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

A =

ASCIIbetical order /as'kee-be'-t*-kl or'dr/ adj.,n.

Used to indicate that data is sorted in ASCII collated order rather

than alphabetical order. This lexicon is sorted in something close to

ASCIIbetical order, but with case ignored and entries beginning with

non-alphabetic characters moved to the end. "At my video store, they

used their computer to sort the videos into ASCIIbetical order, so I

couldn't find `"Crocodile" Dundee' until I thought to look before

2001' and48 HRS.'!"

Node:astroturfing, Next:[664]atomic, Previous:[665]ASCIIbetical order,

Up:[666]= A =

astroturfing n.

The use of paid shills to create the impression of a popular movement,

through means like letters to newspapers from soi-disant `concerned

citizens', paid opinion pieces, and the formation of grass-roots

lobbying groups that are actually funded by a PR group (astroturf is

fake grass; hence the term). This term became common among hackers

after it came to light in early 1998 that Microsoft had attempted to

use such tactics to forestall the U.S. Department of Justice's

antitrust action against the company.

This backfired horribly, angering a number of state attorneys-general

enough to induce them to go public with plans to join the Federal

suit. It also set anybody defending Microsoft on the net for the

accusation "You're just astroturfing!".

Node:atomic, Next:[667]attoparsec, Previous:[668]astroturfing,

Up:[669]= A =

atomic adj.

[from Gk. `atomos', indivisible] 1. Indivisible; cannot be split up.

For example, an instruction may be said to do several things

`atomically', i.e., all the things are done immediately, and there is

no chance of the instruction being half-completed or of another being

interspersed. Used esp. to convey that an operation cannot be screwed

up by interrupts. "This routine locks the file and increments the

file's semaphore atomically." 2. [primarily techspeak] Guaranteed to

complete successfully or not at all, usu. refers to database

transactions. If an error prevents a partially-performed transaction

from proceeding to completion, it must be "backed out," as the

database must not be left in an inconsistent state.

Computer usage, in either of the above senses, has none of the

connotations that `atomic' has in mainstream English (i.e. of

particles of matter, nuclear explosions etc.).

Node:attoparsec, Next:[670]AUP, Previous:[671]atomic, Up:[672]= A =

attoparsec n.

About an inch. `atto-' is the standard SI prefix for multiplication by

10^(-18). A parsec (parallax-second) is 3.26 light-years; an

attoparsec is thus 3.26 * 10^(-18) light years, or about 3.1 cm (thus,

1 attoparsec/[673]microfortnight equals about 1 inch/sec). This unit

is reported to be in use (though probably not very seriously) among

hackers in the U.K. See [674]micro-.

Node:AUP, Next:[675]autobogotiphobia, Previous:[676]attoparsec,

Up:[677]= A =

AUP /A-U-P/

Abbreviation, "Acceptable Use Policy". The policy of a given ISP which

sets out what the ISP considers to be (un)acceptable uses of its

Internet resources.

Node:autobogotiphobia, Next:[678]automagically, Previous:[679]AUP,

Up:[680]= A =

autobogotiphobia /aw'toh-boh-got`-foh'bee-/

n. See [681]bogotify.

Node:automagically, Next:[682]avatar, Previous:[683]autobogotiphobia,

Up:[684]= A =

automagically /aw-toh-maj'i-klee/ adv.

Automatically, but in a way that, for some reason (typically because

it is too complicated, or too ugly, or perhaps even too trivial), the

speaker doesn't feel like explaining to you. See [685]magic. "The

C-INTERCAL compiler generates C, then automagically invokes cc(1) to

produce an executable."

This term is quite old, going back at least to the mid-70s in jargon

and probably much earlier. The word `automagic' occurred in

advertising (for a shirt-ironing gadget) as far back as the late

1940s.

Node:avatar, Next:[686]awk, Previous:[687]automagically, Up:[688]= A =

avatar n. Syn.

[in Hindu mythology, the incarnation of a god] 1. Among people working

on virtual reality and [689]cyberspace interfaces, an avatar is an

icon or representation of a user in a shared virtual reality. The term

is sometimes used on [690]MUDs. 2. [CMU, Tektronix] [691]root,

[692]superuser. There are quite a few Unix machines on which the name

of the superuser account is avatar' rather thanroot'. This quirk

was originated by a CMU hacker who found the terms `root' and

superuser' unimaginative, and thoughtavatar' might better impress

people with the responsibility they were accepting.

Node:awk, Next:[693]B5, Previous:[694]avatar, Up:[695]= A =

awk /awk/

n. [Unix techspeak] An interpreted language for massaging text data

developed by Alfred Aho, Peter Weinberger, and Brian Kernighan (the

name derives from their initials). It is characterized by C-like

syntax, a declaration-free approach to variable typing and

declarations, associative arrays, and field-oriented text processing.

See also [696]Perl. 2. n. Editing term for an expression awkward to

manipulate through normal [697]regexp facilities (for example, one

containing a [698]newline). 3. vt. To process data using awk(1).

Node:= B =, Next:[699]= C =, Previous:[700]= A =, Up:[701]The Jargon

Lexicon

= B =

[702]B5:

[703]back door:

[704]backbone cabal:

[705]backbone site:

[706]backgammon:

[707]background:

[708]backreference:

[709]backronym:

[710]backspace and overstrike:

[711]backward combatability:

[712]BAD:

[713]Bad and Wrong:

[714]Bad Thing:

[715]bag on the side:

[716]bagbiter:

[717]bagbiting:

[718]baggy pantsing:

[719]balloonian variable:

[720]bamf:

[721]banana label:

[722]banana problem:

[723]banner ad:

[724]banner site:

[725]barn:

[726]batbelt:

[727]Befunge:

[728]BI:

[729]binary four:

[730]bandwidth:

[731]bang:

[732]bang on:

[733]bang path:

[734]banner:

[735]bar:

[736]bare metal:

[737]barf:

[738]barfmail:

[739]barfulation:

[740]barfulous:

[741]barney:

[742]baroque:

[743]BASIC:

[744]batch:

[745]bathtub curve:

[746]baud:

[747]baud barf:

[748]baz:

[749]bazaar:

[750]bboard:

[751]BBS:

[752]BCPL:

[753]beam:

[754]beanie key:

[755]beep:

[756]beige toaster:

[757]bells and whistles:

[758]bells whistles and gongs:

[759]benchmark:

[760]Berkeley Quality Software:

[761]berklix:

[762]Berzerkeley:

[763]beta:

[764]BFI:

[765]bible:

[766]BiCapitalization:

[767]B1FF:

[768]biff:

[769]Big Gray Wall:

[770]big iron:

[771]Big Red Switch:

[772]Big Room:

[773]big win:

[774]big-endian:

[775]bignum:

[776]bigot:

[777]bit:

[778]bit bang:

[779]bit bashing:

[780]bit bucket:

[781]bit decay:

[782]bit rot:

[783]bit twiddling:

[784]bit-paired keyboard:

[785]bitblt:

[786]BITNET:

[787]bits:

[788]bitty box:

[789]bixen:

[790]bixie:

[791]black art:

[792]black hole:

[793]black magic:

[794]Black Screen of Death:

[795]Black Thursday:

[796]blammo:

[797]blargh:

[798]blast:

[799]blat:

[800]bletch:

[801]bletcherous:

[802]blink:

[803]blinkenlights:

[804]blit:

[805]blitter:

[806]blivet:

[807]bloatware:

[808]BLOB:

[809]block:

[810]block transfer computations:

[811]Bloggs Family:

[812]blow an EPROM:

[813]blow away:

[814]blow out:

[815]blow past:

[816]blow up:

[817]BLT:

[818]Blue Book:

[819]blue box:

[820]Blue Glue:

[821]blue goo:

[822]Blue Screen of Death:

[823]blue wire:

[824]blurgle:

[825]BNF:

[826]boa:

[827]board:

[828]boat anchor:

[829]bob:

[830]bodysurf code:

[831]BOF:

[832]BOFH:

[833]bogo-sort:

[834]bogometer:

[835]BogoMIPS:

[836]bogon:

[837]bogon filter:

[838]bogon flux:

[839]bogosity:

[840]bogotify:

[841]bogue out:

[842]bogus:

[843]Bohr bug:

[844]boink:

[845]bomb:

[846]bondage-and-discipline language:

[847]bonk/oif:

[848]book titles:

[849]boot:

[850]Borg:

[851]borken:

[852]bot:

[853]bot spot:

[854]bottom feeder:

[855]bottom-up implementation:

[856]bounce:

[857]bounce message:

[858]boustrophedon:

[859]box:

[860]boxed comments:

[861]boxen:

[862]boxology:

[863]bozotic:

[864]BQS:

[865]brain dump:

[866]brain fart:

[867]brain-damaged:

[868]brain-dead:

[869]braino:

[870]branch to Fishkill:

[871]bread crumbs:

[872]break:

[873]break-even point:

[874]breath-of-life packet:

[875]breedle:

[876]Breidbart Index:

[877]bring X to its knees:

[878]brittle:

[879]broadcast storm:

[880]brochureware:

[881]broken:

[882]broken arrow:

[883]BrokenWindows:

[884]broket:

[885]Brooks's Law:

[886]brown-paper-bag bug:

[887]browser:

[888]BRS:

[889]brute force:

[890]brute force and ignorance:

[891]BSD:

[892]BSOD:

[893]BUAF:

[894]BUAG:

[895]bubble sort:

[896]bucky bits:

[897]buffer chuck:

[898]buffer overflow:

[899]bug:

[900]bug-compatible:

[901]bug-for-bug compatible:

[902]bug-of-the-month club:

[903]buglix:

[904]bulletproof:

[905]bullschildt:

[906]bum:

[907]bump:

[908]burble:

[909]buried treasure:

[910]burn-in period:

[911]burst page:

[912]busy-wait:

[913]buzz:

[914]BWQ:

[915]by hand:

[916]byte:

[917]byte sex:

[918]bytesexual:

[919]Bzzzt! Wrong.:

Node:B5, Next:[920]back door, Previous:[921]awk, Up:[922]= B =

B5 //

[common] Abbreviation for "Babylon 5", a science-fiction TV series as

revered among hackers as was the original Star Trek.

Node:back door, Next:[923]backbone cabal, Previous:[924]B5, Up:[925]=

B =

back door n.

[common] A hole in the security of a system deliberately left in place

by designers or maintainers. The motivation for such holes is not

always sinister; some operating systems, for example, come out of the

box with privileged accounts intended for use by field service

technicians or the vendor's maintenance programmers. Syn. [926]trap

door; may also be called a `wormhole'. See also [927]iron box,

[928]cracker, [929]worm, [930]logic bomb.

Historically, back doors have often lurked in systems longer than

anyone expected or planned, and a few have become widely known. Ken

Thompson's 1983 Turing Award lecture to the ACM admitted the existence

of a back door in early Unix versions that may have qualified as the

most fiendishly clever security hack of all time. In this scheme, the

C compiler contained code that would recognize when the `login'

command was being recompiled and insert some code recognizing a

password chosen by Thompson, giving him entry to the system whether or

not an account had been created for him.

Normally such a back door could be removed by removing it from the

source code for the compiler and recompiling the compiler. But to

recompile the compiler, you have to use the compiler -- so Thompson

also arranged that the compiler would recognize when it was compiling

a version of itself, and insert into the recompiled compiler the code

to insert into the recompiled `login' the code to allow Thompson entry

-- and, of course, the code to recognize itself and do the whole thing

again the next time around! And having done this once, he was then

able to recompile the compiler from the original sources; the hack

perpetuated itself invisibly, leaving the back door in place and

active but with no trace in the sources.

The talk that suggested this truly moby hack was published as

"Reflections on Trusting Trust", "Communications of the ACM 27", 8

(August 1984), pp. 761-763 (text available at

[931]http://www.acm.org/classics). Ken Thompson has since confirmed

that this hack was implemented and that the Trojan Horse code did

appear in the login binary of a Unix Support group machine. Ken says

the crocked compiler was never distributed. Your editor has heard two

separate reports that suggest that the crocked login did make it out

of Bell Labs, notably to BBN, and that it enabled at least one

late-night login across the network by someone using the login name

`kt'.

Node:backbone cabal, Next:[932]backbone site, Previous:[933]back door,

Up:[934]= B =

backbone cabal n.

A group of large-site administrators who pushed through the [935]Great

Renaming and reined in the chaos of [936]Usenet during most of the

1980s. During most of its lifetime, the Cabal (as it was sometimes

capitalized) steadfastly denied its own existence; it was almost

obligatory for anyone privy to their secrets to respond "There is no

Cabal" whenever the existence or activities of the group were

speculated on in public.

The result of this policy was an attractive aura of mystery. Even a

decade after the cabal [937]mailing list disbanded in late 1988

following a bitter internal catfight, many people believed (or claimed

to believe) that it had not actually disbanded but only gone deeper

underground with its power intact.

This belief became a model for various paranoid theories about various

Cabals with dark nefarious objectives beginning with taking over the

Usenet or Internet. These paranoias were later satirized in ways that

took on a life of their own. See [938]Eric Conspiracy for one example.

See [939]NANA for the subsequent history of "the Cabal".

Node:backbone site, Next:[940]backgammon, Previous:[941]backbone

cabal, Up:[942]= B =

backbone site n.,obs.

Formerly, a key Usenet and email site, one that processes a large

amount of third-party traffic, especially if it is the home site of

any of the regional coordinators for the Usenet maps. Notable backbone

sites as of early 1993, when