Source Code 1992 March/Source_Code_CD-ROM_Walnut_Creek_March_1992.iso/usenet/altsrcs/2/2931

Internet Message Format | 1991-03-02 | 51KB

From: [e-mail] (Eric S. Raymond)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers,alt.sources,misc.misc
Subject: The Jargon File v, part 7 of 17
Message-ID: <1ZdTwP#3ndPzL8py7ShBDx3Sh5Kphlg=[e-mail]>
Date: 2 Mar 91 18:17:24 GMT

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

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X
Xfence: n. 1. One or more distinguished ({out-of-band})
X   characters (or other data items) used to delimit a piece of data
X   intended to be treated as a unit (the computer science literature
X   calls this a `sentinel').  The NUL character that terminates
X   strings in C is a fence.  Hex FF is probably the most common fence
X   character after NUL.  See {zigamorph}.  2. (Among users of
X   optimizing compilers) Any technique, usually exploiting knowledge
X   about the compiler, that blocks certain optimizations.  Used when
X   explicit mechanisms are not available, or are overkill (e.g., a
X   single-point optimization block in an otherwise optimized
X   procedure, program, etc.)  Typically a hack: "I call a dummy
X   procedure there to cause it to recompute the cse" can be expressed
X   by 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}).
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. The act of throwing lots of manpower and late
X   nights at a project, esp. to get it out before deadline.  See also
X   {gang bang}, {Mongolian Hordes technique}; however, the term
X   `firefighting' connotes that the effort is going into chasing
X   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.  1. To begin to {flame}. The punning reference to
X   Marvel Comics's Human Torch is no longer widely recognized.  2. To
X   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
X   that nonsense has been flushed."  2. [UNIX/C] To force buffered
X   I/O to disk, as with an `fflush(3)' call.  This is *not*
X   an abort as in sense #1, but a demand for early completion!  3.
X   To 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. Written-only 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
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}.
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   "Dictionany of the TMRC Language", compiled at 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 FUBAR!
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 serendipidous feature of doing things a certain way.
X   Compare {big win}.
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 {J.
X   Random Hacker} or `J. Random Loser', this name has no positive
X   or negative loading (but see {Mbogo, Dr. Fred}).  2. An acronym
X   for `Flipping Ridiculous Electronic Device'; other F-verbs may be
X   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. 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}.
X
Xfreeze: v. To lock an evolving software distribution or document
X   against changes so it can be released with some hope of stability.
X   Carries the strong implication that the item in question will
X   `unfreeze' at some future date.  "OK, fix that bug and we'll
X   freeze for release."
X
XFReq: [FidoNet] written-only abbreviation for {File Request}.
X
Xfried: adj. 1. Non-working due to hardware failure; burnt out.
X   Especially used of hardware brought down by a `power glitch'
X   (see {glitch}), {drop-outs}, a short, or other electrical
X   event.  (Sometimes this literally happens to electronic circuits!
X   In particular, resistors can burn out and transformers can melt
X   down, emitting noxious smoke.  However, this term is also used
X   metaphorically.)  Compare {frotzed}.  2. Of people, exhausted.
X   Said particularly of those who continue to work in such a state.
X   Often used as an explanation or excuse.  "Yeah, I know that fix
X   destroyed the file system, but I was fried when I put it in."
X
Xfritterware: n. An excess of capability that serves no productive
X   end.  The canonical example is font-diddling software on the Mac
X   (see {macdink}); the term describes anything that eats huge
X   amounts of time for quite marginal gains in function, but seduces
X   people into using it anyway.
X
Xfrob: /frob/ 1. n. [MIT] The official Tech Model Railroad Club
X   definition was `FROB = protruding arm or trunnion', and by
X   metaphoric extension any somewhat small thing; an object that you
X   can comfortably hold in one hand; something you can frob.  See
X   {frobnitz}.  2. vt. Abbreviated form of {frobnicate}.  3. [from the
X   {MUD} world] To request {wizard} privileges on the `professional
X   courtesy' grounds that one is a wizard elsewhere.
X
Xfrobnicate: /frob'ni-kayt/ vt. [Poss. derived from {frobnitz}, and
X   usually abbreviated to {frob}, but `frobnicate' is recognized
X   as the official full form.] To manipulate or adjust, to tweak.
X   One frequently frobs bits or other two-state devices.  Thus:
X   "Please frob the light switch."  (that is, flip it), but also
X   "Stop frobbing that clasp; you'll break it."  One also sees the
X   construction `to frob a frob'.  See {tweak} and {twiddle}.
X   Usage: frob, twiddle, and tweak sometimes connote
X   points along a continuum.  `Frob' connotes aimless manipulation;
X   `twiddle' connotes gross manipulation, often a coarse search for
X   a proper setting; `tweak' connotes fine-tuning.  If someone is
X   turning a knob on an oscilloscope, then if he's carefully adjusting
X   it, he is probably tweaking it; if he is just turning it but looking
X   at the screen, he is probably twiddling it; but if he's just doing
X   it because turning a knob is fun, he's frobbing it.  The variant
X   `frobnosticate' has been recently reported.
X
Xfrobnitz: /frob'nits/, pl. `frobnitzem' (frob'nit-zm) n. An
X   unspecified physical object, a widget.  Also refers to electronic
X   black boxes.  This rare form is usually abbreviated to `frotz',
X   or more commonly to {frob}.  Also used are `frobnule'
X   (/frob'n[y]ool/) and `frobule' (/frob'nool/).  Starting perhaps
X   in 1979, `frobozz' /fruh-boz'/, plural `frobbotzim'
X   /fruh-bot'z@m/ has also become very popular, largely due to its
X   exposure as a name via {Zork}.  These can also be applied to
X   nonphysical objects, such as data structures.
X
Xfrog: alt. `phrog' 1. interj. Term of disgust (we seem to have
X   a lot of them).  2. Used as a name for just about anything.  See
X   {foo}.  3. n. Of things, a crock.  4. n. Of people, somewhere
X   in between a turkey and a toad.  5. `froggy': adj. Similar to
X   `bagbiting' (see {bagbiter}), but milder.  "This froggy
X   program is taking forever to run!"
X
Xfront end: n. 1. An intermediary computer that does set-up and
X   filtering for another (usually more powerful but less friendly)
X   machine (a `back end').  2. What you're talking to when you
X   have a conversation with someone who is making replies without
X   paying attention.  "Look at the dancing elephants!"  "Uh-huh."
X   "Do you know what I just said?"  "Sorry, you were talking to the
X   front end." See also {fepped out}.  3. Software which provides
X   an interface to another program `behind' it, which may not be as
X   user-friendly.  Probably from analogy with hardware front-ends (see
X   sense #1) which interfaced with mainframes.
X
Xfrotz: /frotz/ 1. n. See {frobnitz}.  2. `mumble frotz': An
X   interjection of very mild disgust.
X
Xfrotzed: /frotzt/ adj. {down} due to hardware problems.  Compare
X   {fried}.  A machine which is merely frotzed may be fixable
X   without replacing parts, but a fried machine is more seriously
X   damaged.
X
Xfry: 1. vi. To fail.  Said especially of smoke-producing hardware
X   failures.  More generally, to become non-working.  Usage: never
X   said of software, only of hardware and humans.  See {fried}, {magic
X   smoke}.  2. vt. To cause to fail; to {roach}, {toast}, or {hose} a
X   piece of hardware (never used of software or humans).
X
XFTP: /ef-tee-pee/, *not* /fit'ip/ 1. [techspeak] n. The File
X   Transfer Protocol for transmitting files between systems on the
X   Internet.  2. vt. To {beam} a file using the File Transfer
X   Protocol.  3.  Sometimes used as a generic even for file transfers
X   not using {FTP}.  "Lemme get this copy of `Wuthering
X   Heights' ftp'd from uunet."
X
Xfuck me harder: excl. Sometimes uttered in response to egregious
X   misbehavior, esp. in software, and esp. of those which seem
X   unfairly persistent (as though designed in by the imp of the
X   perverse).  Often theatrically elaborated: "Aiighhh! Fuck me with
X   a piledriver and sixteen feet of curare-tipped wrought-iron fence
X   *and no lubricants!*"  The phrase is sometimes heard
X   abbreviated FMH in polite company.
X
XFUD: /fuhd/ n. Defined by Gene Amdahl after he left IBM to found
X   his own company: "FUD is the fear, uncertainty, and doubt that IBM
X   sales people instill in the minds of potential customers who might
X   be considering [Amdahl] products."  The idea, of course, was to
X   persuade them to go with safe IBM gear rather than with
X   competitors' equipment.  This was traditionally done by promising
X   that Good Things would happen to people who stuck with IBM, but
X   Dark Shadows loomed over the future of competitors' equipment or
X   software.  See {IBM}.
X
XFUD wars: /fuhd worz/ n. [from {FUD}] Political posturing engaged in
X   by hardware and software vendors ostensibly committed to
X   standardization but actually willing to fragment the market to
X   protect their own shares.  The UNIX International vs. OSF conflict,
X   for example.
X
Xfudge: 1. vt. To perform in an incomplete but marginally acceptable
X   way, particularly with respect to the writing of a program.  "I
X   didn't feel like going through that pain and suffering, so I fudged
X   it --- I'll fix it later."  2. n. The resulting code.
X
Xfudge factor: n. A value or parameter that is varied in an ad hoc way
X   to produce the desired result.  The terms `tolerance' and
X   {slop} are also used, though these usually indicate a one-sided
X   leeway, such as a buffer that is made larger than necessary
X   because one isn't sure exactly how large it needs to be, and it is
X   better to waste a little space than to lose completely for not
X   having enough.  A fudge factor, on the other hand, can often be
X   tweaked in more than one direction.  A good example is the `fuzz'
X   typically allowed in floating-point calculations: two numbers being
X   compared for equality must be allowed to differ by a small amount;
X   if that amount is too small, a computation may never terminate,
X   while if it is too large, results will be needlessly inaccurate.
X   Fudge factors are frequently adjusted incorrectly by programmers
X   who don't fully understand their import.  See also {coefficient
X   of x}.
X
Xfuel up: vi. To eat or drink hurriedly in order to get back to
X   hacking.  "Food-p?"  "Yeah, let's fuel up."  "Time for a
X   {great-wall}!"  See also {{Oriental Food}}.
X
Xfuggly: /fuhg'lee/ adj. Emphatic form of {funky}; funky + ugly (or
X   possibly a contraction of `fuckin' ugly').  Unusually for hacker
X   jargon, this may actually derive from black street-jive.  To say it
X   properly, the first syllable should be growled rather than spoken.
X   Usage: humorous.  "Man, the {{ASCII}}-to-{{EBCDIC}} code in that printer
X   driver is *fuggly*."  See also {wonky}.
X
Xfunky: adj. Said of something that functions, but in a slightly
X   strange, klugey way.  It does the job and would be difficult to
X   change, so its obvious non-optimality is left alone.  Often used to
X   describe interfaces.  The more bugs something has that nobody has
X   bothered to fix because workarounds are easier, the funkier it is.
X   {TECO} and UUCP are funky.  The Intel i860's exception handling is
X   extraordinarily funky.  Most standards acquire funkiness as they
X   age.  "The new mailer is installed, but is still somewhat funky;
X   if it bounces your mail for no reason, try resubmitting it."
X   "This UART is pretty funky.  The data ready line is active-high in
X   interrupt mode, and active-low in DMA mode."  See {fuggly}.
X
Xfunny money: n. 1. Notional `dollar' units of computing time and/or
X   storage handed to students at the beginning of a computer course;
X   also called `play money' or `purple money' (in implicit
X   opposition to real or `green' money).  When your funny money
X   ran out, your account froze and you needed to go to a professor to
X   get more.  Fortunately, the plunging cost of timesharing cycles has
X   made this less common.  The amounts allocated were almost
X   invariably too small, even for the non-hackers who wanted to slide
X   by with minimum work.  In extreme cases, the practice led to
X   small-scale black markets in bootlegged computer accounts.  2. By
X   extension, phantom money or quantity tickets of any kind used as a
X   resource-allocation hack within a system.  Antonym: `real
X   money'.
X
Xfuzzball: [TCP/IP hackers] n. A DEC LSI-11 running a particular suite
X   of homebrewed software by Dave Mills and assorted co-conspirators,
X   used in the early 1980s for Internet protocol testbedding and
X   experimentation.  These were used as NSFnet backbone sites in its
X   early 56KB-line days; a few of these are still active on the
X   Internet as of early 1990, doing odd jobs such as network time
X   service.
X
X= G =
X=====
X
Xgabriel: /gay'bree-@l/ [for Dick Gabriel, SAIL LISP hacker and
X   volleyball fanatic] n. An unnecessary (in the opinion of the
X   opponent) stalling tactic, e.g., tying one's shoelaces or hair
X   repeatedly, asking the time, etc.  Also used to refer to the
X   perpetrator of such tactics.  Also, `pulling a Gabriel',
X   `Gabriel mode'.
X
Xgag: vi. Equivalent to {choke}, but connotes more disgust. "Hey,
X   this is FORTRAN code.  No wonder the C compiler gagged."  See also
X   {barf}.
X
Xgang bang: n. The use of large numbers of loosely coupled
X   programmers in an attempt to wedge a great many features into a
X   product in a short time.  While there have been memorable gang
X   bangs (e.g., that over-the-weekend assembler port mentioned in
X   Steven Levy's `Hackers'), most are perpetrated by large
X   companies trying to meet deadlines and produce enormous buggy
X   masses of code entirely lacking in orthogonality (see
X   {orthogonal}).  When market-driven managers make a list of all
X   the features the competition has and assign one programmer to
X   implement each, they often miss the importance of maintaining a
X   coherent design.  See also {firefighting}, {Mongolian Hordes
X   technique}, {Conway's Law}.
X
Xgarbage collect: vi. (also `garbage collection', n.) See {GC}.
X
Xgarply: /gar'plee/ [Stanford] n. Another meta-syntactic variable (see
X   {foo}); formerly popular among SAIL hackers.
X
Xgas: [as in `gas chamber'] 1. interj. A term of disgust and
X   hatred, implying that gas should be dispensed in generous
X   quantities, thereby exterminating the source of irritation.  "Some
X   loser just reloaded the system for no reason!  Gas!"  2. interj. A
X   suggestion that someone or something ought to be flushed out of
X   mercy.  "The system's wedging every few minutes.  Gas!"  3. vt.
X   To {flush} (sense #1).  "You should gas that old crufty
X   software."  4. [IBM] n. Dead space in nonsequentially organized
X   files that was occupied by data that has been deleted; the
X   compression operation that removes it is called `degassing' (by
X   analogy, perhaps, with the use of the same term in vacuum
X   technology).
X
Xgaseous: adj. Deserving of being {gas}sed.  Disseminated by Geoff
X   Goodfellow while at SRI; became particularly popular after the
X   Moscone/Milk murders in San Francisco, when it was learned that Dan
X   White (who supported Proposition 7) would get the gas chamber under
X   7 if convicted.  He was eventually found not guilty by reason of
X   insanity.
X
XGC: /jee-see/ [from LISP terminology; `Garbage Collect'] 1.
X   vt.  To clean up and throw away useless things.  "I think I'll GC
X   the top of my desk today."  When said of files, this is equivalent
X   to {GFR}.  2. vt. To recycle, reclaim, or put to another use.
X   3. n.  An instantiation of the garbage collector process.
X
X   `Garbage collection' is computer science jargon for a particular
X   class of strategies for dynamically reallocating computer memory.
X   One such strategy involves periodically scanning all the data in
X   memory and determining what is no longer accessible; useless data
X   items are then discarded so that the memory they occupy can be
X   recycled and used for another purpose.  Implementations of the LISP
X   language usually use garbage collection.
X
X   In jargon, the full phrase is sometimes heard but the {abbrev} is
X   more frequently used because it's shorter.  Note that there is an
X   ambiguity in usage that has to be resolved by context: "I'm going
X   to garbage-collect my desk" usually means to clean out the
X   drawers, but it could also mean to throw away or recycle the desk
X   itself.
X
XGCOS: n. A quick and dirty {clone} of System/360 DOS that emerged
X   from GE about 1970; originally called GECOS (the General Electric
X   Comprehensive Operating System).  Later kluged to support
X   primitive timesharing and transaction processing.  After the buyout
X   of GE's computer division by Honeywell, the name was changed to
X   General Comprehensive Operating System (GCOS).  Other OS groups at
X   Honeywell began referring to it as `God's Chosen Operating System',
X   allegedly in reaction to the GCOS crowd's uninformed and snotty
X   attitude about the superiority of their product.  All this might be
X   of zero interest, except for two facts: (1) the GCOS people won the
X   political war, resulting in the orphaning and eventual death of
X   Honeywell {Multics}, and (2) GECOS/GCOS left one permanent mark
X   on UNIX.  Some early UNIX systems at Bell Labs were used as front
X   ends to GCOS machines; the field added to /etc/passwd to carry GCOS
X   ID information was called the `GECOS field' and survives today as
X   the pw_gecos member used for the user's full name and other
X   human-id information.  GCOS later played a major role in keeping
X   Honeywell a dismal also-ran in the mainframe market, and was itself
X   ditched for UNIX in the late 1980s when Honeywell retired its aging
X   {big iron} designs.
X
XGECOS: n. See GCOS.
X
Xgedanken: /g@-dahn'kn/ adj. Ungrounded; impractical; not
X   well-thought-out; untried; untested.  `Gedanken' is a German word
X   for `thought'.  A thought experiment is one you carry out in your
X   head.  In physics, the term `gedanken experiment' is used to
X   refer to an experiment that is impractical to carry out, but useful
X   to consider because you can reason about it theoretically.  (A
X   classic gedanken experiment of relativity theory involves thinking
X   about a man in an elevator accelerating through space.)  Gedanken
X   experiments are very useful in physics, but you have to be careful.
X   It was a gedanken experiment that led Aristotle to conclude that
X   heavy things always fall faster than light things (he thought about
X   a rock and a feather); this was accepted until Galileo proved
X   otherwise.
X
X   Among hackers, however, the word has a pejorative connotation.  It
X   is said of a project, especially one in artificial intelligence
X   research, which is written up in grand detail (typically as a Ph.D.
X   thesis) without ever being implemented to any great extent.  Such a
X   project is usually perpetrated by people who aren't very good
X   hackers or find programming distasteful or are just in a hurry.  A
X   gedanken thesis is usually marked by an obvious lack of intuition
X   about what is programmable and what is not, and about what does and
X   does not constitute a clear specification of an algorithm.  See
X   also {DWIM}.
X
Xgeek out: vi. To temporarily enter techno-nerd mode while in a
X   non-hackish context, for example at parties held near computer
X   equipment.  Especially used when you need to do something highly
X   technical and don't have time to explain: "Pardon me while I geek
X   out for a moment."
X
Xgen: /jen/ n.,v. Short for {generate}, used frequently in both spoken
X   and written contexts.
X
Xgender mender: n., A cable connector shell with either two male or
X   two female connectors on it, used to correct the mismatches that
X   result when some {loser} didn't understand the RS232C
X   specification and the distinction between DTE and DCE.  Used esp.
X   for RS-232C parts in either the original D-25 or the IBM PC's bogus
X   D-9 format.  Also called a `gender bender', `gender
X   blender', `sex changer', and even `homosexual adaptor';
X   there appears to be some confusion as to whether a `male homosexual
X   adapter' has pins on both sides (is male) or sockets on both sides
X   (connects two males).
X
XGeneral Public Virus: n. Pejorative name for some versions of the
X   {GNU} project {copyleft} or General Public License (GPL), which
X   requires that any tools or {app}s incorporating copylefted code
X   must be source-distributed on the same counter-commercial terms as
X   GNU stuff.  Thus it is alleged that the copyleft `infects' software
X   generated with GNU tools, which may in turn infect other software
X   that reuses any of its code.  The Free Software Foundation's
X   official position as of January 1991 is that copyright law limits
X   the scope of the GPL to "programs textually incorporating
X   significant amounts of GNU code", and that the `infection' is not
X   passed on to third parties unless actual GNU source is transmitted
X   (as in, for example, use of the Bison parser skeleton).
X   Nevertheless, widespread suspicion that the {copyleft} language
X   is `boobytrapped' has caused many developers to avoid using GNU
X   tools and the GPL.
X
Xgenerate: vt. To produce something according to an algorithm or
X   program or set of rules, or as a (possibly unintended) side effect
X   of the execution of an algorithm or program.  The opposite of
X   {parse}.  This term retains its mechanistic connotations (though
X   often humorously) when used of human behavior.  "The guy is
X   rational most of the time, but mention nuclear energy around him
X   and he'll generate {infinite} flamage."
X
Xgensym: [from MacLisp for `generated symbol'] 1. v. To invent a new
X   name for something temporary, in such a way that the name is almost
X   certainly not already in conflict with one already in use.  2. n.
X   The resulting name.  The canonical form of a gensym is `Gnnnn'
X   where nnnn represents a number; any LISP hacker would recognize
X   G0093 (for example) as a gensym.  3. A freshly generated data
X   structure with a gensymmed name.  These are useful for storing or
X   uniquely identifying crufties (see {cruft}).
X
XGet a life!: imp. Hacker-standard way of suggesting that the person
X   to whom you are speaking has succumbed to terminal geekdom (see
X   {computer geek}).  Often heard on {USENET}, esp. as a way of
X   suggesting that the target is taking some obscure issue of
X   {theology} too seriously.  This exhortation was popularized by
X   William Shatner on a Saturday Night Live episode in a speech which
X   ended "Get a *life*!", but some respondents believe it to
X   have been in use before then.
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