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

limited capabilities,

non-orthogonality, inability to compose primitives, or any other

limitation designed to not `confuse' a naive user. This places an

upper bound on how far that user can go before the program begins to

get in the way of the task instead of helping accomplish it. Used in

reference to Macintosh software which doesn't provide obvious

capabilities because it is thought that the poor lusers might not be

able to handle them. Becomes `the rest of them' when used in

third-party reference; thus, "Yes, it is an attractive program, but

it's designed for The Rest Of Them" means a program that superficially

looks neat but has no depth beyond the surface flash. See also

[5416]WIMP environment, [5417]Macintrash, [5418]point-and-drool

interface, [5419]user-friendly.

Node:for values of, Next:[5420]fora, Previous:[5421]for the rest of

us, Up:[5422]= F =

for values of

[MIT] A common rhetorical maneuver at MIT is to use any of the

canonical [5423]random numbers as placeholders for variables. "The max

function takes 42 arguments, for arbitrary values of 42." "There are

69 ways to leave your lover, for 69 = 50." This is especially likely

when the speaker has uttered a random number and realizes that it was

not recognized as such, but even `non-random' numbers are occasionally

used in this fashion. A related joke is that pi equals 3 -- for small

values of pi and large values of 3.

Historical note: at MIT this usage has traditionally been traced to

the programming language MAD (Michigan Algorithm Decoder), an

Algol-58-like language that was the most common choice among

mainstream (non-hacker) users at MIT in the mid-60s. It inherited from

Algol-58 a control structure FOR VALUES OF X = 3, 7, 99 DO ... that

would repeat the indicated instructions for each value in the list

(unlike the usual FOR that only works for arithmetic sequences of

values). MAD is long extinct, but similar for-constructs still

flourish (e.g., in Unix's shell languages).

Node:fora, Next:[5424]foreground, Previous:[5425]for values of,

Up:[5426]= F =

fora pl.n.

Plural of [5427]forum.

Node:foreground, Next:[5428]fork, Previous:[5429]fora, Up:[5430]= F =

foreground vt.

[Unix; common] To bring a task to the top of one's [5431]stack for

immediate processing, and hackers often use it in this sense for

non-computer tasks. "If your presentation is due next week, I guess

I'd better foreground writing up the design document."

Technically, on a time-sharing system, a task executing in foreground

is one able to accept input from and return output to the user; oppose

[5432]background. Nowadays this term is primarily associated with

[5433]Unix, but it appears first to have been used in this sense on

OS/360. Normally, there is only one foreground task per terminal (or

terminal window); having multiple processes simultaneously reading the

keyboard is a good way to [5434]lose.

Node:fork, Next:[5435]fork bomb, Previous:[5436]foreground, Up:[5437]=

F =

fork

In the open-source community, a fork is what occurs when two (or more)

versions of a software package's source code are being developed in

parallel which once shared a common code base, and these multiple

versions of the source code have irreconcilable differences between

them. This should not be confused with a development branch, which may

later be folded back into the original source code base. Nor should it

be confused with what happens when a new distribution of Linux or some

other distribution is created, because that largely assembles pieces

than can and will be used in other distributions without conflict.

Forking is uncommon; in fact, it is so uncommon that individual

instances loom large in hacker folklore. Notable in this class were

the [5438]http://www.xemacs.org/About/XEmacsVsGNUemacs.html, the

GCC/EGCS fork (later healed by a merger) and the forks among the

FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD operating systems.

Node:fork bomb, Next:[5439]forked, Previous:[5440]fork, Up:[5441]= F =

fork bomb n.

[Unix] A particular species of [5442]wabbit that can be written in one

line of C (main() {for(;;)fork();}) or shell ($0 & $0 &) on any Unix

system, or occasionally created by an egregious coding bug. A fork

bomb process `explodes' by recursively spawning copies of itself

(using the Unix system call fork(2)). Eventually it eats all the

process table entries and effectively wedges the system. Fortunately,

fork bombs are relatively easy to spot and kill, so creating one

deliberately seldom accomplishes more than to bring the just wrath of

the gods down upon the perpetrator. See also [5443]logic bomb.

Node:forked, Next:[5444]Fortrash, Previous:[5445]fork bomb, Up:[5446]=

F =

forked adj.,vi.

[common after 1997, esp. in the Linux community] An open-source

software project is said to have forked or be forked when the project

group fissions into two or more parts pursuing separate lines of

development (or, less commonly, when a third party unconnected to the

project group ). Forking is considered a [5447]Bad Thing - not merely

because it implies a lot of wasted effort in the future, but because

forks tend to be accompanied by a great deal of strife and acrimony

between the successor groups over issues of legitimacy, succession,

and design direction. There is serious social pressure against

forking. As a result, major forks (such as the Gnu-Emacs/XEmacs split,

the fissionings of the 386BSD group into three daughter project, and

the short-lived GCC/EGCS split) are rare enough that they are

remembered individually in hacker folklore. 2. [Unix; uncommon; prob.

influenced by a mainstream expletive] Terminally slow, or dead.

Originated when one system was slowed to a snail's pace by an

inadvertent [5448]fork bomb.

Node:Fortrash, Next:[5449]fortune cookie, Previous:[5450]forked,

Up:[5451]= F =

Fortrash /for'trash/ n.

Hackerism for the FORTRAN (FORmula TRANslator) language, referring to

its primitive design, gross and irregular syntax, limited control

constructs, and slippery, exception-filled semantics.

Node:fortune cookie, Next:[5452]forum, Previous:[5453]Fortrash,

Up:[5454]= F =

fortune cookie n.

[WAITS, via Unix; common] A random quote, item of trivia, joke, or

maxim printed to the user's tty at login time or (less commonly) at

logout time. Items from this lexicon have often been used as fortune

cookies. See [5455]cookie file.

Node:forum, Next:[5456]fossil, Previous:[5457]fortune cookie,

Up:[5458]= F =

forum n.

[Usenet, GEnie, CI$; pl. fora' orforums'] Any discussion group

accessible through a dial-in [5459]BBS, a [5460]mailing list, or a

[5461]newsgroup (see [5462]the network). A forum functions much like a

bulletin board; users submit [5463]postings for all to read and

discussion ensues. Contrast real-time chat via [5464]talk mode or

point-to-point personal [5465]email.

Node:fossil, Next:[5466]four-color glossies, Previous:[5467]forum,

Up:[5468]= F =

fossil n.

In software, a misfeature that becomes understandable only in

historical context, as a remnant of times past retained so as not to

break compatibility. Example: the retention of octal as default base

for string escapes in [5469]C, in spite of the better match of

hexadecimal to ASCII and modern byte-addressable architectures. See

[5470]dusty deck. 2. More restrictively, a feature with past but no

present utility. Example: the force-all-caps (LCASE) bits in the V7

and [5471]BSD Unix tty driver, designed for use with monocase

terminals. (In a perversion of the usual backward-compatibility goal,

this functionality has actually been expanded and renamed in some

later [5472]USG Unix releases as the IUCLC and OLCUC bits.) 3. The

FOSSIL (Fido/Opus/Seadog Standard Interface Level) driver

specification for serial-port access to replace the [5473]brain-dead

routines in the IBM PC ROMs. Fossils are used by most MS-DOS [5474]BBS

software in preference to the `supported' ROM routines, which do not

support interrupt-driven operation or setting speeds above 9600; the

use of a semistandard FOSSIL library is preferable to the [5475]bare

metal serial port programming otherwise required. Since the FOSSIL

specification allows additional functionality to be hooked in, drivers

that use the [5476]hook but do not provide serial-port access

themselves are named with a modifier, as in `video fossil'.

Node:four-color glossies, Next:[5477]frag, Previous:[5478]fossil,

Up:[5479]= F =

four-color glossies n.

Literature created by [5480]marketroids that allegedly contains

technical specs but which is in fact as superficial as possible

without being totally [5481]content-free. "Forget the four-color

glossies, give me the tech ref manuals." Often applied as an

indication of superficiality even when the material is printed on

ordinary paper in black and white. Four-color-glossy manuals are never

useful for solving a problem. 2. [rare] Applied by extension to manual

pages that don't contain enough information to diagnose why the

program doesn't produce the expected or desired output.

Node:frag, Next:[5482]fragile, Previous:[5483]four-color glossies,

Up:[5484]= F =

frag n.,v.

[from Vietnam-era U.S. military slang via the games Doom and Quake] 1.

To kill another player's [5485]avatar in a multiuser game. "I hold the

office Quake record with 40 frags." 2. To completely ruin something.

"Forget that power supply, the lightning strike fragged it. See also

[5486]gib.

Node:fragile, Next:[5487]fred, Previous:[5488]frag, Up:[5489]= F =

fragile adj.

Syn [5490]brittle.

Node:fred, Next:[5491]Fred Foobar, Previous:[5492]fragile, Up:[5493]=

F =

fred n.

The personal name most frequently used as a [5494]metasyntactic

variable (see [5495]foo). Allegedly popular because it's easy for a

non-touch-typist to type on a standard QWERTY keyboard. In Great

Britain, fred',jim' and `sheila' are common metasyntactic variables

because their uppercase versions were official names given to the 3

memory areas that held I/O status registers on the lovingly-remembered

BBC Microcomputer! (It is reported that SHEILA was poked the most

often.) Unlike [5496]J. Random Hacker or `J. Random Loser', the name

`fred' has no positive or negative loading (but see [5497]Dr. Fred

Mbogo). See also [5498]barney. 2. An acronym for `Flipping Ridiculous

Electronic Device'; other F-verbs may be substituted for `flipping'.

Node:Fred Foobar, Next:[5499]frednet, Previous:[5500]fred, Up:[5501]=

F =

Fred Foobar n.

[5502]J. Random Hacker's cousin. Any typical human being, more or less

synomous with `someone' except that Fred Foobar can be

[5503]backreferenced by name later on. "So Fred Foobar will enter his

phone number into the database, and it'll be archived with the others.

Months later, when Fred searches..." See also [5504]Bloggs Family and

[5505]Dr. Fred Mbogo

Node:frednet, Next:[5506]free software, Previous:[5507]Fred Foobar,

Up:[5508]= F =

frednet /fred'net/ n.

Used to refer to some [5509]random and uncommon protocol encountered

on a network. "We're implementing bridging in our router to solve the

frednet problem."

Node:free software, Next:[5510]freeware, Previous:[5511]frednet,

Up:[5512]= F =

free software n.

As defined by Richard M. Stallman and used by the Free Software

movement, this means software that gives users enough freedom to be

used by the free software community. Specifically, users must be free

to modify the software for their private use, and free to redistribute

it either with or without modifications, either commercially or

noncommercially, either gratis or charging a distribution fee. Free

software has existed since the dawn of computing; Free Software as a

movement began in 1984 with the GNU Project. See also [5513]open

source.

Node:freeware, Next:[5514]freeze, Previous:[5515]free software,

Up:[5516]= F =

freeware n.

[common] Free software, often written by enthusiasts and distributed

by users' groups, or via electronic mail, local bulletin boards,

[5517]Usenet, or other electronic media. At one time, `freeware' was a

trademark of Andrew Fluegelman, the author of the well-known MS-DOS

comm program PC-TALK III. It wasn't enforced after his mysterious

disappearance and presumed death in 1984. See [5518]shareware,

[5519]FRS.

Node:freeze, Next:[5520]fried, Previous:[5521]freeware, Up:[5522]= F =

freeze v.

To lock an evolving software distribution or document against changes

so it can be released with some hope of stability. Carries the strong

implication that the item in question will `unfreeze' at some future

date. "OK, fix that bug and we'll freeze for release."

There are more specific constructions on this term. A `feature

freeze', for example, locks out modifications intended to introduce

new features but still allows bugfixes and completion of existing

features; a `code freeze' connotes no more changes at all. At Sun

Microsystems and elsewhere, one may also hear references to `code

slush' -- that is, an almost-but-not-quite frozen state.

Node:fried, Next:[5523]frink, Previous:[5524]freeze, Up:[5525]= F =

fried adj.

[common] Non-working due to hardware failure; burnt out. Especially

used of hardware brought down by a `power glitch' (see [5526]glitch),

[5527]drop-outs, a short, or some other electrical event. (Sometimes

this literally happens to electronic circuits! In particular,

resistors can burn out and transformers can melt down, emitting

noxious smoke -- see