Family Fun/Family Fun.iso/joke6/jf281a/jarg281c.cap

Text File | 1991-03-23 | 156KB | 2,965 lines

Article #8710 (8725 is last):
From: [e-mail] (Eric S. Raymond)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers,comp.misc
Subject: The Jargon File v2.8.1, 22 MAR 1991, part 6 of 19
Date: Fri Mar 22 18:39:37 1991

Submitted-by: [e-mail]
Archive-name: jargon/part06

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X   1. vi. To disappear or dissolve; the image that goes with it is of
X   an object breaking up into raster lines and static and then
X   dissolving.  Occasionally used of a person who seems to have
X   suddenly `fuzzed out' mentally rather than physically.  Usage:
X   extremely silly, also rare.  This verb was actually invented as
X   *fictional* hacker jargon, and adopted in a spirit of irony by
X   real hackers years after the fact.  2. vt. On a Macintosh, many
X   program structures (including the code itself) are managed in small
X   segments of the program file known as `resources'. The standard
X   resource compiler is Rez.  The standard resource decompiler is
X   DeRez.  Thus decompiling a resource is `derezzing'.  Usage: very
X   common.
X
Xdead code: n. Routines that can never be accessed because all calls
X   to them have been removed, or code which cannot be reached because
X   it is guarded by a control structure which provably must always
X   transfer control somewhere else.  The presence of dead code may
X   reveal either logical errors due to alterations in the program or
X   significant changes in the assumptions and environment of the
X   program (see also {software rot}); a good compiler should report
X   dead code so a maintainer can think about what it means.  Syn.
X   {grunge}.
X
XDEADBEEF: n. The hexadecimal word-fill pattern for freshly
X   allocated memory under a number of IBM environments, including the
X   RS/6000.  As in "Your program is...";  if you start from an odd
X   half-word boundary, of course, you have BEEFDEAD.
X
Xdeadlock: n. 1. [techspeak] A situation wherein two or more
X   processes are unable to proceed because each is waiting for one of
X   the other to do something.  A common example is a program
X   communicating to a server, which may find itself waiting for output
X   from the server before sending anything more to it, while the
X   server is similarly waiting for more input from the controlling
X   program before outputting anything.  (It is reported that this
X   particular flavor of deadlock is sometimes called a `starvation
X   deadlock', though the term `starvation' is more properly used for
X   situations where a program can never run simply because it never
X   gets high enough priority.  Another common flavor is
X   `constipation', where each process is trying to send stuff to
X   the other, but all buffers are full because nobody is reading
X   anything.)  See {deadly embrace}.  2. Also used of
X   deadlock-like interactions between humans, as when two people meet
X   in a narrow corridor, and each tries to be polite by moving aside
X   to let the other pass, but they end up swaying from side to side
X   without making any progress because they always both move the same
X   way at the same time.
X
Xdeadly embrace: n. Same as {deadlock}, though usually used only when
X   exactly two processes are involved.  This is the more popular term in
X   Europe, while {deadlock} predominates in the United States.
X
Xdeath star: [from the movie `Star Wars'] The AT&T corporate
X   logo, which appears on computers sold by AT&T and bears an uncanny
X   resemblance to the `Death Star' in the movie.  This usage is
X   particularly common among partisans of {BSD} UNIX, who tend to
X   regard the AT&T versions as inferior and AT&T as a bad guy.  Copies
X   still circulate of a poster printed by Mt. Xinu showing a starscape
X   with a space fighter labelled 4.2BSD streaking away from a broken
X   AT&T logo wreathed in flames.
X
X   AT&T's internal magazine, `Focus', uses `death star' for
X   an incorrectly done AT&T logo in which the inner circle in the top
X   left is dark instead of light --- a frequent result of dark-on-light
X   logo images.
X
XDEC Wars: n. A 1983 {USENET} posting by Alan Hastings and Steve Tarr,
X   spoofing the `Star Wars' movies in hackish terms.  Some years
X   later, ESR (disappointed by Hastings/Tarr's failure to exploit a
X   great premise more thoroughly) posted a three-times-longer complete
X   rewrite called `UNIX WARS'; the two are often confused.
X
XDEChead: /dek'hed/ n. 1. A DEC {field servoid}.  Not flattering.
X   2. [from `deadhead'] A Grateful Dead fan working at DEC.
X
Xdeckle: [from dec- and {nickle}] /dek'l/ n. Two {nickle}s; 10
X   bits.  Reported among developers for Mattel's GI 1600 (the
X   Intellivision games processor), a chip with 16-bit-wide RAM but
X   10-bit-wide ROM.
X
Xdeep hack mode: n. See {hack mode}.
X
Xdeep magic: [poss. from C.S. Lewis's `Narnia' books.] n. An
X   awesomely arcane technique central to a program or system, esp. one
X   not generally published and available to hackers at large (compare
X   {black art}); one which could only have been composed by a true
X   {wizard}.  Compiler optimization techniques and many aspects of
X   {OS} design used to be {deep magic}; many techniques in
X   cryptography, signal processing, graphics, and AI still are.
X   Compare {heavy wizardry}.  Esp. found in comments of the form
X   "Deep magic begins here...".  Compare {voodoo programming}.
X
Xdeep space: adj. 1. Describes the notional location of any program
X   which has gone {off the trolley}.  Esp. used of programs which
X   just sit there silently grinding long after either failure or some
X   output is expected.  Compare {buzz}, {catatonic},
X   {hyperspace}.  2. The metaphorical location of a human so dazed
X   and/or confused or caught up in some esoteric form of {bogosity}
X   that he/she no longer responds coherently to normal communication.
X   Compare {page out}.
X
Xdefenestration: [from the traditional Czechoslovak method of
X   assassinating prime ministers, via SF fandom] n. 1. Proper karmic
X   retribution for an incorrigible punster.  "Oh, ghod, that was
X   *awful*!"  "Quick! Defenestrate him!"  2. The act of
X   exiting a window system in order to get better response time from a
X   full-screen program.  This comes from the dictionary meaning of
X   `defenestrate', which is to throw something out a window.  3. Any
X   non-reversible act of removal, usually applied to worthless
X   objects, that improves matters having happened.  "I don't have any
X   disk space left."  "Well, why don't you defenestrate that 100 megs
X   worth of old core dumps?"  4. [proposed] The requirement to support
X   a command-line interface.  As: "It has to run on a VT100."
X   "Curses! I've been defenestrated".
X
Xdefined as: adj. Currently in the role of, usually in an
X   off-the-organization-chart sense.  "Pete is currently defined as
X   bug prioritizer."  Compare {logical}.
X
Xdehose: vt. To clear a {hosed} condition.
X
Xdelint: vt. To modify code to remove problems detected when linting.
X   See {lint}.
X
Xdelta: n. 1. [techspeak] A quantitative change, especially a
X   small or incremental one (this use is general in physics and
X   engineering).  Example: "I just doubled the speed of my program!"
X   "What was the delta on program size?"  "About thirty percent."
X   (He doubled the speed of his program, but increased its size by
X   only thirty percent.)  2. [UNIX] A {diff}, especially a
X   {diff} stored under the set of version-control tools called SCCS
X   (Source Code Control System).  3. n. A small quantity, but not as
X   small as {epsilon}.  The jargon usage of {delta} and
X   {epsilon} stems from the traditional use of these letters in
X   mathematics for very small numerical quantities, particularly in
X   `epsilon-delta' proofs in limit theory (as in the differential
X   calculus).  The term {delta} is often used once {epsilon} has
X   been mentioned to mean a quantity that is slightly bigger than
X   {epsilon} but still very small.  For example, "The cost isn't
X   epsilon, but it's delta" means that the cost isn't totally
X   negligible, but it is nevertheless very small.  Compare `within
X   delta of', `within epsilon of': that is, close to and even
X   closer to.
X
Xdemented: adj. Yet another term of disgust used to describe a
X   program.  The connotation in this case is that the program works as
X   designed, but the design is bad.  For example, a program that
X   generates large numbers of meaningless error messages implying it
X   is on the point of imminent collapse.  Compare {wonky},
X   {bozotic}.
X
Xdemigod: n. Hacker with years of experience, a national reputation,
X   and a major role in the development of at least one design, tool,
X   or game used by or known to more than half of the hacker community.
X   To qualify as a genuine demigod, the person must recognizably
X   identify with the hacker community and have helped shape it.  Major
X   demigods include Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie (co-inventors of
X   {UNIX} and {C}) and Richard M. Stallman (inventor of
X   {EMACS}).  In their hearts of hearts, most hackers dream of
X   someday becoming demigods themselves, and more than one major
X   software project has been driven to completion by the author's
X   veiled hopes of apotheosis.  See also {net.god}, {true-hacker}.
X
Xdemo: /de'moh/ [short for `demonstration'] 1. v. To demonstrate a
X   product or prototype.  A far more effective way of inducing bugs to
X   manifest than any number of {test} runs, especially when
X   important people are watching.  2. n. The act of demoing.
X
Xdemo mode: [Sun] n. The state of being {heads down} in order to
X   finish code in time for a {demo}, usually due yesterday.
X
Xdemon: n. 1. [MIT] A portion of a program which is not invoked
X   explicitly, but which lies dormant waiting for some condition(s) to
X   occur.  See {daemon}.  The distinction is that demons are usually
X   processes within a program, while daemons are usually programs
X   running on an operating system.  Demons are particularly common in
X   AI programs.  For example, a knowledge-manipulation program might
X   implement inference rules as demons.  Whenever a new piece of
X   knowledge was added, various demons would activate (which demons
X   depends on the particular piece of data) and would create
X   additional pieces of knowledge by applying their respective
X   inference rules to the original piece.  These new pieces could in
X   turn activate more demons as the inferences filtered down through
X   chains of logic.  Meanwhile, the main program could continue with
X   whatever its primary task was.  2. [outside MIT] Often used
X   equivalently to {daemon}, especially in the {UNIX} world where the
X   latter spelling and pronunciation is considered mildly archaic.
X
Xdepeditate: /dee-ped'*-tayt/ [by analogy with `decapitate'] vt.
X   Humorously, to cut off the feet of.  When using some computer-aided
X   phototypesetting tools, careless placement of text blocks within a
X   page or above a rule can result in chopped-off letter descenders.
X   Such letters are said to have been depeditated.
X
Xdeprecated: n. Said of a program or feature that is considered
X   obsolescent and in the process of being phased out, usually in
X   favor of a specified replacement.  Deprecated features can,
X   unfortunately, linger on for many years.
X
Xdeserves to lose: adj. Said of someone who willfully does the
X   {Wrong Thing}; humorously, if one uses a feature known to be
X   {marginal}.  What is meant is that one deserves the consequences
X   of one's {losing} actions.  "Boy, anyone who tries to use
X   {mess-dos} deserves to {lose}!" (ITS fans used to say this of
X   UNIX; many still do.)  See also {screw}, {chomp}, {bagbiter}.
X
Xdesk check: n.,v. To {grovel} over hardcopy of source code
X   mentally simulating the control flow; a method of catching bugs.
X   No longer common practice in this age of on-screen editing, fast
X   compiles, and sophisticated debuggers, though some maintain stoutly
X   that it ought to be.  Compare {eyeball search}, {vdiff},
X   {vgrep}.
X
Xdevo: /dee'voh/ [orig. in-house jargon at Symbolics] n. A person in a
X   development group.  See also {doco} and {mango}.
X
Xdickless workstation: n. Extremely pejorative hackerism for
X   `diskless workstation', a class of botches including the Sun 3/50
X   and other machines designed exclusively to network with an
X   expensive central disk server.  These combine all the disadvantages
X   of time-sharing with all the disadvantages of distributed personal
X   computers.
X
Xdiddle: 1. vt. To work with or modify in a not particularly
X   serious manner.  "I diddled a copy of {ADVENT} so it didn't
X   double-space all the time."  "Let's diddle this piece of code and
X   see if the problem goes away."  See {tweak} and {twiddle}.
X   2. n. The action or result of diddling.  See also {tweak},
X   {twiddle}, {frob}.
X
Xdiff: n. 1. A change listing, especially giving differences between
X   (and additions to) source code or documents (the term is often used
X   in the plural `diffs').  "Send me your diffs for the Jargon
X   File!"  Compare {vdiff}.  2. Specifically, such a listing
X   produced by the `diff(1)' command, esp. when used as
X   specification input to the `patch(1)' utility (which can
X   actually perform the modifications; see {patch}).  This is a
X   common method of distributing patches and source updates in the
X   UNIX/C world.  See also {vdiff}, {mod}.
X
Xdigit: /dij'it/ n. An employee of Digital Equipment Corporation.
X   See also {VAX}, {VMS}, {PDP-10}, {TOPS-10}, {DEChead},
X   {double DECkers}, {field circus}.
X
Xdike: vt. To remove or disable a portion of something, as a wire
X   from a computer or a subroutine from a program.  A standard slogan
X   runs: "When in doubt, dike it out."  (The implication is that it
X   is usually more effective to attack software problems by reducing
X   complexity rather than increasing it.)  The word `dikes' is widely
X   used among mechanics and engineers to mean `diagonal cutters', a
X   heavy-duty metal-cutting device; to `dike something out' means to
X   use such cutters to remove something.  Indeed, the TMRC Dictionary
X   defined dike as "to attack with dikes".  Among hackers this term
X   has been metaphorically extended to informational objects such as
X   sections of code.
X
Xding: /ding/ n.,vi. 1. Synonym for {feep}.  Usage: rare among
X   hackers, but commoner in the {Real World}.  2. `dinged': what
X   happens when someone in authority gives you a minor bitching about
X   something, esp. something you consider trivial.  "I was dinged for
X   having a messy desk".
X
Xdink: adj. Said of a machine which has the {bitty box} nature; a
X   machine too small to be worth bothering with, sometimes the current
X   system you're forced to work on.  First heard from an MIT hacker
X   (BADOB) working on a CP/M system with 64K in reference to any 6502
X   system, then from fans of 32-bit architectures about 16-bit
X   machines.  "GNUMACS will never work on that dink machine."
X   Probably derived from mainstream `dinky', which isn't sufficiently
X   pejorative.
X
Xdinosaur: n. 1. Any hardware requiring raised flooring and special
X   power.  Used especially of old minis and mainframes when contrasted
X   with newer microprocessor-based machines.  In a famous quote from
X   the '88 UNIX EXPO, Bill Joy compared the mainframe in the massive
X   IBM display with a grazing dinosaur, "with a truck outside pumping
X   its bodily fluids through it".  IBM was not amused.  Compare
X   {big iron}; see also {mainframe}.  2. [IBM] A very conservative
X   user; a {zipperhead}.
X
Xdinosaur pen: n. A traditional {mainframe} computer room complete with
X   raised flooring, special power, its own ultra-heavy-duty air
X   conditioning, and a side order of Halon fire extinguishers.  See
X   {boa}.
X
Xdinosaurs mating: n. Said to occur when yet another {big iron}
X   merger or buyout occurs; reflects a perception by hackers that
X   these signal another stage in the long-drawn-out death throes of
X   the {mainframe} industry.  In its glory days of the Sixties, it
X   was `IBM and the Seven Dwarves': Burroughs, Control Data, General
X   Electric, Honeywell, NCR, RCA, and Univac.  RCA and GE sold out
X   early and it was `IBM and the Bunch' (Burroughs, Univac, NCR,
X   Control Data, and Honeywell) for a while.  Honeywell was bought out
X   by Bull; Burroughs merged with Univac to form Unisys (in 1984, this
X   was when the phrase `dinosaurs mating' was coined), and at time of
X   writing AT&T is attempting to recover from a disastrously bad first
X   six years in the hardware industry by buying NCR.  More such
X   earth-shaking unions of doomed giants seem inevitable.
X
Xdirty power: n. Electrical mains voltage which is unfriendly to
X   the delicate innards of computers.  Spikes, {drop-outs}, average
X   voltage significantly higher or lower than nominal, or just plain
X   noise can all cause problems of varying subtlety and severity.
X
XDiscordianism: /dis-kor'di-*n-ism/ n. The veneration of {Eris}, aka
X   Discordia; widely popular among hackers.  Popularized by Robert
X   Anton Wilson's `Illuminatus!' trilogy as a sort of self-subverting
X   dada-Zen for Westerners --- it should on no account be taken
X   seriously but is far more serious than most jokes.  Usually
X   connected with an elaborate conspiracy theory/joke involving
X   millennia-long warfare between the anarcho-surrealist partisans of
X   Eris and a malevolent, authoritarian secret society called the
X   Illuminati.  See Appendix B, {Church of the Sub-Genius}, and {ha ha
X   only serious}.
X
Xdisk farm: n. (also {laundromat}) A large room or rooms filled
X   with disk drives (esp. {washing machine}s).
X
Xdisplay hack: n. A program with the same approximate purpose as a
X   kaleidoscope: to make pretty pictures.  Famous display hacks
X   include {munching squares}, {smoking clover}, the BSD UNIX
X   `rain(6)' program, `worms(6)' on miscellaneous UNIXes,
X   and the {X} kaleid program.  Display hacks can also be
X   implemented without programming by creating text files containing
X   numerous escape sequences for interpretation by a video terminal;
X   one notable example displayed, on any VT100, a Christmas tree with
X   twinkling lights and a toy train circling its base.  The {hack
X   value} of a display hack is proportional to the esthetic value of
X   the images times the cleverness of the algorithm divided by the
X   size of the code.  Syn. {psychedelicware}.
X
XDissociated Press: n. An algorithm for transforming any text into
X   potentially humorous garbage, even more efficiently than passing it
X   through a {marketroid}.  You start by printing any N consecutive
X   words (or letters) in the text.  Then at every step you search for
X   any random occurrence in the text of the last N words (or letters)
X   already printed and then print the next one.  EMACS has a handy
X   command for this.  Here is a short example of word-based
X   Dissociated Press applied to this Jargon File:
X
X     wart: n. A small, crocky {feature} that sticks out of
X     an array (C has no checks for this).  This is relatively
X     benign and easy to spot if the phrase is bent so as to be
X     not worth paying attention to the medium in question.
X
X   Here is a short example of letter-based Dissociated Press applied
X   to this Jargon File:
X
X     window sysIWYG: n. A bit was named aften /bee't*/ prefer
X     to use the other guy's re, especially in every cast a
X     chuckle on neithout getting into useful informash speech
X     makes removing a featuring a move or usage actual
X     abstractionsidered interj. Indeed spectace logic or problem!
X
X   A hackish idle pastime is to apply letter-based Dissociated Press
X   to a random body of text and {vgrep} the output in hopes of finding
X   an interesting new word.  (In the preceding example, `window
X   sysIWYG' and `informash' show some promise.)  Iterated applications
X   of Dissociated Press usually yield better results.  Similar
X   techniques called `travesty generators' have been employed with
X   considerable satirical effect to the utterances of USENET flamers;
X   see {pseudo}.
X
Xdistribution: n. 1. A software source tree packaged for
X   distribution; but see {kit}.  2. A vague term encompassing
X   mailing lists and USENET newsgroups; any topic-oriented message
X   channel with multiple recipients.  3. An information-space domain
X   (usually loosely correlated with geography) to which propagation of
X   a USENET message is restricted; a much-underutilized feature.
X
Xdo protocol: [from network protocol programming] vt. To perform an
X   interaction with somebody or something that follows a clearly
X   defined procedure.  For example, "Let's do protocol with the
X   check." at a restaurant means to ask for the check, calculate the
X   tip and everybody's share, collect money from everybody, generate
X   change as necessary, and pay the bill.  See {protocol}.
X
Xdoc: /dok/ n. Common spoken and written shorthand for `document'.
X   Often in the plural `docs' and the construction `doc file',
X   documentation available on line.
X
Xdoco: /do'koh/ [orig. in-house jargon at Symbolics] n. A
X   documentation writer.  See also {devo} and {mango}.
X
Xdocumentation:: n. The multiple kilograms of macerated, pounded,
X   steamed, bleached, and pressed trees that accompany most modern
X   software or hardware products (see also {tree-killer}).  Hackers
X   seldom read paper documentation and (too) often resist writing it;
X   they prefer theirs to be terse and on-line.  See {drool-proof
X   paper}, {verbiage}.
X
Xdodgy: adj. Syn. with {flaky}.  Preferred outside the U.S.
X
Xdogcow: n. See {Moof}.
X
Xdogwash: [From a quip in the `urgency' field of a very optional
X   software change request, about 1982.  It was something like,
X   "Urgency: Wash your dog first."] 1. n. A project of minimal
X   priority, undertaken as an escape from more serious work.  2. v.
X   To engage in such a project.  Many games and much {freeware} get
X   written this way.
X
Xdomainist: adj. 1. Said of an {{Internet address}} (as opposed to
X   a {bang path}) because the part to the right of the `@',
X   specifies a nested series of `domains'; for example,
X   `[e-mail]' specifies the machine called
X   `snark' in the subdomain called `thyrsus' within the
X   top-level domain called `com'.  2. Said of a site, mailer or
X   routing program which knows how to handle domainist addresses.
X
XDon't do that, then!: [from an old doctor's office joke about a
X   patient with a trivial complaint] interj. Stock response to a user
X   complaint.  "When I type control-S, the whole system comes to a
X   halt for thirty seconds."  "Don't do that, then." (or "So don't
X   do that!").  Compare {RTFM}.
X
Xdongle: /dong'gl/ n. 1. A security device for commercial
X   microcomputer programs consisting of a serialized EPROM and some
X   drivers in a D-25 connector shell.  Programs that use a dongle
X   query the port at startup and at programmed intervals thereafter,
X   and terminate if it does not respond with the dongle's programmed
X   validation code.  Thus, users can make as many copies of the
X   program as they want but must pay for each dongle.  The idea was
X   clever but initially a failure, as users disliked tying up a serial
X   port this way.  Most dongles on the market today (1991) will pass
X   data through the port and monitor for `magic codes' (and
X   combinations of status lines) with minimal if any interference with
X   devices further down the line (this innovation was necessary to
X   allow daisy-chained dongles for multiple pieces of software).  The
X   devices are still not widely used, as the industry has moved away
X   from copy-protection schemes in general.  2. By extension, any
X   physical electronic key or transferrable ID required for a program
X   to function.  See {dongle-disk}.
X
Xdongle-disk: /don'gl disk/ n. See {dongle}; a `dongle-disk' is a
X   floppy disk with some coding that allows an application to
X   identify it uniquely.  It can therefore be used as a {dongle}.
X   Also called a "key disk".
X
Xdonuts: n. Collective noun for any set of memory bits.  This is
X   really archaic and may no longer be live jargon; it dates from the
X   days of ferrite-core memories in which each bit was represented by
X   a doughnut-shaped magnetic flip-flop.  Compare {core}.
X
Xdoorstop: n. Used to describe equipment that is non-functional and
X   halfway expected to remain so, especially obsolete equipment kept
X   around for political reasons or ostensibly as a backup.  "When we
X   get another Wyse-50 in here, that ADM3 will turn into a doorstop."
X   Compare {boat anchor}.
X
Xdot file: [UNIX] n. A file that is not visible to normal
X   directory-browsing tools (on UNIX, files named beginning with a dot
X   are normally invisible to the directory lister).
X
Xdouble bucky: adj. Using both the CTRL and META keys.  "The
X   command to burn all LEDs is double bucky F."
X
X   This term originated on the Stanford extended-ASCII keyboard, and
X   was later taken up by users of the {space-cadet keyboard} at MIT.
X   A typical MIT comment was that the Stanford {bucky bits} (control
X   and meta shifting keys) were nice, but there weren't enough of
X   them; you could only type 512 different characters on a Stanford
X   keyboard.  An obvious thing was simply to add more shifting keys,
X   and this was eventually done; one problem is that a keyboard with
X   that many shifting keys is hard on touch-typists, who don't like to
X   move their hands away from the home position on the keyboard.  It
X   was half-seriously suggested that the extra shifting keys be
X   pedals; typing on such a keyboard would be very much like playing a
X   full pipe organ.  This idea is mentioned below, in a parody of a
X   very fine song by Jeffrey Moss called `Rubber Duckie', which
X   was published in `The Sesame Street Songbook' (Simon and
X   Schuster 1971, ISBN 671-21036-X).  These lyrics were written on May
X   27, 1978, in celebration of the Stanford keyboard.
X
X                       Double Bucky
X
X       Double bucky, you're the one!
X       You make my keyboard lots of fun.
X           Double bucky, an additional bit or two:
X       (Vo-vo-de-o!)
X       Control and meta, side by side,
X       Augmented ASCII, nine bits wide!
X           Double bucky!  Half a thousand glyphs, plus a few!
X               Oh,
X               I sure wish that I
X               Had a couple of
X                   Bits more!
X               Perhaps a
X               Set of pedals to
X               Make the number of
X                   Bits four:
X               Double double bucky!
X       Double bucky, left and right
X       OR'd together, outta sight!
X           Double bucky, I'd like a whole word of
X           Double bucky, I'm happy I heard of
X           Double bucky, I'd like a whole word of you!
X
X       --- The Great Quux (with apologies to Jeffrey Moss)
X
X   [This, by the way, is an excellent example of computer {filk} --- ESR]
X
X   See also {meta bit}, {cokebottle}, and {quadruple bucky}.
X
Xdouble DECkers: n. Used to describe married couples in which both
X   partners work for Digital Equipment Corporation.
X
Xdoubled sig: [USENET] n. A {sig block} that has been included
X   twice in a {USENET} article or, less frequently, in an electronic
X   mail message.  An article or message with a doubled sig can be
X   caused by improperly configured software.  More often, however, it
X   reveals the author's lack of experience in electronic
X   communication.  See {biff}, {pseudo}.
X
Xdown: 1. adj. Not operating.  "The up escalator is down" is
X   considered a humorous thing to say, but "The elevator is down"
X   always means "The elevator isn't working" and never refers to
X   what floor the elevator is on.  With respect to computers, this
X   usage has passed into the mainstream; the extension to other kinds
X   of machine is still hackish.  2. `go down' vi. To stop functioning;
X   usually said of the {system}.  The message every hacker hates to
X   hear from the operator is, "The system will go down in five
X   minutes."  3. `take down', `bring down' vt. To deactivate
X   purposely, usually for repair work.  "I'm taking the system down to
X   work on that bug in the tape drive."  See {crash}; oppose {up}.
X
Xdownload: vt. To transfer data or (esp.) code from a larger `host'
X   system (esp. a {mainframe}) over a digital comm link to a smaller
X   `client' system, esp. a microcomputer or specialized peripheral
X   device.  Oppose {upload}.
X
XDP: n. 1. Data Processing.  Listed here because, according to
X   hackers, use of it marks one immediately as a {suit}.  See
X   {DPer}.  2. Common abbrev for {Dissociated Press}.
X
XDPB: /d*-pib'/ [from the PDP-10 instruction set] vt. To plop
X   something down in the middle.  Usage: silly.  Example: "DPB
X   yourself into that couch, there."  The connotation would be that
X   the couch is full except for one slot just big enough for you to
X   sit in.  DPB means `DePosit Byte', and was the name of a PDP-10
X   instruction that inserts some bits into the middle of some other
X   bits.  This usage has been kept alive by the Common Lisp function
X   of the same name.
X
XDPer: n. Data Processor.  Hackers are absolutely amazed that {suit}s
X   use this term self-referentially.  "*Computers* process data,
X   not people!"  See {DP}.
X
Xdragon: n. [MIT] A program similar to a {daemon}, except that it
X   is not invoked at all, but is instead used by the system to perform
X   various secondary tasks.  A typical example would be an accounting
X   program, which keeps track of who is logged in, accumulates
X   load-average statistics, etc.  Under ITS, many terminals displayed
X   a list of people logged in, where they were, what they were
X   running, etc. along with some random picture (such as a unicorn,
X   Snoopy, or the Enterprise) which was generated by the `name
X   dragon'.  Usage: rare outside MIT --- under UNIX and most other OSes
X   this would be called a `background demon' or {daemon}.  The
X   best-known UNIX example of a dragon is `cron(1)'.  At SAIL,
X   they called this sort of thing a `phantom'.
X
XDragon Book: n. Aho, Sethi, and Ullman's classic text
X   `Compilers: Principles, Techniques and Tools', so called
X   because of the cover design depicting a knight slaying a dragon
X   labelled `compiler complexity'.  This actually describes the `Red
X   Dragon Book' (1986); an earlier edition (sans Sethi and titled
X   `Principles Of Compiler Design') was the `Green Dragon Book'
X   (1977).  There is now a third edition of the Dragon Book that has
X   the knight sitting in front of what, for all the world, looks like
X   a video-game display of the dragon, with the real dragon behind it.
X   The term `White Dragon Book' has been proposed.  See also
X   {{book titles}}.
X
Xdrain: [IBM] v. Syn. for {flush} (sense #2).  Has a connotation
X   of finality about it; one speaks of draining a device before taking
X   it offline.
X
Xdread high-bit disease: n. A condition endemic to PRIME (a.k.a
X   PR1ME) minicomputers which results in all the characters having
X   their high (0x80) bit ON rather than OFF.  This of course makes
X   transporting files to other systems much more difficult, not to
X   mention talking to true eight-bit devices.  It is reported that
X   PRIME adopted the reversed-eight-bit convention in order to save 25
X   cents per serial line per machine.  This probably qualifies as one
X   of the most {cretinous} design tradeoffs ever made.  See {meta
X   bit}.
X
XDRECNET: /drek'net/ [from Yiddish/German `dreck'] n. Deliberate
X   distortion of DECNET, a networking protocol used in the {VMS}
X   community.  So called because DEC helped write the Ethernet
X   specification and then (either stupidly or as a malignant
X   customer-control tactic) violated that spec in the design of
X   DRECNET in a way that made it incompatible.  See also {connector
X   conspiracy}.
X
Xdriver: n. 1. The {main loop} of an event-processing program; the
X   code that gets commands and dispatches them for execution.  2. In
X   `device driver', code designed to handle a particular
X   peripheral device such as a magnetic disk or tape.
X
Xdroid: n. A person (esp. a low-level bureaucrat or service-business
X   employee) exhibiting most of the following characteristics: (a)
X   Naive trust in the wisdom of the parent organization or `the
X   system'; (b) A propensity to believe obvious nonsense emitted by
X   authority figures; blind faith; (c) A rule-governed mentality, one
X   unwilling or unable to look beyond the `letter of the law' in
X   exceptional situations; (d) No interest in fixing that which is
X   broken; an "It's not my job, man" attitude.  Compare {suit},
X   {marketroid}; see {-oid}.
X
Xdrool-proof paper: n. Documentation that has been obsessively dumbed
X   down, to the point where only a {cretin} could bear to read it, is
X   said to have succumbed to the `drool-proof paper syndrome' or to
X   have been `written on drool-proof paper'.  For example, this is
X   an actual quote from Apple's LaserWriter manual: "Do not expose
X   your LaserWriter to open fire or flame."
X
Xdrop on the floor: vt. To react to an error condition by silently
X   discarding messages or other valuable data.  Example: "The gateway
X   ran out of memory, so it just started dropping packets on the
X   floor."  Also frequently used of faulty mail and netnews relay
X   sites that lose messages.  See also {black hole}, {bit bucket}.
X
Xdrop-ins: [prob. by analogy with {drop-outs}] n. Spurious
X   characters appearing on a terminal or console due to line noise or
X   a system malfunction of some sort.  Esp. used when these are
X   interspersed with your own typed input.  Compare {drop-outs}.
X
Xdrop-outs: n. 1. A variety of `power glitch' (see {glitch});
X   momentary zero voltage on the electrical mains.  2. Missing
X   characters in typed input due to software malfunction or system
X   saturation (this can happen under UNIX, for example, when a bad
X   connect to a modem swamps the processor with spurious character
X   interrupts).  3. Mental glitches; used as a way of describing
X   those occasions when the mind just seems to shut down for a couple
X   of beats.  See {glitch}, {fried}.
X
Xdrugged: adj. (also `on drugs') 1. Conspicuously stupid,
X   heading towards {brain-damaged}.  Often accompanied by a
X   pantomime of toking a joint (but see Appendix B).  2. Of hardware,
X   very slow relative to normal performance.
X
Xdrunk mouse syndrome: n. A malady exhibited by the mouse pointing
X   device of some computers.  The typical symptom is for the mouse
X   cursor on the screen to move to random directions and not in sync
X   with the moving of the actual mouse.  Can usually be corrected by
X   unplugging the mouse and plugging it back again.  Another
X   recommended fix is to rotate your optical mouse pad 90 degrees.
X
X   At Xerox PARC in the 1970s, most people kept a can of copier
X   cleaner (isopropyl alcohol) at their desks.  When the steel ball on
X   the mouse had picked up enough cruft to be unreliable, the mouse
X   was doused in cleaner, which restored it for a while.  However,
X   this operation left a fine residue which accelerated the accumulation
X   of cruft, so the dousings became more and more frequent.  Finally,
X   the mouse was declared "alcoholic" and sent to the clinic to be
X   dried out (in a CFC ultrasonic bath).
X
Xdumbass attack: /duhm'ass *-tak'/ [Purdue] n. Notional cause of a
X   novice's mistake made by the experienced, especially one made while
X   running as root under UNIX, e.g. typing `rm -r *' or
X   `mkfs' on a mounted file system.  Compare {adger}.
X
Xdump: n. 1. An undigested and voluminous mass of information about a
X   problem or the state of a system, especially one routed to the
X   slowest available output device (compare {core dump}), and most
X   especially one consisting or hex and octal {runes} describing the
X   byte-by-byte state of memory, mass storage, or some file.  In elder
X   days, debugging was generally done by `grovelling over a dump'
X   (see {grovel}); increasing use of high-level languages and
X   interactive debuggers has made this uncommon, and the term `dump'
X   now has a faintly archaic flavor.  2. A backup.  This usage is
X   typical only at large timesharing installations.
X
Xdup killer: /d[y]oop killer/ [FidoNet] n. Software which is
X   supposed to detect and delete duplicates of a message which may
X   have reached the FidoNet system via different routes.
X
Xdup loop: /d[y]oop loop/ (also `dupe loop') [FidoNet] n. An
X   incorrectly configured system or network gateway may propagate
X   duplicate messages on one or more {echo}s, with different
X   identification information that renders {dup killer}s
X   ineffective.  If such a duplicate message eventually reaches a
X   system which it has already passed through (with the original
X   identification information), all systems passed on the way back to
X   that system are said to be involved in a {dup loop}.
X
Xdusty deck: n. Old software (especially applications) with which
X   one is obliged to remain compatible (or to maintain).  The term
X   implies that the software in question is a holdover from card-punch
X   days.  Used esp. when referring to old scientific and
X   {number-crunching} software, much of which was written in FORTRAN and
X   very poorly documented but is believed to be too expensive to
X   replace.  See {fossil}.
X
XDWIM: /dwim/ [Do What I Mean] 1. adj. Able to guess, sometimes
X   even correctly, the result intended when bogus input was provided.
X   2. n.,obs. The BBNLISP/INTERLISP function that attempted to
X   accomplish this feat by correcting many of the more common errors.
X   See {hairy}.  3. Occasionally, an interjection hurled at a
X   balky computer, esp.  when one senses one might be tripping over
X   legalisms (see {legalese}).
X
X   Warren Teitelman originally wrote DWIM to fix his typos and
X   spelling errors, so it was somewhat idiosyncratic to his style, and
X   would often make hash of anyone else's typos if they were
X   stylistically different.  This led a number of victims of DWIM to
X   claim the acronym stood for "Damn Warren's Infernal Machine!"
X
X   DWIM is often suggested in jest as a desired feature for a complex
X   program; also, occasionally described as the single instruction the
X   ideal computer would have.  Back when proofs of program correctness
X   were in vogue, there were also jokes about `DWIMC': Do What I
X   Mean, Correctly).  A related term, more often seen as a verb, is
X   DTRT (Do The Right Thing), see {Right Thing}.
X
Xdynner: /din'r/ 32 bits, by analogy with {nybble} and {{byte}}.  Usage:
X   rare and extremely silly.  See also {playte}, {tayste}, {crumb}.
X
X= E =
X=====
X
Xearthquake: [IBM] n. The ultimate real-world shock test for
X   computer hardware.  Hackish sources at IBM deny the rumor that the
X   Bay Area quake of 1989 was initiated by the company to test quality
X   assurance procedures at its California plants.
X
XEaster egg: n. 1. A message hidden in the object code of a program
X   as a joke, intended to be found by persons disassembling or
X   browsing the code.  2. A message, graphic, or sound-effect emitted
X   by a program (or, on a PC, the BIOS ROM) in response to some
X   undocumented set of commands or keystrokes, intended as a joke or
X   to display program credits.  One well-known early Easter egg found
X   in a couple of OSes caused them to respond to the command `make
X   love' with `not war?'.  Many personal computers have much more
X   elaborate eggs hidden in ROM, including lists of the developers'
X   names, political exhortations, snatches of music, and (in one case)
X   graphics images of the entire development team.
X
XEaster egging: [IBM] n. The act of replacing unrelated parts more or
X   less at random in hopes that a malfunction will go away.  Hackers
X   consider this the normal operating mode of {field circus} techs and
X   do not love them for it.  Compare {shotgun debugging}.
X
Xeat flaming death: imp. A construction popularized among hackers by
X   the infamous {CPU Wars} comic; supposed to derive from a famously
X   turgid line in a WWII-era anti-Nazi propaganda comic which ran
X   "Eat flaming death, non-Aryan mongrels!" or something of the sort
X   (however, it is also reported that the Firesign Theater's 1975
X   album `In The Next World, You're On Your Own' included the
X   phrase "Eat flaming death, fascist media pigs"; this may have been
X   an influence).  Used in humorously overblown expressions of
X   hostility. "Eat flaming death, {{EBCDIC}} users!"
X
XEBCDIC:: /eb's*-dik/, /eb'see`dik/, or /eb'k*-dik/ [Extended Binary
X   Coded Decimal Interchange Code] n. An alleged character set used on
X   IBM {dinosaur}s.  It exists in six mutually incompatible
X   versions, all featuring such delights as non-contiguous letter
X   sequences and the absence of several ASCII punctuation characters
X   fairly important for modern computer languages (exactly which
X   characters are absent vary according to which version of EBCDIC
X   you're looking at).  IBM adapted EBCDIC from {{punched card}} code
X   in the early 1960s and promulgated it as a customer-control tactic
X   (see {connector conspiracy}), spurning the already established
X   ASCII standard.  Today, IBM claims to be an open-systems company,
X   but IBM's own description of the EBCDIC variants and how to convert
X   between them is still internally classified top-secret,
X   burn-before-reading.  Hackers blanch at the very *name* of
X   EBCDIC and consider it a manifestation of purest {evil}.  See
X   also {fear and loathing}.
X
Xecho: [FidoNet] n. A topic group on {FidoNet}'s echomail system.  Compare
X   {newsgroup}.
X
Xeighty-column mind: [IBM] n. The sort said to be employed by
X   persons for whom the transition from card to tape was traumatic
X   (nobody has dared tell them about disks yet).  It is said that
X   these people, like (according to an old joke) the founder of IBM,
X   will be buried `face down, 9-edge first' (the 9-edge is the bottom
X   of the card).  This directive is inscribed on IBM's 1422 and 1602
X   card readers, and referenced in a famous bit of doggerel called
X   `The Last Bug', which ends:
X
X        He died at the console
X        Of hunger and thirst.
X        Next day he was buried,
X        Face down, 9-edge first.
X
X   The eighty-column mind is thought by most hackers to dominate IBM's
X   customer base, and its thinking.  See {{punched card}}, {IBM},
X   {fear and loathing}, {card walloper}.
X
XEl Camino Bignum: /el' k*-mee'noh big'num/ n. El Camino Real.  El
X   Camino Real is the name of a street through the San Francisco
X   peninsula that originally extended (and still appears in places)
X   all the way down to Mexico City.  Navigation on the San Francisco
X   peninsula is usually done relative to El Camino Real, which defines
X   {logical} north and south even though it doesn't really run N/S
X   many places.  El Camino Real runs right past Stanford University
X   and so is familiar to hackers.  The Spanish word `real' (which has
X   two syllables /ray-ahl'/) means `royal'; El Camino Real is `the
X   royal road'.  In the FORTRAN language, a `real' quantity is a
X   number typically precise to seven significant digits, and a `double
X   precision' quantity is a larger floating-point number, precise to
X   perhaps fourteen significant digits (other languages have similar
X   `real' types).  When a hacker from MIT visited Stanford in 1976 or
X   so, he remarked what a long road El Camino Real was.  Making a pun
X   on `real', he started calling it `El Camino Double Precision' ---
X   but when the hacker was told that the road was hundreds of miles
X   long, he renamed it `El Camino Bignum', and that name has stuck.
X   (See {bignum}.)
X
Xelegant: [from mathematical usage] adj. Combining simplicity, power,
X   and a certain ineffable grace of design.  Higher praise than
X   `clever', `winning', or even {cuspy}.
X
Xelephantine: adj. Used of programs or systems that are both
X   conspicuous {hog}s (due perhaps to poor design founded on
X   {brute force and ignorance}) and exceedingly {hairy} in source
X   form.  An elephantine program may be functional and even friendly,
X   but (like the old joke about being in bed with an elephant) it's
X   tough to have around all the same (and, like a pachyderm, difficult
X   to maintain).  In extreme cases, hackers have been known to make
X   trumpeting sounds or perform expressive proboscatory mime at the
X   mention of the offending program.  Usage: semi-humorous.  Compare
X   `has the elephant nature' and the somewhat more pejorative
X   {monstrosity}.  See also {second-system effect} and
X   {baroque}.
X
Xelevator controller: n. Another archetypal dumb embedded-systems
X   application, like {toaster} (which superseded it).  During one
X   period (1983--84) in the deliberations of ANSI X3J11, the C
X   standardization committee, this was the canonical example of its
X   type.  "You can't require `printf(3)' to be part of the
X   default runtime library --- what if you're targeting an elevator
X   controller?"  Elevator controllers became important rhetorical
X   weapons on both sides of several {holy wars}.
X
XEMACS: /ee'maks/ [from Editing MACroS] n. The ne plus ultra of
X   hacker editors, a program editor with an entire LISP system inside
X   it.  Originally written by Richard Stallman in {TECO} at the
X   MIT-AI lab, but the most widely used versions now run under UNIX.
X   It includes facilities to run compilation subprocesses and send and
X   receive mail; many hackers spend up to 80% of their {tube time}
X   inside it.  Some versions running under window managers iconify as
X   an overflowing kitchen sink, perhaps to suggest the one feature the
X   editor doesn't include.  Indeed, some hackers find EMACS too
X   heavyweight and {baroque} for their taste, and expand the name as
X   `Escape Meta Alt Control Shift' to spoof its heavy reliance on
X   keystrokes decorated with {bucky bits}.  Other spoof expansions
X   include `Eight Megabytes And Constantly Swapping', `Eventually
X   malloc()s All Computer Storage', and `EMACS Makes A Computer Slow'
X   (see {{recursive acronyms}}).  See also {vi}.
X
Xemail: /ee'mayl/ 1. n. Electronic mail automatically passed through
X   computer networks and/or via modems common-carrier lines.  Contrast
X   {snail-mail}, {paper-net}, {voice-net}.  See {network
X   address}.  2. vt. To send email to a person.
X
X   Oddly enough, the word `emailed' is actually listed in the OED; it
X   means "embossed (with a raised pattern) or arranged in a net work"!
X   A use from 1480 is given, and the word is derived from French
X   `emmailleure', network.
X
Xemoticon: /ee-moh'ti-con/ n. An ASCII glyph used to indicate an
X   emotional state in email or news.  Hundreds have been proposed, but
X   only a few are in common use.  These include:
X
X     :-) Smiley face (indicates humor, laughter, or friendliness)
X     :-( Frowney face (indicates sadness, anger, or upset)
X     ;-) Half-smiley ({ha ha only serious})
X         Also known as "semi-smiley" or "winkey face".
X     :-/ Wry face
X
X   It appears that the emoticon was invented by one Scott Fahlman on
X   the CMU {bboard} systems around 1980.  He later wrote "I wish I
X   had saved the original post, or at least recorded the date for
X   posterity, but I had no idea that I was starting something that
X   would soon pollute all the world's communication channels."  (GLS
X   confirms that he remembers this original posting).
X
X   Of these, the first two are by far the most frequently encountered.
X   Hyphenless forms of them are common on CompuServe, GEnie, and BIX;
X   see also {bixie}.  On {USENET}, `smiley' is often used as a
X   generic synonymous with {emoticon}, as well as specifically for the
X   happy-face emoticon.
X
X   Note for the {newbie}: overuse of the smiley is a mark of
X   loserhood!  More than one per paragraph is a fairly sure sign that
X   you've gone over the line.
X
Xempire: n. Any of a family of military simulations derived from a
X   game written by Peter Langston many years ago.  There are 5 or 6
X   multi-player variants of varying degrees of sophistication, and one
X   single-player version implemented for both UNIX and VMS which is
X   even available as MS-DOS freeware.  All are notoriously addictive.
X
Xengine: n. 1. A piece of hardware that encapsulates some function
X   but can't be used without some kind of {front end}.  Today we
X   have, especially, `print engine': the guts of a laser printer.
X   2. An analogous piece of software; notionally, one that does a lot
X   of noisy crunching, such as a `database engine'.
X
X   The hackish senses of `engine' are actually close to its original,
X   pre-Industrial-Revolution sense of a skill, clever device, or
X   instrument (the word is cognate to `ingenuity').  This sense had
X   not been completely eclipsed by the modern connotation of
X   power-transducing machinery in Charles Babbage's time, which
X   explains why he named the stored-program computer that
X   he designed in 1844 the `Analytical Engine'.
X
XEnglish: n.,obs. The source code for a program, which may be in any
X   language, as opposed to the linkable or executable binary produced
X   from it by a compiler.  The idea behind the term is that to a real
X   hacker, a program written in his favorite programming language is
X   at least as readable as English.  Usage: used mostly by old-time
X   hackers, though recognizable in context.
X
Xenhancement: n. {Marketroid}-speak for a bug {fix}.  This abuse
X   of language is a popular and time-tested way to turn incompetence
X   into increased revenue.  A hacker being ironic would instead call
X   the fix a {feature} --- or perhaps save some effort by declaring
X   the bug itself to be a feature.
X
XENQ: /enkw/ [from the ASCII mnemonic `ENQuire' for #b0000101] ques.
X   An on-line convention for querying someone's availability.  After
X   opening a {talk mode} connection to someone apparently in heavy
X   hack mode, one might type "SYN SYN ENQ?" (the SYNs representing
X   notional synchronization bytes) expecting a return of {ACK} or
SHAR_EOF
true || echo 'restore of jargon.ascii failed'
fi
echo 'End of part 6, continue with part 7'
echo 7 > _shar_seq_.tmp
exit 0



Article #8711 (8725 is last):
From: [e-mail] (Eric S. Raymond)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers,comp.misc
Subject: The Jargon File v2.8.1, 22 MAR 1991, part 1 of 19
Date: Fri Mar 22 18:37:23 1991

Submitted-by: [e-mail]
Archive-name: jargon/part01

---- Cut Here and feed the following to sh ----
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X============ THIS IS THE JARGON FILE, VERSION 2.8.1, 22 MAR 1991 ============
X
XCopyright 1991 by Eric S. Raymond, all rights reserved.  Permission to
Xmake copies and derived works for non-profit use is granted as long as
Xthis notice is not removed.
X
XIntroduction
X************
X
XThis document is a collection of slang terms used by various
Xsubcultures of computer hackers.  Though some technical material is
Xincluded for background and flavor, it is not a technical dictionary;
Xwhat we describe here is the language hackers use among themselves for
Xfun, social communication, and technical debate within their communities.
X
XThe `hacker culture' is actually a loosely networked collection of
Xsubcultures that is nevertheless conscious of some important shared
Xexperiences, shared roots, and shared values.  It has its own myths,
Xheroes, villains, folk epics, in-jokes, taboos, and dreams.  Because
Xhackers as a group are particularly creative people who define
Xthemselves partly by rejection of `normal' values and working habits,
Xit has unusually rich and conscious traditions for an intentional
Xculture less than thirty-five years old.
X
XAs usual with slang, the special vocabulary of hackers helps hold
Xtheir culture together --- it helps hackers recognize each other's
Xplaces in the community and expresses shared values and experiences.
XAlso as usual, *not* knowing the slang (or using it
Xinappropriately) defines one as an outsider, a mundane, or (worst of
Xall in hackish vocabulary) possibly even a *suit*.  All human
Xcultures use slang in this threefold way --- as a tool of
Xcommunication, and of inclusion, and of exclusion.
X
XAmong hackers, though, slang has a subtler aspect paralleled perhaps
Xin the slang of jazz musicians and some kinds of fine artists but hard
Xto detect in most technical or scientific cultures; parts of it are
Xcode for shared states of *consciousness*.  There is a whole
Xrange of altered states and problem-solving mental stances basic to
Xhigh-level hacking which don't fit into conventional linguistic
Xreality any better than a Coltrane solo or one of Maurits Escher's
X`trompe l'oeil' compositions (Escher is a favorite of hackers),
Xand hacker slang encodes these subtleties in many unobvious ways.
XTake the distinction between a {kluge} and an {elegant} solution,
Xand the differing connotations attached to each, as a simple example.
XThe distinction is not only of engineering significance; it reaches
Xright back into the nature of the generative processes in program
Xdesign and asserts something important about two different kinds of
Xrelationship between the hacker and the hack.  Hacker slang is
Xunusually rich in implications of this kind, of overtones and
Xundertones that illuminate the hackish psyche.
X
XBut there is more.  Hackers, as a rule, love word-play and are very
Xconscious and inventive in their use of language.  These traits seem
Xto be common in young children, but the conformity-enforcing machine
Xwe are pleased to call an educational system bludgeons them out of
Xmost of us before adolescence.  Thus, linguistic invention in most
Xsubcultures of ours is a halting and largely unconscious process.
XHackers, by contrast, regard slang formation and use as a game to be
Xplayed for conscious pleasure.  Their inventions thus display an
Xalmost unique combination of the neotenous enjoyment of language-play
Xwith the discrimination of educated and powerful intelligence.
XFurther, the electronic media which knit them together are fluid,
X`hot' connections, well adapted to both the dissemination of new slang
Xand the ruthless culling of weak and superannuated specimens.  The
Xresults of this process give us perhaps a uniquely intense ans
Xaccelerated view of linguistic evolution in action.
X
XThe intensity and consciousness of hackish invention makes a
Xcompilation of hacker slang a particularly effective window into the
Xsurrounding culture --- and, in fact, this one is the latest version
Xof an evolving compilation called the `Jargon File' maintained by
Xhackers themselves for over fifteen years.  This one (like its
Xancestors) is primarily a lexicon, but also includes `topic entries'
Xwhich collect background or sidelight information on hacker culture
Xthat would be awkward to try to subsume under individual entries.
X
XThough the format is that of a reference, it is also intended that the
Xmaterial be enjoyable to browse or read straight through.  Even a
Xcomplete outsider should find at least a chuckle on nearly every page,
Xand much that is amusingly thought-provoking.  But it is also true
Xthat hackers use humorous word-play to make strong, sometime combative
Xstatements about what they feel.  Some of these entries reflect the
Xviews of opposing sides in disputes that have been genuinely
Xpassionate; this is deliberate.  We have not tried to moderate or
Xpretty up these disputes; rather we have attempted to ensure that
X*everyone's* sacred cows get gored, impartially.  Compromise is
Xnot particularly a hackish virtue, but the honest presentation of
Xdivergent viewpoints is.
X
XThe reader with minimal computer background who finds some references
Xincomprehensibly technical can safely ignore them.  We have not felt
Xit either necessary or desirable to eliminate all such; they, too,
Xcontribute flavor, and one of this document's major intended audiences
X(fledgling hackers already partway inside the culture) will benefit
Xfrom them.
X
XA selection of longer items of hacker folklore and humor are included
Xin Appendix A.  The `outside' reader's attention is particularly
Xdirected to Appendix B, the Portrait of J. Random Hacker.  Appendix C
Xis a bibliography of non-technical works which have either influenced
Xor described the hacker culture.
X
XBecause hackerdom is an intentional culture (one each individual must
Xchoose by action to join), one should not be surprised that the line
Xbetween description and influence can become more than a little
Xblurred.  Earlier Jargon File versions have played a central role in
Xspreading hacker language and the culture that goes with it to
Xsuccessively larger populations, and we hope and expect that this one
Xwill do likewise.
X
XOf Slang, Jargon, and Techspeak
X===============================
X
XLinguists usually refer to informal language as `slang' and reserve
Xthe term `jargon' for the technical vocabularies of various
Xoccupations.  However, the ancestor of this collection was called the
X`Jargon File' and hackish slang is traditionally `the jargon'.  When
Xtalking about the jargon there is therefore no convenient way to
Xdistinguish what a *linguist* would call hackers' jargon --- the
Xformal vocabulary they learn from textbooks, technical papers, and
Xmanuals.
X
XTo make a confused situation worse, the line between hackish slang and
Xtechnical programming and computer science vocabulary is fuzzy, and
Xshifts over time.  Further, this technical vocabulary is shared with a
Xwider technical culture of programmers, many of whom are not hackers
Xand do not speak or recognize hackish slang.
X
XAccordingly, this lexicon will try to be as precise as the facts of
Xusage permit about the distinctions between three categories:
X
X   * `slang': informal language from mainstream English or non-techical
X     subcultures (bikers, rock fans, surfers, etc.).
X   * `jargon': without qualifier, denotes informal `slangy' language
X     peculiar to hackers --- the subject of this lexicon.
X   * `techspeak': the formal technical vocabulary of programming,
X     computer science, electronics, and other fields connected to hacking.
X
XThis terminology will be consistently used throughout the remainder of
Xthis lexicon.
X
XThe jargon/techspeak distinction is the delicate one.  A lot of
Xtechspeak originated as jargon, and there is a steady continuing
Xuptake of jargon into techspeak.  On the other hand, a lot of jargon
Xarises from overgeneralization of techspeak terms (there is more about
Xthis in the `Jargon Construction' section below).
X
XIn general, we have considered techspeak any term which communicates
Xprimarily by a denotation well established in textbooks, technical
Xdictionaries, or standards documents.
X
XA few obviously techspeak terms (names of operating systems, languages
Xor documents) are listed when they are tied to hacker folklore that
Xisn't covered in formal sources, or sometimes to convey critical
Xhistorical background necessary to understand other entries to which
Xthey are cross-referenced.  Some other techspeak senses of jargon
Xwords have been listed in order to make the jargon senses clear; where
Xthe text does not specify that a straight technical sense is under
Xdiscussion, these are marked with `[techspeak]' as an etymology.  Many
Xentries have a sense #1 marked this way, with subsequent jargon
Xmeanings explained in terms of it.
X
XWe have also tried to indicate (where known) the apparent origins of
Xterms.  The results are probably the least reliable information in the
Xlexicon, for several reasons.  For one thing, it is well known that
Xmany hackish usages have been independently re-invented multiple
Xtimes, even among the more obscure and intricate neologisms.  It often
Xseems that the generative processes underlying hackish jargon
Xformation have an internal logic so powerful as to create substantial
Xparallelism across separate cultures and even in different languages!
XFor another, the networks tend to propagate innovations so quickly
Xthat `first use' is often impossible to pin down.  And, finally,
Xcompendia like this one alter what they observe by implicitly stamping
Xcultural approval on terms and widening their use.
X
XRevision History
X================
X
XThe original Jargon File was a collection of hacker jargon from
Xtechnical cultures including the MIT AI Lab, the Stanford AI lab
X(SAIL), and others of the old ARPANET AI/LISP/PDP-10 communities
Xincluding Bolt Beranek and Newman (BBN), Carnegie-Mellon University
X(CMU), and Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI).
X
XThe Jargon File (hereafter referred to as `jargon-1' or `the File')
Xwas begun by Raphael Finkel at Stanford in 1975.  From this time until
Xthe plug was finally pulled on the SAIL computer in 1991 the File was
Xnamed AIWORD.RF[UP,DOC] there.  Some terms in it date back
Xconsiderably earlier ({frob} and some senses of {moby}, for
Xinstance, go back to the Tech Model Railroad Club and MIT and are
Xbelieved to date at least back to the early 1960s).  The revisions of
Xjargon-1 were all unnumbered and may be collectively considered
X`Version 1'.
X
XIn 1976, Mark Crispin brought the File to MIT; he and Guy Steele then
Xadded a first wave of new entries.
X
XIn 1976, Mark Crispin, having seen an announcement about the File on
Xthe SAIL computer, {FTP}ed a copy of the File to MIT.  He noticed that
Xit was hardly restricted to `AI words' and so stored the file on
Xhis directory as AI:MRC;SAIL JARGON.
X
XThe file was quickly renamed to JARGON > (the `>' means numbered with
Xa version number) as a flurry of enhancements were made by Mark
XCrispin and Guy L. Steele.  Unfortunately, amidst all this activity,
Xnobody thought of correcting the term `jargon' to `slang' until the
Xcompendium had become widely known as the Jargon File it was too late.
X
XRaphael Finkel dropped out of active participation shortly thereafter,
Xand Don Woods became the SAIL contact for the File (which was
Xsubsequently kept in duplicate at SAIL and MIT, with periodic
Xre-synchronizations).
X
XThe File expanded by fits and starts until about 1983; Richard
XStallman was prominent among the contributors, adding many MIT and
XITS-related coinages.
X
XA late version of jargon-1, expanded with commentary for the mass
Xmarket, was edited by Guy L. Steele into a book published in 1983 as
X`The Hacker's Dictionary' (Harper & Row CN 1082, ISBN
X0-06-091082-8).  The other jargon-1 editors (Raphael Finkel, Don
XWoods, and Mark Crispin) contributed to the revision, as did Richard
XM. Stallman and Geoff Goodfellow.  This book is hereafter referred to
Xas `Steele-1983'.  It is now out of print.
X
XShortly after the publication of Steele-1983, the File effectively
Xstopped growing and changing.  Originally, this was because of a
Xdesire to freeze the file temporarily to facilitate the production of
XSteele-1983, but external conditions caused the `temporary' freeze
Xbecame permanent.
X
XThe AI-Lab culture had been hit hard in the late 1970s by funding
Xcuts, and the resulting administrative decision to use vendor-supported
Xhardware and software instead of homebrew whenever possible.  At MIT,
Xmost AI work had turned to dedicated LISP Machines.  At the same time,
Xthe commercialization of AI technology lured some of the AI Labs' best
Xand brightest away to startups along the Route 128 strip in
XMassachusetts and out west to Silicon Valley.  The startups built LISP
Xmachines for MIT; the central MIT-AI computer became a {TWENEX}
Xsystem rather than a host for the AI hackers' beloved {ITS}.
X
XThe Stanford AI Lab had effectively ceased to exist by 1980, although
Xthe SAIL computer continued as a Computer Science Department resource
Xuntil 1991.  Stanford became a major {TWENEX} site, at one point
Xoperating more than a dozen TOPS-20 systems; but by the mid-1980's
Xmost of the interesting software work was being done on the emerging
XBSD Unix standard.
X
XIn April 1983, the PDP-10-centered cultures that had nourished the
XFile were dealt a death-blow by the cancellation of the Jupiter
Xproject at DEC.  The File's compilers, already dispersed, moved on to
Xother things.  Steele-1983 was partly a monument to what its authors
Xthought was a dying tradition; no one involved realized at the time
Xjust how widely its influence was to run.
X
XBy the mid-1980s the File's content was dated, but the legend that had
Xgrown up around it never quite died out.  The book, and softcopies
Xobtained off the ARPANET, circulated even in cultures far removed from
XMIT's and Stanford's; the content exerted a strong and continuing
Xinfluence on hackish language and humor.  Even as the advent of the
Xmicrocomputer and other trends fueled a tremendous expansion of
Xhackerdom, the File (and related materials like the AI Koans in
XAppendix A) came to be seen as a sort of sacred epic, a hacker-culture
XMatter of Britain chronicling the heroic exploits of the Knights of
Xthe Lab.  The pace of change in hackerdom at large accelerated
Xtremendously --- but the Jargon File, having passed from living
Xdocument to icon, remained essentially untouched for seven years.
X
XThis revision contains nearly the entire text of a late version of
Xjargon-1 (a few obsolete PDP-10-related entries have been dropped
Xfollowing careful consultation with the editors of Steele-1983).  It
Xmerges in about about 80% of the Steele-1983 text, omitting some
Xframing material and a very few entries introduced in Steele-1983
Xwhich are now also obsolete.
X
XThis new version casts a wider net than the old jargon file; its aim
Xis to cover not just AI or PDP-10 hacker culture but all the technical
Xcomputing cultures wherein the true hacker-nature is manifested.  More
Xthan half of the entries now derive from USENET and represent jargon
Xnow current in the C and UNIX communities, but special efforts have
Xbeen made to collect jargon from other cultures including IBM PC
Xprogrammers, Amiga fans, Mac enthusiasts, and even the IBM mainframe
Xworld.
X
XWhere a term can be attributed to a particular subculture or is known
Xto have originated there, we have tried to so indicate.  Here is a
Xlist of abbreviations used in etymologies:
X
XBerkeley
X     University of California at Berkeley
XCambridge
X     The university in England (*not* the city in Massachusetts where
X     MIT happens to be located!)
XBBN
X     Bolt, Beranek & Newman
XCMU
X     Carnegie-Mellon University
XCommodore
X     Commodore Business Machines
XDEC
X     The Digital Equipment Corporation.
XFairchild
X     The Fairchild Instruments Palo Alto development group.
XFidonet
X     See the {Fidonet} entry.
XIBM
X     International Business Machines
XMIT
X     Massachusetts Institute of Technology; esp. the legendary MIT AI Lab
X     culture of roughly 1971 to 1983.  See also TMRC.
XNYU
X     New York University
XPurdue
X     Purdue University
XSAIL
X     Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
XStanford
X     Stanford University
XSun
X     Sun Microsystems
XTMRC
X     Some MITisms go back as far as the Tech Model Railroad Club (TMRC) at
X     MIT c.1960.  Material marked TMRC is from `An Abridged Dictionary
X     of the TMRC Language', originally compiled by Pete Samson in 1959.
XUCLA
X     University of California at Los Angeles
XUSENET
X     See the {USENET} entry.
XWPI
X     Worcester Polytechnic Institute, site of a very active community of
X     PDP-10 hackers during the Seventies.
XXEROX PARC
X     XEROX's Palo Alto Research Center, site of much pioneering research in
X     user interface design and networking.
XYale
X     Yale University
X
XSome other etymology abbreviations such as {UNIX}, {PDP-10}, etc.
Xrefer to technical cultures surrounding specific operating systems,
Xprocessors, or other environments.  Note: the fact that a term is
Xlabelled with any of these abbreviations does not necessarily mean its
Xuse is confined to that culture.  In particular, many terms labelled
X`MIT' and `Stanford' are in quite general use. We have tried to give
Xsome indication of speaker distribution in the usage notes.  However,
Xa number of factors mentioned in the introduction conspire to make
Xthese indications less definite than might be desirable.
X
XEric S. Raymond ([e-mail]) maintains the new File with
Xassistance from Guy L. Steele ([e-mail]); these are the persons
Xprimarily reflected in the File's editorial `we', though we take
Xpleasure in acknowledging the special contribution of the other
Xcoauthors of Steele-1983.  Please email all additions, corrections and
Xcorrespondence relating to the jargon file to [e-mail]
X(UUCP-only sites without connections to an autorouting smart site can
Xuse ...!uunet!snark!jargon).
X
X(Warning: other email addresses appear in this file *but are not
Xguaranteed to be correct* later than the revision date on the first
Xline.  *Don't* email us if an attempt to reach your idol bounces
X--- we have no magic way of checking addresses or looking up people)
X
XSome snapshot of this on-line version will become the main text of a
X`New Hacker's Dictionary', to be published by MIT Press possibly as
Xearly as Summer 1991.  The maintainers are committed to updating the
Xon-line version of the jargon file through and beyond paper
Xpublication, and will continue to make it available to archives and
Xpublic-access sites as a trust of the hacker community.
X
XHere is a chronology of the recent on-line revisions:
X
XVersion 2.1.1, Jun 12 1990: the jargon file comes alive again after a
Xseven-year hiatus.  Reorganization and massive additions were by Eric
XS. Raymond, approved by Guy Steele.  Many items of UNIX, C, USENET, and
Xmicrocomputer-based jargon were added at that time (as well as The
XUntimely Demise of Mabel The Monkey).  Some obsolete usages (mostly
XPDP-10 derived) were moved to Appendix B.
X
XVersion 2.1.5, Nov 28 1990: changes and additions by ESR in response to
Xnumerous USENET submissions and comment from the First Edition co-authors.
XThe bibliography (Appendix C) was also appended.
X
XVersion 2.2.1, Dec 15 1990: most of the contents of the 1983 paper
Xedition edited by Guy Steele was merged in.  Many more USENET
Xsubmissions added, including the International Style and the material
Xon Commonwealth Hackish.  This version had 9394 lines, 75954 words,
X490501 characters, and 1046 entries.
X
XVersion 2.3.1, Jan 03 1991: the great format change --- case is no
Xlonger smashed in lexicon keys and cross-references.  A very few
Xentries from jargon-1 which were basically straight techspeak were
Xdeleted; this enabled the rest of Appendix B to be merged back into
Xmain text and the appendix replaced with the Portrait of J. Random
XHacker.  More USENET submissions were added.  This version had 10728
Xlines, 85070 words, 558261 characters, and 1138 entries.
X
XVersion 2.4.1, Jan 14 1991: the Story of Mel and many more USENET
Xsubmissions merged in.  More material on hackish writing habits added.
XNumerous typo fixes.  This version had 12362 lines, 97819 words,
X642899 characters, and 1239 entries.
X
XVersion 2.5.1, Jan 29 1991: many new entries merged in.  Discussion of
Xinclusion styles added.  This version had 14145 lines, 111904 words,
X734285 characters, and 1425 entries.
X
XVersion 2.6.1, Feb 13 1991: second great format change; no more <>
Xaround headwords or references.  Merged in results of serious
Xcopy-editing passes by Guy Steele, Mark Brader.  Still more entries
Xadded.  This version had 15011 lines, 118277 words, 774942 characters,
Xand 1485 entries.
X
XVersion 2.7.1, Mar 1 1991: new section on slang/jargon/techspeak
Xadded.  Results of Guy's 2nd edit pass merged in.  This version had
X16087 lines, 126885 words, 831872 characters, and 1533 entries.
X
XVersion 2.8.1, Mar 22 1991: material from the TMRC Dictionary and
XMRC's editing pass merged in.  This version had 17154 lines, 135647
Xwords, 888333 characters, and 1602 entries.
X
XVersion numbering: Read versions as major.minor.revision.
XMajor version 1 is reserved for the `old' (ITS) Jargon File, jargon-1.
XMajor version 2 encompasses revisions by ESR (Eric S. Raymond) with
Xassistance from GLS (Guy L. Steele).  Someday, the next maintainer will
Xtake over and spawn `version 3'.  Usually later versions will either
Xcompletely supersede or incorporate earlier versions, so there is
Xgenerally no point in keeping old versions around.
X
XOur thanks to the other co-authors of Steele-1983 for oversight and
Xassistance; also to all the USENETters who contributed entries and
Xencouragement.  Special thanks go to our Scandinavian correspondent
XPer Lindberg ([e-mail]), author of the remarkable Swedish
Xlanguage 'zine `Hackerbladet', for bringing FOO! comics to our
Xattention and smuggling one of the IBM hacker underground's own baby
Xjargon files out to us.  Also, much gratitude to ace hacker/linguist
XJoe Keane ([e-mail]) for helping us improve the pronunciation
Xguides; and to Maarten Litmaath for generously allowing the inclusion
Xof the ASCII pronunciation guide he formerly maintained.  Don Libes
Xcontributed some appropriate material from his excellent book
X`Life With UNIX'.  Linguists David Stampe and Charles Hoequist
Xalso contributed valuable criticism.  Finally, Mark Brader
X([e-mail]) submitted many thoughtful comments and did yeoman
Xservice in catching typos and minor usage bobbles, and Eric Tiedemann
X([e-mail]) contributed sage advice on rhetoric, amphigory, and
Xphilosophunculism.
X
XFormat For New Entries
X======================
X
XTry to conform to the format already being used --- head-words
Xseparated from text by a colon (double colon for topic entries),
Xcross-references in curly brackets (doubled for topic entries),
Xpronunciations in slashes, etymologies in square brackets,
Xsingle-space after definition numbers and word classes, etc.  Stick to
Xthe standard ASCII character set (7-bit printable, no high-half
Xcharacters or [nt]roff/TeX/Scribe escapes), as one of the versions
Xgenerated from the master file is an info document that has to be
Xviewable on a character tty.
X
XWe are looking to expand the file's range of technical specialties covered.
XThere are doubtless rich veins of jargon yet untapped in the scientific
Xcomputing, graphics, and networking hacker communities; also in numerical
Xanalysis, computer architectures and VLSI design, language design, and many
Xother related fields.  Send us your jargon!
X
XWe are *not* interested in straight technical terms explained by
Xtextbooks or technical dictionaries unless an entry illuminates
X`underground' meanings or aspects not covered by official histories.
XWe are also not interested in `joke' entries --- there is a lot of
Xhumor in the file but it must flow naturally out of the explanations
Xof what hackers do and how they think.
X
XIt is OK to submit items of jargon you have originated if they have spread
Xto the point of being used by people who are not personally acquainted with
Xyou.  We prefer items to be attested by independent submission from two
Xdifferent sites.
X
XA few new definitions attached to entries are marked [proposed].
XThese are usually generalizations suggested by editors or USENET
Xrespondents in the process of commenting on previous definitions of
Xthose entries.  These are *not* represented as established
Xjargon.
X
XThe jargon file will be regularly maintained and re-posted from now on and
Xwill include a version number.  Read it, pass it around, contribute --- this
Xis *your* monument!
X
XJargon Construction
X===================
X
XThere are some standard methods of jargonification which became
Xestablished quite early (i.e. before 1970), spreading from such
Xsources as the MIT Model Railroad Club, the PDP-1 SPACEWAR hackers,
Xand John McCarthy's original crew of LISPers.  These include:
X
XVerb doubling: A standard construction in English is to double a verb
Xand use it as an exclamation, such as "Bang, bang!" or "Quack,
Xquack!".  Most of these are names for noises.  Hackers also double
Xverbs as a concise, sometimes sarcastic comment on what the implied
Xsubject does.  Also, a doubled verb is often used to terminate a
Xconversation, in the process remarking on the current state of affairs
Xor what the speaker intends to do next.  Typical examples involve
X{win}, {lose}, {hack}, {flame}, {barf}, {chomp}:
X
X     "The disk heads just crashed."  "Lose, lose."
X     "Mostly he talked about his latest crock.  Flame, flame."
X     "Boy, what a bagbiter!  Chomp, chomp!"
X
XSome verb-doubled constructions have special meanings not immediately
Xobvious from the verb.  These have their own listings in the lexicon.
X
XSoundalike slang: Hackers will often make rhymes or puns in order to
Xconvert an ordinary word or phrase into something more interesting.
XIt is considered particularly {flavorful} if the phrase is bent so
Xas to include some other jargon word; thus the computer hobbyist
Xmagazine `Dr. Dobb's Journal' is almost always referred to among
Xhackers as `Dr. Frob's Journal' or simply `Dr. Frob's'.  Terms of
Xthis kind that have been in fairly wide use include names for
Xnewspapers:
X
X     Boston Herald American => Horrid (or Harried) American
X     Boston Globe => Boston Glob
X     Houston (or San Francisco) Chronicle
X             => the Crocknicle (or the Comical)
X     New York Times => New York Slime
X
XHowever, terms like these are often made up on the spur of the moment.
XStandard examples include:
X
X     Prime Time => Slime Time
X     Data General => Dirty Genitals
X     IBM 360 => IBM Three-Sickly
X     Government Property --- Do Not Duplicate (seen on keys)
X             => Government Duplicity --- Do Not Propagate
X     for historical reasons => for hysterical raisins
X     Margaret Jacks Hall => Marginal Hacks Hall
X
XThis is not really similar to the Cockney rhyming slang it has been
Xcompared to in the past, because Cockney substitutions are opaque
Xwhereas hacker punning jargon is intentionally transparent.
X
XThe -P convention: turning a word into a question by appending the
Xsyllable `P'; from the LISP convention of appending the letter `P'
Xto denote a predicate (a Boolean-valued function).  The question
Xshould expect a yes/no answer, though it needn't.  (See T and NIL.)
X
X     At dinnertime:
X            Q: "Foodp?"
X            A: "Yeah, I'm pretty hungry." or "T!"
X
X            Q: "State-of-the-world-P?"
X            A: (Straight) "I'm about to go home."
X            A: (Humorous) "Yes, the world has a state."
X
X     On the phone to Florida:
X            Q: "State-p Florida?"
X            A: "Been reading JARGON.TXT again, eh?"
X
X[One of the best of these is a {Gosperism} Once, when we were at a
XChinese restaurant, Bill Gosper wanted to know whether someone would
Xlike to share with him a two-person-sized bowl of soup.  His inquiry
Xwas: "Split-p soup?" --- GLS]
X
XOvergeneralization: A very conspicuous feature of jargon is the
Xfrequency with which techspeak items like names of program tools,
Xcommand language primitives, and even assembler opcodes are applied to
Xcontexts outside of computing wherever hackers find amusing analogies
Xto them.  Thus, (to cite one of the best-known examples) UNIX hackers
Xoften {grep} for things rather than searching for them.  Many of the
Xlexicon entries are generalizations of exactly this kind.
X
XHackers enjoy overgeneralization on the grammatical level as well.
XMany hackers love to take various words and add the wrong endings to
Xthem to make nouns and verbs, often by extending a standard rule to
Xnonuniform cases (or vice versa).  For example, because
X
X     porous => porosity
X     generous => generosity
X
Xhackers happily generalize:
X
X     mysterious => mysteriosity
X     ferrous => ferrosity
X     obvious => obviosity
X     dubious => dubiosity
X
XAlso, note that all nouns can be verbed.  E.g.: "All nouns can be
Xverbed", "I'll mouse it up", "Hang on while I clipboard it over",
X"I'm grepping the files".  English as a whole is already heading in
Xthis direction (towards pure-positional grammar like Chinese);
Xhackers are simply a bit ahead of the curve.
X
XSimilarly, all verbs can be nouned.  Thus:
X
X     win => winnitude, winnage
X     disgust => disgustitude
X     hack => hackification
X
XFinally, note the prevalence of certain kinds of nonstandard plural
Xforms.  Some of these go back quite a ways; the TMRC Dictionary noted
Xthat the defined plural of `caboose' is `cabeese'.  On a similarly
XAnglo-Saxon note, almost anything ending in `x' may form plurals in
X-xen (see {VAXen} and {boxen} in the main text).  Even words
Xending in phonetic /k/ alone are sometimes treated this way; e.g.
X`soxen' for a bunch of socks.  Other funny plurals are `frobbotzim'
Xfor the plural of `frobbozz' (see {frobnitz}) and `Unices' and
X`Tenices' (rather than `Unixes' and `Tenexes'; see {UNIX}, {TENEX}
Xin main text).  But note that `Unixen' and `Tenexen' are *never*
Xused; it has been suggested that this is because `-ix' and `-ex' are
XLatin singular endings that attract a Latinate plural.
X
XThe pattern here, as with other hackish grammatical quirks, is
Xgeneralization of an inflectional rule which (in English) is either
Xan import or a fossil (such as Hebrew plural in `-im', or the
XAnglo-Saxon plural in `-en') to cases where it isn't normally
Xconsidered to apply.
X
XThis is not `poor grammar', as hackers are generally quite well
Xaware of what they are doing when they distort the language.  It is
Xgrammatical creativity, a form of playfulness.
X
XSpoken inarticulations: Words such as `mumble', `sigh', and
X`groan' are spoken in places where their referent might more
Xnaturally be used.  It has been suggested that this usage derives from
Xthe impossibility of representing such noises on a comm link or in
Xemail.  Another expression sometimes heard is "Complain!", meaning
X"I have a complaint!"
X
XOf the five listed constructions, verb doubling, peculiar noun
Xformations, and (especially!) spoken inarticulations have become quite
Xgeneral; but punning jargon is still largely confined to MIT and other
Xlarge universities, and the -P convention is found only where LISPers
Xflourish.
X
XFinally, note that many words in hacker jargon have to be
Xunderstood as members of sets of comparatives.  This is especially
Xtrue of the adjectives and nouns used to describe the beauty and
Xfunctional quality of code.  Here is an approximately correct
Xspectrum:
X
X     MONSTROSITY BRAIN-DAMAGE  SCREW  BUG  LOSE  MISFEATURE
X     CROCK  KLUGE  HACK  WIN  FEATURE  ELEGANCE PERFECTION
X
XThe last is spoken of as a mythical absolute, approximated but never
Xactually attained.  Coinages for describing {lossage} seem to call
Xforth the very finest in hackish linguistic inventiveness; it has been
Xtruly said that "{Computer geeks} have more words for equipment
Xfailures than Inuit have for snow", or than Yiddish has for obnoxious
Xpeople.
X
XHacker Speech Style
X===================
X
XThis features extremely precise diction, careful word choice, a
Xrelatively large working vocabulary, and relatively little use of
Xcontractions or `street slang'.  Dry humor, irony, puns, and a
Xmildly flippant attitude are highly valued --- but an underlying
Xseriousness and intelligence is essential.  One should use just
Xenough jargon to communicate precisely and identify oneself as `in
Xthe culture'; overuse of jargon or a breathless, excessively
Xgung-ho attitude are considered tacky and the mark of a loser.
X
XThis speech style is a variety of the precisionist English normally
Xspoken by scientists, design engineers, and academics in technical
Xfields.  Unlike the jargon construction methods, it is fairly constant
Xthroughout hackerdom.
X
XIt has been observed that many hackers are confused by negative
Xquestions --- or, at least, the people they're talking to are often
Xconfused by the sense of their answers.  The problem is that they've
Xdone so much coding that distinguishes between
X
X     if (going) {
X
Xand
X
X     if (!going) {
X
Xthat when they parse the question "Aren't you going?" it seems to be
Xasking the opposite question from "Are you going?", and so merits an
Xanswer in the opposite sense.  This confuses English-speaking
Xnon-hackers because they were taught to answer as though the negative
Xpart weren't there.  In some other languages (including Russian,
XChinese and Japanese) the hackish interpretation is standard and the
Xproblem wouldn't arise.  Hackers often find themselves wishing for a
Xword like French `si' or German `doch' with which one could
Xunambiguously answer `yes' to a negative question.
X
XFor similar reasons, English-speaking hackers almost never use a
Xdouble negative even if they live in a region where colloquial usage
Xallows it.  The thought of uttering something that logically ought to
Xbe an affirmative knowing it will be mis-parsed as a negative tends to
Xdisturb them.
X
XHacker Writing Style
X====================
X
XWe've already seen that hackers often coin jargon by overgeneralizing
Xgrammatical rules.  This is one aspect of a more general fondness for
Xform-versus-content language jokes that shows up particularly in
Xhackish writing.  One correspondent reports that he consistently
Xmisspells `wrong' as `worng'.  Others has been known to criticize
Xglitches in Jargon File drafts by observing "This sentence no verb",
Xor "Bad speling", or "Incorrectspa cing."  Similarly, intentional
XSpoonerisms are often made of phrases relating to confusion, or things
Xwhich are confusing; `dain bramage' for `brain damage' is perhaps the
Xmost common (similarly, a hacker would be likely to write "Excuse me,
XI'm cixelsyd today", rather than "I'm dyslexic...").  This sort of
Xthing is quite common and enjoyed by all concerned.
X
XHackers tend to use quotes as balanced delimiters like parentheses,
Xmuch to the dismay of American editors.  Thus, if "Jim is going" is
Xa phrase, and so is "Bill runs" and "Spock groks", then hackers
Xgenerally prefer to write: "Jim is going", "Bill runs", and
X"Spock groks".  This is incorrect according to standard American
Xusage (which would put the continuation commas and the final period
Xinside the string quotes) but it is counter-intuitive to hackers to
Xmutilate literal strings with characters that don't belong in them.
XGiven the sorts of examples that can come up in discussing
Xprogramming, American-style quoting can even be grossly misleading.
XWhen communicating command lines or small pieces of code, extra
Xcharacters can be a real pain in the neck.  For example:
X
X     First do "foo -acrZ tempo | bar -," then ...
X
Xis different from
X
X     First do "foo -acrZ tempo | bar -", then ...
X
Xfrom a computer's point of view.  While the first is correct according
Xto the stylebooks and would probably be parsed correctly by the a
Xhuman recipient, the second is unambiguous.  The Jargon File follows
Xhackish usage consistently throughout.
X
XInterestingly, a similar style is now preferred practice in Great
XBritain, though the older style (which became established for
Xtypographical reasons having to do with the aesthetics of comma and
Xquotes in typeset text) is still accepted there.  Hart's Rules and the
XOxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors call the hacker-like style
X`new' or `logical' style quoting.
X
XAnother hacker quirk about quoting style is a tendency to distinguish
Xbetween `scare' quotes and `speech' quotes; that is, to use
XBritish-style single quotes for marking and reserve American-style
Xdouble quotes for actual reports of speech or text included from
Xelsewhere.  Interestingly, some authorities describe this as correct
Xgeneral usage, but mainstream American English has gone to using
Xdouble-quotes thoroughly enough that hacker usage appears marked [and,
Xin fact, I thought this was a personal quirk of mine until I checked
Xwith USENET --- ESR].  One further permutation that is definitely
X*not* standard is a hackish tendency to do marking quotes by
Xusing apostrophes in pairs; that is, 'like this'.  This is modelled on
Xstring and character literal syntax in some programming languages
X(reinforced by the fact that many character-only terminals display a
Xvertical single quote).
X
XThere seems to be a meta-rule behind these nonstandard hackerisms to
Xthe effect that precision of expression is more important than
Xconformance to traditional rules; where the latter create ambiguity or
Xlose information they can be discarded without a second thought.  It
Xis notable in this respect that other hackish inventions (for example,
Xin vocabulary) also tend to carry very precise shades of meaning even
Xwhen constructed to appear slangy and loose.  In fact, to a hacker,
Xthe contrast between `loose' form and `tight' content in jargon is a
Xsubstantial part of its humor!
X
XThere is another respect in which hackish usage often parallels
XBritish usage; it tends to choose British spellings whenever these
Xseem more phonetically consistent than the American ones.
X
XHackers have also developed a number of punctuation and emphasis
Xconventions adapted to single-font all-ASCII communications links, and
Xthese are occasionally carried over into written documents even when
Xnormal means of font changes, underlining, and the like are available.
X
XOne of these is that TEXT IN ALL CAPS IS INTERPRETED AS `LOUD', and
Xthis becomes such an ingrained synesthetic reflex that a person who
Xgoes to caps-lock while in {talk mode} may be asked to "stop
Xshouting, please, you're hurting my ears!".
X
XAlso, it is common to use bracketing with asterisks to signify
Xemphasis, as in "What the *hell*?" (note that this interferes with
Xthe common use of asterisk suffix as a footnote mark).  An alternative
Xform uses paired slash and backslash: "What the \hell/?".  The
Xlatter is never used in text documents, as many formatters treat
Xbackslash as an escape and may do inappropriate things with the
Xfollowing text.  Yet another form emphasizes text L I K E  T H I S.
XAlso note that there is a semantic difference between *emphasis like
Xthis*, (which emphasizes the phrase as a whole) and *emphasis* *like*
X*this* (which suggests the writer speaking very slowly and distinctly,
Xas if to a very young child or mentally impaired person).  See also
Xthe lexicon entry for {emoticon}.
X
XIn a formula, `*' signifies multiplication but two asterisks in a
Xrow are a shorthand for exponentiation (this derives from FORTRAN).
XThus, one might write `2 ** 8 = 256'.
X
XAnother notation for exponentiation one sees more frequently uses the
Xcaret (^, ASCII 1011110); one might write instead `2 ^ 8 = 256'.
XThis goes all the way back to Algol-60, which used the archaic ASCII
X`up-arrow' that later became caret; this was picked up by Kemeny &
XKurtz's original BASIC, which in turn influenced the design of the
Xbc(1) and dc(1) UNIX tools that have probably done most to reinforce
Xthe convention on USENET.  The notation is mildly confusing to C
Xprogrammers, because `^' means logical {XOR} in C.  Despite
Xthis, it was favored 3:1 over ** in a late-1990 snapshot of USENET.
XIt is used consistently in this text.
X
XIn on-line exchanges, hackers tend to write improper fractions in
Xratio or decimal form rather than `typewriter' style: that is, `7/2'
Xor `3.5' rather than `3-1/2'.  The major motive here is probably that
Xthe former are more readable in a monospaced font, and avoid the risk
Xthat the latter might be read as `three minus one-half'.  The decimal
Xform is definitely preferred for fractions with a terminating decimal
Xrepresentation; there may be some cultural influence here from the
Xhigh status of scientific notation.
X
XAnother on-line convention, used especially for very large or very small
Xnumbers, is taken from C (which derived it from FORTRAN).  This is a
Xform of `scientific notation' using `e' to replace `*10^'; for example,
Xone year is about 3e7 seconds long .
X
XThe tilde (~) is commonly used in a quantifying sense of
X`approximately'; that is, `~50' means `about fifty'.
X
XUnderlining is often suggested by substituting underscores for spaces
Xand prepending and appending one underscore to the underlined phrase.
XExample: "It is often alleged that Haldeman wrote _The_Forever_War_
Xin response to Robert Heinlein's earlier _Starship_Troopers_."
XOccasionally this underline indication is used for emphasis, like the
Xpaired asterisks.
X
XThere is also an accepted convention for `writing under erasure'; the
Xtext
X
X     Be nice to this fool^H^H^H^Hgentleman, he's in from corporate HQ.
X
Xwould be read as "Be nice to this fool, I mean this gentleman...".
XThis comes from the fact that the digraph ^H is often used as a print
Xrepresentation for a backspace.  It parallels (and may have been
Xinfluenced by) the ironic use of `slashouts' in science-fiction fanzines.
X
XOn USENET and in the {MUD} world, common C boolean, logical, and
Xrelational operators such as (`|', `&', `!', `==', `!=', `>', and `<')
Xare often combined with English.  The Pascal not-equals, `<>', is also
Xrecognized.  The use of prefix `!' as a loose synonym for `not-' or
X`no-' is particularly common; thus, `!clue' is read `no-clue' or
X`clueless'.
X
XAnother habit is that of using angle-bracket enclosure to genericize a
Xterm; this derives from conventions used in {BNF}.  Uses like the
Xfollowing are common:
X
X     So this <ethnic> walks into a bar one day, and...
X
XOne quirk that shows up frequently in the {email} style of UNIX
Xhackers in particular is a tendency for some things which are normally
Xall-lowercase (including usernames and the names of commands and C
Xroutines) to remain uncapitalized even when they occur at the
Xbeginning of sentences.  It is clear that, for many hackers, the case
Xof such identifiers becomes a part of their internal representation
X(the `spelling') and cannot be overridden without mental effort (an
Xappropriate reflex because UNIX and C both distinguish cases and
Xconfusing them can lead to lossage).  A way of escaping this dilemma
Xis simply to avoid using these constructions at the beginning of
Xsentences.
X
XHackers also mix letters and numbers more freely than in mainstream
Xusage.  In particular, it is good hackish style to write a digit
Xsequence where you intend the reader to understand the text string
Xthat names that number in English.  So, hackers write "1970s" rather
Xthan "nineteen-seventies" or "1970's" (the later looks like a
Xpossessive).
X
XFinally, it should be noted that hackers exhibit much less reluctance
Xto use multiply nested parentheses than is normal in English.  Partly
Xthis is almost certainly due to influence from LISP ((which uses
Xdeeply nested parentheses (like this) in its syntax) (a lot (see?))),
Xbut it has also been suggested that a more basic hacker trait of
Xenjoying playing with complexity and pushing systems to their limits
Xis in operation.
X
XOne area where hackish conventions for on-line writing are still in
Xsome flux is the marking of included material from earlier messages
X--- what would be called `block quotations' in ordinary English.  From
Xthe usual typographic convention employed for these (smaller font at
Xan extra indent), there derived the notation of included text being
Xindented by one ASCII TAB (0001001) character, which under UNIX and
Xmany other environments gives the appearance of an 8-space indent.
X
XEarly mail and netnews readers had no facility for including messages
Xthis way, so people had to paste in copy manually.  BSD `Mail(1)'
Xwas the first message agent to support inclusion, and early USENETters
Xemulated its style.  But the TAB character tended to push included
Xtext too far to the right (especially in multiply nested inclusions),
Xleading to ugly wraparounds.  After a brief period of confusion
X(during which an inclusion leader consisting of three or four spaces
Xbecame established in EMACS and a few mailers), the use of leading ">"
Xor "> " became standard, perhaps because the character suggests
Xmovement to the right (alternatively, it may derive from the ">" that
Xsome V7 UNIX mailers use to quote leading instances of "From" in
Xtext).  Inclusions within inclusions keep their ">" leaders, so the
X`nesting level' of a quotation is visually apparent.
X
XA few other idiosyncratic quoting styles survive because they're
Xautomatically generated.  One particularly ugly one looks like this:
X
X     /* Written hh:mm pm  Mmm dd, yyyy by user@site in local:group */
X     /* ---------- "Subject of article chopped to 35 ch" ---------- */
X        <<quoted text>>
X     /* End of text from local:group */
X
XIt's generated by an elderly, variant news-reading system called
X`notesfiles'.  The overall trend, however, is definitely away from
Xsuch verbosity.
X
XThe practice of including text helped solve what had been a major
Xnuisance on USENET: the fact that articles do not arrive at different
Xsites in the same order.  Careless posters used to post articles that
Xwould begin with, or even consist entirely of, "No, that's wrong",
Xor "I agree" or the like.  It was hard to see who was responding to
Xwhat.  Consequently, in about 1984, new news-posting software was
Xcreated with a facility to automatically include the text of a
Xprevious article, marked with "> " or whatever the poster chose.  The
Xposter was expected to delete all but the relevant lines.  The result
Xhas been that, now, careless posters post articles containing the
X*entire* text of a preceding article, *followed* only by
X"No, that's wrong" or "I agree".
X
XMany people feel that this cure is worse than the original disease,
Xand there soon appeared newsreader software designed to let the reader
Xskip over included text if desired.  Today, some posting software
Xrejects articles containing too high a proportion of lines beginning
Xwith ">", but this too has led to undesirable workarounds such as the
Xdeliberate inclusion of zero-content filler lines which aren't quoted
Xand thus pull the message below the rejection threshold.
X
XBecause the default mailers supplied with UNIX and other operating
Xsystems haven't evolved as quickly as human usage, the older
Xconventions using a leading TAB or three or four spaces are still
Xalive; however, >-inclusion is now clearly the prevalent form in both
Xnetnews and mail.
X
XPractice is still evolving, and disputes over the `correct' inclusion
Xstyle occasionally leads to {holy wars}.  One variant style reported
Xuses the citation character `|' in place of `>' for extended
Xquotations where original variations in indentation are being
Xretained.  One also sees different styles of quoting a number of
Xauthors in the same message: one (deprecated because it loses
Xinformation) uses a leader of "> " for everyone, another (the most
Xcommon) is "> > > > ", "> > > ", etc. (or ">>>> ", ">>> ", etc.,
Xdepending on line length and nesting depth) reflecting the original
Xorder of messages, and yet another is to use a different citation
Xleader for each author, say "> ", ": ", "| ", "} " (preserving
Xnesting so that the inclusion order of messages is still apparent, or
Xtagging the inclusions with authors' names).  Yet *another* style
Xis to use each poster's initials (or login name) as a citation leader
Xfor that poster.  Occasionally one sees a "# " leader used for
Xquotations from *authoritative* sources such as standards
Xdocuments; the intended allusion is to the root prompt (the special
XUNIX command prompt issued when one is running as the privileged
Xsuper-user).
X
XFinally, it is worth mentioning that many studies of on-line
Xcommunication have shown that electronic links have a de-inhibiting
Xeffect on people.  Deprived of the body-language cues through which
SHAR_EOF
true || echo 'restore of jargon.ascii failed'
fi
echo 'End of part 1, continue with part 2'
echo 2 > _shar_seq_.tmp
exit 0



Article #8712 (8725 is last):
From: [e-mail] (Eric S. Raymond)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers,comp.misc
Subject: The Jargon File v2.8.1, 22 MAR 1991, part 7 of 19
Date: Fri Mar 22 18:40:04 1991

Submitted-by: [e-mail]
Archive-name: jargon/part07

---- Cut Here and feed the following to sh ----
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# file jargon.ascii continued
#
if test ! -r _shar_seq_.tmp; then
        echo 'Please unpack part 1 first!'
        exit 1
fi
(read Scheck
 if test "$Scheck" != 7; then
        echo Please unpack part "$Scheck" next!
        exit 1
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        exit 0
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) < _shar_seq_.tmp || exit 1
if test -f _shar_wnt_.tmp; then
sed 's/^X//' << 'SHAR_EOF' >> 'jargon.ascii' &&
X   {NAK} depending on whether or not the person felt interruptible.
X   Compare {ping}, {finger}, and the usage of "FOO?"  listed
X   under {talk mode}.
X
XEOF: /ee-oh-ef/ [acronym, End Of File] n. 1. [techspeak]
X   Refers esp.  to whatever pseudo-character value is returned by C's
X   sequential character input functions (and their equivalents in
X   other environments) when the logical end of file has been reached
X   (this was 0 under V6 UNIX but, is `-1' under V7 and all subsequent
X   versions and all non-UNIX C library implementations).  2. Used by
X   extension in non-computer contexts when a human is doing something
X   that can be modelled as a sequential read and can't go further.
X   "Yeah, I looked for a list of 360 mnemonics to post as a joke, but
X   I hit EOF pretty fast; all the library had was a {JCL} manual."
X   See also {EOL}.
X
XEOL: /ee-oh-el/ [End Of Line] n. Syn. for {newline} derived
X   perhaps from the original CDC6600 Pascal.  Now rare, but widely
X   recognized and occasionally used because it's shorter.  It's used
X   in the example entry under {BNF}.  See also {EOF}.
X
XEOU: /ee-oh-yoo/ n. The mnemonic of a mythical ASCII control
X   character (End Of User) that could make a Model 33 Teletype explode
X   on receipt.  This parodied the numerous obscure delimiter and
X   control characters left in ASCII from the days when it was more
X   associated with wire-service teletypes than computers (e.g., FS,
X   GS, RS, US, EM, SUB, ETX, and esp. EOT).  It is worth remembering
X   that ASR-33s were big, noisy mechanical beasts with a lot of
X   clattering parts; the notion that one might explode was nowhere
X   near as ridiculous as it might seem to someone sitting in front of
X   a {tube} or flatscreen today.
X
Xepoch: [UNIX] [perhaps from astronomical timekeeping] n. The time
X   and date corresponding to zero in an operating system's clock and
X   timestamp values.  Under most UNIX versions, 00:00:00 GMT, January
X   1, 1970.  System time is measured in seconds or {tick}s past the
X   epoch.  Note that weird problems may ensue when the clock wraps
X   around (see {wrap around}), and that this is not a necessarily a
X   rare event; on systems counting 10 ticks per second, a signed
X   32-bit count of ticks is good only for 6.8 years.  The
X   1-tick-per-second clock of UNIX is good only until January 18,
X   2038, assuming word lengths don't increase by then.  See also
X   {wall time}.
X
Xepsilon: [see {delta} for etymology] 1. n. A small quantity of
X   anything.  "The cost is epsilon."  2. adj. Very small,
X   negligible; less than {marginal}.  "We can get this feature for
X   epsilon cost."  3. `within epsilon of': close enough to be
X   indistinguishable for all practical purposes.  This is even closer
X   than being `within delta of'.  Example: "That's not what I asked
X   for, but it's within epsilon of what I wanted."  Alternatively, it
X   may mean not close enough, but very little is required to get it
X   there: "My program is within epsilon of working."
X
Xepsilon squared: n. A quantity even smaller than {epsilon}, as
X   small in comparison to it as it is to something normal; completely
X   negligible.  If you buy a supercomputer for a million dollars, the
X   cost of the thousand-dollar terminal to go with it is {epsilon},
X   and the cost of the ten-dollar cable to connect the two is
X   {epsilon squared}.  Compare {lost in the underflow}, {lost in
X   the noise}.
X
Xera, the: Syn. {epoch}.  The Webster's Unabridged makes these words
X   almost synonymous, but `era' usually connotes a span of time
X   rather than a point in time.  The {epoch} usage is recommended.
X
XEric Conspiracy: n. A shadowy group of mustachioed hackers named
X   Eric first pinpointed as a sinister conspiracy by an infamous
X   talk.bizarre posting ca. 1986; this was doubtless influenced by the
X   numerous `Eric' jokes in the Monty Python oeuvre.  There do indeed
X   seem to be considerably more mustachioed Erics in hackerdom than
X   the frequency of these three traits can account for unless they are
X   correlated in some arcane way.  Well-known examples include Eric
X   Allman (he of the `Allman style' described under {indent style}),
X   and Erik Fair (co-author of NNTP); your editor has heard from about
X   fourteen others by email, and the organization line `Eric
X   Conspiracy Secret Laboratories' now emanates regularly from more
X   than one site.
X
XEris: /e'ris/ pn. The Greek goddess of Chaos, Discord, Confusion,
X   and Things You Know Not Of; her name was latinized to Discordia and
X   she was worshiped by that name in Rome.  Not a very friendly deity
X   in the Classical original, she was re-invented as a more benign
X   personification of creative anarchy starting in 1959 by the
X   adherents of {Discordianism} and has since been a semi-serious
X   subject of veneration in several `fringe' cultures, including
X   hackerdom.  See {Discordianism}, {Church of the Sub-Genius}.
X
Xerotics: /ee-ro'tiks/ n. Reported from Scandinavia as
X   English-language university slang for electronics.  Often used by
X   hackers, maybe because good electronics makes them warm.
X
Xessentials: n. Things necessary to maintain a productive and secure
X   hacking environment.  "A jug of wine, a loaf of bread, a
X   20-megahertz 80386 box with 8 meg of core and a 300-megabyte disk
X   supporting full UNIX with source and X windows and EMACS and UUCP
X   via a 'blazer to a friendly Internet site, and thou."
X
Xevil: adj. As used by hackers, implies that some system, program,
X   person, or institution is sufficiently maldesigned as to be not
X   worth the bother of dealing with.  Unlike the adjectives in the
X   {cretinous}/{losing}/{brain-damaged} series, `evil' does not
X   imply incompetence or bad design, but rather a set of goals or
X   design criteria fatally incompatible with the speaker's.  This is
X   more an esthetic and engineering judgement than a moral one in the
X   mainstream sense.  "We thought about adding a {Blue Glue}
X   interface but decided it was too evil to deal with."  "{TECO}
X   is neat, but it can be pretty evil if you're prone to typos."
X   Often pronounced with the first syllable lengthened, as /eeee'vil/.
X
Xexa-: /ek's*/ pref. See {{quantifiers}}.
X
Xexamining the entrails: n. The process of rooting through a core dump
X   or hex image in the attempt to discover the bug that brought your
X   program or system down.  Compare {runes}, {incantation}, {black
X   art}, {desk check}.
X
XEXCH: /eks'ch*/ or /eksch/ vt. To exchange two things, each for the
X   other; to swap places.  If you point to two people sitting down and
X   say "Exch!", you are asking them to trade places.  EXCH,
X   meaning EXCHange, was originally the name of a PDP-10 instruction
X   that exchanged the contents of a register and a memory location.
X   Many newer hackers tend to be thinking instead of the PostScript
X   exchange operator (which is usually written in lowercase).
X
Xexcl: /eks'kl/ n. Abbreviation for `exclamation point'.  See
X   {bang}, {shriek}, {{ASCII}}.
X
XEXE: /eks'ee/, /eek'see/ n. An executable binary file.  Some
X   operating systems (notably MS-DOS, VMS, and TOPS-20/TWENEX) use the
X   extension .EXE to mark such files.  This usage is also occasionally
X   found among UNIX programmers even though UNIX executables don't
X   have any required extension (in fact, the term `extension' in this
X   sense is not part of UNIX jargon).
X
Xexec: /eg-zek'/ [shortened from `executive' or `execute']
X   vt.,n. 1. [UNIX] Synonym for {chain}, derives from the
X   `exec(2)' call.  2. obs. The command interpreter for an
X   {OS} (see {shell}); term esp. used on mainframes, and prob.
X   derived from UNIVAC's archaic EXEC 2 and EXEC 8 operating systems.
X   3. At IBM, the equivalent of a shell command file (this is among
X   VM/CMS users).
X
Xexercise, left as an: [from technical books] Used to complete a
X   proof when one doesn't mind a {handwave}, or to avoid one
X   entirely.  The complete phrase is: "The proof (or the rest) is left as
X   an exercise for the reader."  This comment *has* occasionally
X   been attached to unsolved research problems by authors possessed of
X   either an evil sense of humor or a vast faith in the capabilities
X   of their audiences.
X
Xeyeball search: n. To look for something in a mass of code or data
X   {by hand}, as opposed to using some sort of pattern matcher like
X   {grep} or any other automated search tool.  Also called a
X   {vgrep}; compare {vdiff}, {desk check}.
X
X= F =
X=====
X
Xfab: /fab/ [from `fabricate'] v. 1. To produce chips from a
X   design that may have been created by someone at another company.
X   Fabbing chips based on the designs of others is the activity of a
X   {silicon foundry}.  To a hacker, `fab' is practically never short
X   for `fabulous'.  2. `fab line': the production system
X   (lithography, diffusion, etching, etc.) for chips at a chip
X   manufacturer.  Different `fab lines' are run with different
X   process parameters, die sizes, or technologies, or simply to
X   provide more manufacturing volume.
X
Xface time: n. Time spent interacting with somebody face-to-face (as
X   opposed to via electronic links).  "Oh, yeah, I spent some face
X   time with him at the last Usenix."
X
Xfall over: [IBM] vi. Yet another synonym for {crash} or {lose}.
X   `Fall over hard' equates to {crash and burn}.
X
Xfall through: v. (n. `fallthrough', var. `fall-through')
X   1. To exit a loop by exhaustion, i.e. by having fulfilled its exit
X   condition rather than via a break or exception condition that exits
X   from the middle of it.  This usage appears to be *really* old,
X   as in dating from the 1940s and '50s.  It may no longer be live
X   jargon.  2. To fail a test that would have passed control to a
X   subroutine or other distant portion of code.  3. In C,
X   `fall-through' occurs when the flow of execution in a
X   switch statement reaches a `case' label other than by jumping
X   there from the switch header, passing a point where one would
X   normally expect to find a `break'.  A trivial example:
X
X     switch (color)
X     {
X     case GREEN:
X        do_green();
X        break;
X     case PINK:
X        do_pink();
X        /* FALL THROUGH */
X     case RED:
X        do_red();
X        break;
X     default:
X        do_blue();
X        break;
X     }
X
X   The variant spelling `/* FALL THRU */' is also common.
X
X   The effect of this code is to `do_green()' when color is
X   `GREEN', `do_red()' when color is `RED',
X   `do_blue()' on any other color other than `PINK', and
X   (and this is the important part) `do_pink()' *and then*
X   `do_red()' when color is `PINK'.  Fall-through is
X   {considered harmful} by some, though there are contexts such as
X   the coding of state machines in which it is natural; it is
X   generally considered good practice to include a comment
X   highlighting the fallthrough, at the point one would normally
X   expect a break.
X
Xfandango on core: [UNIX/C hackers, from the Mexican dance] n. In C, a
X   wild pointer that runs out of bounds causing a {core dump}, or
X   corrupts the `malloc(3)' {arena} in such a way as to cause mysterious
X   failures later on, is sometimes said to have `done a fandango on
X   core'.  On low-end personal machines without an MMU, this can
X   corrupt the OS itself, causing massive lossage.  Other frenetic
X   dances such as the rhumba, cha-cha, or watusi may be substituted.
X   See {aliasing bug}, {precedence lossage}, {smash the stack},
X   {memory leak}, {overrun screw}, {core}.
X
XFAQ list: /ef-ay-kyoo list/ [Usenix] n. A compendium of accumulated
X   lore, posted periodically to high-volume newsgroups in an attempt
X   to forestall Frequently Asked Questions.  This lexicon itself
X   serves as a good example of a collection of one kind of lore,
X   although it is far too big for a regular posting.  Several extant
X   FAQ lists do (or should) make reference to the Jargon File (the
X   on-line version of this lexicon).  "How do you pronounce `char'?"
X   and "What's that funny name for the `#' character?" for
X   example, are both Frequently Asked Questions.
X
Xfarming: [Adelaide University, Australia] n. What the heads of a
X   disk drive are said to do when they plow little furrows in the
X   magnetic media.  Associated with a {crash}.  Typically used as
X   follows: "Oh no, the machine has just crashed; I hope the hard
X   drive hasn't gone {farming} again."
X
Xfascist: adj. 1. Said of a computer system with excessive or
X   annoying security barriers, usage limits, or access policies.  The
X   implication is that said policies are preventing hackers from
X   getting interesting work done.  The variant `fascistic' seems
X   to have been preferred at MIT, poss. by analogy with
X   `touristic' (see {tourist}).  2. In the design of languages
X   and other software tools, `the fascist alternative' is the most
X   restrictive and structured way of capturing a particular function;
X   the implication is that this may be desirable in order to simplify
X   the implementation or provide tighter error checking.  Compare
X   {bondage-and-discipline language}; but that term is global rather
X   than local.
X
XFAtt: // [FidoNet] n. Abbreviation for {File Attach}.
X
Xfaulty: adj. Non-functional; buggy.  Same denotation as
X   {bletcherous}, {losing}, q.v., but the connotation is much
X   milder.
X
Xfd leak: /ef dee leek/ n. A kind of programming bug analogous to a
X   {core leak}, in which a program fails to close file descriptors
X   (`fd's) after file operations are completed, and thus eventually
X   runs out.  See {leak}.
X
Xfear and loathing: [from Hunter Thompson] n. State inspired by the
X   prospect of dealing with certain real-world systems and standards
X   that are totally {brain-damaged} but ubiquitous --- Intel 8086s,
X   or {COBOL}, or {{EBCDIC}}, or any {IBM} machine except the Rios (aka
X   the RS/6000).  "Ack!  They want PCs to be able to talk to the AI
X   machine.  Fear and loathing time!"
X
Xfeature: n. 1. A good property or behavior (as of a program).
X   Whether it was intended or not is immaterial.  2. An intended
X   property or behavior (as of a program).  Whether it is good or not
X   is immaterial (but if bad, it is also a {misfeature}).  3. A
X   surprising property or behavior; in particular, one that is
X   purposely inconsistent because it works better that way --- such an
X   inconsistency is therefore a {feature} and not a {bug}.  This
X   kind of feature is sometimes called a {miswart}; see that entry
X   for a classic example.  4. A property or behavior that is
X   gratuitous or unnecessary, though perhaps also impressive or cute.
X   For example, one feature of Common LISP's FORMAT function is the
X   ability to print numbers in two different Roman-numeral formats
X   (see {bells, whistles, and gongs}).  5. A property or behavior
X   that was put in to help someone else but that happens to be in your
X   way.  6. A bug that has been documented.  To call something a
X   feature sometimes means the author of the program did not consider
X   the particular case, and the program responded in a way that was
X   unexpected, but not strictly incorrect.  A standard joke is that a
X   bug can be turned into a {feature} simply by documenting it (then
X   theoretically no one can complain about it because it's in the
X   manual), or even by simply declaring it to be good.  "That's not a
X   bug, that's a feature!"  See also {feetch feetch}, {creeping
X   featurism}, {wart}, {green lightning}.
X
X   The relationship between bugs, features, misfeatures, warts, and
X   miswarts might be clarified by the following exchange between two
X   hackers on an airplane:
X
X   A: "This seat doesn't recline."
X
X   B: "That's not a bug, that's a feature.  There is an emergency
X   exit door built around the window behind you, and the route has to
X   be kept clear."
X
X   A: "Oh.  Then it's a misfeature; they should have increased the
X   spacing between rows here."
X
X   B: "Yes.  But if they'd only increased spacing in one section it
X   would have been a wart --- they would've had to make
X   nonstandard-length ceiling panels to fit over the displaced
X   seats."
X
X   A: "A miswart, actually.  If they increased spacing throughout
X   they'd lose several rows and a chunk out of the profit margin.  So
X   unequal spacing would actually be the Right Thing."
X
X   B: "Indeed."
X
X   Finally, note that {undocumented feature} is a common, allegedly
X   humorous euphemism for a {bug}.
X
Xfeature creature: [poss. fr. slang `creature feature' for a horror
X   movie] n. One who loves to add features to designs or programs,
X   perhaps at the expense of coherence, concision, or {taste}.  See
X   also {feeping creaturism}, {creeping featurism}.
X
Xfeature shock: [from Alvin Toffler's title `Future Shock'] n.
X   A user's (or programmer's!) confusion when confronted with a
X   package that has too many features and poor introductory material.
X
Xfeaturectomy: /fee`ch*r-ek'to-mee/ n. The act of removing a feature
X   from a program.  Featurectomies generally come in two varieties,
X   the `righteous' and the `reluctant'.  Righteous featurectomies
X   are performed because the remover believes the program would be
X   more elegant without the feature, or there is already an equivalent
X   and `better' way to achieve the same end.  (This is not quite the
X   same thing as removing a {misfeature}.)  Reluctant featurectomies
X   are performed to satisfy some external constraint such as code size
X   or execution speed.
X
Xfeep: /feep/ 1. n. The soft electronic `bell' sound of a
X   display terminal (except for a VT-52!); a beep (in fact, the
X   microcomputer world seems to prefer {beep}).  2. vi. To cause
X   the display to make a feep sound.  ASR 33s (the original TTYs) do
X   not feep; they have mechanical bells that ring.  Alternate forms:
X   {beep}, `bleep', or just about anything suitably
X   onomatopoeic.  (Jeff MacNelly, in his comic strip `Shoe', uses
X   the word `eep' for sounds made by computer terminals and video
X   games; this is perhaps the closest written approximation yet.)  The
X   term `breedle' was sometimes heard at SAIL, where the terminal
X   bleepers are not particularly `soft' (they sound more like the
X   musical equivalent of a raspberry or Bronx cheer; for a close
X   approximation, imagine the sound of a Star Trek communicator's beep
X   lasting for five seconds).  The `feeper' on a VT-52 has been
X   compared to the sound of a '52 Chevy stripping its gears.  See also
X   {ding}.
X
Xfeeper: /fee'pr/ n. The device in a terminal or workstation (usually
X   a loudspeaker of some kind) that makes the {feep} sound.
X
Xfeeping creature: [from {feeping creaturism}] n. An unnecessary
X   feature; a bit of {chrome} that, in the speaker's judgement, is
X   the camel's nose for a whole horde of new features.
X
Xfeeping creaturism: /fee'ping kree`ch*r-izm/ n. Deliberate
X   Spoonerism for {creeping featurism}, meant to imply that the
X   system or program in question has become a misshapen creature of
X   hacks.  This term isn't really well-defined, but it sounds so neat
X   that most hackers have said or heard it.  It is probably reinforced
X   by an image of terminals prowling about in the dark making their
X   customary noises.
X
Xfeetch feetch: interj. If someone tells you about some new
X   improvement to a program, you might respond, "Feetch, feetch!".
X   The meaning of this depends critically on vocal inflection.  With
X   enthusiasm, it means something like, "Boy, that's great!  What a
X   great hack!"  Grudgingly or with obvious doubt, it means "I don't
X   know; it sounds like just one more unnecessary and complicated
X   thing."  With a tone of resignation, it means, "Well, I'd rather
X   keep it simple, but I suppose it has to be done."
X
Xfence: n. 1. A sequence of one or more distinguished
X   ({out-of-band}) characters (or other data items), used to delimit
X   a piece of data intended to be treated as a unit (the computer
X   science literature calls this a `sentinel').  The NUL (ASCII
X   #b0000000) character that terminates strings in C is a fence.  Hex
X   FF is probably the most common fence character after NUL.  See
X   {zigamorph}.  2. (Among users of optimizing compilers) Any
X   technique, usually exploiting knowledge about the compiler, that
X   blocks certain optimizations.  Used when explicit mechanisms are
X   not available, or are overkill (e.g., a single-point optimization
X   block in an otherwise optimized procedure, program, etc.)
X   Typically a hack: "I call a dummy procedure there to force a flush
X   of the optimizer's register-coloring info." can be expressed by
X   the shorter "That's a fence procedure."
X
Xfencepost error: n. 1. The discrete equivalent of a boundary
X   condition.  Often exhibited in programs by iterative loops.  From
X   the following problem: "If you build a fence 100 feet long with
X   posts 10 feet apart, how many posts do you need?"  Either 9 or 11
X   is a better answer than the obvious 10.  For example, suppose you
X   have a long list or array of items, and want to process items m
X   through n; how many items are there?  The obvious answer is `n
X   - m', but that is off by one; the right answer is `n - m + 1'.
X   A program that used the `obvious' formula would have a fencepost
X   error in it.  See also {off-by-one error}, and note that not all
X   off-by-one errors are fencepost errors.  The game of Musical Chairs
X   involves a catastrophic off-by-one error where N people try to sit
X   in `N - 1' chairs, but it's not a fencepost error.  Fencepost errors
X   come from counting things rather than the spaces between them, or
X   vice versa, or by neglecting to consider whether one should count
X   one or both ends of a row.  2. Occasionally, an error induced by
X   unexpectedly regular spacing of inputs, which can (for instance)
X   screw up your hash table.
X
Xfepped out: /fept owt/ adj. The Symbolics 3600 Lisp Machine has a
X   front-end processor called a `FEP' (compare sense #2 of {box}).
X   When the main processor gets {wedged}, the FEP takes control of
X   the keyboard and screen.  Such a machine is said to have
X   `fepped out'.
X
XFidoNet: n. A world-wide hobbyist network of personal computers
X   which exchange mail, discussion groups, and files.  Founded in 1984
X   and originally consisting only of IBM PCs and compatibles, FidoNet
X   now includes such diverse machines as Apple ][s, Ataris, Amigas,
X   and UNIX systems.  Though it is much younger than USENET, FidoNet
X   is already a significant fraction of {USENET}'s size at some 8000
X   systems (early 1991).
X
Xfield circus: [a derogatory pun on `field service'] n. The field
X   service organization of any hardware manufacturer, but especially
X   DEC.  There is an entire genre of jokes about DEC field circus
X   engineers:
X
X     Q: How can you recognize a DEC field circus engineer with a flat tire?
X     A: He's changing each tire to see which one is flat.
X
X     Q: How can you recognize a DEC field circus engineer who is out of
X        gas?
X     A: He's changing each tire to see which one is flat.
X
Xfield servoid: [play on `android'] /fee'ld ser'voyd/ n.
X   Representative of a Field Service organization (see {field
X   circus}).  This has many of the implications of {droid}.
X
XFight-o-net: [FidoNet] n. Deliberate distortion of {FidoNet},
X   often applied after a flurry of {flamage} in a particular
X   {echo}, especially the SYSOP echo or Fidonews (see <'Snooze>).
X
XFile Attach: [FidoNet] 1. n. A file sent along with a mail message
X   from one BBS to another.  2. vt. Sending someone a file by using
X   the File Attach option in the BBS mailer.
X
XFile Request: [FidoNet] 1. n. The {FidoNet} equivalent of
X   {FTP}, in which one BBS system automatically dials another and
X   {snarf}s one or more files.  Files are often announced as being
X   "available for {FReq}" in the same way that files are announced
X   as being "available for/by anonymous FTP" on the Internet.
X   2. vt. The act of getting a copy of a file by using the File
X   Request option of the BBS mailer.
X
Xfilk: /filk/ [from SF fandom, where a typo for `folk' was adopted
X   as a new word] n.,v. A `filk' is a popular or folk song with
X   lyrics revised or completely new lyrics, intended for humorous
X   effect when read and/or to be sung late at night at SF conventions.
X   There is a flourishing subgenre of these called `computer filks',
X   written by hackers and often containing technical humor of quite
X   sophisticated nature.  See {double bucky} for an example.
X
Xfilm at 11: [MIT, in parody of TV newscasters] Used in conversation
X   to announce ordinary events, with a sarcastic implication that
X   these events are earth-shattering.  "{ITS} crashes; film at 11."
X   "Bug found in scheduler; film at 11."
X
Xfilter: [orig. {UNIX}, now also in {MS-DOS}] n. A program that
X   processes an input data stream into an output data stream in some
X   well-defined way, and does no I/O to anywhere else except possibly
X   on error conditions; one designed to be used as a stage in a
X   {pipeline}.
X
Xfine: [WPI] adj. Good, but not good enough to be {cuspy}.  The word
X   `fine' is used elsewhere, of course, but without the implicit
X   comparison to the higher level implied by {cuspy}.
X
Xfinger: [WAITS, via BSD UNIX] 1. n. A program that displays a
X   particular user or all users logged on the system or a remote
X   system.  Typically shows full name, last login time, idle time,
X   terminal line, and terminal location (where applicable).  May also
X   display a {plan file} left by the user.  2. vt. To apply finger
X   to a username.  3. vt. By extension, to check a human's current
X   state by any means.  "Foodp?"  "T!"  "OK, finger Lisa and see
X   if she's idle.".  4. Any picture (composed of ASCII characters)
X   depicting `the finger'.  Originally a humorous component of one's
X   plan file to deter the curious fingerer (sense #2), it has entered
X   the arsenal of some {flamer}s.
X
Xfinger-pointing syndrome: n. All-too-frequent result of bugs, esp.
X   in new or experimental configurations.  The hardware vendor points
X   a finger at the software.  The software vendor points a finger
X   at the hardware.  All the poor users get is the finger.
X
Xfirebottle: n. A large, primitive, power-hungry active electrical
X   device, similar in function to a FET but constructed out of glass,
X   metal, and vacuum.  Characterized by high cost, low density, low
X   reliability, high-temperature operation, and high power
X   dissipation.  Sometimes mistakenly called a `tube' in the U.S.
X   or a `valve' in England; another hackish term is {glassfet}.
X
Xfirefighting: n. 1. What sysadmins have to do to correct sudden
X   operational problems.  An opposite of hacking.  "Been hacking your
X   new newsreader?"  "No, a power glitched hosed the network and I spent
X   the whole afternoon fighting fires."  2. The act of throwing lots
X   of manpower and late nights at a project, esp. to get it out
X   before deadline.  See also {gang bang}, {Mongolian Hordes
X   technique}; however, the term `firefighting' connotes that the
X   effort is going into chasing bugs rather than adding features.
X
Xfirewall code: n. The code you put in a system (say, a telephone
X   switch) to make sure that the users can't do any damage. Since
X   users always want to be able to do everything but never want to
X   suffer for any mistakes, the construction of a firewall is not just
X   a question of defensive coding but of interface presentation, so
X   that users don't even get curious about those corners of a system
X   where they can burn themselves.
X
Xfirewall machine: n. A dedicated gateway machine with special
X   security precautions on it, used to service outside network
X   connections and dial-in lines.  The idea is to protect a cluster of
X   more loosely administered machines `hidden' behind it from
X   {cracker}s.  The typical firewall is an inexpensive micro-based
X   UNIX box kept clean of critical data, with a bunch of modems and
X   public network ports on it but just one carefully watched
X   connection back to the rest of the cluster.  The special
X   precautions may include threat monitoring, callback, and even a
X   complete {iron box} keyable to particular incoming IDs or
X   activity patterns.  Syn. {flytrap}, {Venus flytrap}.
X
Xfireworks mode: n. The mode a machine is sometimes said to be in when
X   it is performing a {crash and burn} operation.
X
Xfish: [Adelaide University, Australia] n. Another metasyntactic
X   variable.  See {foo}.  Derived originally from the Monty Python
X   skit in the middle of `The Meaning of Life' entitled `Find the
X   fish'.
X
XFISH queue: [acronym, by analogy with FIFO (First In, First Out)]
X   adj. First In, Still Here.  A joking way of pointing out that
X   processing of a particular sequence of events or requests has
X   stopped dead.  Also `FISH mode' and `FISHnet'; the latter
X   may be applied to any network that is running really slowly or
X   exhibiting extreme flakiness.
X
Xfix: n.,v. What one does when a problem has been reported too many
X   times to be ignored.
X
Xflag: n. A variable or quantity that can take on one of two values; a
X   bit, particularly one that is used to indicate one of two outcomes
X   or is used to control which of two things is to be done.  Examples:
X   "This flag controls whether to clear the screen before printing
X   the message."  "The program status word contains several flag
X   bits."  See also {bit}, {hidden flag}, {mode bit}.
X
Xflag day: n. A software change which is neither forward- nor
X   backward-compatible, and which is costly to make and costly to
X   revert.  "Can we install that without causing a flag day for all
X   users?"  This term has nothing to do with the use of the word
X   {flag} to mean a variable that has two values.  It came into use
X   when a massive change was made to the {Multics} timesharing
X   system to convert from the old ASCII code to the new one; this was
X   scheduled for Flag Day (a U.S. holiday), June 14, 1966.  See also
X   {backward combatability}.
X
Xflaky: adj. (var sp. `flakey') Subject to frequent {lossage}.
X   This use is of course related to the common slang use of the word,
X   to describe a person as eccentric, crazy, or just unreliable.  A
X   system that is flaky is working, sort of, enough that you are
X   tempted to try to use it, but it fails frequently enough that the
X   odds in favor of finishing what you start are low.  Commonwealth
X   hackish prefers {dodgy} or {wonky}.
X
Xflamage: /flay'm*j/ n. High-noise, low-signal postings to {USENET}
X   or other electronic fora.  Often in the phrase `the usual
X   flamage'.
X
Xflame: v. 1. To post an email message intended to insult and
X   provoke.  2. vi. To speak incessantly and/or rabidly on some
X   relatively uninteresting subject or with a patently ridiculous
X   attitude.  When a discussion degenerates into useless controversy,
X   one might tell the participants, "Now you're just flaming" or
X   "Stop all that flamage!"  to try to get them to cool down (so to
X   speak).
X
X   USENETter Marc Ramsey, who was at WPI from 1972 to 1976, adds: "I
X   am 99% certain that the use of `flame' originated at WPI.  Those
X   who made a nuisance of themselves insisting that they needed to use
X   a TTY for `real work' came to be known as `flaming asshole lusers'.
X   Other particularly annoying people became `flaming asshole ravers',
X   which shortened to `flaming ravers', and ultimately `flamers'.  I
X   remember someone picking up on the Human Torch pun, but I don't
X   think `flame on/off' was ever much used at WPI."  See also
X   {asbestos}.
X
X   The term may have been independently invented at several different
X   places; it is also reported that `flaming' was in use to mean
X   something like `interminably drawn-out semi-serious discussions'
X   (late-night bull-sessions) at Carleton College during 1968--1971.
X
Xflame bait: n. A posting intended to trigger a {flame war}, or one
X   that invites flames in reply.
X
Xflame on: vi.,interj.  1. To begin to {flame}. The punning
X   reference to Marvel Comics's Human Torch is no longer widely
X   recognized.  2. To continue to flame.  See {rave}, {burble}.
X
Xflame war: n. (var. `flamewar') An acrimonious dispute,
X   especially when conducted on a public electronic forum such as
X   {USENET}.
X
Xflamer: n. One who habitually flames others.  Said esp. of obnoxious
X   {USENET} personalities.
X
Xflap: vt. 1. To unload a DECtape (so it goes flap, flap,
X   flap...).  Old-time hackers at MIT tell of the days when the
X   disk was device 0 and microtapes were 1, 2,... and attempting
X   to flap device 0 would instead start a motor banging inside a
X   cabinet near the disk!  2. By extension, to unload any magnetic
X   tape.  See {microtape}, {macrotape}.  Modern cartridge tapes no
X   longer actually flap, but the usage has remained.
X
Xflarp: /flarp/ [Rutgers University] n. Yet another metasyntactic
X   variable (see {foo}).  Among those who use it, it is associated
X   with a legend that any program not containing the word `flarp'
X   somewhere will not work.  The legend is discreetly silent on the
X   reliability of programs which *do* contain the magic word.
X
Xflat: adj. 1. Lacking any complex internal structure.  "That
X   {bitty box} only has a flat filesystem, not a hierarchical one."
X   The verb form is {flatten}.  2. Said of a memory architecture
X   like the VAX or 680x0 that is one big linear address space
X   (typically with each possible value of a processor register
X   corresponding to a unique core address), as opposed to a
X   `segmented' architecture like the 80x86 in which addresses are
X   composed from a base-register/offset pair (such designs are
X   generally considered {cretinous}).
X
Xflat-ASCII: adj. Said of a text file that contains only 7-bit ASCII
X   characters and uses only ASCII-standard control characters (that
X   is, has no embedded codes specific to a particular text formatter
X   or markup language, and no {meta}-characters).  Syn.
X   {plain-ASCII}.  Compare {flat-file}.
X
Xflat-file: adj. A {flatten}ed representation of some database or
X   tree or network structure, as a single file from which the
X   structure could implicitly be rebuilt, esp. one in {flat-ASCII}
X   form.
X
Xflatten: vt. To remove structural information, esp. to filter
X   something with an implicit tree structure into a simple sequence of
X   leaves; also tends to imply mapping to {flat-ASCII}.  "This code
X   flattens an expression with parentheses into an equivalent
X   {canonical} form."
X
Xflavor: n. 1. Variety, type, kind.  "DDT commands come in two
X   flavors."  "These lights come in two flavors, big red ones and
X   small green ones."  See {vanilla}.  2. The attribute that causes
X   something to be {flavorful}.  Usually used in the phrase "yields
X   additional flavor."  "This convention yields additional flavor by
X   allowing one to print text either right-side-up or upside-down."
X   See {vanilla}.  This usage was certainly reinforced by the
X   terminology of quantum chromodynamics, in which quarks (the
X   constituents of, e.g., protons) come in six flavors (up, down,
X   strange, charm, top, bottom) and three colors (red, blue, green)
X   --- however, hackish use of `flavor' at MIT predated QCD.  3. The
X   term for `class' (in the object-oriented sense) in the Lisp Machine
X   Flavors system.  Though the Flavors design has been superseded
X   (notably by the Common Lisp CLOS facility), the term `flavor' is
X   still used as a general synonym for `class' by some LISP hackers.
X
Xflavorful: adj. Full of {flavor}; esthetically pleasing.  See
X   {random} and {losing} for antonyms.  See also the entries for
X   {taste} and {elegant}.
X
Xflippy: /flip'ee/ n. A single-sided floppy disk altered for
X   double-sided use by addition of a second write-notch, so called
X   because it must be flipped over for the second side to be
X   accessible.  No longer common.
X
Xflowchart:: [techspeak] n.  An archaic form of visual control-flow
X   specification employing arrows and `speech balloons' of various
X   shapes.  Hackers never use flowcharts, consider them extremely
X   silly, and associate them with {COBOL} programmers, {card
X   walloper}s, and other lower forms of life.  This is because (from a
X   hacker's point of view) they are no easier to read than code, are
X   less precise, and tend to fall out of sync with the code (so that
X   they either obfuscate it rather than explaining it, or require
X   extra maintenance effort that doesn't improve the code).  See also
X   {pdl}, sense #3.
X
Xflush: v. 1. To delete something, usually superfluous.  "All that
X   nonsense has been flushed."  2. [UNIX/C] To force buffered I/O to
X   disk, as with an `fflush(3)' call.  This is *not* an
X   abort as in sense #1, but a demand for early completion!  3. To
X   leave at the end of a day's work (as opposed to leaving for a
X   meal).  "I'm going to flush now."  "Time to flush."  4. To
X   exclude someone from an activity, or to ignore a person.
X
X   `Flush' was standard ITS terminology for aborting an output
X   operation; one spoke of the text that would have been printed, but
X   was not, as having been flushed.  It is speculated that this term
X   arose from a vivid image of flushing unwanted characters by hosing
X   down the internal output buffer, washing the characters away before
X   they can be printed.  The UNIX/C usage, on the other hand, was
X   propagated by the `fflush(3)' call in C's standard I/O library
X   (though it is reported to have been in use among BLISS programmers
X   at DEC and on Honeywell and IBM machines as far back as 1965).
X   UNIX/C hackers find the ITS usage confusing and vice versa.
X
Xflytrap: n. See {firewall machine}.
X
XFOAF: // [USENET] n. Acronym for Friend Of A Friend.  The
X   source of an unverified, possibly untrue story.  This was not
X   originated by hackers (it is used in Jan Brunvand's books on urban
X   folklore), but is much better recognized on USENET and elsewhere
X   than in mainstream English.
X
XFOD: v. [Abbreviation for `Finger of Death', originally a
X   spell-name from fantasy gaming] To terminate with extreme prejudice
X   and with no regard for other people.  From {MUD}s where the
X   wizard command `FOD <player>' results in the immediate and total
X   death of <player>, usually as punishment for obnoxious behavior.
X   This migrated to other circumstances, such as "I'm going to fod
X   that process which is burning all the cycles."  Compare {gun}.
X
X   In aviation, FOD means Foreign Object Damage, e.g. what happens
X   when a jet engine sucks up a rock on the runway.  Finger of Death
X   is an distressingly apt description of the usual results of this!
X
Xfold case: v. See {smash case}.  This term tends to be used more
X   by people who don't *mind* that their tools smash case.  It
X   also connotes that case is ignored but case distinctions in data
X   processed by the tool in question aren't destroyed.
X
Xfollowup: n. On USENET, a {posting} generated in response to
X   another posting (as opposed to a {reply}, which goes by email
X   rather than being broadcast).  Followups include the ID of the
X   {parent message} in their headers; smart news-readers can use
X   this information to present USENET news in `conversation' sequence
X   rather than order-of-arrival.  See {thread}.
X
Xfoo: /foo/ 1. interj. Term of disgust.  2. n. Name used for
X   temporary programs, or samples of three-letter names.  Other
X   similar words are {bar}, {baz} (Stanford corruption of
X   {bar}), and rarely `rag'.  3. Used very generally as a sample
X   name for absolutely anything.  4. First on the standard list of
X   metasyntactic variables used in syntax examples.  See also:
X   {bar}, {baz}, {qux}, {quux}, {corge}, {grault},
X   {garply}, {waldo}, {fred}, {plugh}, {xyzzy},
X   {thud}.
X
X   {foo} is the {canonical} example of a `metasyntactic variable'; a
X   name used in examples and understood to stand for whatever thing is
X   under discussion, or any random member of a class of things under
X   discussion.  To avoid confusion, hackers never use `foo' or other
X   words like it as permanent names for anything.  In filenames, a
X   common convention is that any filename beginning `foo' is a scratch
X   file which may be deleted at any time.
X
X   The etymology of hackish `foo' is obscure.  When used in
X   connection with `bar' it is generally traced to the WWII-era army
X   slang acronym FUBAR (Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition), later
X   bowdlerized to {foobar}.  (See also {FUBAR}).
X
X   However, the use of the word `foo' itself has more complicated
X   antecedents, including a long history in comic strips and cartoons.
X   The old `Smokey Stover' comic strips by Bill Holman often
X   included the word `FOO', in particular on license plates of cars;
X   allegedly, `FOO' and `BAR' also occurred in Walt Kelly's
X   `Pogo' strips.  In a 1938 cartoon Daffy Duck holds up a sign
X   saying "SILENCE IS FOO!"  It is even possible that hacker usage
X   actually springs from the title `FOO, Lampoons and Parody' of
X   a comic book first issued 20 years later, in September 1958; the
X   byline read `C. Crumb' but this may well have been a sort-of
X   pseudonym for noted weird-comix artist Robert Crumb.  The title FOO
X   was featured in large letters on the front cover.
X
X   An old-time member reports that in the semi-legendary 1959
X   "Dictionary of the TMRC Language", compiled at TMRC (the Tech
X   Model Railroad Club at MIT, pronounced /tmerk'/), there was an
X   entry which went something like this:
X
X   FOO: The first syllable of the sacred chant phrase "FOO MANE PADME
X   HUM."  Our first obligation is to keep the foo counters turning.
X
X   By 1962, TMRC's legendary model-railroad layout was already a
X   marvel of complexity for which the control system alone featured
X   about 1200 relays.  There were {scram switch}es located at
X   numerous places around the room which could be pressed if something
X   undesirable was about to occur, such as a train going full-bore at
X   an obstruction.  Another feature of the system was a digital clock
X   on the dispatch board.  Normally it ran at some multiple of real
X   time, but if someone hit a scram switch the clock stopped and the
X   display was replaced with the word "FOO".
X
X   Almost the entire AI staff was involved with the TMRC, so it's not
X   clear that anyone can say which group introduced the other to the
X   word FOO.
X
X   Very probably, hackish `foo' had no single origin and derives
X   through all these channels from Yiddish `feh' and/or English
X   `fooey!'.
X
Xfoobar: n. Another common metasyntactic variable; see {foo}.
X   Note that hackers do *not* generally use this to mean
X   {FUBAR} in either slang or jargon senses!
X
Xfool: n. As used by hackers, specifically describes a person who
X   habitually reasons from obviously or demonstrably incorrect
X   premises and cannot be persuaded by evidence to do otherwise; it is
X   not generally used in its other senses, i.e., to describe a person
X   with a native incapacity to reason correctly, or a clown.  Indeed,
X   in hackish experience many fools are capable of reasoning all too
X   effectively in executing their errors.  See also {cretin}, {loser}.
X
Xfootprint: n. 1. The floor or desk area taken up by a piece of
X   hardware.  2. [IBM] The audit trail (if any) left by a crashed
X   program (often in plural, `footprints').  See also
X   {toeprint}.
X
Xfor free: adj.  Said of a capability of a programming language or
X   hardware equipment which is available by its design without needing
X   cleverness to implement, e.g, "In APL, we get the matrix
X   operations for free", or "And owing to the way revisions are
X   stored in this system, you get revision trees for free."  Usually
X   it refers to a serendipitous feature of doing things a certain way
X   (compare {big win}), but may refer to an intentional but
X   secondary feature.
X
Xfor the rest of us: [from the Mac slogan "The computer for the
X   rest of us"] adj. 1. Used to describe a {spiffy} product whose
X   affordability shames other comparable products, or (more often)
X   used sarcastically to describe {spiffy} but very overpriced
X   products.  2. Describes a program with a limited interface,
X   deliberately limited capabilities, non-orthogonality, inability to
X   compose primitives, or any other limitation designed to not
X   `confuse' a naive user.  This places an upper bound on how far that
X   user can go before the program begins to get in the way of the task
X   instead of helping accomplish it.  Used in reference to Macintosh
X   software which doesn't provide obviously necessary capabilities
X   (and which are obvious to implement) because it is thought that the
X   users wouldn't need them, wouldn't understand them, and other
X   applicable patronizing terms.  Becomes `the rest of *them*'
X   when used in third-party reference; thus, "Yes, it is an
X   attractive program, but it's designed for The Rest Of Them" means
X   a program which superficially is neat but has no depth beyond the
X   surface flash.  See {WIMP environment}, {Macintrash}.
X
Xforeground: [UNIX] adj.,vt. 1. [techspeak] On a time-sharing
X   system, a task executing in foreground is one able to accept input
X   from and return output to the user; oppose {background}.
X   Nowadays this term is primarily associated with {UNIX}, but it
X   appears first to have been used in this sense on OS/360.  Normally,
X   there is only one foreground task per terminal (or terminal
X   window); having multiple processes simultaneously reading the
X   keyboard is a good way to {lose}.  2. By extension, to
X   `foreground a task' is to bring it to the top of one's
X   {stack} for immediate processing, and hackers often use it in
X   this sense for non-computer tasks.
X
Xforked: [UNIX] adj. Terminally slow, or dead.  Originated when the
X   system slowed to incredibly bad speeds due to a process recursively
X   spawning copies of itself (using the UNIX system call `fork(2)')
X   and taking up all the process table entries.
X
XFortrash: n. Hackerism for the FORTRAN language, referring to its
X   primitive design, gross and irregular syntax, limited control
X   constructs, and slippery, exception-filled semantics.
X
Xfortune cookie: [UNIX] n. A random quote, item of trivia, joke, or
X   maxim printed to the user's tty at login time or (less commonly) at
X   logout time.  Items from this lexicon have often been used as
X   fortune cookies.  See {cookie file}.
X
Xfossil: n. 1. In software, a misfeature that becomes understandable
X   only in historical context, as a remnant of times past retained so
X   as not to break compatibility.  Example: the retention of octal as
X   default base for string escapes in {C}, in spite of the better
X   match of hexadecimal to ASCII and modern byte-addressable
X   architectures.  See {dusty deck}.  2. More restrictively, a
X   feature with past but no present utility.  Example: the
X   force-all-caps (LCASE) bits in the V7 and {BSD} UNIX tty driver,
X   designed for use with monocase terminals.  In a perversion of the
X   usual backward-compatibility goal, this functionality has actually
X   been expanded and renamed in some later {USG UNIX} releases as
X   the IUCLC and OLCUC bits.  3. The FOSSIL (Fido/Opus/Seadog
X   Standard Interface Level) driver specification for serial-port
X   access to replace the {brain-dead} routines in the IBM PC ROMs.
X   Fossils are used by most MSDOS {BBS} software in lieu of
X   programming the {bare metal} of the serial ports, as the ROM
X   routines do not support interrupt-driven operation or setting
X   speeds above 9600.  Since the FOSSIL specification allows
X   additional functionality to be hooked in, drivers that use the
X   {hook} but do not provide serial-port access themselves are named
X   with a modifier, as in `video fossil'.
X
Xfour-color glossies: 1. Literature created by {marketroid}s
X   allegedly containing technical specs, but in fact as superficial as
X   possible without being totally {content-free}.  "Forget the
X   four-color glossies, give me the tech ref manuals."  Often applied
X   even when the material is printed on ordinary paper in B&W as an
X   indication of superficiality.  Four-color-glossy manuals are
X   *never* useful for finding a problem.  2. [rare] Applied by
X   extension to manual pages that don't contain enough information to
X   diagnose why the program doesn't produce the expected or desired
X   output.
X
Xfred: n. 1. The personal name most frequently used as a
X   metasyntactic variable (see {foo}).  Allegedly popular because
X   it's easy to type on a standard QWERTY keyboard.  Unlike
X   {J. Random Hacker} or `J. Random Loser', this name has no
X   positive or negative loading (but see {Mbogo, Dr. Fred}).  2. An
X   acronym for `Flipping Ridiculous Electronic Device'; other F-verbs
X   may be substituted for "flipping".
X
Xfrednet: /fred'net/ n. Used to refer to some {random} and
X   uncommon protocol encountered on a network.  "We're implementing
X   bridging in our router to solve the frednet problem."
X
Xfreeware: n. 1. Free software, often written by enthusiasts and
X   distributed by users' groups, or via electronic mail, local
X   bulletin boards, {USENET}, or other electronic media.  At one
X   time, `freeware' was a trademark of Andrew Fluegelman, the author
X   of the well-known MS-DOS comm program PC-TALK III.  It wasn't
X   enforced after his mysterious disappearance in 1984.  See
X   {shareware}.  2: Sometimes more specifically used for software
X   which is given away with no conditions nor requests for
X   contributions attached.
X
Xfreeze: v. To lock an evolving software distribution or document
SHAR_EOF
true || echo 'restore of jargon.ascii failed'
fi
echo 'End of part 7, continue with part 8'
echo 8 > _shar_seq_.tmp
exit 0