eric@snark.thyrsus.com (Eric S. Raymond) (11/29/90)
= T =
T (tee) 1. [from LISP terminology for ``true''] Yes. Usage: used in
reply to a question, particularly one asked using the ``-P''
convention). See NIL. 2. See TIME T. 3. In transaction-processing
circles, an abbreviation for the noun ``transaction''.
TALK MODE n. The state a terminal is in when linked to another via a
bidirectional character pipe to support on-line dialogue between
two or more users. Talk mode has a special set of jargon words,
used to save typing, which are not used orally:
BCNU Be seeing you.
BTW By the way...
BYE? Are you ready to unlink? (This is the standard way to
end a com mode conversation; the other person types
BYE to confirm, or else continues the conversation.)
CUL See you later.
FOO? A greeting, also meaning R U THERE? Often used in the
case of unexpected links, meaning also ``Sorry if I
butted in'' (linker) or ``What's up?'' (linkee).
FYI For your information...
FYA For your amusement...
GA Go ahead (used when two people have tried to type
simultaneously; this cedes the right to type to
the other).
HELLOP A greeting, also meaning R U THERE? (An instance
of the ``-P'' convention.)
NIL No (see the main entry for NIL).
O Over to you.
OO Over and out.
OBTW Oh, by the way...
R U THERE? Are you there?
SEC Wait a second (sometimes written SEC...).
T Yes (see the main entry for T).
TNX Thanks.
TNX 1.0E6 Thanks a million (humorous).
WTF The universal interrogative particle. WTF knows what
it means?
WTH What the hell
<double CRLF> When the typing party has finished, he types
two CRLFs to signal that he is done; this leaves a
blank line between individual ``speeches'' in the
conversation, making it easier to re-read the
preceding text.
<name>: When three or more terminals are linked, each speech
is preceded by the typist's login name and a colon (or
a hyphen) to indicate who is typing. The login name
often is shortened to a unique prefix (possibly a
single letter) during a very long conversation.
Most of the above ``sub-jargon'' is used at both Stanford and MIT.
Several of these are also common in EMAIL, esp. FYI, FYA, BTW,
BCNU, and CUL A few other abbrevs have been reported from
commercial networks such as GEnie and Compuserve where on-line
`live' chat including more than two people is common and usually
involves a more `social' context, notably
<g> grin
BRB be right back
HHOJ ha ha only joking
HHOS HA HA ONLY SERIOUS
LOL laughing out load
ROTF rolling on the floor
AFK away from keyboard
b4 before
CU l8tr see you later
MORF Male or Female?
TTFN ta-ta for now
OIC Oh, I see
rehi hello again
These are not used at universities; conversely, most of the people
who know these are unfamiliar with FOO?, BCNU, HELLOP, NIL, and T.
TANKED adj. Same as DOWN, used primarily by UNIX hackers. See also
HOSED. Popularized as a synonym for ``drunk'' by Steve Dallas in
the late lamented ``Bloom County'' comix.
TASTE n. [primarily MIT-DMS] The quality in programs which tends to be
inversely proportional to the number of features, hacks, and kluges
programmed into it. Also, TASTY, TASTEFUL, TASTEFULNESS. ``This
feature comes in N tasty flavors.'' Although TASTEFUL and
FLAVORFUL are essentially synonyms, TASTE and FLAVOR are not.
TCB (tee see bee) [IBM] Trouble Came Back. Intermittent or
difficult-to reproduce problem which has failed to respond to
neglect. Compare HEISENBUG.
TELERAT (tel'@-rat) n. Unflattering hackerism for ``Teleray'', a line
of extremely losing terminals. See also TERMINAK, SUN-STOOLS,
HP-SUX.
TELNET (telnet) v. To communicate with another ARPAnet host using the
TELNET program. TOPS-10 people use the word IMPCOM since that is
the program name for them. Sometimes abbreviated to TN. ``I
usually TN over to SAIL just to read the AP News.''
TENSE adj. Of programs, very clever and efficient. A tense piece of
code often got that way because it was highly bummed, but sometimes
it was just based on a great idea. A comment in a clever display
routine by Mike Kazar: ``This routine is so tense it will bring
tears to your eyes. Much thanks to Craig Everhart and James
Gosling for inspiring this hack attack.'' A tense programmer is
one who produces tense code.
TERAFLOP CLUB (ter'a-flop kluhb) n. Mythical group of people who
consume outragous amounts of computer time in order to produce a
few simple pictures of glass balls with intricate ray tracing
techniques. Cal Tech professor James Kajiya is said to be the
founding member.
TERMINAK (ter'mi-nak) [Caltech, ca. 1979] n. Any malfunctioning
computer terminal. A common failure mode of Lear-Siegler ADM3a
terminals caused the ``L'' key to produce the ``K'' code instead;
complaints about this tended to look like ``Terminak #3 has a bad
keyboard. Pkease fix.'' See SUN-STOOLS, TELERAT, HP-SUX.
TERMINAL ILLNESS n. 1. Syn. with RASTER BURN. 2. The `burn-in'
condition your CRT tends to get if you don't have a screen saver.
TERPRI (ter'pree) [from the LISP 1.5 (and later, MacLISP) function to
start a new line of output] v. To output a CRLF (q.v.).
THANKS IN ADVANCE [USENET] Conventional net.politeness ending a posted
request for information or assistance. Sometimes written
``advTHANKSance''. See ``NET.'', NETIQUETTE.
THEOLOGY n. 1. Ironically used to refer to RELIGIOUS ISSUES. 2.
Technical fine points of an abstruse nature, esp. those where the
resolution is of theoretical interest but relatively MARGINAL with
respect to actual use of a design or system. Used esp. around
software issues with a heavy AI or language design component.
Example: the deep- vs. shallow-binding debate in the design of
dynamically-scoped LISPS.
THEORY n. Used in the general sense of idea, plan, story, or set of
rules. ``What's the theory on fixing this TECO loss?'' ``What's
the theory on dinner tonight?'' (``Chinatown, I guess.'')
``What's the current theory on letting lusers on during the day?''
``The theory behind this change is to fix the following well-known
screw...''
THINKO (thin'ko) [by analogy with `typo'] n. A bubble in the stream of
consciousness; a momentary, correctable glitch in mental
processing, especially one involving recall of information learned
by rote. Compare MOUSO.
THRASH v. To move wildly or violently, without accomplishing anything
useful. Paging or swapping systems which are overloaded waste most
of their time moving data into and out of core (rather than
performing useful computation), and are therefore said to thrash.
THREE-FINGER SALUTE n. Syn. for VULCAN NERVE PINCH.
THUNK n. 1. An expression, frozen together with its environment for
later evaluation if and when needed. The process of unfreezing a
THUNK is called `forcing'. 2. People and and activities scheduled
in a thunklike manner. ``It occurred to me the other day that I am
rather accurately modelled by a thunk -- I frequently need to be
forced to completion.'' -- paraphrased from a .plan file.
TICK n. 1. Interval of time; basic clock time on the computer.
Typically 1/60 second. See JIFFY. 2. In simulations, the discrete
unit of time that passes ``between'' iterations of the simulation
mechanism. In AI applications, this amount of time is often left
unspecified, since the only constraint of interest is that caused
things happen after their causes. This sort of AI simulation is
often pejoratively referred to as ``tick-tick-tick'' simulation,
especially when the issue of simultaneity of events with long,
independent chains of causes is handwaved.
TIME T (tiem tee) n. 1. An unspecified but usually well-understood
time, often used in conjunction with a later time T+1. ``We'll
meet on campus at time T or at Louie's at time T+1.'' 2. SINCE (OR
AT) TIME T EQUALS MINUS INFINITY: A long time ago; for as long as
anyone can remember; at the time that some particular frob was
first designed.
TIP OF THE ICE-CUBE [IBM] n. The visible part of something small and
insignificant. Used as an ironic comment in situations where ``tip
of the iceberg'' might be appropriate if the subject were actually
nontrivial.
TIRED IRON [IBM] n. Hardware that is perfectly functional but enough
behind the state of the art to have been superseded by new
products, presumably with enough improvement in bang-per-buck that
the old stuff is starting to look a bit like a DINOSAUR.
TLA (tee el ay) [Three-Letter-Abbreviation] n. 1. Self-describing
acronym for a species with which computing terminology is infested.
2. Any confusing acronym at all. Examples include MCA, FTP, SNA,
CPU, MMU, SCCS, DMU, FPU, TLA, NNTP. People who like this looser
usage argue that not all TLAs have three letters, just as not all
four letter words have four letters.
TOAST 1. n. Any completely inoperable system, esp. one that has just
crashed; ``I think BUACCA is toast.'' 2. v. To cause a system to
crash accidentally, especially in a manner that requires manual
rebooting. ``Rick just toasted harp again.''
TOASTER n. 1. The archetypal really stupid application for an embedded
microprocessor controller esp. `toaster oven'; often used in
comments which imply that a scheme is inappropriate technology.
``DWIM for an assembler? That'd be as silly as running UNIX on
your toaster!'' 2. A very very dumb computer. ``You could run this
program on any dumb toaster.'' See BITTY BOX, TOASTER, TOY.
TOOL 1. n. A program primarily used to create other programs, such as
a compiler or editor or cross-referencing program. Oppose APP,
OPERATING SYSTEM. 2. [UNIX] An application program with a simple,
``transparent'' (typically text-stream) interface designed
specifically to be used in programmed combination with other tools
(see FILTER). 3. [MIT] v.i. To work; to study. See HACK (def #9).
TOPS-10 (tops-ten) n. DEC's proprietary OS for the fabled PDP-10
machines, long a favorite of hackers but now effectively extinct. A
fountain of hacker folklore; see Appendix B. See also ITS, TOPS-20,
TWENEX, VMS, OPERATING SYSTEM.
TOPS-20 (tops-twen'tee) n. See TWENEX.
TOURIST [from MIT's ITS system] n. A guest on the system, especially
one who generally logs in over a network from a remote location for
games and other trivial purposes. One step below LUSER. TOURISTIC
is often used as a pejorative, as in ``losing touristic scum''.
TOY (toy) n. A computer system; always used with qualifiers. 1. NICE
TOY One which supports the speaker's hacking style adequately. 2.
JUST A TOY A machine that yields insufficient COMPUTRONS for the
speaker's preferred uses (this is not condemnatory as is BITTY BOX,
toys can at least be fun). See also GET A REAL COMPUTER, BITTY BOX.
TOY PROBLEM [AI] n. A deliberately simplified or even oversimplified
case of a challenging problem used to investigate, prototype, or
test algorithms for the real problem. Sometimes used pejoratively.
See also GEDANKEN.
TRAP 1. n. A program interrupt, usually used specifically to refer to
an interrupt caused by some illegal action taking place in the user
program. In most cases the system monitor performs some action
related to the nature of the illegality, then returns control to
the program. See UUO. 2. v. To cause a trap. ``These
instructions trap to the monitor.'' Also used transitively to
indicate the cause of the trap. ``The monitor traps all
input/output instructions.''
TRASH v. To destroy the contents of (said of a data structure). The
most common of the family of near-synonyms including MUNG, MANGLE
and SCRIBBLE.
TRIVIAL adj. 1. In explanation, too simple to bother detailing. 2. Not
worth the speaker's time. 3. Complex, but solvable by methods so
well-known that anyone not utterly CRETINOUS would have thought of
them already. Hackers' notions of triviality may be quite at
variance with those of non-hackers. See NONTRIVIAL, UNINTERESTING.
TROGLODYTE [Commodore] n. A hacker who never leaves his cubicle. The
term `Gnoll' (from D&D) is also reported.
TROGLODYTE MODE [Rice University] n. Programming with the lights
turned off, sunglasses on, and the (character) terminal inverted
(black on white) because you've been up for so many days straight
that your eyes hurt. Loud music blaring from a stereo stacked in
the corner is optional but recommended. See LARVAL STAGE, MODE.
TROJAN HORSE n. A program designed to break security or damage a
system that is disguised as something else benign, such as a
directory lister or archiver. See VIRUS, WORM.
TRUE-HACKER [analogy with ``trufan'' from SF fandom] n. One who
exemplifies the primary values of hacker culture, esp. competence
and helpfulness to other hackers. A high complement. ``He spent
six hours helping me bring up UUCP and netnews on my FOOBAR 4000
last week -- unequivocally the act of a true-hacker.'' Compare
DEMIGOD, oppose MUNCHKIN.
TTY (tee-tee-wie [UNIX], titty [ITS]) n. 1. Terminal of the teletype
variety, characterized by a noisy mechanical printer, a very
limited character set, and poor print quality. Usage: antiquated
(like the TTYs themselves). 2. [especially UNIX] Any terminal at
all; sometimes used to refer to the particular terminal controlling
a job.
TUBE n. A CRT terminal. Never used in the mainstream sense of TV; real
hackers don't watch TV, except for Loony Toons and Bullwinkle &
Rocky and the occasional cheesy old swashbuckle movie.
TUNE [from automotive or musical usage] v. To optimize a program or
system for a particular environment. One may `tune for time'
(fastest execution) `tune for space' (least memory utilization) or
`tune for configuration' (most efficient use of hardware). See BUM,
HOT SPOT, HAND-HACK.
TWEAK v. To change slightly, usually in reference to a value. Also
used synonymously with TWIDDLE. See FROBNICATE and FUDGE FACTOR.
TWENEX (twe-neks) n. The TOPS-20 operating system by DEC. So named
because TOPS-10 was a typically crufty DEC operating system for the
PDP-10. BBN developed their own system, called TENEX (TEN
EXecutive), and in creating TOPS-20 for the DEC-20 DEC copied TENEX
and adapted it for the 20. Usage: DEC people cringe when they hear
TOPS-20 referred to as ``Twenex'', but the term seems to be
catching on nevertheless. Release 3 of TOPS-20 is sufficiently
different from release 1 that some (not all) hackers have stopped
calling it TWENEX, though the written abbreviation ``20x'' is still
used.
TWIDDLE n. 1. tilde (ASCII 176, ``~''). Also called ``squiggle'',
``sqiggle'' (sic--pronounced ``skig'gul''), and ``twaddle'', but
twiddle is by far the most common term. 2. A small and
insignificant change to a program. Usually fixes one bug and
generates several new ones. 3. v. To change something in a small
way. Bits, for example, are often twiddled. Twiddling a switch or
knob implies much less sense of purpose than toggling or tweaking
it; see FROBNICATE.
TWINK (twink) [UCSC] n. Equivalent to READ-ONLY USER.
TWO-TO-THE-N quant. Used like N, but referring to bigger numbers. ``I
have two to the N things to do before I can go out for lunch''
means you probably won't show up.
TWO-PI q. The number of years it takes to finish one's thesis. Occurs
in stories in the form: ``He started on his thesis; two pi years
later...''.
= U =
UNINTERESTING adj. 1. Said of a problem which, while NONTRIVIAL, can
be solved simply by throwing sufficient resources at it. 2. Also
said of problems for which a solution would neither advance the
state of the art nor be fun to design and code. True hackers regard
uninteresting problems as an intolerable waste of time, to be
solved (if at all) by lesser mortals. See WOMBAT, SMOP.
U*IX, UN*X n. Used to refer to the Unix operating system (trademark
and/or copyright AT&T) in writing, but avoiding the need for the
ugly (tm) typography. Also used to refer to any or all varieties
of Unixoid operating systems. Ironically, some lawyers now claim
(1990) that the requirement for superscript-tm has no legal force,
but the asterisk usage is entrenched anyhow.
UNWIND THE STACK v. 1. During the execution of a procedural language
one is said to `unwind the stack' from a called procedure up to a
caller when one discards the stack frame and any number of frames
above it, popping back up to the level of the given caller. In C
this is done with longjmp/setjmp; in LISP with THROW/CATCH. This
is sometimes necessary when handling exceptional conditions. See
also SMASH THE STACK. 2. People can unwind the stack as well, by
quickly dealing with a bunch of problems ``Oh hell, let's do lunch.
Just a second while I unwind my stack''.
UNWIND-PROTECT [MIT, from the name of a LISP operator] n. A task you
must remember to perform before you leave a place or finish a
project. ``I have an unwind-protect to call my advisor.''
UNIX (yoo'nix) [In the authors' words, ``A weak pun on MULTICS''] n. A
popular interactive time-sharing system originally invented in 1969
by Ken Thompson after Bell Labs left the MULTICS project, mostly so
he could play SPACEWAR on a scavenged PDP7. The turning point in
UNIX's history came when it was reimplemented almost entirely in C
in 1974, making it the first source-portable operating system.
Fifteen years and a lot of changes later UNIX is the most widely
used multiuser general-purpose operating system in the world. This
fact probably represents the single most important victory yet of
hackerdom over industry opposition. See VERSION 7, BSD UNIX, USG
UNIX.
UP adj. 1. Working, in order. ``The down escalator is up.'' 2.
BRING UP: v. To create a working version and start it. ``They
brought up a down system.''
UPLOAD [uhp'lohd] v. 1. To transfer code or data over a digital comm
line from a smaller `client' system to a larger `host' one. Oppose
DOWNLOAD. 2. [speculatively] To move the essential patterns and
algorithms which make up one's mind from one's brain into a
computer. Only those who are convinced that such patterns and
algorithms capture the complete essence of the self view this
prospect with aplomb.
URCHIN n. See MUNCHKIN.
USENET (yooz'net) n. A distributed bulletin board system supported
mainly by UNIX machines, international in scope and probably the
largest non-profit information utility in existence. As of early
1990 it hosts over 300 topic groups and distributes up to 15
megabytes of new technical articles, news, discussion, chatter, and
FLAMAGE every day. See NEWSGROUP.
USER n. A programmer who will believe anything you tell him. One who
asks annoying questions. Identified at MIT with ``loser'' by the
spelling ``luser''. See REAL USER. [Note by GLS: I don't agree
with RF's definition at all. Basically, there are two classes of
people who work with a program: there are implementors (hackers)
and users (losers). The users are looked down on by hackers to a
mild degree because they don't understand the full ramifications of
the system in all its glory. (A few users who do are known as real
winners.) It is true that users ask questions (of necessity).
Very often they are annoying or downright stupid.]
USER FRIENDLY adj. Programmer-hostile. Generally used by hackers in a
hostile tone, to describe systems which hold the user's hand so
obsessively that they make it painful for the more experienced and
knowledgeable to get any work done. See MENUITIS, DROOL-PROOF
PAPER, MACINTRASH.
USER-OBSEQUIOUS adj. Emphatic form of USER FRIENDLY. Connotes a system
so verbose, inflexible, and determinedly simple-minded that it is
nearly unusable. ``Design a system any fool can use and only a fool
will want to use it''.
USG UNIX (yoo-ess-jee yoo'nix) n. Refers to AT&T UNIX versions after
VERSION 7, especially System III and System V releases 1, 2 and 3.
So called because at that time AT&T's support crew was called the
`Unix Support Group' See BSD UNIX.
= V =
VADDING (vad'ing) [from VAD, a permutation of ADV (i.e. ADVENT
(q.v.)), used to avoid a particular sysadmin's continual
search-and-destroy sweeps for the game] n. A leisure-time activity
of certain hackers involving the covert exploration of the
``secret'' parts of large buildings -- basements, roofs, freight
elevators, maintenance crawlways, steam tunnels and the like. A few
go so far as to learn locksmithing in order to synthesize vadding
keys. The verb is `to vad'. The most extreme and dangerous form of
vadding is ELEVATOR RODEO, aka ELEVATOR SURFING, a sport played by
wrasslin' down a thousand-pound elevator car with a three-foot
piece of string, and then exploiting this mastery in various
stimulating ways (such as elevator hopping, shaft exploration,
rat-racing and the ever-popular drop experiments). Kids, don't try
this at home!
VANILLA adj. Ordinary flavor, standard. See FLAVOR. When used of
food, very often does not mean that the food is flavored with
vanilla extract! For example, ``vanilla-flavored wonton soup'' (or
simply ``vanilla wonton soup'') means ordinary wonton soup, as
opposed to hot and sour wonton soup. Applied to hardware and
software. As in ``Vanilla Version 7 UNIX can't run on a vanilla
11/34''.
VANNEVAR (van'@-var) n. A bogus technological prediction or foredoomed
engineering concept, esp. one which fails by implicitly assuming
that technologies develop linearly, incrementally, and in isolation
from one another when in fact the learning curve tends to be highly
nonlinear, revolutions are common, and competition is the rule. The
prototype was Vannevar Bush's prediction of ``electronic brains''
the size of the Empire State Building with a
Niagara-Falls-equivalent cooling system for their tubes and relays,
at a time when the semiconductor effect had already been
demonstrated. Other famous vannevars have included commercial LISP
machines and a paper from the late 1970s that purported to prove
maximum achievable areal densities for ICs less than those
routinely achieved five years later.
VAPORWARE n. Products announced far in advance of any shipment (which
may or may not actually take place).
VAR (veir, vahr) n. Short for ``variable''. Compare ARG, PARAM.
VAX n. (vaks) [from Virtual Address eXtended] 1. The most successful
minicomputer design in industry history, possibly excepting its
immediate ancestor the PDP-11. Between its release in 1978 and
eclipse by KILLER MICROS after about 1986 the VAX was probably the
favorite hacker machine of them all, esp. after the 1982 release of
4.2BSD UNIX (see BSD UNIX). Esp. noted for its large,
assembler-programmer-friendly instruction set, an asset which
became a liability after the RISC revolution following about 1985.
2. A major brand of vacuum cleaner in Britain. Cited here because
its alleged sales pitch, ``Nothing sucks like a VAX!'' became a
sort of battle-cry of RISC partisans. Ironically, the slogan was
actually that of a rival brand called Electrolux.
VAXEN (vak'sn) [from ``oxen'', perhaps influenced by ``vixen''] n. pl.
The plural of VAX (a DEC machine). See BOXEN.
VEEBLEFESTER (vee'b@l-fes-tr) [from the ``Born Loser'' comix via
Commodore; prob originally from Mad Magazine's ``Veeblefeetzer'' c.
1960] n. Any obnoxious person engaged in the alleged professions
of marketing or management. Antonym of HACKER. Compare SUIT,
MARKETROID.
VENUS FLYTRAP (vee'n:s flie'trap) [after the plant] n. See FIREWALL.
VERBIAGE (ver'bee-@j) [IBM] n. Documentation.
VERSION 7 alt. V7 (vee-se'v@n) n. The 1978 unsupported release of UNIX
(q.v.) ancestral to all current commercial versions. Before the
release of the POSIX/SVID standards V7's features were often
treated as a UNIX portability baseline. See BSD, USG UNIX, UNIX.
VIRGIN adj. Unused, in reference to an instantiation of a program.
``Let's bring up a virgin system and see if it crashes again.''
Esp. useful after contracting a VIRUS (q.v.) through SEX (q.v.).
Also, by extension, unused buffers and the like within a program.
VIRUS [from SF] n. A cracker program that propagates itself by
`infecting' (embedding itself in) other trusted programs,
especially operating systems. See WORM, TROJAN HORSE.
VMS (vee em ess) n. DEC's proprietary operating system for their VAX
minicomputer; one of the seven or so environments that looms
largest in hacker folklore. Many UNIX fans generously concede that
VMS would probably be the hacker's favorite commercial OS if UNIX
didn't exist; though true, this makes VMS fans furious. See also
TOPS-10, TOPS-20, UNIX.
VIRTUAL adj. 1. Common alternative to LOGICAL (q.v.), but never used
with compass directions. 2. Performing the functions of. Virtual
memory acts like real memory but isn't.
VIRTUAL REALITY n. A form of network interaction incorporating aspects
of role-playing games, interactive theater, improvisational comedy
and ``true confessions'' magazines. In a ``virtual reality'' forum
(such as USENET's alt.callahans newsgroup or the MUD experiments on
Internet) interaction between the participants is written like a
shared novel complete with scenery, ``foreground characters'' which
may be personae utterly unlike the people who write them, and
common ``background characters'' manipulable by all parties. The
one iron law is that you may not write irreversible changes to a
character without the consent of the person who ``owns'' it.
Otherwise anything goes. See BAMF.
VISIONARY n. One who hacks vision (in an AI context, such as the
processing of visual images).
VULCAN NERVE PINCH n. [From the old Star Trek TV series via Commodore
Amiga hackers] The keyboard combination that forces a soft-boot or
jump to ROM monitor (on machines that support such a feature). On
many micros this is Ctrl-Alt-Del. Also called THREE-FINGER SALUTE.
= W =
WABBIT (wabb'it) [almost certainly from Elmer Fudd's immortal line
``you wascal wabbit!''] n. 1. A legendary early hack reported on
the PDP-10s at RPI and elsewhere around 1978. The program would
reproduce itself twice every time it was run, eventually crashing
the system. 2. By extension, any hack that includes infinite
self-replication but is not a VIRUS or WORM. See also COOKIE
MONSTER.
WALDO (wahl'doh) [probably taken from the story ``Waldo'', by
Heinlein, which is where the term was first used to mean a
mechanical adjunct to a human limb] Used at Harvard, particularly
by Tom Cheatham and students, instead of FOOBAR as a meta-syntactic
variable and general nonsense word. See FOO, BAR, FOOBAR, QUUX.
WALKING DRIVES An occasional failure mode of magnetic-disk drives back
in the days when they were 14'' wide WASHING MACHINES. Those old
DINOSAURS carried terrific angular momentum; the combination of a
misaligned spindle or worn bearings and stick-slip interactions
with the floor could cause them to ``walk'' across a room, lurching
alternate corners forward a couple of millimeters at a time. This
could also be induced by certain patterns of drive access (a fast
seek across the whole width of the disk, followed by a slow seek in
the other direction). It is known that some bands of old-time
hackers figured out how to induce disk-accessing patterns that
would do this to particular drive models and held disk-drive races.
This is not a joke!
WALL [shortened form of HELLO WALL, apparently from the phrase ``up
against a blank wall''] [WPI] interj. 1. An indication of
confusion, usually spoken with a quizzical tone. ``Wall??'' 2. A
request for further explication. Compare OCTAL FORTY.
WALL TIME n. 1. `Real world' time (what the clock on the wall shows)
as opposed to the system clock's idea of time. 2. The real running
time of a program, as opposed to the number of CLOCKS required to
execute it (on a timesharing system these will differ, as no one
program gets all the CLOCKS).
WALLPAPER n. A file containing a listing (e.g., assembly listing) or
transcript, esp. a file containing a transcript of all or part of a
login session. (The idea was that the LPT paper for such listings
was essentially good only for wallpaper, as evidenced at SAIL where
it was used as such to cover windows.) Usage: not often used now,
esp. since other systems have developed other terms for it (e.g.,
PHOTO on TWENEX). The term possibly originated on ITS, where the
commands to begin and end transcript files were :WALBEG and
:WALEND, with default file DSK:WALL PAPER.
WASHING MACHINE n. Old-style hard disks in floor-standing cabinets. So
called because of the size of the cabinet and the ``top-loading''
access to the media packs. See WALKING DRIVES.
WEASEL [Cambridge University] A ``naive user'', one who deliberately
or accidentally does things which are stupid or ill-advised.
Roughly synonymoius with LUSER.
WEDGED [from ``head wedged up ass''] adj. 1. To be in a locked state,
incapable of proceeding without help. (See GRONK.) Often refers
to humans suffering misconceptions. ``The swapper is wedged.''
This term is sometimes used as a synonym for DEADLOCKED (q.v.). 2.
[UNIX] Specifically used to describe the state of a TTY left in a
losing state by abort of a screen-oriented program or one that has
messed with the line discipline in some obscure way.
WEEBLE (weeb'l) [Cambridge University] interj. Use to denote
frustration, usually at amazing stupidity. ``I stuck the disk in
upside down.'' ``Weeble...'' Compare GURFLE.
WEEDS n. Refers to development projects or algorithms that have no
possible relevance or practical application. Comes from ``off in
the weeds''. Used in phrases like ``lexical analysis for microcode
is serious weeds...''
WELL BEHAVED adj. Of software: conforming to coding guidelines and
standards. Well behaved software uses the operating system to do
chores such as keyboard input, allocating memory and drawing
graphics. Oppose ILL-BEHAVED.
WETWARE n. 1. The human brain, as opposed to computer hardware or
software (as in ``Wetware has at most 7 +/- 2 registers''). 2.
Human beings (programmers, operators, administrators) attached to a
computer system, as opposed to the system's hardware or software.
WHAT n. The question mark character (``?''). See QUES. Usage: rare,
used particularly in conjunction with WOW.
WHEEL [from Twenex, q.v.] n. A privileged user or WIZARD (sense #2).
Now spreading into the UNIX culture. Privilege bits are sometimes
called WHEEL BITS. The state of being in a privileged logon is
sometimes called WHEEL MODE.
WHEEL WARS [Stanford University] A period in LARVAL STAGE during which
student wheels hack each other by attempting to log each other out
of the system, delete each other's files, or otherwise wreak havoc,
usually at the expense of the lesser users.
WHITE BOOK, THE n. Kernighan & Ritchie's _The_C_Programming_Language_,
esp. the classic and influential first edition. Also called simply
``K&R''. See SILVER BOOK, PURPLE BOOK, ORANGE BOOK.
WIBNI [Bell Labs, Wouldn't It Be Nice If] n. What most requirements
documents/specifications consist entirely of. Compare IWBNI.
WIDGET n. 1. A meta-thing. Used to stand for a real object in
didactic examples (especially database tutorials). Legend has it
that the original widgets were holders for buggy whips. 2. A user
interface object in X Window System GUIs.
WIMP ENVIRONMENT n. [acronymic from Window, Icon, Mouse, Pointer] A
graphical-user-interface based environmend, as described by a hacker
who prefers command-line interfaces for their superior flexibility
and
extensibility.
WIN [from MIT jargon] 1. v. To succeed. A program wins if no
unexpected conditions arise. 2. BIG WIN: n. Serendipity. Emphatic
forms: MOBY WIN, SUPER WIN, HYPER-WIN (often used interjectively as
a reply). For some reason SUITABLE WIN is also common at MIT,
usually in reference to a satisfactory solution to a problem. See
LOSE.
WINNAGE (win'@j) n. The situation when a lossage is corrected, or when
something is winning. Quite rare. Usage: also quite rare.
WINNER 1. n. An unexpectedly good situation, program, programmer or
person. 2. REAL WINNER: Often sarcastic, but also used as high
praise.
WINNITUDE (win'i-tood) n. The quality of winning (as opposed to
WINNAGE, which is the result of winning). ``That's really great!
Boy, what winnitude!''
WIREHEAD n. 1. A hardware hacker, especially one who concentrates on
communications hardware. 2. An expert in local area networks. A
wirehead can be a network software wizard too, but will always have
the ability to deal with network hardware, down to the smallest
component. Wireheads are known for their ability to lash up an
Ethernet terminator from spare resistors, for example.
WIZARD n. 1. A person who knows how a complex piece of software or
hardware works; someone who can find and fix his bugs in an
emergency. Rarely used at MIT, where HACKER is the preferred term.
2. A person who is permitted to do things forbidden to ordinary
people, e.g., a ``net wizard'' on a TENEX may run programs which
speak low-level host-imp protocol; an ADVENT wizard at SAIL may
play Adventure during the day. 3. A UNIX expert. See GURU.
WIZARD MODE [from nethack] n. A special access mode of a program or
system, usually passworded, that permits some users godlike
privileges. Generally not used for operating systems themselves
(ROOT MODE or WHEEL MODE would be used instead).
WOMBAT [Waste Of Money, Brains and Time] adj. Applied to problems
which are both profoundly UNINTERESTING in themselves and unlikely
to benefit anyone interesting even if solved. Often used in
fanciful constructions such as WRESTLING WITH A WOMBAT. See also
CRAWLING HORROR.
WONKY (won'kee) [from Australian slang] adj. Yet another approximate
synonym for BROKEN. Specifically connotes a malfunction which
produces behavior seen as crazy, humorous, or amusingly perverse.
``That was the day the printer's font logic went wonky and
everybody's listings came out in Elvish.'' Also in WONKED OUT. See
FUNKY.
WORM [from `tapeworm' in John Brunner's _Shockwave_Rider_, via XEROX
PARC] n. A cracker program that propagates itself over a network,
reproducing itself as it goes. See `VIRUS'. Perhaps the best known
example was RTM's `Internet Worm' in '87, a `benign' one that got
out of control and shut down hundreds of Suns and VAXen nationwide.
See VIRUS, TROJAN HORSE, ICE.
WOUND AROUND THE AXLE adj. In an infinite loop. Often used by older
computer types, along with ``out in the WEEDS''.
WOW See EXCL.
WRONG THING, THE n. A design, action or decision which is clearly
incorrect or inappropriate. Often capitalized; always emphasized in
speech as if capitalized. Antonym: THE RIGHT THING (q.v.).
WUGGA WUGGA (wuh'guh wuh'guh) n. Imaginary sound that a computer
program makes as it labors with a tedious or difficult task.
Compare CRUNCHA CHRUNCHA CRUNCHA.
= X =
X Used in various speech and writing contexts in roughly its algebraic
sense of ``unknown within a set defined by context'' (compare `N').
Thus: the abbreviation 680x0 stands for 68000, 68010, 68020, 68030
or 68040, and 80x86 stands for 80186, 80286 80386 or 80486 (note
that a UNIX hacker might write these as 680[01234]0 and 80[1234]86
or 680?0 and 80?86 respectively; see GLOB).
XYZZY (exs-wie-zee-zee-wie) [from the ADVENT game] adj. A magic word.
This has actually been implemented as an undocumented no-op command
on several OSs; in Data General's AOS, for example, it would
respond ``Nothing happens.'' just as ADVENT did before a player had
performed the action that enabled the word. See PLUGH.
= Y =
YABA (ya'buh) [Cambridge University] n. Yet Another Bloody Acronym.
Whenever some program is being named, someone invariably suggests
that it be given a name which is acronymic. The response from those
with a trace of originality is to remark ironically that the
proposed name would then be ``YABA-compatible''. Also used in
response to questions like ``What is WYSIWYG?'' ``YABA.'' See also
TLA.
YOW! (yow) [from Zippy the Pinhead comix] interj. Favored hacker
expression of humorous surprise or emphasis. ``Yow! Check out what
happens when you twiddle the foo option on this display hack!''
Compare GURFLE, MUMBLE FROTZ.
YOYO MODE n. State in which the system is said to be when it rapidly
alternates several times between being up and being down.
YU-SHIANG WHOLE FISH (yoo-shyang hohl fish) n. The character gamma
(extended SAIL ASCII 11), which with a loop in its tail looks like
a fish. Usage: used primarily by people on the MIT LISP Machine.
Tends to elicit incredulity from people who hear about it
second-hand.
= Z =
ZEN v. To figure out something by meditation, or by a sudden flash of
enlightenment. Originally applied to bugs, but occasionally applied
to problems of life in general. ``How'd you figure out the buffer
allocation problem?'' ``Oh, I zenned it''. Contrast GROK, which
connotes a time-extended version of zenning a system.
ZERO v. 1. To set to zero. Usually said of small pieces of data, such
as bits or words. 2. To erase; to discard all data from. Said of
disks and directories, where ``zeroing'' need not involve actually
writing zeroes throughout the area being zeroed. See SCRIBBLE.
ZIPPERHEAD [IBM] n. A person with a closed mind.
ZOMBIE [UNIX] n. A process which has been killed but has not yet
relinquished its process table slot. These show up in ps(1)
listings occasionally.
ZORK (zork) n. Second of the great early experiments in computer
fantasy gaming; see ADVENT. Originally written on MIT-DMS during
the late seventies, later distributed with BSD UNIX and
commercialized as ``The Zork Trilogy'' by Infocom.
==================== MAIN TEXT ENDS HERE ===================================
APPENDIX A:
THE UNTIMELY DEMISE OF MABEL THE MONKEY
a cautionary tale
The following, modulo a couple of inserted commas and capitalization
changes for readability, is the exact text of a famous USENET message.
The reader may wish to review the definitions of PM and MOUNT in the main
text before continuing.
Date: Wed 3 Sep 86 16:46:31-EDT
From: "Art Evans" <Evans@TL-20B.ARPA>
Subject: Always Mount a Scratch Monkey
To: Risks@CSL.SRI.COM
My friend Bud used to be the intercept man at a computer vendor for
calls when an irate customer called. Seems one day Bud was sitting at
his desk when the phone rang.
Bud: Hello. Voice: YOU KILLED MABEL!!
B: Excuse me? V: YOU KILLED MABEL!!
This went on for a couple of minutes and Bud was getting nowhere, so he
decided to alter his approach to the customer.
B: HOW DID I KILL MABEL? V: YOU PM'ED MY MACHINE!!
Well, to avoid making a long story even longer, I will abbreviate what had
happened. The customer was a Biologist at the University of Blah-de-blah,
and he had one of our computers that controlled gas mixtures that Mabel (the
monkey) breathed. Now, Mabel was not your ordinary monkey. The University
had spent years teaching Mabel to swim, and they were studying the effects
that different gas mixtures had on her physiology. It turns out that the
repair folks had just gotten a new Calibrated Power Supply (used to
calibrate analog equipment), and at their first opportunity decided to
calibrate the D/A converters in that computer. This changed some of the gas
mixtures and poor Mabel was asphyxiated. Well, Bud then called the branch
manager for the repair folks:
Manager: Hello
B: This is Bud, I heard you did a PM at the University of
Blah-de-blah.
M: Yes, we really performed a complete PM. What can I do
for you?
B: Can you swim?
The moral is, of course, that you should always mount a scratch monkey.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There are several morals here related to risks in use of computers.
Examples include, ``If it ain't broken, don't fix it.'' However, the
cautious philosophical approach implied by ``always mount a scratch
monkey'' says a lot that we should keep in mind.
Art Evans
Tartan Labs
APPENDIX B:
OBSOLESCENT TERMS FROM THE JARGON FILE
The following terms appeared in the main listing of the original
Jargon File, but have been rendered obsolescent by the passage of
time, the march of technology, the death of the DEC PDP-10, and the
May 1990 shutdown of the ITS machines. They are collected here for
possible historical interest.
AOS (aus (East coast) ay-ahs (West coast)) [based on a PDP-10
increment instruction] v. To increase the amount of something.
``Aos the campfire.'' Usage: considered silly, and now
obsolescent. See SOS. Now largely supplanted by BUMP.
BIG BLT, THE (big belt, th:) n., obs. Shuffling operation on the
PDP-10 under some operating systems that consumes a significant
amount of computer time. See BLT in the main listing.
BIN (bin) [short for BINARY; used as a second file name on ITS] 1. n.
BINARY. 2. BIN FILE: A file containing the BIN for a program.
Usage: used at MIT, which runs on ITS. The equivalent term at
Stanford was DMP (pronounced ``dump") FILE. Other names used
include SAV ("save") FILE (DEC and Tenex), SHR ("share") and LOW
FILES (DEC), and COM FILES (CP/M), and EXE ("ex'ee") FILE (DEC,
Twenex, MS-DOS, occasionally UNIX). Also in this category are the
input files to the various flavors of linking loaders (LOADER,
LINK-10, STINK), called REL FILES. See EXE in main text.
COM[M] MODE (kom mohd) [from the ITS feature for linking two or more
terminals together so that text typed on any is echoed on all,
providing a means of conversation among hackers; spelled with one
or two Ms] Syn. for TALK MODE in main text.
DIABLO (dee-ah'blow) [from the Diablo printer] 1. n. Any letter-
quality printing device. 2. v. To produce letter-quality output
from such a device. See LASE in main listing.
DMP (dump) See BIN.
DPB (duh-pib') [from the PDP-10 instruction set] v., obs. To plop
something down in the middle.
ENGLISH (ing'lish) n. The source code for a program, which may be in
any language, as opposed to BINARY. Usage: obsolete, used mostly
by old-time hackers, though recognizable in context. On ITS,
directory SYSENG was where the ``English'' for system programs is
kept, and SYSBIN, the binaries. SAIL had many such directories,
but the canonical one is [CSP,SYS].
EXCH (ex'chuh, ekstch) [from the PDP-10 instruction set] v., obs. To
exchange two things, each for the other.
IMPCOM (imp'kahm) See TELNET. This term is now nearly obsolete.
IRP (erp) [from the MIDAS pseudo-op which generates a block of code
repeatedly, substituting in various places the car and/or cdr of
the list(s) supplied at the IRP] v. To perform a series of tasks
repeatedly with a minor substitution each time through. ``I guess
I'll IRP over these homework papers so I can give them some random
grade for this semester.'' Usage: rare, now obsolescent.
JFCL (djif'kl or djafik'l) [based on the PDP-10 instruction that acts
as a fast no-op] v., obs. To cancel or annul something. ``Why
don't you jfcl that out?"
JRST (jerst) [based on the PDP-10 jump instruction] v., obs. To
suddenly change subjects. Usage: rather rare. ``Jack be nimble,
Jack be quick; Jack jrst over the candle stick.''
JSYS (jay'sis), pl. JSI (jay'sigh) [Jump to SYStem] v.,obs. See UUO.
LDB (lid'dib) [from the PDP-10 instruction set] v. To extract from the
middle.
MOBY (moh'bee) n. This term entered the world of AI with the Fabritek
256K moby memory of MIT-AI. Thus, classically, 256K words, the size
of a PDP-10 moby. (The maximum address space means the maximum
normally addressable space, as opposed to the amount of physical
memory a machine can have. Thus the MIT PDP-10s each have two
mobies, usually referred to as the ``low moby'' (0-777777) and
``high moby'' (1000000-1777777), or as ``moby 0'' and ``moby 1''.
MIT-AI had four mobies of address space: moby 2 was the PDP-6
memory, and moby 3 the PDP-11 interface.) In this sense ``moby''
is often used as a generic unit of either address space (18. bits'
worth) or of memory (about a megabyte, or 9/8 megabyte (if one
accounts for difference between 32- and 36-bit words), or 5/4
megacharacters).
PHANTOM (fan'tm) [Stanford] n. The SAIL equivalent of a DRAGON (q.v.).
Typical phantoms include the accounting program, the news-wire
monitor, and the lpt and xgp spoolers. UNIX and most other
environments call this sort of program a background DEMON or
DAEMON.
PPN (pip'in) [DEC terminology, short for Project-Programmer Number] n.
1. A combination `project' (directory name) and programmer name,
used to identify a specific directory belonging to that user. For
instance, ``FOO,BAR'' would be the FOO directory for user BAR.
Since the name is restricted to three letters, the programmer name
is usually the person's initials, though sometimes it is a nickname
or other special sequence. (Standard DEC setup is to have two
octal numbers instead of characters; hence the original acronym.)
2. Often used loosely to refer to the programmer name alone. ``I
want to send you some mail; what's your ppn?'' Usage: not used at
MIT, since ITS does not use ppn's. The equivalent terms would be
UNAME and SNAME, depending on context, but these are not used
except in their technical senses.
REL (rel) See BIN in the main listing. Short for `relocatable', used
on the old TOPS-10 OS.
SAV (sayv) See BIN.
SHR (sheir) See BIN.
SOS 1. (ess-oh-ess) n. A losing editor, SON OF STOPGAP. 2. (sahss) v.
Inverse of AOS, from the PDP-10 instruction set.
STY (pronounced ``stie'', not spelled out) n. A pseudo-teletype, which
is a two-way pipeline with a job on one end and a fake keyboard-tty
on the other. Also, a standard program which provides a pipeline
from its controlling tty to a pseudo-teletype (and thence to
another tty, thereby providing a ``sub-tty"). This is MIT
terminology; the SAIL, DEC and UNIX equivalent is PTY (see main
text).
SUPDUP (soop'doop) v. To communicate with another ARPAnet host using
the SUPDUP program, which is a SUPer-DUPer TELNET talking a special
display protocol used mostly in talking to ITS sites. Sometimes
abbreviated to SD.
TECO (tee'koh) [acronym for Text Editor and COrrector] 1. n. A text
editor developed at MIT, and modified by just about everybody. If
all the dialects are included, TECO might well be the single most
prolific editor in use. Noted for its powerful pseudo-programming
features and its incredibly hairy syntax. 2. v. obs. To edit using
the TECO editor in one of its infinite forms; sometimes used to
mean ``to edit'' even when not using TECO! Usage: rare at SAIL,
where most people wouldn't touch TECO with a TENEX pole.
[Historical note, c. 1982: DEC grabbed an ancient version of MIT
TECO many years ago when it was still a TTY-oriented editor. By
now, TECO at MIT is highly display-oriented and is actually a
language for writing editors, rather than an editor. Meanwhile,
the outside world's various versions of TECO remain almost the same
as the MIT version of the early 1970s. DEC recently tried to
discourage its use, but an underground movement of sorts kept it
alive. -- GLS]
[Since this note was written I found out that DEC tried to force
their hackers by administrative decision to use a hacked up and
generally lobotomized version of SOS instead of TECO, and they
revolted. -- MRC]
[1990 update: TECO is now pretty much one with the dust of history,
having been replaced (both functionally and psychologically) almost
everywhere by GNU EMACS -- ESR]
UUO (yoo-yoo-oh) [short for ``Un-Used Operation"] n. A PDP-10 system
monitor call. The term ``Un-Used Operation'' comes from the fact
that, on PDP-10 systems, monitor calls are implemented as invalid
or illegal machine instructions, which cause traps to the monitor
(see TRAP). The SAIL manual describing the available UUOs has a
cover picture showing an unidentified underwater object. See YOYO.
[Note: DEC sales people have since decided that ``Un-Used
Operation" sounds bad, so UUO now stands for ``Unimplemented User
Operation''.] Tenex and Twenex systems use the JSYS machine
instruction (q.v.), which is halfway between a legal machine
instruction and a UUO, since KA-10 Tenices implement it as a
hardware instruction which can be used as an ordinary subroutine
call (sort of a ``pure JSR").
WORMHOLE (werm'hohl) n. A location in a monitor which contains the
address of a routine, with the specific intent of making it easy to
substitute a different routine. The following quote comes from
``Polymorphic Systems'', vol. 2, p. 54:
``Any type of I/O device can be substituted for the standard device
by loading a simple driver routine for that device and installing
its address in one of the monitor's `wormholes.'* ---------- *The
term `wormhole' has been used to describe a hypothetical
astronomical situation where a black hole connects to the `other
side' of the universe. When this happens, information can pass
through the wormhole, in only one direction, much as `assumptions'
pass down the monitor's wormholes.''
This term is now obsolescent. Modern operating systems use clusters
of wormholes extensively (for modularization of I/O handling in
particular, as in the UNIX device-driver organization) but the
preferred jargon for these clusters is `device tables', `jump
tables' or `capability tables'.
XGP (eks-jee-pee) 1. n. Xerox Graphics Printer. 2. v. To print
something on the XGP. ``You shouldn't XGP such a large file.''
YOYO (yoh'yoh) n. DEC service engineers' slang for UUO (q.v.). Usage:
rare at Stanford and MIT, has been found at random DEC
installations.
APPENDIX C:
FOR FURTHER READING
Here are some other books you can read to help you understand the hacker
mindset.
Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid
Hofstadter, Douglas
Basic Books, New York 1979
ISBN 0-394-74502-7
This book reads like an intellectual Grand Tour of hacker
preoccupations. Music, mathematical logic, programming, speculations on
the nature of intelligence, biology, and Zen are woven into a brilliant
tapestry themed on the concept of encoded self-reference. The perfect
left-brain companion to _Illuminatus_.
Illuminatus (three vols)
1. The Golden Apple
2. The Eye in the Pyramid
3. Leviathan
Shea, Robert & Wilson, Robert Anton
Dell Books, New York 1975
ISBN 0-440-{14688-7,34691-6,14742-5}
This work of alleged fiction is an incredible berserko-surrealist
rollercoaster of world-girdling conspiracies, intelligent dolphins,
the fall of Atlantis, who really killed JFK, sex, drugs, rock and roll
and the Cosmic Giggle Factor. First published in 3 volumes, but
there's now a one-volume trade paperback carried by most chain
bookstores under SF. The perfect right-brain companion to Hofstadter's
_Godel_Escher,_Bach:_An_Eternal_Golden_Braid_. See ERIS, DISCORDIANISM,
RANDOM NUMBERS, CHURCH OF THE SUB-GENIUS.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Douglas Adams
Pocket Books 1981, New York
ISBN 0-671-46149-4
This Monty-Python-in-Space spoof of SF genre traditions has been
popular among hackers ever since the original British radio show.
Read it if only to learn about Vogons (see BOGONS) and the
significance of the number 42 (see RANDOM NUMBERS) -- also why the
winningest chess program of 1990 was called DEEP THOUGHT.
The Tao of Programming
James Geoffrey
Infobooks 1987, Santa Monica,
ISBN 0-931137-07-1
This gentle, funny spoof of the _Tao_Te_Ching_ contains much that is
illuminating about the hacker way of thought. ``When you have learned
to snatch the error code from the trap frame, it will be time for you
to leave.''
Hackers
Steven Levy
Anchor/Doubleday 1984, New York
ISBN 0-385-19195-2
Levy's book is at its best in describing the early MIT hackers at the
Model Railroad Club and the early days of the microcomputer revolution.
He never understood UNIX or the networks, though, and his enshrinement of
RMS as ``the last hacker'' turns out to have been quite misleading.
The Cuckoo's Egg
Clifford Stoll
Doubleday 1989, New York
ISBN 0-385-24946-2
Clifford Stoll's absorbing tale of how he tracked Marcus Hess and the
Chaos Club cracking-ring nicely illustrates the difference between `hacker'
and `cracker'. And Stoll's portrait of himself and his lady Barbara and his
friends at Berkeley and on the Internet paints a marvelously vivid picture
of how hackers and the people around them like to live and what they think.
======================= END OF THE JARGON FILE ================================
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# End:marauder@diku.dk (Stephan Dahl) (11/30/90)
Hey! what happened to entries A-B? Could someone please repost them?
Or (pleeze) EMail'em me?
TNX 1.0E+6,
Marauder.
-----------------------------+-----------------------------------------------
cute quote: |standard disclaimer:
| My Opinions are Mine, and only opinions
Convictions Cause Convicts | (Obvious really, isn't it?)
R.A.Wilson (?)| marauder@freja.diku.dk
-----------------------------+-----------------------------------------------smith@sctc.com (Rick Smith) (12/01/90)
Concerning TENEX... (Twenex, ad nauseum) Suffice it to say, Twenex may be a more jargon-y and colloquial word, but BBN's Tenex deserves the notice. BBN gave Tenex to DEC in exchange for some hardware. DEC called it TOPS-20, after filing down the rough edges. Classic Tenex felt more hacker friendly. Having just flamed at length about Multics, I lack the energy to winnow out the chaff about Tenex. Rick. smith@sctc.com Arden Hills, Minnesota
eonu24@castle.ed.ac.uk (I Reid) (12/02/90)
What happened to the other two parts of this posting (2 & 4).... did anyone get these bits? If so could some kind soul repost them. Thanks, Iain