + example, a local phone number for a person who has since moved to + the other coast is a dangling pointer. Compare {dead link}. + +:dark-side hacker: /n./ A criminal or malicious hacker; a + {cracker}. From George Lucas's Darth Vader, "seduced by the + dark side of the Force". The implication that hackers form a sort + of elite of technological Jedi Knights is intended. Oppose + {samurai}. + +:Datamation: /day`t*-may'sh*n/ /n./ A magazine that many + hackers assume all {suit}s read. Used to question an unbelieved + quote, as in "Did you read that in `Datamation?'" (But see + below; this slur may be dated by the time you read this.) It used + to publish something hackishly funny every once in a while, like + the original paper on {COME FROM} in 1973, and Ed Post's + "Real Programmers Don't Use Pascal" ten years later, but for + a long time after that it was much more exclusively + {suit}-oriented and boring. Following a change of editorship in + 1994, Datamation is trying for more of the technical content and + irreverent humor that marked its early days. + + Datamation now has a WWW page at http://www.datamation.com + worth visiting for its selection of computer humor, including + "Real Programmers Don't Use Pascal" and the `Bastard Operator + From Hell' stories by Simon Travaglia (see {BOFH}). + +:DAU: /dow/ [German FidoNet] /n./ German acronym for + D"ummster Anzunehmender User (stupidest imaginable user). + From the engineering-slang GAU for Gr"osster Anzunehmender + Unfall, worst assumable accident, esp. of a LNG tank farm plant + or something with similarly disastrous consequences. In popular + German, GAU is used only to refer to worst-case nuclear acidents + such as a core meltdown. See {cretin}, {fool}, {loser} and + {weasel}. + +:day mode: /n./ See {phase} (sense 1). Used of people only. + +:dd: /dee-dee/ /vt./ [Unix: from IBM {JCL}] Equivalent to + {cat} or {BLT}. Originally the name of a Unix copy command + with special options suitable for block-oriented devices; it was + often used in heavy-handed system maintenance, as in "Let's + `dd' the root partition onto a tape, then use the boot PROM to + load it back on to a new disk". The Unix `dd(1)' was + designed with a weird, distinctly non-Unixy keyword option syntax + reminiscent of IBM System/360 JCL (which had an elaborate DD + `Dataset Definition' specification for I/O devices); though the + command filled a need, the interface design was clearly a prank. + The jargon usage is now very rare outside Unix sites and now nearly + obsolete even there, as `dd(1)' has been {deprecated} for a + long time (though it has no exact replacement). The term has been + displaced by {BLT} or simple English `copy'. + +:DDT: /D-D-T/ /n./ 1. Generic term for a program that assists + in debugging other programs by showing individual machine + instructions in a readable symbolic form and letting the user + change them. In this sense the term DDT is now archaic, having + been widely displaced by `debugger' or names of individual + programs like `adb', `sdb', `dbx', or `gdb'. + 2. [ITS] Under MIT's fabled {{ITS}} operating system, DDT (running + under the alias HACTRN, a six-letterism for `Hack Translator') was + also used as the {shell} or top level command language used to + execute other programs. 3. Any one of several specific DDTs (sense + 1) supported on early {DEC} hardware. The DEC PDP-10 Reference + Handbook (1969) contained a footnote on the first page of the + documentation for DDT that illuminates the origin of the term: + + Historical footnote: DDT was developed at MIT for the PDP-1 + computer in 1961. At that time DDT stood for "DEC Debugging + Tape". Since then, the idea of an on-line debugging program has + propagated throughout the computer industry. DDT programs are + now available for all DEC computers. Since media other than tape + are now frequently used, the more descriptive name "Dynamic + Debugging Technique" has been adopted, retaining the DDT + abbreviation. Confusion between DDT-10 and another well known + pesticide, dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (C14-H9-Cl5) should + be minimal since each attacks a different, and apparently + mutually exclusive, class of bugs. + + (The `tape' referred to was, incidentally, not magnetic but paper.) + Sadly, this quotation was removed from later editions of the + handbook after the {suit}s took over and DEC became much more + `businesslike'. + + The history above is known to many old-time hackers. But there's + more: Peter Samson, compiler of the original {TMRC} lexicon, + reports that he named `DDT' after a similar tool on the TX-0 + computer, the direct ancestor of the PDP-1 built at MIT's Lincoln + Lab in 1957. The debugger on that ground-breaking machine (the + first transistorized computer) rejoiced in the name FLIT + (FLexowriter Interrogation Tape). + +:de-rezz: /dee-rez'/ [from `de-resolve' via the movie + "Tron"] (also `derez') 1. /vi./ To disappear or dissolve; the + image that goes with it is of an object breaking up into raster + lines and static and then dissolving. Occasionally used of a + person who seems to have suddenly `fuzzed out' mentally rather than + physically. Usage: extremely silly, also rare. This verb was + actually invented as *fictional* hacker jargon, and adopted in + a spirit of irony by real hackers years after the fact. 2. /vt./ +The + Macintosh resource decompiler. On a Macintosh, many program + structures (including the code itself) are managed in small + segments of the program file known as `resources'; `Rez' and + `DeRez' are a pair of utilities for compiling and decompiling + resource files. Thus, decompiling a resource is `derezzing'. + Usage: very common. + +:dead: /adj./ 1. Non-functional; {down}; {crash}ed. + Especially used of hardware. 2. At XEROX PARC, software that is + working but not undergoing continued development and support. + 3. Useless; inaccessible. Antonym: `live'. Compare {dead + code}. + +:dead code: /n./ Routines that can never be accessed because + all calls to them have been removed, or code that cannot be reached + because it is guarded by a control structure that provably must + always transfer control somewhere else. The presence of dead code + may reveal either logical errors due to alterations in the program + or significant changes in the assumptions and environment of the + program (see also {software rot}); a good compiler should report + dead code so a maintainer can think about what it means. + (Sometimes it simply means that an *extremely* defensive + programmer has inserted {can't happen} tests which really can't + happen -- yet.) Syn. {grunge}. See also {dead}, and + {The Story of Mel, a Real Programmer}. + +:dead link: /n./ [WWW] A World-Wide-Web URL that no longer + points to the information it was written to reach. Usually this + happens because the document has been moved or deleted. Lots of + dead links make a WWW page frustrating and useless and are the #1 + sign of poor page maintainance. Compare {dangling pointer}. + +:DEADBEEF: /ded-beef/ /n./ The hexadecimal word-fill pattern + for freshly allocated memory (decimal -21524111) under a number of + IBM environments, including the RS/6000. Some modern debugging + tools deliberately fill freed memory with this value as a way of + converting {heisenbug}s into {Bohr bug}s. As in "Your + program is DEADBEEF" (meaning gone, aborted, flushed from memory); + if you start from an odd half-word boundary, of course, you have + BEEFDEAD. See also the anecdote under {fool}. + +:deadlock: /n./ 1. [techspeak] A situation wherein two or more + processes are unable to proceed because each is waiting for one of + the others to do something. A common example is a program + communicating to a server, which may find itself waiting for output + from the server before sending anything more to it, while the + server is similarly waiting for more input from the controlling + program before outputting anything. (It is reported that this + particular flavor of deadlock is sometimes called a `starvation + deadlock', though the term `starvation' is more properly used for + situations where a program can never run simply because it never + gets high enough priority. Another common flavor is + `constipation', in which each process is trying to send stuff to + the other but all buffers are full because nobody is reading + anything.) See {deadly embrace}. 2. Also used of deadlock-like + interactions between humans, as when two people meet in a narrow + corridor, and each tries to be polite by moving aside to let the + other pass, but they end up swaying from side to side without + making any progress because they always move the same way at the + same time. + +:deadly embrace: /n./ Same as {deadlock}, though usually + used only when exactly two processes are involved. This is the + more popular term in Europe, while {deadlock} predominates in + the United States. + +:death code: /n./ A routine whose job is to set everything in + the computer -- registers, memory, flags, everything -- to zero, + including that portion of memory where it is running; its last act + is to stomp on its own "store zero" instruction. Death code + isn't very useful, but writing it is an interesting hacking + challenge on architectures where the instruction set makes it + possible, such as the PDP-8 (it has also been done on the DG Nova). + + Perhaps the ultimate death code is on the TI 990 series, where all + registers are actually in RAM, and the instruction "store + immediate 0" has the opcode "0". The PC will immediately wrap + around core as many times as it can until a user hits HALT. Any + empty memory location is death code. Worse, the manufacturer + recommended use of this instruction in startup code (which would be + in ROM and therefore survive). + +:Death Square: /n./ The corporate logo of Novell, the people + who acquired USL after AT&T let go of it (Novell eventually sold + the Unix group to SCO). Coined by analogy with {Death Star}, + because many people believed Novell was bungling the lead in Unix + systems exactly as AT&T did for many years. + +:Death Star: /n./ [from the movie "Star Wars"] 1. The + AT&T corporate logo, which appears on computers sold by AT&T and + bears an uncanny resemblance to the Death Star in the movie. This + usage is particularly common among partisans of {BSD} Unix, who + tend to regard the AT&T versions as inferior and AT&T as a bad guy. + Copies still circulate of a poster printed by Mt. Xinu showing a + starscape with a space fighter labeled 4.2 BSD streaking away from + a broken AT&T logo wreathed in flames. 2. AT&T's internal + magazine, "Focus", uses `death star' to describe an + incorrectly done AT&T logo in which the inner circle in the top + left is dark instead of light -- a frequent result of + dark-on-light logo images. + +:DEC:: /dek/ /n./ Commonly used abbreviation for Digital + Equipment Corporation, now deprecated by DEC itself in favor of + "Digital". Before the {killer micro} revolution of the late + 1980s, hackerdom was closely symbiotic with DEC's pioneering + timesharing machines. The first of the group of cultures described + by this lexicon nucleated around the PDP-1 (see {TMRC}). + Subsequently, the PDP-6, {PDP-10}, {PDP-20}, PDP-11 and + {VAX} were all foci of large and important hackerdoms, and DEC + machines long dominated the ARPANET and Internet machine + population. DEC was the technological leader of the minicomputer + era (roughly 1967 to 1987), but its failure to embrace + microcomputers and Unix early cost it heavily in profits and + prestige after {silicon} got cheap. Nevertheless, the + microprocessor design tradition owes a heavy debt to the PDP-11 + instruction set, and every one of the major general-purpose + microcomputer OSs so far (CP/M, MS-DOS, Unix, OS/2, Windows NT) + was either genetically descended from a DEC OS, or incubated on + DEC hardware, or both. Accordingly, DEC is still regarded with a + certain wry affection even among many hackers too young to have + grown up on DEC machines. The contrast with {IBM} is + instructive. + + [1996 update: DEC has gradually been reclaiming some of its old + reputation among techies in the last five years. The success of + the Alpha, an innovatively-designed and very high-performance + {killer micro}, has helped a lot. So has DEC's newfound + receptiveness to Unix and open systems in general. --ESR] + +:dec: /dek/ /v./ Verbal (and only rarely written) shorthand + for decrement, i.e. `decrease by one'. Especially used by + assembly programmers, as many assembly languages have a `dec' + mnemonic. Antonym: {inc}. + +:DEC Wars: /n./ A 1983 {Usenet} posting by Alan Hastings and + Steve Tarr spoofing the "Star Wars" movies in hackish terms. + Some years later, ESR (disappointed by Hastings and Tarr's failure + to exploit a great premise more thoroughly) posted a 3-times-longer + complete rewrite called "Unix WARS"; the two are often + confused. + +:decay: /n.,vi/ [from nuclear physics] An automatic conversion which + is applied to most array-valued expressions in {C}; they `decay + into' pointer-valued expressions pointing to the array's first + element. This term is borderline techspeak, but is not used in the + official standard for the language. + +:DEChead: /dek'hed/ /n./ 1. A {DEC} {field servoid}. + Not flattering. 2. [from `deadhead'] A Grateful Dead fan working + at DEC. + +:deckle: /dek'l/ /n./ [from dec- and {nybble}; the original + spelling seems to have been `decle'] Two {nickle}s; 10 + bits. Reported among developers for Mattel's GI 1600 (the + Intellivision games processor), a chip with 16-bit-wide RAM but + 10-bit-wide ROM. See {nybble} for other such terms. + +:DED: /D-E-D/ /n./ Dark-Emitting Diode (that is, a burned-out + LED). Compare {SED}, {LER}, {write-only memory}. In the + early 1970s both Signetics and Texas instruments released DED spec + sheets as {AFJ}s (suggested uses included "as a power-off + indicator"). + +:deep hack mode: /n./ See {hack mode}. + +:deep magic: /n./ [poss. from C. S. Lewis's "Narnia" + books] An awesomely arcane technique central to a program or + system, esp. one neither generally published nor available to + hackers at large (compare {black art}); one that could only have + been composed by a true {wizard}. Compiler optimization + techniques and many aspects of {OS} design used to be {deep + magic}; many techniques in cryptography, signal processing, + graphics, and AI still are. Compare {heavy wizardry}. Esp. + found in comments of the form "Deep magic begins here...". + Compare {voodoo programming}. + +:deep space: /n./ 1. Describes the notional location of any + program that has gone {off the trolley}. Esp. used of + programs that just sit there silently grinding long after either + failure or some output is expected. "Uh oh. I should have gotten + a prompt ten seconds ago. The program's in deep space somewhere." + Compare {buzz}, {catatonic}, {hyperspace}. 2. The + metaphorical location of a human so dazed and/or confused or caught + up in some esoteric form of {bogosity} that he or she no longer + responds coherently to normal communication. Compare {page + out}. + +:defenestration: /n./ [from the traditional Czechoslovakian + method of assassinating prime ministers, via SF fandom] 1. Proper + karmic retribution for an incorrigible punster. "Oh, ghod, that + was *awful*!" "Quick! Defenestrate him!" 2. The act of + exiting a window system in order to get better response time from a + full-screen program. This comes from the dictionary meaning of + `defenestrate', which is to throw something out a window. 3. The + act of discarding something under the assumption that it will + improve matters. "I don't have any disk space left." "Well, + why don't you defenestrate that 100 megs worth of old core dumps?" + 4. Under a GUI, the act of dragging something out of a window + (onto the screen). "Next, defenestrate the MugWump icon." + 5. [proposed] The requirement to support a command-line interface. + "It has to run on a VT100." "Curses! I've been + defenestrated!" + +:defined as: /adj./ In the role of, usually in an + organization-chart sense. "Pete is currently defined as bug + prioritizer." Compare {logical}. + +:dehose: /dee-hohz/ /vt./ To clear a {hosed} condition. + +:delint: /dee-lint/ /v. obs./ To modify code to remove + problems detected when {lint}ing. Confusingly, this process is + also referred to as `linting' code. This term is no longer in + general use because ANSI C compilers typically issue compile-time + warnings almost as detailed as lint warnings. + +:delta: /n./ 1. [techspeak] A quantitative change, especially a + small or incremental one (this use is general in physics and + engineering). "I just doubled the speed of my program!" "What + was the delta on program size?" "About 30 percent." (He + doubled the speed of his program, but increased its size by only 30 + percent.) 2. [Unix] A {diff}, especially a {diff} stored + under the set of version-control tools called SCCS (Source Code + Control System) or RCS (Revision Control System). 3. /n./ A small + quantity, but not as small as {epsilon}. The jargon usage of + {delta} and {epsilon} stems from the traditional use of these + letters in mathematics for very small numerical quantities, + particularly in `epsilon-delta' proofs in limit theory (as in the + differential calculus). The term {delta} is often used, once + {epsilon} has been mentioned, to mean a quantity that is + slightly bigger than {epsilon} but still very small. "The cost + isn't epsilon, but it's delta" means that the cost isn't totally + negligible, but it is nevertheless very small. Common + constructions include `within delta of ---', `within epsilon of + ---': that is, `close to' and `even closer to'. + +:demented: /adj./ Yet another term of disgust used to describe + a program. The connotation in this case is that the program works + as designed, but the design is bad. Said, for example, of a + program that generates large numbers of meaningless error messages, + implying that it is on the brink of imminent collapse. Compare + {wonky}, {bozotic}. + +:demigod: /n./ A hacker with years of experience, a world-wide + reputation, and a major role in the development of at least one + design, tool, or game used by or known to more than half of the + hacker community. To qualify as a genuine demigod, the person must + recognizably identify with the hacker community and have helped + shape it. Major demigods include Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie + (co-inventors of {{Unix}} and {C}), Richard M. Stallman + (inventor of {EMACS}), Linus Torvalds (inventor of Linux), and + most recently James Gosling (inventor of Java). In their hearts of + hearts, most hackers dream of someday becoming demigods themselves, + and more than one major software project has been driven to + completion by the author's veiled hopes of apotheosis. See also + {net.god}, {true-hacker}. + +:demo: /de'moh/ [short for `demonstration'] 1. /v./ To + demonstrate a product or prototype. A far more effective way of + inducing bugs to manifest than any number of {test} runs, + especially when important people are watching. 2. /n./ The act of + demoing. "I've gotta give a demo of the drool-proof interface; + how does it work again?" 3. /n./ Esp. as `demo version', can + refer either to an early, barely-functional version of a program + which can be used for demonstration purposes as long as the + operator uses *exactly* the right commands and skirts its + numerous bugs, deficiencies, and unimplemented portions, or to a + special version of a program (frequently with some features + crippled) which is distributed at little or no cost to the user for + enticement purposes. + +:demo mode: /n./ 1. [Sun] The state of being {heads down} + in order to finish code in time for a {demo}, usually due + yesterday. 2. A mode in which video games sit by themselves + running through a portion of the game, also known as `attract + mode'. Some serious {app}s have a demo mode they use as a + screen saver, or may go through a demo mode on startup (for + example, the Microsoft Windows opening screen -- which lets you + impress your neighbors without actually having to put up with + {Microsloth Windows}). + +:demon: /n./ 1. [MIT] A portion of a program that is not + invoked explicitly, but that lies dormant waiting for some + condition(s) to occur. See {daemon}. The distinction is that + demons are usually processes within a program, while daemons are + usually programs running on an operating system. 2. [outside MIT] + Often used equivalently to {daemon} -- especially in the + {{Unix}} world, where the latter spelling and pronunciation is + considered mildly archaic. + + Demons in sense 1 are particularly common in AI programs. For + example, a knowledge-manipulation program might implement inference + rules as demons. Whenever a new piece of knowledge was added, + various demons would activate (which demons depends on the + particular piece of data) and would create additional pieces of + knowledge by applying their respective inference rules to the + original piece. These new pieces could in turn activate more + demons as the inferences filtered down through chains of logic. + Meanwhile, the main program could continue with whatever its + primary task was. + +:demon dialer: /n./ A program which repeatedly calls the same + telephone number. Demon dialing may be benign (as when a number of + communications programs contend for legitimate access to a {BBS} + line) or malign (that is, used as a prank or denial-of-service + attack). This term dates from the {blue box} days of the 1970s + and early 1980s and is now semi-obsolescent among {phreaker}s; + see {war dialer} for its contemporary progeny. + +:depeditate: /dee-ped'*-tayt/ /n./ [by (faulty) analogy with + `decapitate'] Humorously, to cut off the feet of. When one is + using some computer-aided typesetting tools, careless placement of + text blocks within a page or above a rule can result in chopped-off + letter descenders. Such letters are said to have been depeditated. + +:deprecated: /adj./ Said of a program or feature that is + considered obsolescent and in the process of being phased out, + usually in favor of a specified replacement. Deprecated features + can, unfortunately, linger on for many years. This term appears + with distressing frequency in standards documents when the + committees writing the documents realize that large amounts of + extant (and presumably happily working) code depend on the + feature(s) that have passed out of favor. See also {dusty + deck}. + +:derf: /derf/ /v.,n./ [PLATO] The act of exploiting a + terminal which someone else has absentmindedly left logged on, to + use that person's account, especially to post articles intended to + make an ass of the victim you're impersonating. + +:deserves to lose: /adj./ Said of someone who willfully does + the {Wrong Thing}; humorously, if one uses a feature known to be + {marginal}. What is meant is that one deserves the consequences + of one's {losing} actions. "Boy, anyone who tries to use + {mess-dos} deserves to {lose}!" ({{ITS}} fans used to say + the same thing of {{Unix}}; many still do.) See also {screw}, + {chomp}, {bagbiter}. + +:desk check: /n.,v./ To {grovel} over hardcopy of source + code, mentally simulating the control flow; a method of catching + bugs. No longer common practice in this age of on-screen editing, + fast compiles, and sophisticated debuggers -- though some maintain + stoutly that it ought to be. Compare {eyeball search}, + {vdiff}, {vgrep}. + +:despew: /d*-spyoo'/ /v./ [Usenet] To automatically generate + a large amount of garbage to the net, esp. from an automated + posting program gone wild. See {ARMM}. + +:Devil Book: /n./ See {daemon book}, the term preferred by + its authors. + +:dickless workstation: /n./ Extremely pejorative hackerism for + `diskless workstation', a class of botches including the Sun 3/50 + and other machines designed exclusively to network with an + expensive central disk server. These combine all the disadvantages + of time-sharing with all the disadvantages of distributed personal + computers; typically, they cannot even {boot} themselves without + help (in the form of some kind of {breath-of-life packet}) from + the server. + +:dictionary flame: /n./ [Usenet] An attempt to sidetrack a + debate away from issues by insisting on meanings for key terms that + presuppose a desired conclusion or smuggle in an implicit premise. + A common tactic of people who prefer argument over definitions to + disputes about reality. Compare {spelling flame}. + +:diddle: 1. /vt./ To work with or modify in a not particularly + serious manner. "I diddled a copy of {ADVENT} so it didn't + double-space all the time." "Let's diddle this piece of code and + see if the problem goes away." See {tweak} and {twiddle}. + 2. /n./ The action or result of diddling. See also {tweak}, + {twiddle}, {frob}. + +:die: /v./ Syn. {crash}. Unlike {crash}, which is used + primarily of hardware, this verb is used of both hardware and + software. See also {go flatline}, {casters-up mode}. + +:die horribly: /v./ The software equivalent of {crash and + burn}, and the preferred emphatic form of {die}. "The + converter choked on an FF in its input and died horribly". + +:diff: /dif/ /n./ 1. A change listing, especially giving + differences between (and additions to) source code or documents + (the term is often used in the plural `diffs'). "Send me your + diffs for the Jargon File!" Compare {vdiff}. 2. Specifically, + such a listing produced by the `diff(1)' command, esp. when + used as specification input to the `patch(1)' utility (which + can actually perform the modifications; see {patch}). This is a + common method of distributing patches and source updates in the + Unix/C world. 3. /v./ To compare (whether or not by use of +automated + tools on machine-readable files); see also {vdiff}, {mod}. + +:digit: /n./ An employee of Digital Equipment Corporation. See + also {VAX}, {VMS}, {PDP-10}, {{TOPS-10}}, {DEChead}, + {double DECkers}, {field circus}. + +:dike: /vt./ To remove or disable a portion of something, as a + wire from a computer or a subroutine from a program. A standard + slogan is "When in doubt, dike it out". (The implication is that + it is usually more effective to attack software problems by + reducing complexity than by increasing it.) The word `dikes' is + widely used among mechanics and engineers to mean `diagonal + cutters', esp. the heavy-duty metal-cutting version, but may also + refer to a kind of wire-cutters used by electronics techs. To + `dike something out' means to use such cutters to remove + something. Indeed, the TMRC Dictionary defined dike as "to attack + with dikes". Among hackers this term has been metaphorically + extended to informational objects such as sections of code. + +:Dilbert: /n./ Name and title character of a comic strip + nationally syndicated in the U.S. and enormously popular among + hackers. Dilbert is an archetypical engineer-nerd who works at an + anonymous high-technology company; the strips present a lacerating + satire of insane working conditions and idiotic {management} + practices all too readily recognized by hackers. Adams, who spent + nine years in {cube} 4S700R at Pacific Bell (not {DEC} as often + reported), often remarks that he has never been able to come up + with a fictional management blunder that his correspondents didn't + quickly either report to have actually happened or top with a + similar but even more bizarre incident. In 1996 Adams distilled + his insights into the collective psychology of businesses into an + even funnier book, "The Dilbert Principle" (HarperCollins, + ISBN 0-887-30787-6). See also {rat dance}. + +:ding: /n.,vi./ 1. Synonym for {feep}. Usage: rare among + hackers, but commoner in the {Real World}. 2. `dinged': What + happens when someone in authority gives you a minor bitching about + something, esp. something trivial. "I was dinged for having a + messy desk." + +:dink: /dink/ /adj./ 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 working on a CP/M system with 64K, in + reference to any 6502 system, 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. See {macdink}. + +:dinosaur: /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 liquid-cooled + mainframe in the massive IBM display with a 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: /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: /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 was + `IBM and the Seven Dwarves': Burroughs, 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 Bull; Burroughs merged with Univac to form Unisys (in 1984 --- + this was when the phrase `dinosaurs mating' was coined); and in + 1991 AT&T absorbed NCR. More such earth-shaking unions of doomed + giants seem inevitable. + +:dirtball: /n./ [XEROX PARC] A small, perhaps struggling + outsider; not in the major or even the minor leagues. For example, + "Xerox is not a dirtball company". + + [Outsiders often observe in the PARC culture an institutional + arrogance which usage of this term exemplifies. The brilliance and + scope of PARC's contributions to computer science have been such + that this superior attitude is not much resented. --ESR] + +:dirty power: /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 subtlety and severity + (these are collectively known as {power hit}s). + +:disclaimer: /n./ [Usenet] Statement ritually appended to many + Usenet postings (sometimes automatically, by the posting software) + reiterating the fact (which should be obvious, but is easily + forgotten) that the article reflects its author's opinions and not + necessarily those of the organization running the machine through + which the article entered the network. + +:Discordianism: /dis-kor'di-*n-ism/ /n./ The veneration of + {Eris}, a.k.a. Discordia; widely popular among hackers. + Discordianism was popularized by Robert Shea and Robert Anton + Wilson's novel "{Illuminatus!}" as a sort of + self-subverting Dada-Zen for Westerners -- it should on no account + be taken 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 usually connected with + an elaborate conspiracy theory/joke involving millennia-long + warfare between the anarcho-surrealist partisans of Eris and a + malevolent, authoritarian secret society called the Illuminati. + See {Religion} in Appendix B, {Church of the + SubGenius}, and {ha ha only serious}. + +:disk farm: /n./ (also {laundromat}) A large room or rooms + filled with disk drives (esp. {washing machine}s). + +:display hack: /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, + and the {X} `kaleid(1)' program. Display 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 + twinkling lights and a toy train circling its base. 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: /n./ [play on `Associated Press'; perhaps + inspired by a reference in the 1950 Bugs Bunny cartoon + "What's Up, Doc?"] An algorithm for transforming any text + into potentially humorous garbage even more efficiently than by + passing it through a {marketroid}. The algorithm starts by + printing any N consecutive words (or letters) in the text. + Then at every step it searches for any random occurrence in the + original text of the last N words (or letters) already + printed and then prints the next word or letter. {EMACS} has a + handy command for this. 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 benign and easy + to spot if the phrase 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 to use + the other guy's re, especially in every 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 letter-based Dissociated Press + to a random body 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 results. Similar + techniques called `travesty generators' have been employed with + considerable satirical effect to the utterances of Usenet flamers; + see {pseudo}. + +:distribution: /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. An + information-space domain (usually loosely correlated with + geography) to which propagation of a Usenet message is restricted; + a much-underutilized feature. + +:disusered: /adj./ [Usenet] Said of a person whose account on a + computer has been removed, esp. for cause rather than through + normal attrition. "He got disusered when they found out he'd been + cracking through the school's Internet access." The verbal form + `disuser' is live but less common. Both usages probably derive + from the DISUSER account status flag on VMS; setting it disables + the account. Compare {star out}. + +:do protocol: /vi./ [from network protocol programming] 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, calculate + the tip and everybody's share, collect money from everybody, + generate change as necessary, and pay the bill. See {protocol}. + +:doc: /dok/ /n./ Common spoken and written shorthand for + `documentation'. Often used in the plural `docs' and in the + construction `doc file' (i.e., documentation available on-line). + +:documentation:: /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 resist + writing it; they prefer theirs to be terse and on-line. A common + comment on this predilection is "You can't {grep} dead trees". + See {drool-proof paper}, {verbiage}, {treeware}. + +:dodgy: /adj./ Syn. with {flaky}. Preferred outside the + U.S. + +:dogcow: /dog'kow/ /n./ See {Moof}. The dogcow is a + semi-legendary creature that lurks in the depths of the Macintosh + Technical Notes Hypercard stack V3.1. The full story of the dogcow + is told in technical note #31 (the particular dogcow illustrated is + properly named `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. Clue: + {rot13} is involved. A dogcow also appears if you choose `Page + Setup...' with a LaserWriter selected and click on the + `Options' button. + +:dogpile: /v./ [Usenet: prob. fr. mainstream "puppy pile"] + When many people post unfriendly responses in short order to a + single posting, they are sometimes said to "dogpile" or "dogpile + on" the person to whom they're responding. For example, when a + religious missionary posts a simplistic appeal to alt.atheism, + he can expect to be dogpiled. + +:dogwash: /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 serious + work. 2. /v./ To engage in such a project. Many games and much + {freeware} get written this way. + +:domainist: /doh-mayn'ist/ /adj./ 1. [USENET, by pointed + analogy with "sexist", "racist", etc.] Someone who judges + people by the domain of their email addresses; esp. someone who + dismisses anyone who posts from a public internet provider. "What + do you expect from an article posted from aol.com?" 2. 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, esr@snark.thyrsus.com specifies + the machine called snark in the subdomain called thyrsus + within the top-level domain called com. See also + {big-endian}, sense 2. + + The meaning of this term has drifted. At one time sense 2 was + primary. In elder days it was also used of a site, mailer, or + routing program which knew how to handle domainist addresses; or of + a person (esp. a site admin) who preferred domain addressing, + supported a domainist mailer, or proselytized for domainist + addressing and disdained {bang path}s. These senses are now + (1996) obsolete, as effectively all sites have converted. + +:Don't do that, then!: /imp./ [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 "So don't + do that!"). Compare {RTFM}. + +:dongle: /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 the program + is run. Programs that use a dongle 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 each dongle. The idea was clever, but it was initially a + failure, as users disliked tying up a serial port this way. Almost + all dongles on the market today (1993) will pass data through the + port and monitor for {magic} codes (and combinations of status + lines) with minimal if any interference with devices further down + the line -- 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, any physical electronic key + or transferable ID required for a program to function. Common + variations on this theme have used parallel or even joystick ports. + See {dongle-disk}. + + [Note: in early 1992, advertising copy from Rainbow Technologies (a + manufacturer of dongles) included a claim that the word derived + from "Don Gall", allegedly the inventor of the device. The + company's receptionist will cheerfully tell you that the story is a + myth invented for the ad copy. Nevertheless, I expect it to haunt + my life as a lexicographer for at least the next ten years. :-( + --ESR] + +:dongle-disk: /don'gl disk/ /n./ A special floppy disk that + is required in order to perform some task. Some contain special + coding that allows an application to identify it uniquely, others + *are* special code that does something that normally-resident + programs don't or can't. (For example, AT&T's "Unix PC" would + only come up in {root mode} with a special boot disk.) Also + called a `key disk'. See {dongle}. + +:donuts: /n. obs./ A collective noun for any set of memory bits. + This usage 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-flop. + +:doorstop: /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 + will turn into a doorstop." Compare {boat anchor}. + +:dot file: [Unix] /n./ A file that is not visible by default 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 which + startup or configuration information may be optionally recorded; a + user can customize the program's behavior by creating the + appropriate file in the current or home directory. (Therefore, dot + files tend to {creep} -- with every nontrivial application + program defining at least one, a user's home directory can be + filled with scores of dot files, of course without the user's + really being aware of it.) See also {profile} (sense 1), {rc + file}. + +:double bucky: /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 typical MIT comment was that the Stanford {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 keys, and this was eventually done; but a + 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 pedals; typing on such a keyboard would be + very 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 0-671-21036-X). + These lyrics were written on May 27, 1978, in celebration of the + Stanford keyboard: + + Double Bucky + + Double bucky, you're the one! + You make my keyboard lots of fun. + Double bucky, an additional bit or two: + (Vo-vo-de-o!) + Control and meta, side by side, + Augmented ASCII, nine bits wide! + Double bucky! Half a thousand glyphs, plus a few! + Oh, + I sure wish that I + Had a couple of + Bits more! + Perhaps a + Set of pedals to + Make the number of + Bits four: + Double double bucky! + Double bucky, left and right + OR'd together, outta sight! + Double bucky, I'd like a whole word of + Double bucky, I'm happy I heard of + Double bucky, I'd like a whole word of you! + + --- The Great Quux (with apologies to Jeffrey Moss) + + [This, by the way, is an excellent example of computer {filk} + --ESR] See also {meta bit}, {cokebottle}, and {quadruple + bucky}. + +:double DECkers: /n./ Used to describe married couples in which + both partners work for Digital Equipment Corporation. + +:doubled sig: [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 often, + however, it reveals the author's lack of experience in electronic + communication. See {B1FF}, {pseudo}. + +:down: 1. /adj./ Not operating. "The up escalator is down" + is considered a humorous thing to say (unless of course you were + expecting to use it), 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 computers, this term has passed + into the mainstream; the extension to other kinds of machine is + still confined to techies (e.g. boiler mechanics may speak of a + boiler being down). 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 "System going + down in 5 minutes". 3. `take 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./ sense. See {crash}; oppose {up}. + +:download: /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 ground-to-space communications has its own usage + rule for this term. Space-to-earth transmission is always `down' + and the reverse `up' regardless of the relative size of the + computers involved. So far the in-space machines have invariably + been smaller; thus the upload/download distinction has been + reversed from its usual sense. + +:DP: /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: /d*-pib'/ /vt./ [from the PDP-10 instruction set] 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 one last person to + sit in. DPB means `DePosit Byte', and was the name of a PDP-10 + instruction that inserts some bits into the middle of some other + bits. Hackish usage has been kept alive by the Common LISP + function of the same name. + +:DPer: /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: /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 logged in, + accumulates load-average statistics, 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 dragon'. Usage: rare outside MIT -- under Unix 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: /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 + `complexity of compiler design' and a knight 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. Aho and Jeffrey D. Ullman; Addison-Wesley, 1977; 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 gauntlets!) at a terminal showing a + video-game representation of the Red Dragon's head while the rest + of the beast extends back in normal space. See also {{book + titles}}. + +:drain: /v./ [IBM] 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: /n./ A condition endemic to some + now-obsolete computers and peripherals (including ASR-33 teletypes + and PRIME minicomputers) that results in all characters having + their high (0x80) bit forced on. This of course makes transporting + files to other systems much more difficult, not to mention the + problems these machines have talking with true 8-bit devices. + + This term was originally used specifically of PRIME (a.k.a. PR1ME) + minicomputers. Folklore has it that PRIME adopted the +reversed-8-bit + convention in order to save 25 cents per serial line per machine; + PRIME old-timers, on the other hand, claim they inherited the + disease from Honeywell via customer NASA's compatibility + requirements and struggled heroically to cure it. Whoever was + responsible, this probably qualifies as one of the most + {cretinous} design tradeoffs ever made. See {meta bit}. + +:DRECNET: /drek'net/ /n./ [from Yiddish/German `dreck', + meaning filth] 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 + or as a malignant customer-control tactic) violated that spec in + the design of DRECNET in a way that made it incompatible. See also + {connector conspiracy}. + +:driver: /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 + tape unit. 3. In the TeX world and the computerized typesetting + world in general, a program that translates some device-independent + or other common format to something a real device can actually + understand. + +:droid: /n./ [from `android', SF terminology for a humanoid + robot of essentially biological (as opposed to + mechanical/electronic) construction] A person (esp. a + low-level bureaucrat or service-business employee) exhibiting most + of the following characteristics: (a) naive trust in the wisdom of + the parent organization or `the system'; (b) a blind-faith + propensity to believe obvious nonsense emitted by authority figures + (or computers!); (c) a rule-governed mentality, one unwilling or + unable to look beyond the `letter of the law' in exceptional + situations; (d) a paralyzing fear of official reprimand or worse if + Procedures are not followed No Matter What; and (e) no interest in + doing anything above or beyond the call of a very + narrowly-interpreted duty, or in particular in fixing that which is + broken; an "It's not my job, man" attitude. + + Typical droid positions include 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; + problems arise when the software has not been properly debugged. + The term `droid mentality' is also used to describe the mindset + behind this behavior. Compare {suit}, {marketroid}; see + {-oid}. + +:drool-proof paper: /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 paper'. For example, this is an actual quote from + Apple's LaserWriter manual: "Do not expose your LaserWriter to + open fire or flame." + +:drop on the floor: /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 netnews relay + sites that lose messages. See also {black hole}, {bit + bucket}. + +:drop-ins: /n./ [prob. by analogy with {drop-outs}] + 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. Compare + {drop-outs}, sense 2. + +:drop-outs: /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 (one cause of such behavior under Unix when a bad + connection to a modem swamps the processor with spurious character + interrupts; see {screaming tty}). 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: /adj./ (also `on drugs') 1. Conspicuously stupid, + heading toward {brain-damaged}. Often accompanied by a + pantomime of toking a joint. 2. Of hardware, very slow relative to + normal performance. + +:drum: adj, /n./ Ancient techspeak term referring to slow, + cylindrical magnetic media that were once state-of-the-art storage + devices. Under BSD Unix the disk partition used for swapping is + still called `/dev/drum'; this has led to considerable humor + and not a few straight-faced but utterly bogus `explanations' + getting foisted on {newbie}s. See also "{The Story of Mel, a + Real Programmer}" in Appendix A. + +:drunk mouse syndrome: /n./ (also `mouse on drugs') 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 usually be corrected by unplugging the mouse 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. When the steel ball on + the mouse had picked 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 and more + frequent. Finally, the mouse was declared `alcoholic' and sent + to the clinic to be dried out in a CFC ultrasonic bath. + +:Duff's device: /n./ The most dramatic use yet seen of {fall + through} in C, invented by Tom Duff when he was at Lucasfilm. + Trying to {bum} all the instructions he could out of an inner + loop that copied data serially onto an output port, he decided to + unroll it. He then realized that the unrolled version could be + implemented by *interlacing* the structures of a switch and a + loop: + + register n = (count + 7) / 8; /* count > 0 assumed */ + + switch (count % 8) + { + case 0: do { *to = *from++; + case 7: *to = *from++; + case 6: *to = *from++; + case 5: *to = *from++; + case 4: *to = *from++; + case 3: *to = *from++; + case 2: *to = *from++; + case 1: *to = *from++; + } while (--n > 0); + } + + Shocking though it appears to all who encounter it for the first + time, the device is actually perfectly valid, legal C. C's default + {fall through} in case statements has long been its most + controversial single feature; Duff observed that "This code forms + some sort of argument in that debate, but I'm not sure whether it's + for or against." + + [For maximal obscurity, the outermost pair of braces above could be + actually be removed -- GLS] + +:dumb terminal: /n./ A terminal that is one step above a + {glass tty}, having a minimally addressable cursor but no + on-screen editing or other features normally supported by a + {smart terminal}. Once upon a time, when glass ttys were common + and addressable cursors were something special, what is now called + a dumb terminal could pass for a smart terminal. + +:dumbass attack: /duhm'as *-tak'/ /n./ [Purdue] 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: /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 making it + smart. This creates friction. See {user-friendly}. + +:dump: /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 {runes} + describing the byte-by-byte state of 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 such tedium + uncommon, and the term `dump' now has a faintly archaic flavor. + 2. A backup. This usage is typical only at large timesharing + installations. + +:dumpster diving: /dump'-ster di:'-ving/ /n./ 1. The practice + of sifting refuse from an office or technical installation to + extract confidential data, especially security-compromising + information (`dumpster' is an Americanism for what is elsewhere + called a `skip'). Back in AT&T's monopoly days, before paper + shredders became common office equipment, phone phreaks (see + {phreaking}) used to organize regular dumpster runs against + phone company plants and offices. Discarded and damaged copies of + AT&T internal manuals taught them much. The technique is still + rumored to be a favorite of crackers operating against careless + targets. 2. The practice of raiding the dumpsters behind buildings + where producers and/or consumers of high-tech equipment are + located, with the expectation (usually justified) of finding + discarded but still-valuable equipment to be nursed back to health + in some hacker's den. Experienced dumpster-divers not infrequently + accumulate basements full of moldering (but still potentially + useful) {cruft}. + +:dup killer: /d[y]oop kill'r/ /n./ [FidoNet] Software that is + supposed to detect and delete duplicates of a message that may have + reached the FidoNet system via different routes. + +:dup loop: /d[y]oop loop/ (also `dupe loop') /n./ [FidoNet] + An infinite stream of duplicated, near-identical messages on a + FidoNet {echo}, the only difference being unique or mangled + identification information applied by a faulty or incorrectly + configured system or network gateway, thus rendering {dup + killer}s ineffective. If such a duplicate message 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: /n./ Old software (especially applications) which + one is obliged to remain compatible with, or to maintain ({DP} + types call this `legacy code', a term hackers consider smarmy and + excessively reverent). The term implies that the software in + question is a holdover from card-punch days. Used esp. when + referring to old scientific and {number-crunching} software, + much of which was written in FORTRAN and very poorly documented but + is believed to be too expensive to replace. See {fossil}; + compare {crawling horror}. + +:DWIM: /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 of the more + common errors. See {hairy}. 3. 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 idiosyncratic to his style, and + would often make hash of anyone else's typos if they were + stylistically different. Some victims of DWIM thus claimed that + the acronym stood for `Damn Warren's Infernal Machine!'. + + In one notorious incident, Warren added a DWIM feature to the + command interpreter used at Xerox PARC. One day another hacker + there typed `delete *$' to free up some disk space. (The + editor there named backup files by appending `$' to the + original file name, so he was trying to delete any backup files + left over from old editing sessions.) It happened that there + weren't any editor backup files, so DWIM helpfully reported + `*$ 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 or so files + were lost. + + The disgruntled victim later 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 also occasionally described as the single + 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 Thing); see {Right + Thing}. + +:dynner: /din'r/ /n./ 32 bits, by analogy with {nybble} and + {{byte}}. Usage: rare and extremely silly. See also {playte}, + {tayste}, {crumb}. General discussion of such terms is under + {nybble}. + += E = +===== + +:earthquake: /n./ [IBM] The ultimate real-world shock test for + computer hardware. Hackish sources at IBM deny the rumor that the + Bay Area quake of 1989 was initiated by the company to test + quality-assurance procedures at its California plants. + +:Easter egg: /n./ [from the custom of the Easter Egg hunt + observed in the U.S. and many parts of Europe] 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 + response to some undocumented set of commands 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 more elaborate eggs hidden in ROM, + including lists of the developers' names, political exhortations, + snatches of music, and (in one case) graphics images of the entire + development team. + +:Easter egging: /n./ [IBM] The act of replacing unrelated + components 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. See also the + jokes under {field circus}. Compare {shotgun debugging}. + +:eat flaming death: /imp./ A construction popularized among + hackers by the infamous {CPU Wars} comic; supposedly derive from + a famously turgid line in a WWII-era anti-Nazi propaganda comic + that ran "Eat flaming death, non-Aryan mongrels!" or something + of the sort (however, it is also 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 + expressions of hostility. "Eat flaming death, {{EBCDIC}} users!" + +:EBCDIC:: /eb's*-dik/, /eb'see`dik/, or /eb'k*-dik/ /n./ + [abbreviation, Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code] An + alleged character set used on IBM {dinosaur}s. It exists in at + least six mutually incompatible versions, all featuring such + delights as non-contiguous letter sequences and the absence of + several ASCII punctuation characters fairly important for modern + computer languages (exactly which characters are absent varies + according to which version of EBCDIC you're looking at). IBM + adapted EBCDIC from {{punched card}} code in the early 1960s and + promulgated it as a customer-control tactic (see {connector + conspiracy}), spurning the already established ASCII standard. + Today, IBM claims to be an open-systems company, but IBM's own + description of the EBCDIC variants and how to convert between them + is still internally classified top-secret, burn-before-reading. + Hackers blanch at the very *name* of EBCDIC and consider it a + manifestation of purest {evil}. See also {fear and + loathing}. + +:echo: [FidoNet] /n./ A {topic group} on {FidoNet}'s + echomail system. Compare {newsgroup}. + +:eighty-column mind: /n./ [IBM] The sort said to be possessed by + persons for whom the transition from {punched card} to tape was + traumatic (nobody has dared tell them about disks yet). It is said + that these people, including (according to an old joke) the founder + of IBM, will be buried `face down, 9-edge first' (the 9-edge being + the bottom of the card). This directive is inscribed on IBM's 1402 + and 1622 card readers and is referenced in a famous bit of doggerel + called "The Last Bug", the climactic lines of which are as + follows: + + He died at the console + Of hunger and thirst. + Next day he was buried, + Face down, 9-edge first. + + The eighty-column mind is thought by most hackers to dominate IBM's + customer base and its thinking. See {IBM}, {fear and + loathing}, {card walloper}. + +:El Camino Bignum: /el' k*-mee'noh big'nuhm/ /n./ The road + mundanely called El Camino Real, running along San Francisco + peninsula. It originally extended all the way down to Mexico City; + many portions of the old road are still intact. Navigation on the + San Francisco peninsula is usually done relative to El Camino Real, + which defines {logical} north and south even though it isn't + really north-south in many places. El Camino Real runs right past + Stanford University and so is familiar to hackers. + + The Spanish word `real' (which has two syllables: /ray-ahl'/) + means `royal'; El Camino Real is `the royal road'. In the FORTRAN + language, a `real' quantity is a number typically precise to seven + significant digits, and a `double precision' quantity is a larger + floating-point number, precise to perhaps fourteen significant + digits (other languages have similar `real' types). + + When a hacker from MIT visited Stanford in 1976, he remarked what a + long road El Camino Real was. Making a pun on `real', he started + calling it `El Camino Double Precision' -- but when the hacker + was told that the road was hundreds of miles long, he renamed it + `El Camino Bignum', and that name has stuck. (See {bignum}.) + In recent years, the synonym `El Camino Virtual' has been + reported as an alternate at IBM and Amdahl sites in the Valley. + + [GLS has since let slip that the unnamed hacker in this story was + in fact he --ESR] + +:elder days: /n./ The heroic age of hackerdom (roughly, + pre-1980); the era of the {PDP-10}, {TECO}, {{ITS}}, and the + ARPANET. This term has been rather consciously adopted from + J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy epic "The Lord of the Rings". + Compare {Iron Age}; see also {elvish} and {Great Worm, + the}. + +:elegant: /adj./ [from mathematical usage] Combining + simplicity, power, and a certain ineffable grace of design. Higher + praise than `clever', `winning', or even {cuspy}. + + The French aviator, adventurer, and author Antoine de + Saint-Exup'ery, probably best known for his classic children's + book "The Little Prince", was also an aircraft designer. He + gave us perhaps the best definition of engineering elegance when he + said "A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there + is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take + away." + +:elephantine: /adj./ Used of programs or systems that are both + conspicuous {hog}s (owing perhaps to poor design founded on + {brute force and ignorance}) and exceedingly {hairy} in + source form. An elephantine program may be functional and even + friendly, but (as in the old joke about being in bed with an + elephant) it's tough to have around all the same (and, like a + pachyderm, difficult to maintain). In extreme cases, hackers have + been known to make trumpeting sounds or perform expressive + proboscatory mime at the mention of the offending program. Usage: + semi-humorous. Compare `has the elephant nature' and the + somewhat more pejorative {monstrosity}. See also + {second-system effect} and {baroque}. + +:elevator controller: /n./ An archetypal dumb embedded-systems + application, like {toaster} (which superseded it). During one + period (1983--84) in the deliberations of ANSI X3J11 (the C + standardization committee) this was the canonical example of a + really stupid, memory-limited computation environment. "You can't + require `printf(3)' to be part of the default runtime library + -- what if you're targeting an elevator controller?" Elevator + controllers became important rhetorical weapons on both sides of + several {holy wars}. + +:elite: /adj./ Clueful. Plugged-in. One of the cognoscenti. + Also used as a general positive adjective. This term is not + actually hacker slang in the strict sense; it is used primarily by + crackers and {warez d00dz}. Cracker usage is probably related to + a 19200cps modem called the `Courier Elite' that was widely popular + on pirate boards before the V.32bis standard. A true hacker would + be more likely to use `wizardly'. Oppose {lamer}. + +:ELIZA effect: /*-li:'z* *-fekt'/ /n./ [AI community] The + tendency of humans to attach associations to terms from prior + experience. For example, there is nothing magic about the symbol + `+' that makes it well-suited to indicate addition; it's just + that people associate it with addition. Using `+' or `plus' + to mean addition in a computer language is taking advantage of the + ELIZA effect. + + This term comes from the famous ELIZA program by Joseph Weizenbaum, + which simulated a Rogerian psychotherapist by rephrasing many of + the patient's statements as questions and posing them to the + patient. It worked by simple pattern recognition and substitution + of key words into canned phrases. It was so convincing, however, + that there are many anecdotes about people becoming very + emotionally caught up in dealing with ELIZA. All this was due to + people's tendency to attach to words meanings which the computer + never put there. The ELIZA effect is a {Good Thing} when + writing a programming language, but it can blind you to serious + shortcomings when analyzing an Artificial Intelligence system. + Compare {ad-hockery}; see also {AI-complete}. + +:elvish: /n./ 1. The Tengwar of Feanor, a table of letterforms + resembling the beautiful Celtic half-uncial hand of the "Book + of Kells". Invented and described by J. R. R. Tolkien in "The + Lord of The Rings" as an orthography for his fictional `elvish' + languages, this system (which is both visually and phonetically + {elegant}) has long fascinated hackers (who tend to be intrigued + by artificial languages in general). It is traditional for + graphics printers, plotters, window systems, and the like to + support a Feanorian typeface as one of their demo items. See also + {elder days}. 2. By extension, any odd or unreadable typeface + produced by a graphics device. 3. The typeface mundanely called + `B"ocklin', an art-decoish display font. + +:EMACS: /ee'maks/ /n./ [from Editing MACroS] The ne plus + ultra of hacker editors, a programmable text editor with an entire + LISP system inside it. It was originally written by Richard + Stallman in {TECO} under {{ITS}} at the MIT AI lab; AI Memo 554 + described it as "an advanced, self-documenting, customizable, + extensible real-time display editor". It has since been + reimplemented any number of times, by various hackers, and versions + exist that run under most major operating systems. Perhaps the + most widely used version, also written by Stallman and now called + "{GNU} EMACS" or {GNUMACS}, runs principally under Unix. + It includes facilities to run compilation subprocesses and send and + receive mail; many hackers spend up to 80% of their {tube time} + inside it. Other variants include {GOSMACS}, CCA EMACS, + UniPress EMACS, Montgomery EMACS, jove, epsilon, and MicroEMACS. + + Some EMACS versions running under window managers iconify as an + overflowing kitchen sink, perhaps to suggest the one feature the + editor does not (yet) include. Indeed, some hackers find EMACS too + {heavyweight} and {baroque} for their taste, and expand the + name as `Escape Meta Alt Control Shift' to spoof its heavy reliance + on keystrokes decorated with {bucky bits}. Other spoof + expansions include `Eight Megabytes And Constantly Swapping', + `Eventually `malloc()'s All Computer Storage', and `EMACS + Makes A Computer Slow' (see {{recursive acronym}}). See + also {vi}. + +:email: /ee'mayl/ (also written `e-mail' and `E-mail') + 1. /n./ Electronic mail automatically passed through computer + networks and/or via modems over common-carrier lines. Contrast + {snail-mail}, {paper-net}, {voice-net}. See {network + address}. 2. /vt./ To send electronic mail. + + Oddly enough, the word `emailed' is actually listed in the OED; + it means "embossed (with a raised pattern) or perh. arranged in a + net or open work". A use from 1480 is given. The word is probably + derived from French `'emaill'e' (enameled) and related to Old + French `emmaille"ure' (network). A French correspondent tells + us that in modern French, `email' is a hard enamel obtained by + heating special paints in a furnace; an `emailleur' (no final e) is + a craftsman who makes email (he generally paints some objects + (like, say, jewelry) and cooks them in a furnace). + + There are numerous spelling variants of this word. In Internet + traffic up to 1995, `email' predominates, `e-mail' runs a + not-too-distant second, and `E-mail' and `Email' are a distant + third and fourth. + +:emoticon: /ee-moh'ti-kon/ /n./ An ASCII glyph used to + indicate an emotional state in email or news. Although originally + intended mostly as jokes, emoticons (or some other explicit humor + indication) are virtually required under certain circumstances in + high-volume text-only communication forums such as Usenet; the lack + of verbal and visual cues can otherwise cause what were intended to + be humorous, sarcastic, ironic, or otherwise non-100%-serious + comments to be badly misinterpreted (not always even by + {newbie}s), resulting in arguments and {flame war}s. + + Hundreds of emoticons have been proposed, but only a few are in + common use. These include: + + :-) + `smiley face' (for humor, laughter, friendliness, + occasionally sarcasm) + + :-( + `frowney face' (for sadness, anger, or upset) + + ;-) + `half-smiley' ({ha ha only serious}); also known as + `semi-smiley' or `winkey face'. + + :-/ + `wry face' + + (These may become more comprehensible if you tilt your head + sideways, to the left.) + + The first two listed are by far the most frequently encountered. + Hyphenless forms of them are common on CompuServe, GEnie, and BIX; + see also {bixie}. On {Usenet}, `smiley' is often used as a + generic term synonymous with {emoticon}, as well as specifically + for the happy-face emoticon. + + It appears that the emoticon was invented by one Scott Fahlman on + the CMU {bboard} systems around 1980. He later wrote: "I wish I + had saved the original post, or at least recorded the date for + posterity, but I had no idea that I was starting something that + would soon pollute all the world's communication channels." [GLS + confirms that he remembers this original posting]. + + Note for the {newbie}: Overuse of the smiley is a mark of + loserhood! More than one per paragraph is a fairly sure sign that + you've gone over the line. + +:empire: /n./ Any of a family of military simulations derived + from a game written by Peter Langston many years ago. Five or six + multi-player variants of varying degrees of sophistication exist, + and one single-player version implemented for both Unix and VMS; + the latter is even available as MS-DOS freeware. All are + notoriously addictive. + +:engine: /n./ 1. A piece of hardware that encapsulates some + function but can't be used without some kind of {front end}. + Today we have, especially, `print engine': the guts of a laser + printer. 2. An analogous piece of software; notionally, one that + does a lot of noisy crunching, such as a `database engine'. + + The hackish senses of `engine' are actually close to its original, + pre-Industrial-Revolution sense of a skill, clever device, or + instrument (the word is cognate to `ingenuity'). This sense had + not been completely eclipsed by the modern connotation of + power-transducing machinery in Charles Babbage's time, which + explains why he named the stored-program computer that + he designed in 1844 the `Analytical Engine'. + +:English: 1. /n. obs./ The source code for a program, which may + be in any language, as opposed to the linkable or executable binary + produced from it by a compiler. The idea behind the term is that + to a real hacker, a program written in his favorite programming + language is at least as readable as English. Usage: mostly by + old-time hackers, though recognizable in context. 2. The official + name of the database language used by the Pick Operating System, + actually a sort of crufty, brain-damaged SQL with delusions of + grandeur. The name permits {marketroid}s to say "Yes, and you + can program our computers in English!" to ignorant {suit}s + without quite running afoul of the truth-in-advertising laws. + +:enhancement: /n./ Common {marketroid}-speak for a bug + {fix}. This abuse of language is a popular and time-tested way + to turn incompetence into increased revenue. A hacker being ironic + would instead call the fix a {feature} -- or perhaps save some + effort by declaring the bug itself to be a feature. + +:ENQ: /enkw/ or /enk/ [from the ASCII mnemonic ENQuire + for 0000101] An on-line convention for querying someone's + availability. After opening a {talk mode} connection to someone + apparently in heavy hack mode, one might type `SYN SYN ENQ?' + (the SYNs representing notional synchronization bytes), and expect + a return of {ACK} or {NAK} depending on whether or not the + person felt interruptible. Compare {ping}, {finger}, and the + usage of `FOO?' listed under {talk mode}. + +:EOF: /E-O-F/ /n./ [abbreviation, `End Of File'] + 1. [techspeak] The {out-of-band} value returned by C's + sequential character-input functions (and their equivalents in + other environments) when end of file has been reached. This value + is -1 under C libraries postdating V6 Unix, but was + originally 0. 2. [Unix] The keyboard character (usually control-D, + the ASCII EOT (End Of Transmission) character) that is mapped by + the terminal driver into an end-of-file condition. 3. Used by + extension in non-computer contexts when a human is doing something + that can be modeled as a sequential read and can't go further. + "Yeah, I looked for a list of 360 mnemonics to post as a joke, but + I hit EOF pretty fast; all the library had was a {JCL} manual." + See also {EOL}. + +:EOL: /E-O-L/ /n./ [End Of Line] Syn. for {newline}, + derived perhaps from the original CDC6600 Pascal. Now rare, but + widely recognized and occasionally used for brevity. Used in the + example entry under {BNF}. See also {EOF}. + +:EOU: /E-O-U/ /n./ The mnemonic of a mythical ASCII control + character (End Of User) that would make an ASR-33 Teletype explode + on receipt. This construction parodies the numerous obscure + delimiter and control characters left in ASCII from the days when + it was associated more with wire-service teletypes than computers + (e.g., FS, GS, RS, US, EM, SUB, ETX, and esp. EOT). It is worth + remembering that ASR-33s were big, noisy mechanical beasts with a + lot of clattering parts; the notion that one might explode was + nowhere near as ridiculous as it might seem to someone sitting in + front of a {tube} or flatscreen today. + +:epoch: /n./ [Unix: prob. from astronomical timekeeping] The + time and date corresponding to 0 in an operating system's clock and + timestamp values. Under most Unix versions the epoch is 00:00:00 + GMT, January 1, 1970; under VMS, it's 00:00:00 of November 17, 1858 + (base date of the U.S. Naval Observatory's ephemerides); on a + Macintosh, it's the midnight beginning January 1 1904. System time + is measured in seconds or {tick}s past the epoch. Weird + problems may ensue when the clock wraps around (see {wrap + around}), which is not necessarily a rare event; on systems + counting 10 ticks per second, a signed 32-bit count of ticks is + good only for 6.8 years. The 1-tick-per-second clock of Unix is + good only until January 18, 2038, assuming at least some software + continues to consider it signed and that word lengths don't + increase by then. See also {wall time}. + +:epsilon: [see {delta}] 1. /n./ A small quantity of + anything. "The cost is epsilon." 2. /adj./ Very small, + negligible; less than {marginal}. "We can get this feature for + epsilon cost." 3. `within epsilon of': close enough to be + indistinguishable for all practical purposes, even closer than + being `within delta of'. "That's not what I asked for, but it's + within epsilon of what I wanted." Alternatively, it may mean not + close enough, but very little is required to get it there: "My + program is within epsilon of working." + +:epsilon squared: /n./ A quantity even smaller than + {epsilon}, as small in comparison to epsilon as epsilon is to + something normal; completely negligible. If you buy a + supercomputer for a million dollars, the cost of the + thousand-dollar terminal to go with it is {epsilon}, and the + cost of the ten-dollar cable to connect them is epsilon squared. + Compare {lost in the underflow}, {lost in the noise}. + +:era, the: /n./ Syn. {epoch}. Webster's Unabridged makes these + words almost synonymous, but `era' more often connotes a span of + time rather than a point in time, whereas the reverse is true for + {epoch}. The {epoch} usage is recommended. + +:Eric Conspiracy: /n./ A shadowy group of mustachioed hackers + named Eric first pinpointed as a sinister conspiracy by an infamous + talk.bizarre posting ca. 1987; this was doubtless influenced + by the numerous `Eric' jokes in the Monty Python oeuvre. There + do indeed seem to be considerably more mustachioed Erics in + hackerdom than the frequency of these three traits can account for + unless they are correlated in some arcane way. Well-known examples + include Eric Allman (he of the `Allman style' described under + {indent style}) and Erik Fair (co-author of NNTP); your editor + has heard from about fifteen others by email, and the organization + line `Eric Conspiracy Secret Laboratories' now emanates regularly + from more than one site. See the Eric Conspiracy Web Page at + http://www.ccil.org/~esr/ecsl.html for full details. + +:Eris: /e'ris/ /n./ The Greek goddess of Chaos, Discord, + Confusion, and Things You Know Not Of; her name was latinized to + Discordia and she was worshiped by that name in Rome. Not a very + friendly deity in the Classical original, she was reinvented as a + more benign personification of creative anarchy starting in 1959 by + the adherents of {Discordianism} and has since been a + semi-serious subject of veneration in several `fringe' cultures, + including hackerdom. See {Discordianism}, {Church of the + SubGenius}. + +:erotics: /ee-ro'tiks/ /n./ [Helsinki University of + Technology, Finland] /n./ English-language university slang for + electronics. Often used by hackers in Helsinki, maybe because good + electronics excites them and makes them warm. + +:error 33: [XEROX PARC] /n./ 1. Predicating one research effort + upon the success of another. 2. Allowing your own research effort + to be placed on the critical path of some other project (be it a + research effort or not). + +:evil: /adj./ As used by hackers, implies that some system, + program, person, or institution is sufficiently maldesigned as to + be not worth the bother of dealing with. Unlike the adjectives in + the {cretinous}/{losing}/{brain-damaged} series, `evil' + does not imply incompetence or bad design, but rather a set of + goals or design criteria fatally incompatible with the speaker's. + This usage is more an esthetic and engineering judgment than a + moral one in the mainstream sense. "We thought about adding a + {Blue Glue} interface but decided it was too evil to deal + with." "{TECO} is neat, but it can be pretty evil if you're + prone to typos." Often pronounced with the first syllable + lengthened, as /eeee'vil/. Compare {evil and rude}. + +:evil and rude: /adj./ Both {evil} and {rude}, but with + the additional connotation that the rudeness was due to malice + rather than incompetence. Thus, for example: Microsoft's Windows + NT is evil because it's a competent implementation of a bad + design; it's rude because it's gratuitously incompatible with + Unix in places where compatibility would have been as easy and + effective to do; but it's evil and rude because the + incompatibilities are apparently there not to fix design bugs in + Unix but rather to lock hapless customers and developers into the + Microsoft way. Hackish evil and rude is close to the + mainstream sense of `evil'. + +:exa-: /ek's*/ /pref./ [SI] See {{quantifiers}}. + +:examining the entrails: /n./ The process of {grovel}ling + through a {core dump} or hex image in an attempt to discover the + bug that brought a program or system down. The reference is to + divination from the entrails of a sacrified animal. Compare + {runes}, {incantation}, {black art}, {desk check}. + +:EXCH: /eks'ch*/ or /eksch/ /vt./ To exchange two things, + each for the other; to swap places. If you point to two people + sitting down and say "Exch!", you are asking them to trade + places. EXCH, meaning EXCHange, was originally the name of a + PDP-10 instruction that exchanged the contents of a register and a + memory location. Many newer hackers are probably thinking instead + of the {{PostScript}} exchange operator (which is usually written + in lowercase). + +:excl: /eks'kl/ /n./ Abbreviation for `exclamation point'. + See {bang}, {shriek}, {{ASCII}}. + +:EXE: /eks'ee/ or /eek'see/ or /E-X-E/ /n./ An executable + binary file. Some operating systems (notably MS-DOS, VMS, and + TWENEX) use the extension .EXE to mark such files. This usage is + also occasionally found among Unix programmers even though Unix + executables don't have any required suffix. + +:exec: /eg-zek'/ or /eks'ek/ vt., /n./ 1. [Unix: from + `execute'] Synonym for {chain}, derives from the + `exec(2)' call. 2. [from `executive'] obs. The command + interpreter for an {OS} (see {shell}); term esp. used + around mainframes, and prob. derived from UNIVAC's archaic EXEC 2 + and EXEC 8 operating systems. 3. At IBM and VM/CMS shops, the + equivalent of a shell command file (among VM/CMS users). + + The mainstream `exec' as an abbreviation for (human) executive is + *not* used. To a hacker, an `exec' is a always a program, + never a person. + +:exercise, left as an: /adj./ [from technical books] Used to + complete a proof when one doesn't mind a {handwave}, or to avoid + one entirely. The complete phrase is: "The proof [or `the rest'] + is left as an exercise for the reader." This comment *has* + occasionally been attached to unsolved research problems by authors + possessed of either an evil sense of humor or a vast faith in the + capabilities of their audiences. + +:Exon: /eks'on/ /excl./ A generic obscenity that quickly + entered wide use on the Internet and Usenet after {Black + Thursday}. From the last name of Senator James Exon + (Democrat-Nevada), primary author of the {CDA}. + +:external memory: /n./ A memo pad, palmtop computer, or written + notes. "Hold on while I write that to external memory". The + analogy is with store or DRAM versus nonvolatile disk storage on + computers. + +:eye candy: /i:' kand`ee/ /n./ [from mainstream slang + "ear candy"] A display of some sort that's presented to {luser}s + to keep them distracted while the program performs necessary + background tasks. "Give 'em some eye candy while the back-end + {slurp}s that {BLOB} into core." + +:eyeball search: /n.,v./ To look for something in a mass of + code or data with one's own native optical sensors, as opposed to + using some sort of pattern matching software like {grep} or any + other automated search tool. Also called a {vgrep}; compare + {vdiff}, {desk check}. + += F = +===== + +:face time: /n./ Time spent interacting with somebody + face-to-face (as opposed to via electronic links). "Oh, yeah, I + spent some face time with him at the last Usenix." + +:factor: /n./ See {coefficient of X}. + +:fall over: /vi./ [IBM] Yet another synonym for {crash} or + {lose}. `Fall over hard' equates to {crash and burn}. + +:fall through: /v./ (n. `fallthrough', var. + `fall-through') 1. To exit a loop by exhaustion, i.e., by having + fulfilled its exit condition rather than via a break or exception + condition that exits from the middle of it. This usage appears to + be *really* old, dating from the 1940s and 1950s. 2. To fail + a test that would have passed control to a subroutine or some other + distant portion of code. 3. In C, `fall-through' occurs when the + flow of execution in a switch statement reaches a `case' label + other than by jumping there from the switch header, passing a point + where one would normally expect to find a `break'. A trivial + example: + + switch (color) + { + case GREEN: + do_green(); + break; + case PINK: + do_pink(); + /* FALL THROUGH */ + case RED: + do_red(); + break; + default: + do_blue(); + break; + } + + The variant spelling `/* FALL THRU */' is also common. + + The effect of the above code is to `do_green()' when color is + `GREEN', `do_red()' when color is `RED', + `do_blue()' on any other color other than `PINK', and + (and this is the important part) `do_pink()' *and then* + `do_red()' when color is `PINK'. Fall-through is + {considered harmful} by some, though there are contexts (such as + the coding of state machines) in which it is natural; it is + generally considered good practice to include a comment + highlighting the fall-through where one would normally expect a + break. See also {Duff's device}. + +:fan: /n./ Without qualification, indicates a fan of science + fiction, especially one who goes to {con}s and tends to hang out + with other fans. Many hackers are fans, so this term has been + imported from fannish slang; however, unlike much fannish slang it + is recognized by most non-fannish hackers. Among SF fans the + plural is correctly `fen', but this usage is not automatic to + hackers. "Laura reads the stuff occasionally but isn't really a + fan." + +:fandango on core: /n./ [Unix/C hackers, from the Mexican + dance] In C, a wild pointer that runs out of bounds, causing a + {core dump}, or corrupts the `malloc(3)' {arena} in such + a way as to cause mysterious failures later on, is sometimes said + to have `done a fandango on core'. On low-end personal machines + without an MMU, this can corrupt the OS itself, causing massive + lossage. Other frenetic dances such as the rhumba, cha-cha, or + watusi, may be substituted. See {aliasing bug}, {precedence + lossage}, {smash the stack}, {memory leak}, {memory + smash}, {overrun screw}, {core}. + +:FAQ: /F-A-Q/ or /fak/ /n./ [Usenet] 1. A Frequently Asked + Question. 2. A compendium of accumulated lore, posted periodically + to high-volume newsgroups in an attempt to forestall such + questions. Some people prefer the term `FAQ list' or `FAQL' + /fa'kl/, reserving `FAQ' for sense 1. + + This lexicon itself serves as a good example of a collection of one + kind of lore, although it is far too big for a regular FAQ + posting. Examples: "What is the proper type of NULL?" and + "What's that funny name for the `#' character?" are both + Frequently Asked Questions. Several FAQs refer readers to + this file. + +:FAQ list: /F-A-Q list/ or /fak list/ /n./ [Usenet] Syn + {FAQ}, sense 2. + +:FAQL: /fa'kl/ /n./ Syn. {FAQ list}. + +:faradize: /far'*-di:z/ /v./ [US Geological Survey] To start any + hyper-addictive process or trend, or to continue adding current to + such a trend. Telling one user about a new octo-tetris game you + compiled would be a faradizing act -- in two weeks you might find + your entire department playing the faradic game. + +:farkled: /far'kld/ /adj./ [DeVry Institute of Technology, + Atlanta] Syn. {hosed}. Poss. owes something to Yiddish + `farblondjet' and/or the `Farkle Family' skits on "Rowan + and Martin's Laugh-In", a popular comedy show of the late 1960s. + +:farming: /n./ [Adelaide University, Australia] What the heads + of a disk drive are said to do when they plow little furrows in the + magnetic media. Associated with a {crash}. Typically used as + follows: "Oh no, the machine has just crashed; I hope the hard + drive hasn't gone {farming} again." + +:fascist: /adj./ 1. Said of a computer system with excessive or + annoying security barriers, usage limits, or access policies. The + implication is that said policies are preventing hackers from + getting interesting work done. The variant `fascistic' seems to + have been preferred at MIT, poss. by analogy with `touristic' + (see {tourist}). 2. In the design of languages and other + software tools, `the fascist alternative' is the most restrictive + and structured way of capturing a particular function; the + implication is that this may be desirable in order to simplify the + implementation or provide tighter error checking. Compare + {bondage-and-discipline language}, although that term is global + rather than local. + +:fat electrons: /n./ Old-time hacker David Cargill's theory on + the causation of computer glitches. Your typical electric utility + draws its line current out of the big generators with a pair of + coil taps located near the top of the dynamo. When the normal tap + brushes get dirty, they take them off line to clean them up, and + use special auxiliary taps on the *bottom* of the coil. Now, + this is a problem, because when they do that they get not ordinary + or `thin' electrons, but the fat'n'sloppy electrons that are + heavier and so settle to the bottom of the generator. These flow + down ordinary wires just fine, but when they have to turn a sharp + corner (as in an integrated-circuit via), they're apt to get stuck. + This is what causes computer glitches. [Fascinating. Obviously, + fat electrons must gain mass by {bogon} absorption --ESR] + Compare {bogon}, {magic smoke}. + +:faulty: /adj./ Non-functional; buggy. Same denotation as + {bletcherous}, {losing}, q.v., but the connotation is much + milder. + +:fd leak: /F-D leek/ /n./ A kind of programming bug analogous + to a {core leak}, in which a program fails to close file + descriptors (`fd's) after file operations are completed, and + thus eventually runs out of them. See {leak}. + +:fear and loathing: /n./ [from Hunter S. Thompson] A state + inspired by the prospect of dealing with certain real-world systems + and standards that are totally {brain-damaged} but ubiquitous + -- Intel 8086s, or {COBOL}, or {{EBCDIC}}, or any {IBM} + machine except the Rios (a.k.a. the RS/6000). "Ack! They want + PCs to be able to talk to the AI machine. Fear and loathing + time!" + +:feature: /n./ 1. A good property or behavior (as of a + program). Whether it was intended or not is immaterial. 2. An + intended property or behavior (as of a program). Whether it is + good or not is immaterial (but if bad, it is also a + {misfeature}). 3. A surprising property or behavior; in + particular, one that is purposely inconsistent because it works + better that way -- such an inconsistency is therefore a + {feature} and not a {bug}. This kind of feature is sometimes + called a {miswart}; see that entry for a classic example. 4. A + property or behavior that is gratuitous or unnecessary, though + perhaps also impressive or cute. For example, one feature of + Common LISP's `format' function is the ability to print + numbers in two different Roman-numeral formats (see {bells, + whistles, and gongs}). 5. A property or behavior that was put in + to help someone else but that happens to be in your way. 6. A bug + that has been documented. To call something a feature sometimes + means the author of the program did not consider the particular + case, and that the program responded in a way that was unexpected + but not strictly incorrect. A standard joke is that a bug can be + turned into a {feature} simply by documenting it (then + theoretically no one can complain about it because it's in the + manual), or even by simply declaring it to be good. "That's not a + bug, that's a feature!" is a common catchphrase. See also + {feetch feetch}, {creeping featurism}, {wart}, {green + lightning}. + + The relationship among bugs, features, misfeatures, warts, and + miswarts might be clarified by the following hypothetical exchange + between two hackers on an airliner: + + A: "This seat doesn't recline." + + B: "That's not a bug, that's a feature. There is an emergency + exit door built around the window behind you, and the route has to + be kept clear." + + A: "Oh. Then it's a misfeature; they should have increased the + spacing between rows here." + + B: "Yes. But if they'd increased spacing in only one section it + would have been a wart -- they would've had to make + nonstandard-length ceiling panels to fit over the displaced + seats." + + A: "A miswart, actually. If they increased spacing throughout + they'd lose several rows and a chunk out of the profit margin. So + unequal spacing would actually be the Right Thing." + + B: "Indeed." + + `Undocumented feature' is a common, allegedly humorous euphemism + for a {bug}. There's a related joke that is sometimes referred + to as the "one-question geek test". You say to someone "I saw a + Volkswagen Beetle today with a vanity license plate that read + FEATURE". If he/she laughs, he/she is a geek (see {computer + geek}, sense #2). + +:feature creature: /n./ [poss. fr. slang `creature feature' + for a horror movie] 1. One who loves to add features to designs or + programs, perhaps at the expense of coherence, concision, or + {taste}. 2. Alternately, a mythical being that induces + otherwise rational programmers to perpetrate such crocks. See also + {feeping creaturism}, {creeping featurism}. + +:feature key: /n./ The Macintosh key with the cloverleaf + graphic on its keytop; sometimes referred to as `flower', + `pretzel', `clover', `propeller', `beanie' (an apparent + reference to the major feature of a propeller beanie), {splat}, + or the `command key'. The Mac's equivalent of an {alt} key. + The proliferation of terms for this creature may illustrate one + subtle peril of iconic interfaces. + + Many people have been mystified by the cloverleaf-like symbol that + appears on the feature key. Its oldest name is `cross of St. + Hannes', but it occurs in pre-Christian Viking art as a decorative + motif. Throughout Scandinavia today the road agencies use it to + mark sites of historical interest. Apple picked up the symbol from + an early Mac developer who happened to be Swedish. Apple + documentation gives the translation "interesting feature"! + + There is some dispute as to the proper (Swedish) name of this + symbol. It technically stands for the word `sev"ardhet' + (interesting feature); many of these are old churches. Some Swedes + report as an idiom for it the word `kyrka', cognate to English + `church' and Scots-dialect `kirk' but pronounced /shir'k*/ in + modern Swedish. Others say this is nonsense. Another idiom + reported for the sign is `runsten' /roon'stn/, derived from + the fact that many of the interesting features are Viking + rune-stones. + +:feature shock: /n./ [from Alvin Toffler's book title + "Future Shock"] A user's (or programmer's!) confusion when + confronted with a package that has too many features and poor + introductory material. + +:featurectomy: /fee`ch*r-ek't*-mee/ /n./ The act of removing + a feature from a program. Featurectomies come in two flavors, the + `righteous' and the `reluctant'. Righteous featurectomies are + performed because the remover believes the program would be more + elegant without the feature, or there is already an equivalent and + better way to achieve the same end. (Doing so is not quite the + same thing as removing a {misfeature}.) Reluctant + featurectomies are performed to satisfy some external constraint + such as code size or execution speed. + +:feep: /feep/ 1. /n./ The soft electronic `bell' sound of a + display terminal (except for a VT-52); a beep (in fact, the + microcomputer world seems to prefer {beep}). 2. /vi./ To cause + the display to make a feep sound. ASR-33s (the original TTYs) do + not feep; they have mechanical bells that ring. Alternate forms: + {beep}, `bleep', or just about anything suitably onomatopoeic. + (Jeff MacNelly, in his comic strip "Shoe", uses the word + `eep' for sounds made by computer terminals and video games; this + is perhaps the closest written approximation yet.) The term + `breedle' was sometimes heard at SAIL, where the terminal + bleepers are not particularly soft (they sound more like the + musical equivalent of a raspberry or Bronx cheer; for a close + approximation, imagine the sound of a Star Trek communicator's beep + lasting for five seconds). The `feeper' on a VT-52 has been + compared to the sound of a '52 Chevy stripping its gears. See also + {ding}. + +:feeper: /fee'pr/ /n./ The device in a terminal or + workstation (usually a loudspeaker of some kind) that makes the + {feep} sound. + +:feeping creature: /n./ [from {feeping creaturism}] An + unnecessary feature; a bit of {chrome} that, in the speaker's + judgment, is the camel's nose for a whole horde of new features. + +:feeping creaturism: /fee'ping kree`ch*r-izm/ /n./ A + deliberate spoonerism for {creeping featurism}, meant to imply + that the system or program in question has become a misshapen + creature of hacks. This term isn't really well defined, but it + sounds so neat that most hackers have said or heard it. It is + probably reinforced by an image of terminals prowling about in the + dark making their customary noises. + +:feetch feetch: /feech feech/ /interj./ If someone tells you + about some new improvement to a program, you might respond: + "Feetch, feetch!" The meaning of this depends critically on + vocal inflection. With enthusiasm, it means something like "Boy, + that's great! What a great hack!" Grudgingly or with obvious + doubt, it means "I don't know; it sounds like just one more + unnecessary and complicated thing". With a tone of resignation, + it means, "Well, I'd rather keep it simple, but I suppose it has + to be done". + +:fence: /n./ 1. A sequence of one or more distinguished + ({out-of-band}) characters (or other data items), used to + delimit a piece of data intended to be treated as a unit (the + computer-science literature calls this a `sentinel'). The NUL + (ASCII 0000000) character that terminates strings in C is a fence. + Hex FF is also (though slightly less frequently) used this way. + See {zigamorph}. 2. An extra data value inserted in an array or + other data structure in order to allow some normal test on the + array's contents also to function as a termination test. For + example, a highly optimized routine for finding a value in an array + might artificially place a copy of the value to be searched for + after the last slot of the array, thus allowing the main search + loop to search for the value without having to check at each pass + whether the end of the array had been reached. 3. [among users of + optimizing compilers] Any technique, usually exploiting knowledge + about the compiler, that blocks certain optimizations. Used when + explicit mechanisms are not available or are overkill. Typically a + hack: "I call a dummy procedure there to force a flush of the + optimizer's register-coloring info" can be expressed by the + shorter "That's a fence procedure". + +:fencepost error: /n./ 1. A problem with the discrete + equivalent of a boundary condition, often exhibited in programs by + iterative loops. From the following problem: "If you build a + fence 100 feet long with posts 10 feet apart, how many posts do you + need?" (Either 9 or 11 is a better answer than the obvious 10.) + For example, suppose you have a long list or array of items, and + want to process items m through n; how many items are + there? The obvious answer is n - m, but that is off by one; + the right answer is n - m + 1. A program that used the + `obvious' formula would have a fencepost error in it. See also + {zeroth} and {off-by-one error}, and note that not all + off-by-one errors are fencepost errors. The game of Musical Chairs + involves a catastrophic off-by-one error where N people try + to sit in N - 1 chairs, but it's not a fencepost error. + Fencepost errors come from counting things rather than the spaces + between them, or vice versa, or by neglecting to consider whether + one should count one or both ends of a row. 2. [rare] An error + induced by unexpected regularities in input values, which can (for + instance) completely thwart a theoretically efficient binary tree + or hash table implementation. (The error here involves the + difference between expected and worst case behaviors of an + algorithm.) + +:fepped out: /fept owt/ /adj./ The Symbolics 3600 LISP + Machine has a Front-End Processor called a `FEP' (compare sense 2 + of {box}). When the main processor gets {wedged}, the FEP + takes control of the keyboard and screen. Such a machine is said + to have `fepped out' or `dropped into the fep'. + +:FidoNet: /n./ A worldwide hobbyist network of personal + computers which exchanges mail, discussion groups, and files. + Founded in 1984 and originally consisting only of IBM PCs and + compatibles, FidoNet now includes such diverse machines as Apple + ][s, Ataris, Amigas, and Unix systems. FidoNet has grown rapidly + and in early 1996 has approximately 38000 nodes. + +:field circus: /n./ [a derogatory pun on `field service'] The + field service organization of any hardware manufacturer, but + especially DEC. There is an entire genre of jokes about DEC field + circus engineers: + + Q: How can you recognize a DEC field circus engineer + with a flat tire? + A: He's changing one tire at a time to see which one is flat. + + Q: How can you recognize a DEC field circus engineer + who is out of gas? + A: He's changing one tire at a time to see which one is flat. + + [See {Easter egging} for additional insight on these jokes.] + + There is also the `Field Circus Cheer' (from the {plan file} for + DEC on MIT-AI): + + Maynard! Maynard! + Don't mess with us! + We're mean and we're tough! + If you get us confused + We'll screw up your stuff. + + (DEC's service HQ is located in Maynard, Massachusetts.) + +:field servoid: [play on `android'] /fee'ld ser'voyd/ /n./ + Representative of a field service organization (see {field + circus}). This has many of the implications of {droid}. + +:Fight-o-net: /n./ [FidoNet] Deliberate distortion of {FidoNet}, + often applied after a flurry of {flamage} in a particular + {echo}, especially the SYSOP echo or Fidonews (see {'Snooze}). + +:File Attach: [FidoNet] 1. /n./ A file sent along with a mail + message from one BBS to another. 2. /vt./ Sending someone a file +by + using the File Attach option in a BBS mailer. + +:File Request: [FidoNet] 1. /n./ The {FidoNet} equivalent of + {FTP}, in which one BBS system automatically dials another and + {snarf}s one or more files. Often abbreviated `FReq'; files + are often announced as being "available for FReq" in the same way + that files are announced as being "available for/by anonymous + FTP" on the Internet. 2. /vt./ The act of getting a copy of a file + by using the File Request option of the BBS mailer. + +:file signature: /n./ A {magic number}, sense 3. + +:filk: /filk/ /n.,v./ [from SF fandom, where a typo for + `folk' was adopted as a new word] A popular or folk song with + lyrics revised or completely new lyrics, intended for humorous + effect when read, and/or to be sung late at night at SF + conventions. There is a flourishing subgenre of these called + `computer filks', written by hackers and often containing rather + sophisticated technical humor. See {double bucky} for an + example. Compare {grilf}, {hing} and {newsfroup}. + +:film at 11: [MIT: in parody of TV newscasters] 1. Used in + conversation to announce ordinary events, with a sarcastic + implication that these events are earth-shattering. "{{ITS}} + crashes; film at 11." "Bug found in scheduler; film at 11." + 2. Also widely used outside MIT to indicate that additional + information will be available at some future time, *without* + the implication of anything particularly ordinary about the + referenced event. For example, "The mail file server died this + morning; we found garbage all over the root directory. Film at + 11." would indicate that a major failure had occurred but that the + people working on it have no additional information about it as + yet; use of the phrase in this way suggests gently that the problem + is liable to be fixed more quickly if the people doing the fixing + can spend time doing the fixing rather than responding to + questions, the answers to which will appear on the normal "11:00 + news", if people will just be patient. + +:filter: /n./ [orig. {{Unix}}, now also in {{MS-DOS}}] A + program that processes an input data stream into an output data + stream in some well-defined way, and does no I/O to anywhere else + except possibly on error conditions; one designed to be used as a + stage in a `pipeline' (see {plumbing}). Compare {sponge}. + +:Finagle's Law: /n./ The generalized or `folk' version of + {Murphy's Law}, fully named "Finagle's Law of Dynamic + Negatives" and usually rendered "Anything that can go wrong, + will". One variant favored among hackers is "The perversity of + the Universe tends towards a maximum" (but see also {Hanlon's + Razor}). The label `Finagle's Law' was popularized by SF author + Larry Niven in several stories depicting a frontier culture of + asteroid miners; this `Belter' culture professed a religion + and/or running joke involving the worship of the dread god Finagle + and his mad prophet Murphy. Some technical and scientific cultures + (e.g., paleontologists) know it under the name `Sod's Law'; this + usage may be more common in Great Britain. + +:fine: /adj./ [WPI] Good, but not good enough to be {cuspy}. + The word `fine' is used elsewhere, of course, but without the + implicit comparison to the higher level implied by {cuspy}. + +:finger: [WAITS, via BSD Unix] 1. /n./ A program that displays + information about a particular user or all users logged on the + system, or a remote system. Typically shows full name, last login + time, idle time, terminal line, and terminal location (where + applicable). May also display a {plan file} left by the user + (see also {Hacking X for Y}). 2. /vt./ To apply finger to a + username. 3. /vt./ By extension, to check a human's current state +by + any means. "Foodp?" "T!" "OK, finger Lisa and see if she's + idle." 4. Any picture (composed of ASCII characters) depicting + `the finger'. Originally a humorous component of one's plan file + to deter the curious fingerer (sense 2), it has entered the arsenal + of some {flamer}s. + +:finger trouble: /n./ Mistyping, typos, or generalized keyboard + incompetence (this is surprisingly common among hackers, given the + amount of time they spend at keyboards). "I keep putting colons at + the end of statements instead of semicolons", "Finger trouble + again, eh?". + +:finger-pointing syndrome: /n./ All-too-frequent result of + bugs, esp. in new or experimental configurations. The hardware + vendor points a finger at the software. The software vendor points + a finger at the hardware. All the poor users get is the finger. + +:finn: /v./ [IRC] To pull rank on somebody based on the amount + of time one has spent on {IRC}. The term derives from the fact + that IRC was originally written in Finland in 1987. There may be + some influence from the `Finn' character in William Gibson's + seminal cyberpunk novel "Count Zero", who at one point says to + another (much younger) character "I have a pair of shoes older + than you are, so shut up!" + +:firebottle: /n./ A large, primitive, power-hungry active + electrical device, similar in function to a FET but constructed out + of glass, metal, and vacuum. Characterized by high cost, low + density, low reliability, high-temperature operation, and high + power dissipation. Sometimes mistakenly called a `tube' in the + U.S. or a `valve' in England; another hackish term is + {glassfet}. + +:firefighting: /n./ 1. What sysadmins have to do to correct + sudden operational problems. An opposite of hacking. "Been + hacking your new newsreader?" "No, a power glitch hosed the + network and I spent the whole afternoon fighting fires." 2. The + act of throwing lots of manpower and late nights at a project, + esp. to get it out before deadline. See also {gang bang}, + {Mongolian Hordes technique}; however, the term `firefighting' + connotes that the effort is going into chasing bugs rather than + adding features. + +:firehose syndrome: /n./ In mainstream folklore it is observed + that trying to drink from a firehose can be a good way to rip your + lips off. On computer networks, the absence or failure of flow + control mechanisms can lead to situations in which the sending + system sprays a massive flood of packets at an unfortunate + receiving system, more than it can handle. Compare {overrun}, + {buffer overflow}. + +:firewall code: /n./ 1. The code you put in a system (say, a + telephone switch) to make sure that the users can't do any + damage. Since users always want to be able to do everything but + never want to suffer for any mistakes, the construction of a + firewall is a question not only of defensive coding but also of + interface presentation, so that users don't even get curious about + those corners of a system where they can burn themselves. + 2. Any sanity check inserted to catch a {can't happen} error. + Wise programmers often change code to fix a bug twice: once to fix + the bug, and once to insert a firewall which would have arrested + the bug before it did quite as much damage. + +:firewall machine: /n./ A dedicated gateway machine with + special security precautions on it, used to service outside network + connections and dial-in lines. The idea is to protect a cluster of + more loosely administered machines hidden behind it from + {cracker}s. The typical firewall is an inexpensive micro-based + Unix box kept clean of critical data, with a bunch of modems and + public network ports on it but just one carefully watched + connection back to the rest of the cluster. The special + precautions may include threat monitoring, callback, and even a + complete {iron box} keyable to particular incoming IDs or + activity patterns. Syn. {flytrap}, {Venus flytrap}. + + [When first coined in the mid-1980s this term was pure jargon. Now + (1996) it is borderline techspeak, and may have to be dropped from + this lexicon before very long --ESR] + +:fireworks mode: /n./ The mode a machine is sometimes said to + be in when it is performing a {crash and burn} operation. + +:firmy: /fer'mee/ /n./ Syn. {stiffy} (a 3.5-inch floppy + disk). + +:fish: /n./ [Adelaide University, Australia] 1. Another + {metasyntactic variable}. See {foo}. Derived originally + from the Monty Python skit in the middle of "The Meaning of + Life" entitled "Find the Fish". 2. A pun for `microfiche'. + A microfiche file cabinet may be referred to as a `fish tank'. + +:FISH queue: /n./ [acronym, by analogy with FIFO (First In, + First Out)] `First In, Still Here'. A joking way of pointing out + that processing of a particular sequence of events or requests has + stopped dead. Also `FISH mode' and `FISHnet'; the latter may + be applied to any network that is running really slowly or + exhibiting extreme flakiness. + +:FITNR: // /adj./ [Thinking Machines, Inc.] Fixed In The + Often Next Release. A written-only notation attached to bug +reports. + wishful thinking. + +:fix: /n.,v./ What one does when a problem has been reported + too many times to be ignored. + +:FIXME: /imp./ A standard tag often put in C comments near a + piece of code that needs work. The point of doing so is that a + `grep' or a similar pattern-matching tool can find all such + places quickly. + + /* FIXME: note this is common in {GNU} code. */ + + Compare {XXX}. + +:flag: /n./ A variable or quantity that can take on one of two + values; a bit, particularly one that is used to indicate one of two + outcomes or is used to control which of two things is to be done. + "This flag controls whether to clear the screen before printing + the message." "The program status word contains several flag + bits." Used of humans analogously to {bit}. See also + {hidden flag}, {mode bit}. + +:flag day: /n./ A software change that is neither forward- nor + backward-compatible, and which is costly to make and costly to + reverse. "Can we install that without causing a flag day for all + users?" This term has nothing to do with the use of the word + {flag} to mean a variable that has two values. It came into use + when a massive change was made to the {{Multics}} timesharing + system to convert from the old ASCII code to the new one; this was + scheduled for Flag Day (a U.S. holiday), June 14, 1966. See also + {backward combatability}. + +:flaky: /adj./ (var sp. `flakey') Subject to frequent + {lossage}. This use is of course related to the common slang + use of the word to describe a person as eccentric, crazy, or just + unreliable. A system that is flaky is working, sort of -- enough + that you are tempted to try to use it -- but fails frequently + enough that the odds in favor of finishing what you start are low. + Commonwealth hackish prefers {dodgy} or {wonky}. + +:flamage: /flay'm*j/ /n./ Flaming verbiage, esp. high-noise, + low-signal postings to {Usenet} or other electronic {fora}. + Often in the phrase `the usual flamage'. `Flaming' is the act + itself; `flamage' the content; a `flame' is a single flaming + message. See {flame}, also {dahmum}. + +:flame: 1. /vi./ To post an email message intended to insult + and provoke. 2. /vi./ To speak incessantly and/or rabidly on some + relatively uninteresting subject or with a patently ridiculous + attitude. 3. /vt./ Either of senses 1 or 2, directed with +hostility + at a particular person or people. 4. /n./ An instance of flaming. + When a discussion degenerates into useless controversy, one might + tell the participants "Now you're just flaming" or "Stop all + that flamage!" to try to get them to cool down (so to speak). + + The term may have been independently invented at several different + places. It has been reported from MIT, Carleton College and RPI + (among many other places) from as far back as 1969. + + It is possible that the hackish sense of `flame' is much older than + that. The poet Chaucer was also what passed for a wizard hacker in + his time; he wrote a treatise on the astrolabe, the most advanced + computing device of the day. In Chaucer's "Troilus and + Cressida", Cressida laments her inability to grasp the proof of a + particular mathematical theorem; her uncle Pandarus then observes + that it's called "the fleminge of wrecches." This phrase seems + to have been intended in context as "that which puts the wretches + to flight" but was probably just as ambiguous in Middle English as + "the flaming of wretches" would be today. One suspects that + Chaucer would feel right at home on Usenet. + +:flame bait: /n./ A posting intended to trigger a {flame + war}, or one that invites flames in reply. See also {troll}. + +:flame on: vi.,/interj./ 1. To begin to {flame}. The + punning reference to Marvel Comics's Human Torch is no longer + widely recognized. 2. To continue to flame. See {rave}, + {burble}. + +:flame war: /n./ (var. `flamewar') An acrimonious dispute, + especially when conducted on a public electronic forum such as + {Usenet}. + +:flamer: /n./ One who habitually {flame}s. Said esp. of + obnoxious {Usenet} personalities. + +:flap: /vt./ 1. To unload a DECtape (so it goes flap, flap, + flap...). Old-time hackers at MIT tell of the days when the + disk was device 0 and {microtape}s were 1, 2,... and + attempting to flap device 0 would instead start a motor banging + inside a cabinet near the disk. 2. By extension, to unload any + magnetic tape. See also {macrotape}. Modern cartridge tapes no + longer actually flap, but the usage has remained. (The term could + well be re-applied to DEC's TK50 cartridge tape drive, a + spectacularly misengineered contraption which makes a loud flapping + sound, almost like an old reel-type lawnmower, in one of its many + tape-eating failure modes.) + +:flarp: /flarp/ /n./ [Rutgers University] Yet another + {metasyntactic variable} (see {foo}). Among those who use + it, it is associated with a legend that any program not containing + the word `flarp' somewhere will not work. The legend is + discreetly silent on the reliability of programs which *do* + contain the magic word. + +:flat: /adj./ 1. Lacking any complex internal structure. + "That {bitty box} has only a flat filesystem, not a + hierarchical one." The verb form is {flatten}. 2. Said of a + memory architecture (like that of the VAX or 680x0) that is one big + linear address space (typically with each possible value of a + processor register corresponding to a unique core address), as + opposed to a `segmented' architecture (like that of the 80x86) in + which addresses are composed from a base-register/offset pair + (segmented designs are generally considered {cretinous}). + + Note that sense 1 (at least with respect to filesystems) is usually + used pejoratively, while sense 2 is a {Good Thing}. + +:flat-ASCII: /adj./ Said of a text file that contains only + 7-bit ASCII characters and uses only ASCII-standard control + characters (that is, has no embedded codes specific to a particular + text formatter markup language, or output device, and no + {meta}-characters). Syn. {plain-ASCII}. Compare + {flat-file}. + +:flat-file: /adj./ A {flatten}ed representation of some + database or tree or network structure as a single file from which + the structure could implicitly be rebuilt, esp. one in + {flat-ASCII} form. See also {sharchive}. + +:flatten: /vt./ To remove structural information, esp. to + filter something with an implicit tree structure into a simple + sequence of leaves; also tends to imply mapping to + {flat-ASCII}. "This code flattens an expression with + parentheses into an equivalent {canonical} form." + +:flavor: /n./ 1. Variety, type, kind. "DDT commands come in + two flavors." "These lights come in two flavors, big red ones + and small green ones." See {vanilla}. 2. The attribute that + causes something to be {flavorful}. Usually used in the phrase + "yields additional flavor". "This convention yields additional + flavor by allowing one to print text either right-side-up or + upside-down." See {vanilla}. This usage was certainly + reinforced by the terminology of quantum chromodynamics, in which + quarks (the constituents of, e.g., protons) come in six flavors + (up, down, strange, charm, top, bottom) and three colors (red, + blue, green) -- however, hackish use of `flavor' at MIT predated + QCD. 3. The term for `class' (in the object-oriented sense) in + the LISP Machine Flavors system. Though the Flavors design has + been superseded (notably by the Common LISP CLOS facility), the + term `flavor' is still used as a general synonym for `class' + by some LISP hackers. + +:flavorful: /adj./ Full of {flavor} (sense 2); esthetically + pleasing. See {random} and {losing} for antonyms. See also + the entries for {taste} and {elegant}. + +:flippy: /flip'ee/ /n./ A single-sided floppy disk altered + for double-sided use by addition of a second write-notch, so called + because it must be flipped over for the second side to be + accessible. No longer common. + +:flood: /v./ [IRC] To dump large amounts of text onto an + {IRC} channel. This is especially rude when the text is + uninteresting and the other users are trying to carry on a serious + conversation. + +:flowchart:: /n./ [techspeak] An archaic form of visual + control-flow specification employing arrows and `speech + balloons' of various shapes. Hackers never use flowcharts, + consider them extremely silly, and associate them with {COBOL} + programmers, {card walloper}s, and other lower forms of life. + This attitude follows from the observations that flowcharts (at + least from a hacker's point of view) are no easier to read than + code, are less precise, and tend to fall out of sync with the code + (so that they either obfuscate it rather than explaining it, or + require extra maintenance effort that doesn't improve the code). + See also {pdl}, sense 3. + +:flower key: /n./ [Mac users] See {feature key}. + +:flush: /v./ 1. To delete something, usually superfluous, or to + abort an operation. "All that nonsense has been flushed." + 2. [Unix/C] To force buffered I/O to disk, as with an + `fflush(3)' call. This is *not* an abort or deletion as + in sense 1, but a demand for early completion! 3. To leave at the + end of a day's work (as opposed to leaving for a meal). "I'm + going to flush now." "Time to flush." 4. To exclude someone + from an activity, or to ignore a person. + + `Flush' was standard ITS terminology for aborting an output + operation; one spoke of the text that would have been printed, but + was not, as having been flushed. It is speculated that this term + arose from a vivid image of flushing unwanted characters by hosing + down the internal output buffer, washing the characters away before + they could be printed. The Unix/C usage, on the other hand, was + propagated by the `fflush(3)' call in C's standard I/O library + (though it is reported to have been in use among BLISS programmers + at DEC and on Honeywell and IBM machines as far back as 1965). + Unix/C hackers find the ITS usage confusing, and vice versa. + +:flypage: /fli:'payj/ /n./ (alt. `fly page') A {banner}, + sense 1. + +:Flyspeck 3: /n./ Standard name for any font that is so tiny as + to be unreadable (by analogy with names like `Helvetica 10' for + 10-point Helvetica). Legal boilerplate is usually printed in + Flyspeck 3. + +:flytrap: /n./ See {firewall machine}. + +:FM: /F-M/ /n./ 1. *Not* `Frequency Modulation' but + rather an abbreviation for `Fucking Manual', the back-formation + from {RTFM}. Used to refer to the manual itself in the + {RTFM}. "Have you seen the Networking FM lately?" + 2. Abbreviation for "Fucking Magic", used in the sense of + {black magic}. + +:fnord: /n./ [from the "Illuminatus Trilogy"] 1. A word + used in email and news postings to tag utterances as surrealist + mind-play or humor, esp. in connection with {Discordianism} and + elaborate conspiracy theories. "I heard that David Koresh is + sharing an apartment in Argentina with Hitler. (Fnord.)" "Where + can I fnord get the Principia Discordia from?" 2. A + {metasyntactic variable}, commonly used by hackers with ties to + {Discordianism} or the {Church of the SubGenius}. + +:FOAF: // /n./ [Usenet] Acronym for `Friend Of A Friend'. + The source of an unverified, possibly untrue story. This term was + not originated by hackers (it is used in Jan Brunvand's books on + urban folklore), but is much better recognized on Usenet and + elsewhere than in mainstream English. + +:FOD: /fod/ /v./ [Abbreviation for `Finger of Death', + originally a spell-name from fantasy gaming] To terminate with + extreme prejudice and with no regard for other people. From + {MUD}s where the wizard command `FOD <player>' results in the + immediate and total death of <player>, usually as punishment for + obnoxious behavior. This usage migrated to other circumstances, + such as "I'm going to fod the process that is burning all the + cycles." Compare {gun}. + + In aviation, FOD means Foreign Object Damage, e.g., what happens + when a jet engine sucks up a rock on the runway or a bird in + flight. Finger of Death is a distressingly apt description of + what this generally does to the engine. + +:fold case: /v./ See {smash case}. This term tends to be + used more by people who don't mind that their tools smash case. It + also connotes that case is ignored but case distinctions in data + processed by the tool in question aren't destroyed. + +:followup: /n./ On Usenet, a {posting} generated in response + to another posting (as opposed to a {reply}, which goes by email + rather than being broadcast). Followups include the ID of the + {parent message} in their headers; smart news-readers can use + this information to present Usenet news in `conversation' + sequence rather than order-of-arrival. See {thread}. + +:fontology: /n./ [XEROX PARC] The body of knowledge dealing + with the construction and use of new fonts (e.g., for window + systems and typesetting software). It has been said that fontology + recapitulates file-ogeny. + + [Unfortunately, this reference to the embryological dictum that + "Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny" is not merely a joke. On the + Macintosh, for example, System 7 has to go through contortions to + compensate for an earlier design error that created a whole + different set of abstractions for fonts parallel to `files' and + `folders' --ESR] + +:foo: /foo/ 1. /interj./ Term of disgust. 2. Used very + generally as a sample name for absolutely anything, esp. programs + and files (esp. scratch files). 3. First on the standard list of + {metasyntactic variable}s used in syntax examples. See also + {bar}, {baz}, {qux}, {quux}, {corge}, {grault}, + {garply}, {waldo}, {fred}, {plugh}, {xyzzy}, + {thud}. + + The etymology of hackish `foo' is obscure. When used in + connection with `bar' it is generally traced to the WWII-era Army + slang acronym FUBAR (`Fucked Up Beyond All Repair'), later + bowdlerized to {foobar}. (See also {FUBAR}.) + + However, the use of the word `foo' itself has more complicated + antecedents, including a long history in comic strips and cartoons. + The old "Smokey Stover" comic strips by Bill Holman often + included the word `FOO', in particular on license plates of cars; + allegedly, `FOO' and `BAR' also occurred in Walt Kelly's + "Pogo" strips. In the 1938 cartoon "The Daffy Doc", a very + early version of Daffy Duck holds up a sign saying "SILENCE IS + FOO!"; oddly, this seems to refer to some approving or positive + affirmative use of foo. It has been suggested that this might be + related to the Chinese word `fu' (sometimes transliterated + `foo'), which can mean "happiness" when spoken with the proper + tone (the lion-dog guardians flanking the steps of many Chinese + restaurants are properly called "fu dogs"). + + Paul Dickson's excellent book "Words" (Dell, 1982, ISBN + 0-440-52260-7) traces "Foo" to an unspecified British naval + magazine in 1946, quoting as follows: "Mr. Foo is a mysterious + Second World War product, gifted with bitter omniscience and + sarcasm." + + Other sources confirm that `FOO' was a semi-legendary subject of + WWII British-army graffiti more-or-less equivalent to the American + Kilroy. Where British troops went, the graffito "FOO was here" + or something similar showed up. Several slang dictionaries aver + that FOO probably came from Forward Observation Officer. In this + connection, the later American military slang `foo fighters' is + interesting; at least as far back as the 1950s, radar operators + used it for the kind of mysterious or spurious trace that would + later be called a UFO (the older term resurfaced in popular + American usage in 1995 via the name of one of the better + grunge-rock bands). + + Earlier versions of this entry suggested the possibility that + hacker usage actually sprang from "FOO, Lampoons and Parody", + the title of a comic book first issued in September 1958, a joint + project of Charles and Robert Crumb. Though Robert Crumb (then in + his mid-teens) later became one of the most important and + influential artists in underground comics, this venture was hardly + a success; indeed, the brothers later burned most of the existing + copies in disgust. The title FOO was featured in large letters on + the front cover. However, very few copies of this comic actually + circulated, and students of Crumb's `oeuvre' have established + that this title was a reference to the earlier Smokey Stover + comics. + + An old-time member reports that in the 1959 "Dictionary of the + TMRC Language", compiled at {TMRC}, there was an entry that went + something like this: + + FOO: The first syllable of the sacred chant phrase "FOO MANE + PADME HUM." Our first obligation is to keep the foo counters + turning. + + For more about the legendary foo counters, see {TMRC}. Almost + the entire staff of what later became the MIT AI Lab was involved + with TMRC, and probably picked the word up there. + + Very probably, hackish `foo' had no single origin and derives + through all these channels from Yiddish `feh' and/or English + `fooey'. + +:foobar: /n./ Another common {metasyntactic variable}; see + {foo}. Hackers do *not* generally use this to mean + {FUBAR} in either the slang or jargon sense. + +:fool: /n./ As used by hackers, specifically describes a person + who habitually reasons from obviously or demonstrably incorrect + premises and cannot be persuaded by evidence to do otherwise; it is + not generally used in its other senses, i.e., to describe a person + with a native incapacity to reason correctly, or a clown. Indeed, + in hackish experience many fools are capable of reasoning all too + effectively in executing their errors. See also {cretin}, + {loser}, {fool file, the}. + + The Algol 68-R compiler used to initialize its storage to the + character string "F00LF00LF00LF00L..." because as a pointer or as + a floating point number it caused a crash, and as an integer or a + character string it was very recognizable in a dump. Sadly, one + day a very senior professor at Nottingham University wrote a + program that called him a fool. He proceeded to demonstrate the + correctness of this assertion by lobbying the university (not quite + successfully) to forbid the use of Algol on its computers. See + also {DEADBEEF}. + +:fool file, the: /n./ [Usenet] A notional repository of all the + most dramatically and abysmally stupid utterances ever. An entire + subgenre of {sig block}s consists of the header "From the fool + file:" followed by some quote the poster wishes to represent as an + immortal gem of dimwittery; for this usage to be really effective, + the quote has to be so obviously wrong as to be laughable. More + than one Usenetter has achieved an unwanted notoriety by being + quoted in this way. + +:Foonly: /n./ 1. The {PDP-10} successor that was to have + been built by the Super Foonly project at the Stanford Artificial + Intelligence Laboratory along with a new operating system. The + intention was to leapfrog from the old DEC timesharing system SAIL + was then running to a new generation, bypassing TENEX which at that + time was the ARPANET standard. ARPA funding for both the Super + Foonly and the new operating system was cut in 1974. Most of the + design team went to DEC and contributed greatly to the design of + the PDP-10 model KL10. 2. The name of the company formed by Dave + Poole, one of the principal Super Foonly designers, and one of + hackerdom's more colorful personalities. Many people remember the + parrot which sat on Poole's shoulder and was a regular companion. + 3. Any of the machines built by Poole's company. The first was the + F-1 (a.k.a. Super Foonly), which was the computational engine used + to create the graphics in the movie "TRON". The F-1 was the + fastest PDP-10 ever built, but only one was ever made. The effort + drained Foonly of its financial resources, and the company turned + towards building smaller, slower, and much less expensive machines. + Unfortunately, these ran not the popular {TOPS-20} but a TENEX + variant called Foonex; this seriously limited their market. Also, + the machines shipped were actually wire-wrapped engineering + prototypes requiring individual attention from more than usually + competent site personnel, and thus had significant reliability + problems. Poole's legendary temper and unwillingness to suffer + fools gladly did not help matters. By the time of the Jupiter + project cancellation in 1983, Foonly's proposal to build another + F-1 was eclipsed by the {Mars}, and the company never quite + recovered. See the {Mars} entry for the continuation and moral + of this story. + +:footprint: /n./ 1. The floor or desk area taken up by a piece + of hardware. 2. [IBM] The audit trail (if any) left by a crashed + program (often in plural, `footprints'). See also {toeprint}. + 3. "RAM footprint": The minimum amount of RAM which an OS or other + program takes; this figure gives one one an idea of how much will + be left for other applications. How actively this RAM is used is + another matter entirely. Recent tendencies to featuritis and + software bloat can expand the RAM footprint of an OS to the point + of making it nearly unusable in practice. [This problem is, + thankfully, limited to operating systems so stupid that they don't + do virtual memory -- ESR] + +:for free: /adj./ Said of a capability of a programming + language or hardware that is available by its design without + needing cleverness to implement: "In APL, we get the matrix + operations for free." "And owing to the way revisions are stored + in this system, you get revision trees for free." The term + usually refers to a serendipitous feature of doing things a certain + way (compare {big win}), but it may refer to an intentional but + secondary feature. + +:for the rest of us: /adj./ [from the Mac slogan "The computer + for the rest of us"] 1. Used to describe a {spiffy} product + whose affordability shames other comparable products, or (more + often) used sarcastically to describe {spiffy} but very + overpriced products. 2. Describes a program with a limited + interface, deliberately limited capabilities, non-orthogonality, + inability to compose primitives, or any other limitation designed + to not `confuse' a naive user. This places an upper bound on + how far that user can go before the program begins to get in the + way of the task instead of helping accomplish it. Used in + reference to Macintosh software which doesn't provide obvious + capabilities because it is thought that the poor lusers might not + be able to handle them. Becomes `the rest of *them*' when + used in third-party reference; thus, "Yes, it is an attractive + program, but it's designed for The Rest Of Them" means a program + that superficially looks neat but has no depth beyond the surface + flash. See also {WIMP environment}, {Macintrash}, + {point-and-drool interface}, {user-friendly}. + +:for values of: [MIT] A common rhetorical maneuver at MIT is + to use any of the canonical {random numbers} as placeholders for + variables. "The max function takes 42 arguments, for arbitrary + values of 42." "There are 69 ways to leave your lover, for 69 = + 50." This is especially likely when the speaker has uttered a + random number and realizes that it was not recognized as such, but + even `non-random' numbers are occasionally used in this fashion. + A related joke is that pi equals 3 -- for small values + of pi and large values of 3. + + Historical note: at MIT this usage has traditionally been traced to + the programming language MAD (Michigan Algorithm Decoder), an + Algol-58-like language that was the most common choice among + mainstream (non-hacker) users at MIT in the mid-60s. It inherited + from Algol-58 a control structure FOR VALUES OF X = 3, 7, 99 DO + ... that would repeat the indicated instructions for each value in + the list (unlike the usual FOR that only works for arithmetic + sequences of values). MAD is long extinct, but similar + for-constructs still flourish (e.g., in Unix's shell languages). + +:fora: /pl.n./ Plural of {forum}. + +:foreground: /vt./ [Unix] To bring a task to the top of one's + {stack} for immediate processing, and hackers often use it in + this sense for non-computer tasks. "If your presentation is due + next week, I guess I'd better foreground writing up the design + document." + + Technically, on a time-sharing system, a task executing in + foreground is one able to accept input from and return output to + the user; oppose {background}. Nowadays this term is primarily + associated with {{Unix}}, but it appears first to have been used + in this sense on OS/360. Normally, there is only one foreground + task per terminal (or terminal window); having multiple processes + simultaneously reading the keyboard is a good way to {lose}. + +:fork bomb: /n./ [Unix] A particular species of {wabbit} + that can be written in one line of C (`main() + {for(;;)fork();}') or shell (`$0 & $0 &') on any Unix system, + or occasionally created by an egregious coding bug. A fork bomb + process `explodes' by recursively spawning copies of itself + (using the Unix system call `fork(2)'). Eventually it eats + all the process table entries and effectively wedges the system. + Fortunately, fork bombs are relatively easy to spot and kill, so + creating one deliberately seldom accomplishes more than to bring + the just wrath of the gods down upon the perpetrator. See also + {logic bomb}. + +:forked: /adj./ [Unix; prob. influenced by a mainstream + expletive] Terminally slow, or dead. Originated when one system + was slowed to a snail's pace by an inadvertent {fork bomb}. + +:Fortrash: /for'trash/ /n./ Hackerism for the FORTRAN + (FORmula TRANslator) language, referring to its primitive design, + gross and irregular syntax, limited control constructs, and + slippery, exception-filled semantics. + +:fortune cookie: /n./ [WAITS, via Unix] A random quote, item of + trivia, joke, or maxim printed to the user's tty at login time or + (less commonly) at logout time. Items from this lexicon have often + been used as fortune cookies. See {cookie file}. + +:forum: /n./ [Usenet, GEnie, CI$; pl. `fora' or `forums'] + Any discussion group accessible through a dial-in {BBS}, a + {mailing list}, or a {newsgroup} (see {network, the}). A + forum functions much like a bulletin board; users submit + {posting}s for all to read and discussion ensues. Contrast + real-time chat via {talk mode} or point-to-point personal + {email}. + +:fossil: /n./ 1. In software, a misfeature that becomes + understandable only in historical context, as a remnant of times + past retained so as not to break compatibility. Example: the + retention of octal as default base for string escapes in {C}, in + spite of the better match of hexadecimal to ASCII and modern + byte-addressable architectures. See {dusty deck}. 2. More + restrictively, a feature with past but no present utility. + Example: the force-all-caps (LCASE) bits in the V7 and {BSD} + Unix tty driver, designed for use with monocase terminals. (In a + perversion of the usual backward-compatibility goal, this + functionality has actually been expanded and renamed in some later + {USG Unix} releases as the IUCLC and OLCUC bits.) 3. The FOSSIL + (Fido/Opus/Seadog Standard Interface Level) driver specification + for serial-port access to replace the {brain-dead} routines in + the IBM PC ROMs. Fossils are used by most MS-DOS {BBS} software + in preference to the `supported' ROM routines, which do not support + interrupt-driven operation or setting speeds above 9600; the use of + a semistandard FOSSIL library is preferable to the {bare metal} + serial port programming otherwise required. Since the FOSSIL + specification allows additional functionality to be hooked in, + drivers that use the {hook} but do not provide serial-port + access themselves are named with a modifier, as in `video + fossil'. + +:four-color glossies: /n./ 1. Literature created by + {marketroid}s that allegedly contains technical specs but which + is in fact as superficial as possible without being totally + {content-free}. "Forget the four-color glossies, give me the + tech ref manuals." Often applied as an indication of + superficiality even when the material is printed on ordinary paper + in black and white. Four-color-glossy manuals are *never* + useful for solving a problem. 2. [rare] Applied by extension to + manual pages that don't contain enough information to diagnose why + the program doesn't produce the expected or desired output. + +:fragile: /adj./ Syn {brittle}. + +:fred: /n./ 1. The personal name most frequently used as a + {metasyntactic variable} (see {foo}). Allegedly popular + because it's easy for a non-touch-typist to type on a standard + QWERTY keyboard. Unlike {J. Random Hacker} or `J. Random + Loser', this name has no positive or negative loading (but see + {Mbogo, Dr. Fred}). See also {barney}. 2. An acronym for + `Flipping Ridiculous Electronic Device'; other F-verbs may be + substituted for `flipping'. + +:frednet: /fred'net/ /n./ Used to refer to some {random} + and uncommon protocol encountered on a network. "We're + implementing bridging in our router to solve the frednet problem." + +:freeware: /n./ Free software, often written by enthusiasts and + distributed by users' groups, or via electronic mail, local + bulletin boards, {Usenet}, or other electronic media. At one + time, `freeware' was a trademark of Andrew Fluegelman, the author + of the well-known MS-DOS comm program PC-TALK III. It wasn't + enforced after his mysterious disappearance and presumed death in + 1984. See {shareware}, {FRS}. + +:freeze: /v./ To lock an evolving software distribution or + document against changes so it can be released with some hope of + stability. Carries the strong implication that the item in + question will `unfreeze' at some future date. "OK, fix that + bug and we'll freeze for release." + + There are more specific constructions on this term. A `feature + freeze', for example, locks out modifications intended to introduce + new features but still allows bugfixes and completion of existing + features; a `code freeze' connotes no more changes at all. At + Sun Microsystems and elsewhere, one may also hear references to + `code slush' -- that is, an almost-but-not-quite frozen state. + +:fried: /adj./ 1. Non-working due to hardware failure; burnt + out. Especially used of hardware brought down by a `power + glitch' (see {glitch}), {drop-outs}, a short, or some other + electrical event. (Sometimes this literally happens to electronic + circuits! In particular, resistors can burn out and transformers + can melt down, emitting noxious smoke -- see {friode}, {SED} + and {LER}. However, this term is also used metaphorically.) + Compare {frotzed}. 2. Of people, exhausted. Said particularly + of those who continue to work in such a state. Often used as an + explanation or excuse. "Yeah, I know that fix destroyed the file + system, but I was fried when I put it in." Esp. common in + conjunction with `brain': "My brain is fried today, I'm very + short on sleep." + +:frink: /frink/ /v./ The unknown ur-verb, fill in your own + meaning. Found esp. on the Usenet newsgroup alt.fan.lemurs, + where it is said that the lemurs know what `frink' means, but + they aren't telling. Compare {gorets}. + +:friode: /fri:'ohd/ /n./ [TMRC] A reversible (that is, fused + or blown) diode. Compare {fried}; see also {SED}, {LER}. + +:fritterware: /n./ An excess of capability that serves no + productive end. The canonical example is font-diddling software on + the Mac (see {macdink}); the term describes anything that eats + huge amounts of time for quite marginal gains in function but + seduces people into using it anyway. See also {window + shopping}. + +:frob: /frob/ 1. /n./ [MIT] The {TMRC} definition was + "FROB = a protruding arm or trunnion"; by metaphoric extension, a + `frob' is any random small thing; an object that you can + comfortably hold in one hand; something you can frob (sense 2). + See {frobnitz}. 2. /vt./ Abbreviated form of {frobnicate}. + 3. [from the {MUD} world] A command on some MUDs that changes a + player's experience level (this can be used to make wizards); also, + to request {wizard} privileges on the `professional courtesy' + grounds that one is a wizard elsewhere. The command is actually + `frobnicate' but is universally abbreviated to the shorter form. + +:frobnicate: /frob'ni-kayt/ /vt./ [Poss. derived from + {frobnitz}, and usually abbreviated to {frob}, but + `frobnicate' is recognized as the official full form.] To + manipulate or adjust, to tweak. One frequently frobs bits or other + 2-state devices. Thus: "Please frob the light switch" (that is, + flip it), but also "Stop frobbing that clasp; you'll break it". + One also sees the construction `to frob a frob'. See {tweak} + and {twiddle}. + + Usage: frob, twiddle, and tweak sometimes connote points along a + continuum. `Frob' connotes aimless manipulation; `twiddle' + connotes gross manipulation, often a coarse search for a proper + setting; `tweak' connotes fine-tuning. If someone is turning a + knob on an oscilloscope, then if he's carefully adjusting it, he is + probably tweaking it; if he is just turning it but looking at the + screen, he is probably twiddling it; but if he's just doing it + because turning a knob is fun, he's frobbing it. The variant + `frobnosticate' has been recently reported. + +:frobnitz: /frob'nits/, /pl./ `frobnitzem' /frob'nit-zm/ or + `frobni' /frob'ni:/ /n./ [TMRC] An unspecified physical + object, a widget. Also refers to electronic black boxes. This + rare form is usually abbreviated to `frotz', or more commonly to + {frob}. Also used are `frobnule' (/frob'n[y]ool/) and + `frobule' (/frob'yool/). Starting perhaps in 1979, `frobozz' + /fr*-boz'/ (plural: `frobbotzim' /fr*-bot'zm/) has also + become very popular, largely through its exposure as a name via + {Zork}. These variants can also be applied to nonphysical + objects, such as data structures. + + Pete Samson, compiler of the original {TMRC} lexicon, adds, + "Under the TMRC [railroad] layout were many storage boxes, managed + (in 1958) by David R. Sawyer. Several had fanciful designations + written on them, such as `Frobnitz Coil Oil'. Perhaps DRS intended + Frobnitz to be a proper name, but the name was quickly taken for + the thing". This was almost certainly the origin of the + term. + +:frog: alt. `phrog' 1. /interj./ Term of disgust (we seem + to have a lot of them). 2. Used as a name for just about anything. + See {foo}. 3. /n./ Of things, a crock. 4. /n./ Of people, + somewhere in between a turkey and a toad. 5. `froggy': + /adj./ Similar to {bagbiting}, but milder. "This froggy program + is taking forever to run!" + +:frogging: [University of Waterloo] /v./ 1. Partial corruption + of a text file or input stream by some bug or consistent glitch, as + opposed to random events like line noise or media failures. Might + occur, for example, if one bit of each incoming character on a tty + were stuck, so that some characters were correct and others were + not. See {terminak} for a historical example and compare + {dread high-bit disease}. 2. By extension, accidental display + of text in a mode where the output device emits special symbols or + mnemonics rather than conventional ASCII. This often happens, for + example, when using a terminal or comm program on a device like an + IBM PC with a special `high-half' character set and with the + bit-parity assumption wrong. A hacker sufficiently familiar with + ASCII bit patterns might be able to read the display anyway. + +:front end: /n./ 1. An intermediary computer that does set-up + and filtering for another (usually more powerful but less friendly) + machine (a `back end'). 2. What you're talking to when you have + a conversation with someone who is making replies without paying + attention. "Look at the dancing elephants!" "Uh-huh." "Do + you know what I just said?" "Sorry, you were talking to the + front end." See also {fepped out}. 3. Software that provides + an interface to another program `behind' it, which may not be as + user-friendly. Probably from analogy with hardware front-ends (see + sense 1) that interfaced with mainframes. + +:frotz: /frots/ 1. /n./ See {frobnitz}. 2. `mumble + frotz': An interjection of mildest disgust. + +:frotzed: /frotst/ /adj./ {down} because of hardware + problems. Compare {fried}. A machine that is merely frotzed + may be fixable without replacing parts, but a fried machine is more + seriously damaged. + +:frowney: /n./ (alt. `frowney face') See {emoticon}. + +:FRS: // /n./ Abbreviation for "Freely Redistributable + Software" which entered general use on the Internet in 1995 after + years of low-level confusion over what exactly to call software + written to be passed around and shared (contending terms including + {freeware}, {shareware}, and `sourceware' were never + universally felt to be satisfactory for various subtle reasons). + The first formal conference on freely redistributable software was + held in Cambridge, Massachussetts, in February 1996 (sponsored by +the + Free Software Foundation). The conference organizers used the FRS + abbreviation heavily in its calls for papers and other literature + during 1995; this was probably critical in helping establish the + term. + +:fry: 1. /vi./ To fail. Said especially of smoke-producing + hardware failures. More generally, to become non-working. Usage: + never said of software, only of hardware and humans. See + {fried}, {magic smoke}. 2. /vt./ To cause to fail; to + {roach}, {toast}, or {hose} a piece of hardware. Never + used of software or humans, but compare {fried}. + +:FSF: /F-S-F/ /abbrev./ Common abbreviation (both spoken and + written) for the name of the Free Software Foundation, a nonprofit + educational association formed to support the {GNU} + project. + +:FTP: /F-T-P/, *not* /fit'ip/ 1. [techspeak] /n./ The + File Transfer Protocol for transmitting files between systems on + the Internet. 2. /vt./ To {beam} a file using the File Transfer + Protocol. 3. Sometimes used as a generic even for file transfers + not using {FTP}. "Lemme get a copy of "Wuthering + Heights" ftp'd from uunet." + +:FUBAR: /n./ The Failed UniBus Address Register in a VAX. A + good example of how jargon can occasionally be snuck past the + {suit}s; see {foobar}, and {foo} for a fuller etymology. + +:fuck me harder: /excl./ Sometimes uttered in response to + egregious misbehavior, esp. in software, and esp. of + misbehaviors which seem unfairly persistent (as though designed in + by the imp of the perverse). Often theatrically elaborated: + "Aiighhh! Fuck me with a piledriver and 16 feet of curare-tipped + wrought-iron fence *and no lubricants*!" The phrase is + sometimes heard abbreviated `FMH' in polite company. + + [This entry is an extreme example of the hackish habit of coining + elaborate and evocative terms for lossage. Here we see a quite + self-conscious parody of mainstream expletives that has become a + running gag in part of the hacker culture; it illustrates the + hackish tendency to turn any situation, even one of extreme + frustration, into an intellectual game (the point being, in this + case, to creatively produce a long-winded description of the + most anatomically absurd mental image possible -- the short forms + implicitly allude to all the ridiculous long forms ever spoken). + Scatological language is actually relatively uncommon among + hackers, and there was some controversy over whether this entry + ought to be included at all. As it reflects a live usage + recognizably peculiar to the hacker culture, we feel it is + in the hackish spirit of truthfulness and opposition to all + forms of censorship to record it here. --ESR & GLS] + +:FUD: /fuhd/ /n./ Defined by Gene Amdahl after he left IBM to + found his own company: "FUD is the fear, uncertainty, and doubt + that IBM sales people instill in the minds of potential customers + who might be considering [Amdahl] products." The idea, of course, + was to persuade them to go with safe IBM gear rather than with + competitors' equipment. This implicit coercion was traditionally + accomplished by promising that Good Things would happen to people + who stuck with IBM, but Dark Shadows loomed over the future of + competitors' equipment or software. See {IBM}. + +:FUD wars: /fuhd worz/ /n./ [from {FUD}] Political + posturing engaged in by hardware and software vendors ostensibly + committed to standardization but actually willing to fragment the + market to protect their own shares. The Unix International vs. + OSF conflict is but one outstanding example. + +:fudge: 1. /vt./ To perform in an incomplete but marginally + acceptable way, particularly with respect to the writing of a + program. "I didn't feel like going through that pain and + suffering, so I fudged it -- I'll fix it later." 2. /n./ The + resulting code. + +:fudge factor: /n./ A value or parameter that is varied in an + ad hoc way to produce the desired result. The terms `tolerance' + and {slop} are also used, though these usually indicate a + one-sided leeway, such as a buffer that is made larger than + necessary because one isn't sure exactly how large it needs to be, + and it is better to waste a little space than to lose completely + for not having enough. A fudge factor, on the other hand, can + often be tweaked in more than one direction. A good example is the + `fuzz' typically allowed in floating-point calculations: two + numbers being compared for equality must be allowed to differ by a + small amount; if that amount is too small, a computation may never + terminate, while if it is too large, results will be needlessly + inaccurate. Fudge factors are frequently adjusted incorrectly by + programmers who don't fully understand their import. See also + {coefficient of X}. + +:fuel up: /vi./ To eat or drink hurriedly in order to get back + to hacking. "Food-p?" "Yeah, let's fuel up." "Time for a + {great-wall}!" See also {{oriental food}}. + +:Full Monty, the: /n./ See {monty}, sense 2. + +:fum: /n./ [XEROX PARC] At PARC, often the third of the + standard {metasyntactic variable}s (after {foo} and + {bar}). Competes with {baz}, which is more common outside + PARC. + +:funky: /adj./ Said of something that functions, but in a + slightly strange, klugey way. It does the job and would be + difficult to change, so its obvious non-optimality is left alone. + Often used to describe interfaces. The more bugs something has + that nobody has bothered to fix because workarounds are easier, the + funkier it is. {TECO} and UUCP are funky. The Intel i860's + exception handling is extraordinarily funky. Most standards + acquire funkiness as they age. "The new mailer is installed, but + is still somewhat funky; if it bounces your mail for no reason, try + resubmitting it." "This UART is pretty funky. The data ready + line is active-high in interrupt mode and active-low in DMA mode." + +:funny money: /n./ 1. Notional `dollar' units of computing + time and/or storage handed to students at the beginning of a + computer course; also called `play money' or `purple money' (in + implicit opposition to real or `green' money). In New Zealand + and Germany the odd usage `paper money' has been recorded; in + Germany, the particularly amusing synonym `transfer ruble' + commemmorates the funny money used for trade between COMECON + countries back when the Soviet Bloc still existed. When your funny + money ran out, your account froze and you needed to go to a + professor to get more. Fortunately, the plunging cost of + timesharing cycles has made this less common. The amounts + allocated were almost invariably too small, even for the + non-hackers who wanted to slide by with minimum work. In extreme + cases, the practice led to small-scale black markets in bootlegged + computer accounts. 2. By extension, phantom money or quantity + tickets of any kind used as a resource-allocation hack within a + system. Antonym: `real money'. + +:furrfu: // /excl./ [Usenet] Written-only equivalent of + "Sheesh!"; it is, in fact, "sheesh" modified by {rot13}. + Evolved in mid-1992 as a response to notably silly postings + repeating urban myths on the Usenet newsgroup + alt.folklore.urban, after some posters complained that + "Sheesh!" as a response to {newbie}s was being overused. See + also {FOAF}. + +:fuzzball: /n./ [TCP/IP hackers] A DEC LSI-11 running a + particular suite of homebrewed software written by Dave Mills and + assorted co-conspirators, used in the early 1980s for Internet + protocol testbedding and experimentation. These were used as + NSFnet backbone sites in its early 56KB-line days; a few were still + active on the Internet as late as mid-1993, doing odd jobs such as + network time service. + += G = +===== + +:G: /pref.,suff./ [SI] See {{quantifiers}}. + +:g-file: /n./ [Commodore BBS culture] Any file that is written + with the intention of being read by a human rather than a machine, + such as the Jargon File, documentation, humor files, hacker lore, + and technical materials. + + This term survives from the nearly forgotten Commodore 64 + underground and BBS community. In the early 80s, C-Net had emerged + as the most popular C64 BBS software for systems which encouraged + messaging (as opposed to file transfer). There were three main + options for files: Program files (p-files), which served the same + function as `doors' in today's systems, UD files (the user + upload/download section), and g-files. Anything that was meant to + be read was included in g-files. + +:gabriel: /gay'bree-*l/ /n./ [for Dick Gabriel, SAIL LISP + hacker and volleyball fanatic] An unnecessary (in the opinion of + the opponent) stalling tactic, e.g., tying one's shoelaces or + combing one's hair repeatedly, asking the time, etc. Also used to + refer to the perpetrator of such tactics. Also, `pulling a + Gabriel', `Gabriel mode'. + +:gag: /vi./ Equivalent to {choke}, but connotes more + disgust. "Hey, this is FORTRAN code. No wonder the C compiler + gagged." See also {barf}. + +:gang bang: /n./ The use of large numbers of loosely coupled + programmers in an attempt to wedge a great many features into a + product in a short time. Though there have been memorable gang + bangs (e.g., that over-the-weekend assembler port mentioned in + Steven Levy's "Hackers"), most are perpetrated by large + companies trying to meet deadlines; the inevitable result is + enormous buggy masses of code entirely lacking in + {orthogonal}ity. When market-driven managers make a list of all + the features the competition has and assign one programmer to + implement each, the probability of maintaining a coherent (or even + functional) design goes infinitesimal. See also {firefighting}, + {Mongolian Hordes technique}, {Conway's Law}. + +:garbage collect: /vi./ (also `garbage collection', n.) See + {GC}. + +:garply: /gar'plee/ /n./ [Stanford] Another metasyntactic + variable (see {foo}); once popular among SAIL hackers. + +:gas: [as in `gas chamber'] 1. /interj./ A term of disgust + and hatred, implying that gas should be dispensed in generous + quantities, thereby exterminating the source of irritation. "Some + loser just reloaded the system for no reason! Gas!" 2. /interj./ +A + suggestion that someone or something ought to be flushed out of + mercy. "The system's getting {wedged} every few minutes. + Gas!" 3. /vt./ To {flush} (sense 1). "You should gas that old + crufty software." 4. [IBM] /n./ Dead space in nonsequentially + organized files that was occupied by data that has since been + deleted; the compression operation that removes it is called + `degassing' (by analogy, perhaps, with the use of the same term + in vacuum technology). 5. [IBM] /n./ Empty space on a disk that +has + been clandestinely allocated against future need. + +:gaseous: /adj./ Deserving of being {gas}sed. Disseminated + by Geoff Goodfellow while at SRI; became particularly popular after + the Moscone-Milk killings in San Francisco, when it was learned + that the defendant Dan White (a politician who had supported + Proposition 7) would get the gas chamber under Proposition 7 if + convicted of first-degree murder (he was eventually convicted of + manslaughter). + +:gawble: /gaw'bl/ /n./ See {chawmp}. + +:GC: /G-C/ [from LISP terminology; `Garbage Collect'] + 1. /vt./ To clean up and throw away useless things. "I think I'll + GC the top of my desk today." When said of files, this is + equivalent to {GFR}. 2. /vt./ To recycle, reclaim, or put to + another use. 3. /n./ An instantiation of the garbage collector + process. + + `Garbage collection' is computer-science techspeak for a + particular class of strategies for dynamically but transparently + reallocating computer memory (i.e., without requiring explicit + allocation and deallocation by higher-level software). One such + strategy involves periodically scanning all the data in memory and + determining what is no longer accessible; useless data items are + then discarded so that the memory they occupy can be recycled and + used for another purpose. Implementations of the LISP language + usually use garbage collection. + + In jargon, the full phrase is sometimes heard but the {abbrev} + GC is more frequently used because it is shorter. Note that there + is an ambiguity in usage that has to be resolved by context: "I'm + going to garbage-collect my desk" usually means to clean out the + drawers, but it could also mean to throw away or recycle the desk + itself. + +:GCOS:: /jee'kohs/ /n./ A {quick-and-dirty} {clone} of + System/360 DOS that emerged from GE around 1970; originally called + GECOS (the General Electric Comprehensive Operating System). Later + kluged to support primitive timesharing and transaction processing. + After the buyout of GE's computer division by Honeywell, the name + was changed to General Comprehensive Operating System (GCOS). + Other OS groups at Honeywell began referring to it as `God's Chosen + Operating System', allegedly in reaction to the GCOS crowd's + uninformed and snotty attitude about the superiority of their + product. All this might be of zero interest, except for two facts: + (1) The GCOS people won the political war, and this led in the + orphaning and eventual death of Honeywell {{Multics}}, and (2) + GECOS/GCOS left one permanent mark on Unix. Some early Unix + systems at Bell Labs used GCOS machines for print spooling and + various other services; the field added to `/etc/passwd' to + carry GCOS ID information was called the `GECOS field' and + survives today as the `pw_gecos' member used for the user's + full name and other human-ID information. GCOS later played a + major role in keeping Honeywell a dismal also-ran in the mainframe + market, and was itself ditched for Unix in the late 1980s when + Honeywell retired its aging {big iron} designs. + +:GECOS:: /jee'kohs/ /n./ See {{GCOS}}. + +:gedanken: /g*-dahn'kn/ /adj./ Ungrounded; impractical; not + well-thought-out; untried; untested. + + `Gedanken' is a German word for `thought'. A thought + experiment is one you carry out in your head. In physics, the term + `gedanken experiment' is used to refer to an experiment that is + impractical to carry out, but useful to consider because it can + be reasoned about theoretically. (A classic gedanken experiment of + relativity theory involves thinking about a man in an elevator + accelerating through space.) Gedanken experiments are very useful + in physics, but must be used with care. It's too easy to idealize + away some important aspect of the real world in constructing the + `apparatus'. + + Among hackers, accordingly, the word has a pejorative connotation. + It is typically used of a project, especially one in artificial + intelligence research, that is written up in grand detail + (typically as a Ph.D. thesis) without ever being implemented to + any great extent. Such a project is usually perpetrated by people + who aren't very good hackers or find programming distasteful or are + just in a hurry. A `gedanken thesis' is usually marked by an + obvious lack of intuition about what is programmable and what is + not, and about what does and does not constitute a clear + specification of an algorithm. See also {AI-complete}, + {DWIM}. + +:geef: /v./ [ostensibly from `gefingerpoken'] + /vt./ Syn. {mung}. See also {blinkenlights}. + +:geek code: /n./ (also "Code of the Geeks"). A set of + codes commonly used in {sig block}s to broadcast the interests, + skills, and aspirations of the poster. Features a G at the left + margin followed by numerous letter codes, often suffixed with + plusses or minuses. Because many net users are involved in + computer science, the most common prefix is `GCS'. To see a copy + of the current code, browse + http://krypton.mankato.msus.edu/~hayden/geek.html. Here is a + sample geek code (that or Robert Hayden, the code's inventor) from + that page: + + -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- + Version: 3.1 + GED/J d-- s:++>: a- C++(++++)$ ULUO++ P+>+++ L++ !E---- W+(---) N+++ + o+ K+++ w+(---) O- M+$>++ V-- PS++(+++)>$ PE++(+)>$ Y++ PGP++ t- 5+++ + X++ R+++>$ tv+ b+ DI+++ D+++ G+++++>$ e++$>++++ h r-- y+** + ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------ + + The geek code originated in 1993; it was inspired (according to the + inventor) by previous "bear", "smurf" and "twink" + style-and-sexual-preference codes from lesbian and gay + {newsgroup}s. It has in turn spawned imitators; there is now + even a "Saturn geek code" for owners of the Saturn car. See also + {computer geek}. + +:geek out: /vi./ To temporarily enter techno-nerd mode while in + a non-hackish context, for example at parties held near computer + equipment. Especially used when you need to do or say something + highly technical and don't have time to explain: "Pardon me while + I geek out for a moment." See {computer geek}; see also + {propeller head}. + +:gen: /jen/ /n.,v./ Short for {generate}, used frequently + in both spoken and written contexts. + +:gender mender: /n./ A cable connector shell with either two + male or two female connectors on it, used to correct the mismatches + that result when some {loser} didn't understand the RS232C + specification and the distinction between DTE and DCE. Used + esp. for RS-232C parts in either the original D-25 or the IBM + PC's bogus D-9 format. Also called `gender bender', `gender + blender', `sex changer', and even `homosexual adapter;' + however, there appears to be some confusion as to whether a `male + homosexual adapter' has pins on both sides (is doubly male) or + sockets on both sides (connects two males). + +:General Public Virus: /n./ Pejorative name for some versions + of the {GNU} project {copyleft} or General Public License + (GPL), which requires that any tools or {app}s incorporating + copylefted code must be source-distributed on the same + counter-commercial terms as GNU stuff. Thus it is alleged that the + copyleft `infects' software generated with GNU tools, which may + in turn infect other software that reuses any of its code. The + Free Software Foundation's official position as of January 1991 is + that copyright law limits the scope of the GPL to "programs + textually incorporating significant amounts of GNU code", and that + the `infection' is not passed on to third parties unless actual + GNU source is transmitted (as in, for example, use of the Bison + parser skeleton). Nevertheless, widespread suspicion that the + {copyleft} language is `boobytrapped' has caused many + developers to avoid using GNU tools and the GPL. Recent (July + 1991) changes in the language of the version 2.00 license may + eliminate this problem. + +:generate: /vt./ To produce something according to an algorithm + or program or set of rules, or as a (possibly unintended) side + effect of the execution of an algorithm or program. The opposite + of {parse}. This term retains its mechanistic connotations + (though often humorously) when used of human behavior. "The guy + is rational most of the time, but mention nuclear energy around him + and he'll generate {infinite} flamage." + +:Genius From Mars Technique: /n./ [TMRC] A visionary quality + which enables one to ignore the standard approach and come up with + a totally unexpected new algorithm. An attack on a problem from an + offbeat angle that no one has ever thought of before, but that in + retrospect makes total sense. Compare {grok}, {zen}. + +:gensym: /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 form of a +gensym + is `Gnnnn' where nnnn represents a number; any LISP hacker would + recognize G0093 (for example) as a gensym. 3. A freshly generated + data structure with a gensymmed name. Gensymmed names are useful + for storing or uniquely identifying crufties (see {cruft}). + +:Get a life!: /imp./ Hacker-standard way of suggesting that the + person to whom it is directed has succumbed to terminal geekdom + (see {computer geek}). Often heard on {Usenet}, esp. as a + way of suggesting that the target is taking some obscure issue of + {theology} too seriously. This 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. It was certainly in + wide use among hackers for at least five years before achieving + mainstream currency in early 1992. + +:Get a real computer!: /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 16 megabytes. This is as of early 1996; note + that the threshold for `real computer' rises with time. See + {bitty box} and {toy}. + +:GFR: /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 reduce name-space + clutter (the original GFR 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 stuff. + +:GIFs at 11: [Fidonet] Fidonet alternative to {film at + 11}, especially in echoes (Fidonet topic areas) where uuencoded + GIFs are permitted. Other formats, especially JPEG and MPEG, + may be referenced instead. + +:gig: /jig/ or /gig/ /n./ [SI] See {{quantifiers}}. + +:giga-: /ji'ga/ or /gi'ga/ /pref./ [SI] See + {{quantifiers}}. + +:GIGO: /gi:'goh/ [acronym] 1. `Garbage In, Garbage Out' --- + usually said in response to {luser}s who complain that a program + didn't "do the right thing" when given imperfect input or + otherwise mistreated in some way. Also commonly used to describe + failures in human decision making due to faulty, incomplete, or + imprecise data. 2. `Garbage In, Gospel Out': this more recent + expansion is a sardonic comment on the tendency human beings have + to put excessive trust in `computerized' data. + +:gilley: /n./ [Usenet] The unit of analogical bogosity. + According to its originator, the standard for one gilley was "the + act of bogotoficiously comparing the shutting down of 1000 machines + for a day with the killing of one person". The milligilley has + been found to suffice for most normal conversational exchanges. + +:gillion: /gil'y*n/ or /jil'y*n/ /n./ [formed from + {giga-} by analogy with mega/million and tera/trillion] + 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 soft `g'. + +:GIPS: /gips/ or /jips/ /n./ [analogy with {MIPS}] + 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 + to change. Compare {KIPS}. + +:glark: /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 contains many + nonsklarkish English flutzpahs, but 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 verb to `glark' because {glork} was already + an established jargon term. Compare {grok}, {zen}. + +:glass: /n./ [IBM] Synonym for {silicon}. + +:glass tty: /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: + like a printing terminal, it can't do fancy 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}; compare {dumb terminal}, + {smart terminal}. See "{TV Typewriters}" (Appendix + A) for an interesting true story about a glass tty. + +:glassfet: /glas'fet/ /n./ [by analogy with MOSFET, the + acronym for `Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor'] + Syn. {firebottle}, a humorous way to refer to a vacuum tube. + +:glitch: /glich/ [from German `glitschig' 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 is + specifically called a `power glitch' (also {power hit}), 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. /vi./ To commit a glitch. See + {gritch}. 3. /vt./ [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 these uses of `glitch' derive from the specific technical + meaning the term has in the electronic hardware world, where it is + now techspeak. A glitch can occur when 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. If + another circuit inspects the output at just the wrong time, reading + the random value, the results can be very wrong and very hard to + debug (a glitch is one of many causes of electronic {heisenbug}s). + +:glob: /glob/, *not* /glohb/ /v.,n./ [Unix] 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 that many + hackers use some of them in written 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 single character (generally read this way + only at the beginning or in the middle of 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 his name was [KC]arl" (expresses + ambiguity). "I don't read talk.politics.*" (any of the + talk.politics subgroups on {Usenet}). Other examples are given + under the entry for {X}. Note that glob patterns are similar, + but not identical, to those used in {regexp}s. + + Historical note: The jargon usage derives from `glob', the + name of a subprogram that expanded wildcards in archaic pre-Bourne + versions of the Unix shell. + +:glork: /glork/ 1. /interj./ Term of mild surprise, usually + tinged with outrage, as when one attempts to save the results of + two hours of editing and finds that the system has just crashed. + 2. Used as a name for just about anything. See {foo}. + 3. /vt./ Similar to {glitch}, but usually used reflexively. "My + program just glorked itself." See also {glark}. + +:glue: /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: /nar'lee/ /adj./ Both {obscure} and {hairy} + (sense 1). "{Yow!} -- the tuned assembler implementation of + BitBlt is really gnarly!" From a similar but less specific usage + in surfer slang. + +:GNU: /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 + tools designed for this project, have become 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 software hoarding!" Though this + remains 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 software for free + redistribution under the Free Software Foundation's imprimatur. + See {EMACS}, {copyleft}, {General Public Virus}, + {Linux}. 2. Noted Unix hacker John Gilmore <gnu@toad.com>, + founder of Usenet's anarchic alt.* hierarchy. + +:GNUMACS: /gnoo'maks/ /n./ [contraction of `GNU EMACS'] + Often-heard abbreviated name for the {GNU} project's flagship + tool, {EMACS}. Used esp. in contrast with {GOSMACS}. + +:go flatline: /v./ [from cyberpunk SF, refers to flattening of + EEG traces upon brain-death] (also adjectival `flatlined'). 1. To + {die}, terminate, or fail, esp. irreversibly. In hacker + parlance, this is used of machines only, human death being + considered somewhat too serious a matter to employ jargon-jokes + about. 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, to fail by losing vertical scan, so all one sees is a + bright horizontal line bisecting the screen. + +:go root: /vi./ [Unix] 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: /n./ [UK] Syn. {chrome}. Mainstream in + some parts of UK. + +:gobble: /vt./ 1. To consume, usu. used with `up'. "The + output spy gobbles characters out of a {tty} output buffer." + 2. To obtain, usu. used with `down'. "I guess I'll gobble down + a copy of the documentation tomorrow." See also {snarf}. + +:Godwin's Law: /prov./ [Usenet] "As a Usenet discussion grows + longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler + approaches one." There is a tradition in many groups that, once + this occurs, that thread is over, and whoever mentioned the Nazis + has automatically lost whatever argument was in progress. Godwin's + Law thus practically guarantees the existence of an upper bound on + thread length in those groups. + +:Godzillagram: /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 is an IP datagram whose + destination IP address is [255.255.255.255]. Fortunately, few + gateways are foolish enough to attempt to implement this case! + 2. A network packet of maximum size. An IP Godzillagram has 65,536 + octets. Compare {super source quench}. + +:golden: /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: /n. obs./ The IBM 2741, a slow but + letter-quality printing device and terminal based on the IBM + Selectric typewriter. The `golf ball' was a little spherical + frob bearing reversed embossed images of 88 different characters + arranged on four parallels of latitude; one could change the font + by swapping in a different golf ball. The print element spun and + jerked alarmingly in action and when in motion was sometimes + described as an `infuriated 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 stayed, firmly rooted, for the next 20, + until character displays gave way to programmable bit-mapped + devices with the flexibility to support other character sets. + +:gonk: /gonk/ /vi.,n./ 1. To prevaricate or to embellish the + truth beyond any reasonable recognition. In German the term is + (mythically) `gonken'; in Spanish the verb becomes `gonkar'. + "You're gonking me. That story you just told me is a bunch of + gonk." In German, 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: /gon'kyoo-lay-tr/ /n./ [from the old + "Hogan's Heroes" TV series] 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: /gon'zoh/ /adj./ [from Hunter S. Thompson] + 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 + without the implication of obscurity or complexity. + +:Good Thing: /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 + relaying netnews." 2. Something that can't 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 Thing", specifically connotes that the thing has + drastically reduced a programmer's work load. Oppose {Bad + Thing}. + +:gopher: /n./ A type of Internet service first floated around + 1991 and now (1994) being obsolesced by the World Wide Web. Gopher + presents a menuing interface to a tree or graph of links; + the links can be to documents, runnable programs, or other gopher + menus arbitrarily far across the net. + + Some claim that the gopher software, which was originally developed + at the University of Minnesota, was named after the Minnesota + Gophers (a sports team). Others claim the word derives from + American slang `gofer' (from "go for", dialectical "go fer"), + one whose job is to run and fetch things. Finally, observe that + gophers (aka woodchucks) dig long tunnels, and the idea of + tunneling through the net to find information was a defining + metaphor for the developers. Probably all three things were true, + but with the first two coming first and the gopher-tunnel metaphor + serendipitously adding flavor and impetus to the project as it + developed out of its concept stage. + +:gopher hole: /n./ 1. Any access to a {gopher}. 2. [Amateur + Packet Radio] The terrestrial analog of a {wormhole} (sense + 2), from which this term was coined. A gopher hole links two + amateur packet relays through some non-ham radio medium. + +:gorets: /gor'ets/ /n./ The unknown ur-noun, fill in your own + meaning. Found esp. on the Usenet newsgroup alt.gorets, which + seems to be a running contest to redefine the word by implication + in the funniest and most peculiar way, with the understanding that + no definition is ever final. [A correspondent from the Former + Soviet Union informs me that `gorets' is Russian for `mountain + dweller' --ESR] Compare {frink}. + +:gorilla arm: /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 designed to + hold their arms in front of their faces making small motions. + After more than a very few selections, the arm begins to feel sore, + cramped, and oversized -- the operator looks like a gorilla while + using the touch screen and feels like one afterwards. This is now + considered a classic cautionary tale to human-factors designers; + "Remember the gorilla arm!" is shorthand for "How is this going + to fly in *real* use?". + +:gorp: /gorp/ /n./ [CMU: perhaps from the canonical hiker's + food, Good Old Raisins and Peanuts] Another {metasyntactic + variable}, like {foo} and {bar}. + +:GOSMACS: /goz'maks/ /n./ [contraction of `Gosling EMACS'] + 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 author, + James Gosling, went on to invent {NeWS} and the programming + language Java; the latter earned him {demigod} status. + +:Gosperism: /gos'p*r-izm/ /n./ A hack, invention, or saying + due to 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: /n./ A {misfeature} of a system, especially a + programming language or environment, that tends to breed bugs or + mistakes because it both enticingly easy to invoke and completely + unexpected and/or unreasonable in its outcome. For example, a + classic gotcha in {C} is the fact that `if (a=b) {code;}' + is syntactically valid and sometimes even 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: /G-P-L/ /n./ Abbreviation for `General Public + License' in widespread use; see {copyleft}, {General Public + Virus}. + +:GPV: /G-P-V/ /n./ Abbrev. for {General Public Virus} in + widespread use. + +:grault: /grawlt/ /n./ Yet another {metasyntactic + variable}, invented by Mike Gallaher and propagated by the + {GOSMACS} documentation. See {corge}. + +:gray goo: /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 + Earth being eventually converted to robot 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: /n./ The {flag day} in 1985 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. + Used esp. in discussing the history of newsgroup names. "The + oldest sources group is comp.sources.misc; before the Great + Renaming, it was net.sources." + +:Great Runes: /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 transmittal devices, the Teletype + 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 Of The Day was therefore, which one to + choose. A study was 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 when the + letters are mangled or partly 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." + + In this way (or so, at least, hacker 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. + Thus, that one bad call stuck us with Great Runes for thirty years. + +:Great Worm, the: /n./ The 1988 Internet {worm} perpetrated + by {RTM}. This is a play on Tolkien (compare {elvish}, + {elder days}). In the fantasy history of his Middle Earth + books, there were dragons powerful enough to lay waste to entire + regions; two of these (Scatha and Glaurung) were known as "the + Great Worms". This usage expresses the connotation that the RTM + hack was a sort of devastating watershed event in hackish history; + certainly it did more to make non-hackers nervous about the + Internet than anything before or since. + +:great-wall: /vi.,n./ [from SF fandom] 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 value of + N, which is the number of people in the group, can be + inferred from context (see {N}). See {{oriental food}}, + {ravs}, {stir-fried random}. + +:Green Book: /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}, and the + {White Book} (sense 2). 2. Informal name for one of the three + standard references on 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", + which defines an international standard {{Unix}} 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 {Purple Book}. 4. The IEEE 1003.1 POSIX Operating + Systems Interface standard has been dubbed "The Ugly Green Book". + 5. Any of the 1992 standards issued by the CCITT's tenth plenary + assembly. These include, among other things, the X.400 email + standard and the Group 1 through 4 fax standards. See also + {{book titles}}. + +:green bytes: /n./ (also `green words') 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) at which these two approaches were being 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 the packing method for the image." Compare + {out-of-band}, {zigamorph}, {fence} (sense 1). + +:green card: /n./ [after the "IBM System/360 Reference + Data" card] A 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 go get my green card so I can + check the 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 scene that took place in a programmers' terminal 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 olive and rapidly left the room, never + to return. + +:green lightning: /n./ [IBM] 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 the user know that + `something is happening'. 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 + marketing. "Motorola calls the CISC cruft in the 88000 + architecture `compatibility logic', but I call it green + lightning". See also {feature} (sense 6). + +:green machine: /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 olive-drab + `uniform' paint used for military equipment. + +:Green's Theorem: /prov./ [TMRC] For any story, in any group of + people there will be at least one person who has not heard the + story. A refinement of the theorem states that there will be + *exactly* one person (if there were more than one, it wouldn't + be as bad to re-tell the story). [The name of this theorem is a + play on a fundamental theorem in calculus. --ESR] + +:grep: /grep/ /vi./ [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)'] To rapidly scan a file or set + of files looking for a particular string or pattern (when browsing + through a large set of files, one may speak of `grepping + around'). By extension, to look for something by pattern. "Grep + the bulletin board for the system backup schedule, would you?" + See also {vgrep}. + +:grilf: // /n./ Girlfriend. Like {newsfroup} and + {filk}, a typo reincarnated as a new word. Seems to have + originated sometime in 1992 on {Usenet}. [A friend tells me + there was a Lloyd Biggle SF novel "Watchers Of The Dark", in + which alien species after species goes insane and begins to chant + "Grilf! Grilf!". A human detective eventually determines that + the word means "Liar!" I hope this has nothing to do with the + popularity of the Usenet term. --ESR] + +:grind: /vt./ 1. [MIT and Berkeley] To prettify hardcopy of + code, especially LISP code, by reindenting lines, printing keywords + and comments in distinct fonts (if available), etc. This usage was + associated with the MacLISP community and is now rare; + {prettyprint} was and is the generic term for such + operations. 2. [Unix] To generate the formatted version of a + document from the {{nroff}}, {{troff}}, {{TeX}}, or Scribe + source. 3. To run seemingly interminably, esp. (but not + necessarily) if performing some tedious and inherently useless + task. 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. `grind grind' + /excl./ Roughly, "Isn't the machine slow today!" + +:grind crank: /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 the appropriate + gesture and noise. See {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 `The Rice Institute Computer' (TRIC) and later 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 arrangement that repeatedly pushed the single-step 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. + +:gripenet: /n./ [IBM] A wry (and thoroughly unofficial) name + for IBM's internal VNET system, deriving from its common use by + IBMers to voice pointed criticism of IBM management that would be + taboo in more formal channels. + +:gritch: /grich/ [MIT] 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). + + Interestingly, this word seems to have a separate history from + {glitch}, with which it is often confused. Back in the early + 1960s, when `glitch' was strictly a hardware-tech's term of art, + the Burton House dorm at M.I.T. maintained a "Gritch Book", a + blank volume, into which the residents hand-wrote complaints, + suggestions, and witticisms. Previous years' volumes of this + tradition were maintained, dating back to antiquity. The word + "gritch" was described as a portmanteau of "gripe" and + "bitch". Thus, sense 3 above is at least historically incorrect. + +:grok: /grok/, var. /grohk/ /vt./ [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'] The emphatic form is `grok in + fullness'. 1. To understand, usually in a global sense. Connotes + intimate and exhaustive knowledge. Contrast {zen}, which is + similar supernal understanding experienced 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: /gronk/ /vt./ [popularized by Johnny Hart's comic + strip "B.C." but the word apparently predates that] 1. To + clear the state of a wedged device and restart it. More severe + than `to {frob}' (sense 2). 2. [TMRC] To cut, sever, smash, + or similarly disable. 3. The sound made by many 3.5-inch diskette + drives. In particular, the microfloppies on a Commodore Amiga go + "grink, gronk". + +:gronk out: /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: /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!" Compare + {broken}, which means about the same as {gronk} used of + hardware, but connotes depression or mental/emotional problems in + people. + +:grovel: /vi./ 1. To work interminably and without apparent + progress. Often used transitively with `over' or `through'. + "The file scavenger has been groveling through the /usr + directories for 10 minutes now." Compare {grind} and + {crunch}. Emphatic form: `grovel obscenely'. 2. To 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: /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: /guhb'*sh/ /n./ [a portmanteau of `garbage' and + `rubbish'; may have originated with SF author Philip K. Dick] + Garbage; crap; nonsense. "What is all this gubbish?" The + opposite portmanteau `rubbage' is also reported; in fact, it was + British slang during the 19th century and appears in Dickens. + +:guiltware: /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 of money. + 2. A piece of {shareware} that works. + +:gumby: /guhm'bee/ /n./ [from a class of Monty Python + characters, poss. with some influence from the 1960s claymation + character] An act of minor but conspicuous stupidity, often in + `gumby maneuver' or `pull a gumby'. 2. [NRL] /n./ A bureaucrat, + or other technical incompetent who impedes the progress of real + work. 3. /adj./ Relating to things typically associated with +people + in sense 2. (e.g. "Ran would be writing code, but Richard gave + him gumby work that's due on Friday", or, "Dammit! Travel + screwed up my plane tickets. I have to go out on gumby patrol.") + +:gun: /vt./ [ITS: from the `:GUN' command] To forcibly + terminate a program or job (computer, not career). "Some idiot + left a background process running soaking up half the cycles, so I + gunned it." Usage: now rare. Compare {can}, {blammo}. + +:gunch: /guhnch/ /vt./ [TMRC] To push, prod, or poke at a + device that has almost (but not quite) produced the desired result. + Implies a threat to {mung}. + +:gurfle: /ger'fl/ /interj./ An expression of shocked + disbelief. "He said we have to recode this thing in FORTRAN by + next week. Gurfle!" Compare {weeble}. + +:guru: /n./ [Unix] An expert. Implies not only {wizard} + skill but also a history of being a knowledge resource for others. + Less often, used (with a qualifier) for other experts on other + systems, as in `VMS guru'. See {source of all good bits}. + +:guru meditation: /n./ Amiga equivalent of `panic' in Unix + (sometimes just called a `guru' or `guru event'). When the + system crashes, a cryptic message of the form "GURU MEDITATION + #XXXXXXXX.YYYYYYYY" may appear, indicating what the problem was. + An Amiga guru can figure things out from the numbers. Sometimes a + {guru} event must be followed by a {Vulcan nerve pinch}. + + This term is (no surprise) an in-joke from the earliest days of the + Amiga. There used to be a device called a `Joyboard' which was + basically a plastic board built onto a joystick-like device; it was + sold with a skiing game cartridge for the Atari game machine. It + is said that whenever the prototype OS crashed, the system + programmer responsible would calm down by concentrating on a + solution while sitting cross-legged on a Joyboard trying to keep + the board in balance. This position resembled that of a meditating + guru. Sadly, the joke was removed in AmigaOS 2.04 (actually in + 2.00, a buggy post-2.0 release on the A3000 only). + +:gweep: /gweep/ [WPI] 1. /v./ To {hack}, usually at night. + At WPI, from 1975 onwards, one who gweeped could often be found at + the College Computing Center punching cards or crashing the + {PDP-10} or, later, the DEC-20. A correspondent who was there at + the time opines that the term was originally onomatopoetic, + describing the keyclick sound of the Datapoint terminals long + connected to the PDP-10. The term has survived the demise of those + technologies, however, and was still alive in late 1991. "I'm + going to go gweep for a while. See you in the morning." "I gweep + from 8 PM till 3 AM during the week." 2. /n./ One who habitually + gweeps in sense 1; a {hacker}. "He's a hard-core gweep, + mumbles code in his sleep." + += H = +===== + +:h: [from SF fandom] A method of `marking' common words, + i.e., calling attention to the fact that they are being used in a + nonstandard, ironic, or humorous way. Originated in the fannish + catchphrase "Bheer is the One True Ghod!" from decades ago. + H-infix marking of `Ghod' and other words spread into the 1960s + counterculture via underground comix, and into early hackerdom + either from the counterculture or from SF fandom (the three + overlapped heavily at the time). More recently, the h infix has + become an expected feature of benchmark names (Dhrystone, + Rhealstone, etc.); this is probably patterning on the original + Whetstone (the name of a laboratory) but influenced by the + fannish/counterculture h infix. + +:ha ha only serious: [from SF fandom, orig. as mutation of + HHOK, `Ha Ha Only Kidding'] A phrase (often seen abbreviated as + HHOS) that aptly captures the flavor of much hacker discourse. + Applied especially to parodies, absurdities, and ironic jokes that + are both intended and perceived to contain a possibly disquieting + amount of truth, or truths that are constructed on in-joke and + self-parody. This lexicon contains many examples of + ha-ha-only-serious in both form and content. Indeed, the entirety + of hacker culture is often perceived as ha-ha-only-serious by + hackers themselves; to take it either too lightly or too seriously + marks a person as an outsider, a {wannabee}, or in {larval + stage}. For further enlightenment on this subject, consult any Zen + master. See also {{hacker humor}}, and {AI koans}. + +:hack: 1. /n./ Originally, a quick job that produces what is + needed, but not well. 2. /n./ An incredibly good, and perhaps very + time-consuming, piece of work that produces exactly what is needed. + 3. /vt./ To bear emotionally or physically. "I can't hack this + heat!" 4. /vt./ To work on something (typically a program). In an + immediate sense: "What are you doing?" "I'm hacking TECO." + In a general (time-extended) sense: "What do you do around here?" + "I hack TECO." More generally, "I hack `foo'" is roughly + equivalent to "`foo' is my major interest (or project)". "I + hack solid-state physics." See {Hacking X for Y}. 5. /vt./ To + pull a prank on. See sense 2 and {hacker} (sense 5). 6. /vi./ To + interact with a computer in a playful and exploratory rather than + goal-directed way. "Whatcha up to?" "Oh, just hacking." + 7. /n./ Short for {hacker}. 8. See {nethack}. 9. [MIT] /v./ To + explore the basements, roof ledges, and steam tunnels of a large, + institutional building, to the dismay of Physical Plant workers and + (since this is usually performed at educational institutions) the + Campus Police. This activity has been found to be eerily similar + to playing adventure games such as Dungeons and Dragons and + {Zork}. See also {vadding}. + + Constructions on this term abound. They include `happy hacking' + (a farewell), `how's hacking?' (a friendly greeting among + hackers) and `hack, hack' (a fairly content-free but friendly + comment, often used as a temporary farewell). For more on this + totipotent term see "{The Meaning of `Hack'}". See + also {neat hack}, {real hack}. + +:hack attack: /n./ [poss. by analogy with `Big Mac Attack' + from ads for the McDonald's fast-food chain; the variant `big + hack attack' is reported] Nearly synonymous with {hacking run}, + though the latter more strongly implies an all-nighter. + +:hack mode: /n./ 1. What one is in when hacking, of course. + 2. More specifically, a Zen-like state of total focus on The + Problem that may be achieved when one is hacking (this is why every + good hacker is part mystic). Ability to enter such concentration + at will correlates strongly with wizardliness; it is one of the + most important skills learned during {larval stage}. Sometimes + amplified as `deep hack mode'. + + Being yanked out of hack mode (see {priority interrupt}) may be + experienced as a physical shock, and the sensation of being in hack + mode is more than a little habituating. The intensity of this + experience is probably by itself sufficient explanation for the + existence of hackers, and explains why many resist being promoted + out of positions where they can code. See also {cyberspace} + (sense 2). + + Some aspects of hackish etiquette will appear quite odd to an + observer unaware of the high value placed on hack mode. For + example, if someone appears at your door, it is perfectly okay to + hold up a hand (without turning one's eyes away from the screen) to + avoid being interrupted. One may read, type, and interact with the + computer for quite some time before further acknowledging the + other's presence (of course, he or she is reciprocally free to + leave without a word). The understanding is that you might be in + {hack mode} with a lot of delicate {state} (sense 2) in your + head, and you dare not {swap} that context out until you have + reached a good point to pause. See also {juggling eggs}. + +:hack on: /vt./ To {hack}; implies that the subject is some + pre-existing hunk of code that one is evolving, as opposed to + something one might {hack up}. + +:hack together: /vt./ To throw something together so it will + work. Unlike `kluge together' or {cruft together}, this does + not necessarily have negative connotations. + +:hack up: /vt./ To {hack}, but generally implies that the + result is a hack in sense 1 (a quick hack). Contrast this with + {hack on}. To `hack up on' implies a {quick-and-dirty} + modification to an existing system. Contrast {hacked up}; + compare {kluge up}, {monkey up}, {cruft together}. + +:hack value: /n./ Often adduced as the reason or motivation for + expending effort toward a seemingly useless goal, the point being + that the accomplished goal is a hack. For example, MacLISP had + features for reading and printing Roman numerals, which were + installed purely for hack value. See {display hack} for one + method of computing hack value, but this cannot really be + explained, only experienced. As Louis Armstrong once said when + asked to explain jazz: "Man, if you gotta ask you'll never know." + (Feminists please note Fats Waller's explanation of rhythm: "Lady, + if you got to ask, you ain't got it.") + +:hacked off: /adj./ [analogous to `pissed off'] Said of + system administrators who have become annoyed, upset, or touchy + owing to suspicions that their sites have been or are going to be + victimized by crackers, or used for inappropriate, technically + illegal, or even overtly criminal activities. For example, having + unreadable files in your home directory called `worm', + `lockpick', or `goroot' would probably be an effective (as well + as impressively obvious and stupid) way to get your sysadmin hacked + off at you. + + It has been pointed out that there is precedent for this usage in + U.S. Navy slang, in which officers under discipline are sometimes + said to be "in hack" and one may speak of "hacking off the C.O.". + +:hacked up: /adj./ Sufficiently patched, kluged, and tweaked + that the surgical scars are beginning to crowd out normal tissue + (compare {critical mass}). Not all programs that are hacked + become `hacked up'; if modifications are done with some eye to + coherence and continued maintainability, the software may emerge + better for the experience. Contrast {hack up}. + +:hacker: /n./ [originally, someone who makes furniture with an + axe] 1. A person who enjoys exploring the details of programmable + systems and how to stretch their capabilities, as opposed to most + users, who prefer to learn only the minimum necessary. 2. One who + programs enthusiastically (even obsessively) or who enjoys + programming rather than just theorizing about programming. 3. A + person capable of appreciating {hack value}. 4. A person who is + good at programming quickly. 5. An expert at a particular program, + or one who frequently does work using it or on it; as in `a Unix + hacker'. (Definitions 1 through 5 are correlated, and people who + fit them congregate.) 6. An expert or enthusiast of any kind. One + might be an astronomy hacker, for example. 7. One who enjoys the + intellectual challenge of creatively overcoming or circumventing + limitations. 8. [deprecated] A malicious meddler who tries to + discover sensitive information by poking around. Hence `password + hacker', `network hacker'. The correct term for this sense is + {cracker}. + + The term `hacker' also tends to connote membership in the global + community defined by the net (see {network, the} and + {Internet address}). It also implies that the person described + is seen to subscribe to some version of the hacker ethic (see + {hacker ethic}). + + It is better to be described as a hacker by others than to describe + oneself that way. Hackers consider themselves something of an + elite (a meritocracy based on ability), though one to which new + members are gladly welcome. There is thus a certain ego + satisfaction to be had in identifying yourself as a hacker (but if + you claim to be one and are not, you'll quickly be labeled + {bogus}). See also {wannabee}. + +:hacker ethic: /n./ 1. The belief that information-sharing + is a powerful positive good, and that it is an ethical duty of + hackers to share their expertise by writing free software and + facilitating access to information and to computing resources + wherever possible. 2. The belief that system-cracking for fun and + exploration is ethically OK as long as the cracker commits no + theft, vandalism, or breach of confidentiality. + + Both of these normative ethical principles are widely, but by no + means universally, accepted among hackers. Most hackers subscribe + to the hacker ethic in sense 1, and many act on it by writing and + giving away free software. A few go further and assert that + *all* information should be free and *any* proprietary + control of it is bad; this is the philosophy behind the {GNU} + project. + + Sense 2 is more controversial: some people consider the act of + cracking itself to be unethical, like breaking and entering. But + the belief that `ethical' cracking excludes destruction at least + moderates the behavior of people who see themselves as `benign' + crackers (see also {samurai}). On this view, it may be one of + the highest forms of hackerly courtesy to (a) break into a system, + and then (b) explain to the sysop, preferably by email from a + {superuser} account, exactly how it was done and how the hole + can be plugged -- acting as an unpaid (and unsolicited) {tiger + team}. + + The most reliable manifestation of either version of the hacker + ethic is that almost all hackers are actively willing to share + technical tricks, software, and (where possible) computing + resources with other hackers. Huge cooperative networks such as + {Usenet}, {FidoNet} and Internet (see {Internet address}) + can function without central control because of this trait; they + both rely on and reinforce a sense of community that may be + hackerdom's most valuable intangible asset. + +:hacker humor:: A distinctive style of shared + intellectual humor found among hackers, having the following marked + characteristics: + + 1. Fascination with form-vs.-content jokes, paradoxes, and humor + having to do with confusion of metalevels (see {meta}). One way + to make a hacker laugh: hold a red index card in front of him/her + with "GREEN" written on it, or vice-versa (note, however, that + this is funny only the first time). + + 2. Elaborate deadpan parodies of large intellectual constructs, + such as specifications (see {write-only memory}), standards + documents, language descriptions (see {INTERCAL}), and even + entire scientific theories (see {quantum bogodynamics}, + {computron}). + + 3. Jokes that involve screwily precise reasoning from bizarre, + ludicrous, or just grossly counter-intuitive premises. + + 4. Fascination with puns and wordplay. + + 5. A fondness for apparently mindless humor with subversive + currents of intelligence in it -- for example, old Warner Brothers + and Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoons, the Marx brothers, the early + B-52s, and Monty Python's Flying Circus. Humor that combines this + trait with elements of high camp and slapstick is especially + favored. + + 6. References to the symbol-object antinomies and associated ideas + in Zen Buddhism and (less often) Taoism. See {has the X nature}, + {Discordianism}, {zen}, {ha ha only serious}, {AI koans}. + + See also {filk}, {retrocomputing}, and {A Portrait of J. + Random Hacker} in Appendix B. If you have an itchy feeling that + all 6 of these traits are really aspects of one thing that is + incredibly difficult to talk about exactly, you are (a) correct and + (b) responding like a hacker. These traits are also recognizable + (though in a less marked form) throughout {{science-fiction + fandom}}. + +:hacking run: /n./ [analogy with `bombing run' or `speed + run'] A hack session extended long outside normal working times, + especially one longer than 12 hours. May cause you to `change + phase the hard way' (see {phase}). + +:Hacking X for Y: /n./ [ITS] Ritual phrasing of part of the + information which ITS made publicly available about each user. + This information (the INQUIR record) was a sort of form in which + the user could fill out various fields. On display, two of these + fields were always combined into a project description of the form + "Hacking X for Y" (e.g., `"Hacking perceptrons for + Minsky"'). This form of description became traditional and has + since been carried over to other systems with more general + facilities for self-advertisement (such as Unix {plan file}s). + +:Hackintosh: /n./ 1. An Apple Lisa that has been hacked into + emulating a Macintosh (also called a `Mac XL'). 2. A Macintosh + assembled from parts theoretically belonging to different models in + the line. + +:hackish: /hak'ish/ /adj./ (also {hackishness} n.) 1. Said + of something that is or involves a hack. 2. Of or pertaining to + hackers or the hacker subculture. See also {true-hacker}. + +:hackishness: /n./ The quality of being or involving a hack. + This term is considered mildly silly. Syn. {hackitude}. + +:hackitude: /n./ Syn. {hackishness}; this word is considered + sillier. + +:hair: /n./ [back-formation from {hairy}] The complications + that make something hairy. "Decoding {TECO} commands requires + a certain amount of hair." Often seen in the phrase `infinite + hair', which connotes extreme complexity. Also in `hairiferous' + (tending to promote hair growth): "GNUMACS elisp encourages lusers + to write complex editing modes." "Yeah, it's pretty hairiferous + all right." (or just: "Hair squared!") + +:hairball: /n./ [Fidonet] A large batch of messages that a + store-and-forward network is failing to forward when it should. + Often used in the phrase "Fido coughed up a hairball today", + meaning that the stuck messages have just come unstuck, producing a + flood of mail where there had previously been drought. + +:hairy: /adj./ 1. Annoyingly complicated. "{DWIM} is + incredibly hairy." 2. Incomprehensible. "{DWIM} is + incredibly hairy." 3. Of people, high-powered, authoritative, + rare, expert, and/or incomprehensible. Hard to explain except in + context: "He knows this hairy lawyer who says there's nothing to + worry about." See also {hirsute}. + + A well-known result in topology called the Brouwer Fixed-Point + Theorem states that any continuous transformation of a surface into + itself has at least one fixed point. Mathematically literate + hackers tend to associate the term `hairy' with the informal + version of this theorem; "You can't comb a hairy ball smooth." + + The adjective `long-haired' is well-attested to have been in + slang use among scientists and engineers during the early 1950s; it + was equivalent to modern `hairy' senses 1 and 2, and was very + likely ancestral to the hackish use. In fact the noun + `long-hair' was at the time used to describe a person satisfying + sense 3. Both senses probably passed out of use when long hair + was adopted as a signature trait by the 1960s counterculture, + leaving hackish `hairy' as a sort of stunted mutant relic. + +:HAKMEM: /hak'mem/ /n./ MIT AI Memo 239 (February 1972). A + legendary collection of neat mathematical and programming hacks + contributed by many people at MIT and elsewhere. (The title of the + memo really is "HAKMEM", which is a 6-letterism for `hacks + memo'.) Some of them are very useful techniques, powerful + theorems, or interesting unsolved problems, but most fall into the + category of mathematical and computer trivia. Here is a sampling + of the entries (with authors), slightly paraphrased: + + Item 41 (Gene Salamin): There are exactly 23,000 prime numbers less + than 2^(18). + + Item 46 (Rich Schroeppel): The most *probable* suit + distribution in bridge hands is 4-4-3-2, as compared to 4-3-3-3, + which is the most *evenly* distributed. This is because the + world likes to have unequal numbers: a thermodynamic effect saying + things will not be in the state of lowest energy, but in the state + of lowest disordered energy. + + Item 81 (Rich Schroeppel): Count the magic squares of order 5 + (that is, all the 5-by-5 arrangements of the numbers from 1 to 25 + such that all rows, columns, and diagonals add up to the same + number). There are about 320 million, not counting those that + differ only by rotation and reflection. + + Item 154 (Bill Gosper): The myth that any given programming + language is machine independent is easily exploded by computing the + sum of powers of 2. If the result loops with period = 1 + with sign +, you are on a sign-magnitude machine. If the + result loops with period = 1 at -1, you are on a + twos-complement machine. If the result loops with period greater + than 1, including the beginning, you are on a ones-complement + machine. If the result loops with period greater than 1, not + including the beginning, your machine isn't binary -- the pattern + should tell you the base. If you run out of memory, you are on a + string or bignum system. If arithmetic overflow is a fatal error, + some fascist pig with a read-only mind is trying to enforce machine + independence. But the very ability to trap overflow is machine + dependent. By this strategy, consider the universe, or, more + precisely, algebra: Let X = the sum of many powers of 2 = + ...111111 (base 2). Now add X to itself: + X + X = ...111110. Thus, 2X = X - 1, so + X = -1. Therefore algebra is run on a machine (the + universe) that is two's-complement. + + Item 174 (Bill Gosper and Stuart Nelson): 21963283741 is the only + number such that if you represent it on the {PDP-10} as both an + integer and a floating-point number, the bit patterns of the two + representations are identical. + + Item 176 (Gosper): The "banana phenomenon" was encountered when + processing a character string by taking the last 3 letters typed + out, searching for a random occurrence of that sequence in the + text, taking the letter following that occurrence, typing it out, + and iterating. This ensures that every 4-letter string output + occurs in the original. The program typed BANANANANANANANA.... We + note an ambiguity in the phrase, "the Nth occurrence of." In one + sense, there are five 00's in 0000000000; in another, there are + nine. The editing program TECO finds five. Thus it finds only the + first ANA in BANANA, and is thus obligated to type N next. By + Murphy's Law, there is but one NAN, thus forcing A, and thus a + loop. An option to find overlapped instances would be useful, + although it would require backing up N - 1 characters before + seeking the next N-character string. + + Note: This last item refers to a {Dissociated Press} + implementation. See also {banana problem}. + + HAKMEM also contains some rather more complicated mathematical and + technical items, but these examples show some of its fun + flavor. + + An HTML transcription of the document is available at + ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/hb/hbaker/hakmem/hakmem.html. + +:hakspek: /hak'speek/ /n./ A shorthand method of spelling + found on many British academic bulletin boards and {talker + system}s. Syllables and whole words in a sentence are replaced by + single ASCII characters the names of which are phonetically similar + or equivalent, while multiple letters are usually dropped. Hence, + `for' becomes `4'; `two', `too', and `to' become `2'; + `ck' becomes `k'. "Before I see you tomorrow" becomes "b4 i + c u 2moro". First appeared in London about 1986, and was probably + caused by the slowness of available talker systems, which operated + on archaic machines with outdated operating systems and no standard + methods of communication. Has become rarer since. See also + {talk mode}. + +:hammer: /vt./ Commonwealth hackish syn. for {bang on}. + +:hamster: /n./ 1. [Fairchild] A particularly slick little piece + of code that does one thing well; a small, self-contained hack. + The image is of a hamster {happily} spinning its exercise wheel. + 2. A tailless mouse; that is, one with an infrared link to a + receiver on the machine, as opposed to the conventional cable. + 3. [UK] Any item of hardware made by Amstrad, a company famous for + its cheap plastic PC-almost-compatibles. + +:hand cruft: /vt./ [pun on `hand craft'] See {cruft}, sense + 3. + +:hand-hacking: /n./ 1. The practice of translating {hot + spot}s from an {HLL} into hand-tuned assembler, as opposed to + trying to coerce the compiler into generating better code. Both + the term and the practice are becoming uncommon. See {tune}, + {bum}, {by hand}; syn. with /v./ {cruft}. 2. More + generally, manual construction or patching of data sets that would + normally be generated by a translation utility and interpreted by + another program, and aren't really designed to be read or modified + by humans. + +:hand-roll: /v./ [from obs. mainstream slang `hand-rolled' in + opposition to `ready-made', referring to cigarettes] To + perform a normally automated software installation or configuration + process {by hand}; implies that the normal process failed due to + bugs in the configurator or was defeated by something exceptional + in the local environment. "The worst thing about being a gateway + between four different nets is having to hand-roll a new sendmail + configuration every time any of them upgrades." + +:handle: /n./ 1. [from CB slang] An electronic pseudonym; a + `nom de guerre' intended to conceal the user's true identity. + Network and BBS handles function as the same sort of simultaneous + concealment and display one finds on Citizen's Band radio, from + which the term was adopted. Use of grandiose handles is + characteristic of {warez d00dz}, {cracker}s, {weenie}s, + {spod}s, and other lower forms of network life; true hackers + travel on their own reputations rather than invented legendry. + Compare {nick}. 2. [Mac] A pointer to a pointer to + dynamically-allocated memory; the extra level of indirection allows + on-the-fly memory compaction (to cut down on fragmentation) or + aging out of unused resources, with minimal impact on the (possibly + multiple) parts of the larger program containing references to the + allocated memory. Compare {snap} (to snap a handle would defeat + its purpose); see also {aliasing bug}, {dangling + pointer}. + +:handshaking: /n./ Hardware or software activity designed to + start or keep two machines or programs in synchronization as they + {do protocol}. Often applied to human activity; thus, a hacker + might watch two people in conversation nodding their heads to + indicate that they have heard each others' points and say "Oh, + they're handshaking!". See also {protocol}. + +:handwave: [poss. from gestures characteristic of stage + magicians] 1. /v./ To gloss over a complex point; to distract a + listener; to support a (possibly actually valid) point with + blatantly faulty logic. 2. /n./ The act of handwaving. "Boy, what + a handwave!" + + If someone starts a sentence with "Clearly..." or + "Obviously..." or "It is self-evident that...", it is + a good bet he is about to handwave (alternatively, use of these + constructions in a sarcastic tone before a paraphrase of someone + else's argument suggests that it is a handwave). The theory behind + this term is that if you wave your hands at the right moment, the + listener may be sufficiently distracted to not notice that what you + have said is {bogus}. Failing that, if a listener does object, + you might try to dismiss the objection with a wave of your hand. + + The use of this word is often accompanied by gestures: both hands + up, palms forward, swinging the hands in a vertical plane pivoting + at the elbows and/or shoulders (depending on the magnitude of the + handwave); alternatively, holding the forearms in one position + while rotating the hands at the wrist to make them flutter. In + context, the gestures alone can suffice as a remark; if a speaker + makes an outrageously unsupported assumption, you might simply wave + your hands in this way, as an accusation, far more eloquent than + words could express, that his logic is faulty. + +:hang: /v./ 1. To wait for an event that will never occur. + "The system is hanging because it can't read from the crashed + drive". See {wedged}, {hung}. 2. To wait for some event to + occur; to hang around until something happens. "The program + displays a menu and then hangs until you type a character." + Compare {block}. 3. To attach a peripheral device, esp. in + the construction `hang off': "We're going to hang another tape + drive off the file server." Implies a device attached with + cables, rather than something that is strictly inside the machine's + chassis. + +:Hanlon's Razor: /prov./ A corollary of {Finagle's Law}, + similar to Occam's Razor, that reads "Never attribute to malice + that which can be adequately explained by stupidity." The + derivation of the Hanlon eponym is not definitely known, but a very + similar remark ("You have attributed conditions to villainy that + simply result from stupidity.") appears in "Logic of Empire", + a 1941 story by Robert A. Heinlein, who calls it the `devil theory' + of sociology. Heinlein's popularity in the hacker culture makes + plausible the supposition that `Hanlon' is derived from `Heinlein' + by phonetic corruption. A similar epigram has been attributed to + William James, but Heinlein more probably got the idea from Alfred + Korzybski and other practitioners of General Semantics. Quoted + here because it seems to be a particular favorite of hackers, often + showing up in {sig block}s, {fortune cookie} files and the + login banners of BBS systems and commercial networks. This + probably reflects the hacker's daily experience of environments + created by well-intentioned but short-sighted people. Compare + {Sturgeon's Law}. + +:happily: /adv./ Of software, used to emphasize that a program + is unaware of some important fact about its environment, either + because it has been fooled into believing a lie, or because it + doesn't care. The sense of `happy' here is not that of elation, + but rather that of blissful ignorance. "The program continues to + run, happily unaware that its output is going to /dev/null." Also + used to suggest that a program or device would really rather be + doing something destructive, and is being given an opportunity to + do so. "If you enter an O here instead of a zero, the program + will happily erase all your data." + +:haque: /hak/ /n./ [Usenet] Variant spelling of {hack}, + used only for the noun form and connoting an {elegant} + hack. that is a {hack} in sense 2. + +:hard boot: /n./ See {boot}. + +:hardcoded: /adj./ 1. Said of data inserted directly into a + program, where it cannot be easily modified, as opposed to data in + some {profile}, resource (see {de-rezz} sense 2), or + environment variable that a {user} or hacker can easily modify. + 2. In C, this is esp. applied to use of a literal instead of a + `#define' macro (see {magic number}). + +:hardwarily: /hard-weir'*-lee/ /adv./ In a way pertaining to + hardware. "The system is hardwarily unreliable." The adjective + `hardwary' is *not* traditionally used, though it has + recently been reported from the U.K. See {softwarily}. + +:hardwired: /adj./ 1. In software, syn. for {hardcoded}. + 2. By extension, anything that is not modifiable, especially in the + sense of customizable to one's particular needs or tastes. + +:has the X nature: [seems to derive from Zen Buddhist koans + of the form "Does an X have the Buddha-nature?"] /adj./ Common + hacker construction for `is an X', used for humorous emphasis. + "Anyone who can't even use a program with on-screen help embedded + in it truly has the {loser} nature!" See also {the X that + can be Y is not the true X}. + +:hash bucket: /n./ A notional receptacle, a set of which might + be used to apportion data items for sorting or lookup purposes. + When you look up a name in the phone book (for example), you + typically hash it by extracting its first letter; the hash buckets + are the alphabetically ordered letter sections. This term is used + as techspeak with respect to code that uses actual hash functions; + in jargon, it is used for human associative memory as well. Thus, + two things `in the same hash bucket' are more difficult to + discriminate, and may be confused. "If you hash English words + only by length, you get too many common grammar words in the first + couple of hash buckets." Compare {hash collision}. + +:hash collision: /n./ [from the techspeak] (var. `hash + clash') When used of people, signifies a confusion in associative + memory or imagination, especially a persistent one (see + {thinko}). True story: One of us [ESR] was once on the phone + with a friend about to move out to Berkeley. When asked what he + expected Berkeley to be like, the friend replied: "Well, I have + this mental picture of naked women throwing Molotov cocktails, but + I think that's just a collision in my hash tables." Compare + {hash bucket}. + +:hat: /n./ Common (spoken) name for the circumflex (`^', ASCII + 1011110) character. See {ASCII} for other synonyms. + +:HCF: /H-C-F/ /n./ Mnemonic for `Halt and Catch Fire', any + of several undocumented and semi-mythical machine instructions with + destructive side-effects, supposedly included for test purposes on + several well-known architectures going as far back as the IBM 360. + The MC6800 microprocessor was the first for which an HCF opcode + became widely known. This instruction caused the processor to + {toggle} a subset of the bus lines as rapidly as it could; in + some configurations this could actually cause lines to burn up. + +:heads down: [Sun] /adj./ Concentrating, usually so heavily and + for so long that everything outside the focus area is missed. See + also {hack mode} and {larval stage}, although this mode is + hardly confined to fledgling hackers. + +:heartbeat: /n./ 1. The signal emitted by a Level 2 Ethernet + transceiver at the end of every packet to show that the + collision-detection circuit is still connected. 2. A periodic + synchronization signal used by software or hardware, such as a bus + clock or a periodic interrupt. 3. The `natural' oscillation + frequency of a computer's clock crystal, before frequency division + down to the machine's clock rate. 4. A signal emitted at regular + intervals by software to demonstrate that it is still alive. + Sometimes hardware is designed to reboot the machine if it stops + hearing a heartbeat. See also {breath-of-life packet}. + +:heatseeker: /n./ [IBM] A customer who can be relied upon to + buy, without fail, the latest version of an existing product (not + quite the same as a member of the {lunatic fringe}). A 1993 + example of a heatseeker is someone who, owning a 286 PC and Windows + 3.0, goes out and buys Windows 3.1 (which offers no worthwhile + benefits unless you have a 386). If all customers were + heatseekers, vast amounts of money could be made by just fixing the + bugs in each release (n) and selling it to them as release (n+1). + +:heavy metal: /n./ [Cambridge] Syn. {big iron}. + +:heavy wizardry: /n./ Code or designs that trade on a + particularly intimate knowledge or experience of a particular + operating system or language or complex application interface. + Distinguished from {deep magic}, which trades more on arcane + *theoretical* knowledge. Writing device drivers is heavy + wizardry; so is interfacing to {X} (sense 2) without a toolkit. + Esp. found in source-code comments of the form "Heavy wizardry + begins here". Compare {voodoo programming}. + +:heavyweight: /adj./ High-overhead; {baroque}; + code-intensive; featureful, but costly. Esp. used of + communication protocols, language designs, and any sort of + implementation in which maximum generality and/or ease of + implementation has been pushed at the expense of mundane + considerations such as speed, memory utilization, and startup time. + {EMACS} is a heavyweight editor; {X} is an *extremely* + heavyweight window system. This term isn't pejorative, but one + hacker's heavyweight is another's {elephantine} and a third's + {monstrosity}. Oppose `lightweight'. Usage: now borders on + techspeak, especially in the compound `heavyweight process'. + +:heisenbug: /hi:'zen-buhg/ /n./ [from Heisenberg's + Uncertainty Principle in quantum physics] A bug that disappears or + alters its behavior when one attempts to probe or isolate it. + (This usage is not even particularly fanciful; the use of a + debugger sometimes alters a program's operating environment + significantly enough that buggy code, such as that which relies on + the values of uninitialized memory, behaves quite differently.) + Antonym of {Bohr bug}; see also {mandelbug}, + {schroedinbug}. In C, nine out of ten heisenbugs result from + uninitialized auto variables, {fandango on core} phenomena + (esp. lossage related to corruption of the malloc {arena}) or + errors that {smash the stack}. + +:Helen Keller mode: /n./ 1. State of a hardware or software + system that is deaf, dumb, and blind, i.e., accepting no input and + generating no output, usually due to an infinite loop or some other + excursion into {deep space}. (Unfair to the real Helen Keller, + whose success at learning speech was triumphant.) See also {go + flatline}, {catatonic}. 2. On IBM PCs under DOS, refers to a + specific failure mode in which a screen saver has kicked in over an + {ill-behaved} application which bypasses the very interrupts the + screen saver watches for activity. Your choices are to try to get + from the program's current state through a successful save-and-exit + without being able to see what you're doing, or to re-boot the + machine. This isn't (strictly speaking) a crash. + +:hello, sailor!: /interj./ Occasional West Coast equivalent of + {hello, world}; seems to have originated at SAIL, later + associated with the game {Zork} (which also included "hello, + aviator" and "hello, implementor"). Originally from the + traditional hooker's greeting to a swabbie fresh off the boat, of + course. + +:hello, wall!: /excl./ See {wall}. + +:hello, world: /interj./ 1. The canonical minimal test message + in the C/Unix universe. 2. Any of the minimal programs that emit + this message. Traditionally, the first program a C coder is + supposed to write in a new environment is one that just prints + "hello, world" to standard output (and indeed it is the first + example program in {K&R}). Environments that generate an + unreasonably large executable for this trivial test or which + require a {hairy} compiler-linker invocation to generate it are + considered to {lose} (see {X}). 3. Greeting uttered by a + hacker making an entrance or requesting information from anyone + present. "Hello, world! Is the {VAX} back up yet?" + +:hex: /n./ 1. Short for {{hexadecimal}}, base 16. 2. A 6-pack + of anything (compare {quad}, sense 2). Neither usage has + anything to do with {magic} or {black art}, though the pun is + appreciated and occasionally used by hackers. True story: As a + joke, some hackers once offered some surplus ICs for sale to be + worn as protective amulets against hostile magic. The chips were, + of course, hex inverters. + +:hexadecimal:: /n./ Base 16. Coined in the early 1960s to + replace earlier `sexadecimal', which was too racy and amusing + for stuffy IBM, and later adopted by the rest of the industry. + + Actually, neither term is etymologically pure. If we take + `binary' to be paradigmatic, the most etymologically correct + term for base 10, for example, is `denary', which comes from + `deni' (ten at a time, ten each), a Latin `distributive' + number; the corresponding term for base-16 would be something like + `sendenary'. `Decimal' is from an ordinal number; the + corresponding prefix for 6 would imply something like + `sextidecimal'. The `sexa-' prefix is Latin but incorrect in + this context, and `hexa-' is Greek. The word `octal' is + similarly incorrect; a correct form would be `octaval' (to go + with decimal), or `octonary' (to go with binary). If anyone ever + implements a base-3 computer, computer scientists will be faced + with the unprecedented dilemma of a choice between two + *correct* forms; both `ternary' and `trinary' have a + claim to this throne. + +:hexit: /hek'sit/ /n./ A hexadecimal digit (0--9, and A--F or + a--f). Used by people who claim that there are only *ten* + digits, dammit; sixteen-fingered human beings are rather rare, + despite what some keyboard designs might seem to imply (see + {space-cadet keyboard}). + +:HHOK: See {ha ha only serious}. + +:HHOS: See {ha ha only serious}. + +:hidden flag: /n./ [scientific computation] An extra option + added to a routine without changing the calling sequence. For + example, instead of adding an explicit input variable to instruct a + routine to give extra diagnostic output, the programmer might just + add a test for some otherwise meaningless feature of the existing + inputs, such as a negative mass. The use of hidden flags can make + a program very hard to debug and understand, but is all too common + wherever programs are hacked on in a hurry. + +:high bit: /n./ [from `high-order bit'] 1. The most + significant bit in a byte. 2. By extension, the most significant + part of something other than a data byte: "Spare me the whole + {saga}, just give me the high bit." See also {meta bit}, + {hobbit}, {dread high-bit disease}, and compare the + mainstream slang `bottom line'. + +:high moby: /hi:' mohb'ee/ /n./ The high half of a 512K + {PDP-10}'s physical address space; the other half was of course + the low moby. This usage has been generalized in a way that has + outlasted the {PDP-10}; for example, at the 1990 Washington D.C. + Area Science Fiction Conclave (Disclave), when a miscommunication + resulted in two separate wakes being held in commemoration of the + shutdown of MIT's last {{ITS}} machines, the one on the upper + floor was dubbed the `high moby' and the other the `low moby'. + All parties involved {grok}ked this instantly. See {moby}. + +:highly: /adv./ [scientific computation] The preferred modifier + for overstating an understatement. As in: `highly nonoptimal', + the worst possible way to do something; `highly nontrivial', + either impossible or requiring a major research project; `highly + nonlinear', completely erratic and unpredictable; `highly + nontechnical', drivel written for {luser}s, oversimplified to + the point of being misleading or incorrect (compare {drool-proof + paper}). In other computing cultures, postfixing of {in the + extreme} might be preferred. + +:hing: // /n./ [IRC] Fortuitous typo for `hint', now in + wide intentional use among players of {initgame}. Compare + {newsfroup}, {filk}. + +:hired gun: /n./ A contract programmer, as opposed to a + full-time staff member. All the connotations of this term + suggested by innumerable spaghetti Westerns are intentional. + +:hirsute: /adj./ Occasionally used humorously as a synonym for + {hairy}. + +:HLL: /H-L-L/ /n./ [High-Level Language (as opposed to + assembler)] Found primarily in email and news rather than speech. + Rarely, the variants `VHLL' and `MLL' are found. VHLL stands for + `Very-High-Level Language' and is used to describe a + {bondage-and-discipline language} that the speaker happens to + like; Prolog and Backus's FP are often called VHLLs. `MLL' stands + for `Medium-Level Language' and is sometimes used half-jokingly to + describe {C}, alluding to its `structured-assembler' image. + See also {languages of choice}. + +:hoarding: /n./ See {software hoarding}. + +:hobbit: /n./ 1. The High Order BIT of a byte; same as the + {meta bit} or {high bit}. 2. The non-ITS name of + vad@ai.mit.edu (*Hobbit*), master of lasers. + +:hog: /n.,vt./ 1. Favored term to describe programs or hardware + that seem to eat far more than their share of a system's resources, + esp. those which noticeably degrade interactive response. + *Not* used of programs that are simply extremely large or + complex or that are merely painfully slow themselves (see {pig, + run like a}). More often than not encountered in qualified forms, + e.g., `memory hog', `core hog', `hog the processor', `hog + the disk'. "A controller that never gives up the I/O bus gets + killed after the bus-hog timer expires." 2. Also said of + *people* who use more than their fair share of resources + (particularly disk, where it seems that 10% of the people use 90% + of the disk, no matter how big the disk is or how many people use + it). Of course, once disk hogs fill up one filesystem, they + typically find some other new one to infect, claiming to the + sysadmin that they have an important new project to complete. + +:hole: /n./ A region in an otherwise {flat} entity which is + not actually present. For example, some Unix filesystems can store + large files with holes so that unused regions of the file are never + actually stored on disk. (In techspeak, these are referred to as + `sparse' files.) As another example, the region of memory in IBM + PCs reserved for memory-mapped I/O devices which may not actually + be present is called `the I/O hole', since memory-management + systems must skip over this area when filling user requests for + memory. + +:hollised: /hol'ist/ /adj./ [Usenet: sci.space] + To be hollised is to have been ordered by one's employer not to + post any even remotely job-related material to USENET (or, by + extension, to other Internet media). The original and most + notorious case of this involved one Ken Hollis, a Lockheed + employee and space-program enthusiast who posted publicly available + material on access to Space Shuttle launches to sci.space. + He was gagged under threat of being fired in 1994 at the behest of + NASA public-relations officers. The result was, of course, a huge + publicity black eye for NASA. Nevertheless several other NASA + contractor employees were subsequently hollised for similar + activities. Use of this term carries the strong connotation that + the persons doing the gagging are bureaucratic idiots blinded to + their own best interests by territorial reflexes. + +:holy wars: /n./ [from {Usenet}, but may predate it] + /n./ {flame war}s over {religious issues}. The paper by Danny + Cohen that popularized the terms {big-endian} and + {little-endian} in connection with the LSB-first/MSB-first + controversy was entitled "On Holy Wars and a Plea for Peace". + Other perennial Holy Wars have included {EMACS} vs. {vi}, + my personal computer vs. everyone else's personal computer, + {{ITS}} vs. {{Unix}}, {{Unix}} vs. {VMS}, {BSD} Unix + vs. {USG Unix}, {C} vs. {{Pascal}}, {C} vs. + FORTRAN, etc., ad nauseam. The characteristic that distinguishes + holy wars from normal technical disputes is that in a holy war + most of the participants spend their time trying to pass off + personal value choices and cultural attachments as objective + technical evaluations. See also {theology}. + +:home box: /n./ A hacker's personal machine, especially one he + or she owns. "Yeah? Well, *my* home box runs a full 4.2 + BSD, so there!" + +:home machine: /n./ 1. Syn. {home box}. 2. The machine that + receives your email. These senses might be distinct, for example, + for a hacker who owns one computer at home, but reads email at + work. + +:home page: /n./ 1. One's personal billboard on the World Wide + Web. The term `home page' is perhaps a bit misleading because home + directories and physical homes in {RL} are private, but home + pages are designed to be very public. 2. By extension, a WWW + repository for information and links related to a project or + organization. Compare {home box}. + +:hook: /n./ A software or hardware feature included in order to + simplify later additions or changes by a user. For example, a + simple program that prints numbers might always print them in base + 10, but a more flexible version would let a variable determine what + base to use; setting the variable to 5 would make the program print + numbers in base 5. The variable is a simple hook. An even more + flexible program might examine the variable and treat a value of 16 + or less as the base to use, but treat any other number as the + address of a user-supplied routine for printing a number. This is + a {hairy} but powerful hook; one can then write a routine to + print numbers as Roman numerals, say, or as Hebrew characters, and + plug it into the program through the hook. Often the difference + between a good program and a superb one is that the latter has + useful hooks in judiciously chosen places. Both may do the + original job about equally well, but the one with the hooks is much + more flexible for future expansion of capabilities ({EMACS}, for + example, is *all* hooks). The term `user exit' is + synonymous but much more formal and less hackish. + +:hop: 1. /n./ One file transmission in a series required to get + a file from point A to point B on a store-and-forward network. On + such networks (including {UUCPNET} and {FidoNet}), an + important inter-machine metric is the number of hops in the + shortest path between them, which can be more significant than + their geographical separation. See {bang path}. 2. /v./ To log in + to a remote machine, esp. via rlogin or telnet. "I'll hop over to + foovax to FTP that." + +:hose: 1. /vt./ To make non-functional or greatly degraded in + performance. "That big ray-tracing program really hoses the + system." See {hosed}. 2. /n./ A narrow channel through which + data flows under pressure. Generally denotes data paths that + represent performance bottlenecks. 3. /n./ Cabling, especially +thick + Ethernet cable. This is sometimes called `bit hose' or + `hosery' (play on `hosiery') or `etherhose'. See also + {washing machine}. + +:hosed: /adj./ Same as {down}. Used primarily by Unix + hackers. Humorous: also implies a condition thought to be + relatively easy to reverse. Probably derived from the Canadian + slang `hoser' popularized by the Bob and Doug Mackenzie skits on + SCTV, but this usage predated SCTV by years in hackerdom (it was + certainly already live at CMU in the 1970s). See {hose}. It is + also widely used of people in the mainstream sense of `in an + extremely unfortunate situation'. + + Once upon a time, a Cray that had been experiencing periodic + difficulties crashed, and it was announced to have been hosed. + It was discovered that the crash was due to the disconnection of + some coolant hoses. The problem was corrected, and users were then + assured that everything was OK because the system had been rehosed. + See also {dehose}. + +:hot chat: /n./ Sexually explicit one-on-one chat. See + {teledildonics}. + +:hot spot: /n./ 1. [primarily used by C/Unix programmers, but + spreading] It is received wisdom that in most programs, less than + 10% of the code eats 90% of the execution time; if one were to + graph instruction visits versus code addresses, one would typically + see a few huge spikes amidst a lot of low-level noise. Such spikes + are called `hot spots' and are good candidates for heavy + optimization or {hand-hacking}. The term is especially used of + tight loops and recursions in the code's central algorithm, as + opposed to (say) initial set-up costs or large but infrequent I/O + operations. See {tune}, {bum}, {hand-hacking}. 2. The + active location of a cursor on a bit-map display. "Put the + mouse's hot spot on the `ON' widget and click the left button." + 3. A screen region that is sensitive to mouse gestures, which + trigger some action. World Wide Web pages now provide the + {canonical} examples; WWW browsers present hypertext links as + hot spots which, when clicked on, point the browser at another + document (these are specifically called {hotlink}s). 4. In a + massively parallel computer with shared memory, the one location + that all 10,000 processors are trying to read or write at once + (perhaps because they are all doing a {busy-wait} on the same + lock). 5. More generally, any place in a hardware design that + turns into a performance bottleneck due to resource + contention. + +:hotlink: /hot'link/ /n./ A {hot spot} on a World Wide Web + page; an area, which, when clicked or selected, chases a URL. + Also spelled `hot link'. Use of this term focuses on the link's + role as an immediate part of your display, as opposed to the + timeless sense of logical connection suggested by {web + pointer}. Your screen shows hotlinks but your document has web + pointers, not (in normal usage) the other way around. + +:house wizard: /n./ [prob. from ad-agency tradetalk, `house + freak'] A hacker occupying a technical-specialist, R&D, or systems + position at a commercial shop. A really effective house wizard can + have influence out of all proportion to his/her ostensible rank and + still not have to wear a suit. Used esp. of Unix wizards. The + term `house guru' is equivalent. + +:HP-SUX: /H-P suhks/ /n./ Unflattering hackerism for HP-UX, + Hewlett-Packard's Unix port, which features some truly unique + bogosities in the filesystem internals and elsewhere (these + occasionally create portability problems). HP-UX is often referred + to as `hockey-pux' inside HP, and one respondent claims that the + proper pronunciation is /H-P ukkkhhhh/ as though one were about + to spit. Another such alternate spelling and pronunciation is + "H-PUX" /H-puhks/. Hackers at HP/Apollo (the former Apollo + Computers which was swallowed by HP in 1989) have been heard to + complain that Mr. Packard should have pushed to have his name + first, if for no other reason than the greater eloquence of the + resulting acronym. Compare {AIDX}, {buglix}. See also + {Nominal Semidestructor}, {Telerat}, {Open DeathTrap}, + {ScumOS}, {sun-stools}. + +:huff: /v./ To compress data using a Huffman code. Various + programs that use such methods have been called `HUFF' or some + variant thereof. Oppose {puff}. Compare {crunch}, + {compress}. + +:humma: // /excl./ A filler word used on various `chat' + and `talk' programs when you had nothing to say but felt that it + was important to say something. The word apparently originated (at + least with this definition) on the MECC Timeshare System (MTS, a + now-defunct educational time-sharing system running in Minnesota + during the 1970s and the early 1980s) but was later sighted on + early Unix systems. Compare the U.K's {wibble}. + +:hung: /adj./ [from `hung up'] Equivalent to {wedged}, but + more common at Unix/C sites. Not generally used of people. + Syn. with {locked up}, {wedged}; compare {hosed}. See + also {hang}. A hung state is distinguished from {crash}ed or + {down}, where the program or system is also unusable but because + it is not running rather than because it is waiting for something. + However, the recovery from both situations is often the same. + +:hungry puppy: /n./ Syn. {slopsucker}. + +:hungus: /huhng'g*s/ /adj./ [perhaps related to slang + `humongous'] Large, unwieldy, usually unmanageable. "TCP is a + hungus piece of code." "This is a hungus set of modifications." + +:hyperspace: /hi:'per-spays/ /n./ A memory location that is + *far* away from where the program counter should be pointing, + especially a place that is inaccessible because it is not even + mapped in by the virtual-memory system. "Another core dump --- + looks like the program jumped off to hyperspace somehow." + (Compare {jump off into 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 hyperspace' is + recorded among CMU and Bliss hackers. + +:hysterical reasons: /n./ (also `hysterical raisins') A + variant on the stock phrase "for historical reasons", indicating + specifically that something must be done in some stupid way for + backwards compatibility, and moreover that the feature it must be + compatible with was the result of a bad design in the first place. + "All IBM PC video adapters have to support MDA text mode for + hysterical reasons." Compare {bug-for-bug compatible}. + += I = +===== + +: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 {one-line fix}. + This is also heard from 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 false. Upon + close questioning, they will 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.: 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 the + original PDP-10 {ADVENT}, which would respond in this wise if + you asked it to do something involving an object not present at + your location in the game. + +:IBM: /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 + Machines'. See {TLA}. These abbreviations 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 overpriced (though that does + count against them), 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 + them. With the release of the Unix-based RIOS 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 + some rampantly unofficial jargon lists circulated within IBM's own + beleaguered hacker underground. + +:IBM discount: /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 area cause + prices to rise. + +:ICBM address: /n./ (Also `missile address') The form used to + register a site with the Usenet mapping project includes a blank + for longitude and latitude, preferably to seconds-of-arc accuracy. + This is actually used for generating geographically-correct maps of + Usenet links on a plotter; however, it has become traditional to + refer to this as one's `ICBM address' or `missile address', and + many people include it in their {sig block} with that name. (A + real missile address would include target altitude.) + +:ice: /n./ [coined by Usenetter Tom Maddox, popularized by + William Gibson's cyberpunk SF novels: a contrived acronym for + `Intrusion Countermeasure Electronics'] Security software (in + Gibson's novels, software that responds to intrusion by attempting + to immobilize or even literally kill the intruder). Hence, + `icebreaker': a program designed for cracking security on a + system. + + Neither term is in serious use yet as of early 1996, but many + hackers find the metaphor attractive, and each may develop a + denotation in the future. In the meantime, the speculative usage + could be confused with `ICE', an acronym for "in-circuit + emulator". + + In ironic reference to the speculative usage, however, some hackers + and computer scientists formed ICE (International Cryptographic + Experiment) in 1994. ICE is a consortium to promote uniform + international access to strong cryptography. ICE has a home page + at http://www.tis.com/crypto/ice.html. + +:idempotent: /adj./ [from mathematical techspeak] Acting as if + used only once, even if used multiple times. This term is often + used with respect to {C} header files, which contain common + definitions and declarations to be included by several source + files. If a header file is ever included twice during the same + compilation (perhaps due to nested #include files), compilation + errors can result unless the header file has protected itself + against multiple inclusion; a header file so protected is said to + be idempotent. The term can also be used to describe an + initialization subroutine that is arranged to perform some critical + action exactly once, even if the routine is called several times. + +:If you want X, you know where to find it.: There is a legend + that Dennis Ritchie, inventor of {C}, once responded to demands + for features resembling those of what at the time was a much more + popular language by observing "If you want PL/I, you know where to + find it." Ever since, this has been hackish standard form for + fending off requests to alter a new design to mimic some older + (and, by implication, inferior and {baroque}) one. The case X = + {Pascal} manifests semi-regularly on Usenet's comp.lang.c + newsgroup. Indeed, the case X = X has been reported in discussions + of graphics software (see {X}). + +:ifdef out: /if'def owt/ /v./ Syn. for {condition out}, + specific to {C}. + +:ill-behaved: /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 + things (like screen, keyboard, and disk I/O) 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 the effect that (owing to gross inadequacies 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: // /abbrev./ [from SF fandom via Usenet; abbreviation 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 seen in variant forms such as IMNSHO (In My Not-So-Humble + Opinion) and IMAO (In My Arrogant Opinion). + +:Imminent Death Of The Net Predicted!: /prov./ [Usenet] Since + {Usenet} first got off the ground in 1980--81, it has grown + exponentially, approximately doubling in size every year. On the + other hand, most people feel the {signal-to-noise ratio} of + Usenet has dropped steadily. These trends led, as far back as + mid-1983, to predictions of the imminent collapse (or death) of the + net. Ten years and numerous doublings later, enough of these + gloomy prognostications have been confounded that the phrase + "Imminent Death Of The Net Predicted!" has become a running joke, + hauled out any time someone grumbles about the {S/N ratio} or + the huge and steadily increasing volume, or the possible loss of a + key node or link, or the potential for lawsuits when ignoramuses + post copyrighted material, etc., etc., etc. + +:in the extreme: /adj./ A preferred superlative suffix for many + hackish terms. See, for example, `obscure in the extreme' under + {obscure}, and compare {highly}. + +:inc: /ink/ /v./ Verbal (and only rarely written) shorthand + for increment, i.e. `increase by one'. Especially used by + assembly programmers, as many assembly languages have an `inc' + mnemonic. Antonym: {dec}. + +:incantation: /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 that they + must be learned from a {wizard}. "This compiler normally + locates initialized data in the data segment, but if you + {mutter} the right incantation they will be forced into text + space." + +:include: /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 discussion of inclusion styles under "Hacker Writing + Style". 2. [from {C}] `#include <disclaimer.h>' has + appeared in {sig block}s to refer to a notional `standard + {disclaimer} file'. + +:include war: /n./ Excessive multi-leveled inclusion 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: /n./ [C programmers] The rules one uses to + indent code in a readable fashion. There are four major C indent + styles, described below; all have the aim of making it easier for + the reader to visually track the scope of control constructs. The + significant variable is the placement of `{' and `}' + with respect to the statement(s) they enclose and to the guard or + controlling statement (`if', `else', `for', + `while', or `do') on the block, if any. + + `K&R style' -- Named after Kernighan & Ritchie, because the + 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 one tab) per level; four spaces are + occasionally 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 normal indent style in Pascal and + Algol. Basic indent per level shown here is eight spaces, but four + spaces are just as common (esp. in C++ code). + + if (<cond>) + { + <body> + } + + `Whitesmiths style' -- popularized by the examples that came + with Whitesmiths C, an early commercial C compiler. Basic indent + per level shown here is eight spaces, but four spaces are + occasionally seen. + + if (<cond>) + { + <body> + } + + `GNU style' -- Used throughout GNU EMACS and the Free Software + Foundation code, and just about nowhere else. Indents are always + four spaces per 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. K&R/1TBS used to be nearly + universal, but 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 important than + their style's relative economy with 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: /n./ See {coefficient of X}. + +:infant mortality: /n./ It is common lore among hackers (and in + the electronics industry at large; this term is possibly techspeak + by now) that the chances of sudden hardware failure drop off + exponentially with a machine's time since first use (that is, until + the relatively distant time at which enough mechanical wear in I/O + devices and thermal-cycling stress in 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 + (or, occasionally, as `sudden infant death syndrome'). See + {bathtub curve}, {burn-in period}. + +:infinite: /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 + out that fractals are an excellent example 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 time to optimize my program." See also {semi}. + +:infinite loop: /n./ One that never terminates (that is, the + machine {spin}s or {buzz}es forever and goes {catatonic}). + There is a standard joke that has been made about each generation's + exemplar of the ultra-fast machine: "The Cray-3 is so fast it can + execute an infinite loop in under 2 seconds!" + +:Infinite-Monkey Theorem: /n./ "If you put an {infinite} + number of monkeys at typewriters, eventually one will bash out the + script for Hamlet." (One may also hypothesize a small number of + monkeys and a very long period of time.) This theorem asserts + nothing about the intelligence of the one {random} monkey that + eventually comes up with the script (and note that the mob will + also type out all the possible *incorrect* versions of + Hamlet). It may be referred to semi-seriously when justifying a + {brute force} method; the implication is that, with enough + resources thrown at it, any technical challenge becomes a + {one-banana problem}. + + This theorem was first popularized by the astronomer Sir Arthur + Eddington. It became part of the idiom of techies via the classic + SF short story "Inflexible Logic" by Russell Maloney, and + many younger hackers know it through a reference in Douglas Adams's + "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". + +:infinity: /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 plus + infinity. In N-bit twos-complement 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. + +:inflate: /vt./ To decompress or {puff} a file. Rare among + Internet hackers, used primarily by MS-DOS/Windows types. + +:Infocom: /n./ A now-legendary games company, active from 1979 to + 1989, that commercialized the MDL parser technology used for + {Zork} to produce a line of text adventure games that remain + favorites among hackers. Infocom's games were intelligent, funny, + witty, erudite, irreverent, challenging, satirical, and most + thoroughly hackish in spirit. The physical game packages from + Infocom are now prized collector's items. The software, + thankfully, is still extant; Infocom games were written in a kind + of P-code and distributed with a P-code interpreter core, and + freeware emulators for that interpreter have been written to permit + the P-code to be run on platforms the games never originally + graced. + +:initgame: /in-it'gaym/ /n./ [IRC] An {IRC} version of the + venerable trivia game "20 questions", in which one user changes + his {nick} to the initials of a famous person or other named + entity, and the others on the channel ask yes or no questions, with + the one to guess the person getting to be "it" next. As a + courtesy, the one picking the initials starts by providing a + 4-letter hint of the form sex, nationality, life-status, + reality-status. For example, MAAR means "Male, American, Alive, + Real" (as opposed to "fictional"). Initgame can be surprisingly + addictive. See also {hing}. + + [1996 update: a recognizable version of the initgame has become a + staple of some radio talk shows in the U.S. We had it first! -- +ESR] + +:insanely great: /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: /in't*r-kal/ /n./ [said by the authors to stand + for `Compiler Language With No Pronounceable Acronym'] A computer + language designed by Don Woods and James Lyons in 1972. INTERCAL + is purposely different from all other computer languages in all + ways but one; it is purely a 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 incomprehensible is held in high esteem. For example, if + 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 simplest method, the programmer would be made + to 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 peculiar features designed to make it even + 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 level of unpopularity; there is even an + alt.lang.intercal newsgroup devoted to the study and ... + appreciation of the language on Usenet. + + An INTERCAL implementation is available at the Retrocomputing + Museum, http://www.ccil.org/retro. + +:interesting: /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 interesting times". + Oppose {trivial}, {uninteresting}. + +:Internet:: /n./ The mother of all networks. First + incarnated beginning in 1969 as the ARPANET, a U.S. Department of + Defense research testbed. Though it has been widely believed that + the goal was to develop a network architecture for military + command-and-control that could survive disruptions up to and + including nuclear war, this is a myth; in fact, ARPANET was + conceived from the start as a way to get most economical use out of + then-scarce large-computer resources. + + As originally imagined, ARPANET's major use would have been to + support what is now called remote login and more sophisticated + forms of distributed computing, but the infant technology of + electronic mail quickly grew to dominate actual usage. + Universities, research labs and defense contractors early + discovered the Internet's potential as a medium of communication + between *humans* and linked up in steadily increasing numbers, + connecting together a quirky mix of academics, techies, hippies, SF + fans, hackers, and anarchists. The roots of this lexicon lie in + those early years. + + Over the next quarter-century the Internet evolved in many + ways. The typical machine/OS combination moved from DEC + {PDP-10}s and {PDP-20}s, running {TOPS-10} and + {TOPS-20}, to PDP-11s and VAXes and Suns running {Unix}, and + in the 1990s to Unix on Intel microcomputers. The Internet's + protocols grew more capable, most notably in the move from NCP/IP + to {TCP/IP} in 1982 and the implementation of Domain Name + Service in 1983. With TCP/IP and DNS in place. It was around this + time that people began referring to the collection of + interconnected networks with ARPANET at its core as "the + Internet". + + The ARPANET had a fairly strict set of participation guidelines -- + connected institutions had to be involved with a DOD-related + research project. By the mid-80s, many of the organizations + clamoring to join didn't fit this profile. In 1986, the National + Science Foundation built NSFnet to open up access to its five + regional supercomputing centers; NSFnet became the backbone of the + Internet, replacing the original ARPANET pipes (which were formally + shut down in 1990). Between 1990 and late 1994 the pieces of + NSFnet were sold to major telecommunications companies until + the Internet backbone had gone completely commercial. + + That year, 1994, was also the year the mainstream culture + discovered the Internet. Once again, the {killer app} was not the + anticipated one -- rather, what caught the public imagination was + the hypertext and multimedia features of the World Wide Web. As of + early 1996, the Internet has seen off its only serious challenger + (the OSI protocol stack favored by European telecom monopolies) and + is in the process of absorbing into itself many of of the + proprietary networks built during the second wave of wide-area + networking after 1980. It is now a commonplace even in mainstream + media to predict that a globally-extended Internet will become the + key unifying communications technology of the next century. See + also {network, the} and {Internet address}. + +:Internet address:: /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 + {network, the} and {network address}. All 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 network address reachable through Internet; + 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 + by a selection of geographical domains: + + 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 + the U.S. or Canada. + + us + sites in the U.S. outside the functional domains + su + sites in the ex-Soviet Union (see {kremvax}). + uk + sites in the United Kingdom + + Within the us domain, there are subdomains for the fifty + states, each generally with a name identical to the state's postal + 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: 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. + Often explicitly spoken. "Interrupt -- have you seen Joe + recently?" See {priority interrupt}. 3. Under MS-DOS, nearly + synonymous with `system call', because the OS and BIOS routines + are both called using the INT instruction (see {{interrupt list, + the}}) and because programmers so often have to bypass the OS +(going + directly to a BIOS interrupt) to get reasonable + performance. + +:interrupt list, the:: /n./ [MS-DOS] 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 late + 1992, it had grown to approximately two megabytes in length. + +:interrupts locked out: /adj./ 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 + also common. Variations abound; "to have one's interrupt mask bit + set" and "interrupts masked out" are also heard. See also + {spl}. + +:IRC: /I-R-C/ /n./ [Internet Relay Chat] A worldwide "party + line" network that allows one to converse with others in real + time. IRC is structured as a network of Internet servers, each of + which accepts connections from client programs, one per user. The + IRC community and the {Usenet} and {MUD} communities overlap + to some extent, including both hackers and regular folks who have + discovered the wonders of computer networks. Some Usenet jargon + has been adopted on IRC, as have some conventions such as + {emoticon}s. There is also a vigorous native jargon, + represented in this lexicon by entries marked `[IRC]'. See also + {talk mode}. + +:iron: /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 + {silicon}. See also {dinosaur}. + +:Iron Age: /n./ In the history of computing, 1961--1971 -- the + formative era of commercial {mainframe} technology, when + ferrite-core {dinosaur}s ruled the earth. The Iron Age began, + ironically enough, with the delivery of the first minicomputer (the + PDP-1) and ended with the introduction of the first commercial + microprocessor (the Intel 4004) in 1971. See also {Stone Age}; + compare {elder days}. + +:iron box: /n./ [Unix/Internet] 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 + cracker's movements in unobvious ways, and `bait' files designed + to keep him interested and logged 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} in Appendix C). Compare {padded + cell}. + +:ironmonger: /n./ [IBM] A hardware specialist (derogatory). + Compare {sandbender}, {polygon pusher}. + +:ISP: /I-S-P/ Common abbreviation for Internet Service + Provider, a kind of company that barely existed before 1993. ISPs + sell Internet access to the mass market. While the big nationwide + commercial BBSs with Internet access (like America Online, + CompuServe, GEnie, Netcom, etc.) are technically ISPs, the term is + usually reserved for local or regional small providers (often run + by hackers turned entrepreneurs) who resell Internet access cheaply + without themselves being information providers or selling + advertising. Compare {NSP}. + +:ITS:: /I-T-S/ /n./ 1. Incompatible Time-sharing System, an + influential though 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 have been `an + ITS hacker' qualifies one 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 newer machines, with the remaining ITS boxes run + 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 Technology in Sweden is + maintaining one `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). 2. A + mythical image of 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-hacking that supported only monocase 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: // Abbreviation for `It Would Be Nice If'. Compare + {WIBNI}. + +:IYFEG: // [Usenet] Abbreviation for `Insert Your Favorite + Ethnic Group'. Used as a meta-name when telling ethnic jokes on + the net to avoid offending anyone. See {JEDR}. + += J = +===== + +:J. Random: /J rand'm/ /n./ [generalized from {J. Random + Hacker}] Arbitrary; ordinary; any one; any old. `J. Random' 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', and `J. Random Nerd' + ("Should J. Random Loser 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: /J rand'm hak'r/ /n./ [MIT] A mythical + figure like the Unknown Soldier; the archetypal hacker nerd. See + {random}, {Suzie COBOL}. This may originally have been + inspired by `J. Fred Muggs', a show-biz chimpanzee whose name was a + household word back in the early days of {TMRC}, and was + probably influenced by `J. Presper Eckert' (one of the co-inventors + of the electronic computer). + +:jack in: /v./ To log on to a machine or connect to a network + or {BBS}, esp. for purposes of entering a {virtual reality} + simulation such as a {MUD} or {IRC} (leaving is "jacking + out"). This term derives from {cyberpunk} SF, in which it was + used for the act of plugging an electrode set into neural sockets + in order to interface the brain directly to a virtual reality. It + is primarily used by MUD and IRC fans and younger hackers on BBS + systems. + +:jaggies: /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: /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 two + spaces appear where it expects one. Most 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 phone book. It is reported that hackers at IBM + 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} software that a + hacker is expected to use. "That's 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}. + + A (poorly documented, naturally) shell simulating JCL syntax is + available at the Retrocomputing Museum http://www.ccil.org/retro. + +:JEDR: // /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 + initials JEDR after he was offended by an ethnic 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 on the net.culture was to discredit + `sensitivity' arguments for censorship so thoroughly that more + recent attempts to raise them have met with immediate and + near-universal rejection. + +:JFCL: /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 set and + then CLear the flag"; this does something useful, but is a very + fast no-operation if no flag is specified. Geoff Goodfellow, one + of the Steele-1983 co-authors, had JFCL on the license plate of his + BMW for years. Usage: rare except among old-time PDP-10 hackers. + +:jiffy: /n./ 1. The duration of one tick of the system clock on + your 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 every 6 jiffies" + means that the virtual 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. Even more confusingly, physicists + semi-jokingly use `jiffy' to mean the time required for light to + travel one foot in a vacuum, which turns out to be close to one + *nanosecond*. 3. Indeterminate time from a few seconds to + forever. "I'll do it in a jiffy" means 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: /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 security (i.e., by + making himself indispensable 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: /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 `systems + jock' seem to be the best-established examples. + +:joe code: /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 anonymous have fingered a + particular Joe at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and observed + that usage has drifted slightly; the original sobriquet `Joe code' + was intended in sense 1. + + 1994 update: This term has now generalized to `<name> code', used + to designate code with distinct characteristics traceable to its + author. "This section doesn't check for a NULL return from +malloc()! + Oh. No wonder! It's Ed code!". Used most often with a programmer + who has left the shop and thus is a convenient scapegoat for + anything that is wrong with the project. + +:jolix: /joh'liks/ /n.,adj./ 386BSD, the freeware port of + the BSD Net/2 release to the Intel i386 architecture by Bill Jolitz + and friends. Used to differentiate from BSDI's port based on the + same source tape, which used to be called BSD/386 and is now + BSD/OS. See {BSD}. + +:JR[LN]: /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}} and {WAITS}; they were understood to be + the initials of (fictitious) programmers named `J. Random Loser' + and `J. Random Nerd' (see {J. Random}). For 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: /jerst/ /v. obs./ [based on the PDP-10 jump + instruction] 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: /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 novel + "The Mote in God's Eye", by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, + an alien describes a very difficult task by saying "We juggle + priceless eggs in variable gravity." See also {hack mode}. + +:jump off into never-never land: /v./ [from J. M. Barrie's + "Peter Pan"] 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}. + +:jupiter: /vt./ [IRC] To kill an {IRC} {robot} or user + and then take its place by adopting its {nick} so that it cannot + reconnect. Named after a particular IRC user who did this to + NickServ, the robot in charge of preventing people from + inadvertently using a nick claimed by another user. + += K = +===== + +:K: /K/ /n./ [from {kilo-}] A kilobyte. Used both as a + spoken word and a written suffix (like {meg} and {gig} for + megabyte and gigabyte). See {{quantifiers}}. + +:K&R: [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 {New Testament}. + +:k-: /pref./ Extremely. Not commonly used among hackers, but + quite common among crackers and {warez d00dz} in compounds such + as `k-kool' /K'kool'/, `k-rad' /K'rad'/, and + `k-awesome' /K'aw`sm/. Also used to intensify negatives; thus, + `k-evil', `k-lame', `k-screwed', and `k-annoying'. Overuse + of this prefix, or use in more formal or technical contexts, is + considered an indicator of {lamer} status. + +:kahuna: /k*-hoo'n*/ /n./ [IBM: from the Hawaiian title for a + shaman] Synonym for {wizard}, {guru}. + +:kamikaze packet: /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 packet, lamp test segment, et + al.). That 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: /n./ Syn. {spaghetti code}. + +:ken: /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 a login + name and mail address) in 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 + also {demigod}, {{Unix}}. 2. A flaming user. This was + originated by the Software Support group at Symbolics because the + two greatest flamers in the user community were both named Ken. + +:kgbvax: /K-G-B'vaks/ /n./ See {kremvax}. + +:KIBO: /ki:'boh/ 1. [acronym] Knowledge In, Bullshit Out. + A summary of what happens whenever valid data is passed through an + organization (or person) that deliberately or accidentally + disregards or ignores its significance. Consider, for example, + what an advertising campaign can do with a product's actual + specifications. Compare {GIGO}; see also {SNAFU principle}. + 2. James Parry <kibo@world.std.com>, a Usenetter infamous for + various surrealist net.pranks and an uncanny, machine-assisted + knack for joining any thread in which his nom de guerre is + mentioned. + +:kiboze: /v./ [Usenet] To {grep} the Usenet news for a string, + especially with the intention of posting a follow-up. This + activity was popularised by Kibo (see {KIBO}, sense 2). + +:kibozo: /ki:-boh'zoh/ /n./ [Usenet] One who + {kiboze}s but is not Kibo (see {KIBO}, sense 2). + +:kick: /v./ [IRC] To cause somebody to be removed from a + {IRC} channel, an option only available to {CHOP}s. This is + an extreme measure, often used to combat extreme {flamage} or + {flood}ing, but sometimes used at the chop's whim. Compare + {gun}. + +:kill file: /n./ [Usenet] (alt. `KILL file') Per-user + file(s) used by some {Usenet} reading programs (originally Larry + Wall's `rn(1)') to discard summarily (without presenting for + reading) articles matching some particularly uninteresting (or + unwanted) patterns of subject, author, or other header lines. Thus + to add a person (or subject) to one's kill file is to arrange for + that person to be ignored by one's newsreader in future. By + extension, it may be used for a decision to ignore the person or + subject in other media. See also {plonk}. + +:killer app: The application that actually makes a mass + market for a promising but under-utilized technology. First used + in the mid-1980s to describe Lotus 1-2-3 once it became evident + that demand for that product had been the major driver of the early + business market for IBM PCs. The term was then restrospectively + applied to VisiCalc, which had played a similar role in the success + of the Apple II. After 1994 it became commonplace to describe the + World Wide Web as the Internet's killer app. One of the standard + questions asked about each new personal-computer technology as it + emerges has become "what's the killer app?" + +:killer micro: /n./ [popularized by Eugene Brooks] A + microprocessor-based machine that infringes on mini, mainframe, or + supercomputer performance turf. Often heard in "No one will + survive the attack of the killer micros!", the battle cry of the + downsizers. Used esp. of RISC architectures. + + The popularity of the phrase `attack of the killer micros' is + doubtless reinforced by the title of the movie "Attack Of The + Killer Tomatoes" (one of the {canonical} examples of + so-bad-it's-wonderful among hackers). This has even more + {flavor} now that killer micros have gone on the offensive not + just individually (in workstations) but in hordes (within massively + parallel computers). + + [1996 update: Eugene Brooks was right. Since this term first + entered the Jargon File in 1990, the minicomputer has effectively + vanished, the {mainframe} sector is in deep and apparently + terminal decline (with IBM but a shadow of its former self), and + even the supercomputer business has contracted into a smaller + niche. It's networked killer micros as far as the eye can see. + --ESR] + +:killer poke: /n./ A recipe for inducing hardware damage on a + machine via insertion of invalid values (see {poke}) into a + memory-mapped control register; used esp. of various fairly + well-known tricks on {bitty box}es without hardware memory + management (such as the IBM PC and Commodore PET) that can overload + and trash analog electronics in the monitor. See also {HCF}. + +:kilo-: /pref./ [SI] See {{quantifiers}}. + +:KIPS: /kips/ /n./ [abbreviation, by analogy with {MIPS} + using {K}] Thousands (*not* 1024s) of Instructions Per + Second. Usage: rare. + +:KISS Principle: /kis' prin'si-pl/ /n./ "Keep It Simple, + Stupid". A maxim often invoked when discussing design to fend off + {creeping featurism} and control development complexity. + Possibly related to the {marketroid} maxim on sales + presentations, "Keep It Short and Simple". + +:kit: /n./ [Usenet; poss. fr. DEC slang for a full software + distribution, as opposed to a patch or upgrade] A source + software distribution that has been packaged in such a way that it + can (theoretically) be unpacked and installed according to a series + of steps using only standard Unix tools, and entirely documented by + some reasonable chain of references from the top-level {README + file}. The more general term {distribution} may imply that + special tools or more stringent conditions on the host environment + are required. + +:klone: /klohn/ /n./ See {clone}, sense 4. + +:kludge: 1. /klooj/ /n./ Incorrect (though regrettably + common) spelling of {kluge} (US). These two words have been + confused in American usage since the early 1960s, and widely + confounded in Great Britain since the end of World War II. + 2. [TMRC] A {crock} that works. (A long-ago "Datamation" + article by Jackson Granholme similarly said: "An ill-assorted + collection of poorly matching parts, forming a distressing + whole.") 3. /v./ To use a kludge to get around a problem. "I've + kludged around it for now, but I'll fix it up properly later." + + This word appears to have derived from Scots `kludge' or + `kludgie' for a common toilet, via British military slang. It + apparently became confused with U.S. {kluge} during or after + World War II; some Britons from that era use both words in + definably different ways, but {kluge} is now uncommon in Great + Britain. `Kludge' in Commonwealth hackish differs in meaning from + `kluge' in that it lacks the positive senses; a kludge is something + no Commonwealth hacker wants to be associated too closely with. + Also, `kludge' is more widely known in British mainstream slang + than `kluge' is in the U.S. + +:kluge: /klooj/ [from the German `klug', clever; poss. + related to Polish `klucza', a trick or hook] 1. /n./ A Rube + Goldberg (or Heath Robinson) device, whether in hardware or + software. 2. /n./ A clever programming trick intended to solve a + particular nasty case in an expedient, if not clear, manner. Often + used to repair bugs. Often involves {ad-hockery} and verges on + being a {crock}. 3. /n./ Something that works for the wrong + reason. 4. /vt./ To insert a kluge into a program. "I've kluged + this routine to get around that weird bug, but there's probably a + better way." 5. [WPI] /n./ A feature that is implemented in a + {rude} manner. + + Nowadays this term is often encountered in the variant spelling + `kludge'. Reports from {old fart}s are consistent that + `kluge' was the original spelling, reported around computers as + far back as the mid-1950s and, at that time, used exclusively of + *hardware* kluges. In 1947, the "New York Folklore + Quarterly" reported a classic shaggy-dog story `Murgatroyd the + Kluge Maker' then current in the Armed Forces, in which a `kluge' + was a complex and puzzling artifact with a trivial function. Other + sources report that `kluge' was common Navy slang in the WWII era + for any piece of electronics that worked well on shore but + consistently failed at sea. + + However, there is reason to believe this slang use may be a decade + older. Several respondents have connected it to the brand name of + a device called a "Kluge paper feeder", an adjunct to mechanical + printing presses. Legend has it that the Kluge feeder was designed + before small, cheap electric motors and control electronics; it + relied on a fiendishly complex assortment of cams, belts, and + linkages to both power and synchronize all its operations from one + motive driveshaft. It was accordingly temperamental, subject to + frequent breakdowns, and devilishly difficult to repair -- but oh, + so clever! People who tell this story also aver that `Kluge' was + the name of a design engineer. + + There is in fact a Brandtjen & Kluge Inc., an old family business + that manufactures printing equipment -- interestingly, their name + is pronounced /kloo'gee/! Henry Brandtjen, president of the + firm, told me (ESR, 1994) that his company was co-founded by his + father and an engineer named Kluge /kloo'gee/, who built and + co-designed the original Kluge automatic feeder in 1919. + Mr. Brandtjen claims, however, that this was a *simple* device + (with only four cams); he says he has no idea how the myth of its + complexity took hold. + + {TMRC} and the MIT hacker culture of the early '60s seems to + have developed in a milieu that remembered and still used some WWII + military slang (see also {foobar}). It seems likely that + `kluge' came to MIT via alumni of the many military electronics + projects that had been located in Cambridge (many in MIT's + venerable Building 20, in which {TMRC} is also located) during + the war. + + The variant `kludge' was apparently popularized by the + {Datamation} article mentioned above; it was titled "How + to Design a Kludge" (February 1962, pp. 30, 31). This spelling was + probably imported from Great Britain, where {kludge} has an + independent history (though this fact was largely unknown to + hackers on either side of the Atlantic before a mid-1993 debate in + the Usenet group alt.folklore.computers over the First and + Second Edition versions of this entry; everybody used to think + {kludge} was just a mutation of {kluge}). It now appears that + the British, having forgotten the etymology of their own `kludge' + when `kluge' crossed the Atlantic, repaid the U.S. by lobbing the + `kludge' orthography in the other direction and confusing their + American cousins' spelling! + + The result of this history is a tangle. Many younger U.S. hackers + pronounce the word as /klooj/ but spell it, incorrectly for its + meaning and pronunciation, as `kludge'. (Phonetically, consider + huge, refuge, centrifuge, and deluge as opposed to sludge, judge, + budge, and fudge. Whatever its failings in other areas, English + spelling is perfectly consistent about this distinction.) British + hackers mostly learned /kluhj/ orally, use it in a restricted + negative sense and are at least consistent. European hackers have + mostly learned the word from written American sources and tend to + pronounce it /kluhj/ but use the wider American meaning! + + Some observers consider this mess appropriate in view of the word's + meaning. + +:kluge around: /vt./ To avoid a bug or difficult condition by + inserting a {kluge}. Compare {workaround}. + +:kluge up: /vt./ To lash together a quick hack to perform a + task; this is milder than {cruft together} and has some of the + connotations of {hack up} (note, however, that the construction + `kluge on' corresponding to {hack on} is never used). "I've + kluged up this routine to dump the buffer contents to a safe + place." + +:Knights of the Lambda Calculus: /n./ A semi-mythical + organization of wizardly LISP and Scheme hackers. The name refers + to a mathematical formalism invented by Alonzo Church, with which + LISP is intimately connected. There is no enrollment list and the + criteria for induction are unclear, but one well-known LISPer has + been known to give out buttons and, in general, the *members* + know who they are.... + +:Knuth: /knooth'/ /n./ [Donald E. Knuth's "The Art of + Computer Programming"] Mythically, the reference that answers all + questions about data structures or algorithms. A safe answer when + you do not know: "I think you can find that in Knuth." Contrast + {literature, the}. See also {bible}. There is a Donald + Knuth home page at + http://www-cs-faculty.Stanford.EDU/~knuth. + +:kremvax: /krem-vaks/ /n./ [from the then large number of + {Usenet} {VAXen} with names of the form foovax] + Originally, a fictitious Usenet site at the Kremlin, announced on + April 1, 1984 in a posting ostensibly originated there by Soviet + leader Konstantin Chernenko. The posting was actually forged by + Piet Beertema as an April Fool's joke. Other fictitious sites + mentioned in the hoax were moskvax and {kgbvax}. This was + probably the funniest of the many April Fool's forgeries + perpetrated on Usenet (which has negligible security against them), + because the notion that Usenet might ever penetrate the Iron + Curtain seemed so totally absurd at the time. + + In fact, it was only six years later that the first genuine site in + Moscow, demos.su, joined Usenet. Some readers needed + convincing that the postings from it weren't just another prank. + Vadim Antonov, senior programmer at Demos and the major poster from + there up to mid-1991, was quite aware of all this, referred to it + frequently in his own postings, and at one point twitted some + credulous readers by blandly asserting that he *was* a + hoax! + + Eventually he even arranged to have the domain's gateway site + named kremvax, thus neatly turning fiction into fact + and demonstrating that the hackish sense of humor transcends + cultural barriers. [Mr. Antonov also contributed the + Russian-language material for this lexicon. --ESR] + + In an even more ironic historical footnote, kremvax became an + electronic center of the anti-communist resistance during the + bungled hard-line coup of August 1991. During those three days the + Soviet UUCP network centered on kremvax became the only + trustworthy news source for many places within the USSR. Though + the sysops were concentrating on internal communications, + cross-border postings included immediate transliterations of Boris + Yeltsin's decrees condemning the coup and eyewitness reports of the + demonstrations in Moscow's streets. In those hours, years of + speculation that totalitarianism would prove unable to maintain its + grip on politically-loaded information in the age of computer + networking were proved devastatingly accurate -- and the original + kremvax joke became a reality as Yeltsin and the new Russian + revolutionaries of `glasnost' and `perestroika' made + kremvax one of the timeliest means of their outreach to the + West. + +:kyrka: /shir'k*/ /n./ [Swedish] See {feature key}. + += L = +===== + +:lace card: /n. obs./ A {{punched card}} with all holes + punched (also called a `whoopee card' or `ventilator card'). + Card readers tended to jam when they got to one of these, as the + resulting card had too little structural strength to avoid buckling + inside the mechanism. Card punches could also jam trying to + produce these things owing to power-supply problems. When some + practical joker fed a lace card through the reader, you needed to + clear the jam with a `card knife' -- which you used on the joker + first. + +:lamer: /n./ [prob. originated in skateboarder slang] Synonym + for {luser}, not used much by hackers but common among {warez + d00dz}, crackers, and {phreaker}s. Oppose {elite}. Has the + same connotations of self-conscious elitism that use of {luser} + does among hackers. + + Crackers also use it to refer to cracker {wannabee}s. In phreak + culture, a lamer is one who scams codes off others rather than + doing cracks or really understanding the fundamental concepts. In + {warez d00dz} culture, where the ability to wave around cracked + commercial software within days of (or before) release to the + commercial market is much esteemed, the lamer might try to upload + garbage or shareware or something incredibly old (old in this + context is read as a few years to anything older than 3 + days). + +:language lawyer: /n./ A person, usually an experienced or + senior software engineer, who is intimately familiar with many or + most of the numerous restrictions and features (both useful and + esoteric) applicable to one or more computer programming languages. + A language lawyer is distinguished by the ability to show you the + five sentences scattered through a 200-plus-page manual that + together imply the answer to your question "if only you had + thought to look there". Compare {wizard}, {legal}, + {legalese}. + +:languages of choice: /n./ {C}, {C++}, {LISP}, and + {Perl}. Nearly every hacker knows one of C or LISP, and most + good ones are fluent in both. C++, despite some serious drawbacks, + is generally preferred to other object-oriented languages (though +in + 1996 it looks as though Java may soon displace it in the affections + of hackers, if not everywhere). Since around 1990 Perl has rapidly + been gaining favor, especially as a tool for systems-administration + utilities and rapid prototyping. Smalltalk and Prolog are also + popular in small but influential communities. + + There is also a rapidly dwindling category of older hackers with + FORTRAN, or even assembler, as their language of choice. They + often prefer to be known as {Real Programmer}s, and other + hackers consider them a bit odd (see "{The Story of Mel, + a Real Programmer}" in Appendix A). Assembler is generally + no longer considered interesting or appropriate for anything but + {HLL} implementation, {glue}, and a few time-critical and + hardware-specific uses in systems programs. FORTRAN occupies a + shrinking niche in scientific programming. + + Most hackers tend to frown on languages like {{Pascal}} and + {{Ada}}, which don't give them the near-total freedom considered + necessary for hacking (see {bondage-and-discipline language}), + and to regard everything even remotely connected with {COBOL} or + other traditional {card walloper} languages as a total and + unmitigated {loss}. + +:larval stage: /n./ Describes a period of monomaniacal + concentration on coding apparently passed through by all fledgling + hackers. Common symptoms include the perpetration of more than one + 36-hour {hacking run} in a given week; neglect of all other + activities including usual basics like food, sleep, and personal + hygiene; and a chronic case of advanced bleary-eye. Can last from + 6 months to 2 years, the apparent median being around 18 months. A + few so afflicted never resume a more `normal' life, but the + ordeal seems to be necessary to produce really wizardly (as opposed + to merely competent) programmers. See also {wannabee}. A less + protracted and intense version of larval stage (typically lasting + about a month) may recur when one is learning a new {OS} or + programming language. + +:lase: /layz/ /vt./ To print a given document via a laser + printer. "OK, let's lase that sucker and see if all those + graphics-macro calls did the right things." + +:laser chicken: /n./ Kung Pao Chicken, a standard Chinese dish + containing chicken, peanuts, and hot red peppers in a spicy + pepper-oil sauce. Many hackers call it `laser chicken' for two + reasons: It can {zap} you just like a laser, and the sauce has a + red color reminiscent of some laser beams. + + In a variation on this theme, it is reported that some Australian + hackers have redesignated the common dish `lemon chicken' as + `Chernobyl Chicken'. The name is derived from the color of the + sauce, which is considered bright enough to glow in the dark (as, + mythically, do some of the inhabitants of Chernobyl). + +:Lasherism: /n./ [Harvard] A program that solves a standard + problem (such as the Eight Queens puzzle or implementing the + {life} algorithm) in a deliberately nonstandard way. + Distinguished from a {crock} or {kluge} by the fact that the + programmer did it on purpose as a mental exercise. Such + constructions are quite popular in exercises such as the + {Obfuscated C Contest}, and occasionally in {retrocomputing}. + Lew Lasher was a student at Harvard around 1980 who became + notorious for such behavior. + +:laundromat: /n./ Syn. {disk farm}; see {washing + machine}. + +:LDB: /l*'d*b/ /vt./ [from the PDP-10 instruction set] To + extract from the middle. "LDB me a slice of cake, please." This + usage has been kept alive by Common LISP's function of the same + name. Considered silly. See also {DPB}. + +:leaf site: /n./ A machine that merely originates and reads + Usenet news or mail, and does not relay any third-party traffic. + Often uttered in a critical tone; when the ratio of leaf sites to + backbone, rib, and other relay sites gets too high, the network + tends to develop bottlenecks. Compare {backbone site}, {rib + site}. + +:leak: /n./ With qualifier, one of a class of + resource-management bugs that occur when resources are not freed + properly after operations on them are finished, so they effectively + disappear (leak out). This leads to eventual exhaustion as new + allocation requests come in. {memory leak} and {fd leak} + have their own entries; one might also refer, to, say, a `window + handle leak' in a window system. + +:leaky heap: /n./ [Cambridge] An {arena} with a {memory + leak}. + +:leapfrog attack: /n./ Use of userid and password information + obtained illicitly from one host (e.g., downloading a file of + account IDs and passwords, tapping TELNET, etc.) to compromise + another host. Also, the act of TELNETting through one or more + hosts in order to confuse a trace (a standard cracker procedure). + +:leech: /n./ Among BBS types, crackers and {warez d00dz}, + one who consumes knowledge without generating new software, cracks, + or techniques. BBS culture specifically defines a leech as someone + who downloads files with few or no uploads in return, and who does + not contribute to the message section. Cracker culture extends + this definition to someone (a {lamer}, usually) who constantly + presses informed sources for information and/or assistance, but has + nothing to contribute. + +:legal: /adj./ Loosely used to mean `in accordance with all the + relevant rules', esp. in connection with some set of constraints + defined by software. "The older =+ alternate for += is no longer + legal syntax in ANSI C." "This parser processes each line of + legal input the moment it sees the trailing linefeed." Hackers + often model their work as a sort of game played with the + environment in which the objective is to maneuver through the + thicket of `natural laws' to achieve a desired objective. Their + use of `legal' is flavored as much by this game-playing sense as + by the more conventional one having to do with courts and lawyers. + Compare {language lawyer}, {legalese}. + +:legalese: /n./ Dense, pedantic verbiage in a language + description, product specification, or interface standard; text + that seems designed to obfuscate and requires a {language + lawyer} to {parse} it. Though hackers are not afraid of high + information density and complexity in language (indeed, they rather + enjoy both), they share a deep and abiding loathing for legalese; + they associate it with deception, {suit}s, and situations in + which hackers generally get the short end of the stick. + +:LER: /L-E-R/ /n./ [TMRC, from `Light-Emitting Diode'] A + light-emitting resistor (that is, one in the process of burning + up). Ohm's law was broken. See also {SED}. + +:LERP: /lerp/ /vi.,n./ Quasi-acronym for Linear + Interpolation, used as a verb or noun for the + operation. "Bresenham's algorithm lerps incrementally between the + two endpoints of the line." + +:let the smoke out: /v./ To fry hardware (see {fried}). See + {magic smoke} for a discussion of the underlying mythology. + +:letterbomb: 1. /n./ A piece of {email} containing {live + data} intended to do nefarious things to the recipient's machine or + terminal. It is possible, for example, to send letterbombs that + will lock up some specific kinds of terminals when they are viewed, + so thoroughly that the user must cycle power (see {cycle}, sense + 3) to unwedge them. Under Unix, a letterbomb can also try to get + part of its contents interpreted as a shell command to the mailer. + The results of this could range from silly to tragic. See also + {Trojan horse}; compare {nastygram}. 2. Loosely, a + {mailbomb}. + +:lexer: /lek'sr/ /n./ Common hacker shorthand for `lexical + analyzer', the input-tokenizing stage in the parser for a language + (the part that breaks it into word-like pieces). "Some C lexers + get confused by the old-style compound ops like `=-'." + +:lexiphage: /lek'si-fayj`/ /n./ A notorious word {chomper} + on ITS. See {bagbiter}. This program would draw on a selected + victim's bitmapped terminal the words "THE BAG" in ornate + letters, followed a pair of jaws biting pieces of it off. + +:life: /n./ 1. A cellular-automata game invented by John Horton + Conway and first introduced publicly by Martin Gardner + ("Scientific American", October 1970); the game's popularity + had to wait a few years for computers on which it could reasonably + be played, as it's no fun to simulate the cells by hand. Many + hackers pass through a stage of fascination with it, and hackers at + various places contributed heavily to the mathematical analysis of + this game (most notably Bill Gosper at MIT, who even implemented + life in {TECO}!; see {Gosperism}). When a hacker mentions + `life', he is much more likely to mean this game than the + magazine, the breakfast cereal, or the human state of existence. + 2. The opposite of {Usenet}. As in "{Get a life!}" + +:Life is hard: /prov./ [XEROX PARC] This phrase has two + possible interpretations: (1) "While your suggestion may have some + merit, I will behave as though I hadn't heard it." (2) "While + your suggestion has obvious merit, equally obvious circumstances + prevent it from being seriously considered." The charm of the + phrase lies precisely in this subtle but important ambiguity. + +:light pipe: /n./ Fiber optic cable. Oppose {copper}. + +:lightweight: /adj./ Opposite of {heavyweight}; usually + found in combining forms such as `lightweight process'. + +:like kicking dead whales down the beach: /adj./ Describes a + slow, difficult, and disgusting process. First popularized by a + famous quote about the difficulty of getting work done under one of + IBM's mainframe OSes. "Well, you *could* write a C compiler + in COBOL, but it would be like kicking dead whales down the + beach." See also {fear and loathing}. + +:like nailing jelly to a tree: /adj./ Used to describe a task + thought to be impossible, esp. one in which the difficulty arises + from poor specification or inherent slipperiness in the problem + domain. "Trying to display the `prettiest' arrangement of + nodes and arcs that diagrams a given graph is like nailing jelly to + a tree, because nobody's sure what `prettiest' means + algorithmically." + + Hacker use of this term may recall mainstream slang + originated early in the 20th century by President Theodore + Roosevelt. There is a legend that, weary of inconclusive talks + with Colombia over the right to dig a canal through its + then-province Panama, he remarked, "Negotiating with those pirates + is like trying to nail currant jelly to the wall." Roosevelt's + government subsequently encouraged the anti-Colombian insurgency + that created the nation of Panama. + +:line 666: [from Christian eschatological myth] /n./ The + notional line of source at which a program fails for obscure + reasons, implying either that *somebody* is out to get it + (when you are the programmer), or that it richly deserves to be so + gotten (when you are not). "It works when I trace through it, but + seems to crash on line 666 when I run it." "What happens is that + whenever a large batch comes through, mmdf dies on the Line of the + Beast. Probably some twit hardcoded a buffer size." + +:line eater, the: /n. obs./ [Usenet] 1. A bug in some + now-obsolete versions of the netnews software that used to eat up + to BUFSIZ bytes of the article text. The bug was triggered by + having the text of the article start with a space or tab. This bug + was quickly personified as a mythical creature called the `line + eater', and postings often included a dummy line of `line eater + food'. Ironically, line eater `food' not beginning with a space + or tab wasn't actually eaten, since the bug was avoided; but if + there *was* a space or tab before it, then the line eater + would eat the food *and* the beginning of the text it was + supposed to be protecting. The practice of `sacrificing to the + line eater' continued for some time after the bug had been + {nailed to the wall}, and is still humorously referred to. The + bug itself was still occasionally reported to be lurking in some + mail-to-netnews gateways as late as 1991. 2. See {NSA line + eater}. + +:line noise: /n./ 1. [techspeak] Spurious characters due to + electrical noise in a communications link, especially an RS-232 + serial connection. Line noise may be induced by poor connections, + interference or crosstalk from other circuits, electrical storms, + {cosmic rays}, or (notionally) birds crapping on the phone + wires. 2. Any chunk of data in a file or elsewhere that looks like + the results of line noise in sense 1. 3. Text that is + theoretically a readable text or program source but employs syntax + so bizarre that it looks like line noise in senses 1 or 2. Yes, + there are languages this ugly. The canonical example is {TECO}; + it is often claimed that "TECO's input syntax is indistinguishable + from line noise." Other non-{WYSIWYG} editors, such as Multics + `qed' and Unix `ed', in the hands of a real hacker, also + qualify easily, as do deliberately obfuscated languages such as + {INTERCAL}. + +:line starve: [MIT] 1. /vi./ To feed paper through a printer + the wrong way by one line (most printers can't do this). On a + display terminal, to move the cursor up to the previous line of the + screen. "To print `X squared', you just output `X', line starve, + `2', line feed." (The line starve causes the `2' to appear on the + line above the `X', and the line feed gets back to the original + line.) 2. /n./ A character (or character sequence) that causes a + terminal to perform this action. ASCII 0011010, also called SUB or + control-Z, was one common line-starve character in the days before + microcomputers and the X3.64 terminal standard. Unlike `line + feed', `line starve' is *not* standard {{ASCII}} + terminology. Even among hackers it is considered a bit silly. + 3. [proposed] A sequence such as \c (used in System V echo, as well + as {{nroff}} and {{troff}}) that suppresses a {newline} or + other character(s) that would normally be emitted. + +:linearithmic: /adj./ Of an algorithm, having running time that + is O(N log N). Coined as a portmanteau of `linear' and + `logarithmic' in "Algorithms In C" by Robert Sedgewick + (Addison-Wesley 1990, ISBN 0-201-51425-7). + +:link farm: /n./ [Unix] A directory tree that contains many + links to files in a master directory tree of files. Link farms + save space when one is maintaining several nearly identical copies + of the same source tree -- for example, when the only difference + is architecture-dependent object files. "Let's freeze the source + and then rebuild the FROBOZZ-3 and FROBOZZ-4 link farms." Link + farms may also be used to get around restrictions on the number of + `-I' (include-file directory) arguments on older C + preprocessors. However, they can also get completely out of hand, + becoming the filesystem equivalent of {spaghetti code}. + +:link-dead: /adj./ [MUD] Said of a {MUD} character who has + frozen in place because of a dropped Internet connection. + +:lint: [from Unix's `lint(1)', named for the bits of + fluff it supposedly picks from programs] 1. /vt./ To examine a + program closely for style, language usage, and portability + problems, esp. if in C, esp. if via use of automated analysis + tools, most esp. if the Unix utility `lint(1)' is used. + This term used to be restricted to use of `lint(1)' itself, + but (judging by references on Usenet) it has become a shorthand for + {desk check} at some non-Unix shops, even in languages other + than C. Also as /v./ {delint}. 2. /n./ Excess verbiage in a + document, as in "This draft has too much lint". + +:Linux:: /lee'nuhks/ or /li'nuks/, *not* /li:'nuhks/ + /n./ The free Unix workalike created by Linus Torvalds and + friends starting about 1990 (the pronunciation /lee'nuhks/ is + preferred because the name `Linus' has an /ee/ sound in Swedish). + This may be the most remarkable hacker project in history -- an + entire clone of Unix for 386, 486 and Pentium micros, distributed + for free with sources over the net (ports to Alpha and Sparc-based + machines are underway). This is what {GNU} aimed to be, but the + Free Software Foundation has not (as of early 1996) produced the + kernel to go with its Unix toolset (which Linux uses). Other, + similar efforts like FreeBSD and NetBSD have been much less + successful. The secret of Linux's success seems to be that Linus + worked much harder early on to keep the development process open + and recruit other hackers, creating a snowball effect. + +:lion food: /n./ [IBM] Middle management or HQ staff (or, by + extension, administrative drones in general). From an old joke + about two lions who, escaping from the zoo, split up to increase + their chances but agree to meet after 2 months. When they finally + meet, one is skinny and the other overweight. The thin one says: + "How did you manage? I ate a human just once and they turned out + a small army to chase me -- guns, nets, it was terrible. Since + then I've been reduced to eating mice, insects, even grass." The + fat one replies: "Well, *I* hid near an IBM office and ate a + manager a day. And nobody even noticed!" + +:Lions Book: /n./ "Source Code and Commentary on Unix + level 6", by John Lions. The two parts of this book contained (1) + the entire source listing of the Unix Version 6 kernel, and (2) a + commentary on the source discussing the algorithms. These were + circulated internally at the University of New South Wales + beginning 1976--77, and were, for years after, the *only* + detailed kernel documentation available to anyone outside Bell + Labs. Because Western Electric wished to maintain trade secret + status on the kernel, the Lions Book was only supposed to be + distributed to affiliates of source licensees. In spite of this, + it soon spread by samizdat to a good many of the early Unix + hackers. + + [1996 update: The Lions book lives again! It will finally see legal + public print as ISBN 1-57398-013-7 from Peer-To-Peer + Communications, with a forward by Dennis Ritchie.] + +:LISP: /n./ [from `LISt Processing language', but mythically + from `Lots of Irritating Superfluous Parentheses'] AI's mother + tongue, a language based on the ideas of (a) variable-length lists + and trees as fundamental data types, and (b) the interpretation of + code as data and vice-versa. Invented by John McCarthy at MIT in + the late 1950s, it is actually older than any other {HLL} still + in use except FORTRAN. Accordingly, it has undergone considerable + adaptive radiation over the years; modern variants are quite + different in detail from the original LISP 1.5. The dominant HLL + among hackers until the early 1980s, LISP now shares the throne + with {C}. See {languages of choice}. + + All LISP functions and programs are expressions that return + values; this, together with the high memory utilization of LISPs, + gave rise to Alan Perlis's famous quip (itself a take on an Oscar + Wilde quote) that "LISP programmers know the value of everything + and the cost of nothing". + + One significant application for LISP has been as a proof by example + that most newer languages, such as {COBOL} and {Ada}, are full + of unnecessary {crock}s. When the {Right Thing} has already + been done once, there is no justification for {bogosity} in newer + languages. + +:list-bomb: /v./ To {mailbomb} someone by forging + messages causing the victim to become a subscriber to many mailing + lists. This is a self-defeating tactic; it merely forces mailing + list servers to require confirmation by return message for every + subscription. + +:literature, the: /n./ Computer-science journals and other + publications, vaguely gestured at to answer a question that the + speaker believes is {trivial}. Thus, one might answer an + annoying question by saying "It's in the literature." Oppose + {Knuth}, which has no connotation of triviality. + +:lithium lick: /n./ [NeXT] Steve Jobs. Employees who have + gotten too much attention from their esteemed founder are said to + have `lithium lick' when they begin to show signs of Jobsian fervor + and repeat the most recent catch phrases in normal conversation --- + for example, "It just works, right out of the box!" + +:little-endian: /adj./ Describes a computer architecture in + which, within a given 16- or 32-bit word, bytes at lower addresses + have lower significance (the word is stored `little-end-first'). + The PDP-11 and VAX families of computers and Intel microprocessors + and a lot of communications and networking hardware are + little-endian. See {big-endian}, {middle-endian}, {NUXI + problem}. The term is sometimes used to describe the ordering of + units other than bytes; most often, bits within a byte. + +:live: /li:v/ /adj.,adv./ Opposite of `test'. Refers to + actual real-world data or a program working with it. For example, + the response to "I think the record deleter is finished" might + be "Is it live yet?" or "Have you tried it out on live data?" + This usage usually carries the connotation that live data is more + fragile and must not be corrupted, or bad things will happen. So a + more appropriate response might be: "Well, make sure it works + perfectly before we throw live data at it." The implication here + is that record deletion is something pretty significant, and a + haywire record-deleter running amok live would probably cause great + harm. + +:live data: /n./ 1. Data that is written to be interpreted and + takes over program flow when triggered by some un-obvious + operation, such as viewing it. One use of such hacks is to break + security. For example, some smart terminals have commands that + allow one to download strings to program keys; this can be used to + write live data that, when listed to the terminal, infects it with + a security-breaking {virus} that is triggered the next time a + hapless user strikes that key. For another, there are some + well-known bugs in {vi} that allow certain texts to send + arbitrary commands back to the machine when they are simply viewed. + 2. In C code, data that includes pointers to function {hook}s + (executable code). 3. An object, such as a {trampoline}, that + is constructed on the fly by a program and intended to be executed + as code. + +:Live Free Or Die!: /imp./ 1. The state motto of New Hampshire, + which appears on that state's automobile license plates. 2. A + slogan associated with Unix in the romantic days when Unix + aficionados saw themselves as a tiny, beleaguered underground + tilting against the windmills of industry. The "free" referred + specifically to freedom from the {fascist} design philosophies + and crufty misfeatures common on commercial operating systems. + Armando Stettner, one of the early Unix developers, used to give + out fake license plates bearing this motto under a large Unix, all + in New Hampshire colors of green and white. These are now valued + collector's items. Recently (1994) an inferior imitation of these + has been put in circulation with a red corporate logo added. + +:livelock: /li:v'lok/ /n./ A situation in which some critical + stage of a task is unable to finish because its clients perpetually + create more work for it to do after they have been serviced but + before it can clear its queue. Differs from {deadlock} in that + the process is not blocked or waiting for anything, but has a + virtually infinite amount of work to do and can never catch up. + +:liveware: /li:v'weir/ /n./ 1. Synonym for {wetware}. + Less common. 2. [Cambridge] Vermin. "Waiter, there's some + liveware in my salad..." + +:lobotomy: /n./ 1. What a hacker subjected to formal management + training is said to have undergone. At IBM and elsewhere this term + is used by both hackers and low-level management; the latter + doubtless intend it as a joke. 2. The act of removing the + processor from a microcomputer in order to replace or upgrade it. + Some very cheap {clone} systems are sold in `lobotomized' form + -- everything but the brain. + +:locals, the: /pl.n./ The users on one's local network (as + opposed, say, to people one reaches via public Internet or UUCP + connects). The marked thing about this usage is how little it has + to do with real-space distance. "I have to do some tweaking on + this mail utility before releasing it to the locals." + +:locked and loaded: /adj./ [from military slang for an M-16 + rifle with magazine inserted and prepared for firing] Said of a + removable disk volume properly prepared for use -- that is, locked + into the drive and with the heads loaded. Ironically, because + their heads are `loaded' whenever the power is up, this + description is never used of {{Winchester}} drives (which are + named after a rifle). + +:locked up: /adj./ Syn. for {hung}, {wedged}. + +:logic bomb: /n./ Code surreptitiously inserted into an + application or OS that causes it to perform some destructive or + security-compromising activity whenever specified conditions are + met. Compare {back door}. + +:logical: /adj./ [from the technical term `logical device', + wherein a physical device is referred to by an arbitrary + `logical' name] Having the role of. If a person (say, Les + Earnest at SAIL) who had long held a certain post left and were + replaced, the replacement would for a while be known as the + `logical' Les Earnest. (This does not imply any judgment on the + replacement.) Compare {virtual}. + + At Stanford, `logical' compass directions denote a coordinate + system in which `logical north' is toward San Francisco, + `logical west' is toward the ocean, etc., even though logical + north varies between physical (true) north near San Francisco and + physical west near San Jose. (The best rule of thumb here is that, + by definition, El Camino Real always runs logical north-and-south.) + In giving directions, one might say: "To get to Rincon Tarasco + restaurant, get onto {El Camino Bignum} going logical north." + Using the word `logical' helps to prevent the recipient from + worrying about that the fact that the sun is setting almost + directly in front of him. The concept is reinforced by North + American highways which are almost, but not quite, consistently + labeled with logical rather than physical directions. A similar + situation exists at MIT: Route 128 (famous for the electronics + industry that has grown up along it) is a 3-quarters circle + surrounding Boston at a radius of 10 miles, terminating near the + coastline at each end. It would be most precise to describe the + two directions along this highway as `clockwise' and + `counterclockwise', but the road signs all say "north" and + "south", respectively. A hacker might describe these directions + as `logical north' and `logical south', to indicate that they + are conventional directions not corresponding to the usual + denotation for those words. (If you went logical south along the + entire length of route 128, you would start out going northwest, + curve around to the south, and finish headed due east, passing + along one infamous stretch of pavement that is simultaneously route + 128 south and Interstate 93 north, and is signed as such!) + +:loop through: /vt./ To process each element of a list of + things. "Hold on, I've got to loop through my paper mail." + Derives from the computer-language notion of an iterative loop; + compare `cdr down' (under {cdr}), which is less common among C + and Unix programmers. ITS hackers used to say `IRP over' after + an obscure pseudo-op in the MIDAS PDP-10 assembler (the same IRP op + can nowadays be found in Microsoft's assembler). + +:loose bytes: /n./ Commonwealth hackish term for the padding + bytes or {shim}s many compilers insert between members of a + record or structure to cope with alignment requirements imposed by + the machine architecture. + +:lord high fixer: /n./ [primarily British, from Gilbert & + Sullivan's `lord high executioner'] The person in an organization + who knows the most about some aspect of a system. See {wizard}. + +:lose: [MIT] /vi./ 1. To fail. A program loses when it + encounters an exceptional condition or fails to work in the + expected manner. 2. To be exceptionally unesthetic or crocky. + 3. Of people, to be obnoxious or unusually stupid (as opposed to + ignorant). See also {deserves to lose}. 4. /n./ Refers to + something that is {losing}, especially in the phrases "That's a + lose!" and "What a lose!" + +:lose lose: /interj./ A reply to or comment on an undesirable + situation. "I accidentally deleted all my files!" "Lose, + lose." + +:loser: /n./ An unexpectedly bad situation, program, + programmer, or person. Someone who habitually loses. (Even + winners can lose occasionally.) Someone who knows not and knows + not that he knows not. Emphatic forms are `real loser', `total + loser', and `complete loser' (but not **`moby loser', which + would be a contradiction in terms). See {luser}. + +:losing: /adj./ Said of anything that is or causes a {lose} + or {lossage}. + +:loss: /n./ Something (not a person) that loses; a situation in + which something is losing. Emphatic forms include `moby loss', + and `total loss', `complete loss'. Common interjections are + "What a loss!" and "What a moby loss!" Note that `moby + loss' is OK even though **`moby loser' is not used; applied to an + abstract noun, moby is simply a magnifier, whereas when applied to + a person it implies substance and has positive connotations. + Compare {lossage}. + +:lossage: /los'*j/ /n./ The result of a bug or malfunction. + This is a mass or collective noun. "What a loss!" and "What + lossage!" are nearly synonymous. The former is slightly more + particular to the speaker's present circumstances; the latter + implies a continuing {lose} of which the speaker is currently a + victim. Thus (for example) a temporary hardware failure is a loss, + but bugs in an important tool (like a compiler) are serious + lossage. + +:lost in the noise: /adj./ Syn. {lost in the underflow}. + This term is from signal processing, where signals of very small + amplitude cannot be separated from low-intensity noise in the + system. Though popular among hackers, it is not confined to + hackerdom; physicists, engineers, astronomers, and statisticians + all use it. + +:lost in the underflow: /adj./ Too small to be worth + considering; more specifically, small beyond the limits of accuracy + or measurement. This is a reference to `floating underflow', a + condition that can occur when a floating-point arithmetic processor + tries to handle quantities smaller than its limit of magnitude. It + is also a pun on `undertow' (a kind of fast, cold current that + sometimes runs just offshore and can be dangerous to swimmers). + "Well, sure, photon pressure from the stadium lights alters the + path of a thrown baseball, but that effect gets lost in the + underflow." Compare {epsilon}, {epsilon squared}; see also + {overflow bit}. + +:lots of MIPS but no I/O: /adj./ Used to describe a person who + is technically brilliant but can't seem to communicate with human + beings effectively. Technically it describes a machine that has + lots of processing power but is bottlenecked on input-output (in + 1991, the IBM Rios, a.k.a. RS/6000, is a notorious recent example). + +:low-bandwidth: /adj./ [from communication theory] Used to + indicate a talk that, although not {content-free}, was not + terribly informative. "That was a low-bandwidth talk, but what + can you expect for an audience of {suit}s!" Compare + {zero-content}, {bandwidth}, {math-out}. + +:LPT: /L-P-T/ or /lip'it/ or /lip-it'/ /n./ Line printer, + of course. Rare under Unix, more common among hackers who grew up + with ITS, MS-DOS, CP/M and other operating systems that were + strongly influenced by early DEC conventions. + +:Lubarsky's Law of Cybernetic Entomology: /prov./ "There is + *always* one more bug." + +:lunatic fringe: /n./ [IBM] Customers who can be relied upon to + accept release 1 versions of software. + +:lurker: /n./ One of the `silent majority' in a electronic + forum; one who posts occasionally or not at all but is known to + read the group's postings regularly. This term is not pejorative + and indeed is casually used reflexively: "Oh, I'm just lurking." + Often used in `the lurkers', the hypothetical audience for the + group's {flamage}-emitting regulars. When a lurker speaks up + for the first time, this is called `delurking'. + +:luser: /loo'zr/ /n./ A {user}; esp. one who is also a + {loser}. ({luser} and {loser} are pronounced + identically.) This word was coined around 1975 at MIT. Under + ITS, when you first walked up to a terminal at MIT and typed + Control-Z to get the computer's attention, it printed out some + status information, including how many people were already using + the computer; it might print "14 users", for example. Someone + thought it would be a great joke to patch the system to print "14 + losers" instead. There ensued a great controversy, as some of the + users didn't particularly want to be called losers to their faces + every time they used the computer. For a while several hackers + struggled covertly, each changing the message behind the back of + the others; any time you logged into the computer it was even money + whether it would say "users" or "losers". Finally, someone + tried the compromise "lusers", and it stuck. Later one of the + ITS machines supported `luser' as a request-for-help command. + ITS died the death in mid-1990, except as a museum piece; the usage + lives on, however, and the term `luser' is often seen in program + comments. + += M = +===== + +:M: /pref./ (on units) suff. (on numbers) [SI] See + {{quantifiers}}. + +:macdink: /mak'dink/ /vt./ [from the Apple Macintosh, which + is said to encourage such behavior] To make many incremental and + unnecessary cosmetic changes to a program or file. Often the + subject of the macdinking would be better off without them. "When + I left at 11 P.M. last night, he was still macdinking the + slides for his presentation." See also {fritterware}, + {window shopping}. + +:machinable: /adj./ Machine-readable. Having the {softcopy} + nature. + +:machoflops: /mach'oh-flops/ /n./ [pun on `megaflops', a + coinage for `millions of FLoating-point Operations Per Second'] + Refers to artificially inflated performance figures often quoted by + computer manufacturers. Real applications are lucky to get half + the quoted speed. See {Your mileage may vary}, {benchmark}. + +:Macintoy: /mak'in-toy/ /n./ The Apple Macintosh, considered + as a {toy}. Less pejorative than {Macintrash}. + +:Macintrash: /mak'in-trash`/ /n./ The Apple Macintosh, as + described by a hacker who doesn't appreciate being kept away from + the *real computer* by the interface. The term {maggotbox} + has been reported in regular use in the Research Triangle area of + North Carolina. Compare {Macintoy}. See also {beige + toaster}, {WIMP environment}, {point-and-drool interface}, + {drool-proof paper}, {user-friendly}. + +:macro: /mak'roh/ [techspeak] /n./ A name (possibly followed + by a formal {arg} list) that is equated to a text or symbolic + expression to which it is to be expanded (possibly with the + substitution of actual arguments) by a macro expander. This + definition can be found in any technical dictionary; what those + won't tell you is how the hackish connotations of the term have + changed over time. + + The term `macro' originated in early assemblers, which encouraged + the use of macros as a structuring and information-hiding device. + During the early 1970s, macro assemblers became ubiquitous, and + sometimes quite as powerful and expensive as {HLL}s, only to fall + from favor as improving compiler technology marginalized assembler + programming (see {languages of choice}). Nowadays the term is + most often used in connection with the C preprocessor, LISP, or one + of several special-purpose languages built around a macro-expansion + facility (such as TeX or Unix's [nt]roff suite). + + Indeed, the meaning has drifted enough that the collective + `macros' is now sometimes used for code in any special-purpose + 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 enhancers). + +:macro-: /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: /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. + Sometimes studying the macrology of a system is not unlike + archeology, ecology, or {theology}, hence the sound-alike + construction. See also {boxology}. + +:macrotape: /mak'roh-tayp/ /n./ An industry-standard reel of + tape, as opposed to a {microtape}. See also {round tape}. + +:maggotbox: /mag'*t-boks/ /n./ See {Macintrash}. This is + even more derogatory. + +:magic: /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 number of + magic bits." "This routine magically 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 publicized that allows something otherwise 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 {A Story About `Magic'} + in Appendix A. + +:magic cookie: /n./ [Unix] 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 strange or + intrinsically machine-dependent way. 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 `it hands you a magic cookie' means it returns 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 control functions (see also {cookie}). Some + older terminals would leave a blank on the screen corresponding to + mode-change magic cookies; this was also called a {glitch} (or + occasionally a `turd'; compare {mouse droppings}). See also + {cookie}. + +:magic number: /n./ [Unix/C] 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 + commented `#define'. Magic numbers in this sense 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 congruential generator for pseudo-random numbers. This + sense actually predates and was ancestral to the more commonsense + 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 programs (especially the linker) distinguish + between 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; 0407, for example, was octal for `branch 16 bytes + relative'. Many other kinds of files now have magic numbers + somewhere; some magic numbers are, in fact, strings, like the + `!<arch>' at the beginning of a Unix archive file or the + `%!' leading PostScript files. Nowadays only a {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! + + *The* magic number, on the other hand, is 7+/-2. See + "The magical number seven, plus or minus two: some limits on + our capacity for processing information" by George Miller, in the + "Psychological Review" 63:81-97 (1956). This classic paper + established the number of distinct items (such as numeric digits) + that humans can hold in short-term memory. Among other things, + this strongly influenced the interface design of the phone system. + +:magic smoke: /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 + chip burns up -- the magic smoke gets let 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 in the system, then seeing what happened. + 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 EPROM worked fine after I erased + it, filled it 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}. + +:mail storm: /n./ [from {broadcast storm}, influenced by + `maelstrom'] What often happens when a machine with an Internet + connection and active users re-connects after extended downtime --- + a flood of incoming mail that brings the machine to its knees. + See also {hairball}. + +:mailbomb: (also mail bomb) [Usenet] 1. /v./ To send, or + urge others to send, massive amounts of {email} to a single + system or person, esp. with intent to crash or {spam} the + recipient's system. Sometimes done in retaliation for a perceived + serious offense. Mailbombing is itself widely regarded as a + serious offense -- it can disrupt email traffic or other + facilities for innocent users on the victim's system, and in + extreme cases, even at upstream sites. 2. /n./ An automatic + procedure with a similar effect. 3. /n./ The mail sent. Compare + {letterbomb}, {nastygram}, {BLOB} (sense 2), + {list-bomb}. + +:mailing list: /n./ (often shortened in context to `list') + 1. An {email} address that is an alias (or {macro}, though + that word is never used in this connection) for many other email + addresses. Some mailing lists are simple `reflectors', + redirecting mail sent to them to the list of recipients. Others + are filtered by humans or programs of varying degrees of + sophistication; lists filtered by humans are said to be + `moderated'. 2. The people who receive your email when you send + it to such an address. + + Mailing lists are one of the primary forms of hacker interaction, + along with {Usenet}. They predate Usenet, having originated + with the first UUCP and ARPANET connections. They are often used + for private information-sharing on topics that would be too + specialized for or inappropriate to public Usenet groups. Though + some of these maintain almost purely technical content (such as the + Internet Engineering Task Force mailing list), others (like the + `sf-lovers' list maintained for many years by Saul Jaffe) are + recreational, and many are purely social. Perhaps the most + infamous of the social lists was the eccentric bandykin + distribution; its latter-day progeny, lectroids and + tanstaafl, still include a number of the oddest and most + interesting people in hackerdom. + + Mailing lists are easy to create and (unlike Usenet) don't tie up a + significant amount of machine resources (until they get very large, + at which point they can become interesting torture tests for mail + software). Thus, they are often created temporarily by working + groups, the members of which can then collaborate on a project + without ever needing to meet face-to-face. Much of the material in + this lexicon was criticized and polished on just such a mailing + list (called `jargon-friends'), which included all the co-authors + of Steele-1983. + +:main loop: /n./ The top-level control flow construct in an + input- or event-driven program, the one which receives and acts or + dispatches on the program's input. See also {driver}. + +:mainframe: /n./ Term originally referring 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 + traditional {big iron} machines were described 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 retrofitted onto it; it is especially used of machines built + by IBM, Unisys, and the other great {dinosaur}s surviving from + computing's {Stone Age}. + + It has been common wisdom among hackers since the late 1980s that + the mainframe architectural tradition is essentially dead (outside + of the tiny market for {number-crunching} supercomputers (see + {cray})), having been swamped by the recent huge advances in IC + technology and low-cost personal computing. As of 1993, corporate + America is just beginning to figure this out -- the wave of + failures, takeovers, and mergers among traditional mainframe makers + have certainly provided sufficient omens (see {dinosaurs + mating} and {killer micro}). + +:management: /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, a + vast bureaucracy responsible for all the world's minor irritations. + Hackers' satirical public notices are often signed `The Mgt'; this + derives from the "Illuminatus" novels (see the + {Bibliography} in Appendix C). + +:mandelbug: /man'del-buhg/ /n./ [from the Mandelbrot set] 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}, rather than + a {heisenbug}. See also {schroedinbug}. + +:manged: /mahnjd/ /n./ [probably from the French `manger' + or Italian `mangiare', to eat; perhaps influenced by English + `mange', `mangy'] /adj./ Refers to anything that is mangled or + damaged, usually beyond repair. "The disk was manged after the + electrical storm." Compare {mung}. + +:mangle: /vt./ Used similarly to {mung} or {scribble}, + but more violent in its connotations; something that is mangled has + been irreversibly and totally trashed. + +:mangler: /n./ [DEC] A manager. Compare + {management}. Note that {system mangler} is somewhat + different in connotation. + +:manularity: /man`yoo-la'ri-tee/ /n./ [prob. fr. techspeak + `manual' + `granularity'] A notional measure of the manual + labor required for some task, particularly one of the sort that + automation is supposed to eliminate. "Composing English on paper + has much higher manularity than using a text editor, especially in + the revising stage." Hackers tend to consider manularity a + symptom of primitive methods; in fact, a true hacker confronted + with an apparent requirement to do a computing task {by hand} + will inevitably seize the opportunity to build another tool (see + {toolsmith}). + +:marbles: /pl.n./ [from mainstream "lost all his/her + marbles"] 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 up on + its own, or enough marbles to allow a rebuild from backups, or if + you need to rebuild from scratch. "This compiler doesn't even + have enough marbles to compile {hello, world}." + +:marginal: /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 sort + through it. 2. Of extremely small 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: /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: /adv./ Slightly. "The ravs here are only + marginally better than at Small Eating Place." See {epsilon}. + +:marketroid: /mar'k*-troyd/ /n./ alt. `marketing slime', + `marketeer', `marketing droid', `marketdroid'. 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 scheduled for inclusion, are extremely difficult 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}. + +:Mars: /n./ A legendary tragic failure, the archetypal Hacker + Dream Gone Wrong. Mars was the code name for a family of PDP-10 + compatible computers built by Systems Concepts (now, The SC Group): + the multi-processor SC-30M, the small uniprocessor SC-25M, and the + never-built superprocessor SC-40M. These machines were marvels of + engineering design; although not much slower than the unique + {Foonly} F-1, they were physically smaller and consumed less + power than the much slower DEC KS10 or Foonly F-2, F-3, or F-4 + machines. They were also completely compatible with the DEC KL10, + and ran all KL10 binaries (including the operating system) with no + modifications at about 2--3 times faster than a KL10. + + When DEC cancelled the Jupiter project in 1983, Systems Concepts + should have made a bundle selling their machine into shops with a + lot of software investment in PDP-10s, and in fact their spring + 1984 announcement generated a great deal of excitement in the + PDP-10 world. TOPS-10 was running on the Mars by the summer of + 1984, and TOPS-20 by early fall. Unfortunately, the hackers + running Systems Concepts were much better at designing machines + than at mass producing or selling them; the company allowed itself + to be sidetracked by a bout of perfectionism into continually + improving the design, and lost credibility as delivery dates + continued to slip. They also overpriced the product ridiculously; + they believed they were competing with the KL10 and VAX 8600 and + failed to reckon with the likes of Sun Microsystems and other + hungry startups building workstations with power comparable to the + KL10 at a fraction of the price. By the time SC shipped the first + SC-30M to Stanford in late 1985, most customers had already made + the traumatic decision to abandon the PDP-10, usually for VMS or + Unix boxes. Most of the Mars computers built ended up being + purchased by CompuServe. + + This tale and the related saga of {Foonly} hold a lesson for + hackers: if you want to play in the {Real World}, you need to + learn Real World moves. + +:martian: /n./ A packet sent on a TCP/IP network with a source + address of the test loopback interface [127.0.0.1]. This means + that it will come back 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 martian filter?" + +:massage: /vt./ Vague term used to describe `smooth' + transformations of 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 bitmap files into GIF format." Compare {slurp}. + +:math-out: /n./ [poss. from `white-out' (the blizzard variety)] + A 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 {content-free}. See + also {numbers}, {social science number}. + +:Matrix: /n./ [FidoNet] 1. What the Opus BBS software and + sysops call {FidoNet}. 2. Fanciful term for a {cyberspace} + expected to emerge from current networking experiments (see + {network, the}). 3. The totality of present-day computer + networks. + +:maximum Maytag mode: /n./ What a {washing machine} or, by + extension, any hard disk is in when it's being used so heavily that + it's shaking like an old Maytag with an unbalanced load. If + prolonged for any length of time, can lead to disks becoming + {walking drives}. + +:Mbogo, Dr. Fred: /*m-boh'goh, dok'tr fred/ /n./ [Stanford] + The 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 Dry + Cleaning." The name comes from synergy between {bogus} and the + original Dr. Mbogo, a witch doctor who was Gomez Addams' physician + on the old "Addams Family" TV show. Compare {Bloggs + Family, the}, see also {fred}. + +:meatware: /n./ Synonym for {wetware}. Less common. + +:meeces: /mees'*z/ /n./ [TMRC] 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*!" --- + ESR] + +:meg: /meg/ /n./ See {{quantifiers}}. + +:mega-: /me'g*/ /pref./ [SI] See {{quantifiers}}. + +:megapenny: /meg'*-pen`ee/ /n./ $10,000 (1 cent * + 10^6). Used semi-humorously as a unit in comparing computer + cost and performance figures. + +:MEGO: /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 because the + listener does not want to admit to 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, often refers not + to behavior that causes the eyes to 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: /n./ See {network meltdown}. + +:meme: /meem/ /n./ [coined by analogy with `gene', by + Richard Dawkins] 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' denoting a group of mutually supporting 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 `meme complex'. Use of the term connotes + 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 idea congenial for tolerably + obvious reasons. + +:meme plague: /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 is given + point by the historical fact that `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: /me-met'iks/ /n./ [from {meme}] The study of + memes. As of early 1996, 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. + Memetics is a popular topic for speculation among hackers, who like + to see themselves as the architects of the new information + ecologies in which memes live and replicate. + +:memory farts: /n./ The flatulent sounds that some DOS box + BIOSes (most notably AMI's) make when checking memory on bootup. + +:memory leak: /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}. These problems were + severe on older machines with small, fixed-size address spaces, and + special "leak detection" tools were commonly written to root them + out. With the advent of virtual memory, it is unfortunately easier + to be sloppy about wasting a bit of memory (although when you run + out of memory on a VM machine, it means you've got a *real* + leak!). See {aliasing bug}, {fandango on core}, {smash + the stack}, {precedence lossage}, {overrun screw}, {leaky + heap}, {leak}. + +:memory smash: /n./ [XEROX PARC] Writing through a pointer that + doesn't point to what you think it does. This occasionally reduces + your machine to a rubble of bits. Note that this is subtly + different from (and more general than) related terms such as a + {memory leak} or {fandango on core} because it doesn't imply + an allocation error or overrun condition. + +:menuitis: /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 interfaces, + especially those customizable via 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: /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, its nasty primitive interface, and its ties to 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 cleanser. + +:meta: /me't*/ or /may't*/ or (Commonwealth) /mee't*/ adj.,/pref./ + [from analytic philosophy] One level of + description up. A metasyntactic variable is a variable in notation + used to describe syntax, and meta-language is language used to + describe language. This is difficult to explain briefly, but much + hacker humor turns on deliberate confusion between meta-levels. + See {{hacker humor}}. + +:meta bit: /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, *mirabile dictu*, keyboards on IBM PC-class + machines) have an ALT key. See also {bucky bits}. + + Historical note: although in modern usage shaped by a universe of + 8-bit bytes the meta bit is invariably hex 80 (octal 0200), things + were different on earlier machines with 36-bit words and 9-bit + bytes. The MIT and Stanford keyboards (see {space-cadet + keyboard}) generated hex 100 (octal 400) from their meta keys. + +:metasyntactic variable: /n./ A name used in examples and + understood to stand for whatever thing is under discussion, or any + random member of a class of things under discussion. The word + {foo} is the {canonical} example. To avoid confusion, + hackers never (well, hardly ever) use `foo' or other words like + it as permanent names for anything. In filenames, a common + convention is that any filename beginning with a + metasyntactic-variable name is a {scratch} file that may be + deleted at any time. + + To some extent, the list of one's preferred metasyntactic variables + is a cultural signature. They occur both in series (used for + related groups of variables or objects) and as singletons. Here + are a few common signatures: + + {foo}, {bar}, {baz}, {quux}, quuux, quuuux...: + MIT/Stanford usage, now found everywhere (thanks largely to + early versions of this lexicon!). At MIT (but not at + Stanford), {baz} dropped out of use for a while in the 1970s + and '80s. A common recent mutation of this sequence inserts + {qux} before {quux}. + bazola, ztesch: + Stanford (from mid-'70s on). + {foo}, {bar}, thud, grunt: + This series was popular at CMU. Other CMU-associated + variables include {gorp}. + {foo}, {bar}, fum: + This series is reported to be common at XEROX PARC. + {fred}, {barney}: + See the entry for {fred}. These tend to be Britishisms. + {corge}, {grault}, {flarp}: + Popular at Rutgers University and among {GOSMACS} hackers. + zxc, spqr, wombat: + Cambridge University (England). + shme + Berkeley, GeoWorks, Ingres. Pronounced /shme/ with a short + /e/. + snork + Brown University, early 1970s. + {foo}, {bar}, zot + Helsinki University of Technology, Finland. + blarg, wibble + New Zealand. + toto, titi, tata, tutu + France. + pippo, pluto, paperino + Italy. Pippo /pee'po/ and Paperino /pa-per-ee'-no/ are the + Italian names for Goofy and Donald Duck. + aap, noot, mies + The Netherlands. These are the first words a child used to + learn to spell on a Dutch spelling board. + + Of all these, only `foo' and `bar' are universal (and {baz} + nearly so). The compounds {foobar} and `foobaz' also enjoy + very wide currency. + + Some jargon terms are also used as metasyntactic names; {barf} + and {mumble}, for example. See also {{Commonwealth Hackish}} + for discussion of numerous metasyntactic variables found in Great + Britain and the Commonwealth. + +:MFTL: /M-F-T-L/ [abbreviation: `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, has any + content (see {content-free}). More 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 talk". 2. /n./ Describes a language about which the + developers are passionate (often to the point of proselytic 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 first great goal in the mind of the designer of an 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 anything besides its own compiler?" On + the other hand, a language that cannot even be used to write + its own compiler is beneath contempt. See {break-even point}. + + (On a related note, Doug McIlroy once proposed a test of the + generality and utility of a language and the operating system under + which it is compiled: "Is the output of a FORTRAN program + acceptable as input to the FORTRAN compiler?" In other words, can + you write programs that write programs? (See {toolsmith}.) + Alarming numbers of (language, OS) pairs fail this test, + particularly when the language is FORTRAN; aficionados are quick to + point out that {Unix} (even using FORTRAN) passes it handily. + That the test could ever be failed is only surprising to those who + have had the good fortune to have worked only under modern systems + which lack OS-supported and -imposed "file types".) + +:mickey: /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: /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 very + useful. + +:micro-: /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 them both around rather more freely than 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}, and especially + {microfortnight}). 3. Personal 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 meaning `large'). 4. Local as opposed to 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 distance, or (best of all) telecommuting. + +:MicroDroid: /n./ [Usenet] A Microsoft employee, esp. one who + posts to various operating-system advocacy newsgroups. MicroDroids + post follow-ups to any messages critical of Microsoft's operating + systems, and often end up sounding like visiting Mormon + missionaries. + +: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 floats a sub-3-inch floppy + standard. See {stiffy}, {minifloppies}. + +:microfortnight: /n./ 1/1000000 of the fundamental unit of time + in the Furlong/Firkin/Fortnight system of measurement; 1.2096 sec. + (A furlong is 1/8th of a mile; a firkin is 1/4th of a barrel; the + mass unit of the system is taken to be a firkin of water). 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 time at boot if it realizes that the current value is bogus. + This time is specified in microfortnights! + + Multiple uses of the millifortnight (about 20 minutes) and + {nanofortnight} have also been reported. + +:microLenat: /mi:`-kroh-len'-*t/ /n./ The unit of + {bogosity}, written uL; the consensus is that this is + the largest unit practical for everyday use. The microLenat, + originally invented by David Jefferson, was promulgated as an + attack against noted computer scientist Doug Lenat by a {tenured + graduate student} at CMU. Doug had failed the student on an + important exam for giving only "AI is bogus" as his answer to the + questions. The slur is generally considered unmerited, but it has + become a running gag nevertheless. Some of Doug's friends argue + that *of course* a microLenat is bogus, since it is only one + millionth of a Lenat. Others have suggested that the unit should + be redesignated after the grad student, as the microReid. + +:microReid: /mi:'kroh-reed/ /n./ See {microLenat}. + +:Microsloth Windows: /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 486. Also just called `Windoze', with the implication that + you can fall asleep waiting for it to do anything; the latter term + is extremely common on Usenet. See {Black Screen of Death}; + compare {X}, {sun-stools}. + +:microtape: /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 those for today's {macrotape}s, microtape drivers + allowed random access to the data, and 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 + one would now use a floppy disk: as a small, 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 the {marketroid}s; another version of + the story holds that someone discovered a conflict with another + company's `microtape' trademark. + +:middle-endian: /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}. Non-US hackers use this term to describe the American + mm/dd/yy style of writing dates (Europeans write dd/mm/yy). + +:milliLampson: /mil'*-lamp`sn/ /n./ A unit of talking speed, + abbreviated mL. Most people run about 200 milliLampsons. The + eponymous Butler Lampson (a CS theorist and systems implementor + highly regarded among hackers) goes at 1000. A few people speak + faster. This unit is sometimes used to compare 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 about 1200 mL but only talk at about 300; he + is frequently reduced to fragments of sentences as his mouth tries + to keep up with his speeding brain. + +:minifloppies: /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 paid any + attention. See {stiffy}. + +:MIPS: /mips/ /n./ [abbreviation] 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 ways. This joke expresses a nearly universal + 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 also {KIPS} + and {GIPS}. 2. Computers, 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, they designed the processor chips used in DEC's 3100 + workstation series. 4. Acronym for `Meaningless Information per + Second' (a joke, prob. from sense 1). + +:misbug: /mis-buhg/ /n./ [MIT] 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: /mis-fee'chr/ or /mis'fee`chr/ /n./ A feature + that eventually causes lossage, possibly because it is not adequate + for a new situation that has evolved. Since it results from a + deliberate and properly implemented feature, a misfeature is not a + bug. Nor is it a simple unforeseen side effect; the term implies + that the feature in question was carefully planned, but its + long-term consequences were not accurately or adequately predicted + (which is quite different from not having thought ahead at all). A + misfeature can be a particularly stubborn problem to resolve, + because fixing it usually involves a substantial philosophical + change to the structure of the system involved. + + Many misfeatures (especially in user-interface design) arise + because the designers/implementors mistake their personal tastes + for laws of nature. Often a former feature becomes a misfeature + because trade-offs were made whose parameters subsequently change + (possibly only in the judgment of the implementors). "Well, yeah, + it is kind of a misfeature that file names are limited to six + characters, but the original implementors wanted to save directory + space and we're stuck with it for now." + +:Missed'em-five: /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}. + +:missile address: /n./ See {ICBM address}. + +:miswart: /mis-wort/ /n./ [from {wart} by analogy with + {misbug}] 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 characters' command exchanges the character under the + cursor with the one before it 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 inconsistent, it has been found through + extensive experimentation to be what most users want. This feature + is a miswart. + +:moby: /moh'bee/ [MIT: seems to have been in use among + model railroad fans years ago. Derived from Melville's "Moby + Dick" (some say from `Moby Pickle').] 1. /adj./ Large, immense, + complex, impressive. "A Saturn V rocket is a truly moby frob." + "Some MIT undergrads pulled off a moby hack at the Harvard-Yale + game." (See "{The Meaning of `Hack'}"). + 2. /n./ obs. The maximum address space of a machine (see below). +For + a 680[234]0 or VAX or most modern 32-bit architectures, it is + 4,294,967,296 8-bit bytes (4 gigabytes). 3. A title of address + (never of third-person reference), usually used to show admiration, + respect, and/or friendliness to a competent hacker. "Greetings, + moby Dave. How's that address-book thing for the Mac going?" + 4. /adj./ In backgammon, doubles on the dice, as in `moby sixes', + `moby ones', etc. Compare this with {bignum} (sense 3): + double sixes are both bignums and moby sixes, but moby ones are not + bignums (the use of `moby' to describe double ones is sarcastic). + Standard emphatic forms: `Moby foo', `moby win', `moby loss'. + `Foby moo': a spoonerism due to Richard Greenblatt. 5. The + largest available unit of something which is available in discrete + increments. Thus, ordering a "moby Coke" at the local fast-food + joint is not just a request for a large Coke, it's an explicit + request for the largest size they sell. + + This term entered hackerdom with the Fabritek 256K memory added to + the MIT AI PDP-6 machine, which was considered unimaginably huge + when it was installed in the 1960s (at a time when a more typical + memory size for a timesharing system was 72 kilobytes). Thus, a + moby is classically 256K 36-bit words, the size of a PDP-6 or + PDP-10 moby. Back when address registers were narrow the term was + more generally useful, because when a computer had virtual memory + mapping, it might actually have more physical memory attached to it + than any one program could access directly. One could then say + "This computer has 6 mobies" meaning that the ratio of physical + memory to address space is 6, without having to say specifically + how much memory there actually is. That in turn implied that the + computer could timeshare six `full-sized' programs without having + to swap programs between memory and disk. + + Nowadays the low cost of processor logic means that address spaces + are usually larger than the most physical memory you can cram onto + a machine, so most systems have much *less* than one + theoretical `native' moby of {core}. Also, more modern + memory-management techniques (esp. paging) make the `moby + count' less significant. However, there is one series of + widely-used chips for which the term could stand to be revived --- + the Intel 8088 and 80286 with their incredibly {brain-damaged} + segmented-memory designs. On these, a `moby' would be the + 1-megabyte address span of a segment/offset pair (by coincidence, a + PDP-10 moby was exactly 1 megabyte of 9-bit bytes). + +:mockingbird: /n./ Software that intercepts communications + (especially login transactions) between users and hosts and + provides system-like responses to the users while saving their + responses (especially account IDs and passwords). A special case + of {Trojan horse}. + +:mod: /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 + hardware or software, most esp. with respect to {patch} sets + or a {diff}. 2. Short for {modulo} but used *only* for + its techspeak sense. + +:mode: /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 + being carried out. "No time to hack; I'm in 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}, and {yoyo mode}; also + {talk mode}. + + One 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 "disable flame mode, + please". + + In a usage much closer to techspeak, a mode is a special state that + certain user interfaces must pass into in order to perform certain + functions. For example, in order to insert characters into a + document in the Unix editor `vi', one must type the "i" key, + which invokes the "Insert" command. The effect of this command + is to put vi into "insert mode", in which typing the "i" key + has a quite different effect (to wit, it inserts an "i" into the + document). One must then hit another special key, "ESC", in + order to leave "insert mode". Nowadays, modeful interfaces are + generally considered {losing} but survive in quite a few widely + used tools built in less enlightened times. + +:mode bit: /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 explicitly + read, and seldom change over the 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 set. + +:modulo: /mod'yu-loh/ /prep./ Except for. An + overgeneralization of mathematical terminology; one can consider + saying that 4 equals 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 headache." + +:molly-guard: /mol'ee-gard/ /n./ [University of Illinois] A + shield to prevent tripping of some {Big Red Switch} by clumsy or + ignorant hands. Originally used of the plexiglass covers + improvised for the BRS on an IBM 4341 after a programmer's toddler + daughter (named Molly) frobbed it twice in one day. Later + generalized to covers over stop/reset switches on disk drives and + networking equipment. + +:Mongolian Hordes technique: /n./ [poss. from the Sixties + counterculture expression `Mongolian clusterfuck' for a public + orgy] Development by {gang bang}. Implies that large numbers of + inexperienced programmers are being put on a job better performed + by a few skilled ones. Also called `Chinese Army technique'; see + also {Brooks's Law}. + +:monkey up: /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}. + +:monkey, scratch: /n./ See {scratch monkey}. + +:monstrosity: 1. /n./ A ridiculously {elephantine} program + or system, esp. one that is buggy or only marginally functional. + 2. /adj./ The quality of being monstrous (see `Overgeneralization' +in + the discussion of jargonification). See also {baroque}. + +:monty: /mon'tee/ /n./ 1. [US Geological Survey] A program + with a ludicrously complex user interface written to perform + extremely trivial tasks. An example would be a menu-driven, button + clicking, pulldown, pop-up windows program for listing directories. + The original monty was an infamous weather-reporting program, Monty + the Amazing Weather Man, written at the USGS. Monty had a + widget-packed X-window interface with over 200 buttons; and all + monty actually *did* was {FTP} files off the network. + 2. [Great Britain; commonly capitalized as `Monty' or as `the + Full Monty'] 16 megabytes of memory, when fitted to an IBM-PC or + compatible. A standard PC-compatible using the AT- or ISA-bus with + a normal BIOS cannot access more than 16 megabytes of RAM. + Generally used of a PC, Unix workstation, etc. to mean `fully + populated with' memory, disk-space or some other desirable + resource. This usage is possibly derived from a TV commercial for + Del Monte fruit juice, in which one of the characters insisted on + "the full Del Monte". Compare American {moby}. + +:Moof: /moof/ [Macintosh users] 1. /n./ The call of a + semi-legendary creature, properly called the {dogcow}. (Some + previous versions of this entry claimed, incorrectly, that Moof was + the name of the *creature*.) 2. /adj./ Used to flag software + that's a hack, something untested and on the edge. On one Apple + CD-ROM, certain folders such as "Tools & Apps (Moof!)" and + "Development Platforms (Moof!)", are so marked to indicate that + they contain software not fully tested or sanctioned by the powers + that be. When you open these folders you cross the boundary into + hackerland. 3. /v./ On the Microsoft Network, the term `moof' has + gained popularity as a verb meaning `to be suddenly disconnected by + the system'. One might say "I got moofed". + +:Moore's Law: /morz law/ /prov./ The observation that the + logic density of silicon integrated circuits has closely followed + the curve (bits per square inch) = 2^((t - 1962)) where + t is time in years; that is, the amount of information storable on + a given amount of silicon has roughly doubled every year since the + technology was invented. This relation, first uttered in 1964 by + semiconductor engineer Gordon Moore (who co-founded Intel four + years later) held until the late 1970s, at which point the doubling + period slowed to 18 months. It remained at that value through time + of writing (late 1995). See also {Parkinson's Law of Data}. + +:moose call: /n./ See {whalesong}. + +:moria: /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. The + name is from Tolkien's Mines of Moria; compare {elder days}, + {elvish}. The game is extremely addictive and a major consumer + of time better used for hacking. + +:MOTAS: /moh-tahz/ /n./ [Usenet: Member Of The Appropriate + Sex, after {MOTOS} and {MOTSS}] A potential or (less often) + actual sex partner. See also {SO}. + +:MOTOS: /moh-tohs/ /n./ [acronym from the 1970 U.S. census + forms via Usenet: Member Of The Opposite Sex] A potential or (less + often) actual sex partner. See {MOTAS}, {MOTSS}, {SO}. + Less common than MOTSS or {MOTAS}, which have largely displaced + it. + +:MOTSS: /mots/ or /M-O-T-S-S/ /n./ [from the 1970 + U.S. census forms via Usenet] Member Of The Same Sex, esp. one + considered as a possible sexual partner. The gay-issues newsgroup + on Usenet is called soc.motss. See {MOTOS} and {MOTAS}, + which derive from it. See also {SO}. + +:mouse ahead: /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 such input, in + anticipation of the program 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: /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: /n./ See {rat belt}. + +:mouse droppings: /n./ [MS-DOS] 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 major causes for + this problem are programs 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: /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: /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:: /M-S-dos/ /n./ [MicroSoft Disk Operating System] A + {clone} of {{CP/M}} for the 8088 crufted together in 6 weeks by + hacker Tim Paterson at Seattle Computer Products, who called the + original QDOS (Quick and Dirty Operating System) and is said to + have regretted it ever since. Microsoft licensed QDOS order to + have something to demo for IBM on time, and the rest is history. + Numerous features, including vaguely Unix-like but rather broken + support for subdirectories, I/O redirection, and pipelines, were + hacked into Microsoft's 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 use as an option switch or whether to be + case-sensitive. The resulting appalling 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, when it was + attached to IBM's first disk operating system for the 360). The + name further annoys those who know what the term {operating + system} does (or ought to) connote; DOS is more properly a set of + relatively simple interrupt services. 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-DOS: Just say + No!"). See {mess-dos}, {ill-behaved}. + +:mu: /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 wife and + then stopped, but "no" is worse because it suggests that you have + one and are still beating her. According to various Discordians + and Douglas Hofstadter the correct answer is usually "mu", a + Japanese word alleged to mean "Your question cannot be answered + because it depends on incorrect 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 that sense, but native speakers do not + recognize 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 + retorted, "Mu!" + + See also {has the X nature}, {AI Koans}, and Douglas + Hofstadter's "G"odel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid" + (pointer in the {Bibliography} in Appendix C. + +:MUD: /muhd/ /n./ [acronym, Multi-User Dungeon; alt. + Multi-User Dimension] 1. A class of {virtual reality} + experiments accessible via the Internet. These are real-time chat + forums with structure; they have multiple `locations' like an + adventure game, and may include combat, traps, puzzles, magic, a + simple economic system, and the capability for characters to build + more structure onto the database that represents the existing + world. 2. /vi./ To play a MUD. The acronym MUD is often +lowercased + and/or verbed; thus, one may speak of `going mudding', etc. + + Historically, MUDs (and their more recent progeny with names of MU- + form) derive from a hack by Richard Bartle and Roy Trubshaw on the + University of Essex's DEC-10 in the early 1980s; descendants of + that game still exist today and are sometimes generically called + BartleMUDs. There is a widespread myth (repeated, + unfortunately, by earlier versions of this lexicon) that the name + MUD was trademarked to the commercial MUD run by Bartle on British + Telecom (the motto: "You haven't *lived* 'til you've + *died* on MUD!"); however, this is false -- Richard Bartle + explicitly placed `MUD' in the public domain in 1985. BT was upset + at this, as they had already printed trademark claims on some maps + and posters, which were released and created the myth. + + Students on the European academic networks quickly improved on the + MUD concept, spawning several new MUDs (VAXMUD, AberMUD, LPMUD). + Many of these had associated bulletin-board systems for social + interaction. Because these had an image as `research' they + often survived administrative hostility to BBSs in general. This, + together with the fact that Usenet feeds were often spotty and + difficult to get in the U.K., made the MUDs major foci of hackish + social interaction there. + + AberMUD and other variants crossed the Atlantic around 1988 and + quickly gained popularity in the U.S.; they became nuclei for large + hacker communities with only loose ties to traditional hackerdom + (some observers see parallels with the growth of Usenet in the + early 1980s). The second wave of MUDs (TinyMUD and variants) + tended to emphasize social interaction, puzzles, and cooperative + world-building as opposed to combat and competition. By 1991, over + 50% of MUD sites were of a third major variety, LPMUD, which + synthesizes the combat/puzzle aspects of AberMUD and older systems + with the extensibility of TinyMud. In 1996 the cutting edge of the + technology is Pavel Curtis's MOO, even more extensible using a + built-in object-oriented language. The trend toward greater + programmability and flexibility will doubtless continue. + + The state of the art in MUD design is still moving very rapidly, + with new simulation designs appearing (seemingly) every month. + Around 1991 there was an unsuccessful movement to deprecate the + term {MUD} itself, as newer designs exhibit an exploding variety + of names corresponding to the different simulation styles being + explored. It survived. See also {bonk/oif}, {FOD}, + {link-dead}, {mudhead}, {talk mode}. + +:muddie: /n./ Syn. {mudhead}. More common in Great Britain, + possibly because system administrators there like to mutter + "bloody muddies" when annoyed at the species. + +:mudhead: /n./ Commonly used to refer to a {MUD} player who + eats, sleeps, and breathes 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, on a MUD, or + in a chat system, all a mudhead will talk about is three topics: + the tactic, character, or wizard that is supposedly always unfairly + stopping him/her from becoming a wizard or beating a favorite MUD; + why the specific game he/she has experience with is so much better + than any other; and the MUD he or she is writing or going to write + because his/her design ideas are so much better than in any + existing MUD. See also {wannabee}. + + To the anthropologically literate, this term may recall the + Zuni/Hopi legend of the mudheads or `koyemshi', mythical + half-formed children of an unnatural union. Figures representing + them act as clowns in Zuni sacred ceremonies. Others may recall + the `High School Madness' sequence from the Firesign Theater album + "Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers", in which there + is a character named "Mudhead". + +:multician: /muhl-ti'shn/ /n./ [coined at Honeywell, + ca. 1970] Competent user of {{Multics}}. Perhaps oddly, no one + has ever promoted the analogous `Unician'. + +:Multics:: /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. Multics was very innovative for its time --- + among other things, it introduced the idea of 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 question was {CTSS}). Honeywell + commercialized 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 project's breakup was Ken + Thompson, a circumstance 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: /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 + at the same time), is used similarly. + +:mumblage: /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 implicit replacement for pejoratives. + +:mumble: /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 we could + improve LISP performance by using 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. [MIT] Expression + of not-quite-articulated agreement, often used as an informal vote + of consensus in a meeting: "So, shall we dike out the COBOL + emulation?" "Mumble!" 3. Sometimes used as an expression of + disagreement (distinguished from sense 2 by tone of voice and other + cues). "I think we should buy a {VAX}." "Mumble!" Common + variant: `mumble frotz' (see {frotz}; interestingly, one does + not say `mumble frobnitz' even though `frotz' is short for + `frobnitz'). 4. Yet another {metasyntactic variable}, like + {foo}. 5. When used as a question ("Mumble?") means "I + didn't understand you". 6. 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 has an extra 16M of + memory, thanks to the card I'm testing for Mumbleco." 7. A + conversational wild card used to designate something one doesn't + want to bother spelling out, but which can be {glark}ed from + context. Compare {blurgle}. 8. [XEROX PARC] A colloquialism + used to suggest that further discussion would be fruitless. + +:munch: /vt./ [often confused with {mung}, q.v.] 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 + less pain. + +:munching: /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: /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} items + 146--148) to produce an impressive 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 machine, + have been christened `munching triangles' (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 a display terminal, and does it using a 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: /muhnch'kin/ /n./ [from the squeaky-voiced little + people in L. Frank Baum's "The Wizard of Oz"] A + teenage-or-younger micro enthusiast hacking BASIC or something else + equally constricted. A term of mild derision -- munchkins are + annoying but some grow up to be hackers after passing through a + {larval stage}. The term {urchin} is also used. See also + {wannabee}, {bitty box}. + +:mundane: /n./ [from SF fandom] 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: /muhng/ /vt./ [in 1960 at MIT, `Mash Until No Good'; + sometime after that the derivation from the {{recursive acronym}} + `Mung Until No Good' became standard; but see {munge}] 1. To + make changes to a file, esp. large-scale and irrevocable changes. + See {BLT}. 2. To destroy, 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 /muhnj/ is now usual in speech, but the spelling + `mung' is still common in program comments (compare the + widespread confusion over the proper spelling of {kluge}). + 3. The kind of beans the sprouts of which are used in Chinese food. + (That's their real name! Mung beans! Really!) + + Like many early hacker terms, this one seems to have originated at + {TMRC}; it was already in use there in 1958. Peter Samson + (compiler of the original TMRC lexicon) thinks it may originally + have been onomatopoeic for the sound of a relay spring (contact) + being twanged. However, it is known that during the World Wars, + `mung' was U.S. army slang for the ersatz creamed chipped beef + better known as `SOS', and it seems quite likely that the word in + fact goes back to Scots-dialect {munge}. + +:munge: /muhnj/ /vt./ 1. [derogatory] To imperfectly + transform information. 2. A comprehensive rewrite of a routine, + data structure or the whole program. 3. To modify data in some way + the speaker doesn't need to go into right now or cannot describe + succinctly (compare {mumble}). + + This term is often confused with {mung}, which probably was + derived from it. However, it also appears the word `munge' was in + common use in Scotland in the 1940s, and in Yorkshire in the 1950s, + as a verb, meaning to munch up into a masticated mess, and + as a noun, meaning the result of munging something up (the + parallel with the {kluge}/{kludge} pair is amusing). + +:Murphy's Law: /prov./ The correct, *original* Murphy's + Law reads: "If there are two or more ways to do something, and one + of those ways can result in a catastrophe, then someone will do + it." This is a principle of defensive design, cited here because + it is usually given in mutant forms less descriptive of the + challenges of design for {luser}s. For example, you don't make a + two-pin plug symmetrical and then label it `THIS WAY UP'; if it + matters which way it is plugged in, then you make the design + asymmetrical (see also the anecdote under {magic smoke}). + + Edward A. Murphy, Jr. was one of the engineers on the rocket-sled + experiments that were done by the U.S. Air Force in 1949 to test + human acceleration tolerances (USAF project MX981). One experiment + involved a set of 16 accelerometers mounted to different parts of + the subject's body. There were two ways each sensor could be glued + to its mount, and somebody methodically installed all 16 the wrong + way around. Murphy then made the original form of his + pronouncement, which the test subject (Major John Paul Stapp) + quoted at a news conference a few days later. + + Within months `Murphy's Law' had spread to various technical + cultures connected to aerospace engineering. Before too many years + had gone by variants had passed into the popular imagination, + changing as they went. Most of these are variants on "Anything + that can go wrong, will"; this is correctly referred to as + {Finagle's Law}. The memetic drift apparent in these mutants + clearly demonstrates Murphy's Law acting on itself! + +:music:: /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 been at + least one large-scale statistical study 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 instrumental jazz/rock that used to be called + `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, Pat + Metheny, Scott Joplin, Tangerine Dream, Dream Theater, King Sunny + Ade, The Pretenders, Screaming Trees, or the Brandenburg 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: /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 = +===== + +:N: /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 least N + 1; see {Lubarsky's Law of Cybernetic + Entomology}.) 2. A variable whose value 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 dinner for N - 1" you + can deduce that one 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 context "Nth-year grad + student", N is generally assumed to be at least 4, and is + usually 5 or more (see {tenured graduate student}). See also + {{random numbers}}, {two-to-the-N}. + +:nadger: /nad'jr/ /v./ [UK] Of software or hardware (not + people), to twiddle some object in a hidden manner, generally so + that it conforms better to some format. For instance, string + printing routines on 8-bit processors often take the string text + from the instruction stream, thus a print call looks like `jsr + print:"Hello world"'. The print routine has to `nadger' the + saved instruction pointer so that the processor doesn't try to + execute the text as instructions when the subroutine returns. + + Apparently this word originated on a now-legendary 1950s radio + comedy program called "The Goon Show". The Goon Show usage + of "nadger" was definitely in the sense of "jinxed" + "clobbered" "fouled up". The American mutation {adger} + seems to have preserved more of the original flavor. + +:nagware: /nag'weir/ /n./ [Usenet] The variety of {shareware} + that displays a large screen at the beginning or end reminding you + to register, typically requiring some sort of keystroke to continue + so that you can't use the software in batch mode. Compare + {crippleware}. + +:nailed to the wall: /adj./ [like a trophy] Said of a bug + finally eliminated after protracted, and even heroic, effort. + +:nailing jelly: /vi./ See {like nailing jelly to a tree}. + +:naive: /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 the + appropriate sense). This trait is completely 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 user' but is really more like `cynical + user'. + +:naive user: /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: /nak/ /interj./ [from the ASCII mnemonic for 0010101] + 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 understand their + point or that they have suddenly 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: /nan'oh/ /n./ [CMU: from `nanosecond'] 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 different + -- see {jiffy}). + +:nano-: /pref./ [SI: the next quantifier below {micro-}; + meaning * 10^(-9)] 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 `microtechnology'; and a few machine 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: /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-setup costs. + +:nanobot: /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: /nan'oh-k*m-pyoo'tr/ /n./ A computer with + molecular-sized switching elements. Designs for mechanical + nanocomputers which use single-molecule sliding rods for their + logic have been proposed. The controller for a {nanobot} would + be a nanocomputer. + +:nanofortnight: /n./ [Adelaide University] 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:: /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 took place in + 1990, for example 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 K. Eric Drexler + in his book "Engines of Creation" (Anchor/Doubleday, ISBN + 0-385-19973-2), where he predicted that nanotechnology could give + rise to replicating assemblers, permitting an exponential growth of + productivity and personal wealth. See also {blue goo}, {gray + goo}, {nanobot}. + +:nasal demons: /n./ Recognized shorthand on the Usenet group + comp.std.c for any unexpected behavior of a C compiler on + encountering an undefined construct. During a discussion on that + group in early 1992, a regular remarked "When the compiler + encounters [a given undefined construct] it is legal for it to make + demons fly out of your nose" (the implication is that the compiler + may choose any arbitrarily bizarre way to interpret the code + without violating the ANSI C standard). Someone else followed up + with a reference to "nasal demons", which quickly became + established. + +:nastygram: /nas'tee-gram/ /n./ 1. A protocol packet or item + of email (the latter is also called a {letterbomb}) that takes + advantage of misfeatures or security holes on the target system to + do untoward things. 2. Disapproving mail, esp. from a + {net.god}, pursuant to a violation of {netiquette} or a + complaint about failure to correct some mail- or news-transmission + problem. Compare {shitogram}, {mailbomb}. 3. A status + report from an unhappy, and probably picky, customer. "What'd + Corporate say in today's nastygram?" 4. [deprecated] An error + reply by mail from a {daemon}; in particular, a {bounce + message}. + +:Nathan Hale: /n./ An asterisk (see also {splat}, + {{ASCII}}). Oh, you want an etymology? Notionally, from "I + regret that I have only one asterisk for my country!", a misquote + of the famous remark uttered by Nathan Hale just before he was + hanged. Hale was a (failed) spy for the rebels in the American War + of Independence. + +:nature: /n./ See {has the X nature}. + +:neat hack: /n./ 1. A clever technique. 2. A brilliant + practical joke, where neatness is correlated with cleverness, + harmlessness, and surprise value. Example: the Caltech Rose Bowl + card display switch (see "{The Meaning of `Hack'}", + Appendix A). See also {hack}. + +:neats vs. scruffies: /n./ The label used to refer to one of + the continuing {holy wars} in AI research. This conflict + tangles together two separate issues. One is the relationship + between human reasoning and AI; `neats' tend to try to build + systems that `reason' in some way identifiably similar to the + way humans report themselves as doing, while `scruffies' profess + not to care whether an algorithm resembles human reasoning in the + least as long as it works. More importantly, neats tend to believe + that logic is king, while scruffies favor looser, more ad-hoc + methods driven by empirical knowledge. To a neat, scruffy methods + appear promiscuous, successful only by accident, and not productive + of insights about how intelligence actually works; to a scruffy, + neat methods appear to be hung up on formalism and irrelevant to + the hard-to-capture `common sense' of living intelligences. + +:neep-neep: /neep neep/ /n./ [onomatopoeic, widely spread + through SF fandom but reported to have originated at Caltech in the + 1970s] One who is fascinated by computers. Less specific than + {hacker}, as it need not imply more skill than is required to + boot games on a PC. The derived noun `neeping' applies + specifically to the long conversations about computers that tend to + develop in the corners at most SF-convention parties (the term + `neepery' is also in wide use). Fandom has a related proverb to + the effect that "Hacking is a conversational black hole!". + +:neophilia: /nee`oh-fil'-ee-*/ /n./ The trait of being + excited and pleased by novelty. Common among most hackers, SF + fans, and members of several other connected leading-edge + subcultures, including the pro-technology `Whole Earth' wing of + the ecology movement, space activists, many members of Mensa, and + the Discordian/neo-pagan underground. All these groups overlap + heavily and (where evidence is available) seem to share + characteristic hacker tropisms for science fiction, {{music}}, and + {{oriental food}}. The opposite tendency is `neophobia'. + +:nerd: /n./ 1. [mainstream slang] Pejorative applied to anyone + with an above-average IQ and few gifts at small talk and ordinary + social rituals. 2. [jargon] Term of praise applied (in conscious + ironic reference to sense 1) to someone who knows what's really + important and interesting and doesn't care to be distracted by + trivial chatter and silly status games. Compare the two senses of + {computer geek}. + + The word itself appears to derive from the lines "And then, just to + show them, I'll sail to Ka-Troo / And Bring Back an It-Kutch, a +Preep + and a Proo, / A Nerkle, a Nerd, and a Seersucker, too!" in the + Dr. Seuss book "If I Ran the Zoo" (1950). (The spellings + `nurd' and `gnurd' also used to be current at MIT.) How it + developed its mainstream meaning is unclear, but sense 1 seems to + have entered mass culture in the early 1970s (there are reports + that in the mid-1960s it meant roughly "annoying misfit" + without the connotation of intelligence). + + An IEEE Spectrum article (4/95, page 16) once derived `nerd' in its + variant form `knurd' from the word `drunk' backwards, but this + bears all the earmarks of a bogus folk etymology. + + Hackers developed sense 2 in self-defense perhaps ten years later, + and some actually wear "Nerd Pride" buttons, only half as a + joke. At MIT one can find not only buttons but (what else?) pocket + protectors bearing the slogan and the MIT seal. + +:net.-: /net dot/ /pref./ [Usenet] Prefix used to describe + people and events related to Usenet. From the time before the + {Great Renaming}, when most non-local newsgroups had names + beginning `net.'. Includes {net.god}s, `net.goddesses' + (various charismatic net.women with circles of on-line admirers), + `net.lurkers' (see {lurker}), `net.person', `net.parties' + (a synonym for {boink}, sense 2), and many similar constructs. + See also {net.police}. + +:net.god: /net god/ /n./ Accolade referring to anyone who + satisfies some combination of the following conditions: has been + visible on Usenet for more than 5 years, ran one of the original + backbone sites, moderated an important newsgroup, wrote news + software, or knows Gene, Mark, Rick, Mel, Henry, Chuq, and Greg + personally. See {demigod}. Net.goddesses such as Rissa or the + Slime Sisters have (so far) been distinguished more by personality + than by authority. + +:net.personality: /net per`sn-al'-*-tee/ /n./ Someone who has + made a name for him or herself on {Usenet}, through either + longevity or attention-getting posts, but doesn't meet the other + requirements of {net.god}hood. + +:net.police: /net-p*-lees'/ /n./ (var. `net.cops') Those + Usenet readers who feel it is their responsibility to pounce on and + {flame} any posting which they regard as offensive or in + violation of their understanding of {netiquette}. Generally + used sarcastically or pejoratively. Also spelled `net police'. + See also {net.-}, {code police}. + +:NetBOLLIX: /n./ [from bollix: to bungle] {IBM}'s NetBIOS, an + extremely {brain-damaged} network protocol that, like {Blue + Glue}, is used at commercial shops that don't know any better. + +:netburp: /n./ [IRC] When {netlag} gets really bad, and + delays between servers exceed a certain threshhold, the {IRC} + network effectively becomes partitioned for a period of time, and + large numbers of people seem to be signing off at the same time and + then signing back on again when things get better. An instance of + this is called a `netburp' (or, sometimes, {netsplit}). + +:netdead: /n./ [IRC] The state of someone who signs off + {IRC}, perhaps during a {netburp}, and doesn't sign back on + until later. In the interim, he is "dead to the net". + +:nethack: /net'hak/ /n./ [Unix] A dungeon game similar to + {rogue} but more elaborate, distributed in C source over + {Usenet} and very popular at Unix sites and on PC-class machines + (nethack is probably the most widely distributed of the freeware + dungeon games). The earliest versions, written by Jay Fenlason and + later considerably enhanced by Andries Brouwer, were simply called + `hack'. The name changed when maintenance was taken over by a + group of hackers originally organized by Mike Stephenson; the + current contact address (as of early 1996) is + nethack-bugs@linc.cis.upenn.edu. + +:netiquette: /net'ee-ket/ or /net'i-ket/ /n./ [portmanteau + from "network etiquette"] The conventions of politeness + recognized on {Usenet}, such as avoidance of cross-posting to + inappropriate groups and refraining from commercial pluggery + outside the biz groups. + +:netlag: /n./ [IRC, MUD] A condition that occurs when the + delays in the {IRC} network or on a {MUD} become severe + enough that servers briefly lose and then reestablish contact, + causing messages to be delivered in bursts, often with delays of up + to a minute. (Note that this term has nothing to do with + mainstream "jet lag", a condition which hackers tend not to be + much bothered by.) + +:netnews: /net'n[y]ooz/ /n./ 1. The software that makes + {Usenet} run. 2. The content of Usenet. "I read netnews + right after my mail most mornings." + +:netrock: /net'rok/ /n./ [IBM] A {flame}; used esp. on + VNET, IBM's internal corporate network. + +:netsplit: /n./ Syn. {netburp}. + +:netter: /n./ 1. Loosely, anyone with a {network address}. + 2. More specifically, a {Usenet} regular. Most often found in + the plural. "If you post *that* in a technical group, you're + going to be flamed by angry netters for the rest of time!" + +:network address: /n./ (also `net address') As used by + hackers, means an address on `the' network (see {network, + the}; this used to include {bang path} addresses but now almost + always implies an {{Internet address}}). + + Display of a network address is essential if one wants to be to be + taken seriously by hackers; in particular, persons or organizations + that claim to understand, work with, sell to, or recruit from among + hackers but *don't* display net addresses are quietly presumed + to be clueless poseurs and mentally flushed (see {flush}, sense + 4). Hackers often put their net addresses on their business cards + and wear them prominently in contexts where they expect to meet + other hackers face-to-face (see also {{science-fiction fandom}}). + This is mostly functional, but is also a signal that one identifies + with hackerdom (like lodge pins among Masons or tie-dyed T-shirts + among Grateful Dead fans). Net addresses are often used in email + text as a more concise substitute for personal names; indeed, + hackers may come to know each other quite well by network names + without ever learning each others' `legal' monikers. See also + {sitename}, {domainist}. + + [1996 update: the lodge-pin function of the network address has + been gradually eroding in the last two years as Internet and World + Wide Web usage have become common outside hackerdom. -- ESR] + +:network meltdown: /n./ A state of complete network overload; + the network equivalent of {thrash}ing. This may be induced by a + {Chernobyl packet}. See also {broadcast storm}, {kamikaze + packet}. + + Network meltdown is often a result of network designs that are + optimized for a steady state of moderate load and don't cope well + with the very jagged, bursty usage patterns of the real world. One + amusing instance of this is triggered by the the popular and very + bloody shoot-'em-up game Doom on the PC. When used in + multiplayer mode over a network, the game uses broadcast packets to + inform other machines when bullets are fired. This causes problems + with weapons like the chain gun which fire rapidly -- it can blast + the network into a meltdown state just as easily as it shreds + opposing monsters. + +:network, the: /n./ 1. The union of all the major + noncommercial, academic, and hacker-oriented networks, such as + Internet, the pre-1990 ARPANET, NSFnet, {BITNET}, and the + virtual UUCP and {Usenet} `networks', plus the corporate + in-house networks and commercial time-sharing services (such as + CompuServe, GEnie and AOL) that gateway to them. A site is + generally considered `on the network' if it can be reached + through some combination of Internet-style (@-sign) and UUCP + (bang-path) addresses. See {Internet}, {bang path}, + {{Internet address}}, {network address}. Following the + mass-culture discovery of the Internet in 1994 and subsequent + proliferation of cheap TCP/IP connections, "the network" is + increasingly synonymous with the Internet itself (as it was before + the second wave of wide-area computer networking began around +1980). + 2. A fictional conspiracy of libertarian hacker-subversives and + anti-authoritarian monkeywrenchers described in Robert Anton + Wilson's novel "Schr"odinger's Cat", to which many hackers + have subsequently decided they belong (this is an example of {ha + ha only serious}). + + In sense 1, `network' is often abbreviated to `net'. "Are + you on the net?" is a frequent question when hackers first meet + face to face, and "See you on the net!" is a frequent goodbye. + +:New Jersey: /adj./ [primarily Stanford/Silicon Valley] + Brain-damaged or of poor design. This refers to the allegedly + wretched quality of such software as C, C++, and Unix (which + originated at Bell Labs in Murray Hill, New Jersey). "This + compiler bites the bag, but what can you expect from a compiler + designed in New Jersey?" Compare {Berkeley Quality Software}. + See also {Unix conspiracy}. + +:New Testament: /n./ [C programmers] The second edition of + K&R's "The C Programming Language" (Prentice-Hall, 1988; ISBN + 0-13-110362-8), describing ANSI Standard C. See {K&R}; this + version is also called `K&R2'. + +:newbie: /n[y]oo'bee/ /n./ [orig. from British public-school + and military slang variant of `new boy'] A Usenet neophyte. This + term surfaced in the {newsgroup} talk.bizarre but is now in + wide use. Criteria for being considered a newbie vary wildly; a + person can be called a newbie in one newsgroup while remaining a + respected regular in another. The label `newbie' is sometimes + applied as a serious insult to a person who has been around Usenet + for a long time but who carefully hides all evidence of having a + clue. See {B1FF}. + +:newgroup wars: /n[y]oo'groop worz/ /n./ [Usenet] The salvos of + dueling `newgroup' and `rmgroup' messages sometimes + exchanged by persons on opposite sides of a dispute over whether a + {newsgroup} should be created net-wide, or (even more + frequently) whether an obsolete one should be removed. These + usually settle out within a week or two as it becomes clear whether + the group has a natural constituency (usually, it doesn't). At + times, especially in the completely anarchic alt hierarchy, the + names of newsgroups themselves become a form of comment or humor; + e.g., the spinoff of alt.swedish.chef.bork.bork.bork from + alt.tv.muppets in early 1990, or any number of specialized + abuse groups named after particularly notorious {flamer}s, e.g., + alt.weemba. + +:newline: /n[y]oo'li:n/ /n./ 1. [techspeak, primarily Unix] + The ASCII LF character (0001010), used under {{Unix}} as a text + line terminator. A Bell-Labs-ism rather than a Berkeleyism; + interestingly (and unusually for Unix jargon), it is said to have + originally been an IBM usage. (Though the term `newline' + appears in ASCII standards, it never caught on in the general + computing world before Unix). 2. More generally, any magic + character, character sequence, or operation (like Pascal's writeln + procedure) required to terminate a text record or separate lines. + See {crlf}, {terpri}. + +:NeWS: /nee'wis/, /n[y]oo'is/ or /n[y]ooz/ /n./ [acronym; + the `Network Window System'] The road not taken in window systems, + an elegant {{PostScript}}-based environment that would almost + certainly have won the standards war with {X} if it hadn't been + {proprietary} to Sun Microsystems. There is a lesson here that + too many software vendors haven't yet heeded. Many hackers insist + on the two-syllable pronunciations above as a way of distinguishing + NeWS from {news} (the {netnews} software). + +:news: /n./ See {netnews}. + +:newsfroup: // /n./ [Usenet] Silly synonym for {newsgroup}, + originally a typo but now in regular use on Usenet's talk.bizarre + and other lunatic-fringe groups. Compare {hing}, {grilf}, + and {filk}. + +:newsgroup: /n./ [Usenet] One of {Usenet}'s huge collection of + topic groups or {fora}. Usenet groups can be `unmoderated' + (anyone can post) or `moderated' (submissions are automatically + directed to a moderator, who edits or filters and then posts the + results). Some newsgroups have parallel {mailing list}s for + Internet people with no netnews access, with postings to the group + automatically propagated to the list and vice versa. Some + moderated groups (especially those which are actually gatewayed + Internet mailing lists) are distributed as `digests', with groups + of postings periodically collected into a single large posting with + an index. + + Among the best-known are comp.lang.c (the C-language forum), + comp.arch (on computer architectures), comp.unix.wizards + (for Unix wizards), rec.arts.sf.written and siblings (for + science-fiction fans), and talk.politics.misc (miscellaneous + political discussions and {flamage}). + +:nick: /n./ [IRC] Short for nickname. On {IRC}, every user must + pick a nick, which is sometimes the same as the user's real name or + login name, but is often more fanciful. Compare {handle}. + +:nickle: /ni'kl/ /n./ [from `nickel', common name for the + U.S. 5-cent coin] A {nybble} + 1; 5 bits. Reported among + developers for Mattel's GI 1600 (the Intellivision games + processor), a chip with 16-bit-wide RAM but 10-bit-wide ROM. See + also {deckle}, and {nybble} for names of other bit units. + +:night mode: /n./ See {phase} (of people). + +:Nightmare File System: /n./ Pejorative hackerism for Sun's + Network File System (NFS). In any nontrivial network of Suns + where there is a lot of NFS cross-mounting, when one Sun goes down, + the others often freeze up. Some machine tries to access the down + one, and (getting no response) repeats indefinitely. This causes + it to appear dead to some messages (what is actually happening is + that it is locked up in what should have been a brief excursion to + a higher {spl} level). Then another machine tries to reach + either the down machine or the pseudo-down machine, and itself + becomes pseudo-down. The first machine to discover the down one is + now trying both to access the down one and to respond to the + pseudo-down one, so it is even harder to reach. This situation + snowballs very quickly, and soon the entire network of machines is + frozen -- worst of all, the user can't even abort the file access + that started the problem! Many of NFS's problems are excused by + partisans as being an inevitable result of its statelessness, which + is held to be a great feature (critics, of course, call it a great + {misfeature}). (ITS partisans are apt to cite this as proof of + Unix's alleged bogosity; ITS had a working NFS-like shared file + system with none of these problems in the early 1970s.) See also + {broadcast storm}. + +:NIL: /nil/ No. Used in reply to a question, particularly + one asked using the `-P' convention. Most hackers assume this + derives simply from LISP terminology for `false' (see also + {T}), but NIL as a negative reply was well-established among + radio hams decades before the advent of LISP. The historical + connection between early hackerdom and the ham radio world was + strong enough that this may have been an influence. + +:Ninety-Ninety Rule: /n./ "The first 90% of the code accounts + for the first 90% of the development time. The remaining 10% of + the code accounts for the other 90% of the development time." + Attributed to Tom Cargill of Bell Labs, and popularized by Jon + Bentley's September 1985 "Bumper-Sticker Computer Science" + column in "Communications of the ACM". It was there called + the "Rule of Credibility", a name which seems not to have stuck. + +:NMI: /N-M-I/ /n./ Non-Maskable Interrupt. An IRQ 7 on the + PDP-11 or 680[01234]0; the NMI line on an 80[1234]86. In contrast + with a {priority interrupt} (which might be ignored, although + that is unlikely), an NMI is *never* ignored. Except, that + is, on {clone} boxes, where NMI is often ignored on the + motherboard because flaky hardware can generate many spurious + ones. + +:no-op: /noh'op/ /n.,v./ alt. NOP /nop/ [no operation] + 1. A machine instruction that does nothing (sometimes used in + assembler-level programming as filler for data or patch areas, or + to overwrite code to be removed in binaries). See also {JFCL}. + 2. A person who contributes nothing to a project, or has nothing + going on upstairs, or both. As in "He's a no-op." 3. Any + operation or sequence of operations with no effect, such as + circling the block without finding a parking space, or putting + money into a vending machine and having it fall immediately into + the coin-return box, or asking someone for help and being told to + go away. "Oh, well, that was a no-op." Hot-and-sour soup (see + {great-wall}) that is insufficiently either is `no-op soup'; + so is wonton soup if everybody else is having hot-and-sour. + +:noddy: /nod'ee/ /adj./ [UK: from the children's books] + 1. Small and un-useful, but demonstrating a point. Noddy programs + are often written by people learning a new language or system. The + archetypal noddy program is {hello, world}. Noddy code may be + used to demonstrate a feature or bug of a compiler. May be used of + real hardware or software to imply that it isn't worth using. + "This editor's a bit noddy." 2. A program that is more or less + instant to produce. In this use, the term does not necessarily + connote uselessness, but describes a {hack} sufficiently trivial + that it can be written and debugged while carrying on (and during + the space of) a normal conversation. "I'll just throw together a + noddy {awk} script to dump all the first fields." In North + America this might be called a {mickey mouse program}. See + {toy program}. + +:node: /n./ 1. [Internet, UUCP] A host machine on the network. + 2. [MS-DOS BBSes] A dial-in line on a BBS. Thus an MS-DOS {sysop} + might say that his BBS has 4 nodes even though it has a single + machine and no Internet link, confusing an Internet hacker no end. + +:NOMEX underwear: /noh'meks uhn'-der-weir/ /n./ [Usenet] Syn. + {asbestos longjohns}, used mostly in auto-related mailing lists + and newsgroups. NOMEX underwear is an actual product available on + the racing equipment market, used as a fire resistance measure and + required in some racing series. + +:Nominal Semidestructor: /n./ Soundalike slang for `National + Semiconductor', found among other places in the Networking/2 + networking sources. During the late 1970s to mid-1980s this + company marketed a series of microprocessors including the NS16000 + and NS32000 and several variants. At one point early in the great + microprocessor race, the specs on these chips made them look like + serious competition for the rising Intel 80x86 and Motorola 680x0 + series. Unfortunately, the actual parts were notoriously flaky and + never implemented the full instruction set promised in their + literature, apparently because the company couldn't get any of the + mask steppings to work as designed. They eventually sank without + trace, joining the Zilog Z8000 and a few even more obscure + also-rans in the graveyard of forgotten microprocessors. Compare + {HP-SUX}, {AIDX}, {buglix}, {Macintrash}, {Telerat}, + {Open DeathTrap}, {ScumOS}, {sun-stools}. + +:non-optimal solution: /n./ (also `sub-optimal solution') An + astoundingly stupid way to do something. This term is generally + used in deadpan sarcasm, as its impact is greatest when the person + speaking looks completely serious. Compare {stunning}. See + also {Bad Thing}. + +:nonlinear: /adj./ [scientific computation] 1. Behaving in an + erratic and unpredictable fashion; unstable. When used to describe + the behavior of a machine or program, it suggests that said machine + or program is being forced to run far outside of design + specifications. This behavior may be induced by unreasonable + inputs, or may be triggered when a more mundane bug sends the + computation far off from its expected course. 2. When describing + the behavior of a person, suggests a tantrum or a {flame}. + "When you talk to Bob, don't mention the drug problem or he'll go + nonlinear for hours." In this context, `go nonlinear' connotes + `blow up out of proportion' (proportion connotes linearity). + +:nontrivial: /adj./ Requiring real thought or significant + computing power. Often used as an understated way of saying that a + problem is quite difficult or impractical, or even entirely + unsolvable ("Proving P=NP is nontrivial"). The preferred + emphatic form is `decidedly nontrivial'. See {trivial}, + {uninteresting}, {interesting}. + +:not ready for prime time: /adj./ Usable, but only just so; not + very robust; for internal use only. Said of a program or device. + Often connotes that the thing will be made more solid {Real Soon + Now}. This term comes from the ensemble name of the original cast + of "Saturday Night Live", the "Not Ready for Prime Time + Players". It has extra flavor for hackers because of the special + (though now semi-obsolescent) meaning of {prime time}. Compare + {beta}. + +:notwork: /not'werk/ /n./ A network, when it is acting + {flaky} or is {down}. Compare {nyetwork}. Said at IBM to + have originally referred to a particular period of flakiness on + IBM's VNET corporate network ca. 1988; but there are independent + reports of the term from elsewhere. + +:NP-: /N-P/ /pref./ Extremely. Used to modify adjectives + describing a level or quality of difficulty; the connotation is + often `more so than it should be' This is generalized from the + computer-science terms `NP-hard' and `NP-complete'; + NP-complete problems all seem to be very hard, but so far no one + has found a good a priori reason that they should be. NP is + the set of Nondeterministic-Polynomial algorithms, those that can + be completed by a nondeterministic Turing machine in an amount of + time that is a polynomial function of the size of the input; a + solution for one NP-complete problem would solve all the others. + "Coding a BitBlt implementation to perform correctly in every case + is NP-annoying." + +:nroff:: /N'rof/ /n./ [Unix, from "new roff" (see + {{troff}})] A companion program to the Unix typesetter {{troff}}, + accepting identical input but preparing output for terminals and + line printers. + +:NSA line eater: /n./ The National Security Agency trawling + program sometimes assumed to be reading the net for the + U.S. Government's spooks. Most hackers describe it as a mythical + beast, but some believe it actually exists, more aren't sure, and + many believe in acting as though it exists just in case. Some + netters put loaded phrases like `KGB', `Uzi', `nuclear + materials', `Palestine', `cocaine', and `assassination' in + their {sig block}s in a (probably futile) attempt to confuse and + overload the creature. The {GNU} version of {EMACS} actually + has a command that randomly inserts a bunch of insidious + anarcho-verbiage into your edited text. + + There is a mainstream variant of this myth involving a `Trunk Line + Monitor', which supposedly used speech recognition to extract words + from telephone trunks. This one was making the rounds in the + late 1970s, spread by people who had no idea of then-current + technology or the storage, signal-processing, or speech recognition + needs of such a project. On the basis of mass-storage costs alone + it would have been cheaper to hire 50 high-school students and just + let them listen in. Speech-recognition technology can't do this + job even now (1996), and almost certainly won't in this millennium, + either. The peak of silliness came with a letter to an alternative + paper in New Haven, Connecticut, laying out the factoids of this + Big Brotherly affair. The letter writer then revealed his actual + agenda by offering -- at an amazing low price, just this once, we + take VISA and MasterCard -- a scrambler guaranteed to daunt the + Trunk Trawler and presumably allowing the would-be Baader-Meinhof + gangs of the world to get on with their business. + +:NSP: /N-S-P/ /n./ Common abbreviation for `Network Service + Provider', one of the big national or regional companies that + maintains a portion of the Internet backbone and resells + connectivity to {ISP}s. In 1996, major NSPs include ANS, MCI, + UUNET, and Sprint. An Internet wholesaler. + +:nude: /adj./ Said of machines delivered without an operating + system (compare {bare metal}). "We ordered 50 systems, but + they all arrived nude, so we had to spend a an extra weekend with + the installation tapes." This usage is a recent innovation + reflecting the fact that most PC clones are now delivered with DOS + or Microsoft Windows pre-installed at the factory. Other kinds of + hardware are still normally delivered without OS, so this term is + particular to PC support groups. + +:nuke: /n[y]ook/ /vt./ 1. To intentionally delete the entire + contents of a given directory or storage volume. "On Unix, + `rm -r /usr' will nuke everything in the usr filesystem." + Never used for accidental deletion. Oppose {blow away}. + 2. Syn. for {dike}, applied to smaller things such as files, + features, or code sections. Often used to express a final verdict. + "What do you want me to do with that 80-meg {wallpaper} file?" + "Nuke it." 3. Used of processes as well as files; nuke is a + frequent verbal alias for `kill -9' on Unix. 4. On IBM PCs, + a bug that results in {fandango on core} can trash the operating + system, including the FAT (the in-core copy of the disk block + chaining information). This can utterly scramble attached disks, + which are then said to have been `nuked'. This term is also used + of analogous lossages on Macintoshes and other micros without + memory protection. + +:number-crunching: /n./ Computations of a numerical nature, + esp. those that make extensive use of floating-point numbers. + The only thing {Fortrash} is good for. This term is in + widespread informal use outside hackerdom and even in mainstream + slang, but has additional hackish connotations: namely, that the + computations are mindless and involve massive use of {brute + force}. This is not always {evil}, esp. if it involves ray + tracing or fractals or some other use that makes {pretty + pictures}, esp. if such pictures can be used as {wallpaper}. + See also {crunch}. + +:numbers: /n./ [scientific computation] Output of a computation + that may not be significant results but at least indicate that the + program is running. May be used to placate management, grant + sponsors, etc. `Making numbers' means running a program because + output -- any output, not necessarily meaningful output -- is + needed as a demonstration of progress. See {pretty pictures}, + {math-out}, {social science number}. + +:NUXI problem: /nuk'see pro'bl*m/ /n./ Refers to the problem + of transferring data between machines with differing byte-order. + The string `UNIX' might look like `NUXI' on a machine with a + different `byte sex' (e.g., when transferring data from a + {little-endian} to a {big-endian}, or vice-versa). See also + {middle-endian}, {swab}, and {bytesexual}. + +:nybble: /nib'l/ (alt. `nibble') /n./ [from + /v./ `nibble' by analogy with `bite' => `byte'] Four + bits; one {hex} digit; a half-byte. Though `byte' is now + techspeak, this useful relative is still jargon. Compare + {{byte}}; see also {bit}, Apparently the `nybble' spelling is + uncommon in Commonwealth Hackish, as British orthography suggests + the pronunciation /ni:'bl/. + + Following `bit', `byte' and `nybble' there have been quite a few + analogical attempts to construct unambiguous terms for bit blocks + of other sizes. All of these are strictly jargon, not techspeak, + and not very common jargon at that (most hackers would recognize + them in context but not use them spontaneously). We collect them + here for reference together with the ambiguous techspeak terms + `word', `half-word' and `quadwords'; some (indicated) have + substantial information separate entries. + 2 bits: + {crumb}, {quad}, {quarter}, tayste + 4 bits: + nybble + 5 bits: + {nickle} + 10 bits: + {deckle} + 16 bits: + playte, {chawmp} (on a 32-bit machine), word (on a 16-bit + machine), half-word (on a 32-bit machine). + 18 bits: + {chawmp} (on a 36-bit machine), half-word (on a 36-bit machine) + 32 bits: + dynner, {gawble} (on a 32-bit machine), word (on a 32-bit + machine), longword (on a 16-bit machine). + 36: + word (on a 36-bit machine) + 48 bits: + {gawble} (under circumstances that remain obscure) + + The fundamental motivation for most of these jargon terms (aside + from the normal hackerly enjoyment of punning wordplay) is the + extreme ambiguity of the term `word' and its derivatives. + +:nyetwork: /nyet'werk/ /n./ [from Russian `nyet' = no] A + network, when it is acting {flaky} or is {down}. Compare + {notwork}. + += O = +===== + +:Ob-: /ob/ /pref./ Obligatory. A piece of {netiquette} + acknowledging that the author has been straying from the + newsgroup's charter topic. For example, if a posting in alt.sex is + a response to a part of someone else's posting that has nothing + particularly to do with sex, the author may append `ObSex' (or + `Obsex') and toss off a question or vignette about some unusual + erotic act. It is considered a sign of great {winnitude} when + one's Obs are more interesting than other people's whole postings. + +:Obfuscated C Contest: /n./ (in full, the `International + Obfuscated C Code Contest', or IOCCC) An annual contest run since + 1984 over Usenet by Landon Curt Noll and friends. The overall + winner is whoever produces the most unreadable, creative, and + bizarre (but working) C program; various other prizes are awarded + at the judges' whim. C's terse syntax and macro-preprocessor + facilities give contestants a lot of maneuvering room. The winning + programs often manage to be simultaneously (a) funny, (b) + breathtaking works of art, and (c) horrible examples of how + *not* to code in C. + + This relatively short and sweet entry might help convey the flavor + of obfuscated C: + + /* + * HELLO WORLD program + * by Jack Applin and Robert Heckendorn, 1985 + */ + main(v,c)char**c;{for(v[c++]="Hello, world!\n)"; + (!!c)[*c]&&(v--||--c&&execlp(*c,*c,c[!!c]+!!c,!c)); + **c=!c)write(!!*c,*c,!!**c);} + + Here's another good one: + + /* + * Program to compute an approximation of pi + * by Brian Westley, 1988 + */ + + #define _ -F<00||--F-OO--; + int F=00,OO=00; + main(){F_OO();printf("%1.3f\n",4.*-F/OO/OO);}F_OO() + { + _-_-_-_ + _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ + _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ + _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ + _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ + _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ + _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ + _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ + _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ + _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ + _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ + _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ + _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ + _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ + _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ + _-_-_-_ + } + Note that this program works by computing its own area. For more + digits, write a bigger program. See also {hello, world}. + + The IOCC has an official home page at + http://reality.sgi.com/csp/ioccc. + +:obi-wan error: /oh'bee-won` er'*r/ /n./ [RPI, from + `off-by-one' and the Obi-Wan Kenobi character in "Star + Wars"] A loop of some sort in which the index is off by 1. Common + when the index should have started from 0 but instead started from + 1. A kind of {off-by-one error}. See also {zeroth}. + +:Objectionable-C: /n./ Hackish take on "Objective-C", the + name of an object-oriented dialect of C in competition with the + better-known C++ (it is used to write native applications on the + NeXT machine). Objectionable-C uses a Smalltalk-like syntax, but + lacks the flexibility of Smalltalk method calls, and (like many + such efforts) comes frustratingly close to attaining the {Right + Thing} without actually doing so. + +:obscure: /adj./ Used in an exaggeration of its normal meaning, + to imply total incomprehensibility. "The reason for that last + crash is obscure." "The `find(1)' command's syntax is + obscure!" The phrase `moderately obscure' implies that + something could be figured out but probably isn't worth the + trouble. The construction `obscure in the extreme' is the + preferred emphatic form. + +:octal forty: /ok'tl for'tee/ /n./ Hackish way of saying + "I'm drawing a blank." Octal 40 is the {{ASCII}} space + character, 0100000; by an odd coincidence, {hex} 40 (01000000) + is the {{EBCDIC}} space character. See {wall}. + +:off the trolley: /adj./ Describes the behavior of a program + that malfunctions and goes catatonic, but doesn't actually + {crash} or abort. See {glitch}, {bug}, {deep space}. + +:off-by-one error: /n./ Exceedingly common error induced in + many ways, such as by starting at 0 when you should have started at + 1 or vice-versa, or by writing `< N' instead of `<= N' or + vice-versa. Also applied to giving something to the person next to + the one who should have gotten it. Often confounded with + {fencepost error}, which is properly a particular subtype of it. + +:offline: /adv./ Not now or not here. "Let's take this + discussion offline." Specifically used on {Usenet} to suggest + that a discussion be moved off a public newsgroup to email. + +:ogg: /og/ /v./ [CMU] 1. In the multi-player space combat + game Netrek, to execute kamikaze attacks against enemy ships which + are carrying armies or occupying strategic positions. Named during + a game in which one of the players repeatedly used the tactic while + playing Orion ship G, showing up in the player list as "Og". + This trick has been roundly denounced by those who would return to + the good old days when the tactic of dogfighting was dominant, but + as Sun Tzu wrote, "What is of supreme importance in war is to + attack the enemy's strategy." However, the traditional answer to + the newbie question "What does ogg mean?" is just "Pick up some + armies and I'll show you." 2. In other games, to forcefully + attack an opponent with the expectation that the resources expended + will be renewed faster than the opponent will be able to regain his + previous advantage. Taken more seriously as a tactic since it has + gained a simple name. 3. To do anything forcefully, possibly + without consideration of the drain on future resources. "I guess + I'd better go ogg the problem set that's due tomorrow." "Whoops! + I looked down at the map for a sec and almost ogged that oncoming + car." + +:old fart: /n./ Tribal elder. A title self-assumed with + remarkable frequency by (esp.) Usenetters who have been + programming for more than about 25 years; often appears in {sig + block}s attached to Jargon File contributions of great + archeological significance. This is a term of insult in the second + or third person but one of pride in first person. + +:Old Testament: /n./ [C programmers] The first edition of + {K&R}, the sacred text describing {Classic C}. + +:one-banana problem: /n./ At mainframe shops, where the + computers have operators for routine administrivia, the programmers + and hardware people tend to look down on the operators and claim + that a trained monkey could do their job. It is frequently + observed that the incentives that would be offered said monkeys can + be used as a scale to describe the difficulty of a task. A + one-banana problem is simple; hence, "It's only a one-banana job + at the most; what's taking them so long?" + + At IBM, folklore divides the world into one-, two-, and + three-banana problems. Other cultures have different hierarchies + and may divide them more finely; at ICL, for example, five grapes + (a bunch) equals a banana. Their upper limit for the in-house + {sysape}s is said to be two bananas and three grapes (another + source claims it's three bananas and one grape, but observes + "However, this is subject to local variations, cosmic rays and + ISO"). At a complication level any higher than that, one asks the + manufacturers to send someone around to check things. + + See also {Infinite-Monkey Theorem}. + +:one-line fix: /n./ Used (often sarcastically) of a change to a + program that is thought to be trivial or insignificant right up to + the moment it crashes the system. Usually `cured' by another + one-line fix. See also {I didn't change anything!} + +:one-liner wars: /n./ A game popular among hackers who code in + the language APL (see {write-only language} and {line + noise}). The objective is to see who can code the most interesting + and/or useful routine in one line of operators chosen from APL's + exceedingly {hairy} primitive set. A similar amusement was + practiced among {TECO} hackers and is now popular among + {Perl} aficionados. + + Ken Iverson, the inventor of APL, has been credited with a + one-liner that, given a number N, produces a list of the + prime numbers from 1 to N inclusive. It looks like this: + + (2 = 0 +.= T o.| T) / T <- iN + + where `o' is the APL null character, the assignment arrow is a + single character, and `i' represents the APL iota. + +:ooblick: /oo'blik/ /n./ [from the Dr. Seuss title + "Bartholomew and the Oobleck"; the spelling `oobleck' is still + current in the mainstream] A bizarre semi-liquid sludge made from + cornstarch and water. Enjoyed among hackers who make batches + during playtime at parties for its amusing and extremely + non-Newtonian behavior; it pours and splatters, but resists rapid + motion like a solid and will even crack when hit by a hammer. + Often found near lasers. + + Here is a field-tested ooblick recipe contributed by GLS: + +1 cup cornstarch +1 cup baking soda +3/4 cup water +N drops of food coloring + + This recipe isn't quite as non-Newtonian as a pure cornstarch + ooblick, but has an appropriately slimy feel. + + Some, however, insist that the notion of an ooblick *recipe* + is far too mechanical, and that it is best to add the water in + small increments so that the various mixed states the cornstarch + goes through as it *becomes* ooblick can be grokked in + fullness by many hands. For optional ingredients of this + experience, see the "{Ceremonial Chemicals}" section of + Appendix B. + +:op: /op/ /n./ 1. In England and Ireland, common verbal + abbreviation for `operator', as in system operator. Less common in + the U.S., where {sysop} seems to be preferred. 2. [IRC] Someone + who is endowed with privileges on {IRC}, not limited to a + particular channel. These are generally people who are in charge + of the IRC server at their particular site. Sometimes used + interchangeably with {CHOP}. Compare {sysop}. + +:open: /n./ Abbreviation for `open (or left) parenthesis' --- + used when necessary to eliminate oral ambiguity. To read aloud the + LISP form (DEFUN FOO (X) (PLUS X 1)) one might say: "Open defun + foo, open eks close, open, plus eks one, close close." + +:Open DeathTrap: /n./ Abusive hackerism for the Santa Cruz + Operation's `Open DeskTop' product, a Motif-based graphical + interface over their Unix. The funniest part is that this was + coined by SCO's own developers.... Compare {AIDX}, + {Macintrash} {Nominal Semidestructor}, {ScumOS}, + {sun-stools}, {HP-SUX}. + +:open switch: /n./ [IBM: prob. from railroading] An + unresolved question, issue, or problem. + +:operating system:: /n./ [techspeak] (Often abbreviated `OS') + The foundation software of a machine, of course; that which + schedules tasks, allocates storage, and presents a default + interface to the user between applications. The facilities an + operating system provides and its general design philosophy exert + an extremely strong influence on programming style and on the + technical cultures that grow up around its host machines. Hacker + folklore has been shaped primarily by the {{Unix}}, {{ITS}}, + {{TOPS-10}}, {{TOPS-20}}/{{TWENEX}}, {{WAITS}}, {{CP/M}}, + {{MS-DOS}}, and {{Multics}} operating systems (most importantly + by ITS and Unix). + +:optical diff: /n./ See {vdiff}. + +:optical grep: /n./ See {vgrep}. + +:optimism: /n./ What a programmer is full of after fixing the + last bug and before discovering the *next* last bug. Fred + Brooks's book "The Mythical Man-Month" (See "Brooks's + Law") contains the following paragraph that describes this + extremely well: + + All programmers are optimists. Perhaps this modern sorcery + especially attracts those who believe in happy endings and fairy + godmothers. Perhaps the hundreds of nitty frustrations drive + away all but those who habitually focus on the end goal. Perhaps + it is merely that computers are young, programmers are younger, + and the young are always optimists. But however the selection + process works, the result is indisputable: "This time it will + surely run," or "I just found the last bug.". + + See also {Lubarsky's Law of Cybernetic Entomology}. + +:Orange Book: /n./ The U.S. Government's standards document + "Trusted Computer System Evaluation Criteria, DOD standard + 5200.28-STD, December, 1985" which characterize secure computing + architectures and defines levels A1 (most secure) through D + (least). Stock Unixes are roughly C1, and can be upgraded to about + C2 without excessive pain. See also {{crayola books}}, {{book + titles}}. + +:oriental food:: /n./ Hackers display an intense tropism + towards oriental cuisine, especially Chinese, and especially of the + spicier varieties such as Szechuan and Hunan. This phenomenon + (which has also been observed in subcultures that overlap heavily + with hackerdom, most notably science-fiction fandom) has never been + satisfactorily explained, but is sufficiently intense that one can + assume the target of a hackish dinner expedition to be the best + local Chinese place and be right at least three times out of four. + See also {ravs}, {great-wall}, {stir-fried random}, + {laser chicken}, {Yu-Shiang Whole Fish}. Thai, Indian, + Korean, and Vietnamese cuisines are also quite popular. + +:orphan: /n./ [Unix] A process whose parent has died; one + inherited by `init(1)'. Compare {zombie}. + +:orphaned i-node: /or'f*nd i:'nohd/ /n./ [Unix] + 1. [techspeak] A file that retains storage but no longer appears in + the directories of a filesystem. 2. By extension, a pejorative for + any person no longer serving a useful function within some + organization, esp. {lion food} without subordinates. + +:orthogonal: /adj./ [from mathematics] Mutually independent; + well separated; sometimes, irrelevant to. Used in a generalization + of its mathematical meaning to describe sets of primitives or + capabilities that, like a vector basis in geometry, span the entire + `capability space' of the system and are in some sense + non-overlapping or mutually independent. For example, in + architectures such as the PDP-11 or VAX where all or nearly all + registers can be used interchangeably in any role with respect to + any instruction, the register set is said to be orthogonal. Or, in + logic, the set of operators `not' and `or' is orthogonal, but + the set `nand', `or', and `not' is not (because any one of + these can be expressed in terms of the others). Also used in + comments on human discourse: "This may be orthogonal to the + discussion, but...." + +:OS: /O-S/ 1. [Operating System] /n./ An abbreviation heavily + used in email, occasionally in speech. 2. /n. obs./ On ITS, an + output spy. See "{OS and JEDGAR}" in Appendix A. + +:OS/2: /O S too/ /n./ The anointed successor to MS-DOS for + Intel 286- and 386-based micros; proof that IBM/Microsoft couldn't + get it right the second time, either. Often called `Half-an-OS'. + Mentioning it is usually good for a cheap laugh among hackers --- + the design was so {baroque}, and the implementation of 1.x so + bad, that 3 years after introduction you could still count the + major {app}s shipping for it on the fingers of two hands -- in + unary. The 2.x versions are said to have improved somewhat, and + informed hackers now rate them superior to Microsoft Windows (an + endorsement which, however, could easily be construed as damning + with faint praise). See {monstrosity}, {cretinous}, + {second-system effect}. + +:OSU: /O-S-U/ /n. obs./ [TMRC] Acronym for Officially + Sanctioned User; a user who is recognized as such by the computer + authorities and allowed to use the computer above the objections of + the security monitor. + +:OTOH: // [USENET] On The Other Hand. + +:out-of-band: /adj./ [from telecommunications and network + theory] 1. In software, describes values of a function which are + not in its `natural' range of return values, but are rather + signals that some kind of exception has occurred. Many C + functions, for example, return a nonnegative integral value, but + indicate failure with an out-of-band return value of -1. + Compare {hidden flag}, {green bytes}, {fence}. 2. Also + sometimes used to describe what communications people call + `shift characters', such as the ESC that leads control sequences + for many terminals, or the level shift indicators in the old 5-bit + Baudot codes. 3. In personal communication, using methods other + than email, such as telephones or {snail-mail}. + +:overflow bit: /n./ 1. [techspeak] A {flag} on some + processors indicating an attempt to calculate a result too large + for a register to hold. 2. More generally, an indication of any + kind of capacity overload condition. "Well, the {{Ada}} + description was {baroque} all right, but I could hack it OK + until they got to the exception handling ... that set my + overflow bit." 3. The hypothetical bit that will be set if a + hacker doesn't get to make a trip to the Room of Porcelain + Fixtures: "I'd better process an internal interrupt before the + overflow bit gets set". + +:overflow pdl: /n./ [MIT] The place where you put things when + your {pdl} is full. If you don't have one and too many things + get pushed, you forget something. The overflow pdl for a person's + memory might be a memo pad. This usage inspired the following + doggerel: + + Hey, diddle, diddle + The overflow pdl + To get a little more stack; + If that's not enough + Then you lose it all, + And have to pop all the way back. + --The Great Quux + + The term {pdl} seems to be primarily an MITism; outside MIT this + term is replaced by `overflow {stack}'. + +:overrun: /n./ 1. [techspeak] Term for a frequent consequence + of data arriving faster than it can be consumed, esp. in serial + line communications. For example, at 9600 baud there is almost + exactly one character per millisecond, so if a {silo} can hold + only two characters and the machine takes longer than 2 msec to get + to service the interrupt, at least one character will be lost. + 2. Also applied to non-serial-I/O communications. "I forgot to + pay my electric bill due to mail overrun." "Sorry, I got four + phone calls in 3 minutes last night and lost your message to + overrun." When {thrash}ing at tasks, the next person to make a + request might be told "Overrun!" Compare {firehose syndrome}. + 3. More loosely, may refer to a {buffer overflow} not + necessarily related to processing time (as in {overrun screw}). + +:overrun screw: /n./ [C programming] A variety of {fandango + on core} produced by scribbling past the end of an array (C + implementations typically have no checks for this error). This is + relatively benign and easy to spot if the array is static; if it is + auto, the result may be to {smash the stack} -- often resulting + in {heisenbug}s of the most diabolical subtlety. The term + `overrun screw' is used esp. of scribbles beyond the end of + arrays allocated with `malloc(3)'; this typically trashes the + allocation header for the next block in the {arena}, producing + massive lossage within malloc and often a core dump on the next + operation to use `stdio(3)' or `malloc(3)' itself. See + {spam}, {overrun}; see also {memory leak}, {memory + smash}, {aliasing bug}, {precedence lossage}, {fandango on + core}, {secondary damage}. + += P = +===== + +:P-mail: /n./ Physical mail, as opposed to {email}. + Synonymous with {snail-mail}, but much less common. + +:P.O.D.: /P-O-D/ Acronym for `Piece Of Data' (as opposed + to a code section). Usage: pedantic and rare. See also {pod}. + +:padded cell: /n./ Where you put {luser}s so they can't hurt + anything. A program that limits a luser to a carefully restricted + subset of the capabilities of the host system (for example, the + `rsh(1)' utility on USG Unix). Note that this is different + from an {iron box} because it is overt and not aimed at + enforcing security so much as protecting others (and the luser) + from the consequences of the luser's boundless naivete (see + {naive}). Also `padded cell environment'. + +:page in: /v./ [MIT] 1. To become aware of one's surroundings + again after having paged out (see {page out}). Usually confined + to the sarcastic comment: "Eric pages in, {film at 11}!" + 2. Syn. `swap in'; see {swap}. + +:page out: /vi./ [MIT] 1. To become unaware of one's + surroundings temporarily, due to daydreaming or preoccupation. + "Can you repeat that? I paged out for a minute." See {page + in}. Compare {glitch}, {thinko}. 2. Syn. `swap out'; see + {swap}. + +:pain in the net: /n./ A {flamer}. + +:Pangloss parity: /n./ [from Dr. Pangloss, the eternal optimist + in Voltaire's "Candide"] In corporate DP shops, a common + condition of severe but equally shared {lossage} resulting from + the theory that as long as everyone in the organization has the + exactly the *same* model of obsolete computer, everything will + be fine. + +:paper-net: /n./ Hackish way of referring to the postal + service, analogizing it to a very slow, low-reliability network. + Usenet {sig block}s sometimes include a "Paper-Net:" header + just before the sender's postal address; common variants of this + are "Papernet" and "P-Net". Note that the standard + {netiquette} guidelines discourage this practice as a waste of + bandwidth, since netters are quite unlikely to casually use postal + addresses. Compare {voice-net}, {snail-mail}, {P-mail}. + +:param: /p*-ram'/ /n./ Shorthand for `parameter'. See + also {parm}; compare {arg}, {var}. + +:PARC: /n./ See {XEROX PARC}. + +:parent message: /n./ What a {followup} follows up. + +:parity errors: /pl.n./ Little lapses of attention or (in more + severe cases) consciousness, usually brought on by having spent all + night and most of the next day hacking. "I need to go home and + crash; I'm starting to get a lot of parity errors." Derives from + a relatively common but nearly always correctable transient error + in RAM hardware. Parity errors can also afflict mass storage and + serial communication lines; this is more serious because not always + correctable. + +:Parkinson's Law of Data: /prov./ "Data expands to fill the + space available for storage"; buying more memory encourages the + use of more memory-intensive techniques. It has been observed over + the last 10 years that the memory usage of evolving systems tends + to double roughly once every 18 months. Fortunately, memory + density available for constant dollars also tends to double about + once every 12 months (see {Moore's Law}); unfortunately, the + laws of physics guarantee that the latter cannot continue + indefinitely. + +:parm: /parm/ /n./ Further-compressed form of {param}. + This term is an IBMism, and written use is almost unknown + outside IBM shops; spoken /parm/ is more widely distributed, but + the synonym {arg} is favored among hackers. Compare {arg}, + {var}. + +:parse: [from linguistic terminology] /vt./ 1. To determine the + syntactic structure of a sentence or other utterance (close to the + standard English meaning). "That was the one I saw you." "I + can't parse that." 2. More generally, to understand or + comprehend. "It's very simple; you just kretch the glims and then + aos the zotz." "I can't parse that." 3. Of fish, to have to + remove the bones yourself. "I object to parsing fish", means "I + don't want to get a whole fish, but a sliced one is okay". A + `parsed fish' has been deboned. There is some controversy over + whether `unparsed' should mean `bony', or also mean + `deboned'. + +:Pascal:: /n./ An Algol-descended language designed by Niklaus + Wirth on the CDC 6600 around 1967--68 as an instructional tool for + elementary programming. This language, designed primarily to keep + students from shooting themselves in the foot and thus extremely + restrictive from a general-purpose-programming point of view, was + later promoted as a general-purpose tool and, in fact, became the + ancestor of a large family of languages including Modula-2 and + {{Ada}} (see also {bondage-and-discipline language}). The + hackish point of view on Pascal was probably best summed up by a + devastating (and, in its deadpan way, screamingly funny) 1981 paper + by Brian Kernighan (of {K&R} fame) entitled "Why Pascal is + Not My Favorite Programming Language", which was turned down by the + technical journals but circulated widely via photocopies. It was + eventually published in "Comparing and Assessing Programming + Languages", edited by Alan Feuer and Narain Gehani (Prentice-Hall, + 1984). Part of his discussion is worth repeating here, because its + criticisms are still apposite to Pascal itself after ten years of + improvement and could also stand as an indictment of many other + bondage-and-discipline languages. At the end of a summary of the + case against Pascal, Kernighan wrote: + + 9. There is no escape + + This last point is perhaps the most important. The language is + inadequate but circumscribed, because there is no way to escape + its limitations. There are no casts to disable the type-checking + when necessary. There is no way to replace the defective + run-time environment with a sensible one, unless one controls the + compiler that defines the "standard procedures". The language is + closed. + + People who use Pascal for serious programming fall into a fatal + trap. Because the language is impotent, it must be extended. + But each group extends Pascal in its own direction, to make it + look like whatever language they really want. Extensions for + separate compilation, FORTRAN-like COMMON, string data types, + internal static variables, initialization, octal numbers, bit + operators, etc., all add to the utility of the language for one + group but destroy its portability to others. + + I feel that it is a mistake to use Pascal for anything much + beyond its original target. In its pure form, Pascal is a toy + language, suitable for teaching but not for real programming. + + Pascal has since been almost entirely displaced (by {C}) from the + niches it had acquired in serious applications and systems + programming, but retains some popularity as a hobbyist language in + the MS-DOS and Macintosh worlds. + +:pastie: /pay'stee/ /n./ An adhesive-backed label designed to + be attached to a key on a keyboard to indicate some non-standard + character which can be accessed through that key. Pasties are + likely to be used in APL environments, where almost every key is + associated with a special character. A pastie on the R key, for + example, might remind the user that it is used to generate the + rho character. The term properly refers to + nipple-concealing devices formerly worn by strippers in concession + to indecent-exposure laws; compare {tits on a keyboard}. + +:patch: 1. /n./ A temporary addition to a piece of code, + usually as a {quick-and-dirty} remedy to an existing bug or + misfeature. A patch may or may not work, and may or may not + eventually be incorporated permanently into the program. + Distinguished from a {diff} or {mod} by the fact that a patch + is generated by more primitive means than the rest of the program; + the classical examples are instructions modified by using the front + panel switches, and changes made directly to the binary executable + of a program originally written in an {HLL}. Compare + {one-line fix}. 2. /vt./ To insert a patch into a piece of code. + 3. [in the Unix world] /n./ A {diff} (sense 2). 4. A set of + modifications to binaries to be applied by a patching program. IBM + operating systems often receive updates to the operating system in + the form of absolute hexadecimal patches. If you have modified + your OS, you have to disassemble these back to the source. The + patches might later be corrected by other patches on top of them + (patches were said to "grow scar tissue"). The result was often + a convoluted {patch space} and headaches galore. 5. [Unix] the + `patch(1)' program, written by Larry Wall, which automatically + applies a patch (sense 3) to a set of source code. + + There is a classic story of a {tiger team} penetrating a secure + military computer that illustrates the danger inherent in binary + patches (or, indeed, any patches that you can't -- or don't --- + inspect and examine before installing). They couldn't find any + {trap door}s or any way to penetrate security of IBM's OS, so + they made a site visit to an IBM office (remember, these were + official military types who were purportedly on official business), + swiped some IBM stationery, and created a fake patch. The patch + was actually the trapdoor they needed. The patch was distributed + at about the right time for an IBM patch, had official stationery + and all accompanying documentation, and was dutifully installed. + The installation manager very shortly thereafter learned something + about proper procedures. + +:patch space: /n./ An unused block of bits left in a binary so + that it can later be modified by insertion of machine-language + instructions there (typically, the patch space is modified to + contain new code, and the superseded code is patched to contain a + jump or call to the patch space). The widening use of HLLs has + made this term rare; it is now primarily historical outside IBM + shops. See {patch} (sense 4), {zap} (sense 4), {hook}. + +:path: /n./ 1. A {bang path} or explicitly routed + {{Internet address}}; a node-by-node specification of a link + between two machines. 2. [Unix] A filename, fully specified + relative to the root directory (as opposed to relative to the + current directory; the latter is sometimes called a `relative + path'). This is also called a `pathname'. 3. [Unix and MS-DOS] + The `search path', an environment variable specifying the + directories in which the {shell} (COMMAND.COM, under MS-DOS) + should look for commands. Other, similar constructs abound under + Unix (for example, the C preprocessor has a `search path' it + uses in looking for `#include' files). + +:pathological: /adj./ 1. [scientific computation] Used of a + data set that is grossly atypical of normal expected input, esp. + one that exposes a weakness or bug in whatever algorithm one is + using. An algorithm that can be broken by pathological inputs may + still be useful if such inputs are very unlikely to occur in + practice. 2. When used of test input, implies that it was + purposefully engineered as a worst case. The implication in both + senses is that the data is spectacularly ill-conditioned or that + someone had to explicitly set out to break the algorithm in order + to come up with such a crazy example. 3. Also said of an unlikely + collection of circumstances. "If the network is down and comes up + halfway through the execution of that command by root, the system + may just crash." "Yes, but that's a pathological case." Often + used to dismiss the case from discussion, with the implication that + the consequences are acceptable, since they will happen so + infrequently (if at all) that it doesn't seem worth going to the + extra trouble to handle that case (see sense 1). + +:payware: /pay'weir/ /n./ Commercial software. Oppose + {shareware} or {freeware}. + +:PBD: /P-B-D/ /n./ [abbrev. of `Programmer Brain Damage'] + Applied to bug reports revealing places where the program was + obviously broken by an incompetent or short-sighted programmer. + Compare {UBD}; see also {brain-damaged}. + +:PC-ism: /P-C-izm/ /n./ A piece of code or coding technique + that takes advantage of the unprotected single-tasking environment + in IBM PCs and the like, e.g., by busy-waiting on a hardware + register, direct diddling of screen memory, or using hard timing + loops. Compare {ill-behaved}, {vaxism}, {unixism}. Also, + `PC-ware' n., a program full of PC-isms on a machine with a more + capable operating system. Pejorative. + +:PD: /P-D/ /adj./ Common abbreviation for `public domain', + applied to software distributed over {Usenet} and from Internet + archive sites. Much of this software is not in fact public domain + in the legal sense but travels under various copyrights granting + reproduction and use rights to anyone who can {snarf} a copy. + See {copyleft}. + +:PDL: /P-D-L/, /pid'l/, /p*d'l/ or /puhd'l/ + 1. /n./ `Program Design Language'. Any of a large class of formal + and profoundly useless pseudo-languages in which {management} + forces one to design programs. Too often, management expects PDL + descriptions to be maintained in parallel with the code, imposing + massive overhead to little or no benefit. See also {{flowchart}}. + 2. /v./ To design using a program design language. "I've been + pdling so long my eyes won't focus beyond 2 feet." 3. /n./ `Page + Description Language'. Refers to any language which is used to + control a graphics device, usually a laserprinter. The most common + example is, of course, Adobe's {{PostScript}} language, but there + are many others, such as Xerox InterPress, etc. + +:pdl: /pid'l/ or /puhd'l/ /n./ [abbreviation for `Push Down + List'] 1. In ITS days, the preferred MITism for {stack}. See + {overflow pdl}. 2. Dave Lebling, one of the co-authors of + {Zork}; (his {network address} on the ITS machines was at one + time pdl@dms). 3. Rarely, any sense of {PDL}, as these are not + invariably capitalized. + +:PDP-10: /n./ [Programmed Data Processor model 10] The machine + that made timesharing real. It looms large in hacker folklore + because of its adoption in the mid-1970s by many university + computing facilities and research labs, including the MIT AI Lab, + Stanford, and CMU. Some aspects of the instruction set (most + notably the bit-field instructions) are still considered + unsurpassed. The 10 was eventually eclipsed by the VAX machines + (descendants of the PDP-11) when DEC recognized that the 10 and VAX + product lines were competing with each other and decided to + concentrate its software development effort on the more profitable + VAX. The machine was finally dropped from DEC's line in 1983, + following the failure of the Jupiter Project at DEC to build a + viable new model. (Some attempts by other companies to market + clones came to nothing; see {Foonly} and {Mars}.) This event + spelled the doom of {{ITS}} and the technical cultures that had + spawned the original Jargon File, but by mid-1991 it had become + something of a badge of honorable old-timerhood among hackers to + have cut one's teeth on a PDP-10. See {{TOPS-10}}, {{ITS}}, + {AOS}, {BLT}, {DDT}, {DPB}, {EXCH}, {HAKMEM}, + {JFCL}, {LDB}, {pop}, {push}. + +:PDP-20: /n./ The most famous computer that never was. + {PDP-10} computers running the {{TOPS-10}} operating system + were labeled `DECsystem-10' as a way of differentiating them from + the PDP-11. Later on, those systems running {TOPS-20} were labeled + `DECSYSTEM-20' (the block capitals being the result of a lawsuit + brought against DEC by Singer, which once made a computer called + `system-10'), but contrary to popular lore there was never a + `PDP-20'; the only difference between a 10 and a 20 was the + operating system and the color of the paint. Most (but not all) + machines sold to run TOPS-10 were painted `Basil Blue', whereas + most TOPS-20 machines were painted `Chinese Red' (often mistakenly + called orange). + +:peek: /n.,vt./ (and {poke}) The commands in most + microcomputer BASICs for directly accessing memory contents at an + absolute address; often extended to mean the corresponding + constructs in any {HLL} (peek reads memory, poke modifies it). + Much hacking on small, non-MMU micros consists of `peek'ing + around memory, more or less at random, to find the location where + the system keeps interesting stuff. Long (and variably accurate) + lists of such addresses for various computers circulate (see + {{interrupt list, the}}). The results of `poke's at these + addresses may be highly useful, mildly amusing, useless but neat, + or (most likely) total {lossage} (see {killer poke}). + + Since a {real operating system} provides useful, higher-level + services for the tasks commonly performed with peeks and pokes on + micros, and real languages tend not to encourage low-level memory + groveling, a question like "How do I do a peek in C?" is + diagnostic of the {newbie}. (Of course, OS kernels often have to + do exactly this; a real C hacker would unhesitatingly, if + unportably, assign an absolute address to a pointer variable and + indirect through it.) + +:pencil and paper: /n./ An archaic information storage and + transmission device that works by depositing smears of graphite on + bleached wood pulp. More recent developments in paper-based + technology include improved `write-once' update devices which use + tiny rolling heads similar to mouse balls to deposit colored + pigment. All these devices require an operator skilled at + so-called `handwriting' technique. These technologies are + ubiquitous outside hackerdom, but nearly forgotten inside it. Most + hackers had terrible handwriting to begin with, and years of + keyboarding tend to have encouraged it to degrade further. Perhaps + for this reason, hackers deprecate pencil-and-paper technology and + often resist using it in any but the most trivial contexts. + +:peon: /n./ A person with no special ({root} or {wheel}) + privileges on a computer system. "I can't create an account on + *foovax* for you; I'm only a peon there." + +:percent-S: /per-sent' es'/ /n./ [From the code in C's + `printf(3)' library function used to insert an arbitrary + string argument] An unspecified person or object. "I was just + talking to some percent-s in administration." Compare + {random}. + +:perf: /perf/ /n./ Syn. {chad} (sense 1). The term + `perfory' /per'f*-ree/ is also heard. The term {perf} may + also refer to the perforations themselves, rather than the chad + they produce when torn (philatelists use it this way). + +:perfect programmer syndrome: /n./ Arrogance; the egotistical + conviction that one is above normal human error. Most frequently + found among programmers of some native ability but relatively + little experience (especially new graduates; their perceptions may + be distorted by a history of excellent performance at solving + {toy problem}s). "Of course my program is correct, there is no + need to test it." "Yes, I can see there may be a problem here, + but *I'll* never type `rm -r /' while in {root + mode}." + +:Perl: /perl/ /n./ [Practical Extraction and Report Language, + a.k.a. Pathologically Eclectic Rubbish Lister] An interpreted + language developed by Larry Wall (<lwall@jpl.nasa.gov>, author + of `patch(1)' and `rn(1)') and distributed over Usenet. + Superficially resembles {awk}, but is much hairier, including + many facilities reminiscent of `sed(1)' and shells and a + comprehensive Unix system-call interface. Unix sysadmins, who are + almost always incorrigible hackers, increasingly consider it one of + the {languages of choice}. Perl has been described, in a parody + of a famous remark about `lex(1)', as the "Swiss-Army + chainsaw" of Unix programming. See also {Camel Book}. + +:person of no account: /n./ [University of California at Santa + Cruz] Used when referring to a person with no {network address}, + frequently to forestall confusion. Most often as part of an + introduction: "This is Bill, a person of no account, but he used + to be bill@random.com". Compare {return from the + dead}. + +:pessimal: /pes'im-l/ /adj./ [Latin-based antonym for + `optimal'] Maximally bad. "This is a pessimal situation." + Also `pessimize' /vt./ To make as bad as possible. These words are + the obvious Latin-based antonyms for `optimal' and `optimize', + but for some reason they do not appear in most English + dictionaries, although `pessimize' is listed in the OED. + +:pessimizing compiler: /pes'*-mi:z`ing k*m-pi:l'r/ /n./ A + compiler that produces object [antonym of `optimizing compiler'] + code that is worse than the straightforward or obvious hand + translation. The implication is that the compiler is actually + trying to optimize the program, but through excessive cleverness is + doing the opposite. A few pessimizing compilers have been written + on purpose, however, as pranks or burlesques. + +:peta-: /pe't*/ pref [SI] See {{quantifiers}}. + +:PETSCII: /pet'skee/ /n. obs./ [abbreviation of PET ASCII] The + variation (many would say perversion) of the {{ASCII}} character + set used by the Commodore Business Machines PET series of personal + computers and the later Commodore C64, C16, and C128 machines. The + PETSCII set used left-arrow and up-arrow (as in old-style ASCII) + instead of underscore and caret, placed the unshifted alphabet at + positions 65--90, put the shifted alphabet at positions 193--218, + and added graphics characters. + +:phage: /n./ A program that modifies other programs or + databases in unauthorized ways; esp. one that propagates a + {virus} or {Trojan horse}. See also {worm}, + {mockingbird}. The analogy, of course, is with phage viruses in + biology. + +:phase: 1. /n./ The offset of one's waking-sleeping schedule + with respect to the standard 24-hour cycle; a useful concept among + people who often work at night and/or according to no fixed + schedule. It is not uncommon to change one's phase by as much as 6 + hours per day on a regular basis. "What's your phase?" "I've + been getting in about 8 P.M. lately, but I'm going to {wrap + around} to the day schedule by Friday." A person who is roughly + 12 hours out of phase is sometimes said to be in `night mode'. + (The term `day mode' is also (but less frequently) used, meaning + you're working 9 to 5 (or, more likely, 10 to 6).) The act of + altering one's cycle is called `changing phase'; `phase + shifting' has also been recently reported from Caltech. + 2. `change phase the hard way': To stay awake for a very long + time in order to get into a different phase. 3. `change phase + the easy way': To stay asleep, etc. However, some claim that + either staying awake longer or sleeping longer is easy, and that it + is *shortening* your day or night that is really hard (see + {wrap around}). The `jet lag' that afflicts travelers who + cross many time-zone boundaries may be attributed to two distinct + causes: the strain of travel per se, and the strain of changing + phase. Hackers who suddenly find that they must change phase + drastically in a short period of time, particularly the hard way, + experience something very like jet lag without traveling. + +:phase of the moon: /n./ Used humorously as a random parameter + on which something is said to depend. Sometimes implies + unreliability of whatever is dependent, or that reliability seems + to be dependent on conditions nobody has been able to determine. + "This feature depends on having the channel open in mumble mode, + having the foo switch set, and on the phase of the moon." See + also {heisenbug}. + + True story: Once upon a time there was a bug that really did depend + on the phase of the moon. There was a little subroutine that had + traditionally been used in various programs at MIT to calculate an + approximation to the moon's true phase. GLS incorporated this + routine into a LISP program that, when it wrote out a file, would + print a timestamp line almost 80 characters long. Very + occasionally the first line of the message would be too long and + would overflow onto the next line, and when the file was later read + back in the program would {barf}. The length of the first line + depended on both the precise date and time and the length of the + phase specification when the timestamp was printed, and so the bug + literally depended on the phase of the moon! + + The first paper edition of the Jargon File (Steele-1983) included + an example of one of the timestamp lines that exhibited this bug, + but the typesetter `corrected' it. This has since been + described as the phase-of-the-moon-bug bug. + +:phase-wrapping: /n./ [MIT] Syn. {wrap around}, sense 2. + +:phreaker: /freek'r/ /n./ One who engages in + {phreaking}. + +:phreaking: /freek'ing/ /n./ [from `phone phreak'] 1. The + art and science of {cracking} the phone network (so as, for + example, to make free long-distance calls). 2. By extension, + security-cracking in any other context (especially, but not + exclusively, on communications networks) (see {cracking}). + + At one time phreaking was a semi-respectable activity among + hackers; there was a gentleman's agreement that phreaking as an + intellectual game and a form of exploration was OK, but serious + theft of services was taboo. There was significant crossover + between the hacker community and the hard-core phone phreaks who + ran semi-underground networks of their own through such media as + the legendary "TAP Newsletter". This ethos began to break + down in the mid-1980s as wider dissemination of the techniques put + them in the hands of less responsible phreaks. Around the same + time, changes in the phone network made old-style technical + ingenuity less effective as a way of hacking it, so phreaking came + to depend more on overtly criminal acts such as stealing phone-card + numbers. The crimes and punishments of gangs like the `414 group' + turned that game very ugly. A few old-time hackers still phreak + casually just to keep their hand in, but most these days have + hardly even heard of `blue boxes' or any of the other + paraphernalia of the great phreaks of yore. + +:pico-: /pref./ [SI: a quantifier + meaning * 10^-12] + Smaller than {nano-}; used in the same rather loose + connotative way as {nano-} and {micro-}. This usage is not yet + common in the way {nano-} and {micro-} are, but should be + instantly recognizable to any hacker. See also {{quantifiers}}, + {micro-}. + +:pig, run like a: /v./ To run very slowly on given hardware, + said of software. Distinct from {hog}. + +:pilot error: /n./ [Sun: from aviation] A user's + misconfiguration or misuse of a piece of software, producing + apparently buglike results (compare {UBD}). "Joe Luser + reported a bug in sendmail that causes it to generate bogus + headers." "That's not a bug, that's pilot error. His + `sendmail.cf' is hosed." + +:ping: [from the submariners' term for a sonar pulse] 1. n. + Slang term for a small network message (ICMP ECHO) sent by a + computer to check for the presence and alertness of another. The + Unix command `ping(8)' can be used to do this manually (note + that `ping(8)''s author denies the widespread folk etymology + that the name was ever intended as acronym `Packet INternet + Groper'). Occasionally used as a phone greeting. See {ACK}, + also {ENQ}. 2. /vt./ To verify the presence of. 3. /vt./ To get + the attention of. 4. /vt./ To send a message to all members of a + {mailing list} requesting an {ACK} (in order to verify that + everybody's addresses are reachable). "We haven't heard much of + anything from Geoff, but he did respond with an ACK both times I + pinged jargon-friends." 5. /n./ A quantum packet of happiness. + People who are very happy tend to exude pings; furthermore, one can + intentionally create pings and aim them at a needy party (e.g., a + depressed person). This sense of ping may appear as an + exclamation; "Ping!" (I'm happy; I am emitting a quantum of + happiness; I have been struck by a quantum of happiness). The form + "pingfulness", which is used to describe people who exude pings, + also occurs. (In the standard abuse of language, "pingfulness" + can also be used as an exclamation, in which case it's a much + stronger exclamation than just "ping"!). Oppose {blargh}. + + The funniest use of `ping' to date was described in January 1991 by + Steve Hayman on the Usenet group comp.sys.next. He was trying + to isolate a faulty cable segment on a TCP/IP Ethernet hooked up to + a NeXT machine, and got tired of having to run back to his console + after each cabling tweak to see if the ping packets were getting + through. So he used the sound-recording feature on the NeXT, then + wrote a script that repeatedly invoked `ping(8)', listened for + an echo, and played back the recording on each returned packet. + Result? A program that caused the machine to repeat, over and + over, "Ping ... ping ... ping ..." as long as the + network was up. He turned the volume to maximum, ferreted through + the building with one ear cocked, and found a faulty tee connector + in no time. + +:Pink-Shirt Book: "The Peter Norton Programmer's Guide + to the IBM PC". The original cover featured a picture of Peter + Norton with a silly smirk on his face, wearing a pink shirt. + Perhaps in recognition of this usage, the current edition has a + different picture of Norton wearing a pink shirt. See also + {{book titles}}. + +:PIP: /pip/ vt.,obs. [Peripheral Interchange Program] To + copy; from the program PIP on CP/M, RSX-11, RSTS/E, TOPS-10, and + OS/8 (derived from a utility on the PDP-6) that was used for file + copying (and in OS/8 and RT-11 for just about every other file + operation you might want to do). It is said that when the program + was originated, during the development of the PDP-6 in 1963, it was + called ATLATL (`Anything, Lord, to Anything, Lord'; this played on + the Nahuatl word `atlatl' for a spear-thrower, with connotations + of utility and primitivity that were no doubt quite intentional). + See also {BLT}, {dd}, {cat}. + +:pistol: /n./ [IBM] A tool that makes it all too easy for you to + shoot yourself in the foot. "Unix `rm *' makes such a nice + pistol!" + +:pixel sort: /n./ [Commodore users] Any compression routine + which irretrievably loses valuable data in the process of + {crunch}ing it. Disparagingly used for `lossy' methods such as + JPEG. The theory, of course, is that these methods are only used on + photographic images in which minor loss-of-data is not visible to + the human eye. The term `pixel sort' implies distrust of this + theory. Compare {bogo-sort}. + +:pizza box: /n./ [Sun] The largish thin box housing the electronics + in (especially Sun) desktop workstations, so named because of its + size and shape and the dimpled pattern that looks like air holes. + + Two meg single-platter removable disk packs used to be called + pizzas, and the huge drive they were stuck into was referred to as + a pizza oven. It's an index of progress that in the old days just + the disk was pizza-sized, while now the entire computer is. + +:pizza, ANSI standard: /an'see stan'd*rd peet'z*/ [CMU] + Pepperoni and mushroom pizza. Coined allegedly because most pizzas + ordered by CMU hackers during some period leading up to mid-1990 + were of that flavor. See also {rotary debugger}; compare + {tea, ISO standard cup of}. + +:plaid screen: /n./ [XEROX PARC] A `special effect' that + occurs when certain kinds of {memory smash}es overwrite the + control blocks or image memory of a bit-mapped display. The term + "salt and pepper" may refer to a different pattern of similar + origin. Though the term as coined at PARC refers to the result of + an error, some of the {X} demos induce plaid-screen effects + deliberately as a {display hack}. + +:plain-ASCII: /playn-as'kee/ Syn. {flat-ASCII}. + +:plan file: /n./ [Unix] On systems that support {finger}, the + `.plan' file in a user's home directory is displayed when the user + is fingered. This feature was originally intended to be used to + keep potential fingerers apprised of one's location and near-future + plans, but has been turned almost universally to humorous and + self-expressive purposes (like a {sig block}). See also + {Hacking X for Y}. + + A recent innovation in plan files has been the introduction of + "scrolling plan files" which are one-dimensional animations made + using only the printable ASCII character set, carriage return and + line feed, avoiding terminal specific escape sequences, since the + {finger} command will (for security reasons; see + {letterbomb}) not pass the escape character. + + Scrolling .plan files have become art forms in miniature, and some + sites have started competitions to find who can create the longest + running, funniest, and most original animations. Various animation + characters include: + +Centipede: + mmmmme +Lorry/Truck: + oo-oP +Andalusian Video Snail: + _@/ + + and a compiler (ASP) is available on Usenet for producing them. + See also {twirling baton}. + +:platinum-iridium: /adj./ Standard, against which all others of + the same category are measured. Usage: silly. The notion is that + one of whatever it is has actually been cast in platinum-iridium + alloy and placed in the vault beside the Standard Kilogram at the + International Bureau of Weights and Measures near Paris. (From + 1889 to 1960, the meter was defined to be the distance between two + scratches in a platinum-iridium bar kept in that same vault --- + this replaced an earlier definition as 10^(-7) times the + distance between the North Pole and the Equator along a meridian + through Paris; unfortunately, this had been based on an inexact + value of the circumference of the Earth. From 1960 to 1984 it was + defined to be 1650763.73 wavelengths of the orange-red line of + krypton-86 propagating in a vacuum. It is now defined as the + length of the path traveled by light in a vacuum in the time + interval of 1/299,792,458 of a second. The kilogram is now the + only unit of measure officially defined in terms of a unique + artifact.) "This garbage-collection algorithm has been tested + against the platinum-iridium cons cell in Paris." Compare + {golden}. + +:playpen: /n./ [IBM] A room where programmers work. Compare {salt + mines}. + +:playte: /playt/ 16 bits, by analogy with {nybble} and + {{byte}}. Usage: rare and extremely silly. See also {dynner} + and {crumb}. General discussion of such terms is under + {nybble}. + +:plingnet: /pling'net/ /n./ Syn. {UUCPNET}. Also see + {{Commonwealth Hackish}}, which uses `pling' for {bang} (as + in {bang path}). + +:plokta: /plok't*/ /v./ [acronym: Press Lots Of Keys To + Abort] To press random keys in an attempt to get some response + from the system. One might plokta when the abort procedure for a + program is not known, or when trying to figure out if the system is + just sluggish or really hung. Plokta can also be used while trying + to figure out any unknown key sequence for a particular operation. + Someone going into `plokta mode' usually places both hands flat + on the keyboard and mashes them down, hoping for some useful + response. + + A slightly more directed form of plokta can often be seen in mail + messages or Usenet articles from new users -- the text might end + with + + ^X^C + q + quit + :q + ^C + end + x + exit + ZZ + ^D + ? + help + + as the user vainly tries to find the right exit sequence, with the + incorrect tries piling up at the end of the message.... + +:plonk: /excl.,vt./ [Usenet: possibly influenced by British + slang `plonk' for cheap booze, or `plonker' for someone + behaving stupidly (latter is lit. equivalent to Yiddish + `schmuck')] The sound a {newbie} makes as he falls to the + bottom of a {kill file}. While it originated in the + {newsgroup} talk.bizarre, this term (usually written + "*plonk*") is now (1994) widespread on Usenet as a form of public + ridicule. + +:plugh: /ploogh/ /v./ [from the {ADVENT} game] See + {xyzzy}. + +:plumbing: /n./ [Unix] Term used for {shell} code, so called + because of the prevalence of `pipelines' that feed the output of + one program to the input of another. Under Unix, user utilities + can often be implemented or at least prototyped by a suitable + collection of pipelines and temp-file grinding encapsulated in a + shell script; this is much less effort than writing C every time, + and the capability is considered one of Unix's major winning + features. A few other OSs such as IBM's VM/CMS support similar + facilities. Esp. used in the construction `hairy plumbing' + (see {hairy}). "You can kluge together a basic spell-checker + out of `sort(1)', `comm(1)', and `tr(1)' with a + little plumbing." See also {tee}. + +:PM: /P-M/ 1. /v./ (from `preventive maintenance') To + bring down a machine for inspection or test purposes. See + {provocative maintenance}; see also {scratch monkey}. + 2. /n./ Abbrev. for `Presentation Manager', an {elephantine} OS/2 + graphical user interface. + +:pnambic: /p*-nam'bik/ [Acronym from the scene in the film + version of "The Wizard of Oz" in which the true nature of the + wizard is first discovered: "Pay no attention to the man behind + the curtain."] 1. A stage of development of a process or function + that, owing to incomplete implementation or to the complexity of + the system, requires human interaction to simulate or replace some + or all of the actions, inputs, or outputs of the process or + function. 2. Of or pertaining to a process or function whose + apparent operations are wholly or partially falsified. + 3. Requiring {prestidigitization}. + + The ultimate pnambic product was "Dan Bricklin's Demo", a program + which supported flashy user-interface design prototyping. There is + a related maxim among hackers: "Any sufficiently advanced + technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo." See + {magic}, sense 1, for illumination of this point. + +:pod: /n./ [allegedly from abbreviation POD for `Prince Of + Darkness'] A Diablo 630 (or, latterly, any letter-quality impact + printer). From the DEC-10 PODTYPE program used to feed formatted + text to it. Not to be confused with {P.O.D.}. + +:point-and-drool interface: /n./ Parody of the techspeak term + `point-and-shoot interface', describing a windows, icons, and + mouse-based interface such as is found on the Macintosh. The + implication, of course, is that such an interface is only suitable + for idiots. See {for the rest of us}, {WIMP environment}, + {Macintrash}, {drool-proof paper}. Also `point-and-grunt + interface'. + +:poke: /n.,vt./ See {peek}. + +:poll: /v.,n./ 1. [techspeak] The action of checking the status + of an input line, sensor, or memory location to see if a particular + external event has been registered. 2. To repeatedly call or check + with someone: "I keep polling him, but he's not answering his + phone; he must be swapped out." 3. To ask. "Lunch? I poll for + a takeout order daily." + +:polygon pusher: /n./ A chip designer who spends most of his or + her time at the physical layout level (which requires drawing + *lots* of multi-colored polygons). Also `rectangle + slinger'. + +:POM: /P-O-M/ /n./ Common abbreviation for {phase of the + moon}. Usage: usually in the phrase `POM-dependent', which means + {flaky}. + +:pop: /pop/ [from the operation that removes the top of a + stack, and the fact that procedure return addresses are usually + saved on the stack] (also capitalized `POP') 1. /vt./ To remove + something from a {stack} or {pdl}. If a person says he/she + has popped something from his stack, that means he/she has finally + finished working on it and can now remove it from the list of + things hanging overhead. 2. When a discussion gets to a level of + detail so deep that the main point of the discussion is being lost, + someone will shout "Pop!", meaning "Get back up to a higher + level!" The shout is frequently accompanied by an upthrust arm + with a finger pointing to the ceiling. + +:POPJ: /pop'J/ /n.,v./ [from a {PDP-10} + return-from-subroutine instruction] To return from a digression. + By verb doubling, "Popj, popj" means roughly "Now let's see, + where were we?" See {RTI}. + +:poser: /n./ A {wannabee}; not hacker slang, but used among + crackers, phreaks and {warez d00dz}. Not as negative as + {lamer} or {leech}. Probably derives from a similar usage + among punk-rockers and metalheads, putting down those who "talk + the talk but don't walk the walk". + +:post: /v./ To send a message to a {mailing list} or + {newsgroup}. Distinguished in context from `mail'; one might + ask, for example: "Are you going to post the patch or mail it to + known users?" + +:postcardware: /n./ A kind of {shareware} that borders on + {freeware}, in that the author requests only that satisfied + users send a postcard of their home town or something. (This + practice, silly as it might seem, serves to remind users that they + are otherwise getting something for nothing, and may also be + psychologically related to real estate `sales' in which $1 + changes hands just to keep the transaction from being a gift.) + +:posting: /n./ Noun corresp. to v. {post} (but note that + {post} can be nouned). Distinguished from a `letter' or + ordinary {email} message by the fact that it is broadcast rather + than point-to-point. It is not clear whether messages sent to a + small mailing list are postings or email; perhaps the best dividing + line is that if you don't know the names of all the potential + recipients, it is a posting. + +:postmaster: /n./ The email contact and maintenance person at a + site connected to the Internet or UUCPNET. Often, but not always, + the same as the {admin}. The Internet standard for electronic + mail ({RFC}-822) requires each machine to have a `postmaster' + address; usually it is aliased to this person. + +:PostScript:: /n./ A Page Description Language ({PDL}), + based on work originally done by John Gaffney at Evans and + Sutherland in 1976, evolving through `JaM' (`John and Martin', + Martin Newell) at {XEROX PARC}, and finally implemented in its + current form by John Warnock et al. after he and Chuck Geschke + founded Adobe Systems Incorporated in 1982. PostScript gets its + leverage by using a full programming language, rather than a series + of low-level escape sequences, to describe an image to be printed + on a laser printer or other output device (in this it parallels + {EMACS}, which exploited a similar insight about editing tasks). + It is also noteworthy for implementing on-the fly rasterization, + from Bezier curve descriptions, of high-quality fonts at low (e.g. + 300 dpi) resolution (it was formerly believed that hand-tuned + bitmap fonts were required for this task). Hackers consider + PostScript to be among the most elegant hacks of all time, and the + combination of technical merits and widespread availability has + made PostScript the language of choice for graphical output. + +:pound on: /vt./ Syn. {bang on}. + +:power cycle: /vt./ (also, `cycle power' or just `cycle') + To power off a machine and then power it on immediately, with the + intention of clearing some kind of {hung} or {gronk}ed state. + Syn. {120 reset}; see also {Big Red Switch}. Compare + {Vulcan nerve pinch}, {bounce} (sense 4), and {boot}, and + see the "{AI Koans}" (in Appendix A) about Tom Knight + and the novice. + +:power hit: /n./ A spike or drop-out in the electricity + supplying your machine; a power {glitch}. These can cause + crashes and even permanent damage to your machine(s). + +:PPN: /P-P-N/, /pip'n/ /n. obs./ [from `Project-Programmer + Number'] A user-ID under {{TOPS-10}} and its various mutant + progeny at SAIL, BBN, CompuServe, and elsewhere. Old-time hackers + from the PDP-10 era sometimes use this to refer to user IDs on + other systems as well. + +:precedence lossage: /pre's*-dens los'*j/ /n./ [C + programmers] Coding error in an expression due to unexpected + grouping of arithmetic or logical operators by the compiler. Used + esp. of certain common coding errors in C due to the + nonintuitively low precedence levels of `&', `|', + `^', `<<', and `>>' (for this reason, experienced C + programmers deliberately forget the language's {baroque} + precedence hierarchy and parenthesize defensively). Can always be + avoided by suitable use of parentheses. {LISP} fans enjoy + pointing out that this can't happen in *their* favorite + language, which eschews precedence entirely, requiring one to use + explicit parentheses everywhere. See {aliasing bug}, {memory + leak}, {memory smash}, {smash the stack}, {fandango on + core}, {overrun screw}. + +:prepend: /pree`pend'/ /vt./ [by analogy with `append'] To + prefix. As with `append' (but not `prefix' or `suffix' as a + verb), the direct object is always the thing being added and not + the original word (or character string, or whatever). "If you + prepend a semicolon to the line, the translation routine will pass + it through unaltered." + +:prestidigitization: /pres`t*-di`j*-ti:-zay'sh*n/ /n./ 1. The + act of putting something into digital notation via sleight of hand. + 2. Data entry through legerdemain. + +:pretty pictures: /n./ [scientific computation] The next step + up from {numbers}. Interesting graphical output from a program + that may not have any sensible relationship to the system the + program is intended to model. Good for showing to {management}. + +:prettyprint: /prit'ee-print/ /v./ (alt. `pretty-print') + 1. To generate `pretty' human-readable output from a {hairy} + internal representation; esp. used for the process of + {grind}ing (sense 1) program code, and most esp. for LISP code. + 2. To format in some particularly slick and nontrivial way. + +:pretzel key: /n./ [Mac users] See {feature key}. + +:priesthood: /n. obs./ [TMRC] The select group of system + managers responsible for the operation and maintenance of a batch + operated computer system. On these computers, a user never had + direct access to a computer, but had to submit his/her data and + programs to a priest for execution. Results were returned days or + even weeks later. See {acolyte}. + +:prime time: /n./ [from TV programming] Normal high-usage hours + on a timesharing system; the day shift. Avoidance of prime time + was traditionally given as a major reason for {night mode} + hacking. The rise of the personal workstation has rendered this + term, along with timesharing itself, almost obsolete. The hackish + tendency to late-night {hacking run}s has changed not a bit. + +:printing discussion: /n./ [XEROX PARC] A protracted, + low-level, time-consuming, generally pointless discussion of + something only peripherally interesting to all. + +:priority interrupt: /n./ [from the hardware term] Describes + any stimulus compelling enough to yank one right out of {hack + mode}. Classically used to describe being dragged away by an + {SO} for immediate sex, but may also refer to more mundane + interruptions such as a fire alarm going off in the near vicinity. + Also called an {NMI} (non-maskable interrupt), especially in + PC-land. + +:profile: /n./ 1. A control file for a program, esp. a text + file automatically read from each user's home directory and + intended to be easily modified by the user in order to customize + the program's behavior. Used to avoid {hardcoded} choices (see + also {dot file}, {rc file}). 2. [techspeak] A report on the + amounts of time spent in each routine of a program, used to find + and {tune} away the {hot spot}s in it. This sense is often + verbed. Some profiling modes report units other than time (such as + call counts) and/or report at granularities other than per-routine, + but the idea is similar. 3.[techspeak] A subset of a standard used + for a particular purpose. This sense confuses hackers who wander + into the weird world of ISO standards no end! + +:progasm: /proh'gaz-m/ /n./ [University of Wisconsin] The + euphoria experienced upon the completion of a program or other + computer-related project. + +:proglet: /prog'let/ /n./ [UK] A short extempore program + written to meet an immediate, transient need. Often written in + BASIC, rarely more than a dozen lines long, and containing no + subroutines. The largest amount of code that can be written off + the top of one's head, that does not need any editing, and that + runs correctly the first time (this amount varies significantly + according to one's skill and the language one is using). Compare + {toy program}, {noddy}, {one-liner wars}. + +:program: /n./ 1. A magic spell cast over a computer allowing + it to turn one's input into error messages. 2. An exercise in + experimental epistemology. 3. A form of art, ostensibly intended + for the instruction of computers, which is nevertheless almost + inevitably a failure if other programmers can't understand it. + +:Programmer's Cheer: "Shift to the left! Shift to the + right! Pop up, push down! Byte! Byte! Byte!" A joke so old it + has hair on it. + +:programming: /n./ 1. The art of debugging a blank sheet of + paper (or, in these days of on-line editing, the art of debugging + an empty file). "Bloody instructions which, being taught, return + to plague their inventor" ("Macbeth", Act 1, Scene 7) 2. A + pastime similar to banging one's head against a wall, but with + fewer opportunities for reward. 3. The most fun you can have with + your clothes on (although clothes are not mandatory). + +:programming fluid: /n./ 1. Coffee. 2. Cola. 3. Any + caffeinacious stimulant. Many hackers consider these essential for + those all-night hacking runs. See {wirewater}. + +:propeller head: /n./ Used by hackers, this is syn. with + {computer geek}. Non-hackers sometimes use it to describe all + techies. Prob. derives from SF fandom's tradition (originally + invented by old-time fan Ray Faraday Nelson) of propeller beanies + as fannish insignia (though nobody actually wears them except as a + joke). + +:propeller key: /n./ [Mac users] See {feature key}. + +:proprietary: /adj./ 1. In {marketroid}-speak, superior; + implies a product imbued with exclusive magic by the unmatched + brilliance of the company's own hardware or software designers. + 2. In the language of hackers and users, inferior; implies a + product not conforming to open-systems standards, and thus one that + puts the customer at the mercy of a vendor able to gouge freely on + service and upgrade charges after the initial sale has locked the + customer in. + +:protocol: /n./ As used by hackers, this never refers to + niceties about the proper form for addressing letters to the Papal + Nuncio or the order in which one should use the forks in a + Russian-style place setting; hackers don't care about such things. + It is used instead to describe any set of rules that allow + different machines or pieces of software to coordinate with each + other without ambiguity. So, for example, it does include niceties + about the proper form for addressing packets on a network or the + order in which one should use the forks in the Dining Philosophers + Problem. It implies that there is some common message format and + an accepted set of primitives or commands that all parties involved + understand, and that transactions among them follow predictable + logical sequences. See also {handshaking}, {do protocol}. + +:provocative maintenance: /n./ [common ironic mutation of + `preventive maintenance'] Actions performed upon a machine at + regularly scheduled intervals to ensure that the system remains in + a usable state. So called because it is all too often performed by + a {field servoid} who doesn't know what he is doing; such + `maintenance' often *induces* problems, or otherwise + results in the machine's remaining in an *un*usable state for + an indeterminate amount of time. See also {scratch monkey}. + +:prowler: /n./ [Unix] A {daemon} that is run periodically (typically + once a week) to seek out and erase {core} files, truncate + administrative logfiles, nuke `lost+found' directories, and + otherwise clean up the {cruft} that tends to pile up in the + corners of a file system. See also {GFR}, {reaper}, + {skulker}. + +:pseudo: /soo'doh/ /n./ [Usenet: truncation of `pseudonym'] + 1. An electronic-mail or {Usenet} persona adopted by a human for + amusement value or as a means of avoiding negative repercussions of + one's net.behavior; a `nom de Usenet', often associated with + forged postings designed to conceal message origins. Perhaps the + best-known and funniest hoax of this type is {B1FF}. See also + {tentacle}. 2. Notionally, a {flamage}-generating AI program + simulating a Usenet user. Many flamers have been accused of + actually being such entities, despite the fact that no AI program + of the required sophistication yet exists. However, in 1989 there + was a famous series of forged postings that used a + phrase-frequency-based travesty generator to simulate the styles of + several well-known flamers; it was based on large samples of their + back postings (compare {Dissociated Press}). A significant + number of people were fooled by the forgeries, and the debate over + their authenticity was settled only when the perpetrator came + forward to publicly admit the hoax. + +:pseudoprime: /n./ A backgammon prime (six consecutive occupied + points) with one point missing. This term is an esoteric pun + derived from a mathematical method that, rather than determining + precisely whether a number is prime (has no divisors), uses a + statistical technique to decide whether the number is `probably' + prime. A number that passes this test was, before about 1985, + called a `pseudoprime' (the terminology used by number theorists + has since changed slightly; pre-1985 pseudoprimes are now + `probable primes' and `pseudoprime' has a more restricted meaning + in modular arithmetic). The hacker backgammon usage stemmed from + the idea that a pseudoprime is almost as good as a prime: it does + the job of a prime until proven otherwise, and that probably won't + happen. + +:pseudosuit: /soo'doh-s[y]oot`/ /n./ A {suit} wannabee; a + hacker who has decided that he wants to be in management or + administration and begins wearing ties, sport coats, and (shudder!) + suits voluntarily. It's his funeral. See also {lobotomy}. + +:psychedelicware: /si:`k*-del'-ik-weir/ /n./ [UK] Syn. + {display hack}. See also {smoking clover}. + +:psyton: /si:'ton/ /n./ [TMRC] The elementary particle + carrying the sinister force. The probability of a process losing + is proportional to the number of psytons falling on it. Psytons + are generated by observers, which is why demos are more likely to + fail when lots of people are watching. [This term appears to have + been largely superseded by {bogon}; see also {quantum + bogodynamics}. --ESR] + +:pubic directory: /pyoob'ik d*-rek't*-ree/) /n./ [NYU] + (also `pube directory' /pyoob' d*-rek't*-ree/) The `pub' + (public) directory on a machine that allows {FTP} access. So + called because it is the default location for {SEX} (sense 1). + "I'll have the source in the pube directory by Friday." + +:puff: /vt./ To decompress data that has been crunched by + Huffman coding. At least one widely distributed Huffman decoder + program was actually *named* `PUFF', but these days it is + usually packaged with the encoder. Oppose {huff}, see + {inflate}. + +:punched card:: n.obs. [techspeak] (alt. `punch card') The + signature medium of computing's {Stone Age}, now obsolescent + outside of some IBM shops. The punched card actually predated + computers considerably, originating in 1801 as a control device for + mechanical looms. The version patented by Hollerith and used with + mechanical tabulating machines in the 1890 U.S. Census was a piece + of cardboard about 90 mm by 215 mm. There is a widespread myth + that it was designed to fit in the currency trays used for that + era's larger dollar bills, but recent investigations have falsified + this. + + IBM (which originated as a tabulating-machine manufacturer) married + the punched card to computers, encoding binary information as + patterns of small rectangular holes; one character per column, + 80 columns per card. Other coding schemes, sizes of card, and + hole shapes were tried at various times. + + The 80-column width of most character terminals is a legacy of the + IBM punched card; so is the size of the quick-reference cards + distributed with many varieties of computers even today. See + {chad}, {chad box}, {eighty-column mind}, {green card}, + {dusty deck}, {lace card}, {card walloper}. + +:punt: /v./ [from the punch line of an old joke referring to + American football: "Drop back 15 yards and punt!"] 1. To give up, + typically without any intention of retrying. "Let's punt the + movie tonight." "I was going to hack all night to get this + feature in, but I decided to punt" may mean that you've decided + not to stay up all night, and may also mean you're not ever even + going to put in the feature. 2. More specifically, to give up on + figuring out what the {Right Thing} is and resort to an + inefficient hack. 3. A design decision to defer solving a problem, + typically because one cannot define what is desirable sufficiently + well to frame an algorithmic solution. "No way to know what the + right form to dump the graph in is -- we'll punt that for now." + 4. To hand a tricky implementation problem off to some other + section of the design. "It's too hard to get the compiler to do + that; let's punt to the runtime system." + +:Purple Book: /n./ 1. The "System V Interface Definition". + The covers of the first editions were an amazingly nauseating shade + of off-lavender. 2. Syn. {Wizard Book}. Donald Lewine's + "POSIX Programmer's Guide" (O'Reilly, 1991, ISBN + 0-937175-73-0). See also {{book titles}}. + +:purple wire: /n./ [IBM] Wire installed by Field Engineers to work + around problems discovered during testing or debugging. These are + called `purple wires' even when (as is frequently the case) their + actual physical color is yellow.... Compare {blue wire}, + {yellow wire}, and {red wire}. + +:push: [from the operation that puts the current information + on a stack, and the fact that procedure return addresses are saved + on a stack] (Also PUSH /push/ or PUSHJ /push'J/, the latter + based on the PDP-10 procedure call instruction.) 1. To put + something onto a {stack} or {pdl}. If one says that + something has been pushed onto one's stack, it means that the + Damoclean list of things hanging over ones's head has grown longer + and heavier yet. This may also imply that one will deal with it + *before* other pending items; otherwise one might say that the + thing was `added to my queue'. 2. /vi./ To enter upon a + digression, to save the current discussion for later. Antonym of + {pop}; see also {stack}, {pdl}. + += Q = +===== + +:quad: /n./ 1. Two bits; syn. for {quarter}, {crumb}, + {tayste}. 2. A four-pack of anything (compare {hex}, sense + 2). 3. The rectangle or box glyph used in the APL language for + various arcane purposes mostly related to I/O. Former + Ivy-Leaguers and Oxford types are said to associate it with + nostalgic memories of dear old University. + +:quadruple bucky: /n. obs./ 1. On an MIT {space-cadet + keyboard}, use of all four of the shifting keys (control, meta, + hyper, and super) while typing a character key. 2. On a Stanford + or MIT keyboard in {raw mode}, use of four shift keys while + typing a fifth character, where the four shift keys are the control + and meta keys on *both* sides of the keyboard. This was very + difficult to do! One accepted technique was to press the + left-control and left-meta keys with your left hand, the + right-control and right-meta keys with your right hand, and the + fifth key with your nose. + + Quadruple-bucky combinations were very seldom used in practice, + because when one invented a new command one usually assigned it to + some character that was easier to type. If you want to imply that + a program has ridiculously many commands or features, you can say + something like: "Oh, the command that makes it spin the tapes + while whistling Beethoven's Fifth Symphony is + quadruple-bucky-cokebottle." See {double bucky}, {bucky + bits}, {cokebottle}. + +:quantifiers:: In techspeak and jargon, the standard metric + prefixes used in the SI (Syst`eme International) conventions for + scientific measurement have dual uses. With units of time or + things that come in powers of 10, such as money, they retain their + usual meanings of multiplication by powers of 1000 = 10^3. + But when used with bytes or other things that naturally come in + powers of 2, they usually denote multiplication by powers of + 1024 = 2^(10). + + Here are the SI magnifying prefixes, along with the corresponding + binary interpretations in common use: + + prefix decimal binary + kilo- 1000^1 1024^1 = 2^10 = 1,024 + mega- 1000^2 1024^2 = 2^20 = 1,048,576 + giga- 1000^3 1024^3 = 2^30 = 1,073,741,824 + tera- 1000^4 1024^4 = 2^40 = 1,099,511,627,776 + peta- 1000^5 1024^5 = 2^50 = 1,125,899,906,842,624 + exa- 1000^6 1024^6 = 2^60 = 1,152,921,504,606,846,976 + zetta- 1000^7 1024^7 = 2^70 = 1,180,591,620,717,411,303,424 + yotta- 1000^8 1024^8 = 2^80 = 1,208,925,819,614,629,174,706,176 + + Here are the SI fractional prefixes: + + *prefix decimal jargon usage* + milli- 1000^-1 (seldom used in jargon) + micro- 1000^-2 small or human-scale (see {micro-}) + nano- 1000^-3 even smaller (see {nano-}) + pico- 1000^-4 even smaller yet (see {pico-}) + femto- 1000^-5 (not used in jargon--yet) + atto- 1000^-6 (not used in jargon--yet) + zepto- 1000^-7 (not used in jargon--yet) + yocto- 1000^-8 (not used in jargon--yet) + + The prefixes zetta-, yotta-, zepto-, and yocto- have been included + in these tables purely for completeness and giggle value; they were + adopted in 1990 by the `19th Conference Generale des Poids et + Mesures'. The binary peta- and exa- loadings, though well + established, are not in jargon use either -- yet. The prefix + milli-, denoting multiplication by 1/1000, has always + been rare in jargon (there is, however, a standard joke about the + `millihelen' -- notionally, the amount of beauty required to + launch one ship). See the entries on {micro-}, {pico-}, and + {nano-} for more information on connotative jargon use of these + terms. `Femto' and `atto' (which, interestingly, derive not + from Greek but from Danish) have not yet acquired jargon loadings, + though it is easy to predict what those will be once computing + technology enters the required realms of magnitude (however, see + {attoparsec}). + + There are, of course, some standard unit prefixes for powers of + 10. In the following table, the `prefix' column is the + international standard suffix for the appropriate power of ten; the + `binary' column lists jargon abbreviations and words for the + corresponding power of 2. The B-suffixed forms are commonly used + for byte quantities; the words `meg' and `gig' are nouns that may + (but do not always) pluralize with `s'. + + prefix decimal binary pronunciation + kilo- k K, KB, /kay/ + mega- M M, MB, meg /meg/ + giga- G G, GB, gig /gig/,/jig/ + + Confusingly, hackers often use K or M as though they were suffix or + numeric multipliers rather than a prefix; thus "2K dollars", "2M + of disk space". This is also true (though less commonly) of G. + + Note that the formal SI metric prefix for 1000 is `k'; some use + this strictly, reserving `K' for multiplication by 1024 (KB is + thus `kilobytes'). + + K, M, and G used alone refer to quantities of bytes; thus, 64G is + 64 gigabytes and `a K' is a kilobyte (compare mainstream use of + `a G' as short for `a grand', that is, $1000). Whether one + pronounces `gig' with hard or soft `g' depends on what one thinks + the proper pronunciation of `giga-' is. + + Confusing 1000 and 1024 (or other powers of 2 and 10 close in + magnitude) -- for example, describing a memory in units of + 500K or 524K instead of 512K -- is a sure sign of the + {marketroid}. One example of this: it is common to refer to the + capacity of 3.5" {microfloppies} as `1.44 MB' In fact, this is a + completely {bogus} number. The correct size is 1440 KB, that + is, 1440 * 1024 = 1474560 bytes. So the `mega' in `1.44 MB' is + compounded of two `kilos', one of which is 1024 and the other of + which is 1000. The correct number of megabytes would of course be + 1440 / 1024 = 1.40625. Alas, this fine point is probably lost on + the world forever. + + [1993 update: hacker Morgan Burke has proposed, to general + approval on Usenet, the following additional prefixes: + +groucho + 10^(-30) +harpo + 10^(-27) +harpi + 10^(27) +grouchi + 10^(30) + + We observe that this would leave the prefixes zeppo-, gummo-, and + chico- available for future expansion. Sadly, there is little + immediate prospect that Mr. Burke's eminently sensible proposal + will be ratified.] + +:quantum bogodynamics: /kwon'tm boh`goh-di:-nam'iks/ /n./ A + theory that characterizes the universe in terms of bogon sources + (such as politicians, used-car salesmen, TV evangelists, and + {suit}s in general), bogon sinks (such as taxpayers and + computers), and bogosity potential fields. Bogon absorption, of + course, causes human beings to behave mindlessly and machines to + fail (and may also cause both to emit secondary bogons); however, + the precise mechanics of the bogon-computron interaction are not + yet understood and remain to be elucidated. Quantum bogodynamics + is most often invoked to explain the sharp increase in hardware and + software failures in the presence of suits; the latter emit bogons, + which the former absorb. See {bogon}, {computron}, + {suit}, {psyton}. + +:quarter: /n./ Two bits. This in turn comes from the `pieces + of eight' famed in pirate movies -- Spanish silver crowns that + could be broken into eight pie-slice-shaped `bits' to make + change. Early in American history the Spanish coin was considered + equal to a dollar, so each of these `bits' was considered worth + 12.5 cents. Syn. {tayste}, {crumb}, {quad}. Usage: + rare. General discussion of such terms is under {nybble}. + +:ques: /kwes/ 1. /n./ The question mark character (`?', + ASCII 0111111). 2. /interj./ What? Also frequently verb-doubled +as + "Ques ques?" See {wall}. + +:quick-and-dirty: /adj./ Describes a {crock} put together + under time or user pressure. Used esp. when you want to convey + that you think the fast way might lead to trouble further down the + road. "I can have a quick-and-dirty fix in place tonight, but + I'll have to rewrite the whole module to solve the underlying + design problem." See also {kluge}. + +:quine: /kwi:n/ /n./ [from the name of the logician Willard + van Orman Quine, via Douglas Hofstadter] A program that generates a + copy of its own source text as its complete output. Devising the + shortest possible quine in some given programming language is a + common hackish amusement. Here is one classic quine: + + ((lambda (x) + (list x (list (quote quote) x))) + (quote + (lambda (x) + (list x (list (quote quote) x))))) + + This one works in LISP or Scheme. It's relatively easy to write + quines in other languages such as Postscript which readily handle + programs as data; much harder (and thus more challenging!) in + languages like C which do not. Here is a classic C quine for ASCII + machines: + + char*f="char*f=%c%s%c;main() + {printf(f,34,f,34,10);}%c"; + main(){printf(f,34,f,34,10);} + + For excruciatingly exact quinishness, remove the interior line + breaks. Some infamous {Obfuscated C Contest} entries have been + quines that reproduced in exotic ways. + +:quote chapter and verse: /v./ [by analogy with the mainstream + phrase] To cite a relevant excerpt from an appropriate {bible}. + "I don't care if `rn' gets it wrong; `Followup-To: poster' is + explicitly permitted by {RFC}-1036. I'll quote chapter and + verse if you don't believe me." See also {legalese}, + {language lawyer}, {RTFS} (sense 2). + +:quotient: /n./ See {coefficient of X}. + +:quux: /kwuhks/ /n./ [Mythically, from the Latin + semi-deponent verb quuxo, quuxare, quuxandum iri; noun form + variously `quux' (plural `quuces', anglicized to `quuxes') + and `quuxu' (genitive plural is `quuxuum', for four u-letters + out of seven in all, using up all the `u' letters in Scrabble).] + 1. Originally, a {metasyntactic variable} like {foo} and + {foobar}. Invented by Guy Steele for precisely this purpose + when he was young and naive and not yet interacting with the real + computing community. Many people invent such words; this one seems + simply to have been lucky enough to have spread a little. In an + eloquent display of poetic justice, it has returned to the + originator in the form of a nickname. 2. /interj./ See {foo}; + however, denotes very little disgust, and is uttered mostly for the + sake of the sound of it. 3. Guy Steele in his persona as `The + Great Quux', which is somewhat infamous for light verse and for the + `Crunchly' cartoons. 4. In some circles, used as a punning + opposite of `crux'. "Ah, that's the quux of the matter!" + implies that the point is *not* crucial (compare {tip of + the ice-cube}). 5. quuxy: /adj./ Of or pertaining to a quux. + +:qux: /kwuhks/ The fourth of the standard {metasyntactic + variable}, after {baz} and before the quu(u...)x series. + See {foo}, {bar}, {baz}, {quux}. This appears to be a + recent mutation from {quux}, and many versions (especially older + versions) of the standard series just run {foo}, {bar}, + {baz}, {quux}, .... + +:QWERTY: /kwer'tee/ /adj./ [from the keycaps at the upper + left] Pertaining to a standard English-language typewriter keyboard + (sometimes called the Sholes keyboard after its inventor), as + opposed to Dvorak or foreign-language layouts or a {space-cadet + keyboard} or APL keyboard. + + Historical note: The QWERTY layout is a fine example of a {fossil}. + It is sometimes said that it was designed to slow down the typist, + but this is wrong; it was designed to allow *faster* typing + -- under a constraint now long obsolete. In early typewriters, + fast typing using nearby type-bars jammed the mechanism. So Sholes + fiddled the layout to separate the letters of many common digraphs + (he did a far from perfect job, though; `th', `tr', `ed', and `er', + for example, each use two nearby keys). Also, putting the letters + of `typewriter' on one line allowed it to be typed with particular + speed and accuracy for {demo}s. The jamming problem was + essentially solved soon afterward by a suitable use of springs, but + the keyboard layout lives on. + += R = +===== + +:rabbit job: /n./ [Cambridge] A batch job that does little, if + any, real work, but creates one or more copies of itself, breeding + like rabbits. Compare {wabbit}, {fork bomb}. + +:rain dance: /n./ 1. Any ceremonial action taken to correct a + hardware problem, with the expectation that nothing will be + accomplished. This especially applies to reseating printed circuit + boards, reconnecting cables, etc. "I can't boot up the machine. + We'll have to wait for Greg to do his rain dance." 2. Any arcane + sequence of actions performed with computers or software in order + to achieve some goal; the term is usually restricted to rituals + that include both an {incantation} or two and physical activity + or motion. Compare {magic}, {voodoo programming}, {black + art}, {cargo cult programming}, {wave a dead chicken}; see + also {casting the runes}. + +:rainbow series: /n./ Any of several series of technical + manuals distinguished by cover color. The original rainbow series + was the NCSC security manuals (see {Orange Book}, {crayola + books}); the term has also been commonly applied to the PostScript + reference set (see {Red Book}, {Green Book}, {Blue Book}, + {White Book}). Which books are meant by "`the' rainbow + series" unqualified is thus dependent on one's local technical + culture. + +:random: /adj./ 1. Unpredictable (closest to mathematical + definition); weird. "The system's been behaving pretty + randomly." 2. Assorted; undistinguished. "Who was at the + conference?" "Just a bunch of random business types." + 3. (pejorative) Frivolous; unproductive; undirected. "He's just a + random loser." 4. Incoherent or inelegant; poorly chosen; not + well organized. "The program has a random set of misfeatures." + "That's a random name for that function." "Well, all the names + were chosen pretty randomly." 5. In no particular order, though + deterministic. "The I/O channels are in a pool, and when a file + is opened one is chosen randomly." 6. Arbitrary. "It generates + a random name for the scratch file." 7. Gratuitously wrong, i.e., + poorly done and for no good apparent reason. For example, a + program that handles file name defaulting in a particularly useless + way, or an assembler routine that could easily have been coded + using only three registers, but redundantly uses seven for values + with non-overlapping lifetimes, so that no one else can invoke it + without first saving four extra registers. What {randomness}! + 8. /n./ A random hacker; used particularly of high-school students + who soak up computer time and generally get in the way. 9. n. + Anyone who is not a hacker (or, sometimes, anyone not known to the + hacker speaking); the noun form of sense 2. "I went to the talk, + but the audience was full of randoms asking bogus questions". + 10. /n./ (occasional MIT usage) One who lives at Random Hall. See + also {J. Random}, {some random X}. + +:random numbers:: /n./ When one wishes to specify a large but + random number of things, and the context is inappropriate for + {N}, certain numbers are preferred by hacker tradition (that is, + easily recognized as placeholders). These include the following: + + 17 + Long described at MIT as `the least random number'; see 23. + 23 + Sacred number of Eris, Goddess of Discord (along with 17 and + 5). + 42 + The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, + and Everything. (Note that this answer is completely + fortuitous. `:-)') + 69 + From the sexual act. This one was favored in MIT's ITS + culture. + 105 + 69 hex = 105 decimal, and 69 decimal = 105 octal. + 666 + The Number of the Beast. + + For further enlightenment, study the "Principia Discordia", + "{The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy}", "The Joy + of Sex", and the Christian Bible (Revelation 13:18). See also + {Discordianism} or consult your pineal gland. See also {for + values of}. + +:randomness: /n./ 1. An inexplicable misfeature; gratuitous + inelegance. 2. A {hack} or {crock} that depends on a complex + combination of coincidences (or, possibly, the combination upon + which the crock depends for its accidental failure to malfunction). + "This hack can output characters 40--57 by putting the character + in the four-bit accumulator field of an XCT and then extracting six + bits -- the low 2 bits of the XCT opcode are the right thing." + "What randomness!" 3. Of people, synonymous with `flakiness'. + The connotation is that the person so described is behaving + weirdly, incompetently, or inappropriately for reasons which are + (a) too tiresome to bother inquiring into, (b) are probably as + inscrutable as quantum phenomena anyway, and (c) are likely to pass + with time. "Maybe he has a real complaint, or maybe it's just + randomness. See if he calls back." + +:rape: /vt./ 1. To {screw} someone or something, violently; + in particular, to destroy a program or information irrecoverably. + Often used in describing file-system damage. "So-and-so was + running a program that did absolute disk I/O and ended up raping + the master directory." 2. To strip a piece of hardware for parts. + 3. [CMU/Pitt] To mass-copy files from an anonymous ftp site. + "Last night I raped Simtel's dskutl directory." + +:rare mode: /adj./ [Unix] CBREAK mode (character-by-character + with interrupts enabled). Distinguished from {raw mode} and + {cooked mode}; the phrase "a sort of half-cooked (rare?) mode" + is used in the V7/BSD manuals to describe the mode. Usage: rare. + +:raster blaster: /n./ [Cambridge] Specialized hardware for + {bitblt} operations (a {blitter}). Allegedly inspired by + `Rasta Blasta', British slang for the sort of portable stereo + Americans call a `boom box' or `ghetto blaster'. + +:raster burn: /n./ Eyestrain brought on by too many hours of + looking at low-res, poorly tuned, or glare-ridden monitors, esp. + graphics monitors. See {terminal illness}. + +:rat belt: /n./ A cable tie, esp. the sawtoothed, + self-locking plastic kind that you can remove only by cutting (as + opposed to a random twist of wire or a twist tie or one of those + humongous metal clip frobs). Small cable ties are `mouse belts'. + +:rat dance: /n./ [From the {Dilbert} comic strip of November + 14, 1995] A {hacking run} that produces results which, while + superficially coherent, have little or nothing to do with its + original objectives. There are strong connotations that the coding + process and the objectives themselves were pretty {random}. (In + the original comic strip, the Ratbert is invited to dance + on Dilbert's keyboard in order to produce bugs for him to fix, and + authors a Web browser instead.) Compare {Infinite-Monkey + Theorem}. + + This term seems to have become widely recognized quite rapidly + after the original strip, a fact which testifies to Dilbert's huge + popularity among hackers. All too many find the perverse + incentives and Kafkaesque atmosphere of Dilbert's mythical + workplace reflective of their own experiences. + +:rave: /vi./ [WPI] 1. To persist in discussing a specific + subject. 2. To speak authoritatively on a subject about which one + knows very little. 3. To complain to a person who is not in a + position to correct the difficulty. 4. To purposely annoy another + person verbally. 5. To evangelize. See {flame}. 6. Also used + to describe a less negative form of blather, such as friendly + bullshitting. `Rave' differs slightly from {flame} in that + `rave' implies that it is the persistence or obliviousness of the + person speaking that is annoying, while {flame} implies somewhat + more strongly that the tone or content is offensive as well. + +:rave on!: /imp./ Sarcastic invitation to continue a {rave}, + often by someone who wishes the raver would get a clue but realizes + this is unlikely. + +:ravs: /ravz/, also `Chinese ravs' /n./ Jiao-zi (steamed or + boiled) or Guo-tie (pan-fried). A Chinese appetizer, known + variously in the plural as dumplings, pot stickers (the literal + translation of guo-tie), and (around Boston) `Peking Ravioli'. The + term `rav' is short for `ravioli', and among hackers always + means the Chinese kind rather than the Italian kind. Both consist + of a filling in a pasta shell, but the Chinese kind includes no + cheese, uses a thinner pasta, has a pork-vegetable filling (good + ones include Chinese chives), and is cooked differently, either by + steaming or frying. A rav or dumpling can be cooked any way, but a + potsticker is always the fried kind (so called because it sticks to + the frying pot and has to be scraped off). "Let's get + hot-and-sour soup and three orders of ravs." See also + {{oriental food}}. + +:raw mode: /n./ A mode that allows a program to transfer bits + directly to or from an I/O device (or, under {bogus} systems + that make a distinction, a disk file) without any processing, + abstraction, or interpretation by the operating system. Compare + {rare mode}, {cooked mode}. This is techspeak under Unix, + jargon elsewhere. + +:rc file: /R-C fi:l/ /n./ [Unix: from `runcom files' on + the {CTSS} system ca.1955, via the startup script + `/etc/rc'] Script file containing startup instructions for an + application program (or an entire operating system), usually a text + file containing commands of the sort that might have been invoked + manually once the system was running but are to be executed + automatically each time the system starts up. See also {dot + file}, {profile} (sense 1). + +:RE: /R-E/ /n./ Common spoken and written shorthand for + {regexp}. + +:read-only user: /n./ Describes a {luser} who uses computers + almost exclusively for reading Usenet, bulletin boards, and/or + email, rather than writing code or purveying useful information. + See {twink}, {terminal junkie}, {lurker}. + +:README file: /n./ Hacker's-eye introduction traditionally + included in the top-level directory of a Unix source distribution, + containing a pointer to more detailed documentation, credits, + miscellaneous revision history, notes, etc. (The file may be named + README, or READ.ME, or rarely ReadMe or readme.txt or some other + variant.) In the Mac and PC worlds, software is not usually + distributed in source form, and the README is more likely to + contain user-oriented material like last-minute documentation + changes, error workarounds, and restrictions. When asked, hackers + invariably relate the README convention to the famous scene in + Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures In Wonderland" in which + Alice confronts magic munchies labeled "Eat Me" and "Drink Me". + +:real: /adj./ Not simulated. Often used as a specific antonym + to {virtual} in any of its jargon senses. + +:real estate: /n./ May be used for any critical resource + measured in units of area. Most frequently used of `chip real + estate', the area available for logic on the surface of an + integrated circuit (see also {nanoacre}). May also be used of + floor space in a {dinosaur pen}, or even space on a crowded + desktop (whether physical or electronic). + +:real hack: /n./ A {crock}. This is sometimes used + affectionately; see {hack}. + +:real operating system: /n./ The sort the speaker is used to. + People from the BSDophilic academic community are likely to issue + comments like "System V? Why don't you use a *real* + operating system?", people from the commercial/industrial Unix + sector are known to complain "BSD? Why don't you use a + *real* operating system?", and people from IBM object + "Unix? Why don't you use a *real* operating system?" Only + {MS-DOS} is universally considered unreal. See {holy wars}, + {religious issues}, {proprietary}, {Get a real computer!} + +:Real Programmer: /n./ [indirectly, from the book + "Real Men Don't Eat Quiche"] A particular sub-variety of + hacker: one possessed of a flippant attitude toward complexity that + is arrogant even when justified by experience. The archetypal + `Real Programmer' likes to program on the {bare metal} and is + very good at same, remembers the binary opcodes for every machine + he has ever programmed, thinks that HLLs are sissy, and uses a + debugger to edit his code because full-screen editors are for + wimps. Real Programmers aren't satisfied with code that hasn't + been {bum}med into a state of {tense}ness just short of + rupture. Real Programmers never use comments or write + documentation: "If it was hard to write", says the Real + Programmer, "it should be hard to understand." Real Programmers + can make machines do things that were never in their spec sheets; + in fact, they are seldom really happy unless doing so. A Real + Programmer's code can awe with its fiendish brilliance, even as its + crockishness appalls. Real Programmers live on junk food and + coffee, hang line-printer art on their walls, and terrify the crap + out of other programmers -- because someday, somebody else might + have to try to understand their code in order to change it. Their + successors generally consider it a {Good Thing} that there + aren't many Real Programmers around any more. For a famous (and + somewhat more positive) portrait of a Real Programmer, see + "{The Story of Mel, a Real Programmer}" in Appendix A. + The term itself was popularized by a 1983 Datamation article + "Real Programmers Don't Use Pascal" by Ed Post, still + circulating on Usenet and Internet in on-line form. + + You can browse "Real Programmers Don't Use Pascal" from the + Datamation home page http://www.datamation.com. + +:Real Soon Now: /adv./ [orig. from SF's fanzine community, + popularized by Jerry Pournelle's column in "BYTE"] 1. Supposed + to be available (or fixed, or cheap, or whatever) real soon now + according to somebody, but the speaker is quite skeptical. 2. When + one's gods, fates, or other time commitments permit one to get to + it (in other words, don't hold your breath). Often abbreviated + RSN. Compare {copious free time}. + +:real time: 1. [techspeak] /adj./ Describes an application + which requires a program to respond to stimuli within some small + upper limit of response time (typically milli- or microseconds). + Process control at a chemical plant is the classic example. Such + applications often require special operating systems (because + everything else must take a back seat to response time) and + speed-tuned hardware. 2. /adv./ In jargon, refers to doing +something + while people are watching or waiting. "I asked her how to find + the calling procedure's program counter on the stack and she came + up with an algorithm in real time." + +:real user: /n./ 1. A commercial user. One who is paying + *real* money for his computer usage. 2. A non-hacker. + Someone using the system for an explicit purpose (a research + project, a course, etc.) other than pure exploration. See + {user}. Hackers who are also students may also be real users. + "I need this fixed so I can do a problem set. I'm not complaining + out of randomness, but as a real user." See also {luser}. + +:Real World: /n./ 1. Those institutions at which + `programming' may be used in the same sentence as `FORTRAN', + `{COBOL}', `RPG', `{IBM}', `DBASE', etc. Places where + programs do such commercially necessary but intellectually + uninspiring things as generating payroll checks and invoices. + 2. The location of non-programmers and activities not related to + programming. 3. A bizarre dimension in which the standard dress is + shirt and tie and in which a person's working hours are defined as + 9 to 5 (see {code grinder}). 4. Anywhere outside a university. + "Poor fellow, he's left MIT and gone into the Real World." Used + pejoratively by those not in residence there. In conversation, + talking of someone who has entered the Real World is not unlike + speaking of a deceased person. It is also noteworthy that on the + campus of Cambridge University in England, there is a gaily-painted + lamp-post which bears the label `REALITY CHECKPOINT'. It marks the + boundary between university and the Real World; check your notions + of reality before passing. This joke is funnier because the + Cambridge `campus' is actually coextensive with the center of + Cambridge town. See also {fear and loathing}, {mundane}, and + {uninteresting}. + +:reality check: /n./ 1. The simplest kind of test of software + or hardware; doing the equivalent of asking it what 2 + 2 is + and seeing if you get 4. The software equivalent of a {smoke + test}. 2. The act of letting a {real user} try out prototype + software. Compare {sanity check}. + +:reaper: /n./ A {prowler} that {GFR}s files. A file + removed in this way is said to have been `reaped'. + +:rectangle slinger: /n./ See {polygon pusher}. + +:recursion: /n./ See {recursion}. See also {tail + recursion}. + +:recursive acronym:: /n./ A hackish (and especially MIT) + tradition is to choose acronyms/abbreviations that refer humorously + to themselves or to other acronyms/abbreviations. The classic + examples were two MIT editors called EINE ("EINE Is Not EMACS") + and ZWEI ("ZWEI Was EINE Initially"). More recently, there is a + Scheme compiler called LIAR (Liar Imitates Apply Recursively), and + {GNU} (q.v., sense 1) stands for "GNU's Not Unix!" -- and a + company with the name CYGNUS, which expands to "Cygnus, Your GNU + Support". See also {mung}, {EMACS}. + +:Red Book: /n./ 1. Informal name for one of the three standard + references on {{PostScript}} ("PostScript Language Reference + Manual", Adobe Systems (Addison-Wesley, 1985; QA76.73.P67P67; ISBN + 0-201-10174-2, or the 1990 second edition ISBN 0-201-18127-4); the + others are known as the {Green Book}, the {Blue Book}, and + the {White Book} (sense 2). 2. Informal name for one of the 3 + standard references on Smalltalk ("Smalltalk-80: The + Interactive Programming Environment" by Adele Goldberg + (Addison-Wesley, 1984; QA76.8.S635G638; ISBN 0-201-11372-4); this + too is associated with blue and green books). 3. Any of the 1984 + standards issued by the CCITT eighth plenary assembly. These + include, among other things, the X.400 email spec and the Group 1 + through 4 fax standards. 4. The new version of the {Green Book} + (sense 4) -- IEEE 1003.1-1990, a.k.a ISO 9945-1 -- is (because of + the color and the fact that it is printed on A4 paper) known in the + USA as "the Ugly Red Book That Won't Fit On The Shelf" and in + Europe as "the Ugly Red Book That's A Sensible Size". 5. The NSA + "Trusted Network Interpretation" companion to the {Orange + Book}. See also {{book titles}}. + +:red wire: /n./ [IBM] Patch wires installed by programmers who have + no business mucking with the hardware. It is said that the only + thing more dangerous than a hardware guy with a code patch is a + {softy} with a soldering iron.... Compare {blue wire}, + {yellow wire}, {purple wire}. + +:regexp: /reg'eksp/ /n./ [Unix] (alt. `regex' or `reg-ex') + 1. Common written and spoken abbreviation for `regular + expression', one of the wildcard patterns used, e.g., by Unix + utilities such as `grep(1)', `sed(1)', and `awk(1)'. + These use conventions similar to but more elaborate than those + described under {glob}. For purposes of this lexicon, it is + sufficient to note that regexps also allow complemented character + sets using `^'; thus, one can specify `any non-alphabetic + character' with `[^A-Za-z]'. 2. Name of a well-known PD + regexp-handling package in portable C, written by revered Usenetter + Henry Spencer <henry@zoo.toronto.edu>. + +:register dancing: /n./ Many older processor architectures + suffer from a serious shortage of general-purpose registers. This + is especially a problem for compiler-writers, because their + generated code needs places to store temporaries for things like + intermediate values in expression evaluation. Some designs with + this problem, like the Intel 80x86, do have a handful of + special-purpose registers that can be pressed into service, + providing suitable care is taken to avoid unpleasant side effects + on the state of the processor: while the special-purpose register + is being used to hold an intermediate value, a delicate minuet is + required in which the previous value of the register is saved and + then restored just before the official function (and value) of the + special-purpose register is again needed. + +:reincarnation, cycle of: /n./ See {cycle of reincarnation}. + +:reinvent the wheel: /v./ To design or implement a tool + equivalent to an existing one or part of one, with the implication + that doing so is silly or a waste of time. This is often a valid + criticism. On the other hand, automobiles don't use wooden + rollers, and some kinds of wheel have to be reinvented many times + before you get them right. On the third hand, people reinventing + the wheel do tend to come up with the moral equivalent of a + trapezoid with an offset axle. + +:religion of CHI: /ki:/ /n./ [Case Western Reserve + University] Yet another hackish parody religion (see also + {Church of the SubGenius}, {Discordianism}). In the mid-70s, + the canonical "Introduction to Programming" courses at CWRU were + taught in Algol, and student exercises were punched on cards and + run on a Univac 1108 system using a homebrew operating system named + CHI. The religion had no doctrines and but one ritual: whenever + the worshipper noted that a digital clock read 11:08, he or she + would recite the phrase "It is 11:08; ABS, ALPHABETIC, ARCSIN, + ARCCOS, ARCTAN." The last five words were the first five + functions in the appropriate chapter of the Algol manual; note the + special pronunciations /obz/ and /ark'sin/ rather than the more + common /ahbz/ and /ark'si:n/. Using an alarm clock to warn of + 11:08's arrival was {considered harmful}. + +:religious issues: /n./ Questions which seemingly cannot be + raised without touching off {holy wars}, such as "What is the + best operating system (or editor, language, architecture, shell, + mail reader, news reader)?", "What about that Heinlein guy, + eh?", "What should we add to the new Jargon File?" See + {holy wars}; see also {theology}, {bigot}. + + This term is a prime example of {ha ha only serious}. People + actually develop the most amazing and religiously intense + attachments to their tools, even when the tools are intangible. + The most constructive thing one can do when one stumbles into the + crossfire is mumble {Get a life!} and leave -- unless, of course, + one's *own* unassailably rational and obviously correct + choices are being slammed. + +:replicator: /n./ Any construct that acts to produce copies of + itself; this could be a living organism, an idea (see {meme}), a + program (see {quine}, {worm}, {wabbit}, {fork bomb}, + and {virus}), a pattern in a cellular automaton (see {life}, + sense 1), or (speculatively) a robot or {nanobot}. It is even + claimed by some that {{Unix}} and {C} are the symbiotic halves + of an extremely successful replicator; see {Unix conspiracy}. + +:reply: /n./ See {followup}. + +:restriction: /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 sound as though some crippling bogosity had 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. Newcomer advises that whenever choosing a + 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 + 107 items in a list, everyone will know it is a random number -- on + the other hand, a limit of 15 or 16 suggests some deep reason + (involving 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: /ret'kon/ [short for `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 leaving the `facts' the same (thus preserving + continuity) while completely changing their interpretation. For + example, 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 Superman's cape so + that it is no longer unbreakable." "Marvelman's old adventures + were retconned into synthetic dreams." "Swamp Thing was + retconned from a transformed person into a sentient vegetable." + "Darth Vader was retconned into Luke Skywalker's father in + "The Empire Strikes Back". + + [This term is included because it is a good example of hackish + linguistic innovation in a field completely unrelated 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] + + [1993 update: some comics fans on the net now claim that retcon was + independently in use in comics fandom before rec.arts.comics. + In lexicography, nothing is ever simple. --ESR] + +:RETI: /v./ Syn. {RTI} + +:retrocomputing: /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 parodies, + written mostly for {hack value}, of more `serious' designs. + Perhaps 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 {{punched card}} code. + Other well-known 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 written just to keep an + old, sourceless {Zork} binary running. + + A tasty selection of retrocomputing programs are made available at + the Retrocomputing Museum, http://www.ccil.org/retro. + +:return from the dead: /v./ To regain access to the net after a + long absence. Compare {person of no account}. + +:RFC: /R-F-C/ /n./ [Request For Comment] One of a + long-established series of numbered Internet informational + documents and standards widely followed by commercial software and + freeware in the Internet and Unix communities. Perhaps the single + most influential one has been RFC-822 (the Internet mail-format + standard). The 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 known as + RFCs even once adopted as standards. + + The RFC tradition of pragmatic, experience-driven, after-the-fact + standard writing done by individuals or small working groups has + important advantages over the more formal, committee-driven process + typical of ANSI or ISO. Emblematic of some of these advantages is + the existence of a flourishing tradition of `joke' RFCs; usually + at least one a year is published, usually on April 1st. Well-known + joke RFCs have included 527 ("ARPAWOCKY", R. Merryman, UCSD; 22 + June 1973), 748 ("Telnet Randomly-Lose Option", Mark R. Crispin; + 1 April 1978), and 1149 ("A Standard for the Transmission of IP + Datagrams on Avian Carriers", D. Waitzman, BBN STC; 1 April + 1990). The first was a Lewis Carroll pastiche; the second a parody + of the TCP-IP documentation style, and the third a deadpan + skewering of standards-document legalese, describing protocols for + transmitting Internet data packets by carrier pigeon. + + The RFCs are most remarkable for how well they work -- they manage + to have neither the ambiguities that are usually rife in informal + specifications, nor the committee-perpetrated misfeatures that + often haunt formal standards, and they define a network that has + grown to truly worldwide proportions. + +:RFE: /R-F-E/ /n./ 1. [techspeak] Request For Enhancement + (compare {RFC}). 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: /n./ [by analogy with {backbone site}] 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}, + {backbone site}. + +:rice box: /n./ [from ham radio slang] Any Asian-made commodity + computer, esp. an 80x86-based machine built to IBM PC-compatible + ISA or EISA-bus standards. + +:Right Thing: /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 + disagree. "What's the right thing for LISP to do when it sees + `(mod a 0)'? Should it return `a', or give a divide-by-0 + error?" Oppose {Wrong Thing}. + +:RL: // /n./ [MUD community] Real Life. "Firiss laughs in + RL" means that Firiss's player is laughing. Oppose {VR}. + +:roach: /vt./ [Bell Labs] To destroy, esp. of a data + structure. Hardware gets {toast}ed or {fried}, software gets + roached. + +:robot: /n./ [IRC, MUD] An {IRC} or {MUD} user who is + actually a program. On IRC, typically the robot provides some + useful service. Examples are NickServ, which tries to prevent + random users from adopting {nick}s already claimed by others, + and MsgServ, which allows one to send asynchronous messages to be + delivered when the recipient signs on. Also common are + `annoybots', such as KissServ, which perform no useful function + except to send cute messages to other people. Service robots are + less common on MUDs; but some others, such as the `Julia' robot + active in 1990--91, have been remarkably impressive Turing-test + experiments, able to pass as human for as long as ten or fifteen + minutes of conversation. + +:robust: /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 elegance + in addition to just careful attention to detail. Compare + {smart}, oppose {brittle}. + +:rococo: /adj./ Terminally {baroque}. 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 extreme forms + of Baroque architecture and decoration prevalent during the + mid-1700s in Europe. Alan Perlis said: "Every program eventually + becomes rococo, and then rubble." Compare {critical mass}. + +:rogue: /n./ [Unix] 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 support + `rogue(6)' and has since become one of 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 also {nethack}. + +:room-temperature IQ: /quant./ [IBM] 80 or below (nominal room + temperature is 72 degrees Fahrenheit, 22 degrees Celsius). 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 more insulting phrase in countries that use Celsius + thermometers. + +:root: /n./ [Unix] 1. The {superuser} account (with user + name `root') that ignores permission bits, user number 0 on a + Unix system. The term {avatar} is also used. 2. The top node + of the system directory structure; historically the home directory + of the root user, but probably named after the root of an + (inverted) tree. 3. By extension, the privileged + system-maintenance login on any OS. See {root mode}, {go + root}, see also {wheel}. + +:root mode: /n./ Syn. with {wizard mode} or `wheel mode'. + Like these, it is often generalized to describe privileged states + in systems other than OSes. + +:rot13: /rot ther'teen/ /n.,v./ [Usenet: from `rotate + alphabet 13 places'] 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 "Gur + ohgyre qvq vg!" Most Usenet news reading 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 {spoiler}s. A + major advantage of rot13 over rot(N) for other N is + that it is self-inverse, so the same code can be used for encoding + and decoding. + +:rotary debugger: /n./ [Commodore] 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, ANSI standard}. + +:round tape: /n./ Industry-standard 1/2-inch magnetic tape (7- + or 9-track) on traditional circular reels. See {macrotape}, + oppose {square tape}. + +:RSN: /R-S-N/ /adj./ See {Real Soon Now}. + +:RTBM: /R-T-B-M/ /imp./ [Unix] Commonwealth Hackish variant + of {RTFM}; expands to `Read The Bloody Manual'. RTBM is often + the entire text of the first reply to a question from a + {newbie}; the *second* would escalate to "RTFM". + +:RTFAQ: /R-T-F-A-Q/ /imp./ [Usenet: primarily written, by + analogy with {RTFM}] Abbrev. for `Read the FAQ!', an + exhortation that the person addressed ought to read the newsgroup's + {FAQ list} before posting questions. + +:RTFB: /R-T-F-B/ /imp./ [Unix] Acronym for `Read The Fucking + Binary'. Used when neither documentation nor source for the + problem at hand exists, and the only thing to do is use some + debugger or monitor and directly analyze the assembler or even the + machine code. "No source for the buggy port driver? Aaargh! I + *hate* proprietary operating systems. Time to RTFB." + + Of the various RTF? forms, `RTFB' is the least pejorative against + anyone asking a question for which RTFB is the answer; the anger + here is directed at the absence of both source *and* adequate + documentation. + +:RTFM: /R-T-F-M/ /imp./ [Unix] 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 just + asking out of {randomness}. "No, I can't figure out how to + interface Unix to my toaster, and yes, I have RTFM." Unlike + sense 1, this use is considered polite. See also {FM}, + {RTFAQ}, {RTFB}, {RTFS}, {RTM}, all of which mutated + from RTFM, and compare {UTSL}. + +:RTFS: /R-T-F-S/ [Unix] 1. /imp./ Acronym for `Read The + Fucking Source'. Variant form of {RTFM}, used when the problem + at hand is not necessarily obvious and not answerable from the + manuals -- or the manuals are not yet written and maybe never will + be. For even trickier situations, see {RTFB}. Unlike RTFM, the + anger inherent in RTFS is not usually directed at the person asking + the question, but rather at the people who failed to provide + adequate documentation. 2. /imp./ `Read The Fucking Standard'; +this + oath can only be used when the problem area (e.g., a language or + operating system interface) has actually been codified in a + ratified standards document. The existence of these standards + documents (and the technically inappropriate but politically + mandated compromises that they inevitably contain, and the + impenetrable {legalese} in which they are invariably written, + and the unbelievably tedious bureaucratic process by which they are + produced) can be unnerving to hackers, who are used to a certain + amount of ambiguity in the specifications of the systems they use. + (Hackers feel that such ambiguities are acceptable as long as the + {Right Thing} to do is obvious to any thinking observer; sadly, + this casual attitude towards specifications becomes unworkable when + a system becomes popular in the {Real World}.) Since a hacker + is likely to feel that a standards document is both unnecessary and + technically deficient, the deprecation inherent in this term may be + directed as much against the standard as against the person who + ought to read it. + +:RTI: /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). + Equivalent to "Now, where was I?" or used to end a + conversational digression. See {pop}; see also {POPJ}. + +:RTM: /R-T-M/ [Usenet: abbreviation for `Read The Manual'] + 1. Politer variant of {RTFM}. 2. Robert T. Morris, + perpetrator of the great Internet worm of 1988 (see {Great Worm, + the}); villain to many, naive hacker gone wrong to a few. Morris + claimed that the worm that brought the Internet to its knees was a + benign 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 username on ITS was hacked from RTM to + {RTFM}. + +:RTS: /R-T-S/ /imp./ Acronym for `Read The Screen'. Mainly + used by hackers in the microcomputer world. Refers to what one + would like to tell the {suit} one is forced to explain an + extremely simple application to. Particularly appropriate when the + suit failed to notice the `Press any key to continue' prompt, and + wishes to know `why won't it do anything'. Also seen as `RTFS' in + especially deserving cases. + +:rude: [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. Oppose + {cuspy}. 3. Anything that manipulates a shared resource without + regard for its other users in such a way as to cause a (non-fatal) + problem. Examples: programs that change tty modes without + resetting them on exit, or windowing programs that keep forcing + themselves to the top of the window stack. Compare + {all-elbows}. + +:runes: /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. Not quite as + bad as {line noise}, but close. Compare {casting the runes}, + {Great Runes}. 2. Special display characters (for example, the + high-half graphics on an IBM PC). 3. [borderline techspeak] + 16-bit characters from the Unicode multilingual character set. + +:runic: /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 + idiom, "Hugely Bad System"). + +:rusty iron: /n./ Syn. {tired iron}. It has been claimed + that this is the inevitable fate of {water MIPS}. + +:rusty memory: /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}. + +:rusty wire: /n./ [Amateur Packet Radio] Any very noisy network + medium, in which the packets are subject to frequent corruption. + Most prevalent in reference to wireless links subject to all the + vagaries of RF noise and marginal propagation conditions. "Yes, + but how good is your whizbang new protocol on really rusty + wire?". + += S = +===== + +:S/N ratio: // /n./ (also `s/n ratio', `s:n ratio'). + Syn. {signal-to-noise ratio}. Often abbreviated `SNR'. + +:sacred: /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 sacred to the interrupt + handler" appearing in a 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: /n./ [WPI] A cuspy but bogus raving story about N + random broken people. + + Here is a classic example of the saga form, as told by Guy L. + Steele: + + Jon L. White (login name JONL) and I (GLS) were office mates at + MIT for many years. One April, we both flew from Boston to + California for a week on research business, to consult + face-to-face with some people at Stanford, particularly our + mutual friend Richard P. Gabriel (RPG; see {gabriel}). + + RPG picked us up at the San Francisco airport and drove us back + to Palo Alto (going {logical} south on route 101, parallel to {El + Camino Bignum}). Palo Alto is adjacent to Stanford University + and about 40 miles south of San Francisco. We ate at The Good + Earth, a `health food' restaurant, very popular, the sort whose + milkshakes all contain honey and protein powder. JONL ordered + such a shake -- the waitress claimed the flavor of the day was + "lalaberry". I still have no idea what that might be, but it + became a running joke. It was the color of raspberry, and JONL + said it tasted rather bitter. I ate a better tostada there than + I have ever had in a Mexican restaurant. + + After this we went to the local Uncle Gaylord's Old Fashioned Ice + Cream Parlor. They make ice cream fresh daily, in a variety of + intriguing flavors. It's a chain, and they have a slogan: "If + you don't live near an Uncle Gaylord's -- MOVE!" Also, Uncle + Gaylord (a real person) wages a constant battle to force big-name + ice cream makers to print their ingredients on the package (like + air and plastic and other non-natural garbage). JONL and I had + first discovered Uncle Gaylord's the previous August, when we had + flown to a computer-science conference in Berkeley, California, + the first time either of us had been on the West Coast. When not + in the conference sessions, we had spent our time wandering the + length of Telegraph Avenue, which (like Harvard Square in + Cambridge) was lined with picturesque street vendors and + interesting little shops. On that street we discovered Uncle + Gaylord's Berkeley store. The ice cream there was very good. + During that August visit JONL went absolutely bananas (so to + speak) over one particular flavor, ginger honey. + + Therefore, after eating at The Good Earth -- indeed, after every + lunch and dinner and before bed during our April visit -- a trip + to Uncle Gaylord's (the one in Palo Alto) was mandatory. We had + arrived on a Wednesday, and by Thursday evening we had been there + at least four times. Each time, JONL would get ginger honey ice + cream, and proclaim to all bystanders that "Ginger was the spice + that drove the Europeans mad! That's why they sought a route to + the East! They used it to preserve their otherwise off-taste + meat." After the third or fourth repetition RPG and I were + getting a little tired of this spiel, and began to paraphrase + him: "Wow! Ginger! The spice that makes rotten meat taste + good!" "Say! Why don't we find some dog that's been run over + and sat in the sun for a week and put some *ginger* on it for + dinner?!" "Right! With a lalaberry shake!" And so on. This + failed to faze JONL; he took it in good humor, as long as we kept + returning to Uncle Gaylord's. He loves ginger honey ice cream. + + Now RPG and his then-wife KBT (Kathy Tracy) were putting us up + (putting up with us?) in their home for our visit, so to thank them + JONL and I took them out to a nice French restaurant of their + choosing. I unadventurously chose the filet mignon, and KBT had + je ne sais quoi du jour, but RPG and JONL had lapin + (rabbit). (Waitress: "Oui, we have fresh rabbit, fresh + today." RPG: "Well, JONL, I guess we won't need any + *ginger*!") + + We finished the meal late, about 11 P.M., which is 2 A.M Boston + time, so JONL and I were rather droopy. But it wasn't yet + midnight. Off to Uncle Gaylord's! + + Now the French restaurant was in Redwood City, north of Palo + Alto. In leaving Redwood City, we somehow got onto route 101 + going north instead of south. JONL and I wouldn't have known the + difference had RPG not mentioned it. We still knew very little + of the local geography. I did figure out, however, that we were + headed in the direction of Berkeley, and half-jokingly suggested + that we continue north and go to Uncle Gaylord's in Berkeley. + + RPG said "Fine!" and we drove on for a while and talked. I was + drowsy, and JONL actually dropped off to sleep for 5 minutes. + When he awoke, RPG said, "Gee, JONL, you must have slept all the + way over the bridge!", referring to the one spanning San + Francisco Bay. Just then we came to a sign that said "University + Avenue". I mumbled something about working our way over to + Telegraph Avenue; RPG said "Right!" and maneuvered some more. + Eventually we pulled up in front of an Uncle Gaylord's. + + Now, I hadn't really been paying attention because I was so + sleepy, and I didn't really understand what was happening until + RPG let me in on it a few moments later, but I was just alert + enough to notice that we had somehow come to the Palo Alto Uncle + Gaylord's after all. + + JONL noticed the resemblance to the Palo Alto store, but hadn't + caught on. (The place is lit with red and yellow lights at + night, and looks much different from the way it does in + daylight.) He said, "This isn't the Uncle Gaylord's I went to in + Berkeley! It looked like a barn! But this place looks *just + like* the one back in Palo Alto!" + + RPG deadpanned, "Well, this is the one *I* always come to when + I'm in Berkeley. They've got two in San Francisco, too. + Remember, they're a chain." + + JONL accepted this bit of wisdom. And he was not totally ignorant + --- he knew perfectly well that University Avenue was in Berkeley, + not far from Telegraph Avenue. What he didn't know was that + there is a completely different University Avenue in Palo Alto. + + JONL went up to the counter and asked for ginger honey. The guy + at the counter asked whether JONL would like to taste it first, + evidently their standard procedure with that flavor, as not too + many people like it. + + JONL said, "I'm sure I like it. Just give me a cone." The guy + behind the counter insisted that JONL try just a taste first. + "Some people think it tastes like soap." JONL insisted, "Look, I + *love* ginger. I eat Chinese food. I eat raw ginger roots. I + already went through this hassle with the guy back in Palo Alto. + I *know* I like that flavor!" + + At the words "back in Palo Alto" the guy behind the counter got a + very strange look on his face, but said nothing. KBT caught his + eye and winked. Through my stupor I still hadn't quite grasped + what was going on, and thought RPG was rolling on the floor + laughing and clutching his stomach just because JONL had launched + into his spiel ("makes rotten meat a dish for princes") for the + forty-third time. At this point, RPG clued me in fully. + + RPG, KBT, and I retreated to a table, trying to stifle our + chuckles. JONL remained at the counter, talking about ice cream + with the guy b.t.c., comparing Uncle Gaylord's to other ice cream + shops and generally having a good old time. + + At length the g.b.t.c. said, "How's the ginger honey?" JONL + said, "Fine! I wonder what exactly is in it?" Now Uncle Gaylord + publishes all his recipes and even teaches classes on how to make + his ice cream at home. So the g.b.t.c. got out the recipe, and + he and JONL pored over it for a while. But the g.b.t.c. could + contain his curiosity no longer, and asked again, "You really + like that stuff, huh?" JONL said, "Yeah, I've been eating it + constantly back in Palo Alto for the past two days. In fact, I + think this batch is about as good as the cones I got back in Palo + Alto!" + + G.b.t.c. looked him straight in the eye and said, "You're + *in* Palo Alto!" + + JONL turned slowly around, and saw the three of us collapse in a + fit of giggles. He clapped a hand to his forehead and exclaimed, + "I've been hacked!" + + [My spies on the West Coast inform me that there is a close + relative of the raspberry found out there called an `ollalieberry' + --ESR] + + [Ironic footnote: it appears that the {meme} about ginger vs. + rotting meat may be an urban legend. It's not borne out by an + examination of medieval recipes or period purchase records for + spices, and appears full-blown in the works of Samuel Pegge, a + gourmand and notorious flake case who originated numerous food + myths. --ESR] + +:sagan: /say'gn/ /n./ [from Carl Sagan's TV series + "Cosmos"; think "billions and billions"] 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 which is more destructive." + +:SAIL:: /sayl/, not /S-A-I-L/ /n./ 1. The Stanford + Artificial Intelligence Lab. An important site in the early + development of LISP; with the MIT AI Lab, BBN, CMU, XEROX PARC, and + the Unix community, one of the major wellsprings of technical + innovation and hacker-culture traditions (see the {{WAITS}} entry + for details). The SAIL machines were 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). It was an Algol-60 derivative with a + coroutining facility and some new data types intended for building + search trees and association lists. + +:salescritter: /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. [Some versions add: + ...and probably knows how to drive.] + + This reflects the widespread hacker belief 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}, {suit}, {droid}. + +:salt: /n./ A tiny bit of near-random data inserted where too + much regularity would be undesirable; a data {frob} (sense 1). + For example, the Unix crypt(3) man page mentions that "the salt + string is used to perturb the DES algorithm in one of 4096 + different ways." + +:salt mines: /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: /n./ [MIT] 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. Also + `sodium substrate'. From the technical term `chip substrate', + used to refer to the silicon on the top of which the active parts + of integrated circuits are deposited. + +:same-day service: /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 programmers + to write programs that are not {well-behaved}. See also + {PC-ism}. + +:samizdat: /sahm-iz-daht/ /n./ [Russian, literally "self + publishing"] The process of disseminating documentation via + underground channels. Originally referred to underground + duplication and distribution of banned books in the Soviet Union; + now refers by obvious extension to any less-than-official + promulgation of textual material, esp. rare, obsolete, or + never-formally-published computer documentation. Samizdat is + obviously much easier when one has access to high-bandwidth + networks and high-quality laser printers. Note that samizdat is + properly used only with respect to documents which contain needed + information (see also {hacker ethic}) but which are for + some reason otherwise unavailable, but *not* in the context of + documents which are available through normal channels, for which + unauthorized duplication would be unethical copyright violation. + See {Lions Book} for a historical example. + +:samurai: /n./ A hacker who hires out for legal cracking jobs, + snooping for factions in corporate political fights, lawyers + pursuing privacy-rights and First Amendment cases, and other + parties with legitimate reasons to need an electronic locksmith. + In 1991, mainstream media reported the existence of a loose-knit + culture of samurai that meets electronically on BBS systems, mostly + bright teenagers with personal micros; they have modeled themselves + explicitly on the historical samurai of Japan and on the "net + cowboys" of William Gibson's {cyberpunk} novels. Those + interviewed claim to adhere to a rigid ethic of loyalty to their + employers and to disdain the vandalism and theft practiced by + criminal crackers as beneath them and contrary to the hacker ethic; + some quote Miyamoto Musashi's "Book of Five Rings", a classic + of historical samurai doctrine, in support of these principles. + See also {sneaker}, {Stupids}, {social engineering}, + {cracker}, {hacker ethic}, and {dark-side hacker}. + +:sandbender: /n./ [IBM] A person involved with silicon lithography and + the physical design of chips. Compare {ironmonger}, {polygon + pusher}. + +:sandbox: /n./ 1. (also `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 creative play. + Compare {playpen}. 2. Syn. {link farm}. + +:sanity check: /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 software + relied on a particular formula and 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 + algorithm itself. Compare {reality check}. 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: /n./ [from police slang for a cheap + handgun] A {quick-and-dirty} 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 often sneak into a production release after + insufficient review. + +:say: /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 speech synthesizer, by displaying them on a terminal in response + to your commands. Hackers find it odd that this usage confuses + {mundane}s. + +:scag: /vt./ To destroy the data on a disk, either by + corrupting the + filesystem or by causing media damage. "That last power hit scagged + the system disk." Compare {scrog}, {roach}. + +:scanno: /skan'oh/ /n./ An error in a document caused by a + scanner glitch, analogous to a typo or {thinko}. + +:schroedinbug: /shroh'din-buhg/ /n./ [MIT: from the + Schroedinger's Cat thought-experiment in quantum physics] A design + or implementation bug in a program that doesn't manifest until + someone reading source or using the program in an unusual way + notices that it never should have worked, at which point the + program promptly stops working for everybody until fixed. Though + (like {bit rot}) this sounds impossible, it happens; some + programs have harbored latent schroedinbugs for years. Compare + {heisenbug}, {Bohr bug}, {mandelbug}. + +:science-fiction fandom:: /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 such as + the Society for Creative Anachronism. 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}, {cyberspace}, {de-rezz}, {go + flatline}, {ice}, {phage}, {virus}, {wetware}, + {wirehead}, and {worm} originated in SF stories. + +:scram switch: /n./ [from the nuclear power industry] 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 + initiate expensive events (such as Halon dumps) 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}. (See also {molly-guard}, + {TMRC}.) + +:scratch: 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', + `scratch register', `scratch disk', `scratch tape', + `scratch volume'. See also {scratch monkey}. 2. [primarily + IBM] /vt./ To delete (as in a file). + +:scratch monkey: /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 any risky + operation as a replacement for some 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. Mabel was not (so the legend goes) your ordinary monkey; + the 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 a DEC engineer troubleshooting a crash on the program's + VAX inadvertently interfered with some custom hardware that was + wired to Mabel. + + It is reported 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 + and asked him sweetly, "Can you swim?" + + Not 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 {droid}s at the local `humane' society. The moral + is clear: When in doubt, always mount a scratch monkey. + + [The actual incident occured in 1979 or 1980. There is a version of + this story, complete with reported dialogue between one of the + project people and DEC field service, that has been circulating on + Internet since 1986. It is hilarious and mythic, but gets some + facts wrong. For example, it reports the machine as a PDP-11 and + alleges that Mabel's demise occurred when DEC {PM}ed the + machine. Earlier versions of this entry were based on that story; + this one has been corrected from an interview with the hapless + sysop. --ESR] + +:scream and die: /v./ Syn. {cough and die}, but connotes + that an error message was printed or displayed before the program + crashed. + +:screaming tty: /n./ [Unix] A terminal line which spews an infinite + number of random characters at the operating system. This can + happen if the terminal is either disconnected or connected to a + powered-off terminal but still enabled for login; misconfiguration, + misimplementation, or simple bad luck can start such a terminal + screaming. A screaming tty or two can seriously degrade the + performance of a vanilla Unix system; the arriving "characters" + are treated as userid/password pairs and tested as such. The Unix + password encryption algorithm is designed to be computationally + intensive in order to foil brute-force crack attacks, so although + none of the logins succeeds; the overhead of rejecting them all can + be substantial. + +:screw: /n./ [MIT] 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: /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: /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 scribbled on low core." Synonymous with {trash}; + compare {mung}, which conveys a bit more intention, and + {mangle}, which is more violent and final. + +:scrog: /skrog/ /vt./ [Bell Labs] 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". Compare {scag}; possibly the two are related. + Equivalent to {scribble} or {mangle}. + +:scrool: /skrool/ /n./ [from the pioneering Roundtable chat + system in Houston ca. 1984; prob. originated as a typo for + `scroll'] The log of old messages, available for later perusal or + to help one get back in synch with the conversation. It was + originally called the `scrool monster', 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: /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!" + +:scruffies: /n./ See {neats vs. scruffies}. + +:SCSI: /n./ [Small Computer System Interface] 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' + (/skuh'zee/) as pronunciation guides -- the last 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. + +:ScumOS: /skuhm'os/ or /skuhm'O-S/ /n./ Unflattering + hackerism for SunOS, the BSD Unix variant supported on Sun + Microsystems's Unix workstations (see also {sun-stools}), and + compare {AIDX}, {Macintrash}, {Nominal Semidestructor}, + {Open DeathTrap}, {HP-SUX}. Despite what this term might + suggest, Sun was founded by hackers and still enjoys excellent + relations with hackerdom; usage is more often in exasperation than + outright loathing. + +:search-and-destroy mode: /n./ Hackerism for a noninteractive + search-and-replace facility in an editor, so called because an + incautiously chosen match pattern can cause {infinite} damage. + +:second-system effect: /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 an + {elephantine} feature-laden monstrosity. 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 systems on the IBM 70xx series to OS/360 on the 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 lexicon has been described (with + altogether too much truth for comfort) as an example of + second-system effect run amok on jargon-1.... + +:secondary damage: /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 + amount of analysis will reveal (directly) how 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 in which 17 hours of {grovel}ling with + `adb' 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: (alt. `security by obscurity') + A term applied by hackers to most OS vendors' favorite way of + coping with security holes -- namely, ignoring them, documenting + neither any known holes nor the underlying security algorithms, + trusting that nobody will find out about them and that people who + do find out about them won't exploit them. This "strategy" never + works for long and occasionally sets the world up for debacles like + the {RTM} worm of 1988 (see {Great Worm, the}), but once the + brief moments of panic created by such events subside most vendors + are all too willing to turn over and go back to sleep. After all, + actually 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 and imagine that their warranties + of 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: There are conflicting stories about the origin of + this term. It has been claimed that it 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 a thing). {ITS} fans, on the + other hand, say it was coined years earlier in opposition to the + incredibly paranoid {Multics} people down the hall, for whom + security was everything. In the ITS culture it referred to (1) the + fact that by the time a tourist figured out how to make + trouble he'd generally gotten over the urge to make it, because he + felt part of the community; and (2) (self-mockingly) the poor + coverage of the documentation and obscurity of many commands. One + instance of *deliberate* security through obscurity is + recorded; the command to allow patching the running ITS system + ({altmode} altmode control-R) echoed as $$^D. If you actually + typed alt alt ^D, that set a flag that would prevent patching the + system even if you later got it right. + +:SED: /S-E-D/ /n./ [TMRC, from `Light-Emitting Diode'] + Smoke-emitting diode. A {friode} that lost the war. See also + {LER}. + +:segfault: /n.,vi./ Syn. {segment}, {segmentation fault}. + +:seggie: /seg'ee/ /n./ [Unix] Shorthand for + {segmentation fault} reported from Britain. + +:segment: /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: /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 an exclamation at + the point of befuddlement. + +:segv: /seg'vee/ /n.,vi./ Yet another synonym for + {segmentation fault} (actually, in this case, `segmentation + violation'). + +:self-reference: /n./ See {self-reference}. + +:selvage: /sel'v*j/ /n./ [from sewing and weaving] See + {chad} (sense 1). + +:semi: /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 qualifier. "When is the system coming up?" + "Semi-immediately." (That is, maybe not for an hour.) "We did + consider that possibility semi-seriously." See also + {infinite}. + +:semi-infinite: /n./ See {infinite}. + +:senior bit: /n./ [IBM] Syn. {meta bit}. + +:server: /n./ A kind of {daemon} that performs a service for + the requester and which often runs on a computer other than the one + on which the server runs. A particularly common term on the + Internet, which is rife with `web servers', `name servers', + `domain servers', `news servers', `finger servers', and the + like. + +:SEX: /seks/ [Sun Users' Group & elsewhere] /n./ 1. Software + EXchange. A technique invented by the blue-green algae hundreds of + millions of years ago to speed up their evolution, which had been + terribly slow up until then. Today, SEX parties are popular among + hackers and others (of course, these are no longer limited to + exchanges of genetic software). In general, SEX parties are a + {Good Thing}, but unprotected SEX can propagate a {virus}. + See also {pubic directory}. 2. The rather Freudian mnemonic + often used for Sign EXtend, a machine instruction found in the + PDP-11 and many other architectures. The RCA 1802 chip used in the + early Elf and SuperElf personal computers had a `SEt X register' + SEX instruction, but this seems to have had little folkloric + impact. + + DEC's engineers nearly got a PDP-11 assembler that used the + `SEX' mnemonic out the door at one time, but (for once) + marketing wasn't asleep and forced a change. That wasn't the last + time this happened, either. The author of "The Intel 8086 + Primer", who was one of the original designers of the 8086, noted + that there was originally a `SEX' instruction on that + processor, too. He says that Intel management got cold feet and + decreed that it be changed, and thus the instruction was renamed + `CBW' and `CWD' (depending on what was being extended). + Amusingly, the Intel 8048 (the microcontroller used in IBM PC + keyboards) is also missing straight `SEX' but has logical-or + and logical-and instructions `ORL' and `ANL'. + + The Motorola 6809, used in the U.K.'s `Dragon 32' personal + computer, actually had an official `SEX' instruction; the 6502 + in the Apple II with which it competed did not. British hackers + thought this made perfect mythic sense; after all, it was commonly + observed, you could (on some theoretical level) have sex with a + dragon, but you can't have sex with an apple. + +:sex changer: /n./ Syn. {gender mender}. + +:shambolic link: /sham-bol'ik link/ /n./ A Unix symbolic + link, particularly when it confuses you, points to nothing at all, + or results in your ending up in some completely unexpected part of + the filesystem.... + +:shar file: /shar' fi:l/ /n./ Syn. {sharchive}. + +:sharchive: /shar'ki:v/ /n./ [Unix and Usenet; from /bin/sh + archive] A {flatten}ed representation of a set of one or more + files, with the unique property that it can be unflattened (the + original files restored) by feeding it through a standard Unix + shell; thus, a sharchive can be distributed to anyone running Unix, + and no special unpacking software is required. Sharchives are also + intriguing in that they are typically created by shell scripts; the + script that produces sharchives is thus a script which produces + self-unpacking scripts, which may themselves contain scripts. (The + downsides of sharchives are that they are an ideal venue for + {Trojan horse} attacks and that, for recipients not running + Unix, no simple un-sharchiving program is possible; sharchives can + and do make use of arbitrarily-powerful shell features.) + Sharchives are also commonly referred to as `shar files' after the + name of the most common program for generating them. + +:Share and enjoy!: /imp./ 1. Commonly found at the end of + software release announcements and {README file}s, this phrase + indicates allegiance to the hacker ethic of free information + sharing (see {hacker ethic}, sense 1). 2. The motto of the + Sirius Cybernetics Corporation (the ultimate gaggle of incompetent + {suit}s) in Douglas Adams's "Hitch Hiker's Guide to the + Galaxy". The irony of using this as a cultural recognition signal + appeals to freeware hackers. + +:shareware: /sheir'weir/ /n./ A kind of {freeware} (sense + 1) for which the author requests some payment, usually in the + accompanying documentation files or in an announcement made by the + software itself. Such payment may or may not buy additional + support or functionality. See also {careware}, + {charityware}, {crippleware}, {FRS}, {guiltware}, + {postcardware}, and {-ware}; compare {payware}. + +:shelfware: /shelf'weir/ /n./ Software purchased on a whim (by + an individual user) or in accordance with policy (by a corporation + or government agency), but not actually required for any particular + use. Therefore, it often ends up on some shelf. + +:shell: [orig. {{Multics}} /n./ techspeak, widely propagated + via Unix] 1. [techspeak] The command interpreter used to pass + commands to an operating system; so called because it is the part + of the operating system that interfaces with the outside world. + 2. More generally, any interface program that mediates access to a + special resource or {server} for convenience, efficiency, or + security reasons; for this meaning, the usage is usually `a shell + around' whatever. This sort of program is also called a + `wrapper'. 3. A skeleton program, created by hand or by another + program (like, say, a parser generator), which provides the + necessary {incantation}s to set up some task and the control + flow to drive it (the term {driver} is sometimes used + synonymously). The user is meant to fill in whatever code is + needed to get real work done. This usage is common in the AI and + Microsoft Windows worlds, and confuses Unix hackers. + + Historical note: Apparently, the original Multics shell (sense 1) + was so called because it was a shell (sense 3); it ran user + programs not by starting up separate processes, but by dynamically + linking the programs into its own code, calling them as + subroutines, and then dynamically de-linking them on return. The + VMS command interpreter still does something very like + this. + +:shell out: /n./ [Unix] To spawn an interactive subshell from within + a program (e.g., a mailer or editor). "Bang foo runs foo in a + subshell, while bang alone shells out." + +:shift left (or right) logical: [from any of various + machines' instruction sets] 1. /vi./ To move oneself to the left + (right). To move out of the way. 2. imper. "Get out of that (my) + seat! You can shift to that empty one to the left (right)." + Often used without the `logical', or as `left shift' instead of + `shift left'. Sometimes heard as LSH /lish/, from the + {PDP-10} instruction set. See {Programmer's Cheer}. + +:shim: /n./ A small piece of data inserted in order to achieve + a desired memory alignment or other addressing property. For + example, the PDP-11 Unix linker, in split I&D (instructions and + data) mode, inserts a two-byte shim at location 0 in data space so + that no data object will have an address of 0 (and be confused with + the C null pointer). See also {loose bytes}. + +:shitogram: /shit'oh-gram/ /n./ A *really* nasty piece + of email. Compare {nastygram}, {flame}. + +:short card: /n./ A half-length IBM XT expansion card or + adapter that will fit in one of the two short slots located towards + the right rear of a standard chassis (tucked behind the floppy disk + drives). See also {tall card}. + +:shotgun debugging: /n./ The software equivalent of {Easter + egging}; the making of relatively undirected changes to software in + the hope that a bug will be perturbed out of existence. This + almost never works, and usually introduces more bugs. + +:shovelware: /shuh'v*l-weir`/ /n./ Extra software dumped onto + a CD-ROM or tape to fill up the remaining space on the medium after + the software distribution it's intended to carry, but not + integrated with the distribution. + +:showstopper: /n./ A hardware or (especially) software bug that + makes an implementation effectively unusable; one that absolutely + has to be fixed before development can go on. Opposite in + connotation from its original theatrical use, which refers to + something stunningly *good*. + +:shriek: /n./ See {excl}. Occasional CMU usage, also in + common use among APL fans and mathematicians, especially category + theorists. + +:Shub-Internet: /shuhb' in't*r-net/ /n./ [MUD: from + H. P. Lovecraft's evil fictional deity Shub-Niggurath, the + Black Goat with a Thousand Young] The harsh personification of the + Internet, Beast of a Thousand Processes, Eater of Characters, + Avatar of Line Noise, and Imp of Call Waiting; the hideous + multi-tendriled entity formed of all the manifold connections of + the net. A sect of MUDders worships Shub-Internet, sacrificing + objects and praying for good connections. To no avail -- its + purpose is malign and evil, and is the cause of all network + slowdown. Often heard as in "Freela casts a tac nuke at + Shub-Internet for slowing her down." (A forged response often + follows along the lines of: "Shub-Internet gulps down the tac nuke + and burps happily.") Also cursed by users of the Web, {FTP} and + {TELNET} when the system slows down. The dread name of + Shub-Internet is seldom spoken aloud, as it is said that repeating + it three times will cause the being to wake, deep within its lair + beneath the Pentagon. + + [January 1996: It develops that one of the computer administrators + in the basement of the Pentagon read this entry and fell over + laughing. As a result, you too can now poke Shub-Internet by + {ping}ing shub-internet.ims.disa.mil. See also + {kremvax}. -- ESR] + +:sidecar: /n./ 1. Syn. {slap on the side}. Esp. used of + add-ons for the late and unlamented IBM PCjr. 2. The IBM PC + compatibility box that could be bolted onto the side of an Amiga. + Designed and produced by Commodore, it broke all of the company's + own design rules. If it worked with any other peripherals, it was + by {magic}. 3. More generally, any of various devices designed + to be connected to the expansion slot on the left side of the Amiga + 500 (and later, 600 & 1200), which included a hard drive + controller, a hard drive, and additional memory. + +:SIG: /sig/ /n./ (also common as a prefix in combining forms) + A Special Interest Group, in one of several technical areas, + sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery; well-known + ones include SIGPLAN (the Special Interest Group on Programming + Languages), SIGARCH (the Special Interest Group for Computer + Architecture) and SIGGRAPH (the Special Interest Group for Computer + Graphics). Hackers, not surprisingly, like to overextend this + naming convention to less formal associations like SIGBEER (at ACM + conferences) and SIGFOOD (at University of Illinois). + +:sig block: /sig blok/ /n./ [Unix; often written `.sig' + there] Short for `signature', used specifically to refer to the + electronic signature block that most Unix mail- and news-posting + software will {automagically} append to outgoing mail and news. + The composition of one's sig can be quite an art form, including an + ASCII logo or one's choice of witty sayings (see {sig quote}, + {fool file, the}); but many consider large sigs a waste of + {bandwidth}, and it has been observed that the size of one's sig + block is usually inversely proportional to one's longevity and + level of prestige on the net. See also {doubled sig}. + +:sig quote: /sig kwoht/ /n./ [Usenet] A maxim, quote, proverb, joke, + or slogan embedded in one's {sig block} and intended to convey + something of one's philosophical stance, pet peeves, or sense of + humor. "Calm down, it's only ones and zeroes." + +:sig virus: /n./ A parasitic {meme} embedded in a {sig + block}. There was a {meme plague} or fad for these on Usenet in + late 1991. Most were equivalents of "I am a .sig virus. Please + reproduce me in your .sig block.". Of course, the .sig virus's + memetic hook is the giggle value of going along with the gag; this, + however, was a self-limiting phenomenon as more and more people + picked up on the idea. There were creative variants on it; some + people stuck `sig virus antibody' texts in their sigs, and there + was at least one instance of a sig virus eater. + +:signal-to-noise ratio: [from analog electronics] /n./ Used by + hackers in a generalization of its technical meaning. `Signal' + refers to useful information conveyed by some communications + medium, and `noise' to anything else on that medium. Hence a low + ratio implies that it is not worth paying attention to the medium + in question. Figures for such metaphorical ratios are never given. + The term is most often applied to {Usenet} newsgroups during + {flame war}s. Compare {bandwidth}. See also {coefficient + of X}, {lost in the noise}. + +:silicon: /n./ Hardware, esp. ICs or microprocessor-based + computer systems (compare {iron}). Contrasted with software. + See also {sandbender}. + +:silly walk: /vi./ [from Monty Python's Flying Circus] 1. A + ridiculous procedure required to accomplish a task. Like + {grovel}, but more {random} and humorous. "I had to + silly-walk through half the /usr directories to find the maps + file." 2. Syn. {fandango on core}. + +:silo: /n./ The FIFO input-character buffer in an RS-232 line + card. So called from DEC terminology used on DH and DZ line cards + for the VAX and PDP-11, presumably because it was a storage space + for fungible stuff that went in at the top and came out at the + bottom. + +:Silver Book: /n./ Jensen and Wirth's infamous "Pascal + User Manual and Report", so called because of the silver cover of + the widely distributed Springer-Verlag second edition of 1978 (ISBN + 0-387-90144-2). See {{book titles}}, {Pascal}. + +:since time T equals minus infinity: /adv./ A long time ago; + for as long as anyone can remember; at the time that some + particular frob was first designed. Usually the word `time' is + omitted. See also {time T}; contrast {epoch}. + +:sitename: /si:t'naym/ /n./ [Unix/Internet] The unique + electronic name of a computer system, used to identify it in UUCP + mail, Usenet, or other forms of electronic information interchange. + The folklore interest of sitenames stems from the creativity and + humor they often display. Interpreting a sitename is not unlike + interpreting a vanity license plate; one has to mentally unpack it, + allowing for mono-case and length restrictions and the lack of + whitespace. Hacker tradition deprecates dull, + institutional-sounding names in favor of punchy, humorous, and + clever coinages (except that it is considered appropriate for the + official public gateway machine of an organization to bear the + organization's name or acronym). Mythological references, cartoon + characters, animal names, and allusions to SF or fantasy literature + are probably the most popular sources for sitenames (in roughly + descending order). The obligatory comment when discussing these is + Harris's Lament: "All the good ones are taken!" See also + {network address}. + +:skrog: /v./ Syn. {scrog}. + +:skulker: /n./ Syn. {prowler}. + +:slab: [Apple] 1. /n./ A continuous horizontal line of pixels, + all with the same color. 2. /vi./ To paint a slab on an output + device. Apple's QuickDraw, like most other professional-level + graphics systems, renders polygons and lines not with Bresenham's + algorithm, but by calculating `slab points' for each scan line + on the screen in succession, and then slabbing in the actual image + pixels. + +:slack: /n./ 1. Space allocated to a disk file but not actually + used to store useful information. The techspeak equivalent is + `internal fragmentation'. Antonym: {hole}. 2. In the theology + of the {Church of the SubGenius}, a mystical substance or + quality that is the prerequisite of all human happiness. + + Since Unix files are stored compactly, except for the unavoidable + wastage in the last block or fragment, it might be said that "Unix + has no slack". See {ha ha only serious}. + +:slap on the side: /n./ (also called a {sidecar}, or + abbreviated `SOTS'.) A type of external expansion hardware + marketed by computer manufacturers (e.g., Commodore for the Amiga + 500/1000 series and IBM for the hideous failure called `PCjr'). + Various SOTS boxes provided necessities such as memory, hard drive + controllers, and conventional expansion slots. + +:slash: /n./ Common name for the slant (`/', ASCII 0101111) + character. See {ASCII} for other synonyms. + +:sleep: /vi./ 1. [techspeak] To relinquish a claim (of a + process on a multitasking system) for service; to indicate to the + scheduler that a process may be deactivated until some given event + occurs or a specified time delay elapses. 2. In jargon, used very + similarly to /v./ {block}; also in `sleep on', syn. with + `block on'. Often used to indicate that the speaker has + relinquished a demand for resources until some (possibly + unspecified) external event: "They can't get the fix I've been + asking for into the next release, so I'm going to sleep on it until + the release, then start hassling them again." + +:slim: /n./ A small, derivative change (e.g., to code). + +:slop: /n./ 1. A one-sided {fudge factor}, that is, an + allowance for error but in only one of two directions. For + example, if you need a piece of wire 10 feet long and have to guess + when you cut it, you make very sure to cut it too long, by a large + amount if necessary, rather than too short by even a little bit, + because you can always cut off the slop but you can't paste it back + on again. When discrete quantities are involved, slop is often + introduced to avoid the possibility of being on the losing side of + a {fencepost error}. 2. The percentage of `extra' code + generated by a compiler over the size of equivalent assembler code + produced by {hand-hacking}; i.e., the space (or maybe time) you + lose because you didn't do it yourself. This number is often used + as a measure of the goodness of a compiler; slop below 5% is very + good, and 10% is usually acceptable. With modern compiler + technology, esp. on RISC machines, the compiler's slop may + actually be *negative*; that is, humans may be unable to + generate code as good. This is one of the reasons assembler + programming is no longer common. + +:slopsucker: /slop'suhk-r/ /n./ A lowest-priority task that + waits around until everything else has `had its fill' of machine + resources. Only when the machine would otherwise be idle is the + task allowed to `suck up the slop'. Also called a `hungry puppy' + or `bottom feeder'. One common variety of slopsucker hunts for + large prime numbers. Compare {background}. + +:slurp: /vt./ To read a large data file entirely into {core} + before working on it. This may be contrasted with the strategy of + reading a small piece at a time, processing it, and then reading + the next piece. "This program slurps in a 1K-by-1K matrix and + does an FFT." See also {sponge}. + +:smart: /adj./ Said of a program that does the {Right Thing} + in a wide variety of complicated circumstances. There is a + difference between calling a program smart and calling it + intelligent; in particular, there do not exist any intelligent + programs (yet -- see {AI-complete}). Compare {robust} + (smart programs can be {brittle}). + +:smart terminal: /n./ 1. A terminal that has enough computing + capability to render graphics or to offload some kind of front-end + processing from the computer it talks to. The development of + workstations and personal computers has made this term and the + product it describes semi-obsolescent, but one may still hear + variants of the phrase `act like a smart terminal' used to + describe the behavior of workstations or PCs with respect to + programs that execute almost entirely out of a remote {server}'s + storage, using local devices as displays. 2. obs. Any terminal + with an addressable cursor; the opposite of a {glass tty}. + Today, a terminal with merely an addressable cursor, but with none + of the more-powerful features mentioned in sense 1, is called a + {dumb terminal}. + + There is a classic quote from Rob Pike (inventor of the {blit} + terminal): "A smart terminal is not a smart*ass* terminal, + but rather a terminal you can educate." This illustrates a common + design problem: The attempt to make peripherals (or anything else) + intelligent sometimes results in finicky, rigid `special + features' that become just so much dead weight if you try to use + the device in any way the designer didn't anticipate. Flexibility + and programmability, on the other hand, are *really* smart. + Compare {hook}. + +:smash case: /vi./ To lose or obliterate the + uppercase/lowercase distinction in text input. "MS-DOS will + automatically smash case in the names of all the files you + create." Compare {fold case}. + +:smash the stack: /n./ [C programming] To corrupt the execution + stack by writing past the end of a local array or other data + structure. Code that smashes the stack can cause a return from the + routine to jump to a random address, resulting in some of the most + insidious data-dependent bugs known to mankind. Variants include + `trash' the stack, {scribble} the stack, {mangle} the + stack; the term **{mung} the stack is not used, as this is never + done intentionally. See {spam}; see also {aliasing bug}, + {fandango on core}, {memory leak}, {memory smash}, + {precedence lossage}, {overrun screw}. + +:smiley: /n./ See {emoticon}. + +:smoke: /vi./ 1. To {crash} or blow up, usually + spectacularly. "The new version smoked, just like the last one." + Used for both hardware (where it often describes an actual physical + event), and software (where it's merely colorful). 2. [from + automotive slang] To be conspicuously fast. "That processor + really smokes." Compare {magic smoke}. + +:smoke and mirrors: /n./ Marketing deceptions. The term is + mainstream in this general sense. Among hackers it's strongly + associated with bogus demos and crocked {benchmark}s (see also + {MIPS}, {machoflops}). "They claim their new box cranks 50 + MIPS for under $5000, but didn't specify the instruction mix --- + sounds like smoke and mirrors to me." The phrase, popularized by + newspaper columnist Jimmy Breslin c.1975, has been said to + derive from carnie slang for magic acts and `freak show' displays + that depend on `trompe l'oeil' effects, but also calls to mind + the fierce Aztec god Tezcatlipoca (lit. "Smoking Mirror") for + whom the hearts of huge numbers of human sacrificial victims were + regularly cut out. Upon hearing about a rigged demo or yet another + round of fantasy-based marketing promises, hackers often feel + analogously disheartened. See also {stealth manager}. + +:smoke test: /n./ 1. A rudimentary form of testing applied to + electronic equipment following repair or reconfiguration, in which + power is applied and the tester checks for sparks, smoke, or other + dramatic signs of fundamental failure. See {magic smoke}. + 2. By extension, the first run of a piece of software after + construction or a critical change. See and compare {reality + check}. + + There is an interesting semi-parallel to this term among + typographers and printers: When new typefaces are being punch-cut + by hand, a `smoke test' (hold the letter in candle smoke, then + press it onto paper) is used to check out new dies. + +:smoking clover: /n./ [ITS] A {display hack} originally due + to Bill Gosper. Many convergent lines are drawn on a color monitor + in {AOS} mode (so that every pixel struck has its color + incremented). The lines all have one endpoint in the middle of the + screen; the other endpoints are spaced one pixel apart around the + perimeter of a large square. The color map is then repeatedly + rotated. This results in a striking, rainbow-hued, shimmering + four-leaf clover. Gosper joked about keeping it hidden from the + FDA (the U.S.'s Food and Drug Administration) lest its + hallucinogenic properties cause it to be banned. + +:SMOP: /S-M-O-P/ /n./ [Simple (or Small) Matter of + Programming] 1. A piece of code, not yet written, whose anticipated + length is significantly greater than its complexity. Used to refer + to a program that could obviously be written, but is not worth the + trouble. Also used ironically to imply that a difficult problem + can be easily solved because a program can be written to do it; the + irony is that it is very clear that writing such a program will be + a great deal of work. "It's easy to enhance a FORTRAN compiler to + compile COBOL as well; it's just an SMOP." 2. Often used + ironically by the intended victim when a suggestion for a program + is made which seems easy to the suggester, but is obviously (to the + victim) a lot of work. + +:smurf: /smerf/ /n./ [from the soc.motss newsgroup on + Usenet, after some obnoxiously gooey cartoon characters] A + newsgroup regular with a habitual style that is irreverent, silly, + and cute. Like many other hackish terms for people, this one + may be praise or insult depending on who uses it. In general, + being referred to as a smurf is probably not going to make your day + unless you've previously adopted the label yourself in a spirit of + irony. Compare {old fart}. + +:SNAFU principle: /sna'foo prin'si-pl/ /n./ [from a WWII Army + acronym for `Situation Normal, All Fucked Up'] "True + communication is possible only between equals, because inferiors + are more consistently rewarded for telling their superiors pleasant + lies than for telling the truth." -- a central tenet of + {Discordianism}, often invoked by hackers to explain why + authoritarian hierarchies screw up so reliably and systematically. + The effect of the SNAFU principle is a progressive disconnection of + decision-makers from reality. This lightly adapted version of a + fable dating back to the early 1960s illustrates the phenomenon + perfectly: + + In the beginning was the plan, + and then the specification; + And the plan was without form, + and the specification was void. + + And darkness + was on the faces of the implementors thereof; + And they spake unto their leader, + saying: + "It is a crock of shit, + and smells as of a sewer." + + And the leader took pity on them, + and spoke to the project leader: + "It is a crock of excrement, + and none may abide the odor thereof." + + And the project leader + spake unto his section head, saying: + "It is a container of excrement, + and it is very strong, such that none may abide it." + + The section head then hurried to his department manager, + and informed him thus: + "It is a vessel of fertilizer, + and none may abide its strength." + + The department manager carried these words + to his general manager, + and spoke unto him + saying: + "It containeth that which aideth the growth of plants, + and it is very strong." + + And so it was that the general manager rejoiced + and delivered the good news unto the Vice President. + "It promoteth growth, + and it is very powerful." + + The Vice President rushed to the President's side, + and joyously exclaimed: + "This powerful new software product + will promote the growth of the company!" + + And the President looked upon the product, + and saw that it was very good. + + After the subsequent and inevitable disaster, the {suit}s + protect themselves by saying "I was misinformed!", and the + implementors are demoted or fired. + +:snail: /vt./ To {snail-mail} something. "Snail me a copy + of those graphics, will you?" + +:snail-mail: /n./ Paper mail, as opposed to electronic. + Sometimes written as the single word `SnailMail'. One's postal + address is, correspondingly, a `snail address'. Derives from + earlier coinage `USnail' (from `U.S. Mail'), for which + there have even been parody posters and stamps made. Also (less + commonly) called `P-mail', from `paper mail' or `physical mail'. + Oppose {email}. + +:snap: /v./ To replace a pointer to a pointer with a direct + pointer; to replace an old address with the forwarding address + found there. If you telephone the main number for an institution + and ask for a particular person by name, the operator may tell you + that person's extension before connecting you, in the hopes that + you will `snap your pointer' and dial direct next time. The + underlying metaphor may be that of a rubber band stretched through + a number of intermediate points; if you remove all the thumbtacks + in the middle, it snaps into a straight line from first to last. + See {chase pointers}. + + Often, the behavior of a {trampoline} is to perform an error + check once and then snap the pointer that invoked it so as + henceforth to bypass the trampoline (and its one-shot error check). + In this context one also speaks of `snapping links'. For + example, in a LISP implementation, a function interface trampoline + might check to make sure that the caller is passing the correct + number of arguments; if it is, and if the caller and the callee are + both compiled, then snapping the link allows that particular path + to use a direct procedure-call instruction with no further + overhead. + +:snarf: /snarf/ /vt./ 1. To grab, esp. to grab a large + document or file for the purpose of using it with or without the + author's permission. See also {BLT}. 2. [in the Unix + community] To fetch a file or set of files across a network. See + also {blast}. This term was mainstream in the late 1960s, + meaning `to eat piggishly'. It may still have this connotation in + context. "He's in the snarfing phase of hacking -- {FTP}ing + megs of stuff a day." 3. To acquire, with little concern for + legal forms or politesse (but not quite by stealing). "They + were giving away samples, so I snarfed a bunch of them." + 4. Syn. for {slurp}. "This program starts by snarfing the + entire database into core, then...." 5. [GEnie] To spray + food or {programming fluid}s due to laughing at the wrong + moment. "I was drinking coffee, and when I read your post I + snarfed all over my desk." "If I keep reading this topic, I + think I'll have to snarf-proof my computer with a keyboard + {condom}." [This sense appears to be widespread among mundane + teenagers --ESR] + +:snarf & barf: /snarf'n-barf`/ /n./ Under a {WIMP + environment}, the act of grabbing a region of text and then + stuffing the contents of that region into another region (or the + same one) to avoid retyping a command line. In the late 1960s, + this was a mainstream expression for an `eat now, regret it later' + cheap-restaurant expedition. + +:snarf down: /v./ To {snarf}, with the connotation of + absorbing, processing, or understanding. "I'll snarf down the + latest version of the {nethack} user's guide -- it's been a + while since I played last and I don't know what's changed + recently." + +:snark: /n./ [Lewis Carroll, via the Michigan Terminal System] + 1. A system failure. When a user's process bombed, the operator + would get the message "Help, Help, Snark in MTS!" 2. More + generally, any kind of unexplained or threatening event on a + computer (especially if it might be a boojum). Often used to refer + to an event or a log file entry that might indicate an attempted + security violation. See {snivitz}. 3. UUCP name of + snark.thyrsus.com, home site of the Jargon File versions from + 2.*.* on (i.e., this lexicon). + +:sneaker: /n./ An individual hired to break into places in + order to test their security; analogous to {tiger team}. + Compare {samurai}. + +:sneakernet: /snee'ker-net/ /n./ Term used (generally with + ironic intent) for transfer of electronic information by physically + carrying tape, disks, or some other media from one machine to + another. "Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon + filled with magtape, or a 747 filled with CD-ROMs." Also called + `Tennis-Net', `Armpit-Net', `Floppy-Net' or `Shoenet'. + +:sniff: /v.,n./ Synonym for {poll}. + +:snivitz: /sniv'itz/ /n./ A hiccup in hardware or software; a + small, transient problem of unknown origin (less serious than a + {snark}). Compare {glitch}. + +:SO: /S-O/ /n./ 1. (also `S.O.') Abbrev. for Significant + Other, almost invariably written abbreviated and pronounced /S-O/ + by hackers. Used to refer to one's primary relationship, esp. a + live-in to whom one is not married. See {MOTAS}, {MOTOS}, + {MOTSS}. 2. [techspeak] The Shift Out control character in + ASCII (Control-N, 0001110). + +:social engineering: /n./ Term used among {cracker}s and + {samurai} for cracking techniques that rely on weaknesses in + {wetware} rather than software; the aim is to trick people into + revealing passwords or other information that compromises a target + system's security. Classic scams include phoning up a mark who has + the required information and posing as a field service tech or a + fellow employee with an urgent access problem. See also the + {tiger team} story in the {patch} entry. + +:social science number: /n./ [IBM] A statistic that is + {content-free}, or nearly so. A measure derived via methods of + questionable validity from data of a dubious and vague nature. + Predictively, having a social science number in hand is seldom much + better than nothing, and can be considerably worse. As a rule, + {management} loves them. See also {numbers}, {math-out}, + {pretty pictures}. + +:sodium substrate: /n./ Syn {salt substrate}. + +:soft boot: /n./ See {boot}. + +:softcopy: /soft'kop-ee/ /n./ [by analogy with `hardcopy'] + A machine-readable form of corresponding hardcopy. See {bits}, + {machinable}. + +:software bloat: /n./ The results of {second-system effect} + or {creeping featuritis}. Commonly cited examples include + `ls(1)', {X}, {BSD}, {Missed'em-five}, and {OS/2}. + +:software hoarding: /n./ Pejorative term employed by members and + adherents of the {GNU} project to describe the act of holding + software proprietary, keeping it under trade secret or license + terms which prohibit free redistribution and modification. Used + primarily in Free Software Foundation propaganda. For a summary + of related issues, see {GNU}. + +:software laser: /n./ An optical laser works by bouncing + photons back and forth between two mirrors, one totally reflective + and one partially reflective. If the lasing material (usually a + crystal) has the right properties, photons scattering off the atoms + in the crystal will excite cascades of more photons, all in + lockstep. Eventually the beam will escape through the + partially-reflective mirror. One kind of {sorcerer's apprentice + mode} involving {bounce message}s can produce closely analogous + results, with a {cascade} of messages escaping to flood nearby + systems. By mid-1993 there had been at least two publicized + incidents of this kind. + +:software rot: /n./ Term used to describe the tendency of + software that has not been used in a while to {lose}; such + failure may be semi-humorously ascribed to {bit rot}. More + commonly, `software rot' strikes when a program's assumptions + become out of date. If the design was insufficiently {robust}, + this may cause it to fail in mysterious ways. + + For example, owing to endemic shortsightedness in the design of + COBOL programs, most will succumb to software rot when their + 2-digit year counters {wrap around} at the beginning of the + year 2000. Actually, related lossages often afflict centenarians + who have to deal with computer software designed by unimaginative + clods. One such incident became the focus of a minor public flap + in 1990, when a gentleman born in 1889 applied for a driver's + license renewal in Raleigh, North Carolina. The new system + refused to issue the card, probably because with 2-digit years the + ages 101 and 1 cannot be distinguished. + + Historical note: Software rot in an even funnier sense than the + mythical one was a real problem on early research computers (e.g., + the R1; see {grind crank}). If a program that depended on a + peculiar instruction hadn't been run in quite a while, the user + might discover that the opcodes no longer did the same things they + once did. ("Hey, so-and-so needs an instruction to do + such-and-such. We can {snarf} this opcode, right? No one uses + it.") + + Another classic example of this sprang from the time an MIT hacker + found a simple way to double the speed of the unconditional jump + instruction on a PDP-6, so he patched the hardware. Unfortunately, + this broke some fragile timing software in a music-playing program, + throwing its output out of tune. This was fixed by adding a + defensive initialization routine to compare the speed of a timing + loop with the real-time clock; in other words, it figured out how + fast the PDP-6 was that day, and corrected appropriately. + + Compare {bit rot}. + +:softwarily: /soft-weir'i-lee/ /adv./ In a way pertaining to + software. "The system is softwarily unreliable." The adjective + **`softwary' is *not* used. See {hardwarily}. + +:softy: /n./ [IBM] Hardware hackers' term for a software expert who + is largely ignorant of the mysteries of hardware. + +:some random X: /adj./ Used to indicate a member of class X, + with the implication that Xs are interchangeable. "I think some + random cracker tripped over the guest timeout last night." See + also {J. Random}. + +:sorcerer's apprentice mode: /n./ [from Goethe's "Der + Zauberlehrling" via Paul Dukas's "L'apprenti sorcier" the film + "Fantasia"] A bug in a protocol where, under some + circumstances, the receipt of a message causes multiple messages to + be sent, each of which, when received, triggers the same bug. Used + esp. of such behavior caused by {bounce message} loops in + {email} software. Compare {broadcast storm}, {network + meltdown}, {software laser}, {ARMM}. + +:SOS: /S-O-S/ /n. obs./ 1. An infamously {losing} text + editor. Once, back in the 1960s, when a text editor was needed for + the PDP-6, a hacker crufted together a {quick-and-dirty} + `stopgap editor' to be used until a better one was written. + Unfortunately, the old one was never really discarded when new ones + (in particular, {TECO}) came along. SOS is a descendant (`Son + of Stopgap') of that editor, and many PDP-10 users gained the + dubious pleasure of its acquaintance. Since then other programs + similar in style to SOS have been written, notably the early font + editor BILOS /bye'lohs/, the Brother-In-Law Of Stopgap (the + alternate expansion `Bastard Issue, Loins of Stopgap' has been + proposed). 2. /sos/ /vt./ To decrease; inverse of {AOS}, from + the PDP-10 instruction set. + +:source of all good bits: /n./ A person from whom (or a place + from which) useful information may be obtained. If you need to + know about a program, a {guru} might be the source of all good + bits. The title is often applied to a particularly competent + secretary. + +:space-cadet keyboard: /n./ A now-legendary device used on MIT + LISP machines, which inspired several still-current jargon terms + and influenced the design of {EMACS}. It was equipped with no + fewer than *seven* shift keys: four keys for {bucky bits} + (`control', `meta', `hyper', and `super') and three like + regular shift keys, called `shift', `top', and `front'. Many + keys had three symbols on them: a letter and a symbol on the top, + and a Greek letter on the front. For example, the `L' key had an + `L' and a two-way arrow on the top, and the Greek letter lambda on + the front. By pressing this key with the right hand while playing + an appropriate `chord' with the left hand on the shift keys, you + could get the following results: + + L + lowercase l + + shift-L + uppercase L + + front-L + lowercase lambda + + front-shift-L + uppercase lambda + + top-L + two-way arrow (front and shift are ignored) + + And of course each of these might also be typed with any + combination of the control, meta, hyper, and super keys. On this + keyboard, you could type over 8000 different characters! This + allowed the user to type very complicated mathematical text, and + also to have thousands of single-character commands at his + disposal. Many hackers were actually willing to memorize the + command meanings of that many characters if it reduced typing time + (this attitude obviously shaped the interface of EMACS). Other + hackers, however, thought having that many bucky bits was overkill, + and objected that such a keyboard can require three or four hands + to operate. See {bucky bits}, {cokebottle}, {double bucky}, + {meta bit}, {quadruple bucky}. + + Note: early versions of this entry incorrectly identified the + space-cadet keyboard with the `Knight keyboard'. Though both + were designed by Tom Knight, the latter term was properly applied + only to a keyboard used for ITS on the PDP-10 and modeled on the + Stanford keyboard (as described under {bucky bits}). The true + space-cadet keyboard evolved from the first Knight keyboard. + +:spaceship operator: /n./ The glyph `<=>', so-called + apparently because in the low-resolution constant-width font used + on many terminals it vaguely resembles a flying saucer. {Perl} + uses this to denote the signum-of-difference operation. + +:SPACEWAR: /n./ A space-combat simulation game, inspired by + E. E. "Doc" Smith's "Lensman" books, in which two + spaceships duel around a central sun, shooting torpedoes at each + other and jumping through hyperspace. This game was first + implemented on the PDP-1 at MIT in 1960--61. SPACEWAR aficionados + formed the core of the early hacker culture at MIT. Nine years + later, a descendant of the game motivated Ken Thompson to build, in + his spare time on a scavenged PDP-7, the operating system that + became {{Unix}}. Less than nine years after that, SPACEWAR was + commercialized as one of the first video games; descendants are + still {feep}ing in video arcades everywhere. + +:spaghetti code: /n./ Code with a complex and tangled control + structure, esp. one using many GOTOs, exceptions, or other + `unstructured' branching constructs. Pejorative. The synonym + `kangaroo code' has been reported, doubtless because such code + has so many jumps in it. + +:spaghetti inheritance: /n./ [encountered among users of + object-oriented languages that use inheritance, such as Smalltalk] + A convoluted class-subclass graph, often resulting from carelessly + deriving subclasses from other classes just for the sake of reusing + their code. Coined in a (successful) attempt to discourage such + practice, through guilt-by-association with {spaghetti code}. + +:spam: /vt.,vi.,n./ [from "Monty Python's Flying Circus"] + 1. To crash a program by overrunning a fixed-size buffer with + excessively large input data. See also {buffer overflow}, + {overrun screw}, {smash the stack}. 2. To cause a newsgroup + to be flooded with irrelevant or inappropriate messages. You can + spam a newsgroup with as little as one well- (or ill-) planned + message (e.g. asking "What do you think of abortion?" on + soc.women). This is often done with {cross-post}ing + (e.g. any message which is crossposted to alt.rush-limbaugh + and alt.politics.homosexuality will almost inevitably spam + both groups). 3. To send many identical or nearly-identical + messages separately to a large number of Usenet newsgroups. This + is one sure way to infuriate nearly everyone on the Net. + + The second and third definitions have become much more prevalent as + the Internet has opened up to non-techies, and to many Usenetters + sense 3 is now (1995) primary. In this sense the term has + apparantly begun to go mainstream, though without its original + sense or folkloric freight -- there is apparently a widespread + belief among {luser}s that "spamming" is what happens when you + dump cans of Spam into a revolving fan. + +:special-case: /vt./ To write unique code to handle input to or + situations arising in a program that are somehow distinguished from + normal processing. This would be used for processing of mode + switches or interrupt characters in an interactive interface (as + opposed, say, to text entry or normal commands), or for processing + of {hidden flag}s in the input of a batch program or + {filter}. + +:speedometer: /n./ A pattern of lights displayed on a linear + set of LEDs (today) or nixie tubes (yesterday, on ancient + mainframes). The pattern is shifted left every N times the + operating system goes through its {main loop}. A swiftly moving + pattern indicates that the system is mostly idle; the speedometer + slows down as the system becomes overloaded. The speedometer on + Sun Microsystems hardware bounces back and forth like the eyes on + one of the Cylons from the wretched "Battlestar Galactica" TV + series. + + Historical note: One computer, the GE 600 (later Honeywell 6000) + actually had an *analog* speedometer on the front panel, + calibrated in instructions executed per second. + +:spell: /n./ Syn. {incantation}. + +:spelling flame: /n./ [Usenet] A posting ostentatiously + correcting a previous article's spelling as a way of casting scorn + on the point the article was trying to make, instead of actually + responding to that point (compare {dictionary flame}). Of + course, people who are more than usually slovenly spellers are + prone to think *any* correction is a spelling flame. It's an + amusing comment on human nature that spelling flames themselves + often contain spelling errors. + +:spiffy: /spi'fee/ /adj./ 1. Said of programs having a + pretty, clever, or exceptionally well-designed interface. "Have + you seen the spiffy {X} version of {empire} yet?" 2. Said + sarcastically of a program that is perceived to have little more + than a flashy interface going for it. Which meaning should be + drawn depends delicately on tone of voice and context. This word + was common mainstream slang during the 1940s, in a sense close to + 1. + +:spike: /v./ To defeat a selection mechanism by introducing a + (sometimes temporary) device that forces a specific result. The + word is used in several industries; telephone engineers refer to + spiking a relay by inserting a pin to hold the relay in either the + closed or open state, and railroaders refer to spiking a track + switch so that it cannot be moved. In programming environments it + normally refers to a temporary change, usually for testing purposes + (as opposed to a permanent change, which would be called + {hardwired}). + +:spin: /vi./ Equivalent to {buzz}. More common among C and + Unix programmers. + +:spl: /S-P-L/ [abbrev, from Set Priority Level] The way + traditional Unix kernels implement mutual exclusion by running code + at high interrupt levels. Used in jargon to describe the act of + tuning in or tuning out ordinary communication. Classically, spl + levels run from 1 to 7; "Fred's at spl 6 today" would mean that + he is very hard to interrupt. "Wait till I finish this; I'll spl + down then." See also {interrupts locked out}. + +:splash screen: /n./ [Mac users] Syn. {banner}, sense 3. + +:splat: /n./ 1. Name used in many places (DEC, IBM, and others) + for the asterisk (`*') character (ASCII 0101010). This may + derive from the `squashed-bug' appearance of the asterisk on many + early line printers. 2. [MIT] Name used by some people for the + `#' character (ASCII 0100011). 3. [Rochester Institute of + Technology] The {feature key} on a Mac (same as {alt}, sense + 2). 4. obs. Name used by some people for the Stanford/ITS extended + ASCII + circle-x + character. This character is also called `blobby' and `frob', + among other names; it is sometimes used by mathematicians as a + notation for `tensor product'. 5. obs. Name for the + semi-mythical Stanford extended ASCII + circle-plus + character. See also {{ASCII}}. + +:spod: /n./ [UK] A lower form of life found on {talker + system}s and {MUD}s. The spod has few friends in {RL} and + uses talkers instead, finding communication easier and preferable + over the net. He has all the negative traits of the {computer + geek} without having any interest in computers per se. Lacking any + knowledge of or interest in how networks work, and considering his + access a God-given right, he is a major irritant to sysadmins, + clogging up lines in order to reach new MUDs, following passed-on + instructions on how to sneak his way onto Internet ("Wow! It's in + America!") and complaining when he is not allowed to use busy + routes. A true spod will start any conversation with "Are you + male or female?" (and follow it up with "Got any good + numbers/IDs/passwords?") and will not talk to someone physically + present in the same terminal room until they log onto the same + machine that he is using and enter talk mode. Compare {newbie}, + {tourist}, {weenie}, {twink}, {terminal junkie}, + {warez d00dz}. + +:spoiler: /n./ [Usenet] 1. A remark which reveals + important plot elements from books or movies, thus denying the + reader (of the article) the proper suspense when reading the book + or watching the movie. 2. Any remark which telegraphs the solution + of a problem or puzzle, thus denying the reader the pleasure of + working out the correct answer (see also {interesting}). Either + sense readily forms compounds like `total spoiler', + `quasi-spoiler' and even `pseudo-spoiler'. + + By convention, articles which are spoilers in either sense should + contain the word `spoiler' in the Subject: line, or guarantee via + various tricks that the answer appears only after several + screens-full of warning, or conceal the sensitive information via + {rot13}, or some combination of these techniques. + +:sponge: /n./ [Unix] A special case of a {filter} that reads its + entire input before writing any output; the canonical example is a + sort utility. Unlike most filters, a sponge can conveniently + overwrite the input file with the output data stream. If a file + system has versioning (as ITS did and VMS does now) the + sponge/filter distinction loses its usefulness, because directing + filter output would just write a new version. See also {slurp}. + +:spool: /vi./ [from early IBM `Simultaneous Peripheral + Operation On-Line', but this acronym is widely thought to have been + contrived for effect] To send files to some device or program (a + `spooler') that queues them up and does something useful with + them later. Without qualification, the spooler is the `print + spooler' controlling output of jobs to a printer; but the term has + been used in connection with other peripherals (especially plotters + and graphics devices) and occasionally even for input devices. See + also {demon}. + +:spool file: /n./ Any file to which data is {spool}ed to + await the next stage of processing. Especially used in + circumstances where spooling the data copes with a mismatch between + speeds in two devices or pieces of software. For example, when you + send mail under Unix, it's typically copied to a spool file to + await a transport {demon}'s attentions. This is borderline + techspeak. + +:square tape: /n./ Mainframe magnetic tape cartridges for use + with IBM 3480 or compatible tape drives; or QIC tapes used on + workstations and micros. The term comes from the square (actually + rectangular) shape of the cartridges; contrast {round tape}. + +:squirrelcide: /n./ [common on Usenet's comp.risks + newsgroup.] (alt. `squirrelicide') What all too frequently happens + when a squirrel decides to exercise its species's unfortunate + penchant for shorting out power lines with their little furry + bodies. Result: one dead squirrel, one down computer installation. + In this situation, the computer system is said to have been + squirrelcided. + +:stack: /n./ The set of things a person has to do in the + future. One speaks of the next project to be attacked as having + risen to the top of the stack. "I'm afraid I've got real work to + do, so this'll have to be pushed way down on my stack." "I + haven't done it yet because every time I pop my stack something new + gets pushed." If you are interrupted several times in the middle + of a conversation, "My stack overflowed" means "I forget what we + were talking about." The implication is that more items were + pushed onto the stack than could be remembered, so the least recent + items were lost. The usual physical example of a stack is to be + found in a cafeteria: a pile of plates or trays sitting on a spring + in a well, so that when you put one on the top they all sink down, + and when you take one off the top the rest spring up a bit. See + also {push} and {pop}. + + At MIT, {pdl} used to be a more common synonym for {stack} in + all these contexts, and this may still be true. Everywhere else + {stack} seems to be the preferred term. {Knuth} + ("The Art of Computer Programming", second edition, vol. 1, + p. 236) says: + + Many people who realized the importance of stacks and queues + independently have given other names to these structures: + stacks have been called push-down lists, reversion storages, + cellars, nesting stores, piles, last-in-first-out ("LIFO") + lists, and even yo-yo lists! + +:stack puke: /n./ Some processor architectures are said to + `puke their guts onto the stack' to save their internal state + during exception processing. The Motorola 68020, for example, + regurgitates up to 92 bytes on a bus fault. On a pipelined + machine, this can take a while. + +:stale pointer bug: /n./ Synonym for {aliasing bug} used + esp. among microcomputer hackers. + +:star out: /v./ [University of York, England] To replace a + user's encrypted password in /etc/passwd with a single + asterisk. Under Unix this is not a legal encryption of any + password; hence the user is not permitted to log in. In general, + accounts like adm, news, and daemon are permanently "starred + out"; occasionally a real user might have the this inflicted upon + him/her as a punishment, e.g. "Graham was starred out for playing + Omega in working hours". Also occasionally known as The Order Of + The Gold Star in this context. "Don't do that, or you'll be + awarded the Order of the Gold Star..." Compare {disusered}. + +:state: /n./ 1. Condition, situation. "What's the state of + your latest hack?" "It's winning away." "The system tried to + read and write the disk simultaneously and got into a totally + {wedged} state." The standard question "What's your state?" + means "What are you doing?" or "What are you about to do?" + Typical answers are "about to gronk out", or "hungry". Another + standard question is "What's the state of the world?", meaning + "What's new?" or "What's going on?". The more terse and + humorous way of asking these questions would be "State-p?". + Another way of phrasing the first question under sense 1 would be + "state-p latest hack?". 2. Information being maintained in + non-permanent memory (electronic or human). + +:stealth manager: /n./ [Corporate DP] A manager that appears + out of nowhere, promises undeliverable software to unknown end + users, and vanishes before the programming staff realizes what has + happened. See {smoke and mirrors}. + +:steam-powered: /adj./ Old-fashioned or underpowered; archaic. + This term does not have a strong negative loading and may even be + used semi-affectionately for something that clanks and wheezes a + lot but hangs in there doing the job. + +:stiffy: /n./ [University of Lowell, Massachusetts.] 3.5-inch + {microfloppies}, so called because their jackets are more rigid + than those of the 5.25-inch and the (now totally obsolete) 8-inch + floppy. Elsewhere this might be called a `firmy'. + +:stir-fried random: /n./ (alt. `stir-fried mumble') Term used + for the best dish of many of those hackers who can cook. Consists + of random fresh veggies and meat wokked with random spices. Tasty + and economical. See {random}, {great-wall}, {ravs}, + {{laser chicken}}, {{oriental food}}; see also {mumble}. + +:stomp on: /vt./ To inadvertently overwrite something + important, usually automatically. "All the work I did this + weekend got stomped on last night by the nightly server script." + Compare {scribble}, {mangle}, {trash}, {scrog}, + {roach}. + +:Stone Age: /n.,adj./ 1. In computer folklore, an ill-defined + period from ENIAC (ca. 1943) to the mid-1950s; the great age of + electromechanical {dinosaur}s. Sometimes used for the entire + period up to 1960--61 (see {Iron Age}); however, it is funnier + and more descriptive to characterize the latter period in terms of + a `Bronze Age' era of transistor-logic, pre-ferrite-{core} + machines with drum or CRT mass storage (as opposed to just mercury + delay lines and/or relays). See also {Iron Age}. 2. More + generally, a pejorative for any crufty, ancient piece of hardware + or software technology. Note that this is used even by people who + were there for the {Stone Age} (sense 1). + +:stone knives and bearskins: /n./ [from the Star Trek Classic + episode "The City on the Edge of Forever"] A term + traditionally used to describe (and deprecate) computing + environments that are grotesquely primitive in light of what is + known about good ways to design things. As in "Don't get too used + to the facilities here. Once you leave SAIL it's stone knives and + bearskins as far as the eye can see". Compare {steam-powered}. + +:stoppage: /sto'p*j/ /n./ Extreme {lossage} that renders + something (usually something vital) completely unusable. "The + recent system stoppage was caused by a {fried} + transformer." + +:store: /n./ [prob. from techspeak `main store'] In some + varieties of Commonwealth hackish, the preferred synonym for + {core}. Thus, `bringing a program into store' means not that + one is returning shrink-wrapped software but that a program is + being {swap}ped in. + +:strided: /stri:'d*d/ /adj./ [scientific computing] Said of + a sequence of memory reads and writes to addresses, each of which + is separated from the last by a constant interval called the + `stride length'. These can be a worst-case access pattern for + the standard memory-caching schemes when the stride length is a + multiple of the cache line size. Strided references are often + generated by loops through an array, and (if your data is large + enough that access-time is significant) it can be worthwhile to + tune for better locality by inverting double loops or by partially + unrolling the outer loop of a loop nest. This usage is borderline + techspeak; the related term `memory stride' is definitely + techspeak. + +:stroke: /n./ Common name for the slant (`/', ASCII 0101111) + character. See {ASCII} for other synonyms. + +:strudel: /n./ Common (spoken) name for the at-sign (`@', + ASCII 1000000) character. See {ASCII} for other synonyms. + +:stubroutine: /stuhb'roo-teen/ /n./ [contraction of `stub + subroutine'] Tiny, often vacuous placeholder for a subroutine that + is to be written or fleshed out later. + +:studly: /adj./ Impressive; powerful. Said of code and designs + which exhibit both complexity and a virtuoso flair. Has + connotations similar to {hairy} but is more positive in tone. + Often in the emphatic `most studly' or as noun-form + `studliness'. "Smail 3.0's configuration parser is most + studly." + +:studlycaps: /stuhd'lee-kaps/ /n./ A hackish form of + silliness similar to {BiCapitalization} for trademarks, but + applied randomly and to arbitrary text rather than to trademarks. + ThE oRigiN and SigNificaNce of thIs pRacTicE iS oBscuRe. + +:stunning: /adj./ Mind-bogglingly stupid. Usually used in + sarcasm. "You want to code *what* in ADA? That's a ... + stunning idea!" + +:stupid-sort: /n./ Syn. {bogo-sort}. + +:Stupids: /n./ Term used by {samurai} for the {suit}s who + employ them; succinctly expresses an attitude at least as common, + though usually better disguised, among other subcultures of + hackers. There may be intended reference here to an SF story + originally published in 1952 but much anthologized since, Mark + Clifton's "Star, Bright". In it, a super-genius child + classifies humans into a very few `Brights' like herself, a huge + majority of `Stupids', and a minority of `Tweens', the merely + ordinary geniuses. + +:Sturgeon's Law: /prov./ "Ninety percent of everything is + crap". Derived from a quote by science fiction author Theodore + Sturgeon, who once said, "Sure, 90% of science fiction is crud. + That's because 90% of everything is crud." Oddly, when Sturgeon's + Law is cited, the final word is almost invariably changed to + `crap'. Compare {Hanlon's Razor}, {Ninety-Ninety Rule}. + Though this maxim originated in SF fandom, most hackers recognize + it and are all too aware of its truth. + +:sucking mud: [Applied Data Research] /adj./ (also `pumping + mud') Crashed or {wedged}. Usually said of a machine that + provides some service to a network, such as a file server. This + Dallas regionalism derives from the East Texas oilfield lament, + "Shut 'er down, Ma, she's a-suckin' mud". Often used as a query. + "We are going to reconfigure the network, are you ready to suck + mud?" + +:sufficiently small: /adj./ Syn. {suitably small}. + +:suit: /n./ 1. Ugly and uncomfortable `business clothing' + often worn by non-hackers. Invariably worn with a `tie', a + strangulation device that partially cuts off the blood supply to + the brain. It is thought that this explains much about the + behavior of suit-wearers. Compare {droid}. 2. A person who + habitually wears suits, as distinct from a techie or hacker. See + {loser}, {burble}, {management}, {Stupids}, {SNAFU + principle}, and {brain-damaged}. English, by the way, is + relatively kind; our Moscow correspondent informs us that the + corresponding idiom in Russian hacker jargon is `sovok', lit. a + tool for grabbing garbage. + +:suitable win: /n./ See {win}. + +:suitably small: /adj./ [perverted from mathematical jargon] + An expression used ironically to characterize unquantifiable + behavior that differs from expected or required behavior. For + example, suppose a newly created program came up with a correct + full-screen display, and one publicly exclaimed: "It works!" + Then, if the program dumped core on the first mouse click, one + might add: "Well, for suitably small values of `works'." + Compare the characterization of pi under {{random + numbers}}. + +:sun lounge: /n./ [UK] The room where all the Sun workstations live. + The humor in this term comes from the fact that it's also in + mainstream use to describe a solarium, and all those Sun + workstations clustered together give off an amazing amount of heat. + +:sun-stools: /n./ Unflattering hackerism for SunTools, a pre-X + windowing environment notorious in its day for size, slowness, and + misfeatures. {X}, however, is larger and slower; see + {second-system effect}. + +:sunspots: /n./ 1. Notional cause of an odd error. "Why did + the program suddenly turn the screen blue?" "Sunspots, I + guess." 2. Also the cause of {bit rot} -- from the myth that + sunspots will increase {cosmic rays}, which can flip single bits + in memory. See also {phase of the moon}. + +:super source quench: /n./ A special packet designed to shut up + an Internet host. The Internet Protocol (IP) has a control message + called Source Quench that asks a host to transmit more slowly on a + particular connection to avoid congestion. It also has a Redirect + control message intended to instruct a host to send certain packets + to a different local router. A "super source quench" is actually + a redirect control packet, forged to look like it came from a local + router, that instructs a host to send all packets to its own local + loopback address. This will effectively tie many Internet hosts up + in knots. Compare {Godzillagram}, {breath-of-life + packet}. + +:superloser: /n./ [Unix] A superuser with no clue -- someone + with root privileges on a Unix system and no idea what he/she is + doing, the moral equivalent of a three-year-old with an unsafetied + Uzi. Anyone who thinks this is an uncommon situation reckons + without the territorial urges of {management}. + +:superprogrammer: /n./ A prolific programmer; one who can code + exceedingly well and quickly. Not all hackers are + superprogrammers, but many are. (Productivity can vary from one + programmer to another by three orders of magnitude. For example, + one programmer might be able to write an average of 3 lines of + working code in one day, while another, with the proper tools, + might be able to write 3,000. This range is astonishing; it is + matched in very few other areas of human endeavor.) The term + `superprogrammer' is more commonly used within such places as IBM + than in the hacker community. It tends to stress naive measures of + productivity and to underweight creativity, ingenuity, and getting + the job *done* -- and to sidestep the question of whether the + 3,000 lines of code do more or less useful work than three lines + that do the {Right Thing}. Hackers tend to prefer the terms + {hacker} and {wizard}. + +:superuser: /n./ [Unix] Syn. {root}, {avatar}. This usage has + spread to non-Unix environments; the superuser is any account with + all {wheel} bits on. A more specific term than {wheel}. + +:support: /n./ After-sale handholding; something many software + vendors promise but few deliver. To hackers, most support people + are useless -- because by the time a hacker calls support he or + she will usually know the software and the relevant manuals better + than the support people (sadly, this is *not* a joke or + exaggeration). A hacker's idea of `support' is a + t^ete-`a-t^ete with the software's designer. + +:surf: /v./ [from the `surf' idiom for rapidly flipping TV + channels] To traverse the Internet in search of interesting stuff, + used esp. if one is doing so with a World Wide Web browser. It is + also common to speak of `surfing in' to a particular resource. + +:Suzie COBOL: /soo'zee koh'bol/ 1. [IBM: prob. from Frank + Zappa's `Suzy Creamcheese'] /n./ A coder straight out of training + school who knows everything except the value of comments in plain + English. Also (fashionable among personkind wishing to avoid + accusations of sexism) `Sammy Cobol' or (in some non-IBM circles) + `Cobol Charlie'. 2. [proposed] Meta-name for any {code + grinder}, analogous to {J. Random Hacker}. + +:swab: /swob/ [From the mnemonic for the PDP-11 `SWAp Byte' + instruction, as immortalized in the `dd(1)' option + `conv=swab' (see {dd})] 1. /vt./ To solve the {NUXI + problem} by swapping bytes in a file. 2. /n./ The program in V7 +Unix + used to perform this action, or anything functionally equivalent to + it. See also {big-endian}, {little-endian}, + {middle-endian}, {bytesexual}. + +:swap: /vt./ 1. [techspeak] To move information from a + fast-access memory to a slow-access memory (`swap out'), or vice + versa (`swap in'). Often refers specifically to the use of disks + as `virtual memory'. As pieces of data or program are needed, + they are swapped into {core} for processing; when they are no + longer needed they may be swapped out again. 2. The jargon use of + these terms analogizes people's short-term memories with core. + Cramming for an exam might be spoken of as swapping in. If you + temporarily forget someone's name, but then remember it, your + excuse is that it was swapped out. To `keep something swapped + in' means to keep it fresh in your memory: "I reread the TECO + manual every few months to keep it swapped in." If someone + interrupts you just as you got a good idea, you might say "Wait a + moment while I swap this out", implying that a piece of paper is + your extra-somatic memory and that if you don't swap the idea out + by writing it down it will get overwritten and lost as you talk. + Compare {page in}, {page out}. + +:swap space: /n./ Storage space, especially temporary storage + space used during a move or reconfiguration. "I'm just using that + corner of the machine room for swap space." + +:swapped in: /n./ See {swap}. See also {page in}. + +:swapped out: /n./ See {swap}. See also {page out}. + +:swizzle: /v./ To convert external names, array indices, or + references within a data structure into address pointers when the + data structure is brought into main memory from external storage + (also called `pointer swizzling'); this may be done for speed in + chasing references or to simplify code (e.g., by turning lots of + name lookups into pointer dereferences). The converse operation is + sometimes termed `unswizzling'. See also {snap}. + +:sync: /sink/ n., /vi./ (var. `synch') 1. To synchronize, + to bring into synchronization. 2. [techspeak] To force all pending + I/O to the disk; see {flush}, sense 2. 3. More generally, to + force a number of competing processes or agents to a state that + would be `safe' if the system were to crash; thus, to checkpoint + (in the database-theory sense). + +:syntactic salt: /n./ The opposite of {syntactic sugar}, a + feature designed to make it harder to write bad code. + Specifically, syntactic salt is a hoop the programmer must jump + through just to prove that he knows what's going on, rather than to + express a program action. Some programmers consider required type + declarations to be syntactic salt. A requirement to write + `end if', `end while', `end do', etc. to terminate + the last block controlled by a control construct (as opposed to + just `end') would definitely be syntactic salt. Syntactic + salt is like the real thing in that it tends to raise hackers' + blood pressures in an unhealthy way. Compare {candygrammar}. + +:syntactic sugar: /n./ [coined by Peter Landin] Features added + to a language or other formalism to make it `sweeter' for + humans, features which do not affect the expressiveness of the + formalism (compare {chrome}). Used esp. when there is an + obvious and trivial translation of the `sugar' feature into + other constructs already present in the notation. C's `a[i]' + notation is syntactic sugar for `*(a + i)'. "Syntactic sugar + causes cancer of the semicolon." -- Alan Perlis. + + The variants `syntactic saccharin' and `syntactic syrup' are + also recorded. These denote something even more gratuitous, in + that syntactic sugar serves a purpose (making something more + acceptable to humans), but syntactic saccharin or syrup serve no + purpose at all. Compare {candygrammar}, {syntactic salt}. + +:sys-frog: /sis'frog/ /n./ [the PLATO system] Playful variant + of `sysprog', which is in turn short for `systems programmer'. + +:sysadmin: /sis'ad-min/ /n./ Common contraction of `system + admin'; see {admin}. + +:sysape: /sys'ayp/ /n./ A rather derogatory term for a + computer operator; a play on {sysop} common at sites that use + the banana hierarchy of problem complexity (see {one-banana + problem}). + +:sysop: /sis'op/ /n./ [esp. in the BBS world] The operator + (and usually the owner) of a bulletin-board system. A common + neophyte mistake on {FidoNet} is to address a message to + `sysop' in an international {echo}, thus sending it to + hundreds of sysops around the world. + +:system: /n./ 1. The supervisor program or OS on a computer. + 2. The entire computer system, including input/output devices, the + supervisor program or OS, and possibly other software. 3. Any + large-scale program. 4. Any method or algorithm. 5. `System + hacker': one who hacks the system (in senses 1 and 2 only; for + sense 3 one mentions the particular program: e.g., `LISP hacker') + +:systems jock: /n./ See {jock}, sense 2. + +:system mangler: /n./ Humorous synonym for `system manager', + poss. from the fact that one major IBM OS had a {root} account + called SYSMANGR. Refers specifically to a systems programmer in + charge of administration, software maintenance, and updates at some + site. Unlike {admin}, this term emphasizes the technical end of + the skills involved. + +:SysVile: /sis-vi:l'/ /n./ See {Missed'em-five}. + += T = +===== + +:T: /T/ 1. [from LISP terminology for `true'] Yes. Used + in reply to a question (particularly one asked using {The `-P' + convention}). In LISP, the constant T means `true', among other + things. Some Lisp hackers use `T' and `NIL' instead of `Yes' and + `No' almost reflexively. This sometimes causes misunderstandings. + When a waiter or flight attendant asks whether a hacker wants + coffee, he may absently respond `T', meaning that he wants coffee; + but of course he will be brought a cup of tea instead. + Fortunately, most hackers (particularly those who frequent Chinese + restaurants) like tea at least as well as coffee -- so it is not + that big a problem. 2. See {time T} (also {since time T + equals minus infinity}). 3. [techspeak] In transaction-processing + circles, an abbreviation for the noun `transaction'. 4. [Purdue] + Alternate spelling of {tee}. 5. A dialect of {LISP} + developed at Yale. (There is an intended allusion to NIL, "New + Implementation of Lisp", another dialect of Lisp developed for the + {VAX}) + +:tail recursion: /n./ If you aren't sick of it already, see + {tail recursion}. + +:talk mode: /n./ A feature supported by Unix, ITS, and some + other OSes that allows two or more logged-in users to set up a + real-time on-line conversation. It combines the immediacy of + talking with all the precision (and verbosity) that written + language entails. It is difficult to communicate inflection, + though conventions have arisen for some of these (see the section + on writing style in the Prependices for details). + + Talk mode has a special set of jargon words, used to save typing, + which are not used orally. Some of these are identical to (and + probably derived from) Morse-code jargon used by ham-radio amateurs + since the 1920s. + +AFAIK + as far as I know +BCNU + be seeing you +BTW + by the way +BYE? + are you ready to unlink? (this is the standard way to end a + talk-mode conversation; the other person types `BYE' to confirm, + or else continues the conversation) +CUL + see you later +ENQ? + are you busy? (expects `ACK' or `NAK' in return) +FOO? + are you there? (often used on unexpected links, meaning also + "Sorry if I butted in ..." (linker) or "What's up?" (linkee)) +FWIW + for what it's worth +FYI + for your information +FYA + for your amusement +GA + go ahead (used when two people have tried to type simultaneously; + this cedes the right to type to the other) +GRMBL + grumble (expresses disquiet or disagreement) +HELLOP + hello? (an instance of the `-P' convention) +IIRC + if I recall correctly +JAM + just a minute (equivalent to `SEC....') +MIN + same as `JAM' +NIL + no (see {NIL}) +O + over to you +OO + over and out +/ + another form of "over to you" (from x/y as "x over y") +\ + lambda (used in discussing LISPy things) +OBTW + oh, by the way +OTOH + on the other hand +R U THERE? + are you there? +SEC + wait a second (sometimes written `SEC...') +T + yes (see the main entry for {T}) +TNX + thanks +TNX 1.0E6 + thanks a million (humorous) +TNXE6 + another form of "thanks a million" +WRT + with regard to, or with respect to. +WTF + the universal interrogative particle; WTF knows what it means? +WTH + what the hell? +<double newline> + When the typing party has finished, he/she types two newlines to + signal that he/she is done; this leaves a blank line between + `speeches' in the conversation, making it easier to reread the + preceding text. +<name>: + When three or more terminals are linked, it is conventional for + each typist to {prepend} his/her login name or handle and a colon + (or a hyphen) to each line to indicate who is typing (some + conferencing facilities do this automatically). The login name + is often shortened to a unique prefix (possibly a single letter) + during a very long conversation. +/\/\/\ + A giggle or chuckle. On a MUD, this usually means `earthquake + fault'. + + Most of the above sub-jargon is used at both Stanford and MIT. + Several of these expressions are also common in {email}, esp. + FYI, FYA, BTW, BCNU, WTF, and CUL. A few other abbreviations have + been reported from commercial networks, such as GEnie and + CompuServe, where on-line `live' chat including more than two + people is common and usually involves a more `social' context, + notably the following: + +<g> + grin +<gr&d> + grinning, running, and ducking +BBL + be back later +BRB + be right back +HHOJ + ha ha only joking +HHOK + ha ha only kidding +HHOS + {ha ha only serious} +IMHO + in my humble opinion (see {IMHO}) +LOL + laughing out loud +NHOH + Never Heard of Him/Her (often used in {initgame}) +ROTF + rolling on the floor +ROTFL + rolling on the floor laughing +AFK + away from keyboard +b4 + before +CU l8tr + see you later +MORF + male or female? +TTFN + ta-ta for now +TTYL + talk to you later +OIC + oh, I see +rehi + hello again + + Most of these are not used at universities or in the Unix world, + though ROTF and TTFN have gained some currency there and IMHO is + common; conversely, most of the people who know these are + unfamiliar with FOO?, BCNU, HELLOP, {NIL}, and {T}. + + The {MUD} community uses a mixture of Usenet/Internet emoticons, + a few of the more natural of the old-style talk-mode abbrevs, and + some of the `social' list above; specifically, MUD respondents + report use of BBL, BRB, LOL, b4, BTW, WTF, TTFN, and WTH. The use + of `rehi' is also common; in fact, mudders are fond of re- + compounds and will frequently `rehug' or `rebonk' (see + {bonk/oif}) people. The word `re' by itself is taken as + `regreet'. In general, though, MUDders express a preference for + typing things out in full rather than using abbreviations; this may + be due to the relative youth of the MUD cultures, which tend to + include many touch typists and to assume high-speed links. The + following uses specific to MUDs are reported: + +CU l8er + see you later (mutant of `CU l8tr') +FOAD + fuck off and die (use of this is generally OTT) +OTT + over the top (excessive, uncalled for) +ppl + abbrev for "people" +THX + thanks (mutant of `TNX'; clearly this comes in batches of 1138 + (the Lucasian K)). +UOK? + are you OK? + + Some {B1FF}isms (notably the variant spelling `d00d') + appear to be passing into wider use among some subgroups of + MUDders. + + One final note on talk mode style: neophytes, when in talk mode, + often seem to think they must produce letter-perfect prose because + they are typing rather than speaking. This is not the best + approach. It can be very frustrating to wait while your partner + pauses to think of a word, or repeatedly makes the same spelling + error and backs up to fix it. It is usually best just to leave + typographical errors behind and plunge forward, unless severe + confusion may result; in that case it is often fastest just to type + "xxx" and start over from before the mistake. + + See also {hakspek}, {emoticon}. + +:talker system: /n./ British hackerism for software that + enables real-time chat or {talk mode}. + +:tall card: /n./ A PC/AT-size expansion card (these can be + larger than IBM PC or XT cards because the AT case is bigger). See + also {short card}. When IBM introduced the PS/2 model 30 (its + last gasp at supporting the ISA) they made the case lower and many + industry-standard tall cards wouldn't fit; this was felt to be a + reincarnation of the {connector conspiracy}, done with less + style. + +:tanked: /adj./ Same as {down}, used primarily by Unix + hackers. See also {hosed}. Popularized as a synonym for + `drunk' by Steve Dallas in the late lamented "Bloom County" + comic strip. + +:TANSTAAFL: /tan'stah-fl/ [acronym, from Robert Heinlein's + classic "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress".] "There Ain't No + Such Thing As A Free Lunch", often invoked when someone is balking + at the prospect of using an unpleasantly {heavyweight} + technique, or at the poor quality of some piece of free software, + or at the {signal-to-noise ratio} of unmoderated Usenet + newsgroups. "What? Don't tell me I have to implement a database + back end to get my address book program to work!" "Well, + TANSTAAFL you know." This phrase owes some of its popularity to + the high concentration of science-fiction fans and political + libertarians in hackerdom (see {A Portrait of J. Random + Hacker} in Appendix B). + +:tar and feather: /vi./ [from Unix `tar(1)'] To create a + transportable archive from a group of files by first sticking them + together with `tar(1)' (the Tape ARchiver) and then + compressing the result (see {compress}). The latter action is + dubbed `feathering' partly for euphony and (if only for contrived + effect) by analogy to what you do with an airplane propeller to + decrease wind resistance, or with an oar to reduce water + resistance; smaller files, after all, slip through comm links more + easily. + +:taste: [primarily MIT] /n./ 1. The quality in a program that + tends to be inversely proportional to the number of features, + hacks, and kluges programmed into it. Also `tasty', + `tasteful', `tastefulness'. "This feature comes in N + tasty flavors." Although `tasty' and `flavorful' are + essentially synonyms, `taste' and {flavor} are not. Taste + refers to sound judgment on the part of the creator; a program or + feature can *exhibit* taste but cannot *have* taste. On + the other hand, a feature can have {flavor}. Also, {flavor} + has the additional meaning of `kind' or `variety' not shared by + `taste'. The marked sense of {flavor} is more popular than + `taste', though both are widely used. See also {elegant}. + 2. Alt. sp. of {tayste}. + +:tayste: /tayst/ /n./ Two bits; also as {taste}. + Syn. {crumb}, {quarter}. See {nybble}. + +:TCB: /T-C-B/ /n./ [IBM] 1. Trouble Came Back. An + intermittent or difficult-to-reproduce problem that has failed to + respond to neglect or {shotgun debugging}. Compare + {heisenbug}. Not to be confused with: 2. Trusted Computing + Base, an `official' jargon term from the {Orange Book}. + +:TCP/IP: /T'C-P I'P/ /n./ 1. [Transmission Control + Protocol/Internet Protocol] The wide-area-networking protocol that + makes the Internet work, and the only one most hackers can speak + the name of without laughing or retching. Unlike such allegedly + `standard' competitors such as X.25, DECnet, and the ISO 7-layer + stack, TCP/IP evolved primarily by actually being *used*, + rather than being handed down from on high by a vendor or a + heavily-politicized standards committee. Consequently, it (a) + works, (b) actually promotes cheap cross-platform connectivity, and + (c) annoys the hell out of corporate and governmental + empire-builders everywhere. Hackers value all three of these + properties. See {creationism}. 2. [Amateur Packet Radio] + Sometimes expanded as "The Crap Phil Is Pushing". The reference + is to Phil Karn, KA9Q, and the context is an ongoing + technical/political war between the majority of sites still running + AX.25 and a growing minority of TCP/IP relays. + +:tea, ISO standard cup of: /n./ [South Africa] A cup of tea + with milk and one teaspoon of sugar, where the milk is poured into + the cup before the tea. Variations are ISO 0, with no sugar; ISO + 2, with two spoons of sugar; and so on. + + Like many ISO standards, this one has a faintly alien ring in North + America, where hackers generally shun the decadent British practice + of adulterating perfectly good tea with dairy products and + prefer instead to add a wedge of lemon, if anything. If one were + feeling extremely silly, one might hypothesize an analogous `ANSI + standard cup of tea' and wind up with a political situation + distressingly similar to several that arise in much more serious + technical contexts. Milk and lemon don't mix very well. + +:TechRef: /tek'ref/ /n./ [MS-DOS] The original "IBM PC + Technical Reference Manual", including the BIOS listing and + complete schematics for the PC. The only PC documentation in the + original-issue package that was considered serious by real + hackers. + +:TECO: /tee'koh/ /n.,v. obs./ 1. [originally an acronym for + `[paper] Tape Editor and COrrector'; later, `Text Editor and + COrrector'] /n./ A text editor developed at MIT and modified by +just + about everybody. With all the dialects included, TECO may have + been the most prolific editor in use before {EMACS}, to which it + was directly ancestral. Noted for its powerful + programming-language-like features and its unspeakably hairy + syntax. It is literally the case that every string of characters + is a valid TECO program (though probably not a useful one); one + common game used to be mentally working out what the TECO commands + corresponding to human names did. 2. /vt./ Originally, to edit +using + the TECO editor in one of its infinite variations (see below). + 3. vt.,obs. To edit even when TECO is *not* the editor being + used! This usage is rare and now primarily historical. + + As an example of TECO's obscurity, here is a TECO program that + takes a list of names such as: + + Loser, J. Random + Quux, The Great + Dick, Moby + + sorts them alphabetically according to surname, and then puts the + surname last, removing the comma, to produce the following: + + Moby Dick + J. Random Loser + The Great Quux + + The program is + + [1 J^P$L$$ + J <.-Z; .,(S,$ -D .)FX1 @F^B $K :L I $ G1 L>$$ + + (where ^B means `Control-B' (ASCII 0000010) and $ is actually + an {alt} or escape (ASCII 0011011) character). + + In fact, this very program was used to produce the second, sorted + list from the first list. The first hack at it had a {bug}: GLS + (the author) had accidentally omitted the `@' in front + of `F^B', which as anyone can see is clearly the {Wrong Thing}. It + worked fine the second time. There is no space to describe all the + features of TECO, but it may be of interest that `^P' means + `sort' and `J<.-Z; ... L>' is an idiomatic series of commands + for `do once for every line'. + + In mid-1991, TECO is pretty much one with the dust of history, + having been replaced in the affections of hackerdom by {EMACS}. + Descendants of an early (and somewhat lobotomized) version adopted + by DEC can still be found lurking on VMS and a couple of crufty + PDP-11 operating systems, however, and ports of the more advanced + MIT versions remain the focus of some antiquarian interest. See + also {retrocomputing}, {write-only language}. + +:tee: /n.,vt./ [Purdue] A carbon copy of an electronic + transmission. "Oh, you're sending him the {bits} to that? + Slap on a tee for me." From the Unix command `tee(1)', + itself named after a pipe fitting (see {plumbing}). Can also + mean `save one for me', as in "Tee a slice for me!" Also + spelled `T'. + +:teledildonics: /tel`*-dil-do'-niks/ /n./ Sex in a computer + simulated virtual reality, esp. computer-mediated sexual + interaction between the {VR} presences of two humans. This + practice is not yet possible except in the rather limited form of + erotic conversation on {MUD}s and the like. The term, however, + is widely recognized in the VR community as a {ha ha only + serious} projection of things to come. "When we can sustain a + multi-sensory surround good enough for teledildonics, *then* + we'll know we're getting somewhere." See also {hot chat}. + +:Telerat: /tel'*-rat/ /n. obs./ Unflattering hackerism for + `Teleray', a now-extinct line of extremely losing terminals. + Compare {AIDX}, {Macintrash} {Nominal Semidestructor}, + {Open DeathTrap}, {ScumOS}, {sun-stools}, {HP-SUX}. + +:TELNET: /tel'net/ /vt./ (also commonly lowercased as + `telnet') To communicate with another Internet host using the + TELNET ({RFC} 854) protocol (usually using a program of the same + name). TOPS-10 people used the word IMPCOM, since that was the + program name for them. Sometimes abbreviated to TN /T-N/. "I + usually TN over to SAIL just to read the AP News." + +:ten-finger interface: /n./ The interface between two networks + that cannot be directly connected for security reasons; refers to + the practice of placing two terminals side by side and having an + operator read from one and type into the other. + +:tense: /adj./ Of programs, very clever and efficient. A tense + piece of code often got that way because it was highly {bum}med, + but sometimes it was just based on a great idea. A comment in a + clever routine by Mike Kazar, once a grad-student hacker at CMU: + "This routine is so tense it will bring tears to your eyes." A + tense programmer is one who produces tense code. + +:tentacle: /n./ A covert {pseudo}, sense 1. An artificial + identity created in cyberspace for nefarious and deceptive + purposes. The implication is that a single person may have + multiple tentacles. This term was originally floated in some + paranoid ravings on the cypherpunks list (see {cypherpunk}), and + adopted in a spirit of irony by other, saner members. It has since + shown up, used seriously, in the documentation for some remailer + software, and is now (1994) widely recognized on the net. + +:tenured graduate student: /n./ One who has been in graduate + school for 10 years (the usual maximum is 5 or 6): a `ten-yeared' + student (get it?). Actually, this term may be used of any grad + student beginning in his seventh year. Students don't really get + tenure, of course, the way professors do, but a tenth-year graduate + student has probably been around the university longer than any + untenured professor. + +:tera-: /te'r*/ /pref./ [SI] See {{quantifiers}}. + +:teraflop club: /te'r*-flop kluhb/ /n./ [FLOP = Floating + Point Operation] A mythical association of people who consume + outrageous amounts of computer time in order to produce a few + simple pictures of glass balls with intricate ray-tracing + techniques. Caltech professor James Kajiya is said to have been + the founder. Compare {Knights of the Lambda Calculus}. + +:terminak: /ter'mi-nak`/ /n./ [Caltech, ca. 1979] Any + malfunctioning computer terminal. A common failure mode of + Lear-Siegler ADM 3a terminals caused the `L' key to produce the `K' + code instead; complaints about this tended to look like "Terminak + #3 has a bad keyboard. Pkease fix." Compare {dread high-bit + disease}, {frogging}; see also {AIDX}, {Nominal + Semidestructor}, {Open DeathTrap}, {ScumOS}, {sun-stools}, + {Telerat}, {HP-SUX}. + +:terminal brain death: /n./ The extreme form of {terminal + illness} (sense 1). What someone who has obviously been hacking + continuously for far too long is said to be suffering from. + +:terminal illness: /n./ 1. Syn. {raster burn}. 2. The + `burn-in' condition your CRT tends to get if you don't have a + screen saver. + +:terminal junkie: /n./ [UK] A {wannabee} or early {larval + stage} hacker who spends most of his or her time wandering the + directory tree and writing {noddy} programs just to get a fix of + computer time. Variants include `terminal jockey', `console + junkie', and {console jockey}. The term `console jockey' + seems to imply more expertise than the other three (possibly + because of the exalted status of the {{console}} relative to an + ordinary terminal). See also {twink}, {read-only + user}. + +:terpri: /ter'pree/ /vi./ [from LISP 1.5 (and later, + MacLISP)] To output a {newline}. Now rare as jargon, though + still used as techspeak in Common LISP. It is a contraction of + `TERminate PRInt line', named for the fact that, on some early OSes + and hardware, no characters would be printed until a complete line + was formed, so this operation terminated the line and emitted the + output. + +:test: /n./ 1. Real users bashing on a prototype long enough to + get thoroughly acquainted with it, with careful monitoring and + followup of the results. 2. Some bored random user trying a couple + of the simpler features with a developer looking over his or her + shoulder, ready to pounce on mistakes. Judging by the quality of + most software, the second definition is far more prevalent. See + also {demo}. + +:TeX:: /tekh/ /n./ + An extremely powerful {macro}-based text formatter written by + Donald E. {Knuth}, very popular in the computer-science + community (it is good enough to have displaced Unix {{troff}}, the + other favored formatter, even at many Unix installations). TeX + fans insist on the correct (guttural) pronunciation, and the + correct spelling (all caps, squished together, with the E depressed + below the baseline; the mixed-case `TeX' is considered an + acceptable kluge on ASCII-only devices). Fans like to proliferate + names from the word `TeX' -- such as TeXnician (TeX + user), TeXhacker (TeX programmer), TeXmaster (competent + TeX programmer), TeXhax, and TeXnique. See also + {CrApTeX}. + + Knuth began TeX because he had become annoyed at the declining + quality of the typesetting in volumes I--III of his monumental + "Art of Computer Programming" (see {Knuth}, also + {bible}). In a manifestation of the typical hackish urge to + solve the problem at hand once and for all, he began to design his + own typesetting language. He thought he would finish it on his + sabbatical in 1978; he was wrong by only about 8 years. The + language was finally frozen around 1985, but volume IV of "The + Art of Computer Programming" is not expected to appear until 2002. + The impact and influence of TeX's design has been such that + nobody minds this very much. Many grand hackish projects have + started as a bit of {toolsmith}ing on the way to something else; + Knuth's diversion was simply on a grander scale than most. + + TeX has also been a noteworthy example of free, shared, but + high-quality software. Knuth used to offer monetary awards to + people who found and reported bugs in it; as the years wore on and + the few remaining bugs were fixed (and new ones even harder to + find), the bribe went up. Though well-written, TeX is so large + (and so full of cutting edge technique) that it is said to have + unearthed at least one bug in every Pascal system it has been + compiled with. + +:text: /n./ 1. [techspeak] Executable code, esp. a `pure + code' portion shared between multiple instances of a program + running in a multitasking OS. Compare {English}. 2. Textual + material in the mainstream sense; data in ordinary {{ASCII}} or + {{EBCDIC}} representation (see {flat-ASCII}). "Those are + text files; you can review them using the editor." These two + contradictory senses confuse hackers, too. + +:thanks in advance: [Usenet] Conventional net.politeness + ending a posted request for information or assistance. Sometimes + written `advTHANKSance' or `aTdHvAaNnKcSe' or abbreviated `TIA'. + See {net.-}, {netiquette}. + +:That's not a bug, that's a feature!: The {canonical} + first parry in a debate about a purported bug. The complainant, if + unconvinced, is likely to retort that the bug is then at best a + {misfeature}. See also {feature}. + +:the X that can be Y is not the true X: Yet another instance + of hackerdom's peculiar attraction to mystical references -- a + common humorous way of making exclusive statements about a class of + things. The template is from the "Tao te Ching": "The Tao + which can be spoken of is not the true Tao." The implication is + often that the X is a mystery accessible only to the enlightened. + See the {trampoline} entry for an example, and compare {has + the X nature}. + +:theology: /n./ 1. Ironically or humorously used to refer to + {religious issues}. 2. Technical fine points of an abstruse + nature, esp. those where the resolution is of theoretical + interest but is relatively {marginal} with respect to actual use + of a design or system. Used esp. around software issues with a + heavy AI or language-design component, such as the smart-data vs. + smart-programs dispute in AI. + +:theory: /n./ The consensus, idea, plan, story, or set of rules + that is currently being used to inform a behavior. This usage is a + generalization and (deliberate) abuse of the technical meaning. + "What's the theory on fixing this TECO loss?" "What's the + theory on dinner tonight?" ("Chinatown, I guess.") "What's + the current theory on letting lusers on during the day?" "The + theory behind this change is to fix the following well-known + screw...." + +:thinko: /thing'koh/ /n./ [by analogy with `typo'] A + momentary, correctable glitch in mental processing, especially one + involving recall of information learned by rote; a bubble in the + stream of consciousness. Syn. {braino}; see also {brain + fart}. Compare {mouso}. + +:This can't happen: Less clipped variant of {can't + happen}. + +:This time, for sure!: /excl./ Ritual affirmation frequently + uttered during protracted debugging sessions involving numerous + small obstacles (e.g., attempts to bring up a UUCP connection). + For the proper effect, this must be uttered in a fruity imitation + of Bullwinkle J. Moose. Also heard: "Hey, Rocky! Watch me pull a + rabbit out of my hat!" The {canonical} response is, of course, + "But that trick *never* works!" See {{hacker humor}}. + +:thrash: /vi./ To move wildly or violently, without + accomplishing anything useful. Paging or swapping systems that are + overloaded waste most of their time moving data into and out of + core (rather than performing useful computation) and are therefore + said to thrash. Someone who keeps changing his mind (esp. about + what to work on next) is said to be thrashing. A person + frantically trying to execute too many tasks at once (and not + spending enough time on any single task) may also be described as + thrashing. Compare {multitask}. + +:thread: /n./ [Usenet, GEnie, CompuServe] Common abbreviation + of `topic thread', a more or less continuous chain of postings on + a single topic. To `follow a thread' is to read a series of + Usenet postings sharing a common subject or (more correctly) which + are connected by Reference headers. The better newsreaders can + present news in thread order automatically. + + Interestingly, this is far from a neologism. The OED says: + "That which connects the successive points in anything, esp. a + narrative, train of thought, or the like; the sequence of events + or ideas continuing throughout the whole course of anything;" + Citations are given going back to 1642! + +:three-finger salute: /n./ Syn. {Vulcan nerve pinch}. + +:thud: /n./ 1. Yet another {metasyntactic variable} (see + {foo}). It is reported that at CMU from the mid-1970s the + canonical series of these was `foo', `bar', `thud', `blat'. + 2. Rare term for the hash character, `#' (ASCII 0100011). See + {ASCII} for other synonyms. + +:thumb: /n./ The slider on a window-system scrollbar. So + called because moving it allows you to browse through the contents + of a text window in a way analogous to thumbing through a book. + +:thunk: /thuhnk/ /n./ 1. "A piece of coding which provides + an address", according to P. Z. Ingerman, who invented thunks in + 1961 as a way of binding actual parameters to their formal + definitions in Algol-60 procedure calls. If a procedure is called + with an expression in the place of a formal parameter, the compiler + generates a thunk which computes the expression and leaves the + address of the result in some standard location. 2. Later + generalized into: an expression, frozen together with its + environment, for later evaluation if and when needed (similar to + what in techspeak is called a `closure'). The process of + unfreezing these thunks is called `forcing'. 3. A + {stubroutine}, in an overlay programming environment, that loads + and jumps to the correct overlay. Compare {trampoline}. + 4. People and activities scheduled in a thunklike manner. "It + occurred to me the other day that I am rather accurately modeled by + a thunk -- I frequently need to be forced to completion." --- + paraphrased from a {plan file}. + + Historical note: There are a couple of onomatopoeic myths + circulating about the origin of this term. The most common is that + it is the sound made by data hitting the stack; another holds that + the sound is that of the data hitting an accumulator. Yet another + suggests that it is the sound of the expression being unfrozen at + argument-evaluation time. In fact, according to the inventors, it + was coined after they realized (in the wee hours after hours of + discussion) that the type of an argument in Algol-60 could be + figured out in advance with a little compile-time thought, + simplifying the evaluation machinery. In other words, it had + `already been thought of'; thus it was christened a `thunk', + which is "the past tense of `think' at two in the morning". + +:tick: /n./ 1. A {jiffy} (sense 1). 2. In simulations, the + discrete unit of time that passes between iterations of the + simulation mechanism. In AI applications, this amount of time is + often left unspecified, since the only constraint of interest is + the ordering of events. This sort of AI simulation is often + pejoratively referred to as `tick-tick-tick' simulation, + especially when the issue of simultaneity of events with long, + independent chains of causes is {handwave}d. 3. In the FORTH + language, a single quote character. + +:tick-list features: /n./ [Acorn Computers] Features in + software or hardware that customers insist on but never use + (calculators in desktop TSRs and that sort of thing). The American + equivalent would be `checklist features', but this jargon sense + of the phrase has not been reported. + +:tickle a bug: /vt./ To cause a normally hidden bug to manifest + itself through some known series of inputs or operations. "You + can tickle the bug in the Paradise VGA card's highlight handling by + trying to set bright yellow reverse video." + +:tiger team: /n./ [U.S. military jargon] 1. Originally, a team + (of {sneaker}s) whose purpose is to penetrate security, and thus + test security measures. These people are paid professionals who do + hacker-type tricks, e.g., leave cardboard signs saying "bomb" in + critical defense installations, hand-lettered notes saying "Your + codebooks have been stolen" (they usually haven't been) inside + safes, etc. After a successful penetration, some high-ranking + security type shows up the next morning for a `security review' + and finds the sign, note, etc., and all hell breaks loose. Serious + successes of tiger teams sometimes lead to early retirement for + base commanders and security officers (see the {patch} entry for + an example). 2. Recently, and more generally, any official + inspection team or special {firefighting} group called in to + look at a problem. + + A subset of tiger teams are professional {cracker}s, testing the + security of military computer installations by attempting remote + attacks via networks or supposedly `secure' comm channels. Some of + their escapades, if declassified, would probably rank among the + greatest hacks of all times. The term has been adopted in + commercial computer-security circles in this more specific sense. + +:time bomb: /n./ A subspecies of {logic bomb} that is + triggered by reaching some preset time, either once or + periodically. There are numerous legends about time bombs set up + by programmers in their employers' machines, to go off if the + programmer is fired or laid off and is not present to perform the + appropriate suppressing action periodically. + + Interestingly, the only such incident for which we have been + pointed to documentary evidence took place in the Soviet Union in + 1986! A disgruntled programmer at the Volga Automobile Plant + (where the Fiat clones called Ladas were manufactured) planted a + time bomb which, a week after he'd left on vacation, stopped the + entire main assembly line for a day. The case attracted lots of + attention in the Soviet Union because it was the first cracking + case to make it to court there. The perpetrator got a suspended + sentence of 3 years in jail and was barred from future work as a + programmer. + +:time sink: /n./ [poss. by analogy with `heat sink' or + `current sink'] A project that consumes unbounded amounts of + time. + +:time T: /ti:m T/ /n./ 1. An unspecified but usually + well-understood time, often used in conjunction with a later time + T+1. "We'll meet on campus at time T or at Louie's + at time T+1" means, in the context of going out for dinner: + "We can meet on campus and go to Louie's, or we can meet at + Louie's itself a bit later." (Louie's was a Chinese restaurant in + Palo Alto that was a favorite with hackers.) Had the number 30 + been used instead of the number 1, it would have implied that the + travel time from campus to Louie's is 30 minutes; whatever time + T is (and that hasn't been decided on yet), you can meet + half an hour later at Louie's 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: /quant./ [by analogy with + `plus-or-minus'] Term occasionally used when describing the + uncertainty associated with a scheduling estimate, for either + humorous or brutally honest effect. For a software project, the + scheduling uncertainty factor is usually at least 2. + +:Tinkerbell program: /n./ [Great Britain] A monitoring program + used to scan incoming network calls and generate alerts when calls + are received from particular sites, or when logins are attempted + using certain IDs. Named after `Project Tinkerbell', an + experimental phone-tapping program developed by British Telecom in + the early 1980s. + +:tip of the ice-cube: /n./ [IBM] 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 at all important. + +:tired iron: /n./ [IBM] 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 bit like a {dinosaur}. + +:tits on a keyboard: /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; + but the Mac, perverse as usual, has them on the `D' and + `K' keys). + +:TLA: /T-L-A/ /n./ [Three-Letter Acronym] 1. Self-describing + abbreviation 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 this + looser usage argue that not all TLAs have 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 Acronym) has also been reported. See + also {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 problem in computing in + the 90s?" Paul's straight-faced response: "There are only + 17,000 three-letter acronyms." (To be exact, there are 26^3 + = 17,576.) + +:TMRC: /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 + that became basics of the hackish vocabulary (see esp. {foo}, + {mung}, and {frob}). + + By 1962, TMRC's legendary layout was already a marvel of complexity + (and has grown in the thirty years since; all the features + described here are still present). The control system alone + featured about 1200 relays. There were {scram switch}es located + at numerous places around the room that could be thwacked if + something undesirable was about to occur, such as a train going + full-bore at an obstruction. Another feature of the system was a + digital clock on the dispatch board, which was itself something of + a wonder in those bygone days before cheap LEDs and seven-segment + displays. When someone hit a scram switch the clock stopped and + the display was replaced with the word `FOO'; at TMRC the scram + switches are therefore called `foo switches'. + + Steven Levy, in his book "Hackers" (see the + {Bibliography} in Appendix C), gives a stimulating account of + those early years. TMRC's Power and Signals group included most of + the early PDP-1 hackers and the people who later became the core of + the MIT AI Lab staff. Thirty years later that connection is still + very much alive, and this lexicon accordingly includes a number of + entries from a recent revision of the TMRC dictionary. + +:TMRCie: /tmerk'ee/, /n./ [MIT] A denizen of {TMRC}. + +:to a first approximation: /adj./ 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 approximation + of the answer, one can write an 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" might indicate + that deeper questioning would reveal that not all is perfect (e.g., + a nagging cough still remains after an illness). + +:to a zeroth approximation: [from `to a first + approximation'] A *really* sloppy approximation; a wild + guess. Compare {social science number}. + +:toad: /vt./ [MUD] 1. Notionally, to change a {MUD} player into + a toad. 2. To permanently and totally exile a player from the MUD. + A very serious action, which can only be done by a MUD {wizard}; + often involves a lot of debate among the other characters first. + See also {frog}, {FOD}. + +:toast: 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 manual + rebooting. "Rick just toasted the {firewall machine} again." + Compare {fried}. + +:toaster: /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? That'd + be as silly as running Unix on your 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 by sense 2. 4. A peripheral device. "I bought my + box without toasters, but since then I've added two boards and a + second disk drive." + +:toeprint: /n./ A {footprint} of especially small size. + +:toggle: /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 that + keeps the switch in the position to 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 that there are four distinct boolean-valued functions of one + boolean argument, but saying that is much less fun than talking + about toggling bits.) + +:tool: 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, + `transparent' (typically text-stream) interface designed + specifically to be used in programmed combination with other tools + (see {filter}, {plumbing}). 3. [MIT: general to students + there] /vi./ To work; to study (connotes tedium). The TMRC + Dictionary defined this as "to set one's brain to the + grindstone". See {hack}. 4. /n./ [MIT] A student who studies + too much and hacks too little. (MIT's student humor magazine + rejoices in the name "Tool and Die".) + +:toolsmith: /n./ The software equivalent of a tool-and-die + specialist; one who specializes in making the {tool}s with which + other programmers create applications. Many hackers consider this + more fun than applications per se; to understand why, see + {uninteresting}. Jon Bentley, in the "Bumper-Sticker Computer + Science" chapter of his book "More Programming Pearls", + quotes Dick Sites from DEC as saying "I'd rather write programs to + write programs than write programs". + +:topic drift: /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 of that + tendency. Often used in gentle reminders that the discussion has + strayed off any useful track. "I think we started with a question + about Niven's last book, but we've ended up discussing the sexual + habits of the common marmoset. Now *that's* topic drift!" + +:topic group: /n./ Syn. {forum}. + +:TOPS-10:: /tops-ten/ /n./ DEC's 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 system}. TOPS-10 was sometimes called BOTS-10 (from + `bottoms-ten') as a comment on the inappropriateness of describing + it as the top of anything. + +:TOPS-20:: /tops-twen'tee/ /n./ See {{TWENEX}}. + +:tourist: /n./ [ITS] 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}, perhaps by + some sort of tenuous analogy with {luser} (this also expresses + the ITS culture's penchant for six-letterisms). Compare + {twink}, {read-only user}. + +:tourist information: /n./ Information in an on-line display + that is not immediately useful, but contributes to a viewer's + gestalt of what's going on with the software or hardware behind it. + Whether a given piece of info falls in this category depends partly + on what the user is looking 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: /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: /n./ A computer system; always used with qualifiers. + 1. `nice toy': One that supports the speaker's hacking style + adequately. 2. `just a toy': A machine that yields insufficient + {computron}s for the speaker's preferred uses. This is not + condemnatory, as is {bitty box}; toys can at least be fun. It + is also strongly conditioned by one's 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: /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 general purpose solution for programming (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 sense. See also {MFTL}. + +:toy problem: /n./ [AI] 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: /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: /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 indirection + between code sections. These 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 doesn't bend your brain is not the + true trampoline. See also {snap}. + +:trap: 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 trap to the + monitor." Also used transitively 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 into history among programmers as the role of + 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/O interrupts). + +:trap door: /n./ (alt. `trapdoor') 1. Syn. {back door} + -- a {Bad Thing}. 2. [techspeak] A `trap-door function' is + one which is easy to compute but very difficult to compute the + inverse of. Such functions are {Good Thing}s with important + applications in cryptography, specifically in the construction of + public-key cryptosystems. + +:trash: /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}. + +:trawl: /v./ To sift through large volumes of data (e.g., + Usenet postings, FTP archives, or the Jargon File) looking for + something of interest. + +:tree-killer: /n./ [Sun] 1. A printer. 2. A person who wastes + paper. This epithet 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. The negative loading of this term may reflect the + epithet `tree-killer' applied by Treebeard the Ent to the Orcs + in J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" (see also + {elvish}, {elder days}). + +:treeware: /tree'weir/ /n./ Printouts, books, and other + information media made from pulped dead trees. Compare + {tree-killer}, see {documentation}. + +:trit: /trit/ /n./ [by analogy with `bit'] One base-3 + digit; the amount of information conveyed by a selection among one + of three equally likely outcomes (see also {bit}). Trits arise, + for example, in the context of a {flag} that should actually be + able to assume *three* values -- such 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: /adj./ 1. Too simple to bother detailing. 2. Not + worth the speaker's 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 solved + (some claim that hackish `trivial' usually evaluates to `I've + seen it before'). Hackers' notions of triviality may be quite at + variance with those of non-hackers. See {nontrivial}, + {uninteresting}. + + The physicist Richard Feynman, who had the hacker nature to an + amazing degree (see his essay "Los Alamos From Below" in + "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!"), defined `trivial + theorem' as "one that has already been proved". + +:troff:: /T'rof/ or /trof/ /n./ [Unix] The gray + eminence of Unix text processing; a formatting and phototypesetting + program, written originally in PDP-11 assembler and then in + barely-structured early C by the late Joseph Ossanna, modeled after + the earlier ROFF which was in turn modeled after Multics' RUNOFF by + Jerome Saltzer (*that* name came from the expression "to run + off a copy"). A companion program, {nroff}, formats output for + terminals and line printers. + + In 1979, Brian Kernighan modified troff so that it could drive + phototypesetters other than the Graphic Systems CAT. His paper + describing that work ("A Typesetter-independent troff," AT&T CSTR + #97) explains troff's durability. After discussing the program's + "obvious deficiencies -- a rebarbative input syntax, mysterious + and undocumented properties in some areas, and a voracious appetite + for computer resources" and noting the ugliness and extreme + hairiness of the code and internals, Kernighan concludes: + + None of these remarks should be taken as denigrating Ossanna's + accomplishment with TROFF. It has proven a remarkably robust + tool, taking unbelievable abuse from a variety of preprocessors + and being forced into uses that were never conceived of in the + original design, all with considerable grace under fire. + + The success of {{TeX}} and desktop publishing systems have + reduced `troff''s relative importance, but this tribute + perfectly captures the strengths that secured `troff' a place + in hacker folklore; indeed, it could be taken more generally as an + indication of those qualities of good programs that, in the long + run, hackers most admire. + +:troglodyte: /n./ [Commodore] 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 around + some during the Usenet and email 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: /n./ [Rice University] Programming with the + lights turned off, sunglasses on, and the terminal inverted (black + on white) because you've been up for so many days straight that + your eyes hurt (see {raster burn}). Loud music blaring from a + stereo stacked in the corner is optional but recommended. See + {larval stage}, {hack mode}. + +:Trojan horse: /n./ [coined by MIT-hacker-turned-NSA-spook Dan + Edwards] A malicious, security-breaking program that is disguised + as something benign, such as a directory lister, archiver, game, or + (in one notorious 1990 case on the Mac) a program to find and + destroy viruses! See {back door}, {virus}, {worm}, + {phage}, {mockingbird}. + +:troll: /v.,n./ [From the Usenet group + alt.folklore.urban] To utter a posting on {Usenet} + designed to attract predictable responses or {flame}s. Derives + from the phrase "trolling for {newbie}s" which in turn comes + from mainstream "trolling", a style of fishing in which one + trails bait through a likely spot hoping for a bite. The + well-constructed troll is a post that induces lots of newbies and + flamers to make themselves look even more clueless than they + already do, while subtly conveying to the more savvy and + experienced that it is in fact a deliberate troll. If you don't + fall for the joke, you get to be in on it. + + Some people claim that the troll is properly a narrower category + than {flame bait}, that a troll is categorized by containing + some assertion that is wrong but not overtly controversial. + +:tron: /v./ [NRL, CMU; prob. fr. the movie "Tron"] To + become inaccessible except via email or `talk(1)', especially + when one is normally available via telephone or in person. + Frequently used in the past tense, as in: "Ran seems to have + tronned on us this week" or "Gee, Ran, glad you were able to + un-tron yourself". One may also speak of `tron mode'; compare + {spod}. + +:true-hacker: /n./ [analogy with `trufan' from SF fandom] 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 my + FOOBAR 4000 last week -- manifestly the act of a true-hacker." + Compare {demigod}, oppose {munchkin}. + +:tty: /T-T-Y/, /tit'ee/ /n./ The latter pronunciation was + primarily ITS, but some Unix people say it this way as well; this + pronunciation is *not* considered to have sexual + undertones. 1. A terminal of the teletype variety, characterized by + a noisy mechanical printer, a very limited character set, and poor + print quality. 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. 3. [Unix] Any serial port, whether or not + the device connected to it is a terminal; so called because under + Unix such devices have names of the form tty*. Ambiguity between + senses 2 and 3 is common but seldom bothersome. + +:tube: 1. /n./ A CRT terminal. Never used in the mainstream + sense of TV; real hackers don't watch TV, except for Loony Toons, + Rocky & Bullwinkle, Trek Classic, the Simpsons, and the occasional + cheesy old swashbuckler movie. 2. [IBM] To send a copy of + something to someone else's terminal. "Tube me that + note?" + +:tube time: /n./ Time spent at a terminal or console. More + inclusive than hacking time; commonly used in discussions of what + parts of one's environment one uses most heavily. "I find I'm + spending too much of my tube time reading mail since I started this + revision." + +:tunafish: /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 sites started using 4.2. Tunefs relates 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 can't tunafish". Variants of this can be seen in other BSD + versions, 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 now until + the `time_t''s wrap around." + + [It has since been pointed out that indeed you can tunafish. + Usually at a canning factory... --ESR] + +:tune: /vt./ [from automotive or musical usage] 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' + (fastest execution), `tune for space' (least memory use), or + `tune for configuration' (most efficient use of hardware). See + {bum}, {hot spot}, {hand-hacking}. + +:turbo nerd: /n./ See {computer geek}. + +:Turing tar-pit: /n./ 1. A place where anything is possible but + nothing of interest is practical. Alan Turing helped lay the + foundations of computer science by showing that all machines and + languages capable of expressing a certain very primitive set of + operations are logically equivalent in the kinds of computations + they can carry out, and in principle have capabilities that differ + only in speed from those of the most powerful and elegantly + designed computers. However, no machine or language exactly + matching Turing's primitive set has ever been built (other than + possibly as a classroom exercise), because it would be horribly + slow and far too painful to use. A `Turing tar-pit' is any + computer language or other tool that shares this property. That + is, it's theoretically universal -- but in practice, the harder + you struggle to get any real work done, the deeper its inadequacies + suck you in. Compare {bondage-and-discipline language}. 2. The + perennial {holy wars} over whether language A or B is the "most + powerful". + +:turist: /too'rist/ /n./ Var. sp. of {tourist}, q.v. Also + in adjectival form, `turistic'. Poss. influenced by {luser} + and `Turing'. + +:tweak: /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 {frobnicate} + and {fudge factor}; also see {shotgun debugging}. 2. To + {tune} or {bum} a program; preferred usage in the U.K. + +:tweeter: /n./ [University of Waterloo] Syn. {perf}, + {chad} (sense 1). This term (like {woofer}) has been in use + at Waterloo since 1972 but is elsewhere unknown. In audio jargon, + the word refers to the treble speaker(s) on a hi-fi. + +:TWENEX:: /twe'neks/ /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 as Bolt, + Beranek & Newman's TENEX operating 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 operating system was VIROS (VIRtual memory 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 become KRANS; this was quickly abandoned when + someone objected that `krans' meant `funeral wreath' in Swedish + (though some Swedish speakers have since said it means simply + `wreath'; this part of the story may be apocryphal). 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 dubbed it TWENEX (a contraction of `twenty + 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 (the written abbreviation `20x' + was also used). 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 DEC's decision to + scrap all the internal rivals to the VAX architecture and its + relatively stodgy VMS OS killed the DEC-20 and put a sad end to + TWENEX's brief day in the sun. DEC attempted to convince TOPS-20 + users to convert to {VMS}, but instead, by the late 1980s, most + of the TOPS-20 hackers had migrated to Unix. + +:twiddle: /n./ 1. Tilde (ASCII 1111110, `~'). Also called + `squiggle', `sqiggle' (sic -- pronounced /skig'l/), and + `twaddle', but twiddle is the most common term. 2. A small and + insignificant change to a program. Usually fixes one bug and + generates several new ones (see also {shotgun debugging}). + 3. /vt./ To change 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, and at best doesn't + specify what you're doing to the bit; `toggling a bit' has a more + specific meaning (see {bit twiddling}, {toggle}). + +:twilight zone: /n./ [IRC] Notionally, the area of + cyberspace where {IRC} operators live. An {op} is said to + have a "connection to the twilight zone". + +:twink: /twink/ /n./ [UCSC] 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 + (compare mainstream `chick'). + +:twirling baton: /n./ [PLATO] The overstrike sequence -/|\-/|\- + which produces an animated twirling baton. If you output it with a + single backspace between characters, the baton spins in place. If + you output the sequence BS SP between characters, the baton spins + from left to right. If you output BS SP BS BS between characters, + the baton spins from right to left. + + The twirling baton was a popular component of animated signature + files on the pioneering PLATO educational timesharing system. The + `archie' Internet service is perhaps the best-known baton + program today; it uses the twirling baton as an idler indicating + that the program is working on a query. + +:two pi: /quant./ The number of years it takes to finish one's + thesis. Occurs in stories in the following form: "He started on + his thesis; 2 pi years later..." + +:two-to-the-N: /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 won't show + up. + +:twonkie: /twon'kee/ /n./ The software equivalent of a + Twinkie (a variety of sugar-loaded junk food, or (in gay slang with + a small t) the male equivalent of `chick'); a useless + `feature' added to look sexy and placate a {marketroid} + (compare {Saturday-night special}). The term may also be + related to "The 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. + += U = +===== + +:u-: /pref./ Written shorthand for {micro-}; techspeak when + applied to metric units, jargon when used otherwise. Derived from + the Greek letter "mu", the first letter of "micro" (and which + letter looks a lot like the English letter "u"). + +:UBD: /U-B-D/ /n./ [abbreviation for `User Brain Damage'] + An abbreviation used 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: /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 say that the requirement for the + 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 never + written out in full, e.g., `YHWH' or `G--d' is used. See also + {glob}. + +:undefined external reference: /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: /adj./ [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 to enable the + listener to {grok} it. "Let's 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 the hood, this baby has a 40MHz 68030!" + +:undocumented feature: /n./ See {feature}. + +:uninteresting: /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 and + code. + + Hackers regard uninteresting 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 + original problem as a special case (and, it must be admitted, + occasionally turning a molehill into a mountain, or a mountain into + a tectonic plate). See {WOMBAT}, {SMOP}; compare {toy + problem}, oppose {interesting}. + +:Unix:: /yoo'niks/ /n./ [In the authors' words, "A weak pun + on Multics"; very early on it was `UNICS'] (also `UNIX') An + interactive time-sharing system invented in 1969 by Ken Thompson + after Bell Labs left the Multics project, originally so he could + play games on his scavenged PDP-7. Dennis Ritchie, the 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 mutations and expansions at the hands of + many different people, resulting in a uniquely flexible and + developer-friendly environment. By 1991, Unix had become the most + widely used multiuser general-purpose operating system in the + world. Many people consider this the most important victory yet of + hackerdom over industry opposition (but see {Unix weenie} and + {Unix conspiracy} for an opposing point of view). See + {Version 7}, {BSD}, {USG Unix}, {Linux}. + + Some people are confused over whether this word is appropriately + `UNIX' or `Unix'; both forms are common, and used interchangeably. + Dennis Ritchie says that the `UNIX' spelling originally happened in + CACM's 1974 paper "The UNIX Time-Sharing System" because "we + had a new typesetter and {troff} had just been invented and we + were intoxicated by being able to produce small caps." Later, dmr + tried to get the spelling changed to `Unix' in a couple of Bell + Labs papers, on the grounds that the word is not acronymic. He + failed, and eventually (his words) "wimped out" on the issue. + So, while the trademark today is `UNIX', both capitalizations are + grounded in ancient usage; the Jargon File uses `Unix' in deference + to dmr's wishes. + +:Unix brain damage: /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 published + standards and the Unix program in 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 out + there. + + An example of Unix brain damage 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 hardened + {jock} weep. + +:Unix conspiracy: /n./ [ITS] 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 them dependent + upon a system whose future 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 continuing + upgrades from AT&T). This theory 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 by people and market forces, rather than 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 actively promoting its own family of Unix workstations. + (Olsen now claims to have been misquoted.) + + [If there was ever such a conspiracy, it got thoroughly out of the + plotters' control after 1990. AT&T sold its UNIX operation to + Novell around the same time {Linux} and other free-UNIX + distributions were beginning to make noise. --ESR] + +:Unix weenie: /n./ [ITS] 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 wizardly + skill, the only real skill involved 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 have + been written by a real Unix weenie." 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: /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 + `fork(2)'; the assumption that certain 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 to give up your time-slice, for + example); the 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: /v./ See {swizzle}. + +:unwind the stack: /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 to the level of + the given caller. In C 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 while I unwind my stack." + +:unwind-protect: /n./ [MIT: from the name of a LISP operator] 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: /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: /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 + {download} (but see the note about 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. Those who are convinced that such patterns and + algorithms capture the complete essence of the self view this + prospect with pleasant anticipation. + +:upthread: /adv./ Earlier in the discussion (see {thread}), + i.e., `above'. "As Joe pointed out upthread, ..." See + also {followup}. + +:urchin: /n./ See {munchkin}. + +:URL: /U-R-L/ or /erl/ /n./ Uniform Resource Locator, an + address widget that identifies a document or resource on the + World Wide Web. This entry is here primarily to record the fact + that the term is commonly pronounced both /erl/, and /U-R-L/ + (the latter predominates in more formal contexts). + +:Usenet: /yoos'net/ or /yooz'net/ /n./ [from `Users' + Network'; the original spelling was USENET, but the mixed-case form + is now widely preferred] 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 at Duke University, it has swiftly grown to become + international in scope and is now probably the largest + decentralized information utility in existence. As of early 1996, + it hosts over 10,000 {newsgroup}s and an average of over 500 + megabytes (the equivalent of several thousand paper pages) of new + technical articles, news, discussion, chatter, and {flamage} + every day. + + By the year the Internet hit the mainstream (1994) the original + UUCP transport for Usenet was fading out of use (see {UUCPNET}) + -- almost all Usenet connections were over Internet links. A lot + of newbies and journalists began to refer to "Internet + newsgroups" as though Usenet was and always had been just another + Internet service. This ignorance greatly annoys experienced + Usenetters. + +:user: /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. [GLS + observes: This is slightly unfair. It 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 before bothering the maintainer.] See {luser}. + 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 there are two classes + of people who work with a program: there are implementors (hackers) + and {luser}s. The users are looked down on by hackers to some + extent because they don't understand the full ramifications of the + system in all its glory. (The few users who do are known as + `real winners'.) The term is a relative one: 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 skillfully or not. Thus there is some overlap + between the two terms; the subtle distinctions must be resolved by + context. + +:user-friendly: /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. See + {menuitis}, {drool-proof paper}, {Macintrash}, + {user-obsequious}. + +:user-obsequious: /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 + environment}, {Macintrash}. + +:USG Unix: /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 lifespan of those versions AT&T's support crew was called the + `Unix Support Group'. See {BSD}, {{Unix}}. + +:UTSL: // /n./ [Unix] On-line acronym for `Use the Source, Luke' (a + pun on Obi-Wan Kenobi's "Use the Force, Luke!" in "Star + Wars") -- analogous to {RTFS} (sense 1), but more polite. This + is a common way of suggesting that someone would be better off + reading the source code that supports whatever feature is causing + confusion, rather than making yet another futile pass through the + manuals, or broadcasting questions on Usenet that haven't attracted + {wizard}s to answer them. + + Once upon a time in {elder days}, everyone running Unix had + source. After 1978, AT&T's policy tightened up, so this + objurgation was in theory appropriately directed only at associates + of some outfit with a Unix source license. In practice, bootlegs + of Unix source code (made precisely for reference purposes) were so + ubiquitous that one could utter it at almost anyone on the network + without concern. + + Nowadays, free Unix clones have become widely enough distributed + that anyone can read source legally. The most widely distributed + is certainly Linux, with variants of the NET/2 and 4.4BSD + distributions running second. Cheap commercial Unixes with source + such as BSD/OS are accelerating this trend. + +:UUCPNET: /n. obs./ 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. This term has been + rendered obsolescent by the spread of cheap Internet connections in + the 1990s; the few remaining UUCP links are essentially slow + channels to the Internet rather than an autonomous network. See + {network address}. + += V = +===== + +:V7: /V'sev'en/ /n./ See {Version 7}. + +:vadding: /vad'ing/ /n./ [from VAD, a permutation of ADV + (i.e., {ADVENT}), used to avoid a particular {admin}'s + continual search-and-destroy sweeps for the game] A leisure-time + activity of certain hackers involving the covert exploration of the + `secret' parts of large buildings -- basements, roofs, freight + 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}; see + also {hack}, sense 9). This term dates from the late 1970s, + before which such activity was simply called `hacking'; the older + usage is still prevalent at MIT. + + The most extreme and dangerous form of vadding is `elevator + rodeo', a.k.a. `elevator 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 + the ever-popular drop experiments). Kids, don't try this at home! + See also {hobbit} (sense 2). + +:vanilla: /adj./ [from the default flavor of ice cream in the + U.S.] 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 wonton soup, as + opposed to hot-and-sour wonton 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. This word differs from {canonical} in that the + latter means `default', whereas vanilla simply means + `ordinary'. For example, when hackers go on a {great-wall}, + hot-and-sour soup is the {canonical} soup to get (because that + is what most of them usually order) even though it isn't the + vanilla (wonton) soup. + +:vannevar: /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 + learning curve tends to be highly nonlinear, 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 relays, a prediction made at a time when the + semiconductor 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 that was in fact + less than the routine densities of 5 years later. + +:vaporware: /vay'pr-weir/ /n./ Products announced far in + advance of any release (which may or may not actually take place). + See also {brochureware}. + +:var: /veir/ or /var/ /n./ Short for `variable'. + Compare {arg}, {param}. + +:VAX: /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 about 1986, the + VAX was probably the hacker's 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 major brand of vacuum cleaner in Britain. Cited here because + its sales pitch, "Nothing sucks like a VAX!" became a sort of + battle-cry of RISC partisans. It is even sometimes claimed 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. + + A rival brand actually pioneered the slogan: its original form was + "Nothing sucks like Electrolux". It has apparently become a +classic + example (used in advertising textbooks) of the perils of not +knowing + the local idiom. But in 1996, the press manager of Electrolux AB, + while confirming that the company used this slogan in the late +1960s, + also tells us that their marketing people were fully aware of the + possible double entendre and intended it to gain attention. + + And gain attention it did -- the VAX-vacuum-cleaner people thought + the slogan a sufficiently good idea to copy it. Several British + hackers report that VAX's promotions used it in 1986--1987, and we + have one report from a New Zealander that the infamous slogan + surfaced there in TV ads for the product in 1992. + +:VAXectomy: /vak-sek't*-mee/ /n./ [by analogy with + `vasectomy'] 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 can be + cause for celebration. + +:VAXen: /vak'sn/ /n./ [from `oxen', perhaps influenced by + `vixen'] (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: /vaks'herd/ /n. obs./ [from `oxherd'] A VAX + operator. The image is reinforced because VAXen actually did tend + to come in herds, technically known as `clusters'. + +:vaxism: /vak'sizm/ /n./ A piece of code that exhibits + {vaxocentrism} in critical areas. Compare {PC-ism}, + {unixism}. + +:vaxocentrism: /vak`soh-sen'trizm/ /n./ [analogy with + `ethnocentrism'] 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. Among + these are: + + 1. The assumption that dereferencing a null pointer is safe because + it is all bits 0, and location 0 is readable and 0. Problem: + this may instead cause an illegal-address trap on non-VAXen, and + even on VAXen under OSes other than BSD Unix. Usually this is an + implicit assumption of sloppy code (forgetting to check the + pointer before using it), rather than deliberate exploitation of + a misfeature. + + 2. The assumption that characters are signed. + + 3. The assumption that a pointer to any one type can freely be cast + into a pointer to any other type. A stronger form of this is the + assumption that all pointers are the same size and format, which + means you don't have to worry about getting the casts or types + correct in calls. Problem: this fails on word-oriented machines + or others with multiple pointer formats. + + 4. The assumption that the parameters of a routine are stored in + memory, on a stack, contiguously, and in strictly ascending or + descending order. Problem: this fails on many RISC + architectures. + + 5. The assumption that pointer and integer types are the same size, + and that pointers can be stuffed into integer variables (and + vice-versa) and drawn back out without being truncated or + mangled. Problem: this fails on segmented architectures or + word-oriented machines with funny pointer formats. + + 6. The assumption that a data type of any size may begin at any byte + address in memory (for example, that you can freely construct and + dereference a pointer to a word- or greater-sized object at an + odd char address). Problem: this fails on many (esp. RISC) + architectures better optimized for {HLL} execution speed, and can + cause an illegal address fault or bus error. + + 7. The (related) assumption that there is no padding at the end of + types and that in an array you can thus step right from the last + byte of a previous component to the first byte of the next one. + This is not only machine- but compiler-dependent. + + 8. The assumption that memory address space is globally flat and + that the array reference `foo[-1]' is necessarily valid. + Problem: this fails at 0, or other places on segment-addressed + machines like Intel chips (yes, segmentation is universally + considered a {brain-damaged} way to design machines (see {moby}), + but that is a separate issue). + + 9. The assumption that objects can be arbitrarily large with no + special considerations. Problem: this fails on segmented + architectures and under non-virtual-addressing environments. + + 10. The assumption that the stack can be as large as memory. + Problem: this fails on segmented architectures or almost anything + else without virtual addressing and a paged stack. + + 11. The assumption that bits and addressable units within an object + are ordered in the same way and that this order is a constant of + nature. Problem: this fails on {big-endian} machines. + + 12. The assumption that it is meaningful to compare pointers to + different objects not located within the same array, or to + objects of different types. Problem: the former fails on + segmented architectures, the latter on word-oriented machines or + others with multiple pointer formats. + + 13. The assumption that an `int' is 32 bits, or (nearly equivalently) + the assumption that `sizeof(int) == sizeof(long)'. Problem: this + fails on PDP-11s, 286-based systems and even on 386 and 68000 + systems under some compilers. + + 14. The assumption that `argv[]' is writable. Problem: this fails in + many embedded-systems C environments and even under a few flavors + of Unix. + + Note that a programmer can 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 `vaxocentricity' + and `all-the-world's-a-VAX syndrome' have been used synonymously. + +:vdiff: /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, and is sometimes more + specifically used for the act of superimposing two nearly identical + printouts on one another and holding them up to a light to spot + differences. Though this method is poor for detecting omissions in + the `rear' file, it can also be used with printouts of graphics, a + claim few if any diff programs can make. See {diff}. + +:veeblefester: /vee'b*l-fes`tr/ /n./ [from the "Born + Loser" comix via Commodore; prob. originally from "Mad" + Magazine's `Veeblefeetzer' parodies ca. 1960] Any obnoxious person + engaged in the (alleged) professions of marketing or management. + Antonym of {hacker}. Compare {suit}, {marketroid}. + +:ventilator card: /n./ Syn. {lace card}. + +:Venus flytrap: /n./ [after the insect-eating plant] See + {firewall machine}. + +:verbage: /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: /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 motives + behind its production have little to do with the ostensible + subject. + +:Version 7: alt. V7 /vee' se'vn/ /n./ The first widely + distributed version of {Unix}, released unsupported by Bell Labs + in 1978. The term is used adjectivally to describe Unix features + and programs that date from that release, and are thus guaranteed + to be present and portable in all Unix versions (this was the + standard gauge of portability before the POSIX and IEEE 1003 + standards). Note that this usage does *not* derive from the + release being the "seventh version of {Unix}"; research + {Unix} at Bell Labs has traditionally been numbered according to + the edition of the associated documentation. Indeed, only the + widely-distributed Sixth and Seventh Editions are widely known as + V[67]; the OS that might today be known as `V10' is instead known + in full as "Tenth Edition Research Unix" or just "Tenth + Edition" for short. For this reason, "V7" is often read by + cognoscenti as "Seventh Edition". See {BSD}, {USG Unix}, + {{Unix}}. Some old-timers impatient with commercialization and + kernel bloat still maintain that V7 was the Last True Unix. + +:vgrep: /vee'grep/ /v.,n./ Visual grep. The operation of + finding patterns in a file optically rather than digitally (also + called an `optical grep'). See {grep}; compare {vdiff}. + +:vi: /V-I/, *not* /vi:/ and *never* /siks/ /n./ + [from `Visual Interface'] A screen editor crufted together by Bill + Joy for an early {BSD} release. Became the de facto + standard Unix editor and a nearly undisputed hacker favorite + outside of MIT until the rise of {EMACS} after about 1984. + Tends to 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 the editor is in (one + correspondent accordingly reports that he has often heard the + editor's name pronounced /vi:l/). 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 the bulkier versions of EMACS). See {holy wars}. + +:videotex: /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 wasn't + government-subsidized, because by the 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 + overestimated both the appeal of getting information from a + 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: /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 have + not yet been used. + +:virtual: /adj./ [via the technical term `virtual memory', + prob. from the term `virtual image' in optics] 1. Common + alternative to {logical}; often used to refer to the artificial + objects (like addressable virtual memory larger than physical + memory) simulated by a computer system as a convenient way to +manage + access to shared resources. 2. Simulated; performing the functions + of something that isn't really there. An imaginative child's doll + may be a virtual playmate. Oppose {real}. + +:virtual Friday: /n./ (also `logical Friday') The last day + before an extended weekend, if that day is not a `real' Friday. + For example, the U.S. holiday Thanksgiving is always on a Thursday. + The next day is often also a holiday or taken as an extra day off, + in which case Wednesday of that week is a virtual Friday (and + Thursday is a virtual Saturday, as is Friday). There are also + `virtual Mondays' that are actually Tuesdays, after the three-day + weekends associated with many national holidays in the U.S. + +:virtual reality: /n./ 1. Computer simulations that use 3-D + graphics and devices such as the Dataglove to allow the user to + interact with the simulation. See {cyberspace}. 2. A form of + network interaction incorporating aspects of role-playing games, + interactive theater, improvisational comedy, and `true + confessions' magazines. In a virtual reality forum (such as + Usenet's alt.callahans newsgroup or the {MUD} experiments on + Internet), interaction between the participants is written like a + shared novel complete with scenery, `foreground characters' that + may be personae utterly unlike the people who write them, and + common `background characters' manipulable by all parties. The + one iron law is that you may not write irreversible changes to a + character without the consent of the person who `owns' it. + Otherwise anything goes. See {bamf}, {cyberspace}, + {teledildonics}. + +:virtual shredder: /n./ The jargonic equivalent of the {bit + bucket} at shops using IBM's VM/CMS operating system. VM/CMS + officially supports a whole bestiary of virtual card readers, + virtual printers, and other phantom devices; these are used to + supply some of the same capabilities Unix gets from pipes and I/O + redirection. + +:virus: /n./ [from the obvious analogy with biological viruses, + via SF] A cracker program that searches out other programs and + `infects' them by embedding a copy of itself in them, so that + they become {Trojan horse}s. When these programs are executed, + the embedded virus is executed too, thus propagating the + `infection'. This normally happens invisibly to the user. + Unlike a {worm}, a virus cannot infect other computers without + assistance. It is propagated by vectors such as humans trading + programs with their friends (see {SEX}). The virus may do + nothing but propagate itself and then allow the program to run + normally. Usually, however, after propagating silently for a + while, it starts doing things like writing cute messages on the + terminal or playing strange tricks with the display (some viruses + include nice {display hack}s). Many nasty viruses, written by + particularly perversely minded {cracker}s, do irreversible + damage, like nuking all the user's files. + + In the 1990s, viruses have become a serious problem, especially + among IBM PC and Macintosh users (the lack of security on these + machines enables viruses to spread easily, even infecting the + operating system). The production of special anti-virus software + has become an industry, and a number of exaggerated media reports + have caused outbreaks of near hysteria among users; many + {luser}s tend to blame *everything* that doesn't work as + they had expected on virus attacks. Accordingly, this sense of + `virus' has passed not only into techspeak but into also popular + usage (where it is often incorrectly used to denote a {worm} or + even a {Trojan horse}). See {phage}; compare {back door}; + see also {Unix conspiracy}. + +:visionary: /n./ 1. One who hacks vision, in the sense of an + Artificial Intelligence researcher working on the problem of + getting computers to `see' things using TV cameras. (There + isn't any problem in sending information from a TV camera to a + computer. The problem is, how can the computer be programmed to + make use of the camera information? See {SMOP}, + {AI-complete}.) 2. [IBM] One who reads the outside literature. + At IBM, apparently, such a penchant is viewed with awe and wonder. + +:VMS: /V-M-S/ /n./ DEC's proprietary operating system for its + VAX minicomputer; one of the seven or so environments that loom + largest in hacker folklore. Many Unix fans generously concede that + VMS would probably be the hacker's favorite commercial OS if Unix + didn't exist; though true, this makes VMS fans furious. One major + hacker gripe with VMS concerns its slowness -- thus the following + limerick: + + There once was a system called VMS + Of cycles by no means abstemious. + It's chock-full of hacks + And runs on a VAX + And makes my poor stomach all squeamious. + -- The Great Quux + + See also {VAX}, {{TOPS-10}}, {{TOPS-20}}, {{Unix}}, {runic}. + +:voice: /vt./ To phone someone, as opposed to emailing them or + connecting in {talk mode}. "I'm busy now; I'll voice you + later." + +:voice-net: /n./ Hackish way of referring to the telephone + system, analogizing it to a digital network. Usenet {sig + block}s not uncommonly include the sender's phone next to a + "Voice:" or "Voice-Net:" header; common variants of this are + "Voicenet" and "V-Net". Compare {paper-net}, + {snail-mail}. + +:voodoo programming: /n./ [from George Bush's "voodoo + economics"] The use by guess or cookbook of an {obscure} or + {hairy} system, feature, or algorithm that one does not truly + understand. The implication is that the technique may not work, + and if it doesn't, one will never know why. Almost synonymous with + {black magic}, except that black magic typically isn't + documented and *nobody* understands it. Compare {magic}, + {deep magic}, {heavy wizardry}, {rain dance}, {cargo + cult programming}, {wave a dead chicken}. + +:VR: // [MUD] /n./ On-line abbrev for {virtual reality}, + as opposed to {RL}. + +:Vulcan nerve pinch: /n./ [from the old "Star Trek" TV + series via Commodore Amiga hackers] The keyboard combination that + forces a soft-boot or jump to ROM monitor (on machines that support + such a feature). On many micros this is Ctrl-Alt-Del; on Suns, + L1-A; on some Macintoshes, it is <Cmd>-<Power switch>! Also called + {three-finger salute}. Compare {quadruple bucky}. + +:vulture capitalist: /n./ Pejorative hackerism for `venture + capitalist', deriving from the common practice of pushing contracts + that deprive inventors of control over their own innovations and + most of the money they ought to have made from them. + += W = +===== + +:wabbit: /wab'it/ /n./ [almost certainly from Elmer Fudd's + immortal line "You wascawwy wabbit!"] 1. A legendary early hack + reported on a System/360 at RPI and elsewhere around 1978; this may + have descended (if only by inspiration) from a hack called RABBITS + reported from 1969 on a Burroughs 5500 at the University of + Washington Computer Center. The program would make two copies of + itself every time it was run, eventually crashing the system. + 2. By extension, any hack that includes infinite self-replication + but is not a {virus} or {worm}. See {fork bomb} and + {rabbit job}, see also {cookie monster}. + +:WAITS:: /wayts/ /n./ The mutant cousin of {{TOPS-10}} used + on a handful of systems at {{SAIL}} up to 1990. There was never + an `official' expansion of WAITS (the name itself having been + arrived at by a rather sideways process), but it was frequently + glossed as `West-coast Alternative to ITS'. Though WAITS was less + visible than ITS, there was frequent exchange of people and ideas + between the two communities, and innovations pioneered at WAITS + exerted enormous indirect influence. The early screen modes of + {EMACS}, for example, were directly inspired by WAITS's `E' + editor -- one of a family of editors that were the first to do + `real-time editing', in which the editing commands were invisible + and where one typed text at the point of insertion/overwriting. + The modern style of multi-region windowing is said to have + originated there, and WAITS alumni at XEROX PARC and elsewhere + played major roles in the developments that led to the XEROX Star, + the Macintosh, and the Sun workstations. Also invented there were + {bucky bits} -- thus, the ALT key on every IBM PC is a WAITS + legacy. One notable WAITS feature seldom duplicated elsewhere was + a news-wire interface that allowed WAITS hackers to read, store, + and filter AP and UPI dispatches from their terminals; the system + also featured a still-unusual level of support for what is now + called `multimedia' computing, allowing analog audio and video + signals to be switched to programming terminals. + +:waldo: /wol'doh/ /n./ [From Robert A. Heinlein's story + "Waldo"] 1. A mechanical agent, such as a gripper arm, + controlled by a human limb. When these were developed for the + nuclear industry in the mid-1940s they were named after the + invention described by Heinlein in the story, which he wrote in + 1942. Now known by the more generic term `telefactoring', this + technology is of intense interest to NASA for tasks like space + station maintenance. 2. At Harvard (particularly by Tom Cheatham + and students), this is used instead of {foobar} as a + metasyntactic variable and general nonsense word. See {foo}, + {bar}, {foobar}, {quux}. + +:walk: /n.,vt./ Traversal of a data structure, especially an + array or linked-list data structure in {core}. See also + {codewalker}, {silly walk}, {clobber}. + +:walk off the end of: /vt./ To run past the end of an array, + list, or medium after stepping through it -- a good way to land in + trouble. Often the result of an {off-by-one error}. Compare + {clobber}, {roach}, {smash the stack}. + +:walking drives: /n./ An occasional failure mode of + magnetic-disk drives back in the days when they were huge, clunky + {washing machine}s. Those old {dinosaur} parts carried + terrific angular momentum; the combination of a misaligned spindle + or worn bearings and stick-slip interactions with the floor could + cause them to `walk' across a room, lurching alternate corners + forward a couple of millimeters at a time. There is a legend about + a drive that walked over to the only door to the computer room and + jammed it shut; the staff had to cut a hole in the wall in order to + get at it! Walking could also be induced by certain patterns of + drive access (a fast seek across the whole width of the disk, + followed by a slow seek in the other direction). Some bands of + old-time hackers figured out how to induce disk-accessing patterns + that would do this to particular drive models and held disk-drive + races. + +:wall: /interj./ [WPI] 1. An indication of confusion, usually spoken + with a quizzical tone: "Wall??" 2. A request for further + explication. Compare {octal forty}. 3. [Unix, from `write + all'] /v./ To send a message to everyone currently logged in, + esp. with the wall(8) utility. + + It is said that sense 1 came from the idiom `like talking to a + blank wall'. It was originally used in situations where, after you + had carefully answered a question, the questioner stared at you + blankly, clearly having understood nothing that was explained. You + would then throw out a "Hello, wall?" to elicit some sort of + response from the questioner. Later, confused questioners began + voicing "Wall?" themselves. + +:wall follower: /n./ A person or algorithm that compensates for + lack of sophistication or native stupidity by efficiently following + some simple procedure shown to have been effective in the past. + Used of an algorithm, this is not necessarily pejorative; it + recalls `Harvey Wallbanger', the winning robot in an early AI + contest (named, of course, after the cocktail). Harvey + successfully solved mazes by keeping a `finger' on one wall and + running till it came out the other end. This was inelegant, but it + was mathematically guaranteed to work on simply-connected mazes --- + and, in fact, Harvey outperformed more sophisticated robots that + tried to `learn' each maze by building an internal + representation of it. Used of humans, the term *is* + pejorative and implies an uncreative, bureaucratic, by-the-book + mentality. See also {code grinder}; compare {droid}. + +:wall time: /n./ (also `wall clock time') 1. `Real world' + time (what the clock on the wall shows), as opposed to the system + clock's idea of time. 2. The real running time of a program, as + opposed to the number of {tick}s required to execute it (on a + timesharing system these always differ, as no one program gets all + the ticks, and on multiprocessor systems with good thread support + one may get more processor time than real time). + +:wallpaper: /n./ 1. A file containing a listing (e.g., assembly + listing) or a transcript, esp. a file containing a transcript of + all or part of a login session. (The idea was that the paper for + such listings was essentially good only for wallpaper, as evidenced + at Stanford, where it was used to cover windows.) Now rare, esp. + since other systems have developed other terms for it (e.g., PHOTO + on TWENEX). However, the Unix world doesn't have an equivalent + term, so perhaps {wallpaper} will take hold there. The term + probably originated on ITS, where the commands to begin and end + transcript files were `:WALBEG' and `:WALEND', with + default file `WALL PAPER' (the space was a path delimiter). + 2. The background pattern used on graphical workstations (this is + techspeak under the `Windows' graphical user interface to + MS-DOS). 3. `wallpaper file' /n./ The file that contains the + wallpaper information before it is actually printed on paper. + (Even if you don't intend ever to produce a real paper copy of the + file, it is still called a wallpaper file.) + +:wango: /wang'goh/ /n./ Random bit-level {grovel}ling + going on in a system during some unspecified operation. Often used + in combination with {mumble}. For example: "You start with the + `.o' file, run it through this postprocessor that does mumble-wango + -- and it comes out a snazzy object-oriented executable." + +:wank: /wangk/ /n.,v.,adj./ [Columbia University: prob. by + mutation from Commonwealth slang /v./ `wank', to masturbate] Used + much as {hack} is elsewhere, as a noun denoting a clever + technique or person or the result of such cleverness. May describe + (negatively) the act of hacking for hacking's sake ("Quit wanking, + let's go get supper!") or (more positively) a {wizard}. Adj. + `wanky' describes something particularly clever (a person, + program, or algorithm). Conversations can also get wanky when + there are too many wanks involved. This excess wankiness is + signalled by an overload of the `wankometer' (compare + {bogometer}). When the wankometer overloads, the conversation's + subject must be changed, or all non-wanks will leave. Compare + `neep-neeping' (under {neep-neep}). Usage: U.S. only. In + Britain and the Commonwealth this word is *extremely* rude and + is best avoided unless one intends to give offense. + +:wannabee: /won'*-bee/ /n./ (also, more plausibly, spelled + `wannabe') [from a term recently used to describe Madonna fans + who dress, talk, and act like their idol; prob. originally from + biker slang] A would-be {hacker}. The connotations of this term + differ sharply depending on the age and exposure of the subject. + Used of a person who is in or might be entering {larval stage}, + it is semi-approving; such wannabees can be annoying but most + hackers remember that they, too, were once such creatures. When + used of any professional programmer, CS academic, writer, or + {suit}, it is derogatory, implying that said person is trying to + cuddle up to the hacker mystique but doesn't, fundamentally, have a + prayer of understanding what it is all about. Overuse of terms + from this lexicon is often an indication of the {wannabee} + nature. Compare {newbie}. + + Historical note: The wannabee phenomenon has a slightly different + flavor now (1993) than it did ten or fifteen years ago. When the + people who are now hackerdom's tribal elders were in {larval + stage}, the process of becoming a hacker was largely unconscious + and unaffected by models known in popular culture -- communities + formed spontaneously around people who, *as individuals*, felt + irresistibly drawn to do hackerly things, and what wannabees + experienced was a fairly pure, skill-focused desire to become + similarly wizardly. Those days of innocence are gone forever; + society's adaptation to the advent of the microcomputer after 1980 + included the elevation of the hacker as a new kind of folk hero, + and the result is that some people semi-consciously set out to + *be hackers* and borrow hackish prestige by fitting the + popular image of hackers. Fortunately, to do this really well, one + has to actually become a wizard. Nevertheless, old-time hackers + tend to share a poorly articulated disquiet about the change; among + other things, it gives them mixed feelings about the effects of + public compendia of lore like this one. + +:war dialer: /n./ A cracking tool, a program that calls a given + list or range of phone numbers and records those which answer with + handshake tones (and so might be entry points to computer or + telecommunications systems). Some of these programs have become + quite sophisticated, and can now detect modem, fax, or PBX tones + and log each one separately. The war dialer is one of the most + important tools in the {phreaker}'s kit. These programs evolved + from early {demon dialer}s. + +:warez: /weirz/ /n./ Widely used in {cracker} subcultures + to denote cracked version of commercial software, that is versions + from which copy-protection has been stripped. Hackers recognize + this term but don't use it themselves. See {warez d00dz}. + +:warez d00dz: /weirz doodz/ /n./ A substantial subculture of + {cracker}s refer to themselves as `warez d00dz'; there is + evidently some connection with {B1FF} here. As `Ozone Pilot', + one former warez d00d, wrote: + + Warez d00dz get illegal copies of copyrighted software. If it + has copy protection on it, they break the protection so the + software can be copied. Then they distribute it around the world + via several gateways. Warez d00dz form badass group names like + RAZOR and the like. They put up boards that distribute the + latest ware, or pirate program. The whole point of the Warez + sub-culture is to get the pirate program released and distributed + before any other group. I know, I know. But don't ask, and it + won't hurt as much. This is how they prove their poweress [sic]. + It gives them the right to say, "I released King's Quest IVXIX + before you so obviously my testicles are larger." Again don't + ask... + + The studly thing to do if one is a warez d00d, it appears, is emit + `0-day warez', that is copies of commercial software copied and + cracked on the same day as its retail release. Warez d00ds also + hoard software in a big way, collecting untold megabytes of + arcade-style games, pornographic GIFs, and applications they'll + never use onto their hard disks. As Ozone Pilot acutely observes: + + [BELONG] is the only word you will need to know. Warez d00dz + want to belong. They have been shunned by everyone, and thus + turn to cyberspace for acceptance. That is why they always start + groups like TGW, FLT, USA and the like. Structure makes them + happy. [...] Warez d00dz will never have a handle like "Pink + Daisy" because warez d00dz are insecure. Only someone who is + very secure with a good dose of self-esteem can stand up to the + cries of fag and girlie-man. More likely you will find warez + d00dz with handles like: Doctor Death, Deranged Lunatic, + Hellraiser, Mad Prince, Dreamdevil, The Unknown, Renegade + Chemist, Terminator, and Twin Turbo. They like to sound badass + when they can hide behind their terminals. More likely, if you + were given a sample of 100 people, the person whose handle is + Hellraiser is the last person you'd associate with the name. + + The contrast with Internet hackers is stark and instructive. See + {cracker}, {wannabee}, {handle}, {elite}; compare + {weenie}, {spod}. + +:warlording: /v./ [from the Usenet group alt.fan.warlord] + The act of excoriating a bloated, ugly, or derivative {sig + block}. Common grounds for warlording include the presence of a + signature rendered in a {BUAF}, over-used or cliched {sig + quote}s, ugly {ASCII art}, or simply excessive size. The + original `Warlord' was a {B1FF}-like {newbie} c.1991 who + featured in his sig a particularly large and obnoxious ASCII + graphic resembling the sword of Conan the Barbarian in the 1981 + John Milius movie; the group name alt.fan.warlord was sarcasm, + and the characteristic mode of warlording is devastatingly + sarcastic praise. + +:warm boot: /n./ See {boot}. + +:wart: /n./ A small, {crock}y {feature} that sticks out + of an otherwise {clean} design. Something conspicuous for + localized ugliness, especially a special-case exception to a + general rule. For example, in some versions of `csh(1)', + single quotes literalize every character inside them except + `!'. In ANSI C, the `??' syntax used for obtaining ASCII + characters in a foreign environment is a wart. See also + {miswart}. + +:washing machine: /n./ 1. Old-style 14-inch hard disks in + floor-standing cabinets. So called because of the size of the + cabinet and the `top-loading' access to the media packs -- and, of + course, they were always set on `spin cycle'. The + washing-machine idiom transcends language barriers; it is even used + in Russian hacker jargon. See also {walking drives}. The thick + channel cables connecting these were called `bit hoses' (see + {hose}, sense 3). 2. [CMU] A machine used exclusively for + {washing software}. CMU has clusters of these. + +:washing software: /n./ The process of recompiling a software + distribution (used more often when the recompilation is occuring + from scratch) to pick up and merge together all of the various + changes that have been made to the source. + +:water MIPS: /n./ (see {MIPS}, sense 2) Large, water-cooled + machines of either today's ECL-supercomputer flavor or yesterday's + traditional {mainframe} type. + +:wave a dead chicken: /v./ To perform a ritual in the direction + of crashed software or hardware that one believes to be futile but + is nevertheless necessary so that others are satisfied that an + appropriate degree of effort has been expended. "I'll wave a dead + chicken over the source code, but I really think we've run into an + OS bug." Compare {voodoo programming}, {rain dance}. + +:weasel: /n./ [Cambridge] A naive user, one who deliberately or + accidentally does things that are stupid or ill-advised. Roughly + synonymous with {loser}. + +:web pointer: /n./ A World Wide Web {URL}. See also + {hotlink}, which has slightly different connotations. + +:webmaster: /n./ [WWW: from {postmaster}] The person at a + site providing World Wide Web information who is responsible for + maintaining the public pages and keeping the Web server running and + properly configured. + +:wedged: /adj./ 1. To be stuck, incapable of proceeding without + help. This is different from having crashed. If the system has + crashed, it has become totally non-functioning. If the system is + wedged, it is trying to do something but cannot make progress; it + may be capable of doing a few things, but not be fully operational. + For example, a process may become wedged if it {deadlock}s with + another (but not all instances of wedging are deadlocks). See also + {gronk}, {locked up}, {hosed}. 2. Often refers to humans + suffering misconceptions. "He's totally wedged -- he's convinced + that he can levitate through meditation." 3. [Unix] Specifically + used to describe the state of a TTY left in a losing state by abort + of a screen-oriented program or one that has messed with the line + discipline in some obscure way. + + There is some dispute over the origin of this term. It is usually + thought to derive from a common description of recto-cranial + inversion; however, it may actually have originated with older + `hot-press' printing technology in which physical type elements + were locked into type frames with wedges driven in by mallets. + Once this had been done, no changes in the typesetting for that + page could be made. + +:wedgie: /n./ [Fairchild] A bug. Prob. related to {wedged}. + +:wedgitude: /wedj'i-t[y]ood/ /n./ The quality or state of + being {wedged}. + +:weeble: /weeb'l/ /interj./ [Cambridge] Used to denote + frustration, usually at amazing stupidity. "I stuck the disk in + upside down." "Weeble...." Compare {gurfle}. + +:weeds: /n./ 1. Refers to development projects or algorithms + that have no possible relevance or practical application. Comes + from `off in the weeds'. Used in phrases like "lexical analysis + for microcode is serious weeds...." 2. At CDC/ETA before its + demise, the phrase `go off in the weeds' was equivalent to IBM's + {branch to Fishkill} and mainstream hackerdom's {jump off + into never-never land}. + +:weenie: /n./ 1. [on BBSes] Any of a species of luser + resembling a less amusing version of {B1FF} that infests many + {BBS} systems. The typical weenie is a teenage boy with poor + social skills travelling under a grandiose {handle} derived from + fantasy or heavy-metal rock lyrics. Among sysops, `the weenie + problem' refers to the marginally literate and profanity-laden + {flamage} weenies tend to spew all over a newly-discovered BBS. + Compare {spod}, {computer geek}, {terminal junkie}, + {warez d00dz}. 2. [Among hackers] When used with a qualifier + (for example, as in {Unix weenie}, VMS weenie, IBM weenie) this + can be either an insult or a term of praise, depending on context, + tone of voice, and whether or not it is applied by a person who + considers him or herself to be the same sort of weenie. Implies + that the weenie has put a major investment of time, effort, and + concentration into the area indicated; whether this is good or bad + depends on the hearer's judgment of how the speaker feels about + that area. See also {bigot}. 3. The semicolon character, + `;' (ASCII 0111011). + +:Weenix: /wee'niks/ /n./ [ITS] A derogatory term for + {{Unix}}, derived from {Unix weenie}. According to one noted + ex-ITSer, it is "the operating system preferred by Unix Weenies: + typified by poor modularity, poor reliability, hard file deletion, + no file version numbers, case sensitivity everywhere, and users who + believe that these are all advantages". (Some ITS fans behave as + though they believe Unix stole a future that rightfully belonged to + them. See {{ITS}}, sense 2.) + +:well-behaved: /adj./ 1. [primarily {{MS-DOS}}] Said of + software conforming to system interface guidelines and standards. + Well-behaved software uses the operating system to do chores such + as keyboard input, allocating memory and drawing graphics. Oppose + {ill-behaved}. 2. Software that does its job quietly and + without counterintuitive effects. Esp. said of software having + an interface spec sufficiently simple and well-defined that it can + be used as a {tool} by other software. See {cat}. + +:well-connected: /adj./ Said of a computer installation, + asserts that it has reliable email links with the network and/or + that it relays a large fraction of available {Usenet} + newsgroups. `Well-known' can be almost synonymous, but also + implies that the site's name is familiar to many (due perhaps to an + archive service or active Usenet users). + +:wetware: /wet'weir/ /n./ [prob. from the novels of Rudy + Rucker] 1. The human nervous system, as opposed to computer + hardware or software. "Wetware has 7 plus or minus 2 temporary + registers." 2. Human beings (programmers, operators, + administrators) attached to a computer system, as opposed to the + system's hardware or software. See {liveware}, {meatware}. + +:whack: /v./ According to arch-hacker James Gosling (designer of + {NeWS}, {GOSMACS} and Java), to "...modify a program with no + idea whatsoever how it works." (See {whacker}.) It is actually + possible to do this in nontrivial circumstances if the change is + small and well-defined and you are very good at {glark}ing + things from context. As a trivial example, it is relatively easy + to change all `stderr' writes to `stdout' writes in a + piece of C filter code which remains otherwise mysterious. + +:whacker: /n./ [University of Maryland: from {hacker}] 1. A + person, similar to a {hacker}, who enjoys exploring the details + of programmable systems and how to stretch their capabilities. + Whereas a hacker tends to produce great hacks, a whacker only ends + up whacking the system or program in question. Whackers are often + quite egotistical and eager to claim {wizard} status, regardless + of the views of their peers. 2. A person who is good at + programming quickly, though rather poorly and ineptly. + +:whales: /n./ See {like kicking dead whales down the beach}. + +:whalesong: /n./ The peculiar clicking and whooshing sounds + made by a PEP modem such as the Telebit Trailblazer as it tries to + synchronize with another PEP modem for their special high-speed + mode. This sound isn't anything like the normal two-tone handshake + between conventional V-series modems and is instantly recognizable + to anyone who has heard it more than once. It sounds, in fact, + very much like whale songs. This noise is also called "the moose + call" or "moose tones". + +:What's a spline?: [XEROX PARC] This phrase expands to: "You + have just used a term that I've heard for a year and a half, and I + feel I should know, but don't. My curiosity has finally overcome + my guilt." The PARC lexicon adds "Moral: don't hesitate to ask + questions, even if they seem obvious." + +:wheel: /n./ [from slang `big wheel' for a powerful person] A + person who has an active {wheel bit}. "We need to find a wheel + to unwedge the hung tape drives." (See {wedged}, sense 1.) + The traditional name of security group zero in {BSD} (to which + the major system-internal users like {root} belong) is + `wheel'. Some vendors have expanded on this usage, modifying + Unix so that only members of group `wheel' can {go root}. + +:wheel bit: /n./ A privilege bit that allows the possessor to + perform some restricted operation on a timesharing system, such as + read or write any file on the system regardless of protections, + change or look at any address in the running monitor, crash or + reload the system, and kill or create jobs and user accounts. The + term was invented on the TENEX operating system, and carried over + to TOPS-20, XEROX-IFS, and others. The state of being in a + privileged logon is sometimes called `wheel mode'. This term + entered the Unix culture from TWENEX in the mid-1980s and has been + gaining popularity there (esp. at university sites). See also + {root}. + +:wheel wars: /n./ [Stanford University] A period in {larval + stage} during which student hackers hassle each other by attempting + to log each other out of the system, delete each other's files, and + otherwise wreak havoc, usually at the expense of the lesser users. + +:White Book: /n./ 1. Syn. {K&R}. 2. Adobe's fourth book in + the PostScript series, describing the previously-secret format of + Type 1 fonts; "Adobe Type 1 Font Format, version 1.1", + (Addison-Wesley, 1990, ISBN 0-201-57044-0). See also {Red Book}, + {Green Book}, {Blue Book}. + +:whizzy: /adj./ (alt. `wizzy') [Sun] Describes a {cuspy} + program; one that is feature-rich and well presented. + +:wibble: [UK] 1. /n.,v./ Commonly used to describe chatter, + content-free remarks or other essentially meaningless contributions + to threads in newsgroups. "Oh, rspence is wibbling again". + Compare {humma}. 2. One of the preferred {metasyntactic + variable}s in the UK, forming a series with `wobble', + `wubble', and `flob' (attributed to the hilarious + historical comedy "Blackadder"). + +:WIBNI: // /n./ [Bell Labs: Wouldn't It Be Nice If] What most + requirements documents and specifications consist entirely of. + Compare {IWBNI}. + +:widget: /n./ 1. A meta-thing. Used to stand for a real object + in didactic examples (especially database tutorials). Legend has + it that the original widgets were holders for buggy whips. "But + suppose the parts list for a widget has 52 entries...." + 2. [poss. evoking `window gadget'] A user interface object in + {X} graphical user interfaces. + +:wiggles: /n./ [scientific computation] In solving partial + differential equations by finite difference and similar methods, + wiggles are sawtooth (up-down-up-down) oscillations at the shortest + wavelength representable on the grid. If an algorithm is unstable, + this is often the most unstable waveform, so it grows to dominate + the solution. Alternatively, stable (though inaccurate) wiggles + can be generated near a discontinuity by a Gibbs phenomenon. + +:WIMP environment: /n./ [acronym: `Window, Icon, Menu, Pointing + device (or Pull-down menu)'] A graphical-user-interface environment + such as {X} or the Macintosh interface, esp. as described by a + hacker who prefers command-line interfaces for their superior + flexibility and extensibility. However, it is also used without + negative connotations; one must pay attention to voice tone and + other signals to interpret correctly. See {menuitis}, + {user-obsequious}. + +:win: [MIT] 1. /vi./ To succeed. A program wins if no + unexpected conditions arise, or (especially) if it sufficiently + {robust} to take exceptions in stride. 2. /n./ Success, or a + specific instance thereof. A pleasing outcome. "So it turned out + I could use a {lexer} generator instead of hand-coding my own + pattern recognizer. What a win!" Emphatic forms: `moby win', + `super win', `hyper-win' (often used interjectively as a + reply). For some reason `suitable win' is also common at MIT, + usually in reference to a satisfactory solution to a problem. + Oppose {lose}; see also {big win}, which isn't quite just an + intensification of `win'. + +:win big: /vi./ To experience serendipity. "I went shopping + and won big; there was a 2-for-1 sale." See {big win}. + +:win win: /excl./ Expresses pleasure at a {win}. + +:Winchester:: /n./ Informal generic term for sealed-enclosure + magnetic-disk drives in which the read-write head planes over the + disk surface on an air cushion. There is a legend that the name + arose because the original 1973 engineering prototype for what + later became the IBM 3340 featured two 30-megabyte volumes; 30--30 + became `Winchester' when somebody noticed the similarity to the + common term for a famous Winchester rifle (in the latter, the first + 30 referred to caliber and the second to the grain weight of the + charge). Others claim, however, that Winchester was simply the + laboratory in which the technology was developed. + +:windoid: /n./ In the Macintosh world, a style of window with + much less adornment (smaller or missing title bar, zoom box, etc, + etc) than a standard window. + +:window shopping: /n./ [US Geological Survey] Among users of + {WIMP environment}s like {X} or the Macintosh, extended + experimentation with new window colors, fonts, and icon shapes. + This activity can take up hours of what might otherwise have been + productive working time. "I spent the afternoon window shopping + until I found the coolest shade of green for my active window + borders -- now they perfectly match my medium slate blue + background." Serious window shoppers will spend their days with + bitmap editors, creating new and different icons and background + patterns for all to see. Also: `window dressing', the act of + applying new fonts, colors, etc. See {fritterware}, compare + {macdink}. + +:Windoze: /win'dohz/ /n./ See {Microsloth Windows}. + +:winged comments: /n./ Comments set on the same line as code, + as opposed to {boxed comments}. In C, for example: + + d = sqrt(x*x + y*y); /* distance from origin */ + + Generally these refer only to the action(s) taken on that line. + +:winkey: /n./ (alt. `winkey face') See {emoticon}. + +:winnage: /win'*j/ /n./ The situation when a lossage is + corrected, or when something is winning. + +:winner: 1. /n./ An unexpectedly good situation, program, + programmer, or person. 2. `real winner': Often sarcastic, but + also used as high praise (see also the note under {user}). + "He's a real winner -- never reports a bug till he can duplicate + it and send in an example." + +:winnitude: /win'*-t[y]ood/ /n./ The quality of winning (as + opposed to {winnage}, which is the result of winning). "Guess + what? They tweaked the microcode and now the LISP interpreter runs + twice as fast as it used to." "That's really great! Boy, what + winnitude!" "Yup. I'll probably get a half-hour's winnage on the + next run of my program." Perhaps curiously, the obvious antonym + `lossitude' is rare. + +:wired: /n./ See {hardwired}. + +:wirehead: /wi:r'hed/ /n./ [prob. from SF slang for an + electrical-brain-stimulation addict] 1. A hardware hacker, + especially one who concentrates on communications hardware. 2. An + expert in local-area networks. A wirehead can be a network + software wizard too, but will always have the ability to deal with + network hardware, down to the smallest component. Wireheads are + known for their ability to lash up an Ethernet terminator from + spare resistors, for example. + +:wirewater: /n./ Syn. {programming fluid}. This melds the + mainstream slang adjective `wired' (stimulated, up, hyperactive) + with `firewater'; however, it refers to caffeinacious rather than + alcoholic beverages. + +:wish list: /n./ A list of desired features or bug fixes that + probably won't get done for a long time, usually because the person + responsible for the code is too busy or can't think of a clean way + to do it. "OK, I'll add automatic filename completion to the wish + list for the new interface." Compare {tick-list features}. + +:within delta of: /adj./ See {delta}. + +:within epsilon of: /adj./ See {epsilon}. + +:wizard: /n./ 1. A person who knows how a complex piece of + software or hardware works (that is, who {grok}s it); esp. + someone who can find and fix bugs quickly in an emergency. Someone + is a {hacker} if he or she has general hacking ability, but is a + wizard with respect to something only if he or she has specific + detailed knowledge of that thing. A good hacker could become a + wizard for something given the time to study it. 2. A person who + is permitted to do things forbidden to ordinary people; one who has + {wheel} privileges on a system. 3. A Unix expert, esp. a Unix + systems programmer. This usage is well enough established that + `Unix Wizard' is a recognized job title at some corporations and to + most headhunters. See {guru}, {lord high fixer}. See also + {deep magic}, {heavy wizardry}, {incantation}, {magic}, + {mutter}, {rain dance}, {voodoo programming}, {wave a + dead chicken}. + +:Wizard Book: /n./ "Structure and Interpretation of + Computer Programs" (Hal Abelson, Jerry Sussman and Julie Sussman; + MIT Press, 1984, 1996; ISBN 0-262-01153-0), an excellent computer +science + text used in introductory courses at MIT. So called because of + the wizard on the jacket. One of the {bible}s of the + LISP/Scheme world. Also, less commonly, known as the {Purple + Book}. + +:wizard mode: /n./ [from {rogue}] A special access mode of a + program or system, usually passworded, that permits some users + godlike privileges. Generally not used for operating systems + themselves (`root mode' or `wheel mode' would be used instead). + This term is often used with respect to games that have editable + state. + +:wizardly: /adj./ Pertaining to wizards. A wizardly + {feature} is one that only a wizard could understand or use + properly. + +:wok-on-the-wall: /n./ A small microwave dish antenna used for + cross-campus private network circuits, from the obvious resemblance + between a microwave dish and the Chinese culinary utensil. + +:womb box: /n./ 1. [TMRC] Storage space for equipment. + 2. [proposed] A variety of hard-shell equipment case with heavy + interior padding and/or shaped carrier cutouts in a foam-rubber + matrix; mundanely called a `flight case'. Used for delicate test + equipment, electronics, and musical instruments. + +:WOMBAT: /wom'bat/ /adj./ [acronym: Waste Of Money, + Brains, And Time] Applied to problems which are both profoundly + {uninteresting} in themselves and unlikely to benefit anyone + interesting even if solved. Often used in fanciful constructions + such as `wrestling with a wombat'. See also {crawling + horror}, {SMOP}. Also note the rather different usage as a + metasyntactic variable in {{Commonwealth Hackish}}. + + Users of the PDP-11 database program DATATRIEVE adopted the wombat + as their notional mascot; the program's help file responded to + "HELP WOMBAT" with factual information about Real World + wombats. + +:wonky: /wong'kee/ /adj./ [from Australian slang] Yet another + approximate synonym for {broken}. Specifically connotes a + malfunction that produces behavior seen as crazy, humorous, or + amusingly perverse. "That was the day the printer's font logic + went wonky and everybody's listings came out in Tengwar." Also in + `wonked out'. See {funky}, {demented}, {bozotic}. + +:woofer: /n./ [University of Waterloo] Some varieties of wide + paper for printers have a perforation 8.5 inches from the left + margin that allows the excess on the right-hand side to be torn off + when the print format is 80 columns or less wide. The right-hand + excess may be called `woofer'. This term (like {tweeter}) has + been in use at Waterloo since 1972, but is elsewhere unknown. In + audio jargon, the word refers to the bass speaker(s) on a hi-fi. + +:workaround: /n./ 1. A temporary {kluge} used to bypass, + mask, or otherwise avoid a {bug} or {misfeature} in some + system. Theoretically, workarounds are always replaced by + {fix}es; in practice, customers often find themselves living + with workarounds for long periods of time. "The code died on NUL + characters in the input, so I fixed it to interpret them as + spaces." "That's not a fix, that's a workaround!" 2. A + procedure to be employed by the user in order to do what some + currently non-working feature should do. Hypothetical example: + "Using META-F7 {crash}es the 4.43 build of Weemax, but as a + workaround you can type CTRL-R, then SHIFT-F5, and delete the + remaining {cruft} by hand." + +:working as designed: /adj./ [IBM] 1. In conformance to a wrong + or inappropriate specification; useful, but misdesigned. + 2. Frequently used as a sardonic comment on a program's utility. + 3. Unfortunately also used as a bogus reason for not accepting a + criticism or suggestion. At {IBM}, this sense is used in + official documents! See {BAD}. + +:worm: /n./ [from `tapeworm' in John Brunner's novel + "The Shockwave Rider", via XEROX PARC] A program that + propagates itself over a network, reproducing itself as it goes. + Compare {virus}. Nowadays the term has negative connotations, + as it is assumed that only {cracker}s write worms. Perhaps the + best-known example was Robert T. Morris's `Internet Worm' of 1988, + a `benign' one that got out of control and hogged hundreds of + Suns and VAXen across the U.S. See also {cracker}, {RTM}, + {Trojan horse}, {ice}, and {Great Worm, the}. + +:wormhole: /werm'hohl/ /n./ [from the `wormhole' + singularities hypothesized in some versions of General Relativity + theory] 1. obs. A location in a monitor which contains the + address of a routine, with the specific intent of making it easy to + substitute a different routine. This term is now obsolescent; + modern operating systems use clusters of wormholes extensively (for + modularization of I/O handling in particular, as in the Unix + device-driver organization) but the preferred techspeak for these + clusters is `device tables', `jump tables' or `capability + tables'. 2. [Amateur Packet Radio] A network path using a + commercial satellite link to join two or more amateur VHF networks. + So called because traffic routed through a wormhole leaves and + re-enters the amateur network over great distances with usually + little clue in the message routing header as to how it got from one + relay to the other. Compare {gopher hole} (sense 2). + +:wound around the axle: /adj./ In an infinite loop. Often used + by older computer types. + +:wrap around: /vi./ (also /n./ `wraparound' and /v./ shorthand + `wrap') 1. [techspeak] The action of a counter that starts over + at zero or at `minus infinity' (see {infinity}) after its + maximum value has been reached, and continues incrementing, either + because it is programmed to do so or because of an overflow (as + when a car's odometer starts over at 0). 2. To change {phase} + gradually and continuously by maintaining a steady wake-sleep cycle + somewhat longer than 24 hours, e.g., living six long (28-hour) days + in a week (or, equivalently, sleeping at the rate of 10 + microhertz). This sense is also called {phase-wrapping}. + +:write-only code: /n./ [a play on `read-only memory'] Code + so arcane, complex, or ill-structured that it cannot be modified or + even comprehended by anyone but its author, and possibly not even + by him/her. A {Bad Thing}. + +:write-only language: /n./ A language with syntax (or + semantics) sufficiently dense and bizarre that any routine of + significant size is automatically {write-only code}. A + sobriquet applied occasionally to C and often to APL, though + {INTERCAL} and {TECO} certainly deserve it more. + +:write-only memory: /n./ The obvious antonym to `read-only + memory'. Out of frustration with the long and seemingly useless + chain of approvals required of component specifications, during + which no actual checking seemed to occur, an engineer at Signetics + once created a specification for a write-only memory and included + it with a bunch of other specifications to be approved. This + inclusion came to the attention of Signetics {management} only + when regular customers started calling and asking for pricing + information. Signetics published a corrected edition of the data + book and requested the return of the `erroneous' ones. Later, + around 1974, Signetics bought a double-page spread in + "Electronics" magazine's April issue and used the spec as an + April Fools' Day joke. Instead of the more conventional + characteristic curves, the 25120 "fully encoded, 9046 x N, Random + Access, write-only-memory" data sheet included diagrams of "bit + capacity vs. Temp.", "Iff vs. Vff", "Number of pins remaining + vs. number of socket insertions", and "AQL vs. selling + price". The 25120 required a 6.3 VAC VFF supply, a +10V VCC, and + VDD of 0V, +/- 2%. + +:Wrong Thing: /n./ A design, action, or decision that is + clearly incorrect or inappropriate. Often capitalized; always + emphasized in speech as if capitalized. The opposite of the + {Right Thing}; more generally, anything that is not the Right + Thing. In cases where `the good is the enemy of the best', the + merely good -- although good -- is nevertheless the Wrong + Thing. "In C, the default is for module-level declarations to be + visible everywhere, rather than just within the module. This is + clearly the Wrong Thing." + +:wugga wugga: /wuh'g* wuh'g*/ /n./ Imaginary sound that a + computer program makes as it labors with a tedious or difficult + task. Compare {cruncha cruncha cruncha}, {grind} (sense 4). + +:wumpus: /wuhm'p*s/ /n./ The central monster (and, in many + versions, the name) of a famous family of very early computer games + called "Hunt The Wumpus", dating back at least to 1972 (several + years before {ADVENT}) on the Dartmouth Time-Sharing System. + The wumpus lived somewhere in a cave with the topology of an + dodecahedron's edge/vertex graph (later versions supported other + topologies, including an icosahedron and M"obius strip). The + player started somewhere at random in the cave with five `crooked + arrows'; these could be shot through up to three connected rooms, + and would kill the wumpus on a hit (later versions introduced the + wounded wumpus, which got very angry). Unfortunately for players, + the movement necessary to map the maze was made hazardous not + merely by the wumpus (which would eat you if you stepped on him) + but also by bottomless pits and colonies of super bats that would + pick you up and drop you at a random location (later versions added + `anaerobic termites' that ate arrows, bat migrations, and + earthquakes that randomly changed pit locations). + + This game appears to have been the first to use a non-random + graph-structured map (as opposed to a rectangular grid like the + even older Star Trek games). In this respect, as in the + dungeon-like setting and its terse, amusing messages, it prefigured + {ADVENT} and {Zork} and was directly ancestral to the latter + (Zork acknowledged this heritage by including a super-bat colony). + Today, a port is distributed with SunOS and as freeware for the + Mac. A C emulation of the original Basic game is available at the + Retrocomputing Museum, http://www.ccil.org/retro. + +:WYSIAYG: /wiz'ee-ayg/ /adj./ Describes a user interface + under which "What You See Is *All* You Get"; an unhappy + variant of {WYSIWYG}. Visual, `point-and-shoot'-style + interfaces tend to have easy initial learning curves, but also to + lack depth; they often frustrate advanced users who would be better + served by a command-style interface. When this happens, the + frustrated user has a WYSIAYG problem. This term is most often + used of editors, word processors, and document formatting programs. + WYSIWYG `desktop publishing' programs, for example, are a clear + win for creating small documents with lots of fonts and graphics in + them, especially things like newsletters and presentation slides. + When typesetting book-length manuscripts, on the other hand, scale + changes the nature of the task; one quickly runs into WYSIAYG + limitations, and the increased power and flexibility of a + command-driven formatter like {{TeX}} or Unix's {{troff}} + becomes not just desirable but a necessity. Compare {YAFIYGI}. + +:WYSIWYG: /wiz'ee-wig/ /adj./ Describes a user interface + under which "What You See Is What You Get", as opposed to one + that uses more-or-less obscure commands that do not result in + immediate visual feedback. True WYSIWYG in environments supporting + multiple fonts or graphics is a a rarely-attained ideal; there are + variants of this term to express real-world manifestations + including WYSIAWYG (What You See Is *Almost* What You Get) and + WYSIMOLWYG (What You See Is More or Less What You Get). All these + can be mildly derogatory, as they are often used to refer to + dumbed-down {user-friendly} interfaces targeted at + non-programmers; a hacker has no fear of obscure commands (compare + {WYSIAYG}). On the other hand, {EMACS} was one of the very + first WYSIWYG editors, replacing (actually, at first overlaying) + the extremely obscure, command-based {TECO}. See also {WIMP + environment}. [Oddly enough, WYSIWYG has already made it into the + OED, in lower case yet. --ESR] + += X = +===== + +:X: /X/ /n./ 1. Used in various speech and writing contexts + (also in lowercase) in roughly its algebraic sense of `unknown + within a set defined by context' (compare {N}). Thus, the + abbreviation 680x0 stands for 68000, 68010, 68020, 68030, or 68040, + and 80x86 stands for 80186, 80286 80386 or 80486 (note that a Unix + hacker might write these as 680[0-4]0 and 80[1-4]86 or 680?0 and + 80?86 respectively; see {glob}). 2. [after the name of an + earlier window system called `W'] An over-sized, over-featured, + over-engineered and incredibly over-complicated window system + developed at MIT and widely used on Unix systems. + +:XEROX PARC: /zee'roks park'/ /n./ The famed Palo Alto + Research Center. For more than a decade, from the early 1970s into + the mid-1980s, PARC yielded an astonishing volume of groundbreaking + hardware and software innovations. The modern mice, windows, and + icons style of software interface was invented there. So was the + laser printer and the local-area network; and PARC's series of D + machines anticipated the powerful personal computers of the 1980s + by a decade. Sadly, the prophets at PARC were without honor in + their own company, so much so that it became a standard joke to + describe PARC as a place that specialized in developing brilliant + ideas for everyone else. + + The stunning shortsightedness and obtusity of XEROX's top-level + {suit}s has been well anatomized in "Fumbling The Future: + How XEROX Invented, Then Ignored, the First Personal Computer" by + Douglas K. Smith and Robert C. Alexander (William Morrow & Co., + 1988, ISBN 0-688-09511-9). + +:XOFF: /X-of/ /n./ Syn. {control-S}. + +:XON: /X-on/ /n./ Syn. {control-Q}. + +:xor: /X'or/, /kzor/ /conj./ Exclusive or. `A xor B' means + `A or B, but not both'. "I want to get cherry pie xor a banana + split." This derives from the technical use of the term as a + function on truth-values that is true if exactly one of its two + arguments is true. + +:xref: /X'ref/ /v.,n./ Hackish standard abbreviation for + `cross-reference'. + +:XXX: /X-X-X/ /n./ A marker that attention is needed. + Commonly used in program comments to indicate areas that are kluged + up or need to be. Some hackers liken `XXX' to the notional + heavy-porn movie rating. Compare {FIXME}. + +:xyzzy: /X-Y-Z-Z-Y/, /X-Y-ziz'ee/, /ziz'ee/, or /ik-ziz'ee/ + /adj./ [from the ADVENT game] The {canonical} `magic + word'. This comes from {ADVENT}, in which the idea is to + explore an underground cave with many rooms and to collect the + treasures you find there. If you type `xyzzy' at the appropriate + time, you can move instantly between two otherwise distant points. + If, therefore, you encounter some bit of {magic}, you might + remark on this quite succinctly by saying simply "Xyzzy!" + "Ordinarily you can't look at someone else's screen if he has + protected it, but if you type quadruple-bucky-clear the system will + let you do it anyway." "Xyzzy!" + + Xyzzy has actually been implemented as an undocumented no-op + command on several OSes; in Data General's AOS/VS, for example, it + would typically respond "Nothing happens", just as {ADVENT} + did if the magic was invoked at the wrong spot or before a player + had performed the action that enabled the word. In more recent + 32-bit versions, by the way, AOS/VS responds "Twice as much + happens". + + The popular `minesweeper' game under Microsoft Windows has a + cheat mode triggered by the command `xyzzy<enter><right-shift>' + that turns the top-left pixel of the screen different colors + depending on whether or not the cursor is over a bomb. + += Y = +===== + +:YA-: /abbrev./ [Yet Another] In hackish acronyms this almost + invariably expands to {Yet Another}, following the precedent set + by Unix `yacc(1)' (Yet Another Compiler-Compiler). See + {YABA}. + +:YABA: /ya'b*/ /n./ [Cambridge] Yet Another Bloody Acronym. + Whenever some program is being named, someone invariably suggests + that it be given a name that is acronymic. The response from those + with a trace of originality is to remark ironically that the + proposed name would then be `YABA-compatible'. Also used in + response to questions like "What is WYSIWYG?" See also + {TLA}. + +:YAFIYGI: /yaf'ee-y*-gee/ /adj./ [coined in response to + WYSIWYG] Describes the command-oriented ed/vi/nroff/TeX style of + word processing or other user interface, the opposite of + {WYSIWYG}. Stands for "You asked for it, you got it", because + what you actually asked for is often not apparent until long after + it is too late to do anything about it. Used to denote perversity + ("Real Programmers use YAFIYGI tools...and *like* it!") + or, less often, a necessary tradeoff ("Only a YAFIYGI tool can + have full programmable flexibility in its interface."). + + This precise sense of "You asked for it, you got it" seems to + have first appeared in Ed Post's classic parody "Real + Programmers don't use Pascal" (see {Real Programmer}s); the + acronym is a more recent invention. + +:YAUN: /yawn/ /n./ [Acronym for `Yet Another Unix Nerd'] + Reported from the San Diego Computer Society (predominantly a + microcomputer users' group) as a good-natured punning insult aimed + at Unix zealots. + +:Yellow Book: /n./ + The print version of this Jargon + File; "The New Hacker's Dictionary" from MIT Press; The book + includes essentially all the material the File, plus a Foreword by + Guy L. Steele Jr. and a Preface by Eric S. Raymond. Most + importantly, the book version is nicely typeset and includes almost + all of the infamous Crunchly cartoons by the Great Quux, each + attached to an appropriate entry. The first edition (1991, ISBN + 0-262-68069-6) corresponded to the Jargon File version 2.9.6. The + second edition (1993, ISBN 0-262-68079-3) corresponded to the +Jargon + File 3.0.0. The third (1996, ISBN 0-262-68092-0) will correspond + to 4.0.0. + +:yellow wire: /n./ [IBM] Repair wires used when connectors + (especially ribbon connectors) got broken due to some schlemiel + pinching them, or to reconnect cut traces after the FE mistakenly + cut one. Compare {blue wire}, {purple wire}, {red wire}. + +:Yet Another: /adj./ [From Unix's `yacc(1)', `Yet + Another Compiler-Compiler', a LALR parser generator] 1. Of your own + work: A humorous allusion often used in titles to acknowledge that + the topic is not original, though the content is. As in `Yet + Another AI Group' or `Yet Another Simulated Annealing Algorithm'. + 2. Of others' work: Describes something of which there are already + far too many. See also {YA-}, {YABA}, {YAUN}. + +:YKYBHTLW: // /abbrev./ Abbreviation of `You know you've been + hacking too long when...', which became established on the Usenet + group alt.folklore.computers during extended discussion of the + indicated entry in the Jargon File. + +:YMMV: // /cav./ Abbreviation for {Your mileage + may vary} common on Usenet. + +:You are not expected to understand this: [Unix] /cav./ The + canonical comment describing something {magic} or too + complicated to bother explaining properly. From an infamous + comment in the context-switching code of the V6 Unix kernel. + +:You know you've been hacking too long when...: The + set-up line for a genre of one-liners told by hackers about + themselves. These include the following: + + * not only do you check your email more often than your paper + mail, but you remember your {network address} faster than your + postal one. + * your {SO} kisses you on the neck and the first thing you + think is "Uh, oh, {priority interrupt}." + * you go to balance your checkbook and discover that you're + doing it in octal. + * your computers have a higher street value than your car. + * in your universe, `round numbers' are powers of 2, not 10. + * more than once, you have woken up recalling a dream in + some programming language. + * you realize you have never seen half of your best friends. + + [An early version of this entry said "All but one of these + have been reliably reported as hacker traits (some of them quite + often). Even hackers may have trouble spotting the ringer." The + ringer was balancing one's checkbook in octal, which I made up out + of whole cloth. Although more respondents picked that one + out as fiction than any of the others, I also received multiple + independent reports of its actually happening, most famously + to Grace Hopper while she was working with BINAC in 1949. --ESR] + +:Your mileage may vary: /cav./ [from the standard disclaimer + attached to EPA mileage ratings by American car manufacturers] 1. A + ritual warning often found in Unix freeware distributions. + Translates roughly as "Hey, I tried to write this portably, but + who *knows* what'll happen on your system?" 2. More + generally, a qualifier attached to advice. "I find that sending + flowers works well, but your mileage may vary." + +:Yow!: /yow/ /interj./ [from "Zippy the Pinhead" comix] A + favored hacker expression of humorous surprise or emphasis. "Yow! + Check out what happens when you twiddle the foo option on this + display hack!" Compare {gurfle}. + +:yoyo mode: /n./ The state in which the system is said to be + when it rapidly alternates several times between being up and being + down. Interestingly (and perhaps not by coincidence), many + hardware vendors give out free yoyos at Usenix exhibits. + + Sun Microsystems gave out logoized yoyos at SIGPLAN '88. Tourists + staying at one of Atlanta's most respectable hotels were + subsequently treated to the sight of 200 of the country's top + computer scientists testing yo-yo algorithms in the lobby. + +:Yu-Shiang Whole Fish: /yoo-shyang hohl fish/ /n. obs./ The + character gamma (extended SAIL ASCII 0001001), which with a loop in + its tail looks like a little fish swimming down the page. The term + is actually the name of a Chinese dish in which a fish is cooked + whole (not {parse}d) and covered with Yu-Shiang (or Yu-Hsiang) + sauce. Usage: primarily by people on the MIT LISP Machine, which + could display this character on the screen. Tends to elicit + incredulity from people who hear about it second-hand. + += Z = +===== + +:zap: 1. /n./ Spiciness. 2. /vt./ To make food spicy. 3. /vt./ To + make someone `suffer' by making his food spicy. (Most hackers + love spicy food. Hot-and-sour soup is considered wimpy unless it + makes you wipe your nose for the rest of the meal.) See + {zapped}. 4. /vt./ To modify, usually to correct; esp. used + when the action is performed with a debugger or binary patching + tool. Also implies surgical precision. "Zap the debug level to 6 + and run it again." In the IBM mainframe world, binary patches are + applied to programs or to the OS with a program called + `superzap', whose file name is `IMASPZAP' (possibly contrived + from I M A SuPerZAP). 5. /vt./ To erase or reset. 6. To {fry} a + chip with static electricity. "Uh oh -- I think that lightning + strike may have zapped the disk controller." + +:zapped: /adj./ Spicy. This term is used to distinguish + between food that is hot (in temperature) and food that is + *spicy*-hot. For example, the Chinese appetizer Bon Bon + Chicken is a kind of chicken salad that is cold but zapped; by + contrast, {vanilla} wonton soup is hot but not zapped. See also + {{oriental food}}, {laser chicken}. See {zap}, senses 1 and + 2. + +:zen: /vt./ To figure out something by meditation or by a + sudden flash of enlightenment. Originally applied to bugs, but + occasionally applied to problems of life in general. "How'd you + figure out the buffer allocation problem?" "Oh, I zenned it." + Contrast {grok}, which connotes a time-extended version of + zenning a system. Compare {hack mode}. See also {guru}. + +:zero: /vt./ 1. To set to 0. Usually said of small pieces of + data, such as bits or words (esp. in the construction `zero + out'). 2. To erase; to discard all data from. Said of disks and + directories, where `zeroing' need not involve actually writing + zeroes throughout the area being zeroed. One may speak of + something being `logically zeroed' rather than being + `physically zeroed'. See {scribble}. + +:zero-content: /adj./ Syn. {content-free}. + +:Zero-One-Infinity Rule: /prov./ "Allow none of {foo}, + one of {foo}, or any number of {foo}." A rule of thumb for + software design, which instructs one to not place {random} + limits on the number of instances of a given entity (such as: + windows in a window system, letters in an OS's filenames, etc.). + Specifically, one should either disallow the entity entirely, allow + exactly one instance (an "exception"), or allow as many as the + user wants -- address space and memory permitting. + + The logic behind this rule is that there are often situations where + it makes clear sense to allow one of something instead of none. + However, if one decides to go further and allow N (for N > 1), then + why not N+1? And if N+1, then why not N+2, and so on? Once above + 1, there's no excuse not to allow any N; hence, {infinity}. + + Many hackers recall in this connection Isaac Asimov's SF novel + "The Gods Themselves" in which a character announces that the + number 2 is impossible -- if you're going to believe in more than + one universe, you might as well believe in an infinite number of + them. + +:zeroth: /zee'rohth/ /adj./ First. Among software designers, + comes from C's and LISP's 0-based indexing of arrays. Hardware + people also tend to start counting at 0 instead of 1; this is + natural since, e.g., the 256 states of 8 bits correspond to the + binary numbers 0, 1, ..., 255 and the digital devices known as + `counters' count in this way. + + Hackers and computer scientists often like to call the first + chapter of a publication `Chapter 0', especially if it is of an + introductory nature (one of the classic instances was in the First + Edition of {K&R}). In recent years this trait has also been + observed among many pure mathematicians (who have an independent + tradition of numbering from 0). Zero-based numbering tends to + reduce {fencepost error}s, though it cannot eliminate them + entirely. + +:zigamorph: /zig'*-morf/ /n./ 1. Hex FF (11111111) when used + as a delimiter or {fence} character. Usage: primarily at IBM + shops. 2. [proposed] /n./ The Unicode non-character U+FFFF + (1111111111111111), a character code which is not assigned to any + character, and so is usable as end-of-string. (Unicode (a subset + of ISO 10646) is a 16-bit character code intended to cover all of + the world's writing systems, including Roman, Greek, Cyrillic, + Chinese, hiragana, katakana, Devanagari, Ethiopic, Thai, Laotian + and many other languages (support for {elvish} is planned for a + future release). + +:zip: /vt./ [primarily MS-DOS] To create a compressed archive + from a group of files using PKWare's PKZIP or a compatible + archiver. Its use is spreading now that portable implementations + of the algorithm have been written. Commonly used as follows: + "I'll zip it up and send it to you." See {tar and feather}. + +:zipperhead: /n./ [IBM] A person with a closed mind. + +:zombie: /n./ [Unix] A process that has died but has not yet + relinquished its process table slot (because the parent process + hasn't executed a `wait(2)' for it yet). These can be seen in + `ps(1)' listings occasionally. Compare {orphan}. + +:zorch: /zorch/ 1. [TMRC] /v./ To attack with an inverse heat + sink. 2. [TMRC] /v./ To travel, with v approaching c + [that is, with velocity approaching lightspeed --ESR]. 3. [MIT] + /v./ To propel something very quickly. "The new comm software is + very fast; it really zorches files through the network." 4. [MIT] + /n./ Influence. Brownie points. Good karma. The intangible and + fuzzy currency in which favors are measured. "I'd rather not ask + him for that just yet; I think I've used up my quota of zorch with + him for the week." 5. [MIT] /n./ Energy, drive, or ability. "I + think I'll {punt} that change for now; I've been up for 30 hours + and I've run out of zorch." 6. [MIT] /v./ To flunk an exam or + course. + +:Zork: /zork/ /n./ The second of the great early experiments + in computer fantasy gaming; see {ADVENT}. Originally written + on MIT-DM during 1977-1979, later distributed with BSD Unix (as a + patched, sourceless RT-11 FORTRAN binary; see {retrocomputing}) + and commercialized as `The Zork Trilogy' by {Infocom}. The + FORTRAN source was later rewritten for portability and released to + Usenet under the name "Dungeon". Both FORTRAN "Dungeon" and + translated C versions are available at many FTP sites. + +:zorkmid: /zork'mid/ /n./ The canonical unit of currency in + hacker-written games. This originated in {Zork} but has spread + to {nethack} and is referred to in several other games. + += [^A-Za-z] = +============= + +:<bobbit>: /n./ [Usenet: alt.folklore.urban and + elsewhere] Commonly used as a placeholder for omitted text in a + followup message (not copying the whole parent message is + considered good form). Refers, of course, to the celebrated + mutilation of John Bobbitt. + +:4.2: /for' poynt too'/ /n./ Without a prefix, this almost + invariably refers to {BSD} Unix release 4.2. Note that it is an + indication of cluelessness to say "version 4.2", and "release + 4.2" is rare; the number stands on its own, or is used in the more + explicit forms 4.2BSD or (less commonly) BSD 4.2. Similar remarks + apply to "4.3", "4.4" and to earlier, less-widespread releases + 4.1 and 2.9. + +:'Snooze: /snooz/ [FidoNet] /n./ Fidonews, the weekly + official on-line newsletter of FidoNet. As the editorial policy of + Fidonews is "anything that arrives, we print", there are often + large articles completely unrelated to FidoNet, which in turn tend + to elicit {flamage} in subsequent issues. + +:(TM): // [Usenet] ASCII rendition of the + trademark-superscript symbol + appended to phrases that the author feels should be recorded for + posterity, perhaps in future editions of this lexicon. Sometimes + used ironically as a form of protest against the recent spate of + software and algorithm patents and `look and feel' lawsuits. See + also {UN*X}. + +:-oid: /suff./ [from `android'] 1. Used as in mainstream + English to indicate a poor imitation, a counterfeit, or some + otherwise slightly bogus resemblance. Hackers will happily use it + with all sorts of non-Greco/Latin stem words that wouldn't keep + company with it in mainstream English. For example, "He's a + nerdoid" means that he superficially resembles a nerd but can't + make the grade; a `modemoid' might be a 300-baud box (Real Modems + run at 9600 or up); a `computeroid' might be any {bitty box}. + The word `keyboid' could be used to describe a {chiclet + keyboard}, but would have to be written; spoken, it would confuse + the listener as to the speaker's city of origin. 2. More + specifically, an indicator for `resembling an android' which in + the past has been confined to science-fiction fans and hackers. It + too has recently (in 1991) started to go mainstream (most notably + in the term `trendoid' for victims of terminal hipness). This is + probably traceable to the popularization of the term {droid} in + "Star Wars" and its sequels. (See also {windoid}.) + + Coinages in both forms have been common in science fiction for at + least fifty years, and hackers (who are often SF fans) have + probably been making `-oid' jargon for almost that long + [though GLS and I can personally confirm only that they were + already common in the mid-1970s --ESR]. + +:-ware: /suff./ [from `software'] Commonly used to form + jargon terms for classes of software. For examples, see + {careware}, {crippleware}, {crudware}, {freeware}, + {fritterware}, {guiltware}, {liveware}, {meatware}, + {payware}, {psychedelicware}, {shareware}, {shelfware}, + {vaporware}, {wetware}. + +:/dev/null: /dev-nuhl/ /n./ [from the Unix null device, used + as a data sink] A notional `black hole' in any information space + being discussed, used, or referred to. A controversial posting, + for example, might end "Kudos to rasputin@kremlin.org, flames to + /dev/null". See {bit bucket}. + +:0: Numeric zero, as opposed to the letter `O' (the 15th + letter of the English alphabet). In their unmodified forms they + look a lot alike, and various kluges invented to make them visually + distinct have compounded the confusion. If your zero is + center-dotted and letter-O is not, or if letter-O looks almost + rectangular but zero looks more like an American football stood on + end (or the reverse), you're probably looking at a modern character + display (though the dotted zero seems to have originated as an + option on IBM 3270 controllers). If your zero is slashed but + letter-O is not, you're probably looking at an old-style ASCII + graphic set descended from the default typewheel on the venerable + ASR-33 Teletype (Scandinavians, for whom Slashed-O is a letter, + curse this arrangement). If letter-O has a slash across it and the + zero does not, your display is tuned for a very old convention used + at IBM and a few other early mainframe makers (Scandinavians curse + *this* arrangement even more, because it means two of their + letters collide). Some Burroughs/Unisys equipment displays a zero + with a *reversed* slash. And yet another convention common on + early line printers left zero unornamented but added a tail or hook + to the letter-O so that it resembled an inverted Q or cursive + capital letter-O (this was endorsed by a draft ANSI standard for + how to draw ASCII characters, but the final standard changed the + distinguisher to a tick-mark in the upper-left corner). Are we + sufficiently confused yet? + +:1TBS: // /n./ The "One True Brace Style"; see {indent + style}. + +:120 reset: /wuhn-twen'tee ree'set/ /n./ [from 120 volts, + U.S. wall voltage] To cycle power on a machine in order to reset or + unjam it. Compare {Big Red Switch}, {power cycle}. + +:2: /infix./ In translation software written by hackers, infix + 2 often represents the syllable *to* with the connotation + `translate to': as in dvi2ps (DVI to PostScript), int2string + (integer to string), and texi2roff (Texinfo to [nt]roff). + +:@-party: /at'par`tee/ /n./ [from the @-sign in an Internet + address] (alt. `@-sign party' /at'si:n par`tee/) A + semi-closed party thrown for hackers at a science-fiction + convention (esp. the annual World Science Fiction Convention or + "Worldcon"); one must have a {network address} to get in, or + at least be in company with someone who does. One of the most + reliable opportunities for hackers to meet face to face with people + who might otherwise be represented by mere phosphor dots on their + screens. Compare {boink}. + + The first recorded @-party was held at the Westercon (a California + SF convention) over the July 4th weekend in 1980. It is not clear + exactly when the canonical @-party venue shifted to the Worldcon + but it had certainly become established by Constellation in 1983. + +:@Begin: // See {\begin}. + +:\begin: // [from the LaTeX command] With \end, used + humorously in writing to indicate a context or to remark on the + surrounded text. For example: + + \begin{flame} + Predicate logic is the only good programming + language. Anyone who would use anything else + is an idiot. Also, all computers should be + tredecimal instead of binary. + \end{flame} + + The Scribe users at CMU and elsewhere used to use @Begin/@End in + an identical way (LaTeX was built to resemble Scribe). On Usenet, + this construct would more frequently be rendered as `<FLAME + ON>' and `<FLAME OFF>', or `#ifdef FLAME' and `#endif FLAME''. + +:(Lexicon Entries End Here): + +:Hacker Folklore: +***************** + +This appendix contains several legends and fables that illuminate the +meaning of various entries in the lexicon. + +:The Meaning of `Hack': +======================= + +"The word {hack} doesn't really have 69 different meanings", according +to MIT hacker Phil Agre. "In fact, {hack} has only one meaning, an +extremely subtle and profound one which defies articulation. Which +connotation is implied by a given use of the word depends in similarly +profound ways on the context. Similar remarks apply to a couple of +other hacker words, most notably {random}." + +Hacking might be characterized as `an appropriate application of +ingenuity'. Whether the result is a quick-and-dirty patchwork job or +a carefully crafted work of art, you have to admire the cleverness +that went into it. + +An important secondary meaning of {hack} is `a creative practical +joke'. This kind of hack is easier to explain to non-hackers than the +programming kind. Of course, some hacks have both natures; see the +lexicon entries for {pseudo} and {kgbvax}. But here are some examples +of pure practical jokes that illustrate the hacking spirit: + + In 1961, students from Caltech (California Institute of + Technology, in Pasadena) hacked the Rose Bowl football game. One + student posed as a reporter and `interviewed' the director of the + University of Washington card stunts (such stunts involve people + in the stands who hold up colored cards to make pictures). The + reporter learned exactly how the stunts were operated, and also + that the director would be out to dinner later. + + While the director was eating, the students (who called + themselves the `Fiendish Fourteen') picked a lock and stole a + blank direction sheet for the card stunts. They then had a + printer run off 2300 copies of the blank. The next day they + picked the lock again and stole the master plans for the stunts + -- large sheets of graph paper colored in with the stunt + pictures. Using these as a guide, they made new instructions for + three of the stunts on the duplicated blanks. Finally, they + broke in once more, replacing the stolen master plans and + substituting the stack of diddled instruction sheets for the + original set. + + The result was that three of the pictures were totally different. + Instead of `WASHINGTON', the word ``CALTECH' was flashed. Another + stunt showed the word `HUSKIES', the Washington nickname, but + spelled it backwards. And what was supposed to have been a picture of + a husky instead showed a beaver. (Both Caltech and MIT use the beaver + --- nature's engineer -- as a mascot.) + + After the game, the Washington faculty athletic representative + said: "Some thought it ingenious; others were indignant." The + Washington student body president remarked: "No hard feelings, + but at the time it was unbelievable. We were amazed." + +This is now considered a classic hack, particularly because revising +the direction sheets constituted a form of programming. + +Here is another classic hack: + + On November 20, 1982, MIT hacked the Harvard-Yale football game. + Just after Harvard's second touchdown against Yale, in the first + quarter, a small black ball popped up out of the ground at the + 40-yard line, and grew bigger, and bigger, and bigger. The + letters `MIT' appeared all over the ball. As the players and + officials stood around gawking, the ball grew to six feet in + diameter and then burst with a bang and a cloud of white smoke. + + The "Boston Globe" later reported: "If you want to know the + truth, MIT won The Game." + + The prank had taken weeks of careful planning by members of MIT's + Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity. The device consisted of a + weather balloon, a hydraulic ram powered by Freon gas to lift it + out of the ground, and a vacuum-cleaner motor to inflate it. + They made eight separate expeditions to Harvard Stadium between 1 + and 5 A.M., locating an unused 110-volt circuit in the stadium + and running buried wires from the stadium circuit to the 40-yard + line, where they buried the balloon device. When the time came + to activate the device, two fraternity members had merely to flip + a circuit breaker and push a plug into an outlet. + + This stunt had all the earmarks of a perfect hack: surprise, + publicity, the ingenious use of technology, safety, and + harmlessness. The use of manual control allowed the prank to be + timed so as not to disrupt the game (it was set off between + plays, so the outcome of the game would not be unduly affected). + The perpetrators had even thoughtfully attached a note to the + balloon explaining that the device was not dangerous and + contained no explosives. + + Harvard president Derek Bok commented: "They have an awful lot of + clever people down there at MIT, and they did it again." + President Paul E. Gray of MIT said: "There is absolutely no truth + to the rumor that I had anything to do with it, but I wish there + were." + +The hacks above are verifiable history; they can be proved to have +happened. Many other classic-hack stories from MIT and elsewhere, +though retold as history, have the characteristics of what Jan +Brunvand has called `urban folklore' (see {FOAF}). Perhaps the best +known of these is the legend of the infamous trolley-car hack, an +alleged incident in which engineering students are said to have welded +a trolley car to its tracks with thermite. Numerous versions of this +have been recorded from the 1940s to the present, most set at MIT but +at least one very detailed version set at CMU. + +Brian Leibowitz has researched MIT hacks both real and mythical +extensively; the interested reader is referred to his delightful +pictorial compendium "The Journal of the Institute for Hacks, +Tomfoolery, and Pranks" (MIT Museum, 1990; ISBN 0-917027-03-5). The +Institute has a World Wide Web page at +http://fishwrap.mit.edu/Hacks/Gallery.html. + +Finally, here is a story about one of the classic computer hacks. + + Back in the mid-1970s, several of the system support staff at + Motorola discovered a relatively simple way to crack system + security on the Xerox CP-V timesharing system. Through a simple + programming strategy, it was possible for a user program to trick + the system into running a portion of the program in `master mode' + (supervisor state), in which memory protection does not apply. + The program could then poke a large value into its `privilege + level' byte (normally write-protected) and could then proceed to + bypass all levels of security within the file-management system, + patch the system monitor, and do numerous other interesting + things. In short, the barn door was wide open. + + Motorola quite properly reported this problem to Xerox via an + official `level 1 SIDR' (a bug report with an intended urgency of + `needs to be fixed yesterday'). Because the text of each SIDR + was entered into a database that could be viewed by quite a + number of people, Motorola followed the approved procedure: they + simply reported the problem as `Security SIDR', and attached all + of the necessary documentation, ways-to-reproduce, etc. + + The CP-V people at Xerox sat on their thumbs; they either didn't + realize the severity of the problem, or didn't assign the + necessary operating-system-staff resources to develop and + distribute an official patch. + + Months passed. The Motorola guys pestered their Xerox + field-support rep, to no avail. Finally they decided to take + direct action, to demonstrate to Xerox management just how easily + the system could be cracked and just how thoroughly the security + safeguards could be subverted. + + They dug around in the operating-system listings and devised a + thoroughly devilish set of patches. These patches were then + incorporated into a pair of programs called `Robin Hood' and + `Friar Tuck'. Robin Hood and Friar Tuck were designed to run as + `ghost jobs' (daemons, in Unix terminology); they would use the + existing loophole to subvert system security, install the + necessary patches, and then keep an eye on one another's statuses + in order to keep the system operator (in effect, the superuser) + from aborting them. + + One fine day, the system operator on the main CP-V software + development system in El Segundo was surprised by a number of + unusual phenomena. These included the following: + + * Tape drives would rewind and dismount their tapes in the + middle of a job. + * Disk drives would seek back and forth so rapidly that they + would attempt to walk across the floor (see {walking + drives}). + * The card-punch output device would occasionally start up of + itself and punch a {lace card}. These would usually jam in + the punch. + * The console would print snide and insulting messages from + Robin Hood to Friar Tuck, or vice versa. + * The Xerox card reader had two output stackers; it could be + instructed to stack into A, stack into B, or stack into A + (unless a card was unreadable, in which case the bad card + was placed into stacker B). One of the patches installed by + the ghosts added some code to the card-reader + driver... after reading a card, it would flip over to the + opposite stacker. As a result, card decks would divide + themselves in half when they were read, leaving the operator + to recollate them manually. + + Naturally, the operator called in the operating-system + developers. They found the bandit ghost jobs running, and + {gun}ned them... and were once again surprised. When Robin Hood + was gunned, the following sequence of events took place: + + !X id1 + + id1: Friar Tuck... I am under attack! Pray save me! + id1: Off (aborted) + + id2: Fear not, friend Robin! I shall rout the Sheriff + of Nottingham's men! + + id1: Thank you, my good fellow! + + Each ghost-job would detect the fact that the other had been + killed, and would start a new copy of the recently slain program + within a few milliseconds. The only way to kill both ghosts was + to kill them simultaneously (very difficult) or to deliberately + crash the system. + + Finally, the system programmers did the latter -- only to find + that the bandits appeared once again when the system rebooted! + It turned out that these two programs had patched the boot-time + OS image (the kernel file, in Unix terms) and had added + themselves to the list of programs that were to be started at + boot time (this is similar to the way MS-DOS viruses propagate). + + The Robin Hood and Friar Tuck ghosts were finally eradicated when + the system staff rebooted the system from a clean boot-tape and + reinstalled the monitor. Not long thereafter, Xerox released a + patch for this problem. + + It is alleged that Xerox filed a complaint with Motorola's + management about the merry-prankster actions of the two employees + in question. It is not recorded that any serious disciplinary + action was taken against either of them. + +:TV Typewriters: A Tale of Hackish Ingenuity +============================================ + +Here is a true story about a glass tty: One day an MIT hacker was in a +motorcycle accident and broke his leg. He had to stay in the hospital +quite a while, and got restless because he couldn't {hack}. Two of +his friends therefore took a terminal and a modem for it to the +hospital, so that he could use the computer by telephone from his +hospital bed. + +Now this happened some years before the spread of home computers, and +computer terminals were not a familiar sight to the average person. +When the two friends got to the hospital, a guard stopped them and +asked what they were carrying. They explained that they wanted to +take a computer terminal to their friend who was a patient. + +The guard got out his list of things that patients were permitted to +have in their rooms: TV, radio, electric razor, typewriter, tape +player, ... no computer terminals. Computer terminals weren't on the +list, so the guard wouldn't let it in. Rules are rules, you know. +(This guard was clearly a {droid}.) + +Fair enough, said the two friends, and they left again. They were +frustrated, of course, because they knew that the terminal was as +harmless as a TV or anything else on the list... which gave them an +idea. + +The next day they returned, and the same thing happened: a guard +stopped them and asked what they were carrying. They said: "This is a +TV typewriter!" The guard was skeptical, so they plugged it in and +demonstrated it. "See? You just type on the keyboard and what you +type shows up on the TV screen." Now the guard didn't stop to think +about how utterly useless a typewriter would be that didn't produce +any paper copies of what you typed; but this was clearly a TV +typewriter, no doubt about it. So he checked his list: "A TV is all +right, a typewriter is all right ... okay, take it on in!" + +[Historical note: Many years ago, "Popular Electronics" published +solder-it-yourself plans for a TV typewriter. Despite the essential +uselessness of the device, it was an enormously popular project. +Steve Ciarcia, the man behind "Byte" magazine's "Circuit Cellar" +feature, resurrected this ghost in one of his books of the early +1980s. He ascribed its popularity (no doubt correctly) to the feeling +of power the builder could achieve by being able to decide himself +what would be shown on the TV. --ESR] + +[Antihistorical note: On September 23rd, 1992, the L.A. Times ran the +following bit of filler: + + Solomon Waters of Altadena, a 6-year-old first-grader, came home + from his first day of school and excitedly told his mother how he + had written on "a machine that looks like a computer -- but + without the TV screen." She asked him if it could have been a + "typewriter." "Yeah! Yeah!" he said. "That's what it was + called." + +I have since investigated this matter and determined that many of +today's teenagers have never seen a slide rule, either.... -- ESR] + +:A Story About `Magic': +======================= + +Some years ago, I (GLS) was snooping around in the cabinets that +housed the MIT AI Lab's PDP-10, and noticed a little switch glued to +the frame of one cabinet. It was obviously a homebrew job, added by +one of the lab's hardware hackers (no one knows who). + +You don't touch an unknown switch on a computer without knowing what +it does, because you might crash the computer. The switch was labeled +in a most unhelpful way. It had two positions, and scrawled in pencil +on the metal switch body were the words `magic' and `more magic'. The +switch was in the `more magic' position. + +I called another hacker over to look at it. He had never seen the +switch before either. Closer examination revealed that the switch had +only one wire running to it! The other end of the wire did disappear +into the maze of wires inside the computer, but it's a basic fact of +electricity that a switch can't do anything unless there are two wires +connected to it. This switch had a wire connected on one side and no +wire on its other side. + +It was clear that this switch was someone's idea of a silly joke. +Convinced by our reasoning that the switch was inoperative, we flipped +it. The computer instantly crashed. + +Imagine our utter astonishment. We wrote it off as coincidence, but +nevertheless restored the switch to the `more magic' position before +reviving the computer. + +A year later, I told this story to yet another hacker, David Moon as I +recall. He clearly doubted my sanity, or suspected me of a +supernatural belief in the power of this switch, or perhaps thought I +was fooling him with a bogus saga. To prove it to him, I showed him +the very switch, still glued to the cabinet frame with only one wire +connected to it, still in the `more magic' position. We scrutinized +the switch and its lone connection, and found that the other end of +the wire, though connected to the computer wiring, was connected to a +ground pin. That clearly made the switch doubly useless: not only was +it electrically nonoperative, but it was connected to a place that +couldn't affect anything anyway. So we flipped the switch. + +The computer promptly crashed. + +This time we ran for Richard Greenblatt, a long-time MIT hacker, who +was close at hand. He had never noticed the switch before, either. +He inspected it, concluded it was useless, got some diagonal cutters +and {dike}d it out. We then revived the computer and it has run fine +ever since. + +We still don't know how the switch crashed the machine. There is a +theory that some circuit near the ground pin was marginal, and +flipping the switch changed the electrical capacitance enough to upset +the circuit as millionth-of-a-second pulses went through it. But +we'll never know for sure; all we can really say is that the switch +was {magic}. + +I still have that switch in my basement. Maybe I'm silly, but I +usually keep it set on `more magic'. + +1994: Another explanation of this story has since been offered. Note +that the switch body was metal. Suppose that the non-connected side +of the switch was connected to the switch body (usually the body is +connected to a separate earth lug, but there are exceptions). The +body is connected to the computer case, which is, presumably, +grounded. Now the circuit ground within the machine isn't necessarily +at the same potential as the case ground, so flipping the switch +connected the circuit ground to the case ground, causing a voltage +drop/jump which reset the machine. This was probably discovered by +someone who found out the hard way that there was a potential +difference between the two, and who then wired in the switch as a +joke. + +:AI Koans: +========== + +These are some of the funniest examples of a genre of jokes told at +the MIT AI Lab about various noted hackers. The original koans were +composed by Danny Hillis. In reading these, it is at least useful to +know that Minsky, Sussman, and Drescher are AI researchers of note, +that Tom Knight was one of the Lisp machine's principal designers, and +that David Moon wrote much of Lisp Machine Lisp. + + * * * + + A novice was trying to fix a broken Lisp machine by turning the +power off and on. + + Knight, seeing what the student was doing, spoke sternly: "You +cannot fix a machine by just power-cycling it with no understanding of +what is going wrong." + + Knight turned the machine off and on. + + The machine worked. + + * * * + + One day a student came to Moon and said: "I understand how to make +a better garbage collector. We must keep a reference count of the +pointers to each cons." + +Moon patiently told the student the following story: + + "One day a student came to Moon and said: `I understand how to + make a better garbage collector... + +[Ed. note: Pure reference-count garbage collectors have problems with +circular structures that point to themselves.] + + * * * + +In the days when Sussman was a novice, Minsky once came to him as he +sat hacking at the PDP-6. + + "What are you doing?", asked Minsky. + + "I am training a randomly wired neural net to play Tic-Tac-Toe" +Sussman replied. + + "Why is the net wired randomly?", asked Minsky. + + "I do not want it to have any preconceptions of how to play", +Sussman said. + + Minsky then shut his eyes. + + "Why do you close your eyes?", Sussman asked his teacher. + + "So that the room will be empty." + + At that moment, Sussman was enlightened. + + * * * + + A disciple of another sect once came to Drescher as he was eating +his morning meal. + + "I would like to give you this personality test", said the +outsider, "because I want you to be happy." + + Drescher took the paper that was offered him and put it into the +toaster, saying: "I wish the toaster to be happy, too." + +:OS and JEDGAR: +=============== + +This story says a lot about the ITS ethos. + +On the ITS system there was a program that allowed you to see what was +being printed on someone else's terminal. It spied on the other guy's +output by examining the insides of the monitor system. The output spy +program was called OS. Throughout the rest of the computer science +(and at IBM too) OS means `operating system', but among old-time ITS +hackers it almost always meant `output spy'. + +OS could work because ITS purposely had very little in the way of +`protection' that prevented one user from trespassing on another's +areas. Fair is fair, however. There was another program that would +automatically notify you if anyone started to spy on your output. It +worked in exactly the same way, by looking at the insides of the +operating system to see if anyone else was looking at the insides that +had to do with your output. This `counterspy' program was called +JEDGAR (a six-letterism pronounced as two syllables: /jed'gr/), in +honor of the former head of the FBI. + +But there's more. JEDGAR would ask the user for `license to kill'. +If the user said yes, then JEDGAR would actually {gun} the job of the +{luser} who was spying. Unfortunately, people found that this made +life too violent, especially when tourists learned about it. One of +the systems hackers solved the problem by replacing JEDGAR with +another program that only pretended to do its job. It took a long +time to do this, because every copy of JEDGAR had to be patched. To +this day no one knows how many people never figured out that JEDGAR +had been defanged. + +Interestingly, there is still a security module named JEDGAR alive as +of late 1994 -- in the Unisys MCP for large systems. It is unknown to +us whether the name is tribute or independent invention. + +:The Story of Mel, a Real Programmer: +===================================== + +This was posted to Usenet by its author, Ed Nather (utastro!nather), +on May 21, 1983. + + A recent article devoted to the *macho* side of programming + made the bald and unvarnished statement: + + Real Programmers write in FORTRAN. + + Maybe they do now, + in this decadent era of + Lite beer, hand calculators, and "user-friendly" software + but back in the Good Old Days, + when the term "software" sounded funny + and Real Computers were made out of drums and vacuum tubes, + Real Programmers wrote in machine code. + Not FORTRAN. Not RATFOR. Not, even, assembly language. + Machine Code. + Raw, unadorned, inscrutable hexadecimal numbers. + Directly. + + Lest a whole new generation of programmers + grow up in ignorance of this glorious past, + I feel duty-bound to describe, + as best I can through the generation gap, + how a Real Programmer wrote code. + I'll call him Mel, + because that was his name. + + I first met Mel when I went to work for Royal McBee Computer Corp., + a now-defunct subsidiary of the typewriter company. + The firm manufactured the LGP-30, + a small, cheap (by the standards of the day) + drum-memory computer, + and had just started to manufacture + the RPC-4000, a much-improved, + bigger, better, faster -- drum-memory computer. + Cores cost too much, + and weren't here to stay, anyway. + (That's why you haven't heard of the company, + or the computer.) + + I had been hired to write a FORTRAN compiler + for this new marvel and Mel was my guide to its wonders. + Mel didn't approve of compilers. + + "If a program can't rewrite its own code", + he asked, "what good is it?" + + Mel had written, + in hexadecimal, + the most popular computer program the company owned. + It ran on the LGP-30 + and played blackjack with potential customers + at computer shows. + Its effect was always dramatic. + The LGP-30 booth was packed at every show, + and the IBM salesmen stood around + talking to each other. + Whether or not this actually sold computers + was a question we never discussed. + + Mel's job was to re-write + the blackjack program for the RPC-4000. + (Port? What does that mean?) + The new computer had a one-plus-one + addressing scheme, + in which each machine instruction, + in addition to the operation code + and the address of the needed operand, + had a second address that indicated where, on the revolving drum, + the next instruction was located. + + In modern parlance, + every single instruction was followed by a GO TO! + Put *that* in Pascal's pipe and smoke it. + + Mel loved the RPC-4000 + because he could optimize his code: + that is, locate instructions on the drum + so that just as one finished its job, + the next would be just arriving at the "read head" + and available for immediate execution. + There was a program to do that job, + an "optimizing assembler", + but Mel refused to use it. + + "You never know where it's going to put things", + he explained, "so you'd have to use separate constants". + + It was a long time before I understood that remark. + Since Mel knew the numerical value + of every operation code, + and assigned his own drum addresses, + every instruction he wrote could also be considered + a numerical constant. + He could pick up an earlier "add" instruction, say, + and multiply by it, + if it had the right numeric value. + His code was not easy for someone else to modify. + + I compared Mel's hand-optimized programs + with the same code massaged by the optimizing assembler program, + and Mel's always ran faster. + That was because the "top-down" method of program design + hadn't been invented yet, + and Mel wouldn't have used it anyway. + He wrote the innermost parts of his program loops first, + so they would get first choice + of the optimum address locations on the drum. + The optimizing assembler wasn't smart enough to do it that way. + + Mel never wrote time-delay loops, either, + even when the balky Flexowriter + required a delay between output characters to work right. + He just located instructions on the drum + so each successive one was just *past* the read head + when it was needed; + the drum had to execute another complete revolution + to find the next instruction. + He coined an unforgettable term for this procedure. + Although "optimum" is an absolute term, + like "unique", it became common verbal practice + to make it relative: + "not quite optimum" or "less optimum" + or "not very optimum". + Mel called the maximum time-delay locations + the "most pessimum". + + After he finished the blackjack program + and got it to run + ("Even the initializer is optimized", + he said proudly), + he got a Change Request from the sales department. + The program used an elegant (optimized) + random number generator + to shuffle the "cards" and deal from the "deck", + and some of the salesmen felt it was too fair, + since sometimes the customers lost. + They wanted Mel to modify the program + so, at the setting of a sense switch on the console, + they could change the odds and let the customer win. + + Mel balked. + He felt this was patently dishonest, + which it was, + and that it impinged on his personal integrity as a programmer, + which it did, + so he refused to do it. + The Head Salesman talked to Mel, + as did the Big Boss and, at the boss's urging, + a few Fellow Programmers. + Mel finally gave in and wrote the code, + but he got the test backwards, + and, when the sense switch was turned on, + the program would cheat, winning every time. + Mel was delighted with this, + claiming his subconscious was uncontrollably ethical, + and adamantly refused to fix it. + + After Mel had left the company for greener pa$ture$, + the Big Boss asked me to look at the code + and see if I could find the test and reverse it. + Somewhat reluctantly, I agreed to look. + Tracking Mel's code was a real adventure. + + I have often felt that programming is an art form, + whose real value can only be appreciated + by another versed in the same arcane art; + there are lovely gems and brilliant coups + hidden from human view and admiration, sometimes forever, + by the very nature of the process. + You can learn a lot about an individual + just by reading through his code, + even in hexadecimal. + Mel was, I think, an unsung genius. + + Perhaps my greatest shock came + when I found an innocent loop that had no test in it. + No test. *None*. + Common sense said it had to be a closed loop, + where the program would circle, forever, endlessly. + Program control passed right through it, however, + and safely out the other side. + It took me two weeks to figure it out. + + The RPC-4000 computer had a really modern facility + called an index register. + It allowed the programmer to write a program loop + that used an indexed instruction inside; + each time through, + the number in the index register + was added to the address of that instruction, + so it would refer + to the next datum in a series. + He had only to increment the index register + each time through. + Mel never used it. + + Instead, he would pull the instruction into a machine register, + add one to its address, + and store it back. + He would then execute the modified instruction + right from the register. + The loop was written so this additional execution time + was taken into account --- + just as this instruction finished, + the next one was right under the drum's read head, + ready to go. + But the loop had no test in it. + + The vital clue came when I noticed + the index register bit, + the bit that lay between the address + and the operation code in the instruction word, + was turned on --- + yet Mel never used the index register, + leaving it zero all the time. + When the light went on it nearly blinded me. + + He had located the data he was working on + near the top of memory --- + the largest locations the instructions could address --- + so, after the last datum was handled, + incrementing the instruction address + would make it overflow. + The carry would add one to the + operation code, changing it to the next one in the instruction set: + a jump instruction. + Sure enough, the next program instruction was + in address location zero, + and the program went happily on its way. + + I haven't kept in touch with Mel, + so I don't know if he ever gave in to the flood of + change that has washed over programming techniques + since those long-gone days. + I like to think he didn't. + In any event, + I was impressed enough that I quit looking for the + offending test, + telling the Big Boss I couldn't find it. + He didn't seem surprised. + + When I left the company, + the blackjack program would still cheat + if you turned on the right sense switch, + and I think that's how it should be. + I didn't feel comfortable + hacking up the code of a Real Programmer. + +This is one of hackerdom's great heroic epics, free verse or no. In a +few spare images it captures more about the esthetics and psychology +of hacking than all the scholarly volumes on the subject put together. +For an opposing point of view, see the entry for {Real Programmer}. + +[1992 postscript -- the author writes: "The original submission to the +net was not in free verse, nor any approximation to it -- it was +straight prose style, in non-justified paragraphs. In bouncing around +the net it apparently got modified into the `free verse' form now +popular. In other words, it got hacked on the net. That seems +appropriate, somehow." The author adds that he likes the `free-verse' +version better...] + +:A Portrait of J. Random Hacker: +******************************** + +This profile reflects detailed comments on an earlier `trial balloon' +version from about a hundred Usenet respondents. Where comparatives +are used, the implicit `other' is a randomly selected segment of the +non-hacker population of the same size as hackerdom. + +An important point: Except in some relatively minor respects such as +slang vocabulary, hackers don't get to be the way they are by +imitating each other. Rather, it seems to be the case that the +combination of personality traits that makes a hacker so conditions +one's outlook on life that one tends to end up being like other +hackers whether one wants to or not (much as bizarrely detailed +similarities in behavior and preferences are found in genetic twins +raised separately). + +:General Appearance: +==================== + +Intelligent. Scruffy. Intense. Abstracted. Surprisingly for a +sedentary profession, more hackers run to skinny than fat; both +extremes are more common than elsewhere. Tans are rare. + +:Dress: +======= + +Casual, vaguely post-hippie; T-shirts, jeans, running shoes, +Birkenstocks (or bare feet). Long hair, beards, and moustaches are +common. High incidence of tie-dye and intellectual or humorous +`slogan' T-shirts (only rarely computer related; that would be too +obvious). + +A substantial minority prefers `outdoorsy' clothing -- hiking boots +("in case a mountain should suddenly spring up in the machine room", +as one famous parody put it), khakis, lumberjack or chamois shirts, +and the like. + +Very few actually fit the "National Lampoon" Nerd stereotype, though +it lingers on at MIT and may have been more common before 1975. At +least since the late Seventies backpacks have been more common than +briefcases, and the hacker `look' has been more whole-earth than +whole-polyester. + +Hackers dress for comfort, function, and minimal maintenance hassles +rather than for appearance (some, perhaps unfortunately, take this to +extremes and neglect personal hygiene). They have a very low +tolerance of suits and other `business' attire; in fact, it is not +uncommon for hackers to quit a job rather than conform to a dress +code. + +Female hackers almost never wear visible makeup, and many use none at +all. + +:Reading Habits: +================ + +Omnivorous, but usually includes lots of science and science fiction. +The typical hacker household might subscribe to "Analog", "Scientific +American", "Whole-Earth Review", and "Smithsonian" (most hackers +ignore "Wired" and other self-consciously `cyberpunk' magazines, +considering them {wannabee} fodder). Hackers often have a reading +range that astonishes liberal arts people but tend not to talk about +it as much. Many hackers spend as much of their spare time reading as +the average American burns up watching TV, and often keep shelves and +shelves of well-thumbed books in their homes. + +:Other Interests: +================= + +Some hobbies are widely shared and recognized as going with the +culture: science fiction, music, medievalism (in the active form +practiced by the Society for Creative Anachronism and similar +organizations), chess, go, backgammon, wargames, and intellectual +games of all kinds. (Role-playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons +used to be extremely popular among hackers but they lost a bit of +their luster as they moved into the mainstream and became heavily +commercialized. More recently, "Magic: The Gathering" has been widely +popular among hackers.) Logic puzzles. Ham radio. Other interests +that seem to correlate less strongly but positively with hackerdom +include linguistics and theater teching. + +:Physical Activity and Sports: +============================== + +Many (perhaps even most) hackers don't follow or do sports at all and +are determinedly anti-physical. Among those who do, interest in +spectator sports is low to non-existent; sports are something one +*does*, not something one watches on TV. + +Further, hackers avoid most team sports like the plague. Volleyball +was long a notable exception, perhaps because it's non-contact and +relatively friendly; Ultimate Frisbee has become quite popular for +similar reasons. Hacker sports are almost always primarily +self-competitive ones involving concentration, stamina, and micromotor +skills: martial arts, bicycling, auto racing, kite flying, hiking, +rock climbing, aviation, target-shooting, sailing, caving, juggling, +skiing, skating (ice and roller). Hackers' delight in techno-toys +also tends to draw them towards hobbies with nifty complicated +equipment that they can tinker with. + +:Education: +=========== + +Nearly all hackers past their teens are either college-degreed or +self-educated to an equivalent level. The self-taught hacker is often +considered (at least by other hackers) to be better-motivated, and may +be more respected, than his school-shaped counterpart. Academic areas +from which people often gravitate into hackerdom include (besides the +obvious computer science and electrical engineering) physics, +mathematics, linguistics, and philosophy. + +:Things Hackers Detest and Avoid: +================================= + +IBM mainframes. Smurfs, Ewoks, and other forms of offensive cuteness. +Bureaucracies. Stupid people. Easy listening music. Television +(except for cartoons, movies, and "Star Trek" classic). Business +suits. Dishonesty. Incompetence. Boredom. COBOL. BASIC. +Character-based menu interfaces. + +:Food: +====== + +Ethnic. Spicy. Oriental, esp. Chinese and most esp. Szechuan, Hunan, +and Mandarin (hackers consider Cantonese vaguely d'eclass'e). Hackers +prefer the exotic; for example, the Japanese-food fans among them will +eat with gusto such delicacies as fugu (poisonous pufferfish) and +whale. Thai food has experienced flurries of popularity. Where +available, high-quality Jewish delicatessen food is much esteemed. A +visible minority of Southwestern and Pacific Coast hackers prefers +Mexican. + +For those all-night hacks, pizza and microwaved burritos are big. +Interestingly, though the mainstream culture has tended to think of +hackers as incorrigible junk-food junkies, many have at least mildly +health-foodist attitudes and are fairly discriminating about what they +eat. This may be generational; anecdotal evidence suggests that the +stereotype was more on the mark before the early 1980s. + +:Politics: +========== + +Vaguely liberal-moderate, except for the strong libertarian contingent +which rejects conventional left-right politics entirely. The only +safe generalization is that hackers tend to be rather +anti-authoritarian; thus, both conventional conservatism and `hard' +leftism are rare. Hackers are far more likely than most non-hackers +to either (a) be aggressively apolitical or (b) entertain peculiar or +idiosyncratic political ideas and actually try to live by them +day-to-day. + +:Gender and Ethnicity: +====================== + +Hackerdom is still predominantly male. However, the percentage of +women is clearly higher than the low-single-digit range typical for +technical professions, and female hackers are generally respected and +dealt with as equals. + +In the U.S., hackerdom is predominantly Caucasian with strong +minorities of Jews (East Coast) and Orientals (West Coast). The +Jewish contingent has exerted a particularly pervasive cultural +influence (see {Food}, above, and note that several common jargon +terms are obviously mutated Yiddish). + +The ethnic distribution of hackers is understood by them to be a +function of which ethnic groups tend to seek and value education. +Racial and ethnic prejudice is notably uncommon and tends to be met +with freezing contempt. + +When asked, hackers often ascribe their culture's gender- and +color-blindness to a positive effect of text-only network channels, +and this is doubtless a powerful influence. Also, the ties many +hackers have to AI research and SF literature may have helped them to +develop an idea of personhood that is inclusive rather than exclusive +--- after all, if one's imagination readily grants full human rights +to future AI programs, robots, dolphins, and extraterrestrial aliens, +mere color and gender can't seem very important any more. + +:Religion: +========== + +Agnostic. Atheist. Non-observant Jewish. Neo-pagan. Very commonly, +three or more of these are combined in the same person. Conventional +faith-holding Christianity is rare though not unknown. + +Even hackers who identify with a religious affiliation tend to be +relaxed about it, hostile to organized religion in general and all +forms of religious bigotry in particular. Many enjoy `parody' +religions such as Discordianism and the Church of the SubGenius. + +Also, many hackers are influenced to varying degrees by Zen Buddhism +or (less commonly) Taoism, and blend them easily with their `native' +religions. + +There is a definite strain of mystical, almost Gnostic sensibility +that shows up even among those hackers not actively involved with +neo-paganism, Discordianism, or Zen. Hacker folklore that pays homage +to `wizards' and speaks of incantations and demons has too much +psychological truthfulness about it to be entirely a joke. + +:Ceremonial Chemicals: +====================== + +Most hackers don't smoke tobacco, and use alcohol in moderation if at +all (though there is a visible contingent of exotic-beer fanciers, and +a few hackers are serious oenophiles). Limited use of non-addictive +psychedelic drugs, such as cannabis, LSD, psilocybin, and nitrous +oxide, etc., used to be relatively common and is still regarded with +more tolerance than in the mainstream culture. Use of `downers' and +opiates, on the other hand, appears to be particularly rare; hackers +seem in general to dislike drugs that make them stupid. On the third +hand, many hackers regularly wire up on caffeine and/or sugar for +all-night hacking runs. + +:Communication Style: +===================== + +See the discussions of speech and writing styles near the beginning of +this File. Though hackers often have poor person-to-person +communication skills, they are as a rule quite sensitive to nuances of +language and very precise in their use of it. They are often better +at writing than at speaking. + +:Geographical Distribution: +=========================== + +In the United States, hackerdom revolves on a Bay Area-to-Boston axis; +about half of the hard core seems to live within a hundred miles of +Cambridge (Massachusetts) or Berkeley (California), although there are +significant contingents in Los Angeles, in the Pacific Northwest, and +around Washington DC. Hackers tend to cluster around large cities, +especially `university towns' such as the Raleigh-Durham area in North +Carolina or Princeton, New Jersey (this may simply reflect the fact +that many are students or ex-students living near their alma maters). + +:Sexual Habits: +=============== + +Hackerdom easily tolerates a much wider range of sexual and lifestyle +variation than the mainstream culture. It includes a relatively large +gay and bisexual contingent. Hackers are somewhat more likely to live +in polygynous or polyandrous relationships, practice open marriage, or +live in communes or group houses. In this, as in general appearance, +hackerdom semi-consciously maintains `counterculture' values. + +:Personality Characteristics: +============================= + +The most obvious common `personality' characteristics of hackers are +high intelligence, consuming curiosity, and facility with intellectual +abstractions. Also, most hackers are `neophiles', stimulated by and +appreciative of novelty (especially intellectual novelty). Most are +also relatively individualistic and anti-conformist. + +Although high general intelligence is common among hackers, it is not +the sine qua non one might expect. Another trait is probably even +more important: the ability to mentally absorb, retain, and reference +large amounts of `meaningless' detail, trusting to later experience to +give it context and meaning. A person of merely average analytical +intelligence who has this trait can become an effective hacker, but a +creative genius who lacks it will swiftly find himself outdistanced by +people who routinely upload the contents of thick reference manuals +into their brains. [During the production of the first book version +of this document, for example, I learned most of the rather complex +typesetting language TeX over about four working days, mainly by +inhaling Knuth's 477-page manual. My editor's flabbergasted reaction +to this genuinely surprised me, because years of associating with +hackers have conditioned me to consider such performances routine and +to be expected. --ESR] + +Contrary to stereotype, hackers are *not* usually intellectually +narrow; they tend to be interested in any subject that can provide +mental stimulation, and can often discourse knowledgeably and even +interestingly on any number of obscure subjects -- if you can get them +to talk at all, as opposed to, say, going back to their hacking. + +It is noticeable (and contrary to many outsiders' expectations) that +the better a hacker is at hacking, the more likely he or she is to +have outside interests at which he or she is more than merely +competent. + +Hackers are `control freaks' in a way that has nothing to do with the +usual coercive or authoritarian connotations of the term. In the same +way that children delight in making model trains go forward and back +by moving a switch, hackers love making complicated things like +computers do nifty stuff for them. But it has to be *their* nifty +stuff. They don't like tedium, nondeterminism, or most of the fussy, +boring, ill-defined little tasks that go with maintaining a normal +existence. Accordingly, they tend to be careful and orderly in their +intellectual lives and chaotic elsewhere. Their code will be +beautiful, even if their desks are buried in 3 feet of crap. + +Hackers are generally only very weakly motivated by conventional +rewards such as social approval or money. They tend to be attracted +by challenges and excited by interesting toys, and to judge the +interest of work or other activities in terms of the challenges +offered and the toys they get to play with. + +In terms of Myers-Briggs and equivalent psychometric systems, +hackerdom appears to concentrate the relatively rare INTJ and INTP +types; that is, introverted, intuitive, and thinker types (as opposed +to the extroverted-sensate personalities that predominate in the +mainstream culture). ENT[JP] types are also concentrated among +hackers but are in a minority. + +:Weaknesses of the Hacker Personality: +====================================== + +Hackers have relatively little ability to identify emotionally with +other people. This may be because hackers generally aren't much like +`other people'. Unsurprisingly, hackers also tend towards +self-absorption, intellectual arrogance, and impatience with people +and tasks perceived to be wasting their time. + +As cynical as hackers sometimes wax about the amount of idiocy in the +world, they tend by reflex to assume that everyone is as rational, +`cool', and imaginative as they consider themselves. This bias often +contributes to weakness in communication skills. Hackers tend to be +especially poor at confrontation and negotiation. + +Because of their passionate embrace of (what they consider to be) the +{Right Thing}, hackers can be unfortunately intolerant and bigoted on +technical issues, in marked contrast to their general spirit of +camaraderie and tolerance of alternative viewpoints otherwise. +Old-time {{ITS}} partisans look down on the ever-growing hordes of +{{Unix}} hackers; Unix aficionados despise {VMS} and {{MS-DOS}}; and +hackers who are used to conventional command-line user interfaces +loudly loathe mouse-and-menu based systems such as the Macintosh. +Hackers who don't indulge in {Usenet} consider it a huge waste of time +and {bandwidth}; fans of old adventure games such as {ADVENT} and +{Zork} consider {MUD}s to be glorified chat systems devoid of +atmosphere or interesting puzzles; hackers who are willing to devote +endless hours to Usenet or MUDs consider {IRC} to be a *real* waste of +time; IRCies think MUDs might be okay if there weren't all those silly +puzzles in the way. And, of course, there are the perennial {holy +wars} -- {EMACS} vs. {vi}, {big-endian} vs. {little-endian}, RISC +vs. CISC, etc., etc., etc. As in society at large, the intensity and +duration of these debates is usually inversely proportional to the +number of objective, factual arguments available to buttress any +position. + +As a result of all the above traits, many hackers have difficulty +maintaining stable relationships. At worst, they can produce the +classic {computer geek}: withdrawn, relationally incompetent, sexually +frustrated, and desperately unhappy when not submerged in his or her +craft. Fortunately, this extreme is far less common than mainstream +folklore paints it -- but almost all hackers will recognize something +of themselves in the unflattering paragraphs above. + +Hackers are often monumentally disorganized and sloppy about dealing +with the physical world. Bills don't get paid on time, clutter piles +up to incredible heights in homes and offices, and minor maintenance +tasks get deferred indefinitely. + +1994-95's fad behavioral disease was a syndrome called Attention +Deficit Disorder, supposedly characterized by (among other things) a +combination of short attention span with an ability to `hyperfocus' +imaginatively on interesting tasks. There are grounds for questioning +whether ADD actually exists, and if it does whether it is really a +`disease' rather than an extreme of a normal genetic variation like +having freckles or being able to taste DPT; but it is certainly true +that many hacker traits coincide with major indicators for ADD, and +probably true that ADD boosters would find a far higher rate of +clinical ADD among hackers than the supposedly mainstream-normal 10%. + +The sort of person who routinely uses phrases like `incompletely +socialized' usually thinks hackers are. Hackers regard such people +with contempt when they notice them at all. + +:Miscellaneous: +=============== + +Hackers are more likely to have cats than dogs (in fact, it is widely +grokked that cats have the hacker nature). Many drive incredibly +decrepit heaps and forget to wash them; richer ones drive spiffy +Porsches and RX-7s and then forget to have them washed. Almost all +hackers have terribly bad handwriting, and often fall into the habit +of block-printing everything like junior draftsmen. + +:Helping Hacker Culture Grow: +***************************** +If you enjoyed the Jargon File, please help the culture that created +it grow and flourish. Here are several ways you can help: + +* If you are a writer or journalist, don't say or write +{hacker} when you mean {cracker}. If you work with writers or +journalists, educate them on this issue and push them to do the right +thing. If you catch a newspaper or magazine abusing the work `hacker', +write them and straigten them out (this appendix includes a model +letter). + +* If you're a techie or computer hobbyist, get involved with +one of the free Unixes. Toss out that lame Microsoft OS, or confine +it to one disk partition and put Linux or FreeBSD or NetBSD on the +other one. And the next time your friend or boss is thinking about +some commercial software `solution' that costs more than it's worth, +be ready to blow the competition away with free software running over +a free Unix. + +* Contribute to organizations like the Free Software +Foundation that promote the production of high-quality free software. +You can reach the Free Software Foundation at gnu@prep.ai.mit.edu, by +phone at +1-617-542-5942, or by snail-mail at 59 Temple Place, Suite +330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA. + +* Support the League for Programming Freedom, which opposes +over-broad software patents that constantly threaten to blow up in +hackers' faces, preventing them from developing innovative software +for tomorrow's needs. You can reach the League for Programming +Freedom at lpf@uunet.uu.net. by phone at +1 617 621 7084, or by +snail-mail at 1 Kendall Square #143, P.O.Box 9171, Cambridge, +Massachusetts 02139 USA. + +* If you do nothing else, please help fight government +attempts to seize political control of Internet content and restrict +strong cryptography. As TNHD III went to press, the so-called +`Communications Decency Act' had just been declared "unconstitutional +on its face" by a Federal court, but the government is expected to +appeal. If it's still law when you read this, please join the effort +by the Citizens' Internet Empowerment Coalition lawsuit to have the +CDA quashed or repealed. Surf to the Center for Democracy and +technology's home page at http://www.cdt.org to see what you can do to +help fight censorship of the net. + +Here's the text of a letter RMS wrote to the Wall Street Journal to +complain about their policy of using "hacker" only in a pejorative +sense. We hear that most major newspapers have the same policy. If +you'd like to help change this situation, send your favorite newspaper +the same letter -- or, better yet, write your own letter. + + Dear Editor: + + This letter is not meant for publication, although you can + publish it if you wish. It is meant specifically for you, the + editor, not the public. + + I am a hacker. That is to say, I enjoy playing with computers -- + working with, learning about, and writing clever computer + programs. I am not a cracker; I don't make a practice of + breaking computer security. + + There's nothing shameful about the hacking I do. But when I tell + people I am a hacker, people think I'm admitting something + naughty -- because newspapers such as yours misuse the word + "hacker", giving the impression that it means "security breaker" + and nothing else. You are giving hackers a bad name. + + The saddest thing is that this problem is perpetuated + deliberately. Your reporters know the difference between + "hacker" and "security breaker". They know how to make the + distinction, but you don't let them! You insist on using + "hacker" pejoratively. When reporters try to use another word, + you change it. When reporters try to explain the other meanings, + you cut it. + + Of course, you have a reason. You say that readers have become + used to your insulting usage of "hacker", so that you cannot + change it now. Well, you can't undo past mistakes today; but + that is no excuse to repeat them tomorrow. + + If I were what you call a "hacker", at this point I would + threaten to crack your computer and crash it. But I am a hacker, + not a cracker. I don't do that kind of thing! I have enough + computers to play with at home and at work; I don't need yours. + Besides, it's not my way to respond to insults with violence. My + response is this letter. + + You owe hackers an apology; but more than that, you owe us + ordinary respect. + + Sincerely, etc. + +:Bibliography: +************** + +Here are some other books you can read to help you understand the +hacker mindset. + +:G"odel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid: +Douglas Hofstadter +Basic Books, 1979 +ISBN 0-394-74502-7 + +This book reads like an intellectual Grand Tour of hacker +preoccupations. Music, mathematical logic, programming, speculations +on the nature of intelligence, biology, and Zen are woven into a +brilliant tapestry themed on the concept of encoded self-reference. +The perfect left-brain companion to "Illuminatus". + +:Illuminatus!: + I. "The Eye in the Pyramid" + II. "The Golden Apple" + III. "Leviathan". +Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson +Dell, 1988 +ISBN 0-440-53981-1 + +This work of alleged fiction is an incredible berserko-surrealist +rollercoaster of world-girdling conspiracies, intelligent dolphins, +the fall of Atlantis, who really killed JFK, sex, drugs, rock'n'roll, +and the Cosmic Giggle Factor. First published in three volumes, but +there is now a one-volume trade paperback, carried by most chain +bookstores under SF. The perfect right-brain companion to +Hofstadter's "G"odel, Escher, Bach". See {Eris}, {Discordianism}, +{random numbers}, {Church of the SubGenius}. + +:The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: +Douglas Adams +Pocket Books, 1981 +ISBN 0-671-46149-4 + +This `Monty Python in Space' spoof of SF genre traditions has been +popular among hackers ever since the original British radio show. +Read it if only to learn about Vogons (see {bogon}) and the +significance of the number 42 (see {random numbers}) -- and why the +winningest chess program of 1990 was called `Deep Thought'. + +:The Tao of Programming: +James Geoffrey +Infobooks, 1987 +ISBN 0-931137-07-1 + +This gentle, funny spoof of the "Tao Te Ching" contains much that is +illuminating about the hacker way of thought. "When you have learned +to snatch the error code from the trap frame, it will be time for you +to leave." + +:Hackers: +Steven Levy +Anchor/Doubleday 1984 +ISBN 0-385-19195-2 + +Levy's book is at its best in describing the early MIT hackers at the +Model Railroad Club and the early days of the microcomputer +revolution. He never understood Unix or the networks, though, and his +enshrinement of Richard Stallman as "the last true hacker" turns out +(thankfully) to have been quite misleading. Numerous minor factual +errors also mar the text; for example, Levy's claim that the original +Jargon File derived from the TMRC Dictionary (the File originated at +Stanford and was brought to MIT in 1976; the co-authors of the first +edition had never seen the dictionary in question). There are also +numerous misspellings in the book that inflame the passions of +old-timers; as Dan Murphy, the author of TECO, once said: "You would +have thought he'd take the trouble to spell the name of a winning +editor right." Nevertheless, this remains a useful and stimulating +book that captures the feel of several important hackish subcultures. + +:The Computer Contradictionary: +Stan Kelly-Bootle +MIT Press, 1995 +ISBN 0-262-61112-0 + +This pastiche of Ambrose Bierce's famous work is similar in format to +the Jargon File (and quotes several entries from TNHD-2) but somewhat +different in tone and intent. It is more satirical and less +anthropological, and is largely a product of the author's literate and +quirky imagination. For example, it defines `computer science' as "a +study akin to numerology and astrology, but lacking the precision of +the former and the success of the latter" and `implementation' as "The +fruitless struggle by the talented and underpaid to fulfill promises +made by the rich and ignorant"; `flowchart' becomes "to obfuscate a +problem with esoteric cartoons". Revised and expanded from "The +Devil's DP Dictionary", McGraw-Hill 1981, ISBN 0-07-034022-6. + +:The Devouring Fungus: Tales from the Computer Age: +Karla Jennings +Norton, 1990 +ISBN 0-393-30732-8 + +The author of this pioneering compendium knits together a great deal +of computer- and hacker-related folklore with good writing and a few +well-chosen cartoons. She has a keen eye for the human aspects of the +lore and is very good at illuminating the psychology and evolution of +hackerdom. Unfortunately, a number of small errors and awkwardnesses +suggest that she didn't have the final manuscript checked over by a +native speaker; the glossary in the back is particularly embarrassing, +and at least one classic tale (the Magic Switch story, retold here +under {A Story About `Magic'} in Appendix A is given in incomplete and +badly mangled form. Nevertheless, this book is a win overall and can +be enjoyed by hacker and non-hacker alike. + +:The Soul of a New Machine: +Tracy Kidder +Little, Brown, 1981 +(paperback: Avon, 1982 +ISBN 0-380-59931-7) + +This book (a 1982 Pulitzer Prize winner) documents the adventure of +the design of a new Data General computer, the MV-8000 Eagle. It is +an amazingly well-done portrait of the hacker mindset -- although +largely the hardware hacker -- done by a complete outsider. It is a +bit thin in spots, but with enough technical information to be +entertaining to the serious hacker while providing non-technical +people a view of what day-to-day life can be like -- the fun, the +excitement, the disasters. During one period, when the microcode and +logic were glitching at the nanosecond level, one of the overworked +engineers departed the company, leaving behind a note on his terminal +as his letter of resignation: "I am going to a commune in Vermont and +will deal with no unit of time shorter than a season." + +:Life with UNIX: a Guide for Everyone: +Don Libes and Sandy Ressler +Prentice-Hall, 1989 +ISBN 0-13-536657-7 + +The authors of this book set out to tell you all the things about Unix +that tutorials and technical books won't. The result is gossipy, +funny, opinionated, downright weird in spots, and invaluable. Along +the way they expose you to enough of Unix's history, folklore and +humor to qualify as a first-class source for these things. Because so +much of today's hackerdom is involved with Unix, this in turn +illuminates many of its in-jokes and preoccupations. + +:True Names ... and Other Dangers: +Vernor Vinge +Baen Books, 1987 +ISBN 0-671-65363-6 + +Hacker demigod Richard Stallman used to say that the title story of +this book "expresses the spirit of hacking best". Until the subject +of the next entry came out, it was hard to even nominate another +contender. The other stories in this collection are also fine work by +an author who has since won multiple Hugos and is one of today's very +best practitioners of hard SF. + +:Snow Crash: +Neal Stephenson +Bantam, 1992 +ISBN 0-553-56261-4 + +Stephenson's epic, comic cyberpunk novel is deeply knowing about the +hacker psychology and its foibles in a way no other author of fiction +has ever even approached. His imagination, his grasp of the relevant +technical details, and his ability to communicate the excitement of +hacking and its results are astonishing, delightful, and (so far) +unsurpassed. + +:Cyberpunk: Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier: +Katie Hafner & John Markoff +Simon & Schuster 1991 +ISBN 0-671-68322-5 + +This book gathers narratives about the careers of three notorious +crackers into a clear-eyed but sympathetic portrait of hackerdom's +dark side. The principals are Kevin Mitnick, "Pengo" and "Hagbard" of +the Chaos Computer Club, and Robert T. Morris (see {RTM}, sense 2) . +Markoff and Hafner focus as much on their psychologies and motivations +as on the details of their exploits, but don't slight the latter. The +result is a balanced and fascinating account, particularly useful when +read immediately before or after Cliff Stoll's {The Cuckoo's Egg}. It +is especially instructive to compare RTM, a true hacker who blundered, +with the sociopathic phone-freak Mitnick and the alienated, +drug-addled crackers who made the Chaos Club notorious. The gulf +between {wizard} and {wannabee} has seldom been made more obvious. + +:Technobabble: +John Barry +MIT Press 1991 +ISBN 0-262-02333-4 + +Barry's book takes a critical and humorous look at the `technobabble' +of acronyms, neologisms, hyperbole, and metaphor spawned by the +computer industry. Though he discusses some of the same mechanisms of +jargon formation that occur in hackish, most of what he chronicles is +actually suit-speak -- the obfuscatory language of press releases, +marketroids, and Silicon Valley CEOs rather than the playful jargon of +hackers (most of whom wouldn't be caught dead uttering the kind of +pompous, passive-voiced word salad he deplores). + +:The Cuckoo's Egg: +Clifford Stoll +Doubleday 1989 +ISBN 0-385-24946-2 + +Clifford Stoll's absorbing tale of how he tracked Markus Hess and the +Chaos Club cracking ring nicely illustrates the difference between +`hacker' and `cracker'. Stoll's portrait of himself, his lady Martha, +and his friends at Berkeley and on the Internet paints a marvelously +vivid picture of how hackers and the people around them like to live +and how they think. + +#===================== THE JARGON FILE ENDS HERE ====================# + +and here is the preface, in it's entirety, which usually precedes the +document itself. Project Gutenberg readers have so often requested a +document actually start at the beginning, that we do this regularly. + +#======= THIS IS THE JARGON FILE, VERSION 4.0.0, 24 JUL 1996 =======# + +This is the Jargon File, a comprehensive compendium of hacker slang +illuminating many aspects of hackish tradition, folklore, and humor. + +This document (the Jargon File) is in the public domain, to be freely +used, shared, and modified. There are (by intention) no legal +restraints on what you can do with it, but there are traditions about +its proper use to which many hackers are quite strongly attached. +Please extend the courtesy of proper citation when you quote the File, +ideally with a version number, as it will change and grow over time. +(Examples of appropriate citation form: "Jargon File 4.0.0" or "The +on-line hacker Jargon File, version 4.0.0, 24 JUL 1996".) + +The Jargon File is a common heritage of the hacker culture. Over the +years a number of individuals have volunteered considerable time to +maintaining the File and been recognized by the net at large as +editors of it. Editorial responsibilities include: to collate +contributions and suggestions from others; to seek out corroborating +information; to cross-reference related entries; to keep the file in a +consistent format; and to announce and distribute updated versions +periodically. Current volunteer editors include: + +Eric Raymond esr@snark.thyrsus.com + +Although there is no requirement that you do so, it is considered good +form to check with an editor before quoting the File in a published +work or commercial product. We may have additional information that +would be helpful to you and can assist you in framing your quote to +reflect not only the letter of the File but its spirit as well. + +All contributions and suggestions about this file sent to a volunteer +editor are gratefully received and will be regarded, unless otherwise +labelled, as freely given donations for possible use as part of this +public-domain file. + +From time to time a snapshot of this file has been polished, edited, +and formatted for commercial publication with the cooperation of the +volunteer editors and the hacker community at large. If you wish to +have a bound paper copy of this file, you may find it convenient to +purchase one of these. They often contain additional material not +found in on-line versions. The two `authorized' editions so far are +described in the Revision History section; there may be more in the +future. + +:Introduction: +************** + +This document is a collection of slang terms used by various +subcultures of computer hackers. Though some technical material is +included for background and flavor, it is not a technical dictionary; +what we describe here is the language hackers use among themselves for +fun, social communication, and technical debate. + +The `hacker culture' is actually a loosely networked collection of +subcultures that is nevertheless conscious of some important shared +experiences, shared roots, and shared values. It has its own myths, +heroes, villains, folk epics, in-jokes, taboos, and dreams. Because +hackers as a group are particularly creative people who define +themselves partly by rejection of `normal' values and working habits, +it has unusually rich and conscious traditions for an intentional +culture less than 40 years old. + +As usual with slang, the special vocabulary of hackers helps hold +their culture together -- it helps hackers recognize each other's +places in the community and expresses shared values and experiences. +Also as usual, *not* knowing the slang (or using it inappropriately) +defines one as an outsider, a mundane, or (worst of all in hackish +vocabulary) possibly even a {suit}. All human cultures use slang in +this threefold way -- as a tool of communication, and of inclusion, +and of exclusion. + +Among hackers, though, slang has a subtler aspect, paralleled perhaps +in the slang of jazz musicians and some kinds of fine artists but hard +to detect in most technical or scientific cultures; parts of it are +code for shared states of *consciousness*. There is a whole range of +altered states and problem-solving mental stances basic to high-level +hacking which don't fit into conventional linguistic reality any +better than a Coltrane solo or one of Maurits Escher's `trompe l'oeil' +compositions (Escher is a favorite of hackers), and hacker slang +encodes these subtleties in many unobvious ways. As a simple example, +take the distinction between a {kluge} and an {elegant} solution, and +the differing connotations attached to each. The distinction is not +only of engineering significance; it reaches right back into the +nature of the generative processes in program design and asserts +something important about two different kinds of relationship between +the hacker and the hack. Hacker slang is unusually rich in +implications of this kind, of overtones and undertones that illuminate +the hackish psyche. + +But there is more. Hackers, as a rule, love wordplay and are very +conscious and inventive in their use of language. These traits seem +to be common in young children, but the conformity-enforcing machine +we are pleased to call an educational system bludgeons them out of +most of us before adolescence. Thus, linguistic invention in most +subcultures of the modern West is a halting and largely unconscious +process. Hackers, by contrast, regard slang formation and use as a +game to be played for conscious pleasure. Their inventions thus +display an almost unique combination of the neotenous enjoyment of +language-play with the discrimination of educated and powerful +intelligence. Further, the electronic media which knit them together +are fluid, `hot' connections, well adapted to both the dissemination +of new slang and the ruthless culling of weak and superannuated +specimens. The results of this process give us perhaps a uniquely +intense and accelerated view of linguistic evolution in action. + +Hacker slang also challenges some common linguistic and +anthropological assumptions. For example, it has recently become +fashionable to speak of `low-context' versus `high-context' +communication, and to classify cultures by the preferred context level +of their languages and art forms. It is usually claimed that +low-context communication (characterized by precision, clarity, and +completeness of self-contained utterances) is typical in cultures +which value logic, objectivity, individualism, and competition; by +contrast, high-context communication (elliptical, emotive, +nuance-filled, multi-modal, heavily coded) is associated with cultures +which value subjectivity, consensus, cooperation, and tradition. What +then are we to make of hackerdom, which is themed around extremely +low-context interaction with computers and exhibits primarily +"low-context" values, but cultivates an almost absurdly high-context +slang style? + +The intensity and consciousness of hackish invention make a +compilation of hacker slang a particularly effective window into the +surrounding culture -- and, in fact, this one is the latest version of +an evolving compilation called the `Jargon File', maintained by +hackers themselves for over 15 years. This one (like its ancestors) +is primarily a lexicon, but also includes topic entries which collect +background or sidelight information on hacker culture that would be +awkward to try to subsume under individual slang definitions. + +Though the format is that of a reference volume, it is intended that +the material be enjoyable to browse. Even a complete outsider should +find at least a chuckle on nearly every page, and much that is +amusingly thought-provoking. But it is also true that hackers use +humorous wordplay to make strong, sometimes combative statements about +what they feel. Some of these entries reflect the views of opposing +sides in disputes that have been genuinely passionate; this is +deliberate. We have not tried to moderate or pretty up these +disputes; rather we have attempted to ensure that *everyone's* sacred +cows get gored, impartially. Compromise is not particularly a hackish +virtue, but the honest presentation of divergent viewpoints is. + +The reader with minimal computer background who finds some references +incomprehensibly technical can safely ignore them. We have not felt +it either necessary or desirable to eliminate all such; they, too, +contribute flavor, and one of this document's major intended audiences +--- fledgling hackers already partway inside the culture -- will benefit +from them. + +A selection of longer items of hacker folklore and humor is included +in Appendix A, {Hacker Folklore}. The `outside' reader's attention is +particularly directed to Appendix B, {A Portrait of J. Random Hacker}. +Appendix C, the {Bibliography}, lists some non-technical works which +have either influenced or described the hacker culture. + +Because hackerdom is an intentional culture (one each individual must +choose by action to join), one should not be surprised that the line +between description and influence can become more than a little +blurred. Earlier versions of the Jargon File have played a central +role in spreading hacker language and the culture that goes with it to +successively larger populations, and we hope and expect that this one +will do likewise. + +:Of Slang, Jargon, and Techspeak: +================================= + +Linguists usually refer to informal language as `slang' and reserve +the term `jargon' for the technical vocabularies of various +occupations. However, the ancestor of this collection was called the +`Jargon File', and hacker slang is traditionally `the jargon'. When +talking about the jargon there is therefore no convenient way to +distinguish it from what a *linguist* would call hackers' jargon +--- the formal vocabulary they learn from textbooks, technical papers, +and manuals. + +To make a confused situation worse, the line between hacker slang and +the vocabulary of technical programming and computer science is fuzzy, +and shifts over time. Further, this vocabulary is shared with a wider +technical culture of programmers, many of whom are not hackers and do +not speak or recognize hackish slang. + +Accordingly, this lexicon will try to be as precise as the facts of +usage permit about the distinctions among three categories: + + * `slang': informal language from mainstream English or + non-technical subcultures (bikers, rock fans, surfers, etc). + + * `jargon': without qualifier, denotes informal `slangy' language + peculiar to or predominantly found among hackers -- the subject + of this lexicon. + + * `techspeak': the formal technical vocabulary of programming, + computer science, electronics, and other fields connected to + hacking. + +This terminology will be consistently used throughout the remainder of +this lexicon. + +The jargon/techspeak distinction is the delicate one. A lot of +techspeak originated as jargon, and there is a steady continuing +uptake of jargon into techspeak. On the other hand, a lot of jargon +arises from overgeneralization of techspeak terms (there is more about +this in the {Jargon Construction} section below). + +In general, we have considered techspeak any term that communicates +primarily by a denotation well established in textbooks, technical +dictionaries, or standards documents. + +A few obviously techspeak terms (names of operating systems, +languages, or documents) are listed when they are tied to hacker +folklore that isn't covered in formal sources, or sometimes to convey +critical historical background necessary to understand other entries +to which they are cross-referenced. Some other techspeak senses of +jargon words are listed in order to make the jargon senses clear; +where the text does not specify that a straight technical sense is +under discussion, these are marked with `[techspeak]' as an etymology. +Some entries have a primary sense marked this way, with subsequent +jargon meanings explained in terms of it. + +We have also tried to indicate (where known) the apparent origins of +terms. The results are probably the least reliable information in the +lexicon, for several reasons. For one thing, it is well known that +many hackish usages have been independently reinvented multiple times, +even among the more obscure and intricate neologisms. It often seems +that the generative processes underlying hackish jargon formation have +an internal logic so powerful as to create substantial parallelism +across separate cultures and even in different languages! For +another, the networks tend to propagate innovations so quickly that +`first use' is often impossible to pin down. And, finally, compendia +like this one alter what they observe by implicitly stamping cultural +approval on terms and widening their use. + +Despite these problems, the organized collection of jargon-related +oral history for the new compilations has enabled us to put to rest +quite a number of folk etymologies, place credit where credit is due, +and illuminate the early history of many important hackerisms such as +{kluge}, {cruft}, and {foo}. We believe specialist lexicographers +will find many of the historical notes more than casually instructive. + +:Revision History: +================== + +The original Jargon File was a collection of hacker jargon from +technical cultures including the MIT AI Lab, the Stanford AI lab +(SAIL), and others of the old ARPANET AI/LISP/PDP-10 communities +including Bolt, Beranek and Newman (BBN), Carnegie-Mellon University +(CMU), and Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). + +The Jargon File (hereafter referred to as `jargon-1' or `the File') +was begun by Raphael Finkel at Stanford in 1975. From this time until +the plug was finally pulled on the SAIL computer in 1991, the File was +named AIWORD.RF[UP,DOC] there. Some terms in it date back +considerably earlier ({frob} and some senses of {moby}, for instance, +go back to the Tech Model Railroad Club at MIT and are believed to +date at least back to the early 1960s). The revisions of jargon-1 +were all unnumbered and may be collectively considered `Version 1'. + +In 1976, Mark Crispin, having seen an announcement about the File on +the SAIL computer, {FTP}ed a copy of the File to MIT. He noticed that +it was hardly restricted to `AI words' and so stored the file on his +directory as AI:MRC;SAIL JARGON. + +The file was quickly renamed JARGON > (the `>' caused versioning under +ITS) as a flurry of enhancements were made by Mark Crispin and Guy L. +Steele Jr. Unfortunately, amidst all this activity, nobody thought of +correcting the term `jargon' to `slang' until the compendium had +already become widely known as the Jargon File. + +Raphael Finkel dropped out of active participation shortly thereafter +and Don Woods became the SAIL contact for the File (which was +subsequently kept in duplicate at SAIL and MIT, with periodic +resynchronizations). + +The File expanded by fits and starts until about 1983; Richard +Stallman was prominent among the contributors, adding many MIT and +ITS-related coinages. + +In Spring 1981, a hacker named Charles Spurgeon got a large chunk of +the File published in Stewart Brand's "CoEvolution Quarterly" (issue +29, pages 26--35) with illustrations by Phil Wadler and Guy Steele +(including a couple of the Crunchly cartoons). This appears to have +been the File's first paper publication. + +A late version of jargon-1, expanded with commentary for the mass +market, was edited by Guy Steele into a book published in 1983 as "The +Hacker's Dictionary" (Harper & Row CN 1082, ISBN 0-06-091082-8). The +other jargon-1 editors (Raphael Finkel, Don Woods, and Mark Crispin) +contributed to this revision, as did Richard M. Stallman and Geoff +Goodfellow. This book (now out of print) is hereafter referred to as +`Steele-1983' and those six as the Steele-1983 coauthors. + +Shortly after the publication of Steele-1983, the File effectively +stopped growing and changing. Originally, this was due to a desire to +freeze the file temporarily to facilitate the production of +Steele-1983, but external conditions caused the `temporary' freeze to +become permanent. + +The AI Lab culture had been hit hard in the late 1970s by funding cuts +and the resulting administrative decision to use vendor-supported +hardware and software instead of homebrew whenever possible. At MIT, +most AI work had turned to dedicated LISP Machines. At the same time, +the commercialization of AI technology lured some of the AI Lab's best +and brightest away to startups along the Route 128 strip in +Massachusetts and out West in Silicon Valley. The startups built LISP +machines for MIT; the central MIT-AI computer became a {TWENEX} system +rather than a host for the AI hackers' beloved {ITS}. + +The Stanford AI Lab had effectively ceased to exist by 1980, although +the SAIL computer continued as a Computer Science Department resource +until 1991. Stanford became a major {TWENEX} site, at one point +operating more than a dozen TOPS-20 systems; but by the mid-1980s most +of the interesting software work was being done on the emerging BSD +Unix standard. + +In April 1983, the PDP-10-centered cultures that had nourished the +File were dealt a death-blow by the cancellation of the Jupiter +project at Digital Equipment Corporation. The File's compilers, +already dispersed, moved on to other things. Steele-1983 was partly a +monument to what its authors thought was a dying tradition; no one +involved realized at the time just how wide its influence was to be. + +By the mid-1980s the File's content was dated, but the legend that had +grown up around it never quite died out. The book, and softcopies +obtained off the ARPANET, circulated even in cultures far removed from +MIT and Stanford; the content exerted a strong and continuing +influence on hacker language and humor. Even as the advent of the +microcomputer and other trends fueled a tremendous expansion of +hackerdom, the File (and related materials such as the {AI Koans} in +Appendix A) came to be seen as a sort of sacred epic, a hacker-culture +Matter of Britain chronicling the heroic exploits of the Knights of +the Lab. The pace of change in hackerdom at large accelerated +tremendously -- but the Jargon File, having passed from living +document to icon, remained essentially untouched for seven years. + +This revision contains nearly the entire text of a late version of +jargon-1 (a few obsolete PDP-10-related entries were dropped after +careful consultation with the editors of Steele-1983). It merges in +about 80% of the Steele-1983 text, omitting some framing material and +a very few entries introduced in Steele-1983 that are now also +obsolete. + +This new version casts a wider net than the old Jargon File; its aim +is to cover not just AI or PDP-10 hacker culture but all the technical +computing cultures wherein the true hacker-nature is manifested. More +than half of the entries now derive from {Usenet} and represent jargon +now current in the C and Unix communities, but special efforts have +been made to collect jargon from other cultures including IBM PC +programmers, Amiga fans, Mac enthusiasts, and even the IBM mainframe +world. + +Eric S. Raymond <esr@snark.thyrsus.com> maintains the new File with +assistance from Guy L. Steele Jr. <gls@think.com>; these are the +persons primarily reflected in the File's editorial `we', though we +take pleasure in acknowledging the special contribution of the other +coauthors of Steele-1983. Please email all additions, corrections, +and correspondence relating to the Jargon File to jargon@thyrsus.com. + +(Warning: other email addresses appear in this file *but are not +guaranteed to be correct* later than the revision date on the first +line. *Don't* email us if an attempt to reach your idol bounces +--- we have no magic way of checking addresses or looking up people.) + +The 2.9.6 version became the main text of "The New Hacker's +Dictionary", by Eric Raymond (ed.), MIT Press 1991, ISBN +0-262-68069-6. + +The 3.0.0 version was published in September 1993 as the second +edition of "The New Hacker's Dictionary", again from MIT Press (ISBN +0-262-18154-1). + +If you want the book, you should be able to find it at any of the +major bookstore chains. Failing that, you can order by mail from + + The MIT Press + 55 Hayward Street + Cambridge, MA 02142 + +or order by phone at (800)-356-0343 or (617)-625-8481. + +The maintainers are committed to updating the on-line version of the +Jargon File through and beyond paper publication, and will continue to +make it available to archives and public-access sites as a trust of +the hacker community. + +Here is a chronology of the high points in the recent on-line +revisions: + +Version 2.1.1, Jun 12 1990: the Jargon File comes alive again after a +seven-year hiatus. Reorganization and massive additions were by Eric +S. Raymond, approved by Guy Steele. Many items of UNIX, C, USENET, +and microcomputer-based jargon were added at that time. + +Version 2.9.6, Aug 16 1991: corresponds to reproduction copy for book. +This version had 18952 lines, 148629 words, 975551 characters, and +1702 entries. + +Version 2.9.8, Jan 01 1992: first public release since the book, +including over fifty new entries and numerous corrections/additions to +old ones. Packaged with version 1.1 of vh(1) hypertext reader. This +version had 19509 lines, 153108 words, 1006023 characters, and 1760 +entries. + +Version 2.9.9, Apr 01 1992: folded in XEROX PARC lexicon. This +version had 20298 lines, 159651 words, 1048909 characters, and 1821 +entries. + +Version 2.9.10, Jul 01 1992: lots of new historical material. This +version had 21349 lines, 168330 words, 1106991 characters, and 1891 +entries. + +Version 2.9.11, Jan 01 1993: lots of new historical material. This +version had 21725 lines, 171169 words, 1125880 characters, and 1922 +entries. + +Version 2.9.12, May 10 1993: a few new entries & changes, marginal +MUD/IRC slang and some borderline techspeak removed, all in +preparation for 2nd Edition of TNHD. This version had 22238 lines, +175114 words, 1152467 characters, and 1946 entries. + +Version 3.0.0, Jul 27 1993: manuscript freeze for 2nd edition of TNHD. +This version had 22548 lines, 177520 words, 1169372 characters, and +1961 entries. + +Version 3.1.0, Oct 15 1994: interim release to test WWW conversion. +This version had 23197 lines, 181001 words, 1193818 characters, and +1990 entries. + +Version 3.2.0, Mar 15 1995: Spring 1995 update. This version had +23822 lines, 185961 words, 1226358 characters, and 2031 entries. + +Version 3.3.0, Jan 20 1996: Winter 1996 update. This version had +24055 lines, 187957 words, 1239604 characters, and 2045 entries. + +Version 3.3.1, Jan 25 1996: Copy-corrected improvement on 3.3.0 +shipped to MIT Press as a step towards TNHD III. This version had +24147 lines, 188728 words, 1244554 characters, and 2050 entries. + +Version 3.3.2, Mar 20 1996: A number of new entries pursuant on 3.3.2. +This version had 24442 lines, 190867 words, 1262468 characters, and +2061 entries. + +Version 3.3.3, Mar 25 1996: Cleanup before TNHD III manuscript freeze. +This version had 24584 lines, 191932 words, 1269996 characters, and +2064 entries. + +Version 4.0.0, Jul 25 1996: The actual TNHD III version after +copy-edit. This version had 24801 lines, 193697 words, 1281402 +characters, and 2067 entries. + +Version numbering: Version numbers should be read as +major.minor.revision. Major version 1 is reserved for the `old' (ITS) +Jargon File, jargon-1. Major version 2 encompasses revisions by ESR +(Eric S. Raymond) with assistance from GLS (Guy L. Steele, Jr.) +leading up to and including the second paper edition. From now on, +major version number N.00 will probably correspond to the Nth paper +edition. Usually later versions will either completely supersede or +incorporate earlier versions, so there is generally no point in +keeping old versions around. + +Our thanks to the coauthors of Steele-1983 for oversight and +assistance, and to the hundreds of Usenetters (too many to name here) +who contributed entries and encouragement. More thanks go to several +of the old-timers on the Usenet group alt.folklore.computers, who +contributed much useful commentary and many corrections and valuable +historical perspective: Joseph M. Newcomer <jn11+@andrew.cmu.edu>, +Bernie Cosell <cosell@bbn.com>, Earl Boebert <boebert@SCTC.com>, and +Joe Morris <jcmorris@mwunix.mitre.org>. + +We were fortunate enough to have the aid of some accomplished +linguists. David Stampe <stampe@hawaii.edu> and Charles Hoequist +<hoequist@bnr.ca> contributed valuable criticism; Joe Keane +<jgk@osc.osc.com> helped us improve the pronunciation guides. + +A few bits of this text quote previous works. We are indebted to +Brian A. LaMacchia <bal@zurich.ai.mit.edu> for obtaining permission +for us to use material from the "TMRC Dictionary"; also, Don Libes +<libes@cme.nist.gov> contributed some appropriate material from his +excellent book "Life With UNIX". We thank Per Lindberg +<per@front.se>, author of the remarkable Swedish-language 'zine +"Hackerbladet", for bringing "FOO!" comics to our attention and +smuggling one of the IBM hacker underground's own baby jargon files +out to us. Thanks also to Maarten Litmaath for generously allowing +the inclusion of the ASCII pronunciation guide he formerly maintained. +And our gratitude to Marc Weiser of XEROX PARC +<Marc_Weiser.PARC@xerox.com> for securing us permission to quote from +PARC's own jargon lexicon and shipping us a copy. + +It is a particular pleasure to acknowledge the major contributions of +Mark Brader <msb@sq.com> and Steve Summit <scs@eskimo.com> to the File +and Dictionary; they have read and reread many drafts, checked facts, +caught typos, submitted an amazing number of thoughtful comments, and +done yeoman service in catching typos and minor usage bobbles. Their +rare combination of enthusiasm, persistence, wide-ranging technical +knowledge, and precisionism in matters of language has been of +invaluable help. Indeed, the sustained volume and quality of +Mr. Brader's input over several years and several different editions +has only allowed him to escape co-editor credit by the slimmest of +margins. + +Finally, George V. Reilly <georgere@microsoft.com> helped with TeX +arcana and painstakingly proofread some 2.7 and 2.8 versions, and Eric +Tiedemann <est@thyrsus.com> contributed sage advice throughout on +rhetoric, amphigory, and philosophunculism. + +:How Jargon Works: +****************** + +:Jargon Construction: +===================== + +There are some standard methods of jargonification that became +established quite early (i.e., before 1970), spreading from such +sources as the Tech Model Railroad Club, the PDP-1 SPACEWAR hackers, +and John McCarthy's original crew of LISPers. These include verb +doubling, soundalike slang, the `-P' convention, overgeneralization, +spoken inarticulations, and anthropomorphization. Each is discussed +below. We also cover the standard comparatives for design quality. + +Of these six, verb doubling, overgeneralization, anthropomorphization, +and (especially) spoken inarticulations have become quite general; but +soundalike slang is still largely confined to MIT and other large +universities, and the `-P' convention is found only where LISPers +flourish. + +:Verb Doubling: +--------------- + +A standard construction in English is to double a verb and use it as +an exclamation, such as "Bang, bang!" or "Quack, quack!". Most of +these are names for noises. Hackers also double verbs as a concise, +sometimes sarcastic comment on what the implied subject does. Also, a +doubled verb is often used to terminate a conversation, in the process +remarking on the current state of affairs or what the speaker intends +to do next. Typical examples involve {win}, {lose}, {hack}, {flame}, +{barf}, {chomp}: + + "The disk heads just crashed." "Lose, lose." + "Mostly he talked about his latest crock. Flame, flame." + "Boy, what a bagbiter! Chomp, chomp!" + +Some verb-doubled constructions have special meanings not immediately +obvious from the verb. These have their own listings in the lexicon. + +The {Usenet} culture has one *tripling* convention unrelated to this; +the names of `joke' topic groups often have a tripled last element. +The first and paradigmatic example was alt.swedish.chef.bork.bork.bork +(a "Muppet Show" reference); other infamous examples have included: + + alt.french.captain.borg.borg.borg + alt.wesley.crusher.die.die.die + comp.unix.internals.system.calls.brk.brk.brk + sci.physics.edward.teller.boom.boom.boom + alt.sadistic.dentists.drill.drill.drill + +:Soundalike slang: +------------------ + +Hackers will often make rhymes or puns in order to convert an ordinary +word or phrase into something more interesting. It is considered +particularly {flavorful} if the phrase is bent so as to include some +other jargon word; thus the computer hobbyist magazine "Dr. Dobb's +Journal" is almost always referred to among hackers as `Dr. Frob's +Journal' or simply `Dr. Frob's'. Terms of this kind that have been in +fairly wide use include names for newspapers: + + Boston Herald => Horrid (or Harried) + Boston Globe => Boston Glob + Houston (or San Francisco) Chronicle + => the Crocknicle (or the Comical) + New York Times => New York Slime + +However, terms like these are often made up on the spur of the moment. +Standard examples include: + + Data General => Dirty Genitals + IBM 360 => IBM Three-Sickly + Government Property -- Do Not Duplicate (on keys) + => Government Duplicity -- Do Not Propagate + for historical reasons => for hysterical raisins + Margaret Jacks Hall (the CS building at Stanford) + => Marginal Hacks Hall + +This is not really similar to the Cockney rhyming slang it has been +compared to in the past, because Cockney substitutions are opaque +whereas hacker punning jargon is intentionally transparent. + +:The `-P' convention: +--------------------- + +Turning a word into a question by appending the syllable `P'; from the +LISP convention of appending the letter `P' to denote a predicate (a +boolean-valued function). The question should expect a yes/no answer, +though it needn't. (See {T} and {NIL}.) + + At dinnertime: + Q: "Foodp?" + A: "Yeah, I'm pretty hungry." or "T!" + + At any time: + Q: "State-of-the-world-P?" + A: (Straight) "I'm about to go home." + A: (Humorous) "Yes, the world has a state." + + On the phone to Florida: + Q: "State-p Florida?" + A: "Been reading JARGON.TXT again, eh?" + +[One of the best of these is a {Gosperism}. Once, when we were at a +Chinese restaurant, Bill Gosper wanted to know whether someone would +like to share with him a two-person-sized bowl of soup. His inquiry +was: "Split-p soup?" -- GLS] + +:Overgeneralization: +-------------------- + +A very conspicuous feature of jargon is the frequency with which +techspeak items such as names of program tools, command language +primitives, and even assembler opcodes are applied to contexts outside +of computing wherever hackers find amusing analogies to them. Thus +(to cite one of the best-known examples) Unix hackers often {grep} for +things rather than searching for them. Many of the lexicon entries +are generalizations of exactly this kind. + +Hackers enjoy overgeneralization on the grammatical level as well. +Many hackers love to take various words and add the wrong endings to +them to make nouns and verbs, often by extending a standard rule to +nonuniform cases (or vice versa). For example, because + + porous => porosity + generous => generosity + +hackers happily generalize: + + mysterious => mysteriosity + ferrous => ferrosity + obvious => obviosity + dubious => dubiosity + +Another class of common construction uses the suffix `-itude' to +abstract a quality from just about any adjective or noun. This usage +arises especially in cases where mainstream English would perform the +same abstraction through `-iness' or `-ingness'. Thus: + + win => winnitude (a common exclamation) + loss => lossitude + cruft => cruftitude + lame => lameitude + +Some hackers cheerfully reverse this transformation; they argue, for +example, that the horizontal degree lines on a globe ought to be +called `lats' -- after all, they're measuring latitude! + +Also, note that all nouns can be verbed. E.g.: "All nouns can be +verbed", "I'll mouse it up", "Hang on while I clipboard it over", "I'm +grepping the files". English as a whole is already heading in this +direction (towards pure-positional grammar like Chinese); hackers are +simply a bit ahead of the curve. + +However, hackers avoid the unimaginative verb-making techniques +characteristic of marketroids, bean-counters, and the Pentagon; a +hacker would never, for example, `productize', `prioritize', or +`securitize' things. Hackers have a strong aversion to bureaucratic +bafflegab and regard those who use it with contempt. + +Similarly, all verbs can be nouned. This is only a slight +overgeneralization in modern English; in hackish, however, it is good +form to mark them in some standard nonstandard way. Thus: + + win => winnitude, winnage + disgust => disgustitude + hack => hackification + +Further, note the prevalence of certain kinds of nonstandard plural +forms. Some of these go back quite a ways; the TMRC Dictionary +includes an entry which implies that the plural of `mouse' is +{meeces}, and notes that the defined plural of `caboose' is `cabeese'. +This latter has apparently been standard (or at least a standard joke) +among railfans (railroad enthusiasts) for many years. + +On a similarly Anglo-Saxon note, almost anything ending in `x' may +form plurals in `-xen' (see {VAXen} and {boxen} in the main text). +Even words ending in phonetic /k/ alone are sometimes treated this +way; e.g., `soxen' for a bunch of socks. Other funny plurals are +`frobbotzim' for the plural of `frobbozz' (see {frobnitz}) and +`Unices' and `Twenices' (rather than `Unixes' and `Twenexes'; see +{Unix}, {TWENEX} in main text). But note that `Unixen' and `Twenexen' +are never used; it has been suggested that this is because `-ix' and +`-ex' are Latin singular endings that attract a Latinate plural. +Finally, it has been suggested to general approval that the plural of +`mongoose' ought to be `polygoose'. + +The pattern here, as with other hackish grammatical quirks, is +generalization of an inflectional rule that in English is either an +import or a fossil (such as the Hebrew plural ending `-im', or the +Anglo-Saxon plural suffix `-en') to cases where it isn't normally +considered to apply. + +This is not `poor grammar', as hackers are generally quite well aware +of what they are doing when they distort the language. It is +grammatical creativity, a form of playfulness. It is done not to +impress but to amuse, and never at the expense of clarity. + +:Spoken inarticulations: +------------------------ + +Words such as `mumble', `sigh', and `groan' are spoken in places where +their referent might more naturally be used. It has been suggested +that this usage derives from the impossibility of representing such +noises on a comm link or in electronic mail (interestingly, the same +sorts of constructions have been showing up with increasing frequency +in comic strips). Another expression sometimes heard is "Complain!", +meaning "I have a complaint!" + +:Anthropomorphization: +---------------------- + +Semantically, one rich source of jargon constructions is the hackish +tendency to anthropomorphize hardware and software. This isn't done +in a naive way; hackers don't personalize their stuff in the sense of +feeling empathy with it, nor do they mystically believe that the +things they work on every day are `alive'. What *is* common is to +hear hardware or software talked about as though it has homunculi +talking to each other inside it, with intentions and desires. Thus, +one hears "The protocol handler got confused", or that programs "are +trying" to do things, or one may say of a routine that "its goal in +life is to X". One even hears explanations like "... and its poor +little brain couldn't understand X, and it died." Sometimes modelling +things this way actually seems to make them easier to understand, +perhaps because it's instinctively natural to think of anything with a +really complex behavioral repertoire as `like a person' rather than +`like a thing'. + +:Comparatives: +-------------- + +Finally, note that many words in hacker jargon have to be understood +as members of sets of comparatives. This is especially true of the +adjectives and nouns used to describe the beauty and functional +quality of code. Here is an approximately correct spectrum: + + monstrosity brain-damage screw bug lose misfeature + crock kluge hack win feature elegance perfection + +The last is spoken of as a mythical absolute, approximated but never +actually attained. Another similar scale is used for describing the +reliability of software: + + broken flaky dodgy fragile brittle + solid robust bulletproof armor-plated + +Note, however, that `dodgy' is primarily Commonwealth Hackish (it is +rare in the U.S.) and may change places with `flaky' for some +speakers. + +Coinages for describing {lossage} seem to call forth the very finest +in hackish linguistic inventiveness; it has been truly said that +hackers have even more words for equipment failures than Yiddish has +for obnoxious people. + +:Hacker Writing Style: +====================== + +We've already seen that hackers often coin jargon by overgeneralizing +grammatical rules. This is one aspect of a more general fondness for +form-versus-content language jokes that shows up particularly in +hackish writing. One correspondent reports that he consistently +misspells `wrong' as `worng'. Others have been known to criticize +glitches in Jargon File drafts by observing (in the mode of Douglas +Hofstadter) "This sentence no verb", or "Too repetetetive", or "Bad +speling", or "Incorrectspa cing." Similarly, intentional spoonerisms +are often made of phrases relating to confusion or things that are +confusing; `dain bramage' for `brain damage' is perhaps the most +common (similarly, a hacker would be likely to write "Excuse me, I'm +cixelsyd today", rather than "I'm dyslexic today"). This sort of +thing is quite common and is enjoyed by all concerned. + +Hackers tend to use quotes as balanced delimiters like parentheses, +much to the dismay of American editors. Thus, if "Jim is going" is a +phrase, and so are "Bill runs" and "Spock groks", then hackers +generally prefer to write: "Jim is going", "Bill runs", and "Spock +groks". This is incorrect according to standard American usage (which +would put the continuation commas and the final period inside the +string quotes); however, it is counter-intuitive to hackers to +mutilate literal strings with characters that don't belong in them. +Given the sorts of examples that can come up in discussions of +programming, American-style quoting can even be grossly misleading. +When communicating command lines or small pieces of code, extra +characters can be a real pain in the neck. + +Consider, for example, a sentence in a {vi} tutorial that looks like +this: + + Then delete a line from the file by typing "dd". + +Standard usage would make this + + Then delete a line from the file by typing "dd." + +but that would be very bad -- because the reader would be prone to +type the string d-d-dot, and it happens that in `vi(1)' dot +repeats the last command accepted. The net result would be to delete +*two* lines! + +The Jargon File follows hackish usage throughout. + +Interestingly, a similar style is now preferred practice in Great +Britain, though the older style (which became established for +typographical reasons having to do with the aesthetics of comma and +quotes in typeset text) is still accepted there. "Hart's Rules" and +the "Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors" call the hacker-like +style `new' or `logical' quoting. + +Another hacker habit is a tendency to distinguish between `scare' +quotes and `speech' quotes; that is, to use British-style single +quotes for marking and reserve American-style double quotes for actual +reports of speech or text included from elsewhere. Interestingly, +some authorities describe this as correct general usage, but +mainstream American English has gone to using double-quotes +indiscriminately enough that hacker usage appears marked [and, in +fact, I thought this was a personal quirk of mine until I checked with +Usenet --ESR]. One further permutation that is definitely +*not* standard is a hackish tendency to do marking quotes by +using apostrophes (single quotes) in pairs; that is, 'like this'. +This is modelled on string and character literal syntax in some +programming languages (reinforced by the fact that many character-only +terminals display the apostrophe in typewriter style, as a vertical +single quote). + +One quirk that shows up frequently in the {email} style of Unix +hackers in particular is a tendency for some things that are normally +all-lowercase (including usernames and the names of commands and C +routines) to remain uncapitalized even when they occur at the +beginning of sentences. It is clear that, for many hackers, the case +of such identifiers becomes a part of their internal representation +(the `spelling') and cannot be overridden without mental effort (an +appropriate reflex because Unix and C both distinguish cases and +confusing them can lead to {lossage}). A way of escaping this dilemma +is simply to avoid using these constructions at the beginning of +sentences. + +There seems to be a meta-rule behind these nonstandard hackerisms to +the effect that precision of expression is more important than +conformance to traditional rules; where the latter create ambiguity or +lose information they can be discarded without a second thought. It +is notable in this respect that other hackish inventions (for example, +in vocabulary) also tend to carry very precise shades of meaning even +when constructed to appear slangy and loose. In fact, to a hacker, +the contrast between `loose' form and `tight' content in jargon is a +substantial part of its humor! + +Hackers have also developed a number of punctuation and emphasis +conventions adapted to single-font all-ASCII communications links, and +these are occasionally carried over into written documents even when +normal means of font changes, underlining, and the like are available. + +One of these is that TEXT IN ALL CAPS IS INTERPRETED AS `LOUD', and +this becomes such an ingrained synesthetic reflex that a person who +goes to caps-lock while in {talk mode} may be asked to "stop shouting, +please, you're hurting my ears!". + +Also, it is common to use bracketing with unusual characters to +signify emphasis. The asterisk is most common, as in "What the +*hell*?" even though this interferes with the common use of the +asterisk suffix as a footnote mark. The underscore is also common, +suggesting underlining (this is particularly common with book titles; +for example, "It is often alleged that Joe Haldeman wrote +_The_Forever_War_ as a rebuttal to Robert Heinlein's earlier novel of +the future military, _Starship_Troopers_."). Other forms exemplified +by "=hell=", "\hell/", or "/hell/" are occasionally seen (it's claimed +that in the last example the first slash pushes the letters over to +the right to make them italic, and the second keeps them from falling +over). Finally, words may also be emphasized L I K E T H I S, or by a +series of carets (^) under them on the next line of the text. + +There is a semantic difference between *emphasis like this* (which +emphasizes the phrase as a whole), and *emphasis* *like* *this* (which +suggests the writer speaking very slowly and distinctly, as if to a +very young child or a mentally impaired person). Bracketing a word +with the `*' character may also indicate that the writer wishes +readers to consider that an action is taking place or that a sound is +being made. Examples: *bang*, *hic*, *ring*, *grin*, *kick*, *stomp*, +*mumble*. + +One might also see the above sound effects as <bang>, <hic>, <ring>, +<grin>, <kick>, <stomp>, <mumble>. This use of angle brackets to mark +their contents originally derives from conventions used in {BNF}, but +since about 1993 it has been reinforced by the HTML markup used on the +World Wide Web. + +Angle-bracket enclosure is also used to indicate that a term stands +for some {random} member of a larger class (this is straight from +{BNF}). Examples like the following are common: + + So this <ethnic> walks into a bar one day... + +There is also an accepted convention for `writing under erasure'; the +text + + Be nice to this fool^H^H^H^Hgentleman, + he's visiting from corporate HQ. + +reads roughly as "Be nice to this fool, er, gentleman...". This comes +from the fact that the digraph ^H is often used as a print +representation for a backspace. It parallels (and may have been +influenced by) the ironic use of `slashouts' in science-fiction +fanzines. + +A related habit uses editor commands to signify corrections to +previous text. This custom is fading as more mailers get good editing +capabilities, but one occasionally still sees things like this: + + I've seen that term used on alt.foobar often. + Send it to Erik for the File. + Oops...s/Erik/Eric/. + +The s/Erik/Eric/ says "change Erik to Eric in the preceding". This +syntax is borrowed from the Unix editing tools `ed' and `sed', but is +widely recognized by non-Unix hackers as well. + +In a formula, `*' signifies multiplication but two asterisks in a row +are a shorthand for exponentiation (this derives from FORTRAN). Thus, +one might write 2 ** 8 = 256. + +Another notation for exponentiation one sees more frequently uses the +caret (^, ASCII 1011110); one might write instead `2^8 = 256'. This +goes all the way back to Algol-60, which used the archaic ASCII +`up-arrow' that later became the caret; this was picked up by Kemeny +and Kurtz's original BASIC, which in turn influenced the design of the +`bc(1)' and `dc(1)' Unix tools, which have probably done most to +reinforce the convention on Usenet. The notation is mildly confusing +to C programmers, because `^' means bitwise exclusive-or in C. +Despite this, it was favored 3:1 over ** in a late-1990 snapshot of +Usenet. It is used consistently in this lexicon. + +In on-line exchanges, hackers tend to use decimal forms or improper +fractions (`3.5' or `7/2') rather than `typewriter style' mixed +fractions (`3-1/2'). The major motive here is probably that the +former are more readable in a monospaced font, together with a desire +to avoid the risk that the latter might be read as `three minus +one-half'. The decimal form is definitely preferred for fractions +with a terminating decimal representation; there may be some cultural +influence here from the high status of scientific notation. + +Another on-line convention, used especially for very large or very +small numbers, is taken from C (which derived it from FORTRAN). This +is a form of `scientific notation' using `e' to replace `*10^'; for +example, one year is about 3e7 seconds long. + +The tilde (~) is commonly used in a quantifying sense of +`approximately'; that is, `~50' means `about fifty'. + +On Usenet and in the {MUD} world, common C boolean, logical, and +relational operators such as `|', `&', `||', `&&', `!', `==', `!=', +`>', `<', `>=', and `=<' are often combined with English. The Pascal +not-equals, `<>', is also recognized, and occasionally one sees `/=' +for not-equals (from Ada, Common Lisp, and Fortran 90). The use of +prefix `!' as a loose synonym for `not-' or `no-' is particularly +common; thus, `!clue' is read `no-clue' or `clueless'. + +A related practice borrows syntax from preferred programming languages +to express ideas in a natural-language text. For example, one might +see the following: + + In <jrh578689@thudpucker.com> J. R. Hacker wrote: + >I recently had occasion to field-test the Snafu + >Systems 2300E adaptive gonkulator. The price was + >right, and the racing stripe on the case looked + >kind of neat, but its performance left something + >to be desired. + + Yeah, I tried one out too. + + #ifdef FLAME + Hasn't anyone told those idiots that you can't get + decent bogon suppression with AFJ filters at today's + net volumes? + #endif /* FLAME */ + + I guess they figured the price premium for true + frame-based semantic analysis was too high. + Unfortunately, it's also the only workable approach. + I wouldn't recommend purchase of this product unless + you're on a *very* tight budget. + + #include <disclaimer.h> + -- + == Frank Foonly (Fubarco Systems) + +In the above, the `#ifdef'/`#endif' pair is a conditional compilation +syntax from C; here, it implies that the text between (which is a +{flame}) should be evaluated only if you have turned on (or defined +on) the switch FLAME. The `#include' at the end is C for "include +standard disclaimer here"; the `standard disclaimer' is understood to +read, roughly, "These are my personal opinions and not to be construed +as the official position of my employer." + +The top section in the example, with > at the left margin, is an +example of an inclusion convention we'll discuss below. + +More recently, following on the huge popularity of the World Wide Web, +pseudo-HTML markup has become popular for similar purposes: + + <flame> + Your father was a hamster and your mother smelt of elderberries! + </flame> + +You'll even see this with an HTML-style modifier: + + <flame intensity="100%"> + You seem well-suited for a career in government. + </flame> + +Hackers also mix letters and numbers more freely than in mainstream +usage. In particular, it is good hackish style to write a digit +sequence where you intend the reader to understand the text string +that names that number in English. So, hackers prefer to write +`1970s' rather than `nineteen-seventies' or `1970's' (the latter looks +like a possessive). + +It should also be noted that hackers exhibit much less reluctance to +use multiply nested parentheses than is normal in English. Part of +this is almost certainly due to influence from LISP (which uses deeply +nested parentheses (like this (see?)) in its syntax a lot), but it has +also been suggested that a more basic hacker trait of enjoying playing +with complexity and pushing systems to their limits is in operation. + +Finally, it is worth mentioning that many studies of on-line +communication have shown that electronic links have a de-inhibiting +effect on people. Deprived of the body-language cues through which +emotional state is expressed, people tend to forget everything about +other parties except what is presented over that ASCII link. This has +both good and bad effects. A good one is that it encourages honesty +and tends to break down hierarchical authority relationships; a bad +one is that it may encourage depersonalization and gratuitous +rudeness. Perhaps in response to this, experienced netters often +display a sort of conscious formal politesse in their writing that has +passed out of fashion in other spoken and written media (for example, +the phrase "Well said, sir!" is not uncommon). + +Many introverted hackers who are next to inarticulate in person +communicate with considerable fluency over the net, perhaps precisely +because they can forget on an unconscious level that they are dealing +with people and thus don't feel stressed and anxious as they would +face to face. + +Though it is considered gauche to publicly criticize posters for poor +spelling or grammar, the network places a premium on literacy and +clarity of expression. It may well be that future historians of +literature will see in it a revival of the great tradition of personal +letters as art. + +:Email Quotes and Inclusion Conventions: +======================================== + +One area where conventions for on-line writing are still in some flux +is the marking of included material from earlier messages -- what +would be called `block quotations' in ordinary English. From the +usual typographic convention employed for these (smaller font at an +extra indent), there derived a practice of included text being +indented by one ASCII TAB (0001001) character, which under Unix and +many other environments gives the appearance of an 8-space indent. + +Early mail and netnews readers had no facility for including messages +this way, so people had to paste in copy manually. BSD `Mail(1)' was +the first message agent to support inclusion, and early Usenetters +emulated its style. But the TAB character tended to push included +text too far to the right (especially in multiply nested inclusions), +leading to ugly wraparounds. After a brief period of confusion +(during which an inclusion leader consisting of three or four spaces +became established in EMACS and a few mailers), the use of leading `>' +or `> ' became standard, perhaps owing to its use in `ed(1)' to +display tabs (alternatively, it may derive from the `>' that some +early Unix mailers used to quote lines starting with "From" in text, +so they wouldn't look like the beginnings of new message headers). +Inclusions within inclusions keep their `>' leaders, so the `nesting +level' of a quotation is visually apparent. + +The practice of including text from the parent article when posting a +followup helped solve what had been a major nuisance on Usenet: the +fact that articles do not arrive at different sites in the same order. +Careless posters used to post articles that would begin with, or even +consist entirely of, "No, that's wrong" or "I agree" or the like. +It was hard to see who was responding to what. Consequently, around +1984, new news-posting software evolved a facility to automatically +include the text of a previous article, marked with "> " or whatever +the poster chose. The poster was expected to delete all but the +relevant lines. The result has been that, now, careless posters post +articles containing the *entire* text of a preceding article, +*followed* only by "No, that's wrong" or "I agree". + +Many people feel that this cure is worse than the original disease, +and there soon appeared newsreader software designed to let the reader +skip over included text if desired. Today, some posting software +rejects articles containing too high a proportion of lines beginning +with `>' -- but this too has led to undesirable workarounds, such as +the deliberate inclusion of zero-content filler lines which aren't +quoted and thus pull the message below the rejection threshold. + +Because the default mailers supplied with Unix and other operating +systems haven't evolved as quickly as human usage, the older +conventions using a leading TAB or three or four spaces are still +alive; however, >-inclusion is now clearly the prevalent form in both +netnews and mail. + +Inclusion practice is still evolving, and disputes over the `correct' +inclusion style occasionally lead to {holy wars}. + +Most netters view an inclusion as a promise that comment on it will +immediately follow. The preferred, conversational style looks like +this, + + > relevant excerpt 1 + response to excerpt + > relevant excerpt 2 + response to excerpt + > relevant excerpt 3 + response to excerpt + +or for short messages like this: + + > entire message + response to message + +Thanks to poor design of some PC-based mail agents, one will +occasionally see the entire quoted message *after* the response, like +this + + response to message + > entire message + +but this practice is strongly deprecated. + +Though `>' remains the standard inclusion leader, `|' is +occasionally used for extended quotations where original variations in +indentation are being retained (one mailer even combines these and +uses `|>'). One also sees different styles of quoting a number +of authors in the same message: one (deprecated because it loses +information) uses a leader of `> ' for everyone, another (the +most common) is `> > > > ', `> > > ', etc. (or +`>>>> ', `>>>', etc., depending on line length and +nesting depth) reflecting the original order of messages, and yet +another is to use a different citation leader for each author, say +`> ', `: ', `| ', `} ' +(preserving nesting so that the inclusion order of messages is still +apparent, or tagging the inclusions with authors' names). Yet +*another* style is to use each poster's initials (or login name) +as a citation leader for that poster. + +Occasionally one sees a `# ' leader used for quotations from +authoritative sources such as standards documents; the intended +allusion is to the root prompt (the special Unix command prompt issued +when one is running as the privileged super-user). + +:Hacker Speech Style: +===================== + +Hackish speech generally features extremely precise diction, careful +word choice, a relatively large working vocabulary, and relatively +little use of contractions or street slang. Dry humor, irony, puns, +and a mildly flippant attitude are highly valued -- but an underlying +seriousness and intelligence are essential. One should use just +enough jargon to communicate precisely and identify oneself as a +member of the culture; overuse of jargon or a breathless, excessively +gung-ho attitude is considered tacky and the mark of a loser. + +This speech style is a variety of the precisionist English normally +spoken by scientists, design engineers, and academics in technical +fields. In contrast with the methods of jargon construction, it is +fairly constant throughout hackerdom. + +It has been observed that many hackers are confused by negative +questions -- or, at least, that the people to whom they are talking +are often confused by the sense of their answers. The problem is that +they have done so much programming that distinguishes between + + if (going) ... + +and + + if (!going) ... + +that when they parse the question "Aren't you going?" it seems to be +asking the opposite question from "Are you going?", and so merits an +answer in the opposite sense. This confuses English-speaking +non-hackers because they were taught to answer as though the negative +part weren't there. In some other languages (including Russian, +Chinese, and Japanese) the hackish interpretation is standard and the +problem wouldn't arise. Hackers often find themselves wishing for a +word like French `si' or German `doch' with which one could +unambiguously answer `yes' to a negative question. + +For similar reasons, English-speaking hackers almost never use double +negatives, even if they live in a region where colloquial usage allows +them. The thought of uttering something that logically ought to be an +affirmative knowing it will be misparsed as a negative tends to +disturb them. + +In a related vein, hackers sometimes make a game of answering +questions containing logical connectives with a strictly literal +rather than colloquial interpretation. A non-hacker who is indelicate +enough to ask a question like "So, are you working on finding that bug +*now* or leaving it until later?" is likely to get the perfectly +correct answer "Yes!" (that is, "Yes, I'm doing it either now or +later, and you didn't ask which!"). + +:International Style: +===================== + +Although the Jargon File remains primarily a lexicon of hacker usage +in American English, we have made some effort to get input from +abroad. Though the hacker-speak of other languages often uses +translations of jargon from English (often as transmitted to them by +earlier Jargon File versions!), the local variations are interesting, +and knowledge of them may be of some use to travelling hackers. + +There are some references herein to `Commonwealth hackish'. These are +intended to describe some variations in hacker usage as reported in +the English spoken in Great Britain and the Commonwealth (Canada, +Australia, India, etc. -- though Canada is heavily influenced by +American usage). There is also an entry on {{Commonwealth Hackish}} +reporting some general phonetic and vocabulary differences from +U.S. hackish. + +Hackers in Western Europe and (especially) Scandinavia report that +they often use a mixture of English and their native languages for +technical conversation. Occasionally they develop idioms in their +English usage that are influenced by their native-language styles. +Some of these are reported here. + +On the other hand, English often gives rise to grammatical and +vocabulary mutations in the native language. For example, Italian +hackers often use the nonexistent verbs `scrollare' (to scroll) and +`deletare' (to delete) rather than native Italian `scorrere' and +`cancellare'. Similarly, the English verb `to hack' has been seen +conjugated in Swedish. European hackers report that this happens +partly because the English terms make finer distinctions than are +available in their native vocabularies, and partly because deliberate +language-crossing makes for amusing wordplay. + +A few notes on hackish usages in Russian have been added where they +are parallel with English idioms and thus comprehensible to +English-speakers. + +:Crackers, Phreaks, and Lamers: +=============================== + +From the late 1980s onward, a flourishing culture of local, +MS-DOS-based bulletin boards has been developing separately from +Internet hackerdom. The BBS culture has, as its seamy underside, a +stratum of `pirate boards' inhabited by {cracker}s, phone phreaks, and +{warez d00dz}. These people (mostly teenagers running PC-clones from +their bedrooms) have developed their own characteristic jargon, +heavily influenced by skateboard lingo and underground-rock slang. + +Though crackers often call themselves `hackers', they aren't (they +typically have neither significant programming ability, nor Internet +expertise, nor experience with UNIX or other true multi-user systems). +Their vocabulary has little overlap with hackerdom's. Nevertheless, +this lexicon covers much of it so the reader will be able to +understand what goes by on bulletin-board systems. + +Here is a brief guide to cracker and {warez d00dz} usage: + + * Misspell frequently. The substitutions + + phone => fone + freak => phreak + + are obligatory. + * Always substitute `z's for `s's. (i.e. "codes" -> "codez"). + * Type random emphasis characters after a post line (i.e. "Hey + Dudes!#!$#$!#!$"). + * Use the emphatic `k' prefix ("k-kool", "k-rad", "k-awesome") + frequently. + * Abbreviate compulsively ("I got lotsa warez w/ docs"). + * Substitute `0' for `o' ("r0dent", "l0zer"). + * TYPE ALL IN CAPS LOCK, SO IT LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE YELLING ALL THE + TIME. + +These traits are similar to those of {B1FF}, who originated as a +parody of naive BBS users. For further discussion of the pirate-board +subculture, see {lamer}, {elite}, {leech}, {poser}, {cracker}, and +especially {warez d00dz}. + +:How to Use the Lexicon: +************************ + +:Pronunciation Guide: +===================== + +Pronunciation keys are provided in the jargon listings for all entries +that are neither dictionary words pronounced as in standard English +nor obvious compounds thereof. Slashes bracket phonetic +pronunciations, which are to be interpreted using the following +conventions: + + 1. Syllables are hyphen-separated, except that an accent or + back-accent follows each accented syllable (the back-accent marks + a secondary accent in some words of four or more syllables). If + no accent is given, the word is pronounced with equal + accentuation on all syllables (this is common for abbreviations). + + 2. Consonants are pronounced as in American English. The letter `g' + is always hard (as in "got" rather than "giant"); `ch' is soft + ("church" rather than "chemist"). The letter `j' is the sound + that occurs twice in "judge". The letter `s' is always as in + "pass", never a z sound. The digraph `kh' is the guttural of + "loch" or "l'chaim". The digraph 'gh' is the aspirated g+h of + "bughouse" or "ragheap" (rare in English). + + 3. Uppercase letters are pronounced as their English letter names; + thus (for example) /H-L-L/ is equivalent to /aych el el/. /Z/ + may be pronounced /zee/ or /zed/ depending on your local dialect. + + 4. Vowels are represented as follows: + + /a/ + back, that + /ah/ + father, palm (see note) + /ar/ + far, mark + /aw/ + flaw, caught + /ay/ + bake, rain + /e/ + less, men + /ee/ + easy, ski + /eir/ + their, software + /i/ + trip, hit + /i:/ + life, sky + /o/ + block, stock (see note) + /oh/ + flow, sew + /oo/ + loot, through + /or/ + more, door + /ow/ + out, how + /oy/ + boy, coin + /uh/ + but, some + /u/ + put, foot + /y/ + yet, young + /yoo/ + few, chew + /[y]oo/ + /oo/ with optional fronting as in `news' (/nooz/ or + /nyooz/) + +The glyph /*/ is used for the `schwa' sound of unstressed or occluded +vowels (the one that is often written with an upside-down `e'). The +schwa vowel is omitted in syllables containing vocalic r, l, m or n; +that is, `kitten' and `color' would be rendered /kit'n/ and /kuhl'r/, +not /kit'*n/ and /kuhl'*r/. + +Note that the above table reflects mainly distinctions found in +standard American English (that is, the neutral dialect spoken by TV +network announcers and typical of educated speech in the Upper +Midwest, Chicago, Minneapolis/St. Paul and Philadelphia). However, we +separate /o/ from /ah/, which tend to merge in standard American. +This may help readers accustomed to accents resembling British +Received Pronunciation. + +The intent of this scheme is to permit as many readers as possible to +map the pronunciations into their local dialect by ignoring some +subset of the distinctions we make. Speakers of British RP, for +example, can smash terminal /r/ and all unstressed vowels. Speakers +of many varieties of southern American will automatically map /o/ to +/aw/; and so forth. (Standard American makes a good reference dialect +for this purpose because it has crisp consonents and more vowel +distinctions than other major dialects, and tends to retain +distinctions between unstressed vowels. It also happens to be what +your editor speaks.) + +Entries with a pronunciation of `//' are written-only usages. (No, +Unix weenies, this does *not* mean `pronounce like previous +pronunciation'!) + +:Other Lexicon Conventions: +=========================== + +Entries are sorted in case-blind ASCII collation order (rather than +the letter-by-letter order ignoring interword spacing common in +mainstream dictionaries), except that all entries beginning with +nonalphabetic characters are sorted after Z. The case-blindness is a +feature, not a bug. + +The beginning of each entry is marked by a colon (`:') at the left +margin. This convention helps out tools like hypertext browsers that +benefit from knowing where entry boundaries are, but aren't as +context-sensitive as humans. + +In pure ASCII renderings of the Jargon File, you will see {} used to +bracket words which themselves have entries in the File. This isn't +done all the time for every such word, but it is done everywhere that +a reminder seems useful that the term has a jargon meaning and one +might wish to refer to its entry. + +In this all-ASCII version, headwords for topic entries are +distinguished from those for ordinary entries by being followed by +"::" rather than ":"; similarly, references are surrounded by "{{" and +"}}" rather than "{" and "}". + +Defining instances of terms and phrases appear in `slanted type'. A +defining instance is one which occurs near to or as part of an +explanation of it. + +Prefixed ** is used as linguists do; to mark examples of incorrect +usage. + +We follow the `logical' quoting convention described in the Writing +Style section above. In addition, we reserve double quotes for actual +excerpts of text or (sometimes invented) speech. Scare quotes (which +mark a word being used in a nonstandard way), and philosopher's quotes +(which turn an utterance into the string of letters or words that name +it) are both rendered with single quotes. + +References such as `malloc(3)' and `patch(1)' are to Unix facilities +(some of which, such as `patch(1)', are actually freeware distributed +over Usenet). The Unix manuals use `foo(n)' to refer to item foo in +section (n) of the manual, where n=1 is utilities, n=2 is system +calls, n=3 is C library routines, n=6 is games, and n=8 (where +present) is system administration utilities. Sections 4, 5, and 7 of +the manuals have changed roles frequently and in any case are not +referred to in any of the entries. + +Various abbreviations used frequently in the lexicon are summarized +here: + +abbrev. + abbreviation +adj. + adjective +adv. + adverb +alt. + alternate +cav. + caveat +conj. + conjunction +esp. + especially +excl. + exclamation +imp. + imperative +interj. + interjection +n. + noun +obs. + obsolete +pl. + plural +poss. + possibly +pref. + prefix +prob. + probably +prov. + proverbial +quant. + quantifier +suff. + suffix +syn. + synonym (or synonymous with) +v. + verb (may be transitive or intransitive) +var. + variant +vi. + intransitive verb +vt. + transitive verb + +Where alternate spellings or pronunciations are given, alt. separates +two possibilities with nearly equal distribution, while var. prefixes +one that is markedly less common than the primary. + +Where a term can be attributed to a particular subculture or is known +to have originated there, we have tried to so indicate. Here is a +list of abbreviations used in etymologies: + +Amateur Packet Radio + A technical culture of ham-radio sites using AX.25 and TCP/IP for + wide-area networking and BBS systems. +Berkeley + University of California at Berkeley +BBN + Bolt, Beranek & Newman +Cambridge + the university in England (*not* the city in Massachusetts where + MIT happens to be located!) +CMU + Carnegie-Mellon University +Commodore + Commodore Business Machines +DEC + The Digital Equipment Corporation +Fairchild + The Fairchild Instruments Palo Alto development group +FidoNet + See the {FidoNet} entry +IBM + International Business Machines +MIT + Massachusetts Institute of Technology; esp. the legendary MIT AI + Lab culture of roughly 1971 to 1983 and its feeder groups, + including the Tech Model Railroad Club +NRL + Naval Research Laboratories +NYU + New York University +OED + The Oxford English Dictionary +Purdue + Purdue University +SAIL + Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (at Stanford + University) +SI + From Syst`eme International, the name for the standard + conventions of metric nomenclature used in the sciences +Stanford + Stanford University +Sun + Sun Microsystems +TMRC + Some MITisms go back as far as the Tech Model Railroad Club + (TMRC) at MIT c. 1960. Material marked TMRC is from "An Abridged + Dictionary of the TMRC Language", originally compiled by Pete + Samson in 1959 +UCLA + University of California at Los Angeles +UK + the United Kingdom (England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland) +Usenet + See the {Usenet} entry +WPI + Worcester Polytechnic Institute, site of a very active community + of PDP-10 hackers during the 1970s +WWW + The World-Wide-Web. +XEROX PARC + XEROX's Palo Alto Research Center, site of much pioneering + research in user interface design and networking +Yale + Yale University + +Some other etymology abbreviations such as {Unix} and {PDP-10} refer +to technical cultures surrounding specific operating systems, +processors, or other environments. The fact that a term is labelled +with any one of these abbreviations does not necessarily mean its use +is confined to that culture. In particular, many terms labelled `MIT' +and `Stanford' are in quite general use. We have tried to give some +indication of the distribution of speakers in the usage notes; +however, a number of factors mentioned in the introduction conspire to +make these indications less definite than might be desirable. + +A few new definitions attached to entries are marked [proposed]. +These are usually generalizations suggested by editors or Usenet +respondents in the process of commenting on previous definitions of +those entries. These are *not* represented as established jargon. + +:Format For New Entries: +======================== + +You can mail submissions for the Jargon File to + jargon@@snark.thyrsus.com. + +All contributions and suggestions about the Jargon File will be +considered donations to be placed in the public domain as part of this +File, and may be used in subsequent paper editions. Submissions may +be edited for accuracy, clarity and concision. + +Try to conform to the format already being used in the ASCII on-line version +--- head-words separated from text by a colon (double colon for topic +entries), cross-references in curly brackets (doubled for topic +entries), pronunciations in slashes, etymologies in square brackets, +single-space after definition numbers and word classes, etc. Stick to +the standard ASCII character set (7-bit printable, no high-half +characters or [nt]roff/TeX/Scribe escapes), as one of the versions +generated from the master file is an info document that has to be +viewable on a character tty. + +We are looking to expand the File's range of technical specialties +covered. There are doubtless rich veins of jargon yet untapped in the +scientific computing, graphics, and networking hacker communities; +also in numerical analysis, computer architectures and VLSI design, +language design, and many other related fields. Send us your jargon! + +We are *not* interested in straight technical terms explained by +textbooks or technical dictionaries unless an entry illuminates +`underground' meanings or aspects not covered by official histories. +We are also not interested in `joke' entries -- there is a lot of +humor in the file but it must flow naturally out of the explanations +of what hackers do and how they think. + +It is OK to submit items of jargon you have originated if they have +spread to the point of being used by people who are not personally +acquainted with you. We prefer items to be attested by independent +submission from two different sites. + +An HTML version of the File is available at +http://www.ccil.org/jargon. Please send us URLs for materials related +to the entries, so we can enrich the File's link structure. + +The Jargon File will be regularly maintained and made available for +browsing on the World Wide Web, and will include a version number. +Read it, pass it around, contribute -- this is *your* monument! + + +End of the Preface to the Jargon File + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Jargon File, Version 4.0.0 + Binary files differdiff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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