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

seen in program comments and on Usenet.

Compare [8192]mundane, [8193]muggle.

Node:= M =, Next:[8194]= N =, Previous:[8195]= L =, Up:[8196]The

Jargon Lexicon

= M =

[8197]M:

[8198]M$:

[8199]macdink:

[8200]machinable:

[8201]machoflops:

[8202]Macintoy:

[8203]Macintrash:

[8204]macro:

[8205]macro-:

[8206]macrology:

[8207]macrotape:

[8208]maggotbox:

[8209]magic:

[8210]magic cookie:

[8211]magic number:

[8212]magic smoke:

[8213]mail storm:

[8214]mailbomb:

[8215]mailing list:

[8216]main loop:

[8217]mainframe:

[8218]management:

[8219]mandelbug:

[8220]manged:

[8221]mangle:

[8222]mangled name:

[8223]mangler:

[8224]manularity:

[8225]marbles:

[8226]marginal:

[8227]Marginal Hacks:

[8228]marginally:

[8229]marketroid:

[8230]Mars:

[8231]martian:

[8232]massage:

[8233]math-out:

[8234]Matrix:

[8235]maximum Maytag mode:

[8236]meatspace:

[8237]meatware:

[8238]meeces:

[8239]meg:

[8240]mega-:

[8241]megapenny:

[8242]MEGO:

[8243]meltdown network:

[8244]meme:

[8245]meme plague:

[8246]memetics:

[8247]memory farts:

[8248]memory leak:

[8249]memory smash:

[8250]menuitis:

[8251]mess-dos:

[8252]meta:

[8253]meta bit:

[8254]metasyntactic variable:

[8255]MFTL:

[8256]mickey:

[8257]mickey mouse program:

[8258]micro-:

[8259]MicroDroid:

[8260]microfloppies:

[8261]microfortnight:

[8262]microLenat:

[8263]microReid:

[8264]microserf:

[8265]Microsloth Windows:

[8266]Microsoft:

[8267]micros~1:

[8268]middle-endian:

[8269]middle-out implementation:

[8270]milliLampson:

[8271]minifloppies:

[8272]MIPS:

[8273]misbug:

[8274]misfeature:

[8275]Missed'em-five:

[8276]missile address:

[8277]miswart:

[8278]MMF:

[8279]mobo:

[8280]moby:

[8281]mockingbird:

[8282]mod:

[8283]mode:

[8284]mode bit:

[8285]modulo:

[8286]molly-guard:

[8287]Mongolian Hordes technique:

[8288]monkey up:

[8289]monkey scratch:

[8290]monstrosity:

[8291]monty:

[8292]Moof:

[8293]Moore's Law:

[8294]moose call:

[8295]moria:

[8296]MOTAS:

[8297]MOTOS:

[8298]MOTSS:

[8299]mouse ahead:

[8300]mouse around:

[8301]mouse belt:

[8302]mouse droppings:

[8303]mouse elbow:

[8304]mouso:

[8305]MS-DOS:

[8306]mu:

[8307]MUD:

[8308]muddie:

[8309]mudhead:

[8310]muggle:

[8311]multician:

[8312]Multics:

[8313]multitask:

[8314]mumblage:

[8315]mumble:

[8316]munch:

[8317]munching:

[8318]munching squares:

[8319]munchkin:

[8320]mundane:

[8321]mung:

[8322]munge:

[8323]Murphy's Law:

[8324]music:

[8325]mutter:

Node:M, Next:[8326]M$, Previous:[8327]luser, Up:[8328]= M =

M pref. (on units) suff. (on numbers)

[SI] See [8329]quantifiers.

Node:M$, Next:[8330]macdink, Previous:[8331]M, Up:[8332]= M =

M$

Common net abbreviation for Microsoft, everybody's least favorite

monopoly.

Node:macdink, Next:[8333]machinable, Previous:[8334]M$, Up:[8335]= M =

macdink /mak'dink/ vt.

[from the Apple Macintosh, which is said to encourage such behavior]

To make many incremental and unnecessary cosmetic changes to a program

or file. Often the subject of the macdinking would be better off

without them. "When I left at 11 P.M. last night, he was still

macdinking the slides for his presentation." See also

[8336]fritterware, [8337]window shopping.

Node:machinable, Next:[8338]machoflops, Previous:[8339]macdink,

Up:[8340]= M =

machinable adj.

Machine-readable. Having the [8341]softcopy nature.

Node:machoflops, Next:[8342]Macintoy, Previous:[8343]machinable,

Up:[8344]= M =

machoflops /mach'oh-flops/ n.

[pun on megaflops', a coinage formillions of FLoating-point

Operations Per Second'] Refers to artificially inflated performance

figures often quoted by computer manufacturers. Real applications are

lucky to get half the quoted speed. See [8345]Your mileage may vary,

[8346]benchmark.

Node:Macintoy, Next:[8347]Macintrash, Previous:[8348]machoflops,

Up:[8349]= M =

Macintoy /mak'in-toy/ n.

The Apple Macintosh, considered as a [8350]toy. Less pejorative than

[8351]Macintrash.

Node:Macintrash, Next:[8352]macro, Previous:[8353]Macintoy, Up:[8354]=

M =

Macintrash /mak'in-trash`/ n.

The Apple Macintosh, as described by a hacker who doesn't appreciate

being kept away from the real computer by the interface. The term

[8355]maggotbox has been reported in regular use in the Research

Triangle area of North Carolina. Compare [8356]Macintoy. See also

[8357]beige toaster, [8358]WIMP environment, [8359]point-and-drool

interface, [8360]drool-proof paper, [8361]user-friendly.

Node:macro, Next:[8362]macro-, Previous:[8363]Macintrash, Up:[8364]= M

=

macro /mak'roh/ n.

[techspeak] A name (possibly followed by a formal [8365]arg list) that

is equated to a text or symbolic expression to which it is to be

expanded (possibly with the substitution of actual arguments) by a

macro expander. This definition can be found in any technical

dictionary; what those won't tell you is how the hackish connotations

of the term have changed over time.

The term `macro' originated in early assemblers, which encouraged the

use of macros as a structuring and information-hiding device. During

the early 1970s, macro assemblers became ubiquitous, and sometimes

quite as powerful and expensive as [8366]HLLs, only to fall from favor

as improving compiler technology marginalized assembler programming

(see [8367]languages of choice). Nowadays the term is most often used

in connection with the C preprocessor, LISP, or one of several

special-purpose languages built around a macro-expansion facility

(such as TeX or Unix's [nt]roff suite).

Indeed, the meaning has drifted enough that the collective `macros' is

now sometimes used for code in any special-purpose application control

language (whether or not the language is actually translated by text

expansion), and for macro-like entities such as the `keyboard macros'

supported in some text editors (and PC TSR or Macintosh INIT/CDEV

keyboard enhancers).

Node:macro-, Next:[8368]macrology, Previous:[8369]macro, Up:[8370]= M

=

macro- pref.

Large. Opposite of [8371]micro-. In the mainstream and among other

technical cultures (for example, medical people) this competes with

the prefix [8372]mega-, but hackers tend to restrict the latter to

quantification.

Node:macrology, Next:[8373]macrotape, Previous:[8374]macro-,

Up:[8375]= M =

macrology /mak-rol'*-jee/ n.

Set of usually complex or crufty macros, e.g., as part of a large

system written in [8376]LISP, [8377]TECO, or (less commonly)

assembler. 2. The art and science involved in comprehending a

macrology in sense 1. Sometimes studying the macrology of a system is

not unlike archeology, ecology, or [8378]theology, hence the

sound-alike construction. See also [8379]boxology.

Node:macrotape, Next:[8380]maggotbox, Previous:[8381]macrology,

Up:[8382]= M =

macrotape /mak'roh-tayp/ n.

An industry-standard reel of tape. Originally, as opposed to a DEC

microtape; nowadays, as opposed to modern QIC and DDS tapes. Syn.

[8383]round tape.

Node:maggotbox, Next:[8384]magic, Previous:[8385]macrotape, Up:[8386]=

M =

maggotbox /mag'*t-boks/ n.

See [8387]Macintrash. This is even more derogatory.

Node:magic, Next:[8388]magic cookie, Previous:[8389]maggotbox,

Up:[8390]= M =

magic

adj. As yet unexplained, or too complicated to explain; compare

[8391]automagically and (Arthur C.) Clarke's Third Law: "Any

sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

"TTY echoing is controlled by a large number of magic bits." "This

routine magically computes the parity of an 8-bit byte in three

instructions." 2. adj. Characteristic of something that works although

no one really understands why (this is especially called [8392]black

magic). 3. n. [Stanford] A feature not generally publicized that

allows something otherwise impossible, or a feature formerly in that

category but now unveiled. 4. n. The ultimate goal of all engineering

& development, elegance in the extreme; from the first corollary to

Clarke's Third Law: "Any technology distinguishable from magic is

insufficiently advanced".

Parodies playing on these senses of the term abound; some have made

their way into serious documentation, as when a MAGIC directive was

described in the Control Card Reference for GCOS c.1978. For more

about hackish `magic', see [8393]Appendix A. Compare [8394]black

magic, [8395]wizardly, [8396]deep magic, [8397]heavy wizardry.

Node:magic cookie, Next:[8398]magic number, Previous:[8399]magic,

Up:[8400]= M =

magic cookie n.

[Unix; common] 1. Something passed between routines or programs that

enables the receiver to perform some operation; a capability ticket or

opaque identifier. Especially used of small data objects that contain

data encoded in a strange or intrinsically machine-dependent way.

E.g., on non-Unix OSes with a non-byte-stream model of files, the

result of ftell(3) may be a magic cookie rather than a byte offset; it

can be passed to fseek(3), but not operated on in any meaningful way.

The phrase `it hands you a magic cookie' means it returns a result

whose contents are not defined but which can be passed back to the

same or some other program later. 2. An in-band code for changing

graphic rendition (e.g., inverse video or underlining) or performing

other control functions (see also [8401]cookie). Some older terminals

would leave a blank on the screen corresponding to mode-change magic

cookies; this was also called a [8402]glitch (or occasionally a

`turd'; compare [8403]mouse droppings). See also [8404]cookie.

Node:magic number, Next:[8405]magic smoke, Previous:[8406]magic

cookie, Up:[8407]= M =

magic number n.

[Unix/C; common] 1. In source code, some non-obvious constant whose

value is significant to the operation of a program and that is

inserted inconspicuously in-line ([8408]hardcoded), rather than

expanded in by a symbol set by a commented #define. Magic numbers in

this sense are bad style. 2. A number that encodes critical

information used in an algorithm in some opaque way. The classic

examples of these are the numbers used in hash or CRC functions, or

the coefficients in a linear congruential generator for pseudo-random

numbers. This sense actually predates and was ancestral to the more

commonsense 1. 3. Special data located at the beginning of a binary

data file to indicate its type to a utility. Under Unix, the system

and various applications programs (especially the linker) distinguish

between types of executable file by looking for a magic number. Once

upon a time, these magic numbers were PDP-11 branch instructions that

skipped over header data to the start of executable code; 0407, for

example, was octal for `branch 16 bytes relative'. Many other kinds of

files now have magic numbers somewhere; some magic numbers are, in

fact, strings, like the ! at the beginning of a Unix archive

file or the %! leading PostScript files. Nowadays only a [8409]wizard

knows the spells to create magic numbers. How do you choose a fresh

magic number of your own? Simple -- you pick one at random. See? It's

magic!

The magic number, on the other hand, is 7+/-2. See "The magical number

seven, plus or minus two: some limits on our capacity for processing

information" by George Miller, in the "Psychological Review" 63:81-97

(1956). This classic paper established the number of distinct items

(such as numeric digits) that humans can hold in short-term memory.

Among other things, this strongly influenced the interface design of

the phone system.

Node:magic smoke, Next:[8410]mail storm, Previous:[8411]magic number,

Up:[8412]= M =

magic smoke n.

A substance trapped inside IC packages that enables them to function

(also called blue smoke'; this is similar to the archaicphlogiston'

hypothesis about combustion). Its existence is demonstrated by what

happens when a chip burns up -- the magic smoke gets let out, so it

doesn't work any more. See [8413]smoke test, [8414]let the smoke out.

Usenetter Jay Maynard tells the following story: "Once, while hacking

on a dedicated Z80 system, I was testing code by blowing EPROMs and

plugging them in the system, then seeing what happened. One time, I

plugged one in backwards. I only discovered that after I realized that

Intel didn't put power-on lights under the quartz windows on the tops

of their EPROMs -- the die was glowing white-hot. Amazingly, the EPROM

worked fine after I erased it, filled it full of zeros, then erased it

again. For all I know, it's still in service. Of course, this is

because the magic smoke didn't get let out." Compare the original

phrasing of [8415]Murphy's Law.

Node:mail storm, Next:[8416]mailbomb, Previous:[8417]magic smoke,

Up:[8418]= M =

mail storm n.

[from [8419]broadcast storm, influenced by `maelstrom'] What often

happens when a machine with an Internet connection and active users

re-connects after extended downtime -- a flood of incoming mail that

brings the machine to its knees. See also [8420]hairball.

Node:mailbomb, Next:[8421]mailing list, Previous:[8422]mail storm,

Up:[8423]= M =

mailbomb

(also mail bomb) [Usenet] 1. v. To send, or urge others to send,

massive amounts of [8424]email to a single system or person, esp. with

intent to crash or [8425]spam the recipient's system. Sometimes done

in retaliation for a perceived serious offense. Mailbombing is itself

widely regarded as a serious offense -- it can disrupt email traffic

or other facilities for innocent users on the victim's system, and in

extreme cases, even at upstream sites. 2. n. An automatic procedure

with a similar effect. 3. n. The mail sent. Compare [8426]letterbomb,

[8427]nastygram, [8428]BLOB (sense 2), [8429]list-bomb.

Node:mailing list, Next:[8430]main loop, Previous:[8431]mailbomb,

Up:[8432]= M =

mailing list n.

(often shortened in context to `list') 1. An [8433]email address that

is an alias (or [8434]macro, though that word is never used in this

connection) for many other email addresses. Some mailing lists are

simple `reflectors', redirecting mail