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

for thrills,

notoriety, or to annoy the system manager. Compare [9020]cracker. See

also [9021]hacked off.

Node:munching squares, Next:[9022]munchkin, Previous:[9023]munching,

Up:[9024]= M =

munching squares n.

A [9025]display hack dating back to the PDP-1 (ca. 1962, reportedly

discovered by Jackson Wright), which employs a trivial computation

(repeatedly plotting the graph Y = X XOR T for successive values of T

-- see [9026]HAKMEM items 146-148) to produce an impressive display of

moving and growing squares that devour the screen. The initial value

of T is treated as a parameter, which, when well-chosen, can produce

amazing effects. Some of these, later (re)discovered on the LISP

machine, have been christened `munching triangles' (try AND for XOR

and toggling points instead of plotting them), `munching w's', and

`munching mazes'. More generally, suppose a graphics program produces

an impressive and ever-changing display of some basic form, foo, on a

display terminal, and does it using a relatively simple program; then

the program (or the resulting display) is likely to be referred to as

`munching foos'. [This is a good example of the use of the word

[9027]foo as a [9028]metasyntactic variable.]

Node:munchkin, Next:[9029]mundane, Previous:[9030]munching squares,

Up:[9031]= M =

munchkin /muhnch'kin/ n.

[from the squeaky-voiced little people in L. Frank Baum's "The Wizard

of Oz"] A teenage-or-younger micro enthusiast hacking BASIC or

something else equally constricted. A term of mild derision --

munchkins are annoying but some grow up to be hackers after passing

through a [9032]larval stage. The term [9033]urchin is also used. See

also [9034]wannabee, [9035]bitty box.

Node:mundane, Next:[9036]mung, Previous:[9037]munchkin, Up:[9038]= M =

mundane n.

[from SF fandom] 1. A person who is not in science fiction fandom. 2.

A person who is not in the computer industry. In this sense, most

often an adjectival modifier as in "in my mundane life...." See also

[9039]Real World, [9040]muggle.

Node:mung, Next:[9041]munge, Previous:[9042]mundane, Up:[9043]= M =

mung /muhng/ vt.

[in 1960 at MIT, `Mash Until No Good'; sometime after that the

derivation from the [9044]recursive acronym `Mung Until No Good'

became standard; but see [9045]munge] 1. To make changes to a file,

esp. large-scale and irrevocable changes. See [9046]BLT. 2. To

destroy, usually accidentally, occasionally maliciously. The system

only mungs things maliciously; this is a consequence of

[9047]Finagle's Law. See [9048]scribble, [9049]mangle, [9050]trash,

[9051]nuke. Reports from [9052]Usenet suggest that the pronunciation

/muhnj/ is now usual in speech, but the spelling `mung' is still

common in program comments (compare the widespread confusion over the

proper spelling of [9053]kluge). 3. The kind of beans the sprouts of

which are used in Chinese food. (That's their real name! Mung beans!

Really!)

Like many early hacker terms, this one seems to have originated at

[9054]TMRC; it was already in use there in 1958. Peter Samson

(compiler of the original TMRC lexicon) thinks it may originally have

been onomatopoeic for the sound of a relay spring (contact) being

twanged. However, it is known that during the World Wars, `mung' was

U.S. army slang for the ersatz creamed chipped beef better known as

`SOS', and it seems quite likely that the word in fact goes back to

Scots-dialect [9055]munge.

Node:munge, Next:[9056]Murphy's Law, Previous:[9057]mung, Up:[9058]= M

=

munge /muhnj/ vt.

[derogatory] To imperfectly transform information. 2. A

comprehensive rewrite of a routine, data structure or the whole

program. 3. To modify data in some way the speaker doesn't need to go

into right now or cannot describe succinctly (compare [9059]mumble).

To add [9060]spamblock to an email address.

This term is often confused with [9061]mung, which probably was

derived from it. However, it also appears the word `munge' was in

common use in Scotland in the 1940s, and in Yorkshire in the 1950s, as

a verb, meaning to munch up into a masticated mess, and as a noun,

meaning the result of munging something up (the parallel with the

[9062]kluge/[9063]kludge pair is amusing). The OED reports `munge' as

an archaic verb nmeaning "to wipe (a person's nose)".

Node:Murphy's Law, Next:[9064]music, Previous:[9065]munge, Up:[9066]=

M =

Murphy's Law prov.

The correct, original Murphy's Law reads: "If there are two or more

ways to do something, and one of those ways can result in a

catastrophe, then someone will do it." This is a principle of

defensive design, cited here because it is usually given in mutant

forms less descriptive of the challenges of design for [9067]lusers.

For example, you don't make a two-pin plug symmetrical and then label

it `THIS WAY UP'; if it matters which way it is plugged in, then you

make the design asymmetrical (see also the anecdote under [9068]magic

smoke).

Edward A. Murphy, Jr. was one of the engineers on the rocket-sled

experiments that were done by the U.S. Air Force in 1949 to test human

acceleration tolerances (USAF project MX981). One experiment involved

a set of 16 accelerometers mounted to different parts of the subject's

body. There were two ways each sensor could be glued to its mount, and

somebody methodically installed all 16 the wrong way around. Murphy

then made the original form of his pronouncement, which the test

subject (Major John Paul Stapp) quoted at a news conference a few days

later.

Within months `Murphy's Law' had spread to various technical cultures

connected to aerospace engineering. Before too many years had gone by

variants had passed into the popular imagination, changing as they

went. Most of these are variants on "Anything that can go wrong,

will"; this is correctly referred to as [9069]Finagle's Law. The

memetic drift apparent in these mutants clearly demonstrates Murphy's

Law acting on itself!

Node:music, Next:[9070]mutter, Previous:[9071]Murphy's Law, Up:[9072]=

M =

music n.

A common extracurricular interest of hackers (compare

[9073]science-fiction fandom, [9074]oriental food; see also

[9075]filk). Hackish folklore has long claimed that musical and

programming abilities are closely related, and there has been at least

one large-scale statistical study that supports this. Hackers, as a

rule, like music and often develop musical appreciation in unusual and

interesting directions. Folk music is very big in hacker circles; so

is electronic music, and the sort of elaborate instrumental jazz/rock

that used to be called `progressive' and isn't recorded much any more.

The hacker's musical range tends to be wide; many can listen with

equal appreciation to (say) Talking Heads, Yes, Gentle Giant, Pat

Metheny, Scott Joplin, Tangerine Dream, Dream Theater, King Sunny Ade,

The Pretenders, Screaming Trees, or the Brandenburg Concerti. It is

also apparently true that hackerdom includes a much higher

concentration of talented amateur musicians than one would expect from

a similar-sized control group of [9076]mundane types.

Node:mutter, Next:[9077]N, Previous:[9078]music, Up:[9079]= M =

mutter vt.

To quietly enter a command not meant for the ears, eyes, or fingers of

ordinary mortals. Often used in `mutter an [9080]incantation'. See

also [9081]wizard.

Node:= N =, Next:[9082]= O =, Previous:[9083]= M =, Up:[9084]The

Jargon Lexicon

= N =

[9085]N:

[9086]nadger:

[9087]nagware:

[9088]nailed to the wall:

[9089]nailing jelly:

[9090]naive:

[9091]naive user:

[9092]NAK:

[9093]NANA:

[9094]nano:

[9095]nano-:

[9096]nanoacre:

[9097]nanobot:

[9098]nanocomputer:

[9099]nanofortnight:

[9100]nanotechnology:

[9101]nasal demons:

[9102]nastygram:

[9103]Nathan Hale:

[9104]nature:

[9105]neat hack:

[9106]neats vs. scruffies:

[9107]neep-neep:

[9108]neophilia:

[9109]nerd:

[9110]nerd knob:

[9111]net.-:

[9112]net.god:

[9113]net.personality:

[9114]net.police:

[9115]NetBOLLIX:

[9116]netburp:

[9117]netdead:

[9118]nethack:

[9119]netiquette:

[9120]netlag:

[9121]netnews:

[9122]netrock:

[9123]Netscrape:

[9124]netsplit:

[9125]netter:

[9126]network address:

[9127]network meltdown:

[9128]New Jersey:

[9129]New Testament:

[9130]newbie:

[9131]newgroup wars:

[9132]newline:

[9133]NeWS:

[9134]newsfroup:

[9135]newsgroup:

[9136]nick:

[9137]nickle:

[9138]night mode:

[9139]Nightmare File System:

[9140]NIL:

[9141]Ninety-Ninety Rule:

[9142]nipple mouse:

[9143]NMI:

[9144]no-op:

[9145]noddy:

[9146]node:

[9147]Nominal Semidestructor:

[9148]non-optimal solution:

[9149]nonlinear:

[9150]nontrivial:

[9151]not ready for prime time:

[9152]notwork:

[9153]NP-:

[9154]nroff:

[9155]NSA line eater:

[9156]NSP:

[9157]nude:

[9158]nugry:

[9159]nuke:

[9160]number-crunching:

[9161]numbers:

[9162]NUXI problem:

[9163]nybble:

[9164]nyetwork:

Node:N, Next:[9165]nadger, Previous:[9166]mutter, Up:[9167]= N =

N /N/ quant.

A large and indeterminate number of objects: "There were N bugs in

that crock!" Also used in its original sense of a variable name: "This

crock has N bugs, as N goes to infinity." (The true number of bugs is

always at least N + 1; see [9168]Lubarsky's Law of Cybernetic

Entomology.) 2. A variable whose value is inherited from the current

context. For example, when a meal is being ordered at a restaurant, N

may be understood to mean however many people there are at the table.

From the remark "We'd like to order N wonton soups and a family dinner

for N - 1" you can deduce that one person at the table wants to eat

only soup, even though you don't know how many people there are (see

[9169]great-wall). 3. `Nth': adj. The ordinal counterpart of N, senses

1 and 2. "Now for the Nth and last time..." In the specific context

"Nth-year grad student", N is generally assumed to be at least 4, and

is usually 5 or more (see [9170]tenured graduate student). See also

[9171]random numbers, [9172]two-to-the-N.

Node:nadger, Next:[9173]nagware, Previous:[9174]N, Up:[9175]= N =

nadger /nad'jr/ v.

[UK, from rude slang noun `nadgers' for testicles; compare American &

British `bollixed'] Of software or hardware (not people), to twiddle

some object in a hidden manner, generally so that it conforms better

to some format. For instance, string printing routines on 8-bit

processors often take the string text from the instruction stream,

thus a print call looks like jsr print:"Hello world". The print

routine has to `nadger' the saved instruction pointer so that the

processor doesn't try to execute the text as instructions when the

subroutine returns. See [9176]adger.

Node:nagware, Next:[9177]nailed to the wall, Previous:[9178]nadger,

Up:[9179]= N =

nagware /nag'weir/ n.

[Usenet] The variety of [9180]shareware that displays a large screen

at the beginning or end reminding you to register, typically requiring

some sort of keystroke to continue so that you can't use the software

in batch mode. Compare [9181]annoyware, [9182]crippleware.

Node:nailed to the wall, Next:[9183]nailing jelly,

Previous:[9184]nagware, Up:[9185]= N =

nailed to the wall adj.

[like a trophy] Said of a bug finally eliminated after protracted, and

even heroic, effort.

Node:nailing jelly, Next:[9186]naive, Previous:[9187]nailed to the

wall, Up:[9188]= N =

nailing jelly vi.

See [9189]like nailing jelly to a tree.

Node:naive, Next:[9190]naive user, Previous:[9191]nailing jelly,

Up:[9192]= N =

naive adj.

Untutored in the perversities of some particular program or system;

one who still tries to do things in an intuitive way, rather than the

right way (in really good designs these coincide, but most designs

aren't `really good' in the appropriate sense). This trait is

completely unrelated to general maturity or competence, or even

competence at any other specific program. It is a sad commentary on

the primitive state of computing that the natural opposite of this

term is often claimed to be `experienced user' but is really more like

`cynical user'. 2. Said of an algorithm that doesn't take advantage of

some superior but advanced technique, e.g., the [9193]bubble sort. It

may imply naivete on the part of the programmer, although there are

situations where a naive algorithm is preferred, because it is more

important to keep the code comprehensible than to go for maximum

performance. "I know the linear search is naive, but in this case the

list typically only has half a dozen items."

Node:naive user, Next:[9194]NAK, Previous:[9195]naive, Up:[9196]= N =

naive user n.

A [9197]luser. Tends to imply someone who is ignorant mainly owing to

inexperience. When this is applied to someone who has experience,

there is a definite implication of stupidity.

Node:NAK, Next:[9198]NANA, Previous:[9199]naive user, Up:[9200]= N =

NAK /nak/ interj.

[from the ASCII mnemonic for 0010101] 1. On-line joke answer to

[9201]ACK?: "I'm not here." 2. On-line answer to a request for chat:

"I'm not available." 3. Used to politely interrupt someone to tell

them you don't understand their point