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

So named in the title of a

comp.risks article by Gene Spafford during the Worm crisis, and again

in the text of "The Internet Worm Program: An Analysis", Purdue

Technical Report CSD-TR-823.

Node:confuser, Next:[2943]connector conspiracy, Previous:[2944]condom,

Up:[2945]= C =

confuser n.

Common soundalike slang for `computer'. Usually encountered in

compounds such as confuser room',personal confuser', `confuser

guru'. Usage: silly.

Node:connector conspiracy, Next:[2946]cons, Previous:[2947]confuser,

Up:[2948]= C =

connector conspiracy n.

[probably came into prominence with the appearance of the KL-10 (one

model of the [2949]PDP-10), none of whose connectors matched anything

else] The tendency of manufacturers (or, by extension, programmers or

purveyors of anything) to come up with new products that don't fit

together with the old stuff, thereby making you buy either all new

stuff or expensive interface devices. The KL-10 Massbus connector was

actually patented by [2950]DEC, which reputedly refused to license the

design and thus effectively locked third parties out of competition

for the lucrative Massbus peripherals market. This policy is a source

of never-ending frustration for the diehards who maintain older PDP-10

or VAX systems. Their CPUs work fine, but they are stuck with dying,

obsolescent disk and tape drives with low capacity and high power

requirements.

(A closely related phenomenon, with a slightly different intent, is

the habit manufacturers have of inventing new screw heads so that only

Designated Persons, possessing the magic screwdrivers, can remove

covers and make repairs or install options. A good 1990s example is

the use of Torx screws for cable-TV set-top boxes. Older Apple

Macintoshes took this one step further, requiring not only a long Torx

screwdriver but a specialized case-cracking tool to open the box.)

In these latter days of open-systems computing this term has fallen

somewhat into disuse, to be replaced by the observation that

"Standards are great! There are so many of them to choose from!"

Compare [2951]backward combatability.

Node:cons, Next:[2952]considered harmful, Previous:[2953]connector

conspiracy, Up:[2954]= C =

cons /konz/ or /kons/

[from LISP] 1. vt. To add a new element to a specified list, esp. at

the top. "OK, cons picking a replacement for the console TTY onto the

agenda." 2. `cons up': vt. To synthesize from smaller pieces: "to cons

up an example".

In LISP itself, cons is the most fundamental operation for building

structures. It takes any two objects and returns a `dot-pair' or

two-branched tree with one object hanging from each branch. Because

the result of a cons is an object, it can be used to build binary

trees of any shape and complexity. Hackers think of it as a sort of

universal constructor, and that is where the jargon meanings spring

from.

Node:considered harmful, Next:[2955]console, Previous:[2956]cons,

Up:[2957]= C =

considered harmful adj.

[very common] Edsger W. Dijkstra's note in the March 1968

"Communications of the ACM", "Goto Statement Considered Harmful",

fired the first salvo in the structured programming wars (text at

[2958]http://www.acm.org/classics). Amusingly, the ACM considered the

resulting acrimony sufficiently harmful that it will (by policy) no

longer print an article taking so assertive a position against a

coding practice. (Years afterwards, a contrary view was uttered in a

CACM letter called, inevitably, "`Goto considered harmful' considered

harmful'"'. In the ensuing decades, a large number of both serious

papers and parodies have borne titles of the form "X considered Y".

The structured-programming wars eventually blew over with the

realization that both sides were wrong, but use of such titles has

remained as a persistent minor in-joke (the `considered silly' found

at various places in this lexicon is related).

Node:console, Next:[2959]console jockey, Previous:[2960]considered

harmful, Up:[2961]= C =

console n.

The operator's station of a [2962]mainframe. In times past, this

was a privileged location that conveyed godlike powers to anyone with

fingers on its keys. Under Unix and other modern timesharing OSes,

such privileges are guarded by passwords instead, and the console is

just the [2963]tty the system was booted from. Some of the mystique

remains, however, and it is traditional for sysadmins to post urgent

messages to all users from the console (on Unix, /dev/console). 2. On

microcomputer Unix boxes, the main screen and keyboard (as opposed to

character-only terminals talking to a serial port). Typically only the

console can do real graphics or run [2964]X.

Node:console jockey, Next:[2965]content-free, Previous:[2966]console,

Up:[2967]= C =

console jockey n.

See [2968]terminal junkie.

Node:content-free, Next:[2969]control-C, Previous:[2970]console

jockey, Up:[2971]= C =

content-free adj.

[by analogy with techspeak `context-free'] Used of a message that adds

nothing to the recipient's knowledge. Though this adjective is

sometimes applied to [2972]flamage, it more usually connotes derision

for communication styles that exalt form over substance or are

centered on concerns irrelevant to the subject ostensibly at hand.

Perhaps most used with reference to speeches by company presidents and

other professional manipulators. "Content-free? Uh... that's anything

printed on glossy paper." (See also [2973]four-color glossies.) "He

gave a talk on the implications of electronic networks for

postmodernism and the fin-de-siecle aesthetic. It was content-free."

Node:control-C, Next:[2974]control-O, Previous:[2975]content-free,

Up:[2976]= C =

control-C vi.

"Stop whatever you are doing." From the interrupt character used on

many operating systems to abort a running program. Considered silly.

interj. Among BSD Unix hackers, the canonical humorous response to

"Give me a break!"

Node:control-O, Next:[2977]control-Q, Previous:[2978]control-C,

Up:[2979]= C =

control-O vi.

"Stop talking." From the character used on some operating systems to

abort output but allow the program to keep on running. Generally means

that you are not interested in hearing anything more from that person,

at least on that topic; a standard response to someone who is flaming.

Considered silly. Compare [2980]control-S.

Node:control-Q, Next:[2981]control-S, Previous:[2982]control-O,

Up:[2983]= C =

control-Q vi.

"Resume." From the ASCII DC1 or [2984]XON character (the pronunciation

/X-on/ is therefore also used), used to undo a previous

[2985]control-S.

Node:control-S, Next:[2986]Conway's Law, Previous:[2987]control-Q,

Up:[2988]= C =

control-S vi.

"Stop talking for a second." From the ASCII DC3 or XOFF character (the

pronunciation /X-of/ is therefore also used). Control-S differs from

[2989]control-O in that the person is asked to stop talking (perhaps

because you are on the phone) but will be allowed to continue when

you're ready to listen to him -- as opposed to control-O, which has

more of the meaning of "Shut up." Considered silly.

Node:Conway's Law, Next:[2990]cookbook, Previous:[2991]control-S,

Up:[2992]= C =

Conway's Law prov.

The rule that the organization of the software and the organization of

the software team will be congruent; commonly stated as "If you have

four groups working on a compiler, you'll get a 4-pass compiler". The

original statement was more general, "Organizations which design

systems are constrained to produce designs which are copies of the

communication structures of these organizations." This first appeared

in the April 1968 issue of [2993]Datamation. Compare [2994]SNAFU

principle.

The law was named after Melvin Conway, an early proto-hacker who wrote

an assembler for the Burroughs 220 called SAVE. (The name `SAVE'

didn't stand for anything; it was just that you lost fewer card decks

and listings because they all had SAVE written on them.)

There is also Tom Cheatham's amendment of Conway's Law: "If a group of

N persons implements a COBOL compiler, there will be N-1 passes.

Someone in the group has to be the manager."

Node:cookbook, Next:[2995]cooked mode, Previous:[2996]Conway's Law,

Up:[2997]= C =

cookbook n.

[from amateur electronics and radio] A book of small code segments

that the reader can use to do various [2998]magic things in programs.

One current example is the "[2999]PostScript Language Tutorial and

Cookbook" by Adobe Systems, Inc (Addison-Wesley, ISBN 0-201-10179-3),

also known as the [3000]Blue Book which has recipes for things like

wrapping text around arbitrary curves and making 3D fonts. Cookbooks,

slavishly followed, can lead one into [3001]voodoo programming, but

are useful for hackers trying to [3002]monkey up small programs in

unknown languages. This function is analogous to the role of

phrasebooks in human languages.

Node:cooked mode, Next:[3003]cookie, Previous:[3004]cookbook,

Up:[3005]= C =

cooked mode n.

[Unix, by opposition from [3006]raw mode] The normal character-input

mode, with interrupts enabled and with erase, kill and other

special-character interpretations performed directly by the tty

driver. Oppose [3007]raw mode, [3008]rare mode. This term is techspeak

under Unix but jargon elsewhere; other operating systems often have

similar mode distinctions, and the raw/rare/cooked way of describing

them has spread widely along with the C language and other Unix

exports. Most generally, `cooked mode' may refer to any mode of a

system that does extensive preprocessing before presenting data to a

program.

Node:cookie, Next:[3009]cookie bear, Previous:[3010]cooked mode,

Up:[3011]= C =

cookie n.

A handle, transaction ID, or other token of agreement between

cooperating programs. "I give him a packet, he gives me back a

cookie." The claim check you get from a dry-cleaning shop is a perfect

mundane example of a cookie; the only thing it's useful for is to

relate a later transaction to this one (so you get the same clothes

back). Compare [3012]magic cookie; see also [3013]fortune cookie. Now

mainstream in the specific sense of web-browser cookies.

Node:cookie bear, Next:[3014]cookie file, Previous:[3015]cookie,

Up:[3016]= C =

cookie bear n. obs.

Original term, pre-Sesame-Street, for what is now universally called a

[3017]cookie monster. A correspondent observes "In those days, hackers

were actually getting their yucks from...sit down now...Andy Williams.

Yes, that Andy Williams. Seems he had a rather hip (by the standards

of the day) TV variety show. One of the best parts of the show was the

recurring `cookie bear' sketch. In these sketches, a guy in a bear

suit tried all sorts of tricks to get a cookie out of Williams. The

sketches would always end with Williams shrieking (and I don't mean

figuratively), `No cookies! Not now, not ever...NEVER!!!' And the bear

would fall down. Great stuff."

Node:cookie file, Next:[3018]cookie jar, Previous:[3019]cookie bear,

Up:[3020]= C =

cookie file n.

A collection of [3021]fortune cookies in a format that facilitates

retrieval by a fortune program. There are several different cookie

files in public distribution, and site admins often assemble their own

from various sources including this lexicon.

Node:cookie jar, Next:[3022]cookie monster, Previous:[3023]cookie

file, Up:[3024]= C =

cookie jar n.

An area of memory set aside for storing [3025]cookies. Most commonly

heard in the Atari ST community; many useful ST programs record their

presence by storing a distinctive [3026]magic number in the jar.

Programs can inquire after the presence or otherwise of other programs

by searching the contents of the jar.

Node:cookie monster, Next:[3027]copious free time,

Previous:[3028]cookie jar, Up:[3029]= C =

cookie monster n.

[from the children's TV program "Sesame Street"] Any of a family of

early (1970s) hacks reported on [3030]TOPS-10, [3031]ITS,

[3032]Multics, and elsewhere that would lock up either the victim's

terminal (on a time-sharing machine) or the [3033]console (on a batch

[3034]mainframe), repeatedly demanding "I WANT A COOKIE". The required

responses ranged in complexity from "COOKIE" through "HAVE A COOKIE"

and upward. Folklorist Jan Brunvand (see [3035]FOAF) has described

these programs as urban legends (implying they probably never existed)

but they existed, all right, in several different versions. See also

[3036]wabbit. Interestingly, the term `cookie monster' appears to be a

[3037]retcon; the original term was [3038]cookie bear.

Node:copious free time, Next:[3039]copper, Previous:[3040]cookie

monster, Up:[3041]= C =

copious free time n.

[Apple; orig. fr. the intro to Tom Lehrer's song "It Makes A Fellow

Proud To Be A Soldier"] 1. [used ironically to indicate the speaker's

lack of the quantity in question] A mythical schedule slot for

accomplishing tasks held to be unlikely or impossible. Sometimes used

to indicate that the speaker is interested in accomplishing the task,

but believes that the opportunity will not arise. "I'll implement the

automatic layout stuff in my copious free time." 2. [Archly] Time

reserved for bogus or otherwise idiotic tasks, such as implementation

of [3042]chrome, or the stroking of [3043]suits. "I'll get back to him

on that feature in my copious free time."

Node:copper, Next:[3044]copy protection, Previous:[3045]copious free

time, Up:[3046]= C =

copper n.

Conventional electron-carrying network cable with a core conductor