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

most UUCP sites can now resolve these

addresses, thanks to a large amount of behind-the-scenes magic and

[7258]PD software written since 1980 or so. See also [7259]bang path,

[7260]domainist. 2. More loosely, any network address reachable

through Internet; this includes [7261]bang path addresses and some

internal corporate and government networks.

Reading Internet addresses is something of an art. Here are the four

most important top-level functional Internet domains followed by a

selection of geographical domains:

com

commercial organizations

edu

educational institutions

gov

U.S. government civilian sites

mil

U.S. military sites

Note that most of the sites in the com and edu domains are in the U.S.

or Canada.

us

sites in the U.S. outside the functional domains

su

sites in the ex-Soviet Union (see [7262]kremvax).

uk

sites in the United Kingdom

Within the us domain, there are subdomains for the fifty states, each

generally with a name identical to the state's postal abbreviation.

Within the uk domain, there is an ac subdomain for academic sites and

a co domain for commercial ones. Other top-level domains may be

divided up in similar ways.

Node:Internet Death Penalty, Next:[7263]Internet Exploder,

Previous:[7264]Internet address, Up:[7265]= I =

Internet Death Penalty

[Usenet] (often abbreviated IDP) The ultimate sanction against

[7266]spam-emitting sites - complete shunning at the router level of

all mail and packets, as well as Usenet messages, from the offending

domain(s). Compare [7267]Usenet Death Penalty, with which it is

sometimes confused.

Node:Internet Exploder, Next:[7268]Internet Exploiter,

Previous:[7269]Internet Death Penalty, Up:[7270]= I =

Internet Exploder

[very common] Pejorative hackerism for Microsoft's "Internet Explorer"

web browser (also "Internet Exploiter"). Compare [7271]HP-SUX,

[7272]AIDX, [7273]buglix, [7274]Macintrash, [7275]Telerat,

[7276]ScumOS, [7277]sun-stools, [7278]Slowlaris.

Node:Internet Exploiter, Next:[7279]interrupt, Previous:[7280]Internet

Exploder, Up:[7281]= I =

Internet Exploiter n.

Another common name-of-insult for Internet Explorer, Microsoft's

overweight Web Browser; more hostile than [7282]Internet Exploder.

Reflects widespread hostility to Microsoft and a sense that it is

seeking to hijack, monopolize, and corrupt the Internet. Compare

[7283]Exploder and the less pejorative [7284]Netscrape.

Node:interrupt, Next:[7285]interrupt list, Previous:[7286]Internet

Exploiter, Up:[7287]= I =

interrupt

[techspeak] n. On a computer, an event that interrupts normal

processing and temporarily diverts flow-of-control through an

"interrupt handler" routine. See also [7288]trap. 2. interj. A request

for attention from a hacker. Often explicitly spoken. "Interrupt --

have you seen Joe recently?" See [7289]priority interrupt. 3. Under

MS-DOS, nearly synonymous with `system call', because the OS and BIOS

routines are both called using the INT instruction (see

[7290]interrupt list) and because programmers so often have to bypass

the OS (going directly to a BIOS interrupt) to get reasonable

performance.

Node:interrupt list, Next:[7291]interrupts locked out,

Previous:[7292]interrupt, Up:[7293]= I =

interrupt list n.

[MS-DOS] The list of all known software interrupt calls (both

documented and undocumented) for IBM PCs and compatibles, maintained

and made available for free redistribution by Ralf Brown

[7294]ralf@cs.cmu.edu. As of late 1992, it had grown to

approximately two megabytes in length.

Node:interrupts locked out, Next:[7295]intro, Previous:[7296]interrupt

list, Up:[7297]= I =

interrupts locked out adj.

When someone is ignoring you. In a restaurant, after several fruitless

attempts to get the waitress's attention, a hacker might well observe

"She must have interrupts locked out". The synonym `interrupts

disabled' is also common. Variations abound; "to have one's interrupt

mask bit set" and "interrupts masked out" are also heard. See also

[7298]spl.

Node:intro, Next:[7299]IRC, Previous:[7300]interrupts locked out,

Up:[7301]= I =

intro n.

[[7302]demoscene] Introductory [7303]screen of some production. 2. A

short [7304]demo, usually showing just one or two [7305]screens. 3.

Small, usually 64k, 40k or 4k [7306]demo. Sizes are generally dictated

by [7307]compo rules. See also [7308]dentro, [7309]demo.

Node:IRC, Next:[7310]iron, Previous:[7311]intro, Up:[7312]= I =

IRC /I-R-C/ n.

[Internet Relay Chat] A worldwide "party line" network that allows one

to converse with others in real time. IRC is structured as a network

of Internet servers, each of which accepts connections from client

programs, one per user. The IRC community and the [7313]Usenet and

[7314]MUD communities overlap to some extent, including both hackers

and regular folks who have discovered the wonders of computer

networks. Some Usenet jargon has been adopted on IRC, as have some

conventions such as [7315]emoticons. There is also a vigorous native

jargon, represented in this lexicon by entries marked `[IRC]'. See

also [7316]talk mode.

Node:iron, Next:[7317]Iron Age, Previous:[7318]IRC, Up:[7319]= I =

iron n.

Hardware, especially older and larger hardware of [7320]mainframe

class with big metal cabinets housing relatively low-density

electronics (but the term is also used of modern supercomputers).

Often in the phrase [7321]big iron. Oppose [7322]silicon. See also

[7323]dinosaur.

Node:Iron Age, Next:[7324]iron box, Previous:[7325]iron, Up:[7326]= I

=

Iron Age n.

In the history of computing, 1961-1971 -- the formative era of

commercial [7327]mainframe technology, when ferrite-core

[7328]dinosaurs ruled the earth. The Iron Age began, ironically

enough, with the delivery of the first minicomputer (the PDP-1) and

ended with the introduction of the first commercial microprocessor

(the Intel 4004) in 1971. See also [7329]Stone Age; compare

[7330]elder days.

Node:iron box, Next:[7331]ironmonger, Previous:[7332]Iron Age,

Up:[7333]= I =

iron box n.

[Unix/Internet] A special environment set up to trap a [7334]cracker

logging in over remote connections long enough to be traced. May

include a modified [7335]shell restricting the cracker's movements in

unobvious ways, and `bait' files designed to keep him interested and

logged on. See also [7336]back door, [7337]firewall machine,

[7338]Venus flytrap, and Clifford Stoll's account in "[7339]The

Cuckoo's Egg" of how he made and used one (see the [7340]Bibliography

in Appendix C). Compare [7341]padded cell, [7342]honey pot.

Node:ironmonger, Next:[7343]ISO standard cup of tea,

Previous:[7344]iron box, Up:[7345]= I =

ironmonger n.

[IBM] A hardware specialist (derogatory). Compare [7346]sandbender,

[7347]polygon pusher.

Node:ISO standard cup of tea, Next:[7348]ISP,

Previous:[7349]ironmonger, Up:[7350]= I =

ISO standard cup of tea n.

[South Africa] A cup of tea with milk and one teaspoon of sugar, where

the milk is poured into the cup before the tea. Variations are ISO 0,

with no sugar; ISO 2, with two spoons of sugar; and so on. This may

derive from the "NATO standard" cup of coffee and tea (milk and two

sugars), military slang going back to the late 1950s and parodying

NATO's relentless bureacratic drive to standardize parts across

European and U.S. militaries.

Like many ISO standards, this one has a faintly alien ring in North

America, where hackers generally shun the decadent British practice of

adulterating perfectly good tea with dairy products and prefer instead

to add a wedge of lemon, if anything. If one were feeling extremely

silly, one might hypothesize an analogous `ANSI standard cup of tea'

and wind up with a political situation distressingly similar to

several that arise in much more serious technical contexts. (Milk and

lemon don't mix very well.)

[2000 update: There is now, in fact, a `British Standard BS6008: How

to make a standard cup of tea.' - ESR]

Node:ISP, Next:[7351]ITS, Previous:[7352]ISO standard cup of tea,

Up:[7353]= I =

ISP /I-S-P/

Common abbreviation for Internet Service Provider, a kind of company

that barely existed before 1993. ISPs sell Internet access to the mass

market. While the big nationwide commercial BBSs with Internet access

(like America Online, CompuServe, GEnie, Netcom, etc.) are technically

ISPs, the term is usually reserved for local or regional small

providers (often run by hackers turned entrepreneurs) who resell

Internet access cheaply without themselves being information providers

or selling advertising. Compare [7354]NSP.

Node:ITS, Next:[7355]IWBNI, Previous:[7356]ISP, Up:[7357]= I =

ITS /I-T-S/ n.

Incompatible Time-sharing System, an influential though highly

idiosyncratic operating system written for PDP-6s and PDP-10s at MIT

and long used at the MIT AI Lab. Much AI-hacker jargon derives from

ITS folklore, and to have been `an ITS hacker' qualifies one instantly

as an old-timer of the most venerable sort. ITS pioneered many

important innovations, including transparent file sharing between

machines and terminal-independent I/O. After about 1982, most actual

work was shifted to newer machines, with the remaining ITS boxes run

essentially as a hobby and service to the hacker community. The

shutdown of the lab's last ITS machine in May 1990 marked the end of

an era and sent old-time hackers into mourning nationwide (see

[7358]high moby). 2. A mythical image of operating-system perfection

worshiped by a bizarre, fervent retro-cult of old-time hackers and

ex-users (see [7359]troglodyte, sense 2). ITS worshipers manage

somehow to continue believing that an OS maintained by

assembly-language hand-hacking that supported only monocase

6-character filenames in one directory per account remains superior to

today's state of commercial art (their venom against [7360]Unix is

particularly intense). See also [7361]holy wars, [7362]Weenix.

Node:IWBNI, Next:[7363]IYFEG, Previous:[7364]ITS, Up:[7365]= I =

IWBNI //

Abbreviation for `It Would Be Nice If'. Compare [7366]WIBNI.

Node:IYFEG, Next:[7367]J. Random, Previous:[7368]IWBNI, Up:[7369]= I =

IYFEG //

[Usenet] Abbreviation for `Insert Your Favorite Ethnic Group'. Used as

a meta-name when telling ethnic jokes on the net to avoid offending

anyone. See [7370]JEDR.

Node:= J =, Next:[7371]= K =, Previous:[7372]= I =, Up:[7373]The

Jargon Lexicon

= J =

[7374]J. Random:

[7375]J. Random Hacker:

[7376]jack in:

[7377]jaggies:

[7378]Java:

[7379]JCL:

[7380]JEDR:

[7381]Jeff K.:

[7382]jello:

[7383]jiffy:

[7384]job security:

[7385]jock:

[7386]joe code:

[7387]jolix:

[7388]juggling eggs:

[7389]jump off into never-never land:

[7390]jupiter:

Node:J. Random, Next:[7391]J. Random Hacker, Previous:[7392]IYFEG,

Up:[7393]= J =

J. Random /J rand'm/ n.

[common; generalized from [7394]J. Random Hacker] Arbitrary; ordinary;

any one; any old. `J. Random' is often prefixed to a noun to make a

name out of it. It means roughly some particular' orany specific

one'. "Would you let J. Random Loser marry your daughter?" The most

common uses are J. Random Hacker',J. Random Loser', and `J. Random

Nerd' ("Should J. Random Loser be allowed to [7395]gun down other

people?"), but it can be used simply as an elaborate version of

[7396]random in any sense.

Node:J. Random Hacker, Next:[7397]jack in, Previous:[7398]J. Random,

Up:[7399]= J =

J. Random Hacker /J rand'm hak'r/ n.

[very common] A mythical figure like the Unknown Soldier; the

archetypal hacker nerd. This term is one of the oldest in the jargon,

apparently going back to MIT in the 1960s. See [7400]random,

[7401]Suzie COBOL. This may originally have been inspired by `J. Fred

Muggs', a show-biz chimpanzee whose name was a household word back in

the early days of [7402]TMRC, and was probably influenced by `J.

Presper Eckert' (one of the co-inventors of the electronic computer).

See also [7403]Fred Foobar.

Node:jack in, Next:[7404]jaggies, Previous:[7405]J. Random Hacker,

Up:[7406]= J =

jack in v.

To log on to a machine or connect to a network or [7407]BBS, esp. for

purposes of entering a [7408]virtual reality simulation such as a

[7409]MUD or [7410]IRC (leaving is "jacking out"). This term derives

from [7411]cyberpunk SF, in which it was used for the act of plugging

an electrode set into neural sockets in order to interface the brain

directly to a virtual reality. It is primarily used by MUD and IRC

fans and younger hackers on BBS systems.

Node:jaggies, Next:[7412]Java, Previous:[7413]jack in, Up:[7414]= J =

jaggies /jag'eez/ n.

The `stairstep' effect observable when an edge (esp. a linear edge of

very shallow or steep slope) is rendered on a pixel device (as opposed

to a vector display).

Node:Java, Next:[7415]JCL, Previous:[7416]jaggies, Up:[7417]= J =

Java

An object-oriented language originally developed at Sun by James

Gosling (and known by the name "Oak") with the intention of being the

successor to [7418]C++ (the project was however originally sold to Sun

as an embedded language for use in set-top boxes). After the great

Internet explosion of 1993-1994, Java was hacked into a

byte-interpreted language and became the focus of a relentless hype

campaign by Sun, which touted it as the new language of choice for

distributed applications.

Java is indeed a stronger and cleaner design than C++ and has been

embraced by many in the hacker community - but it has been a

considerable