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

of

cards in the air, picking them up at random, and then testing whether

they are in order. It serves as a sort of canonical example of

awfulness. Looking at a program and seeing a dumb algorithm, one might

say "Oh, I see, this program uses bogo-sort." Esp. appropriate for

algorithms with factorial or super-exponential running time in the

average case and probabilistically infinite worst-case running time.

Compare [1677]bogus, [1678]brute force, [1679]lasherism.

A spectacular variant of bogo-sort has been proposed which has the

interesting property that, if the Many Worlds interpretation of

quantum mechanics is true, it can sort an arbitrarily large array in

constant time. (In the Many-Worlds model, the result of any quantum

action is to split the universe-before into a sheaf of

universes-after, one for each possible way the state vector can

collapse; in any one of the universes-after the result appears

random.) The steps are: 1. Permute the array randomly using a quantum

process, 2. If the array is not sorted, destroy the universe.

Implementation of step 2 is left as an exercise for the reader.

Node:bogometer, Next:[1680]BogoMIPS, Previous:[1681]bogo-sort,

Up:[1682]= B =

bogometer /boh-gom'-*t-er/ n.

A notional instrument for measuring [1683]bogosity. Compare the

[1684]Troll-O-Meter and the `wankometer' described in the [1685]wank

entry; see also [1686]bogus.

Node:BogoMIPS, Next:[1687]bogon, Previous:[1688]bogometer, Up:[1689]=

B =

BogoMIPS /bo'go-mips/ n.

The number of million times a second a processor can do absolutely

nothing. The [1690]Linux OS measures BogoMIPS at startup in order to

calibrate some soft timing loops that will be used later on; details

at [1691]the BogoMIPS mini-HOWTO. The name Linus chose, of course, is

an ironic comment on the uselessness of all other [1692]MIPS figures.

Node:bogon, Next:[1693]bogon filter, Previous:[1694]BogoMIPS,

Up:[1695]= B =

bogon /boh'gon/ n.

[very common; by analogy with proton/electron/neutron, but doubtless

reinforced after 1980 by the similarity to Douglas Adams's `Vogons';

see the [1696]Bibliography in Appendix C and note that Arthur Dent

actually mispronounces Vogons' asBogons' at one point] 1. The

elementary particle of bogosity (see [1697]quantum bogodynamics). For

instance, "the Ethernet is emitting bogons again" means that it is

broken or acting in an erratic or bogus fashion. 2. A query packet

sent from a TCP/IP domain resolver to a root server, having the reply

bit set instead of the query bit. 3. Any bogus or incorrectly formed

packet sent on a network. 4. By synecdoche, used to refer to any bogus

thing, as in "I'd like to go to lunch with you but I've got to go to

the weekly staff bogon". 5. A person who is bogus or who says bogus

things. This was historically the original usage, but has been

overtaken by its derivative senses 1-4. See also [1698]bogosity,

[1699]bogus; compare [1700]psyton, [1701]fat electrons, [1702]magic

smoke.

The bogon has become the type case for a whole bestiary of nonce

particle names, including the clutron' orcluon' (indivisible

particle of cluefulness, obviously the antiparticle of the bogon) and

the futon (elementary particle of [1703]randomness, or sometimes of

lameness). These are not so much live usages in themselves as examples

of a live meta-usage: that is, it has become a standard joke or

linguistic maneuver to "explain" otherwise mysterious circumstances by

inventing nonce particle names. And these imply nonce particle

theories, with all their dignity or lack thereof (we might note

parenthetically that this is a generalization from "(bogus particle)

theories" to "bogus (particle theories)"!). Perhaps such particles are

the modern-day equivalents of trolls and wood-nymphs as standard

starting-points around which to construct explanatory myths. Of

course, playing on an existing word (as in the `futon') yields

additional flavor. Compare [1704]magic smoke.

Node:bogon filter, Next:[1705]bogon flux, Previous:[1706]bogon,

Up:[1707]= B =

bogon filter /boh'gon fil'tr/ n.

Any device, software or hardware, that limits or suppresses the flow

and/or emission of bogons. "Engineering hacked a bogon filter between

the Cray and the VAXen, and now we're getting fewer dropped packets."

See also [1708]bogosity, [1709]bogus.

Node:bogon flux, Next:[1710]bogosity, Previous:[1711]bogon filter,

Up:[1712]= B =

bogon flux /boh'gon fluhks/ n.

A measure of a supposed field of [1713]bogosity emitted by a speaker,

measured by a [1714]bogometer; as a speaker starts to wander into

increasing bogosity a listener might say "Warning, warning, bogon flux

is rising". See [1715]quantum bogodynamics.

Node:bogosity, Next:[1716]bogotify, Previous:[1717]bogon flux,

Up:[1718]= B =

bogosity /boh-go's*-tee/ n.

[orig. CMU, now very common] The degree to which something is

[1719]bogus. Bogosity is measured with a [1720]bogometer; in a

seminar, when a speaker says something bogus, a listener might raise

his hand and say "My bogometer just triggered". More extremely, "You

just pinned my bogometer" means you just said or did something so

outrageously bogus that it is off the scale, pinning the bogometer

needle at the highest possible reading (one might also say "You just

redlined my bogometer"). The agreed-upon unit of bogosity is the

[1721]microLenat. 2. The potential field generated by a [1722]bogon

flux; see [1723]quantum bogodynamics. See also [1724]bogon flux,

[1725]bogon filter, [1726]bogus.

Node:bogotify, Next:[1727]bogue out, Previous:[1728]bogosity,

Up:[1729]= B =

bogotify /boh-go't*-fi:/ vt.

To make or become bogus. A program that has been changed so many times

as to become completely disorganized has become bogotified. If you

tighten a nut too hard and strip the threads on the bolt, the bolt has

become bogotified and you had better not use it any more. This coinage

led to the notional autobogotiphobia' defined asthe fear of

becoming bogotified'; but is not clear that the latter has ever been

`live' jargon rather than a self-conscious joke in jargon about

jargon. See also [1730]bogosity, [1731]bogus.

Node:bogue out, Next:[1732]bogus, Previous:[1733]bogotify, Up:[1734]=

B =

bogue out /bohg owt/ vi.

To become bogus, suddenly and unexpectedly. "His talk was relatively

sane until somebody asked him a trick question; then he bogued out and

did nothing but [1735]flame afterwards." See also [1736]bogosity,

[1737]bogus.

Node:bogus, Next:[1738]Bohr bug, Previous:[1739]bogue out, Up:[1740]=

B =

bogus adj.

Non-functional. "Your patches are bogus." 2. Useless. "OPCON is a

bogus program." 3. False. "Your arguments are bogus." 4. Incorrect.

"That algorithm is bogus." 5. Unbelievable. "You claim to have solved

the halting problem for Turing Machines? That's totally bogus." 6.

Silly. "Stop writing those bogus sagas."

Astrology is bogus. So is a bolt that is obviously about to break. So

is someone who makes blatantly false claims to have solved a

scientific problem. (This word seems to have some, but not all, of the

connotations of [1741]random -- mostly the negative ones.)

It is claimed that `bogus' was originally used in the hackish sense at

Princeton in the late 1960s. It was spread to CMU and Yale by Michael

Shamos, a migratory Princeton alumnus. A glossary of bogus words was

compiled at Yale when the word was first popularized there about

1975-76. These coinages spread into hackerdom from CMU and MIT. Most

of them remained wordplay objects rather than actual vocabulary items

or live metaphors. Examples: `amboguous' (having multiple bogus

interpretations); `bogotissimo' (in a gloriously bogus manner);

`bogotophile' (one who is pathologically fascinated by the bogus);

`paleobogology' (the study of primeval bogosity).

Some bogowords, however, obtained sufficient live currency to be

listed elsewhere in this lexicon; see [1742]bogometer, [1743]bogon,

[1744]bogotify, and [1745]quantum bogodynamics and the related but

unlisted [1746]Dr. Fred Mbogo.

By the early 1980s `bogus' was also current in something like hacker

usage sense in West Coast teen slang, and it had gone mainstream by

A correspondent from Cambridge reports, by contrast, that these

uses of `bogus' grate on British nerves; in Britain the word means,

rather specifically, `counterfeit', as in "a bogus 10-pound note".

Node:Bohr bug, Next:[1747]boink, Previous:[1748]bogus, Up:[1749]= B =

Bohr bug /bohr buhg/ n.

[from quantum physics] A repeatable [1750]bug; one that manifests

reliably under a possibly unknown but well-defined set of conditions.

Antonym of [1751]heisenbug; see also [1752]mandelbug,

[1753]schroedinbug.

Node:boink, Next:[1754]bomb, Previous:[1755]Bohr bug, Up:[1756]= B =

boink /boynk/

[Usenet: variously ascribed to the TV series "Cheers" "Moonlighting",

and "Soap"] 1. v. To have sex with; compare [1757]bounce, sense 3.

(This is mainstream slang.) In Commonwealth hackish the variant `bonk'

is more common. 2. n. After the original Peter Korn `Boinkon'

[1758]Usenet parties, used for almost any net social gathering, e.g.,

Miniboink, a small boink held by Nancy Gillett in 1988; Minniboink, a

Boinkcon in Minnesota in 1989; Humpdayboinks, Wednesday get-togethers

held in the San Francisco Bay Area. Compare [1759]@-party. 3. Var of

`bonk'; see [1760]bonk/oif.

Node:bomb, Next:[1761]bondage-and-discipline language,

Previous:[1762]boink, Up:[1763]= B =

bomb

v. General synonym for [1764]crash (sense 1) except that it is not

used as a noun; esp. used of software or OS failures. "Don't run

Empire with less than 32K stack, it'll bomb." 2. n.,v. Atari ST and

Macintosh equivalents of a Unix `panic' or Amiga [1765]guru

meditation, in which icons of little black-powder bombs or mushroom

clouds are displayed, indicating that the system has died. On the Mac,

this may be accompanied by a decimal (or occasionally hexadecimal)

number indicating what went wrong, similar to the Amiga [1766]guru

meditation number. [1767]MS-DOS machines tend to get [1768]locked up

in this situation.

Node:bondage-and-discipline language, Next:[1769]bonk/oif,

Previous:[1770]bomb, Up:[1771]= B =

bondage-and-discipline language n.

A language (such as [1772]Pascal, [1773]Ada, APL, or Prolog) that,

though ostensibly general-purpose, is designed so as to enforce an

author's theory of `right programming' even though said theory is

demonstrably inadequate for systems hacking or even vanilla

general-purpose programming. Often abbreviated `B&D'; thus, one may

speak of things "having the B&D nature". See [1774]Pascal; oppose

[1775]languages of choice.

Node:bonk/oif, Next:[1776]book titles,

Previous:[1777]bondage-and-discipline language, Up:[1778]= B =

bonk/oif /bonk/, /oyf/ interj.

In the U.S. [1779]MUD community, it has become traditional to express

pique or censure by `bonking' the offending person. Convention holds

that one should acknowledge a bonk by saying `oif!' and there is a

myth to the effect that failing to do so upsets the cosmic bonk/oif

balance, causing much trouble in the universe. Some MUDs have

implemented special commands for bonking and oifing. Note: in parts of

the U.K. `bonk' is a sexually loaded slang term; care is advised in

transatlantic conversations (see [1780]boink). Commonwealth hackers

report a similar convention involving the `fish/bang' balance. See

also [1781]talk mode.

Node:book titles, Next:[1782]boot, Previous:[1783]bonk/oif, Up:[1784]=

B =

book titles

There is a tradition in hackerdom of informally tagging important

textbooks and standards documents with the dominant color of their

covers or with some other conspicuous feature of the cover. Many of

these are described in this lexicon under their own entries. See

[1785]Aluminum Book, [1786]Blue Book, [1787]Camel Book,

[1788]Cinderella Book, [1789]Devil Book, [1790]Dragon Book,

[1791]Green Book, [1792]Orange Book, [1793]Purple Book, [1794]Red

Book, [1795]Silver Book, [1796]White Book, [1797]Wizard Book,

[1798]Yellow Book, and [1799]bible; see also [1800]rainbow series.

Since about 1983 this tradition has gotten a boost from the popular

O'Reilly and Associates line of technical books, which usually feature

some kind of exotic animal on the cover.

Node:boot, Next:[1801]Borg, Previous:[1802]book titles, Up:[1803]= B =

boot v.,n.

[techspeak; from `by one's bootstraps'] To load and initialize the

operating system on a machine. This usage is no longer jargon (having

passed into techspeak) but has given rise to some derivatives that are

still jargon.

The derivative `reboot' implies that the machine hasn't been down for

long, or that the boot is a [1804]bounce (sense 4) intended to clear

some state of [1805]wedgitude. This is sometimes used of human thought

processes, as in the following exchange: "You've lost me." "OK,

reboot. Here's the theory...."

This term is also found in the variants `cold boot' (from power-off

condition) and `warm boot' (with the CPU and all devices already

powered up, as after a hardware reset or software crash).

Another variant: `soft boot', reinitialization of only part of a

system, under control of other software still running: "If you're

running the [1806]mess-dos emulator, control-alt-insert will cause a

soft-boot of the emulator, while leaving the rest of the system

running."

Opposed to this there is `hard boot', which connotes hostility towards

or frustration with the machine being booted: "I'll have to hard-boot

this losing Sun." "I recommend booting it