Source Code 1992 March/Source_Code_CD-ROM_Walnut_Creek_March_1992.iso/usenet/altsrcs/2/2929

Internet Message Format | 1991-03-03 | 49.9 KB

From: [e-mail] (Eric S. Raymond)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers,alt.sources,misc.misc
Subject: The Jargon File v, part 5 of 17
Message-ID: <1ZdTtl#53ymsw2pdDMd8QbfT60fjKtk=[e-mail]>
Date: 2 Mar 91 18:16:11 GMT

Submitted-by: [e-mail]
Archive-name: jargon/part05

---- Cut Here and feed the following to sh ----
#!/bin/sh
# this is jargon.05 (part 5 of jargon)
# do not concatenate these parts, unpack them in order with /bin/sh
# file jargon.ascii continued
#
if test ! -r _shar_seq_.tmp; then
    echo 'Please unpack part 1 first!'
    exit 1
fi
(read Scheck
 if test "$Scheck" != 5; then
    echo Please unpack part "$Scheck" next!
    exit 1
 else
    exit 0
 fi
) < _shar_seq_.tmp || exit 1
if test -f _shar_wnt_.tmp; then
sed 's/^X//' << 'SHAR_EOF' >> 'jargon.ascii' &&
X
Xcopper: n. Conventional electron-carrying network cable, which uses
X   copper as a core conductor --- or aluminum!  Opposed to {light
X   pipe} or, say, a short-range microwave link.
X
Xcopy protection: n. A class of clever methods for preventing
X   incompetent pirates from stealing software and legitimate customers
X   from using it.  Considered silly.
X
Xcopybroke: adj. [play on `copyright'] Used to describe an
X   instance of a copy-protected program which has been `broken'; that
X   is, a copy with the copy-protection scheme disabled.  Syn.
X   {copywronged}.
X
Xcopyleft: /kop'ee-left/ [play on `copyright'] n. 1. The
X   copyright notice (`General Public License') carried by {GNU}
X   {EMACS} and other Free Software Foundation software, granting re-use
X   and reproduction rights to all comers (but see also {General
X   Public Virus}).  2. By extension, any copyright notice intended to
X   achieve similar aims.
X
Xcopywronged: [play on `copyright'] adj. Syn. for {copybroke}.
X
Xcore: n. Main storage or RAM.  Dates from the days of ferrite-core
X   memory; now archaic most places outside IBM, but also still used in
X   the UNIX community and by old-time hackers or those who would sound
X   like same.  Some derived idioms are quite current; `in core',
X   for example, means `in memory' (as opposed to `on disk'), and both
X   {core dump} and the `core image' or `core file' produced
X   by one are terms in favors.
X
Xcore dump: n. [common {Iron Age} jargon, preserved by UNIX] 1. A
X   copy of the contents of {core} produced when a process is aborted
X   by certain kinds of internal error.  2. By extension, used for
X   humans passing out, vomiting, or registering extreme shock.  "He
X   dumped core.  All over the floor.  What a mess." "He heard about
X   ... and dumped core."  3. Occasionally used for a human
X   rambling on pointlessly at great length; esp. in apology: "Sorry I
X   dumped core on you".  4. A recapitulation of knowledge (compare
X   {bits}, sense 1).  Hence, spewing all one knows about a topic,
X   esp. in a lecture or answer to an exam question.  "Short, concise
X   answers are better than core dumps." (from the instructions to a
X   qual exam at Columbia; compare {brain dump}).  See
X   {core}.
X
Xcore leak: n. Syn. {memory leak}.
X
XCore Wars: n. A game between `assembler' programs in a simulated
X   machine, where the objective is to kill your opponent's program by
X   overwriting it.  This was popularized by A. K. Dewdney's column in
X   `Scientific American' magazine, but is said to have been first
X   devised by Victor Vyssotsky as a PDP-1 hack, during the early '60s
X   at Bell Labs.  It is rumored that the game is a civilized version
X   of an amusement called DARWIN common on multitasking machines
X   before the advent of protected address segments.  See {core}.
X
Xcorge: /korj/ [originally, the name of a cat] n. Yet another
X   meta-syntactic variable, invented by Mike Gallaher and propagated
X   by the Gosmacs documentation.  See {grault}.
X
Xcosmic rays: n. Notionally, the cause of {bit rot}.  However, this is
X   a semi-independent usage which may be invoked as a humorous way to
X   {handwave} away any minor {randomness} that doesn't seem worth the
X   bother of investigating.  "Hey, Eric --- I just got a burst of
X   garbage on my {tube}, where did that come from?"  "Cosmic rays, I
X   guess." Compare {sunspots}, {phase of the moon}.  The British seem
X   to prefer the usage `cosmic showers'; `alpha particles' is also
X   heard, because stray alpha particles passing through a memory chip
X   can cause single-bit errors (this becomes increasingly more likely
X   as memory sizes and densities increase).
X
X   Factual note: alpha particles cause bit rot, cosmic rays do not
X   (generally, except for spaceborne computers possibly).  Intel could
X   not explain random bit drops in their early chips.  One hypothesis
X   was cosmic rays.  So they created the World's Largest Lead Safe, 25
X   tons of lead, and used two identical boards for testing.  One was
X   placed in the safe, one outside.  Hypothesis was that if cosmic
X   rays were causing the bit drops, they should see a statistically
X   significant difference between the error rates on the two boards.
X   Result: hypothesis disproven.  Further investigation demonstrated
X   conclusively that it was alpha particle emission from thorium (and
X   to a much lesser degree uranium) in the encapsulation material.
X   Since it is impossible to eliminate these radioactives (they are
X   uniformly distributed through the earth's crust, with the
X   statistically insiginificant exception of uranium mines) it became
X   obvious that you have to design memories to withstand these hits.
X
Xcough and die: v. Syn. {barf}.  Connotes that the program is
X   throwing its hands up by design rather than because of a bug or
X   oversight.
X
Xcowboy: [Sun, from William Gibson's {cyberpunk} SF] n. Synonym for
X   {hacker}.  It is reported that, at Sun, this is often said with
X   reverence.
X
XCP/M: /see-pee-em/ n. [Control Program for Microcomputers] An early
X   microcomputer {OS} written by hacker Gary Kildall for 8080- and
X   Z80-based machines, very popular in the late 1970s until virtually
X   wiped out by MS-DOS after the release of the IBM PC in 1981 (legend
X   has it that Kildall's company blew their chance to write the OS for
X   the IBM PC because Kildall decided to spend the day IBM's reps
X   wanted to meet with him enjoying the perfect flying weather in his
X   private plane).  Many of its features and conventions strongly
X   resemble those of early DEC operating systems such as OS-8, RSTS,
X   and RSX-11.  See {MS-DOS}, {operating system}.
X
XCPU Wars: /see-pee-yoo worz/ n. A 1979 large-format comic by Chas
X   Andres chronicling the attempts of the brainwashed androids of
X   `IPM' (Impossible to Program Machines) to conquer and destroy the
X   peaceful denizens of HEC (Human Engineered Computers).  This rather
X   transparent allegory featured many references to {ADVENT} and the
X   immortal line "Eat flaming death, minicomputer mongrels!"
X   (uttered, of course, by an IPM stormtrooper).  It is alleged that
X   the author subsequently received a letter of appreciation on IBM
X   company stationery from the then-head of IBM's Thomas J. Watson
X   research laboratories (then, as now, one of the few islands of true
X   hackerdom in the IBM archipelago).  The lower loop of the `B' in the
X   IBM logo, it is said, had been carefully whited out.  See {eat
X   flaming death}.
X
Xcracker: n. One who breaks security on a system.  Coined c.1985 by
X   hackers in defense against journalistic misuse of {hacker} (q.v.,
X   sense #7).  There had been an earlier attempt to establish `worm'
X   in this sense around 1981-1982 on USENET; this largely failed.
X
Xcrank: [from automotive slang] vt. Verb used to describe the
X   performance of a machine, especially sustained performance.  "This
X   box cranks (or, cranks at) about 6 megaflops, with a burst mode of
X   twice that on vectorized operations."
X
Xcrash: 1. n. A sudden, usually drastic failure.  Most often said of
X   the {system} (q.v., sense #1), sometimes of magnetic disk drives.
X   "Three {luser}s lost their files in last night's disk crash."
X   A disk crash which involves the read/write heads dropping onto the
X   surface of the disks and scraping off the oxide may also be
X   referred to as a `head crash', whereas the term `system
X   crash' usually, though not always, implies that the operating
X   system or other software was at fault.  2. vi. To fail suddenly.
X   "Has the system just crashed?"  See {down}.  Also used
X   transitively to indicate the cause of the crash (usually a person
X   or a program, or both).  "Those idiots playing {SPACEWAR}
X   crashed the system."  3. vi. Sometimes said of people hitting the
X   sack after a long {hacking run}; see {gronk} (sense #4).
X
Xcrash and burn: vi.,n. A spectacular crash, in the mode of the
X   conclusion of the car chase scene from the movie `Bullitt' and
X   many subsequent imitators.  Sun-3 monitors losing the flyback
X   transformer and lightning strikes on VAX-11/780 backplanes are
X   notable crash and burn generators.  The construction
X   `crash-and-burn machine' is reported for a computer used
X   exclusively for alpha or {beta} testing, or reproducing bugs
X   (i.e., not for development).  The implication is that it wouldn't
X   be such a disaster if that machine crashed, since only the testers
X   would be inconvenienced.
X
Xcrawling horror: n. Ancient crufty hardware or software that forces
X   beyond the control of the hackers at a site refuse to let die.
X   Like {dusty deck} or {gonkulator}, but connotes that the thing
X   described is not just an irritation but an active menace to health
X   and sanity.  "Mostly we code new stuff in C, but they pay us to
X   maintain one big FORTRAN II application from nineteen-sixty-X
X   that's a real crawling horror...."  Compare {WOMBAT}.
X
Xcray: /kray/ n. 1. (properly, capitalized) One of the line of
X   supercomputers designed by Cray Research.  2. Any supercomputer at
X   all.  3. The {canonical} {number-crunching} machine.
X
X   The term is actually the lowercased last name of Seymour Cray, a
X   noted computer architect and co-founder of the company.  Numerous
X   vivid legends surround him, some true and some admittedly invented
X   by Cray Research brass to shape their corporate culture and image.
X
Xcray instability: n. A shortcoming of a program or algorithm which
X   manifests itself only when running a large problem on a powerful
X   machine.  Generally more subtle than bugs that can be detected in
X   smaller problems running on a workstation or mini.
X
Xcrayola: n. A super-mini or -micro computer that provides some
X   reasonable percentage of supercomputer performance for an
X   unreasonably low price.  Might also be a {killer micro}.
X
Xcrayon: n. 1. Someone who works on Cray supercomputers.  More
X   specifically implies a programmer, probably of the CDC ilk,
X   probably male, and almost certainly wearing a tie (irrespective of
X   gender).  Unicos systems types who have a UNIX background tend not
X   to be described as crayons.  2. A {computron} that participates
X   only in {number-crunching}.  3. A unit of computational power
X   equal to that of a single Cray-1.  There is a standard joke about
X   this that derives from an old Crayola crayon promotional gimmick:
X   when you buy 64 crayons you get a free sharpener.
X
Xcreationism: n. The (false) belief that large, innovative designs
X   can be completely specified in advance and then painlessly magicked
X   out of the void by the normal efforts of a team of normally
X   talented programmers.  In fact, experience has shown repeatedly
X   that good designs arise only from evolutionary, exploratory
X   interaction between one (or at most a small handful of)
X   exceptionally able designer(s) and an active user population ---
X   and that the first try at a big new idea is always wrong.
X   Unfortunately, because these truths don't fit the planning models
X   beloved of {management}, they are generally ignored.
X
Xcreeping elegance: n. Describes a tendency for parts of a design to
X   become {elegant} past the point of diminishing return.  This often
X   happens at the expense of the less interesting parts of the design,
X   schedule, and other things deemed important in the {Real World}.
X   See also {creeping featurism}, {second-system effect}, {tense}.
X
Xcreeping featurism: /kree'ping fee'ch@r-izm/ n. 1. Describes a
X   systematic tendency to load more {chrome} and {feature}s onto
X   systems at the expense of whatever elegance they may have possessed
X   when originally designed.  See also {feeping creaturism}.  "You
X   know, the main problem with {BSD} UNIX has always been creeping
X   featurism."  2. More generally, the tendency for anything
X   complicated to become even more complicated because people keep
X   saying, "Gee, it would be even better if it had this feature
X   too."  (See {feature}.)  The result is usually a patchwork
X   because it grew one ad-hoc step at a time, rather than being
X   planned.  Planning is a lot of work, but it's easy to add just one
X   extra little feature to help someone... and then another...
X   and another....  When creeping featurism gets out of hand, it's
X   like a cancer.  Usually this term is used to describe computer
X   programs, but it could also be said of the federal government, the
X   IRS 1040 form, and new cars.  A similar phenomenon sometimes
X   afflicts conscious redesigns; see {second-system effect}.  See
X   also {creeping elegance}.
X
Xcreeping featuritis: /kree'ping fee'-c@r-ie`t@s/ n. Variant of
X   {creeping featurism}, with its own Spoonerization as `feeping
X   creaturitis'.  Some people like to reserve this form for the
X   disease as it actually manifests in software or hardware, as
X   opposed to the lurking general tendency in designers' minds.  After
X   all, -ism means `condition' or `pursuit of', whereas -itis usually
X   means `inflammation of'.)
X
Xcretin: /kre'tn/ or /kree'tn/ n. Congenital {loser}; an obnoxious
X   person; someone who can't do anything right.  It has been observed
X   that many American hackers tend to favor the British pronunciation
X   /kre'tn/ over standard American /kree'tn/; it is thought this may
X   be due to the insidious phonetic influence of Monty Python's Flying
X   Circus.
X
Xcretinous: /kre't@n-uhs/ or /kree't@n-uhs/ adj. Wrong;
X   non-functional; very poorly designed.  Also used pejoratively of
X   people.  Synonyms: {bletcherous}, `bagbiting' (see
X   {bagbiter}), {losing}, {brain-damaged}.
X
Xcrippleware: n. 1. Software that has some important functionality
X   deliberately removed, so as to entice potential users to pay for a
X   working version.  See also {guiltware}.  2. [Cambridge]
X   {guiltware} that exhorts you to donate to some charity.
X
Xcritical mass: n. In physics, the minimum amount of fissionable
X   material required to sustain a chain reaction.  Of a software
X   product, describes a condition of the software such that fixing one
X   bug introduces one plus {epsilon} bugs.  When software achieves
X   critical mass, it can only be discarded and rewritten.
X
Xcrlf: /ker'l@f/, sometimes /kru'l@f/ or /see-ar-el-eff/ n. (often
X   capitalized as `CRLF') A carriage return (CR) followed by a line
X   feed (LF).  More loosely, whatever it takes to get you from the end
X   of one line of text to the beginning of the next line.  See
X   {newline}, {terpri}.  Under {UNIX} influence this usage has
X   become less common (UNIX uses a bare line feed as its `CRLF').
X
Xcrock: [from the obvious mainstream scatologism] n. 1. An awkward
X   feature or programming technique that ought to be made cleaner.
X   Example: Using small integers to represent error codes without the
X   program interpreting them to the user (as in, for example, UNIX
X   `make(1)', which returns code 139 for a process that dies due
X   to {segfault}).  2. A technique that works acceptably, but which
X   is quite prone to failure if disturbed in the least, for example
X   depending on the machine opcodes having particular bit patterns so
X   that you can use instructions as data words too; a tightly woven,
X   almost completely unmodifiable structure.  See {kluge},
X   {brittle}.  Also in the adjectives `crockish' and
X   `crocky', and the noun `crockitude'.
X
Xcross-post: [USENET] vi. To post a single article directed to
X   several newsgroups.  Distinguished from posting the article
X   repeatedly, once to each newsgroup, which causes people to see it
X   multiple times.  Cross-posting is frowned upon, as it tends to
X   cause {followup} articles to go to inappropriate newsgroups as
X   people respond to only one part of the original posting (unless the
X   originator is careful to specify a newsgroup for followups.)
X
Xcrudware: /kruhd'weir/ n. Pejorative term for the hundreds of
X   megabytes of low-quality {freeware} circulated by user's groups
X   and BBS systems in the micro-hobbyist world.  "Yet *another*
X   set of disk catalog utilities for {MS-DOS}?  What crudware!"
X   The related usage `fuckware' is reported for software so bad it
X   mutilates your disk, broadcasts to the Internet, or perpetrates
X   some similar fiasco.
X
Xcruft: /kruhft/ 1. [back-formation from {crufty}] 1. n. An unpleasant
X   substance.  The dust that gathers under your bed is cruft.  2. n.
X   The results of shoddy construction.  3. vt. [from hand cruft, pun on
X   hand craft] to write assembler code for something normally (and
X   better) done by a compiler (see {hand-hacking}).  4. n. Excess;
X   superfluous junk.  Esp. used of redundant or superseded code.
X
Xcruft together: vt. (also `cruft up') To throw together
X   something ugly but temporarily workable.  Like vt. {kluge up},
X   but more pejorative.  "There isn't any program now to reverse all
X   the lines of a file, but I can probably cruft one together in about
X   ten minutes."  See {hack together}, {hack up}, {kluge up},
X   {crufty}.
X
Xcruftsmanship: /kruhfts'man-ship / n. [from {cruft}] The
X   antithesis of craftsmanship.
X
Xcrufty: /kruhf'tee/ [origin unknown; poss. from `crusty' or
X   `cruddy'] adj. 1. Poorly built, possibly overly complex.  The
X   {canonical} example is "This is standard old crufty DEC
X   software."  In fact, one fanciful theory of the origin of `crufty'
X   holds that was originally a mutation of `crusty' applied to DEC
X   software so old that the S characters were tall and skinny, looking
X   more like `f' characters.  2. Unpleasant, especially to the
X   touch, often with encrusted junk.  Like spilled coffee smeared with
X   peanut butter and catsup.  3. Generally unpleasant.  4.
X   (sometimes spelled `cruftie') n. A small crufty object (see
X   {frob}); often one that doesn't fit well into the scheme of
X   things.  "A LISP property list is a good place to store crufties
X   (or, collectively, {random} cruft)."
X
Xcrumb: n. Two binary digits; a {quad}.  Larger than a {bit},
X   smaller than a {nybble}.  Syn. {tayste}.
X
Xcrunch: 1. vi. To process, usually in a time-consuming or
X   complicated way.  Connotes an essentially trivial operation that is
X   nonetheless painful to perform.  The pain may be due to the
X   triviality being embedded in a loop from 1 to 1,000,000,000.
X   "FORTRAN programs do mostly {number-crunching}."  2. vt. To
X   reduce the size of a file by a complicated scheme that produces bit
X   configurations completely unrelated to the original data, such as
X   by a Huffman code.  (The file ends up looking like a paper document
X   would if somebody crunched the paper into a wad.)  Since such
X   compression usually takes more computations than simpler methods
X   such as run-length encoding, the term is doubly appropriate.  (This
X   meaning is usually used in the construction `file crunch(ing)' to
X   distinguish it from `number crunch(ing)'.)  See {compress}.  3.
X   n. The character `#'.  Usage: used at Xerox and CMU, among
X   other places.  See {{ASCII}}.  4. vt. To squeeze program source
X   into a minimum-size representation that will still compile or
X   execute.  The term came into being specifically for a famous
X   program on the BBC that crunched BASIC source in order to make it
X   run more quickly (it was a wholly interpretive BASIC).
X   {Obfuscated C Contest} entries are often crunched, see the first
X   example under that entry.
X
Xcruncha cruncha cruncha: /kruhn'ch@ kruhn'ch@ kruhn'ch@/ interj.
X   An encouragement sometimes muttered to a machine bogged down in a
X   serious {grovel}.  Also describes a notional sound made by
X   grovelling hardware.  See {wugga wugga}, {grind} (sense #3).
X
Xcryppie: /krip'ee/ n. A cryptographer.  One who hacks or implements
X   cryptographic software or hardware.
X
XCTSS: /see-tee-ess-ess/ n. Compatible Time-Sharing System.  An early
X   (1963) experiment in the design of interactive time-sharing
X   operating systems.  Cited here because it was ancestral to
X   {Multics}, {UNIX}, and {ITS}.  The name {ITS} ("Incompatible
X   Time-sharing System") was a hack on CTSS, meant both as a joke and
X   to express some basic differences in philosophy about the way I/O
X   services should be presented to user programs.
X
XCTY: /sit'ee/ or /see tee wie/ n. [MIT] The terminal physically
X   associated with a computer's system {{console}}.  The term is a
X   contraction of `Console {tty}', that is, `Console TeleTYpe'.
X   This {ITS}- and {TOPS-10}-associated term has become less common
X   than formerly, as most UNIX hackers simply refer to the CTY as `the
X   console'.
X
Xcube: n. 1. [short for `cubicle'] A module in the open-plan
X   offices used at many programming shops.  "I've got the manuals in
X   my cube".  2. A NeXT machine.
X
Xcubing: [parallel with `tubing'] vi. 1. Hacking on an IPSC (Intel
X   Personal SuperComputer) hypercube.  "Louella's gone cubing
X   *again*!!"  2. Hacking Rubik's Cube or related puzzles,
X   either physically or mathematically.  3. An indescribable form of
X   self-torture (see sense #1).
X
Xcursor dipped in X: n. There are a couple of metaphors in English
X   of the form `pen dipped in X' (perhaps the most common values of X
X   are `acid', `bile' and `vitriol').  These map over neatly to this
X   hackish usage (the cursor being what moves, leaving letters behind,
X   when one is composing on-line).
X
Xcuspy: /kuhs'pee/ [coined at WPI from the DEC acronym CUSP, for
X   Commonly Used System Program, i.e., a utility program used by many
X   people] adj. 1. (of a program) Well-written.  2. Functionally
X   excellent.  A program that performs well and interfaces well to
X   users is cuspy.  See {rude}.  3. [NYU] Said of an attractive
X   woman, especially one regarded as available.  Implies a certain
X   curvaceousness.
X
Xcut a tape: [poss. fr. mainstream `cut a check' or from the
X   recording industry's `cut a record'] vi. To write a software or
X   document distribution on magnetic tape for shipment.  Has nothing
X   to do with physically cutting the medium!  Though this usage is
X   quite widespread, one never speaks of analogously `cutting a disk'
X   or anything else in this sense.
X
Xcybercrud: /sie'ber-kruhd/ [coined by Ted Nelson] n. Obfuscatory
X   tech-talk.  Verbiage with a high {MEGO} factor.  The computer
X   equivalent of bureaucratese.
X
Xcyberpunk: /sie'ber-puhnk/ [orig. by SF writer Bruce Bethke and/or
X   editor Gardner Dozois] n.,adj. A subgenre of SF launched in 1982
X   by William Gibson's epoch-making novel `Neuromancer' (though
X   its roots go back through Vernor Vinge's `True Names' (see
X   Appendix C) to John Brunner's 1975 novel, `The Shockwave
X   Rider').  Gibson's near-total ignorance of computers and the
X   present-day hacker culture enabled him to speculate about the role
X   of computers and hackers in the future in ways hackers have since
X   found both irritatingly naive and tremendously stimulating.
X   Gibson's work was widely imitated, in particular by the short-lived
X   but innovative `Max Headroom' TV series.  See {cyberspace},
X   {ice}, {go flatline}.
X
Xcyberspace: /sie'ber-spays/ n. 1. Notional `information-space'
X   loaded with visual cues and navigable with brain-computer
X   interfaces called `cyberspace decks'; a characteristic prop of
X   {cyberpunk} SF.  At time of writing (mid-1991), serious efforts to
X   construct {virtual reality} interfaces modelled explicitly on
X   Gibsonian cyberspace are already under way, using more conventional
X   devices such as glove sensors and binocular TV headsets.  Few
X   hackers are prepared to outright deny the possibility of a
X   cyberspace someday evolving out of the network (see {network,
X   the}).  2. Occasionally, the metaphoric location of the mind of a
X   person in {hack mode}.  Some hackers report experiencing strong
X   eidetic imagery when in hack mode; interestingly, independent
X   reports from multiple sources suggest that there are common
X   features to the experience.  In particular, the dominant colors of
X   this subjective `cyberspace' are often gray and silver, and the
X   imagery often involves constellations of marching dots, elaborate
X   shifting patterns of lines and angles, or moire patterns.
X
Xcycle: n. The basic unit of computation.  What every hacker wants
X   more of.  One might think that single machine instructions would be
X   the measure of computation, and indeed computers are often compared
X   by how many instructions they can process per second, but some
X   instructions take longer than others.  Nearly all computers have an
X   internal clock, though, and you can describe an instruction as
X   taking so many `clock cycles'.  Frequently the computer can
X   access its memory once on every clock cycle, and so one speaks also
X   of `memory cycles'.  These are technical meanings of {cycle}.
X   The jargon meaning comes from the observation that there are only so
X   many cycles per second, and when you are sharing a computer, the
X   cycles get divided up among the users.  The more cycles the
X   computer spends working on your program rather than someone else's,
X   the faster your program will run.  That's why every hacker wants
X   more cycles: so he can spend less time waiting for the computer to
X   respond.
X
Xcycle crunch: n. The situation where the number of people trying to
X   use the computer simultaneously has reached the point where no one
X   can get enough cycles because they are spread too thin.  This is an
X   inevitable result of Parkinson's Law applied to timesharing.
X   Usually the only solution is to buy more computer.  Happily, this
X   has rapidly become easier in recent years, so much so that the very
X   term `cycle crunch' now has a faintly archaic flavor; most
X   hackers now use workstations or personal computers as opposed to
X   traditional timesharing systems.
X
Xcycle drought: n. A scarcity of cycles.  It may be due to a {cycle
X   crunch}, but could also occur because part of the computer is
X   temporarily not working, leaving fewer cycles to go around.
X   Example: "The {high moby} is {down}, so we're running with only
X   half the usual amount of memory.  There will be a cycle drought
X   until it's fixed."
X
Xcycle of reincarnation: [coined by Iven Sutherland c.1970] n. Term
X   used to refer to a well-known effect whereby function in a
X   computing system family is migrated out to special-purpose
X   peripheral hardware for speed, then the peripheral evolves towards
X   more computing power as it does its job, then somebody notices that
X   it's inefficient to support two asymmetrical processors in the
X   architecture and folds the function back into the main CPU, at
X   which point the cycle begins again.  Several iterations of this
X   cycle have been observed in graphics processor design, and at least
X   one or two in communications and floating-point processors.  Also
X   known as `the Wheel of Life', `the Wheel of Samsara', and
X   other variations of the basic Hindu/Buddhist theological idea.
X
Xcycle server: n. A powerful machine that exists primarily for
X   running large batch jobs.  Implies that interactive tasks such as
X   editing are done on other machines on the network, such as
X   workstations.
X
X= D =
X=====
X
Xdaemon: /day'm@n/ or /dee'm@n/ [Disk And Execution MONitor] n. A
X   program which is not invoked explicitly, but which lies dormant
X   waiting for some condition(s) to occur.  The idea is that the
X   perpetrator of the condition need not be aware that a daemon is
X   lurking (though often a program will commit an action only because
X   it knows that it will implicitly invoke a daemon).  For example,
X   under {ITS} writing a file on the {LPT} spooler's directory
X   would invoke the spooling daemon, which would then print the file.
X   The advantage is that programs which want (in this example) files
X   printed need not compete for access to the {LPT}.  They simply
X   enter their implicit requests and let the daemon decide what to do
X   with them.  Daemons are usually spawned automatically by the
X   system, and may either live forever or be regenerated at intervals.
X   Usage: {daemon} and {demon} are often used interchangeably, but
X   seem to have distinct connotations.  The term {daemon} was
X   introduced to computing by {CTSS} people (who pronounced it
X   dee'mon) and used it to refer to what ITS called a {dragon}.
X   While the meaning and pronunciation have drifted, we think this
X   glossary reflects current (1991) usage.
X
Xdangling pointer: n. A reference that doesn't actually lead
X   anywhere (in C and some other languages, a pointer that doesn't
X   actually point at anything valid).  Usually this is because it
X   formerly pointed to something which has moved or disappeared.  Used
X   as jargon in a generalization of its techspeak meaning; a local
X   phone number for a person who's since moved to the other coast, for
X   example.
X
XDatamation: n. A magazine that many hackers assume all {suit}s
X   read.  Used to question an unbelieved quote, as in "Did you read
X   that in Datamation?"  It used to publish something hackishly
X   funny every once in a while, like the original paper on {COME
X   FROM} in 1973; but since then it's become much more exclusively
X   {suit}-oriented.
X
Xday mode: n. See {phase} (sense #1).  Used of people only.
X
XD. C. Power Lab: n.  The former site of the {SAIL}.  Hackers
X   thought this was very funny because the obvious connection to
X   electrical engineering was nonexistent --- the lab was named for a
X   Donald C. Power.  Compare {Marginal Hacks}.
X
Xdd: /dee-dee/ [from IBM {JCL}] vt. Equivalent to {cat} or
X   {BLT}.  This was originally the name of a UNIX copy command with
X   special options suitable for block-oriented devices.  Often used in
X   heavy-handed system abuse, as in "Let's dd the root partition onto
X   a tape, then use the boot PROM to load it back on to a new disk".
X   The UNIX `dd(1)' was designed with a weird, distinctly
X   non-UNIXy keyword option syntax reminiscent of IBM System/360 JCL
X   (which had a similar DD command); though the command filled a need,
X   the design choice looks like somebody's idea of a joke.  The jargon
X   usage is now very rare outside UNIX sites and now nearly obsolete
X   even there, as `dd(1)' has been {deprecated} for a long time
X   (though it has no replacement).  Replaced by {BLT} or simple
X   English `copy'.
X
XDDT: /dee-dee-tee/ n. 1. Generic term for a program that helps you
X   to debug other programs by showing individual machine instructions
X   in a readable symbolic form and letting the user change them.  In
X   this sense the term DDT is now archaic, having been widely
X   displaced by `debugger' or names of individual programs like
X   `dbx', `adb', or `sdb'.  2. [ITS] Under MIT's fabled
X   {ITS} operating system, DDT (running under the alias HACTRN) was
X   also used as the {shell} or top level command language used to
X   execute other programs.  3. Any one of several specific DDTs (sense
X   #1) supported on early DEC hardware.  The DEC PDP-10 Reference
X   Handbook (1969) contained a footnote on the first page of the
X   documentation for DDT which illuminates the origin of the
X   term:
X
X     Historical footnote: DDT was developed at MIT for the PDP-1
X     computer in 1961.  At that time DDT stood for "DEC Debugging
X     Tape".  Since then, the idea of an on-line debugging program
X     has propagated throughout the computer industry.  DDT programs
X     are now available for all DEC computers.  Since media other
X     than tape are now frequently used, the more descriptive name
X     "Dynamic Debugging Technique" has been adopted, retaining
X     the DDT acronym.  Confusion between DDT-10 and another well
X     known pesticide, dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane
X     (C14-H9-Cl5) should be minimal since each attacks a different,
X     and apparently mutually exclusive, class of bugs.
X
X   Sadly, this quotation was removed from later editions of the
X   handbook after the {suit}s took over and DEC became much more
X   `businesslike'.
X
Xde-rezz: /dee-rez'/ [from the movie `Tron'; poss. related to
X   `hi-res' used for a graphics mode on early Apples] (also `derez')
X   1. vi. To disappear or dissolve; the image that goes with it is of
X   an object breaking up into raster lines and static and then
X   dissolving.  Occasionally used of a person who seems to have
X   suddenly `fuzzed out' mentally rather than physically.  Usage:
X   extremely silly, also rare.  This verb was actually invented as
X   *fictional* hacker jargon, and adopted in a spirit of irony by
X   real hackers years after the fact.  2. vt. On a Macintosh, many
X   program structures (including the code itself) are managed in small
X   segments of the program file known as `resources'. The standard
X   resource compiler is Rez.  The standard resource decompiler is
X   DeRez.  Thus decompiling a resource is `derezzing'.  Usage: very
X   common.
X
Xdead code: n. Routines that can never be accessed because all calls
X   to them have been removed, or code which cannot be reached because
X   it is guarded by a control structure which provably must always
X   transfer control somewhere else.  The presence of dead code may
X   reveal either logical errors due to alterations in the program or
X   significant changes in the assumptions and environment of the
X   program (see also {software rot}); a good compiler should report
X   dead code so a maintainer can think about what it means.  Syn.
X   {grunge}.
X
Xdeadlock: n. 1. [techspeak] A situation wherein two or more
X   processes are unable to proceed because each is waiting for one of
X   the other to do something.  A common example is a program
X   communicating to a server, which may find itself waiting for output
X   from the server before sending anything more to it, while the
X   server is similarly waiting for more input from the controlling
X   program before outputting anything.  (It is reported that this
X   particular flavor of deadlock is sometimes called a `starvation
X   deadlock', though the term `starvation' is more properly used for
X   situations where a program can never run simply because it never
X   gets high enough priority.  Another common flavor is
X   `constipation', where each process is trying to send stuff to
X   the other, but all buffers are full because nobody is reading
X   anything.)  See {deadly embrace}.  2. Also used of
X   deadlock-like interactions between humans, as when two people meet
X   in a narrow corridor, and each tries to be polite by moving aside
X   to let the other pass, but they end up swaying from side to side
X   without making any progress because they always both move the same
X   way at the same time.
X
Xdeadly embrace: n. Same as {deadlock}, though usually used only when
X   exactly two processes are involved.  This is the more popular term in
X   Europe, while {deadlock} predominates in the United States.
X
Xdeath star: [from the movie `Star Wars'] The AT&T corporate
X   logo, which appears on computers sold by AT&T and bears an uncanny
X   resemblance to the `Death Star' in the movie.  This usage is
X   particularly common among partisans of {BSD} UNIX, who tend to
X   regard the AT&T versions as inferior and AT&T as a bad guy.  Copies
X   still circulate of a poster printed by Mt. Xinu showing a starscape
X   with a space fighter labelled 4.2BSD streaking away from a broken
X   AT&T logo wreathed in flames.
X
X   AT&T's internal magazine, `Focus', uses `death star' for
X   an incorrectly done AT&T logo in which the inner circle in the top
X   left is dark instead of light --- a frequent result of dark-on-light
X   logo images.
X
XDEC Wars: n. A 1983 {USENET} posting by Alan Hastings and Steve Tarr,
X   spoofing the `Star Wars' movies in hackish terms.  Some years
X   later, ESR (disappointed by Hastings/Tarr's failure to exploit a
X   great premise more thoroughly) posted a three-times-longer complete
X   rewrite called `UNIX WARS'; the two are often confused.
X
XDEChead: /dek'hed/ n. 1. A DEC {field servoid}.  Not flattering.
X   2. [from `deadhead'] A Grateful Dead fan working at DEC.
X
Xdeckle: [from dec- and {nickle}] /dek'l/ n. Two {nickle}s; 10
X   bits.  Reported among developers for Mattel's GI 1600 (the
X   Intellivision games processor), a chip with 16-bit-wide RAM but
X   10-bit-wide ROM.
X
Xdeep hack mode: n. See {hack mode}.
X
Xdeep magic: [poss. from C.S. Lewis's `Narnia' books.] n. An
X   awesomely arcane technique central to a program or system, esp. one
X   not generally published and available to hackers at large (compare
X   {black art}); one which could only have been composed by a true
X   {wizard}.  Compiler optimization techniques and many aspects of
X   {OS} design used to be {deep magic}; many techniques in
X   cryptography, signal processing, graphics, and AI still are.
X   Compare {heavy wizardry}.  Esp. found in comments of the form
X   "Deep magic begins here...".  Compare {voodoo programming}.
X
Xdeep space: adj. 1. Describes the notional location of any program
X   which has gone {off the trolley}.  Esp. used of programs which
X   just sit there silently grinding long after either failure or some
X   output is expected.  Compare {buzz}, {catatonic},
X   {hyperspace}.  2. The metaphorical location of a human so dazed
X   and/or confused or caught up in some esoteric form of {bogosity}
X   that he/she no longer responds coherently to normal communication.
X   Compare {page out}.
X
Xdefenestration: [from the traditional Czechoslovak method of
X   assassinating prime ministers, via SF fandom] n. 1. Proper karmic
X   retribution for an incorrigible punster.  "Oh, ghod, that was
X   *awful*!"  "Quick! Defenestrate him!"  2. The act of
X   exiting a window system in order to get better response time from a
X   full-screen program.  This comes from the dictionary meaning of
X   `defenestrate', which is to throw something out a window.  3.
X   [proposed] The requirement to support a command-line interface.
X   As: "It has to run on a VT100."  "Curses! I've been
X   defenestrated".
X
Xdefined as: adj. Currently in the role of, usually in an
X   off-the-organization-chart sense.  "Pete is currently defined as
X   bug prioritizer."  Compare {logical}.
X
Xdehose: vt. To clear a {hosed} condition.
X
Xdelint: vt. To modify code to remove problems detected when linting.
X   See {lint}.
X
Xdelta: n. 1. [techspeak] A quantitative change, especially a
X   small or incremental one (this use is general in physics and
X   engineering).  Example: "I just doubled the speed of my program!"
X   "What was the delta on program size?"  "About thirty percent."
X   (He doubled the speed of his program, but increased its size by
X   only thirty percent.)  2. [UNIX] A {diff}, especially a
X   {diff} stored under the set of version-control tools called SCCS
X   (Source Code Control System).  3. n. A small quantity, but not as
X   small as {epsilon}.  The jargon usage of {delta} and
X   {epsilon} stems from the traditional use of these letters in
X   mathematics for very small numerical quantities, particularly in
X   `epsilon-delta' proofs in limit theory (as in the differential
X   calculus).  The term {delta} is often used once {epsilon} has
X   been mentioned to mean a quantity that is slightly bigger than
X   {epsilon} but still very small.  For example, "The cost isn't
X   epsilon, but it's delta" means that the cost isn't totally
X   negligible, but it is nevertheless very small.  Compare `within
X   delta of', `within epsilon of': that is, close to and even
X   closer to.
X
Xdemented: adj. Yet another term of disgust used to describe a
X   program.  The connotation in this case is that the program works as
X   designed, but the design is bad.  For example, a program that
X   generates large numbers of meaningless error messages implying it
X   is on the point of imminent collapse.
X
Xdemigod: n. Hacker with years of experience, a national reputation,
X   and a major role in the development of at least one design, tool,
X   or game used by or known to more than half of the hacker community.
X   To qualify as a genuine demigod, the person must recognizably
X   identify with the hacker community and have helped shape it.  Major
X   demigods include Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie (co-inventors of
X   {UNIX} and {C}) and Richard M. Stallman (inventor of
X   {EMACS}).  In their hearts of hearts, most hackers dream of
X   someday becoming demigods themselves, and more than one major
X   software project has been driven to completion by the author's
X   veiled hopes of apotheosis.  See also {net.god}, {true-hacker}.
X
Xdemo: /de'moh/ [short for `demonstration'] 1. v. To demonstrate a
X   product or prototype.  A far more effective way of inducing bugs to
X   manifest than any number of {test} runs, especially when
X   important people are watching.  2. n. The act of demoing.
X
Xdemo mode: [Sun] n. The state of being {heads down} in order to
X   finish code in time for a {demo}, usually due yesterday.
X
Xdemon: n. 1. [MIT] A portion of a program which is not invoked
X   explicitly, but which lies dormant waiting for some condition(s) to
X   occur.  See {daemon}.  The distinction is that demons are usually
X   processes within a program, while daemons are usually programs
X   running on an operating system.  Demons are particularly common in
X   AI programs.  For example, a knowledge-manipulation program might
X   implement inference rules as demons.  Whenever a new piece of
X   knowledge was added, various demons would activate (which demons
X   depends on the particular piece of data) and would create
X   additional pieces of knowledge by applying their respective
X   inference rules to the original piece.  These new pieces could in
X   turn activate more demons as the inferences filtered down through
X   chains of logic.  Meanwhile, the main program could continue with
X   whatever its primary task was.  2. [outside MIT] Often used
X   equivalently to {daemon}, especially in the {UNIX} world where the
X   latter spelling and pronunciation is considered mildly archaic.
X
Xdepeditate: /dee-ped'@-tayt/ [by analogy with `decapitate'] vt.
X   Humorously, to cut off the feet of.  When using some computer-aided
X   phototypesetting tools, careless placement of text blocks within a
X   page or above a rule can result in chopped-off letter descenders.
X   Such letters are said to have been depeditated.
X
Xdeprecated: n. Said of a program or feature that is considered
X   obsolescent and in the process of being phased out, usually in
X   favor of a specified replacement.  Deprecated features can,
X   unfortunately, linger on for many years.
X
Xdeserves to lose: adj. Said of someone who willfully does the
X   {Wrong Thing}; humorously, if one uses a feature known to be
X   {marginal}.  What is meant is that one deserves the consequences
X   of one's {losing} actions.  "Boy, anyone who tries to use
X   {mess-dos} deserves to {lose}!" (ITS fans used to say this of
X   UNIX; many still do.)  See also {screw}, {chomp}, {bagbiter}.
X
Xdesk check: n.,v. To {grovel} over hardcopy of source code
X   mentally simulating the control flow; a method of catching bugs.
X   No longer common practice in this age of on-screen editing, fast
X   compiles, and sophisticated debuggers, though some maintain stoutly
X   that it ought to be.  Compare {eyeball search}, {vdiff},
X   {vgrep}.
X
Xdevo: /dee'voh/ [orig. in-house jargon at Symbolics] n. A person in a
X   development group.  See also {doco} and {mango}.
X
Xdickless workstation: n. Extremely pejorative hackerism for
X   `diskless workstation', a class of botches including the Sun 3/50
X   and other machines designed exclusively to network with an
X   expensive central disk server.  These combine all the disadvantages
X   of time-sharing with all the disadvantages of distributed personal
X   computers.
X
Xdiddle: 1. vt. To work with or modify in a not particularly
X   serious manner.  "I diddled a copy of {ADVENT} so it didn't
X   double-space all the time."  "Let's diddle this piece of code and
X   see if the problem goes away."  See {tweak} and {twiddle}.
X   2. n. The action or result of diddling.  See also {tweak},
X   {twiddle}, {frob}.
X
Xdiff: n. 1. A change listing, especially giving differences between
X   (and additions to) source code or documents (the term is often used
X   in the plural `diffs').  "Send me your diffs for the Jargon
X   File!"  Compare {vdiff}.  2. Specifically, such a listing
X   produced by the `diff(1)' command, esp. when used as
X   specification input to the `patch(1)' utility (which can
X   actually perform the modifications; see {patch}).  This is a
X   common method of distributing patches and source updates in the
X   UNIX/C world.  Se {diff}, {mod}.
X
Xdigit: /dij'it/ n. An employee of Digital Equipment Corporation.
X   See also {VAX}, {VMS}, {PDP-10}, {TOPS-10}, {DEChead},
X   {double DECkers}, {field circus}.
X
Xdike: vt. To remove or disable a portion of something, as a wire
X   from a computer or a subroutine from a program.  A standard slogan
X   runs: "When in doubt, dike it out."  (The implication is that it
X   is usually more effective to attack software problems by reducing
X   complexity rather than increasing it.)  The word `dikes' is widely
X   used among mechanics and engineers to mean `diagonal cutters', a
X   heavy-duty metal-cutting device; to `dike something out' means to
X   use such cutters to remove something.  Among hackers this term has
X   been metaphorically extended to informational objects such as
X   sections of code.
X
Xding: /ding/ n.,vi. 1. Synonym for {feep}.  Usage: rare among
X   hackers, but commoner in the {Real World}.  2. `dinged': what
X   happens when someone in authority gives you a minor bitching about
X   something, esp. something you consider trivial.  "I was dinged for
X   having a messy desk".
X
Xdink: adj. Said of a machine which has the {bitty box} nature; a
X   machine too small to be worth bothering with, sometimes the current
X   system you're forced to work on.  First heard from an MIT hacker
X   (BADOB) working on a CP/M system with 64K in reference to any 6502
X   system, then from fans of 32-bit architectures about 16-bit
X   machines.  "GNUMACS will never work on that dink machine."
X   Probably derived from mainstream `dinky', which isn't sufficiently
X   pejorative.
X
Xdinosaur: n. 1. Any hardware requiring raised flooring and special
X   power.  Used especially of old minis and mainframes when contrasted
X   with newer microprocessor-based machines.  In a famous quote from
X   the '88 UNIX EXPO, Bill Joy compared the mainframe in the massive
X   IBM display with a grazing dinosaur, "with a truck outside pumping
X   its bodily fluids through it".  IBM was not amused.  Compare
X   {big iron}; see also {mainframe}.  2. [IBM] A very conservative
X   user; a {zipperhead}.
X
Xdinosaur pen: n. A traditional {mainframe} computer room complete with
X   raised flooring, special power, its own ultra-heavy-duty air
X   conditioning, and a side order of Halon fire extinguishers.  See
X   {boa}.
X
Xdinosaurs mating: n. Said to occur when yet another {big iron}
X   merger or buyout occurs; reflects a perception by hackers that
X   these signal another stage in the long-drawn-out death throes of
X   the {mainframe} industry.  In its glory days of the Sixties, it
X   was `IBM and the Seven Dwarves': Burroughs, Control Data, General
X   Electric, Honeywell, NCR, RCA, and Univac.  RCA and GE sold out
X   early and it was `IBM and the Bunch' (Burroughs, Univac, NCR,
X   Control Data, and Honeywell) for a while.  Honeywell was bought out
X   by Bull; Burroughs merged with Univac to form Unisys (in 1984, this
X   was when the phrase `dinosaurs mating' was coined), and at time of
X   writing AT&T is attempting to recover from a disastrously bad first
X   six years in the hardware industry after buying NCR.  More such
X   earth-shaking unions of doomed giants seem inevitable.
X
Xdirty power: n. Electrical mains voltage which is unfriendly to
X   the delicate innards of computers.  Spikes, {drop-outs}, average
X   voltage significantly higher or lower than nominal, or just plain
X   noise can all cause problems of varying subtlety and severity.
X
XDiscordianism: /dis-kor'di-@n-ism/ n. The veneration of {Eris}, aka
X   Discordia; widely popular among hackers.  Popularized by Robert
X   Anton Wilson's `Illuminatus!' trilogy as a sort of self-subverting
X   dada-Zen for Westerners --- it should on no account be taken
X   seriously but is far more serious than most jokes.  Usually
X   connected with an elaborate conspiracy theory/joke involving
X   millennia-long warfare between the anarcho-surrealist partisans of
X   Eris and a malevolent, authoritarian secret society called the
X   Illuminati.  See Appendix B, {Church of the Sub-Genius}, and {ha ha
X   only serious}.
X
Xdisk farm: n. (also {laundromat}) A large room or rooms filled
X   with disk drives (esp. {washing machine}s).
X
Xdisplay hack: n. A program with the same approximate purpose as a
X   kaleidoscope: to make pretty pictures.  Famous display hacks
X   include {munching squares}, {smoking clover}, the BSD UNIX
X   `rain(6)' program, `worms(6)' on miscellaneous UNIXes,
X   and the {X} kaleid program.  Display hacks can also be
X   implemented without programming by creating text files containing
X   numerous escape sequences for interpretation by a video terminal;
X   one notable example displayed, on any VT100, a Christmas tree with
X   twinkling lights and a toy train circling its base.  The {hack
X   value} of a display hack is proportional to the esthetic value of
X   the images times the cleverness of the algorithm divided by the
X   size of the code.  Syn. {psychedelicware}.
SHAR_EOF
true || echo 'restore of jargon.ascii failed'
fi
echo 'End of part 5, continue with part 6'
echo 6 > _shar_seq_.tmp
exit 0