eric@snark.thyrsus.com (Eric S. Raymond) (12/16/90)
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X pictures, is an example of CREEPING FEATURISM.) The name dragon is
X a program started up by the system, and it runs about every five
X minutes and updates the information on all idle terminals.
X
XENGLISH /ing'lish/ n. The source code for a program, which may be in
X any language, as opposed to BINARY. The idea behind the term is
X that to a real hacker, a program written in his favorite
X programming language is as readable as English. Usage: obsolete,
X used mostly by old-time hackers, though recognizable in context.
X On ITS, directory SYSENG was where the "English" for system
X programs is kept, and SYSBIN, the binaries. SAIL had many such
X directories, but the canonical one was [CSP,SYS].
X
XEOU /ee oh yoo/ The mnemonic of a mythical ASCII control character
X (End Of User) that could make a Model 33 Teletype explode on
X receipt. This parodied the numerous obscure record-delimiter
X control characters left in ASCII from the days when it was more
X associated with wire-service teletypes than computers (e.g. FS, GS,
X RS, US, EM, SUB, ETX and esp. EOT). It is worth remembering that
X ASR-33s were big, noisy mechanical beasts with a lot of clattering
X parts; the notion that one might explode was nowhere near as
X ridiculous as it might seem to someone sitting in front of a TUBE
X or flatscreen today.
X
XEXCH /ex'chuh/ or /ekstch/ [from the PDP-10 instruction set] v., obs. To
X exchange two things, each for the other.
X
XIMPCOM /imp'kom/ See TELNET. This term is now nearly obsolete.
X
XIRP /erp/ [from the MIDAS pseudo-op which generates a block of code
X repeatedly, substituting in various places the car and/or cdr of
X the list(s) supplied at the IRP] v. To perform a series of tasks
X repeatedly with a minor substitution each time through. "I guess
X I'll IRP over these homework papers so I can give them some random
X grade for this semester." Usage: rare, now obsolescent.
X
XJFCL /jif'kl/ or /jaf'kl/ v., obs. To cancel or annul something.
X "Why don't you jfcl that out?" The fastest do-nothing instruction
X on the PDP-10 happened to be JFCL, which stands for "Jump if Flag
X set and then CLear the flag"; this does something useful, but is a
X very fast no-operation if no flag is specified. Geoff Goodfellow,
X one of the jargon-1 compilers, once had JFCL on the license plate
X of his BMW.
X
XJRN, JRL /jay ahr en/, /jay ahr el/ n. The names JRN and JRL were
X sometimes used as example names when discussing PPNs (q.v.); they
X were understood to be programmer names for (fictitious) programmers
X named "J. Random Nerd" and "J. Random Loser" (see [J. RANDOM).
X For example, one might say "To log in, type log one comma jay are
X en" (that is, "[log1,JRN]"), and the listener will understand
X that he should use his own computer id in place of "[JRN]".
X
XJRST /jerst/ [based on the PDP-10 jump instruction] v., obs. To
X suddenly change subjects, with no intention of returning to the
X previous topic.. Usage: rather rare, and considered silly. "Jack
X be nimble, Jack be quick; Jack jrst over the candle stick." This
X is even sillier. Why JRST and not JUMP? The PDP-10 JUMP
X instruction means "do not jump", as explained in the definition
X of AOS. The JUMPA instruction ("JUMP Always") does jump, but it
X isn't quite as fast as the JRST instruction (Jump and ReSTore
X flags). The instruction was used so frequently that the speed
X matters, so all PDP-10 hackers automatically used the faster though
X more obscure JRST instruction.
X
XJSYS /jay'sis/, pl. JSI /jay'sigh/ [Jump to SYStem] v.,obs. See UUO.
X
XLDB /lid'dib/ [from the PDP-10 instruction set] v. To extract from the
X middle.
X
XMOBY /moh'bee/ n., sense 2. This term entered the world of AI with the
X Fabritek 256K moby memory of MIT-AI. Thus, classically, 256K words,
X the size of a PDP-10 moby. Back when address registers were
X narrow, the term was more generally useful; because when a computer
X had "virtual memory mapping" it might actually have more physical
X memory attached to it than any one program could access directly.
X One could then say "This computer has six mobies" to mean that
X the ratio of physical memory to address space is six, without
X having to say specifically how much memory there actually is. That
X in turn implies that the computer can timeshare six "full-sized"
X programs without having to swap programs between memory and disk.
X Thus the MIT PDP-10s each had two mobies, usually referred to as
X the "low moby" (0-777777) and "high moby" (1000000-1777777), or
X as "moby 0" and "moby 1". MIT-AI had four mobies of address
X space: moby 2 was the PDP-6 memory, and moby 3 the PDP-11
X interface.) Nowadays the low cost of processor logic means
X registers are typically wider than the most memory you can cram
X onto a machine, so most systems have much *less* than 1 theoretical
X `native' moby of core. However, the size of the PDP-10 "moby"
X was often used as a generic unit of either address space (18. bits'
X worth) or of memory (about a megabyte, or 9/8 megabyte (if one
X accounts for difference between 32- and 36-bit words), or 5/4
X megacharacters).
X
XOUTPUT SPY n. On the ITS system there was a program that allowed you
X to see what is being printed on someone else's terminal. It works
X by "spying" on the other guy's output, by examining the insides
X of the monitor system. It could do this because the MIT system
X purposely had very little in the way of "protection" that
X prevents one user from interfering with another. Fair is fair,
X however. There was another program that would automatically notify
X you if anyone starts to spy on your output. It worked in exactly
X the same way, by looking at the insides of the operating system to
X see if anyone else was looking at the insides that have to do with
X your output. This "counterspy" program was called JEDGAR
X (pronounced as two syllables: /jed'gr/), in honor of the former
X head of the FBI. By the way, the output spy program is called OS.
X Throughout the rest of computer science, and also at IBM, OS means
X "operating system", but among old-time ITS hackers it almost
X always meant "output spy".
X
XPHANTOM /fan'tm/ [Stanford] n. The SAIL equivalent of a DRAGON (q.v.).
X Typical phantoms included the accounting program, the news-wire
X monitor, and the LPT and XGP spoolers. UNIX and most other
X environments call this sort of program a background DEMON or
X DAEMON.
X
XPPN /pip'@n/ 1. A combination of a "project identifier" and
X "programmer name", used to identify a specific file directory
X belonging to that programmer. This was used in the TOPS-10
X operating system that DEC provided for the PDP-10. The implicit
X assumption is that there will be many projects, each with several
X programmers working on it, and that a programmer may work on
X several projects. This is not a bad organization; what was totally
X BOGUS is that projects and programmers were identified by octal
X (base eight) numbers! Hence the term Project-Programmer Number, or
X PPN. If you were programmer 72534 and wanted to work on project
X 306, you would have had to tell the computer "login 306,72534".
X This was absurd. At CMU the TOPS-10 system was modified to be
X somewhat less ridiculous: projects were identified by a letter and
X three decimal (not octal) digits, and programmers were identified
X by his two initials, a digit indicating the first year he came to
X CMU, and a fourth character that is used to distinguish between,
X say, Fred Loser and Farley Luser who both happened to arrive the
X same year. So to use the PDP-10 at CMU one might have said "login
X A780GS70". The programmer name "GS70" was also called a "man
X number" at CMU, even though it isn't really a number. At
X Stanford, projects and programmers were identified by three letters
X or digits each: if Guy Steele werre to work on a LISP project at
X Stanford, he might log in as "login lsp,gls". This was much more
X mnemonic. Programmer identifiers at Stanford were usually the
X programmer's initials, though sometimes it is a nickname or other
X three-letter sequence. Even though the CMU and Stanford forms were
X not really (pairs of) numbers, the term PPN was used to refer to
X the combination. 2. At Stanford, the term PPN was often used
X loosely to refer to the programmer name alone. "I want to send
X you some mail; what's your ppn?". This term is still used by
X old-timers on the commercial time-sharing service CompuServe (which
X uses PDP-10s) but has long since vanished from hackerdom. ITS and
X UNIX, of course, never used PPNs; ITS had six-character UNAMEs, and
X UNIX has 15-character `usernames' and hierararchical file system
X rather than project areas.
X
XREL /rel/ See BIN in the main listing. Short for `relocatable', used
X on the old TOPS-10 OS.
X
XSAV /sayv/ See BIN.
X
XSHR /sheir/ See BIN.
X
XSOS n. 1. /sahss/ Inverse of AOS, from the PDP-10 instruction set. 2.
X /ess-oh-ess/ An infamously LOSING text editor. Once, back in the
X 1960's, when a text editor was needed for the PDP-6, a hacker
X CRUFTED TOGETHER a quick-and-dirty "stopgap editor" to be used
X until a better one was written. Unfortunately, the old one was
X never really discarded when new ones (in particular, TECO) came
X along. SOS is a descendant of that editor; SOS means "Son of
X Stopgap", and many PDP-10 users gained the dubious pleasure of its
X axquaintance. [Since then other programs similar in style to SOS
X have been written, notably BILOS (bye'lohss) the Brother-In-Law Of
X Stopgap.] See also TECO.
X
XSTY /stie/, *not* /ess tee wie/ [ITS] n. A pseudo-teletype, which is a
X two-way pipeline with a job on one end and a fake keyboard-tty on
X the other. Also, a standard program which provides a pipeline from
X its controlling tty to a pseudo-teletype (and thence to another
X tty, thereby providing a "sub-tty"). This is MIT terminology; the
X SAIL, DEC and UNIX equivalent is PTY (see main text).
X
XTECO /tee'koh/ [acronym for Tape (later, Text) Editor and COrrector]
X n. 1. A text editor developed at MIT, and modified by just about
X everybody. If all the dialects are included, TECO might have been
X the single most prolific editor in use before EMACS (q.v.) to which
X it was directly ancestral. Noted for its powerful
X programming-language-like features and its incredibly hairy syntax.
X It is literally the case that every possible sequence of ASCII
X characters is a valid, though probably uninteresting, TECO program;
X one common hacker game used to be mentally working out what the
X teco commands corresponding to human names did. As an example,
X here is a TECO program that takes a list of names like this:
X
X Loser, J. Random
X Quux, The Great
X Dick, Moby
X
X sorts them alphabetically according to last name, and then puts the
X last name last, removing the comma, to produce this:
X
X Moby Dick
X J. Random Loser
X The Great Quux
X
X The program is:
X
X [1 J ^P $ L $ $
X J <.-Z; .,(S,$ -D .)FX1 @F^B $K :L I $ G1 L>$$
X
X In fact, this very program was used to produce the second, sorted
X list from the first list! The first time I tried the program it
X had a BUG: I had accidentally omitted the "@" in front of
X "F^B", which as anyone can see is clearly the wrong thing. It
X worked fine the second time. There is no space to describe all the
X features of TECO, but I will note that "^P" means "sort" and
X "J <.-Z; ... L>" is an idiomatic series of commands for "do once
X for every line".
X
X Historical data from MRC: DEC grabbed an ancient version of MIT
X TECO many years ago when it was still a TTY-oriented editor (that
X is, didn't make use of display screens). By then, TECO at MIT had
X become a highly display-oriented and is actually a language for
X writing editors, rather than an editor. Meanwhile, the outside
X world's various versions of TECO remained almost the same as the
X MIT version of the early 1970s. DEC recently tried to discourage
X its use, but an underground movement of sorts kept it alive. DEC
X later tried to force their hackers by administrative decision to
X use a hacked up and generally lobotomized version of SOS instead of
X TECO, and they revolted.
X
X 1990 update: TECO is now pretty much one with the dust of history,
X having been replaced (both functionally and psychologically) almost
X everywhere by GNU EMACS -- ESR.
X
XUUO /yoo-yoo-oh/ [short for "Un-Used Operation"] n. A PDP-10 system
X monitor call. The term "Un-Used Operation" comes from the fact
X that, on PDP-10 systems, monitor calls are implemented as invalid
X or illegal machine instructions, which cause traps to the monitor
X (see TRAP). The SAIL manual describing the available UUOs has a
X cover picture showing an unidentified underwater object. See YOYO.
X [Note: DEC salescritters have since decided that "Un-Used
X Operation" sounds bad, so UUO now stands for "Unimplemented User
X Operation".] Tenex and Twenex systems use the JSYS machine
X instruction (q.v.), which is halfway between a legal machine
X instruction and a UUO, since KA-10 Tenices implement it as a
X hardware instruction which can be used as an ordinary subroutine
X call (sort of a "pure JSR").
X
XWORMHOLE /werm'hohl/ n. A location in a monitor which contains the
X address of a routine, with the specific intent of making it easy to
X substitute a different routine. The following quote comes from
X "Polymorphic Systems", vol. 2, p. 54:
X
X Any type of I/O device can be substituted for the standard
X device by loading a simple driver routine for that device and
X installing its address in one of the monitor's `wormholes.'
X
X The term `wormhole' has been used to describe a hypothetical
X astronomical situation where a black hole connects to the `other
X side' of the universe. When this happens, information can pass
X through the wormhole, in only one direction, much as `assumptions'
X pass down the monitor's wormholes."
X
X This term is now obsolescent. Modern operating systems use
X clusters of wormholes extensively (for modularization of I/O
X handling in particular, as in the UNIX device-driver organization)
X but the preferred jargon for these clusters is `device tables',
X `jump tables' or `capability tables'.
X
XXGP /eks-jee-pee/ 1. n. Xerox Graphics Printer. 2. v. To print
X something on the XGP. "You shouldn't XGP such a large file."
X
XYOYO /yoh'yoh/ n. DEC service engineers' slang for UUO (q.v.). Usage:
X rare at Stanford and MIT, has been found at random DEC
X installations.
X
XAppendix C: Bibliography
X************************
X
XHere are some other books you can read to help you understand the
Xhacker mindset.
X
X Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid
X Hofstadter, Douglas
X Basic Books, New York 1979
X ISBN 0-394-74502-7
X
XThis book reads like an intellectual Grand Tour of hacker
Xpreoccupations. Music, mathematical logic, programming, speculations
Xon the nature of intelligence, biology, and Zen are woven into a
Xbrilliant tapestry themed on the concept of encoded self-reference.
XThe perfect left-brain companion to _Illuminatus_.
X
X Illuminatus (three vols)
X 1. The Golden Apple
X 2. The Eye in the Pyramid
X 3. Leviathan
X Shea, Robert & Wilson, Robert Anton
X Dell Books, New York 1975
X ISBN 0-440-{14688-7,34691-6,14742-5}
X
XThis work of alleged fiction is an incredible berserko-surrealist
Xrollercoaster of world-girdling conspiracies, intelligent dolphins,
Xthe fall of Atlantis, who really killed JFK, sex, drugs, rock and roll
Xand the Cosmic Giggle Factor. First published in 3 volumes, but
Xthere's now a one-volume trade paperback carried by most chain
Xbookstores under SF. The perfect right-brain companion to Hofstadter's
X_Godel_Escher,_Bach:_An_Eternal_Golden_Braid_. See ERIS,
XDISCORDIANISM, RANDOM NUMBERS, CHURCH OF THE SUB-GENIUS.
X
X The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
X Douglas Adams
X Pocket Books 1981, New York
X ISBN 0-671-46149-4
X
XThis Monty-Python-in-Space spoof of SF genre traditions has been
Xpopular among hackers ever since the original British radio show.
XRead it if only to learn about Vogons (see BOGONS) and the
Xsignificance of the number 42 (see RANDOM NUMBERS) --- also why the
Xwinningest chess program of 1990 was called DEEP THOUGHT.
X
X The Tao of Programming
X James Geoffrey
X Infobooks 1987, Santa Monica,
X ISBN 0-931137-07-1
X
XThis gentle, funny spoof of the _Tao_Te_Ching_ contains much that is
Xilluminating about the hacker way of thought. "When you have learned
Xto snatch the error code from the trap frame, it will be time for you
Xto leave."
X
X Hackers
X Steven Levy
X Anchor/Doubleday 1984, New York
X ISBN 0-385-19195-2
X
XLevy's book is at its best in describing the early MIT hackers at the
XModel Railroad Club and the early days of the microcomputer
Xrevolution. He never understood UNIX or the networks, though, and his
Xenshrinement of RMS as "the last hacker" turns out (thankfully) to
Xhave been quite misleading.
X
X The Cuckoo's Egg
X Clifford Stoll
X Doubleday 1989, New York
X ISBN 0-385-24946-2
X
XClifford Stoll's absorbing tale of how he tracked Markus Hess and the
XChaos Club cracking-ring nicely illustrates the difference between
X`hacker' and `cracker'. And Stoll's portrait of himself and his lady
XBarbara and his friends at Berkeley and on the Internet paints a
Xmarvelously vivid picture of how hackers and the people around them
Xlike to live and what they think.
X
X The Devil's DP Dictionary
X by Stan Kelly-Bootle
X McGraw-Hill Inc, 1981
X ISBN 0-07-034022-6
X
XThis pastiche of Ambrose Bierce's famous work is similar in format to
Xthe Jargon File (and quotes several entries from jargon-1) but
Xsomewhat different in tone and intent. It is more satirical and less
Xanthropological, and largely a product of the author's literate and
Xquirky imagination. For example, it defines "computer science" as
X"A study akin to numerology and astrology, but lacking the precision
Xof the former and the success of the latter"; also as "The boring
Xart of coping with a large number of trivialities."
X
X The Devouring Fungus: Tales from the Computer Age
X by Karla Jennings
X W. W. Norton 1990, New York
X ISBN 0-393-30732-8
X
XThe author of this pioneering compendium knits together a great deal
Xof computer and hacker-related folklore with good writing and a few
Xwell-chosen cartoons. She has a keen eye for the human aspects of the
Xlore and is very good at illuminating the psychology and evolution of
Xhackerdom. Unfortunately, a number of small errors and awkwardnesses
Xsuggest that she didn't have the final manuscript vetted by a hackish
Xinsider; the glossary in the back is particularly embarrassing, and at
Xleast one classic tale (the Magic Switch story in this file's Appendix
XA) is given in incomplete and badly mangled form. Nevertheless, this
Xbook is a win overall and can be enjoyed by hacker and non-hacker
Xalike.
X
X True Names...and Other Dangers
X by Vernor Vinge
X Baen Books 1987, New York
X ISBN 0-671-65363
X
XRMS believes the title story this book "expresses the spirit of
Xhacking best". This may well be true; it's certainly difficult to
Xrecall anyone doing a better job. Certainly it holds a special place
Xin the hearts of hackers everywhere. The other stories in this
Xcollection are also fine work by an author who is perhaps one of
Xtoday's very best practitioners of the hard-SF genre.
X
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if [ $TOUCH = can ]
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exit 0