suhler@im4u.UUCP (04/15/87)
Someone asked for a definition of "kludge," but I never saw the real one. This is from _The Soul of a New Machine_, by Tracy Kidder, (c) 1981 by John Tracy Kidder, reprinted without permission: "Kludge made Alsing imagine a wheel built out of bricks, with wooden wedges in between them; such a thing might work, but no sane engineer would be proud to have designed it." The word originated (I think) with hardware designers, but can be just as well aplied to software. -- Paul Suhler suhler@im4u.UTEXAS.EDU 512-474-9517/471-3903
klein@gravity.UUCP (04/15/87)
In article <1736@im4u.UUCP> suhler@im4u.UUCP (Paul A. Suhler) writes: >Someone asked for a definition of "kludge," but I never saw the >real one. Here's something thrown into this discussion that might serve to help or confuse... the word "klug" in German means "clever". -- Mike Klein klein@sun.{arpa,com} Sun Microsystems, Inc. {ucbvax,hplabs,ihnp4,seismo}!sun!klein Mountain View, CA
lyang%jennifer@Sun.COM (Larry Yang) (04/15/87)
In article <1736@im4u.UUCP> suhler@im4u.UUCP (Paul A. Suhler) writes: >Someone asked for a definition of "kludge," but I never saw the >real one. Here's a better question: How do you pronounce the word? Is it: a) rhymes with 'fudge' b) rhymes with 'stooge' c) rhymes with 'fuji' I've heard all three, from various professors, engineers, writers. What is it? ================================================================================ --Larry Yang [lyang@sun.com,{backbone}!sun!lyang]| A REAL _|> /\ | Sun Microsystems, Inc., Mountain View, CA | signature | | | /-\ |-\ /-\ "A computer's attention span is only as long | <|_/ \_| \_/\| |_\_| as its power cord." | _/ _/
suhler@im4u.UUCP (Paul A. Suhler) (04/16/87)
In article <16769@sun.uucp> lyang@sun.UUCP (Larry Yang) writes: >Here's a better question: How do you pronounce the word? Is it: Definitely b: > b) rhymes with 'stooge' "kludgey" is the adjective form: > c) rhymes with 'fuji' -- Paul Suhler suhler@im4u.UTEXAS.EDU 512-474-9517/471-3903
johnl@ima.UUCP (John R. Levine) (04/16/87)
In article <1736@im4u.UUCP> suhler@im4u.UUCP (Paul A. Suhler) writes: >Someone asked for a definition of "kludge," but I never saw the >real one. ... The term goes way back, Datamation ran a funny series about the Kludge Komputer Korp. in the 1950s. In any event, a kludge is like pornography in that, as the justice said, it's hard to define but you know it when you see it. (There are those who would say that a true kludge is by definition pornographic, but that's beside the point.) It seems to me that for something to be a kludge it 1) has to work, at least sort of, and 2) has to work for the wrong reason. Anything which is elegant or generalizable is immediately disqualified. Hardware kludges frequently involve things like sending signals over spare ground wires. Software kludges involve the equivalent, e.g. passing a pointer from one routine to another as a floating point number because there was already a routine to do that and you found 9 bytes of patch space close enough to it to hack in a 9-byte sequence using short addresses. -- John R. Levine, Javelin Software Corp., Cambridge MA +1 617 494 1400 { ihnp4 | decvax | cbosgd | harvard | yale }!ima!johnl, Levine@YALE.something Where is Richard Nixon now that we need him?
kludge@gitpyr.UUCP (04/16/87)
In article <1736@im4u.UUCP> suhler@im4u.UUCP (Paul A. Suhler) writes: >Someone asked for a definition of "kludge," but I never saw the >real one. Anything involving two or more of the following: 1. Rubber bands 2. Masking tape 3. Bailing wire 4. Level convertors (TTL-CMOS, TTL-RTL, ECL-HTL, etc.) 5. IBM equipment connected to NON-IBM equipment. 6. IBM equipment connected to IBM equipment. (TNX jeanette) -- Scott Dorsey Kaptain_Kludge ICS Programming Lab (Where old terminals go to die), Rich 110, Georgia Institute of Technology, Box 36681, Atlanta, Georgia 30332 ...!{akgua,allegra,amd,hplabs,ihnp4,seismo,ut-ngp}!gatech!gitpyr!kludge
landauer@sun.uucp (Doug Landauer) (04/17/87)
In article <16769@sun.uucp> lyang@sun.UUCP (Larry Yang) writes: >In article <1736@im4u.UUCP> suhler@im4u.UUCP (Paul A. Suhler) writes: >>Someone asked for a definition of "kludge," but I never saw the >>real one. > >Here's a better question: How do you pronounce the word? It *always* rhymes with "stooge". I don't know where you heard the other pronunciations, but they are wrong and very rare. I have never heard any other pronunciation of "kludge" than the one that rhymes with "stooge". That's why I prefer the slightly less-common spelling "kluge". It's a new enough word that both spellings are currently acceptable, and if enough of us do this, maybe we can affect which spelling wins out in the end. -- Doug Landauer
davidsen@steinmetz.UUCP (04/17/87)
I can tell you where "kluge" came from, and can give you
the approximate definition. In Datamation 1962 (can't remember
the month) there was an article which gave the definition:
"Kluge: a random selection of mismatched parts forming
a displeasing whole".
That is the gist of the definition if not the exact form. I could probably
find it in a few hours, but I'll let someone else do it. At the time we
had no idea the term would catch on.
--
bill davidsen sixhub \
ihnp4!seismo!rochester!steinmetz -> crdos1!davidsen
chinet /
ARPA: davidsen%crdos1.uucp@ge-crd.ARPA (or davidsen@ge-crd.ARPA)jackg@tekchips.TEK.COM (Jack Gjovaag) (04/17/87)
In article <3433@gitpyr.gatech.EDU> kludge@gitpyr.UUCP (Scott Dorsey) writes: >In article <1736@im4u.UUCP> suhler@im4u.UUCP (Paul A. Suhler) writes: >>Someone asked for a definition of "kludge," but I never saw the >>real one. > > Anything involving two or more of the following: > 1. Rubber bands > 2. Masking tape > 3. Bailing wire > 4. Level convertors (TTL-CMOS, TTL-RTL, ECL-HTL, etc.) > 5. IBM equipment connected to NON-IBM equipment. > 6. IBM equipment connected to IBM equipment. (TNX jeanette) Left off the list but important include: 7. Any Fortran program that uses Equivalence 8. Any Fortran program 9. One shots 10. Duct tape (sometimes called Duck tape and infinitely more kludgey than masking tape) 11. Capacitors used to delay signals 12. DTMF data encoding (poor man's modem) 13. Wire wrapped back planes 14. CRTs (the last holdout of the vacuum tube) 15. Running fix-up wires through via holes on a circuit board Jack Gjovaag Tek Labs
kludge@gitpyr.UUCP (04/18/87)
In article <1199@tekchips.TEK.COM> jackg@tekchips.UUCP (Jack Gjovaag) writes: >In article <3433@gitpyr.gatech.EDU> kludge@gitpyr.UUCP (Scott Dorsey) writes: >>In article <1736@im4u.UUCP> suhler@im4u.UUCP (Paul A. Suhler) writes: >>>Someone asked for a definition of "kludge," but I never saw the >>>real one. > 15. Running fix-up wires through via holes on a circuit board You think that's bad? I have some military avionics computers which have fix-up wires running from one board in the backplane to another. You can't remove just one board; they are permanently connected together by a strand of kynar hook-up wire. This is what keeps your Air Force flying! -- Scott Dorsey Kaptain_Kludge ICS Programming Lab (Where old terminals go to die), Rich 110, Georgia Institute of Technology, Box 36681, Atlanta, Georgia 30332 ...!{akgua,allegra,amd,hplabs,ihnp4,seismo,ut-ngp}!gatech!gitpyr!kludge
gerryg@laidbak.UUCP (04/19/87)
In article <16881@sun.uucp> landauer@sun.UUCP (Doug Landauer) writes: >"stooge". That's why I prefer the slightly less-common spelling >"kluge". It's a new enough word that both spellings are currently That's the only spelling I can remember seeing, maybe it's just the company I keep. gerry gleason
gerryg@laidbak.UUCP (Gerry Gleason) (04/19/87)
In article <1199@tekchips.TEK.COM> jackg@tekchips.UUCP (Jack Gjovaag) writes: > 10. Duct tape (sometimes called Duck tape and infinitely more > kludgey than masking tape) Also known as Rock'n'Roll tape of hundred mile per hour tape depending on what you use it for gerry gleason
cw@vaxwaller.UUCP (Carl Weidling) (04/20/87)
In article <16745@sun.uucp>, klein@gravity.UUCP writes: > In article <1736@im4u.UUCP> suhler@im4u.UUCP (Paul A. Suhler) writes: > >Someone asked for a definition of "kludge," but I never saw the ...A little deleted as a sop for the post news program... -cw > Here's something thrown into this discussion that might serve to help or > confuse... the word "klug" in German means "clever". > -- > Mike Klein klein@sun.{arpa,com} > Sun Microsystems, Inc. {ucbvax,hplabs,ihnp4,seismo}!sun!klein > Mountain View, CA There was a discussion of the etymology of "kludge" on the net awhile back, seems some complex machines came from the German company Kluge. Grad students saw the name emblazoned on the equipment. -cw
rwa@auvax.UUCP (Ross Alexander) (04/23/87)
In article <16881@sun.uucp>, landauer@sun.uucp (Doug Landauer) writes: > In article <16769@sun.uucp> lyang@sun.UUCP (Larry Yang) writes: > >Here's a better question: How do you pronounce the word? > It *always* rhymes with "stooge". [...] That's why I prefer the slightly > less-common spelling "kluge". [...] Maybe we can affect which spelling > wins out in the end. Absolutely. Kluge is right ( `kludge' (rhymes with sludge) is the slimy mess created by a kluge. :-) The spelling `kludge' always reminds me of those persons who attended `colledge'. It makes my teeth ache. ...!alberta!auvax!aubade!rwa Ross Alexander, Athabasca University
greg@utcsri.UUCP (04/27/87)
In article <1199@tekchips.TEK.COM> jackg@tekchips.UUCP (Jack Gjovaag) writes: KLUGE: > 7. Any Fortran program that uses Equivalence > 8. Any Fortran program 8.5 Forth. > 9. One shots > 10. Duct tape (sometimes called Duck tape and infinitely more > kludgey than masking tape) Sometimes called Duck tape for much the same reason that barbed wire is sometimes called 'bob' wire. Sometimes called Gaffer's Tape. [..] 16. Anything attached to an electrical outlet other than by the appropriate plug :-( 17. Anything containing a 6502. 18. Hubcaps. -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Greg Smith University of Toronto UUCP: ..utzoo!utcsri!greg Have vAX, will hack...