The Jargon File by Eric S. Raymond (sites to read books for free .TXT) 📖

features of Unix libraries such as

stdio(3) are supported elsewhere; reliance on [13903]obscure

side-effects of system calls (use of sleep(2) with a 0 argument to

clue the scheduler that you're willing to give up your time-slice, for

example); the assumption that freshly allocated memory is zeroed; and

the assumption that fragmentation problems won't arise from never

free()ing memory. Compare [13904]vaxocentrism; see also [13905]New

Jersey.

Node:unswizzle, Next:[13906]unwind the stack, Previous:[13907]unixism,

Up:[13908]= U =

unswizzle v.

See [13909]swizzle.

Node:unwind the stack, Next:[13910]unwind-protect,

Previous:[13911]unswizzle, Up:[13912]= U =

unwind the stack vi.

[techspeak] 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 or C++ with throw/catch. See also

[13913]smash the stack. 2. People can unwind the stack as well, by

quickly dealing with a bunch of problems: "Oh heck, let's do lunch.

Just a second while I unwind my stack."

Node:unwind-protect, Next:[13914]up, Previous:[13915]unwind the stack,

Up:[13916]= U =

unwind-protect n.

[MIT: from the name of a LISP operator] 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."

Node:up, Next:[13917]upload, Previous:[13918]unwind-protect,

Up:[13919]= U =

up adj.

Working, in order. "The down escalator is up." Oppose [13920]down.

`bring up': vt. To create a working version and start it. "They

brought up a down system." 3. `come up' vi. To become ready for

production use.

Node:upload, Next:[13921]upthread, Previous:[13922]up, Up:[13923]= U =

upload /uhp'lohd/ v.

[techspeak] To transfer programs or data over a digital

communications link from a system near you (espercially a smaller or

peripheral `client' system) to one further away from you (especially a

larger or central `host' system). A transfer in the other direction

is, of course, called a [13924]download 2. [speculatively] To move the

essential patterns and algorithms that make up one's mind from one's

brain into a computer. Those who are convinced that such patterns and

algorithms capture the complete essence of the self view this prospect

with pleasant anticipation.

Node:upthread, Next:[13925]urchin, Previous:[13926]upload, Up:[13927]=

U =

upthread adv.

Earlier in the discussion (see [13928]thread), i.e., `above'. "As Joe

pointed out upthread, ..." See also [13929]followup.

Node:urchin, Next:[13930]URL, Previous:[13931]upthread, Up:[13932]= U

=

urchin n.

See [13933]munchkin.

Node:URL, Next:[13934]Usenet, Previous:[13935]urchin, Up:[13936]= U =

URL /U-R-L/ or /erl/ n.

Uniform Resource Locator, an address widget that identifies a document

or resource on the World Wide Web. This entry is here primarily to

record the fact that the term is commonly pronounced both /erl/, and

/U-R-L/ (the latter predominates in more formal contexts).

Node:Usenet, Next:[13937]Usenet Death Penalty, Previous:[13938]URL,

Up:[13939]= U =

Usenet /yoos'net/ or /yooz'net/ n.

[from `Users' Network'; the original spelling was USENET, but the

mixed-case form is now widely preferred] A distributed [13940]bboard

(bulletin board) system supported mainly by Unix machines. Originally

implemented in 1979-1980 by Steve Bellovin, Jim Ellis, Tom Truscott,

and Steve Daniel at Duke University, it has swiftly grown to become

international in scope and is now probably the largest decentralized

information utility in existence. As of early 1996, it hosts over

10,000 [13941]newsgroups and an average of over 500 megabytes (the

equivalent of several thousand paper pages) of new technical articles,

news, discussion, chatter, and [13942]flamage every day (and that

leaves out the graphics...).

By the year the Internet hit the mainstream (1994) the original UUCP

transport for Usenet was fading out of use (see [13943]UUCPNET) -

almost all Usenet connections were over Internet links. A lot of

newbies and journalists began to refer to "Internet newsgroups" as

though Usenet was and always had been just another Internet service.

This ignorance greatly annoys experienced Usenetters.

Node:Usenet Death Penalty, Next:[13944]user, Previous:[13945]Usenet,

Up:[13946]= U =

Usenet Death Penalty

[Usenet] A sanction against sites that habitually spew Usenet

[13947]spam. This can be either passive or active. A passive UDP

refers to the dropping of all postings by a particular domain so as to

inhibit propagation. An active UDP refers to third-party cancellation

of all postings by the UDPed domain. A partial UDP is one which

applies only to certain newsgroups or hierarchies in Usenet. Compare

[13948]Internet Death Penalty, with which this term is sometimes

confused.

Node:user, Next:[13949]user-friendly, Previous:[13950]Usenet Death

Penalty, Up:[13951]= U =

user n.

Someone doing `real work' with the computer, using it as a means

rather than an end. Someone who pays to use a computer. See

[13952]real user. 2. A programmer who will believe anything you tell

him. One who asks silly questions. [GLS observes: This is slightly

unfair. It is true that users ask questions (of necessity). Sometimes

they are thoughtful or deep. Very often they are annoying or downright

stupid, apparently because the user failed to think for two seconds or

look in the documentation before bothering the maintainer.] See

[13953]luser. 3. Someone who uses a program from the outside, however

skillfully, without getting into the internals of the program. One who

reports bugs instead of just going ahead and fixing them.

The general theory behind this term is that there are two classes of

people who work with a program: there are implementors (hackers) and

[13954]lusers. The users are looked down on by hackers to some extent

because they don't understand the full ramifications of the system in

all its glory. (The few users who do are known as `real winners'.) The

term is a relative one: a skilled hacker may be a user with respect to

some program he himself does not hack. A LISP hacker might be one who

maintains LISP or one who uses LISP (but with the skill of a hacker).

A LISP user is one who uses LISP, whether skillfully or not. Thus

there is some overlap between the two terms; the subtle distinctions

must be resolved by context.

Node:user-friendly, Next:[13955]user-obsequious, Previous:[13956]user,

Up:[13957]= U =

user-friendly adj.

Programmer-hostile. Generally used by hackers in a critical tone, to

describe systems that hold the user's hand so obsessively that they

make it painful for the more experienced and knowledgeable to get any

work done. See [13958]menuitis, [13959]drool-proof paper,

[13960]Macintrash, [13961]user-obsequious.

Node:user-obsequious, Next:[13962]userland,

Previous:[13963]user-friendly, Up:[13964]= U =

user-obsequious adj.

Emphatic form of [13965]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." See [13966]WIMP environment, [13967]Macintrash.

Node:userland, Next:[13968]USG Unix, Previous:[13969]user-obsequious,

Up:[13970]= U =

userland n.

Anywhere outside the kernel. "That code belongs in userland." This

term has been in common use among [13971]Linux kernel hackers since at

leat 1997, and seems to have originated in that community.

Node:USG Unix, Next:[13972]UTSL, Previous:[13973]userland, Up:[13974]=

U =

USG Unix /U-S-G yoo'niks/ n.,obs.

Refers to AT&T Unix commercial versions after [13975]Version 7,

especially System III and System V releases 1, 2, and 3. So called

because during most of the lifespan of those versions AT&T's support

crew was called the `Unix Support Group', but it is applied to version

that pre- and post-dated the USG group but were of the same lineage.

This term is now historical. See [13976]BSD, [13977]Unix.

Node:UTSL, Next:[13978]UUCPNET, Previous:[13979]USG Unix, Up:[13980]=

U =

UTSL // n.

[Unix] On-line acronym for `Use the Source, Luke' (a pun on Obi-Wan

Kenobi's "Use the Force, Luke!" in "Star Wars") -- analogous to

[13981]RTFS (sense 1), but more polite. This is a common way of

suggesting that someone would be better off reading the source code

that supports whatever feature is causing confusion, rather than

making yet another futile pass through the manuals, or broadcasting

questions on Usenet that haven't attracted [13982]wizards to answer

them.

Once upon a time in [13983]elder days, everyone running Unix had

source. After 1978, AT&T's policy tightened up, so this objurgation

was in theory appropriately directed only at associates of some outfit

with a Unix source license. In practice, bootlegs of Unix source code

(made precisely for reference purposes) were so ubiquitous that one

could utter it at almost anyone on the network without concern.

Nowadays, free Unix clones have become widely enough distributed that

anyone can read source legally. The most widely distributed is

certainly Linux, with variants of the NET/2 and 4.4BSD distributions

running second. Cheap commercial Unixes with source such as BSD/OS are

accelerating this trend.

Node:UUCPNET, Next:[13984]V7, Previous:[13985]UTSL, Up:[13986]= U =

UUCPNET n. obs.

The store-and-forward network consisting of all the world's connected

Unix machines (and others running some clone of the UUCP (Unix-to-Unix

CoPy) software). Any machine reachable only via a [13987]bang path is

on UUCPNET. This term has been rendered obsolescent by the spread of

cheap Internet connections in the 1990s; the few remaining UUCP links

are essentially slow channels to the Internet rather than an

autonomous network. See [13988]network address.

Node:= V =, Next:[13989]= W =, Previous:[13990]= U =, Up:[13991]The

Jargon Lexicon

= V =

[13992]V7:

[13993]vadding:

[13994]vanilla:

[13995]vanity domain:

[13996]vannevar:

[13997]vaporware:

[13998]var:

[13999]vaston:

[14000]VAX:

[14001]VAXectomy:

[14002]VAXen:

[14003]vaxherd:

[14004]vaxism:

[14005]vaxocentrism:

[14006]vdiff:

[14007]veeblefester:

[14008]velveeta:

[14009]ventilator card:

[14010]Venus flytrap:

[14011]verbage:

[14012]verbiage:

[14013]Version 7:

[14014]vgrep:

[14015]vi:

[14016]video toaster:

[14017]videotex:

[14018]virgin:

[14019]virtual:

[14020]virtual beer:

[14021]virtual Friday:

[14022]virtual reality:

[14023]virtual shredder:

[14024]virus:

[14025]visionary:

[14026]VMS:

[14027]voice:

[14028]voice-net:

[14029]voodoo programming:

[14030]VR:

[14031]Vulcan nerve pinch:

[14032]vulture capitalist:

Node:V7, Next:[14033]vadding, Previous:[14034]UUCPNET, Up:[14035]= V =

V7 /V'sev'en/ n.

See [14036]Version 7.

Node:vadding, Next:[14037]vanilla, Previous:[14038]V7, Up:[14039]= V =

vadding /vad'ing/ n.

[from VAD, a permutation of ADV (i.e., [14040]ADVENT), used to avoid a

particular [14041]admin's continual search-and-destroy sweeps for the

game] 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' (compare

[14042]phreaking; see also [14043]hack, sense 9). This term dates from

the late 1970s, before which such activity was simply called

`hacking'; the older usage is still prevalent at MIT.

The most extreme and dangerous form of vadding is `elevator rodeo',

a.k.a. `elevator surfing', a sport played by wrasslin' down a

thousand-pound elevator car with a 3-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! See also [14044]hobbit

(sense 2).

Node:vanilla, Next:[14045]vanity domain, Previous:[14046]vadding,

Up:[14047]= V =

vanilla adj.

[from the default flavor of ice cream in the U.S.] Ordinary

[14048]flavor, standard. When used of food, very often does not mean

that the food is flavored with vanilla extract! For example, `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." Also used to orthogonalize chip

nomenclature; for instance, a 74V00 means what TI calls a 7400, as

distinct from a 74LS00, etc. This word differs from [14049]canonical

in that the latter means `default', whereas vanilla simply means

`ordinary'. For example, when hackers go on a [14050]great-wall,

hot-and-sour soup is the [14051]canonical soup to get (because that is

what most of them usually order) even though it isn't the vanilla

(wonton) soup.

Node:vanity domain, Next:[14052]vannevar, Previous:[14053]vanilla,

Up:[14054]= V =

vanity domain n.

[common; from `vanity plate' as in car license plate] An Internet

domain, particularly in the .com or .org top-level domains, apparently

created for no reason other than boosting the creator's ego.

Node:vannevar, Next:[14055]vaporware, Previous:[14056]vanity domain,

Up:[14057]= V =

vannevar /van'*-var/ n.

A bogus technological prediction or a foredoomed engineering concept,

esp. one that