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

more explicit forms 4.2BSD or (less commonly)

BSD 4.2. Similar remarks apply to "4.3", "4.4" and to earlier,

less-widespread releases 4.1 and 2.9.

Node:@-party, Next:[239]abbrev, Previous:[240]4.2, Up:[241]= 0 =

@-party /at'par`tee/ n.

[from the @-sign in an Internet address] (alt. `@-sign party' /at'si:n

par`tee/) A semi-closed party thrown for hackers at a science-fiction

convention (esp. the annual World Science Fiction Convention or

"Worldcon"); one must have a [242]network address to get in, or at

least be in company with someone who does. One of the most reliable

opportunities for hackers to meet face to face with people who might

otherwise be represented by mere phosphor dots on their screens.

Compare [243]boink.

The first recorded @-party was held at the Westercon (a U.S. western

regional SF convention) over the July 4th weekend in 1980. It is not

clear exactly when the canonical @-party venue shifted to the Worldcon

but it had certainly become established by Constellation in 1983.

Sadly, the @-party tradition has been in decline since about 1996,

mainly because having an @-address no longer functions as an effective

lodge pin.

Node:= A =, Next:[244]= B =, Previous:[245]= 0 =, Up:[246]The Jargon

Lexicon

= A =

[247]abbrev:

[248]ABEND:

[249]accumulator:

[250]ACK:

[251]Acme:

[252]acolyte:

[253]ad-hockery:

[254]Ada:

[255]address harvester:

[256]adger:

[257]admin:

[258]ADVENT:

[259]AFAIK:

[260]AFJ:

[261]AFK:

[262]AI:

[263]AI-complete:

[264]AI koans:

[265]AIDS:

[266]AIDX:

[267]airplane rule:

[268]Alderson loop:

[269]aliasing bug:

[270]Alice and Bob:

[271]all-elbows:

[272]alpha geek:

[273]alpha particles:

[274]alt:

[275]alt bit:

[276]Aluminum Book:

[277]ambimouseterous:

[278]Amiga:

[279]Amiga Persecution Complex:

[280]amoeba:

[281]amp off:

[282]amper:

[283]Angband:

[284]angle brackets:

[285]angry fruit salad:

[286]annoybot:

[287]annoyware:

[288]ANSI:

[289]ANSI standard:

[290]ANSI standard pizza:

[291]AOL!:

[292]app:

[293]arena:

[294]arg:

[295]ARMM:

[296]armor-plated:

[297]asbestos:

[298]asbestos cork award:

[299]asbestos longjohns:

[300]ASCII:

[301]ASCII art:

[302]ASCIIbetical order:

[303]astroturfing:

[304]atomic:

[305]attoparsec:

[306]AUP:

[307]autobogotiphobia:

[308]automagically:

[309]avatar:

[310]awk:

Node:abbrev, Next:[311]ABEND, Previous:[312]@-party, Up:[313]= A =

abbrev /-breev'/, /-brev'/ n.

Common abbreviation for `abbreviation'.

Node:ABEND, Next:[314]accumulator, Previous:[315]abbrev, Up:[316]= A =

ABEND /a'bend/, /*-bend'/ n.

[ABnormal END] 1. Abnormal termination (of software); [317]crash;

[318]lossage. Derives from an error message on the IBM 360; used

jokingly by hackers but seriously mainly by [319]code grinders.

Usually capitalized, but may appear as `abend'. Hackers will try to

persuade you that ABEND is called `abend' because it is what system

operators do to the machine late on Friday when they want to call it a

day, and hence is from the German Abend' =Evening'. 2.

[alt.callahans] Absent By Enforced Net Deprivation - used in the

subject lines of postings warning friends of an imminent loss of

Internet access. (This can be because of computer downtime, loss of

provider, moving or illness.) Variants of this also appear: ABVND =

Absent By Voluntary Net Deprivation' and ABSEND =Absent By

Self-Enforced Net Deprivation' have been sighted.

Node:accumulator, Next:[320]ACK, Previous:[321]ABEND, Up:[322]= A =

accumulator n. obs.

Archaic term for a register. On-line use of it as a synonym for

`register' is a fairly reliable indication that the user has been

around for quite a while and/or that the architecture under discussion

is quite old. The term in full is almost never used of microprocessor

registers, for example, though symbolic names for arithmetic registers

beginning in A' derive from historical use of the termaccumulator'

(and not, actually, from arithmetic'). Confusingly, though, anA'

register name prefix may also stand for `address', as for example on

the Motorola 680x0 family. 2. A register being used for arithmetic or

logic (as opposed to addressing or a loop index), especially one being

used to accumulate a sum or count of many items. This use is in

context of a particular routine or stretch of code. "The FOOBAZ

routine uses A3 as an accumulator." 3. One's in-basket (esp. among

old-timers who might use sense 1). "You want this reviewed? Sure, just

put it in the accumulator." (See [323]stack.)

Node:ACK, Next:[324]Acme, Previous:[325]accumulator, Up:[326]= A =

ACK /ak/ interj.

[common; from the ASCII mnemonic for 0000110] Acknowledge. Used to

register one's presence (compare mainstream Yo!). An appropriate

response to [327]ping or [328]ENQ. 2. [from the comic strip "Bloom

County"] An exclamation of surprised disgust, esp. in "Ack pffft!"

Semi-humorous. Generally this sense is not spelled in caps (ACK) and

is distinguished by a following exclamation point. 3. Used to politely

interrupt someone to tell them you understand their point (see

[329]NAK). Thus, for example, you might cut off an overly long

explanation with "Ack. Ack. Ack. I get it now". 4. An affirmative.

"Think we ought to ditch that damn NT server for a Linux box?" "ACK!"

There is also a usage "ACK?" (from sense 1) meaning "Are you there?",

often used in email when earlier mail has produced no reply, or during

a lull in [330]talk mode to see if the person has gone away (the

standard humorous response is of course [331]NAK (sense 1), i.e., "I'm

not here").

Node:Acme, Next:[332]acolyte, Previous:[333]ACK, Up:[334]= A =

Acme n.

The canonical supplier of bizarre, elaborate, and non-functional

gadgetry - where Rube Goldberg and Heath Robinson (two cartoonists who

specialized in elaborate contraptions) shop. The name has been

humorously expanded as A (or American) Company Making Everything. (In

fact, Acme was a real brand sold from Sears Roebuck catalogs in the

early 1900s.) Describing some X as an "Acme X" either means "This is

[335]insanely great", or, more likely, "This looks [336]insanely great

on paper, but in practice it's really easy to shoot yourself in the

foot with it." Compare [337]pistol.

This term, specially cherished by American hackers and explained here

for the benefit of our overseas brethren, comes from the Warner

Brothers' series of "Roadrunner" cartoons. In these cartoons, the

famished Wile E. Coyote was forever attempting to catch up with, trap,

and eat the Roadrunner. His attempts usually involved one or more

high-technology Rube Goldberg devices - rocket jetpacks, catapults,

magnetic traps, high-powered slingshots, etc. These were usually

delivered in large cardboard boxes, labeled prominently with the Acme

name. These devices invariably malfunctioned in improbable and violent

ways.

Node:acolyte, Next:[338]ad-hockery, Previous:[339]Acme, Up:[340]= A =

acolyte n. obs.

[TMRC] An [341]OSU privileged enough to submit data and programs to a

member of the [342]priesthood.

Node:ad-hockery, Next:[343]Ada, Previous:[344]acolyte, Up:[345]= A =

ad-hockery /ad-hok'*r-ee/ n.

[Purdue] 1. Gratuitous assumptions made inside certain programs, esp.

expert systems, which lead to the appearance of semi-intelligent

behavior but are in fact entirely arbitrary. For example,

fuzzy-matching of input tokens that might be typing errors against a

symbol table can make it look as though a program knows how to spell.

Special-case code to cope with some awkward input that would

otherwise cause a program to [346]choke, presuming normal inputs are

dealt with in some cleaner and more regular way. Also called

ad-hackery',ad-hocity' (/ad-hos'*-tee/), `ad-crockery'. See also

[347]ELIZA effect.

Node:Ada, Next:[348]address harvester, Previous:[349]ad-hockery,

Up:[350]= A =

Ada n.

A [351]Pascal-descended language that was at one time made mandatory

for Department of Defense software projects by the Pentagon. Hackers

are nearly unanimous in observing that, technically, it is precisely

what one might expect given that kind of endorsement by fiat; designed

by committee, crockish, difficult to use, and overall a disastrous,

multi-billion-dollar boondoggle (one common description wss "The PL/I

of the 1980s"). Hackers find Ada's exception-handling and

inter-process communication features particularly hilarious. Ada

Lovelace (the daughter of Lord Byron who became the world's first

programmer while cooperating with Charles Babbage on the design of his

mechanical computing engines in the mid-1800s) would almost certainly

blanch at the use to which her name has latterly been put; the kindest

thing that has been said about it is that there is probably a good

small language screaming to get out from inside its vast,

[352]elephantine bulk.

Node:address harvester, Next:[353]adger, Previous:[354]Ada, Up:[355]=

A =

address harvester n.

A robot that searches web pages and/or filters netnews traffic looking

for valid email addresses. Some address harvesters are benign, used

only for compiling address directories. Most, unfortunately, are run

by miscreants compiling address lists to [356]spam. Address harvesters

can be foiled by a [357]teergrube.

Node:adger, Next:[358]admin, Previous:[359]address harvester,

Up:[360]= A =

adger /aj'r/ vt.

[UCLA mutant of [361]nadger, poss. also from the middle name of an

infamous [362]tenured graduate student] To make a bonehead move with

consequences that could have been foreseen with even slight mental

effort. E.g., "He started removing files and promptly adgered the

whole project". Compare [363]dumbass attack.

Node:admin, Next:[364]ADVENT, Previous:[365]adger, Up:[366]= A =

admin /ad-min'/ n.

Short for `administrator'; very commonly used in speech or on-line to

refer to the systems person in charge on a computer. Common

constructions on this include sysadmin' andsite admin' (emphasizing

the administrator's role as a site contact for email and news) or

`newsadmin' (focusing specifically on news). Compare [367]postmaster,

[368]sysop, [369]system mangler.

Node:ADVENT, Next:[370]AFAIK, Previous:[371]admin, Up:[372]= A =

ADVENT /ad'vent/ n.

The prototypical computer adventure game, first designed by Will

Crowther on the [373]PDP-10 in the mid-1970s as an attempt at

computer-refereed fantasy gaming, and expanded into a puzzle-oriented

game by Don Woods at Stanford in 1976. (Woods had been one of the

authors of [374]INTERCAL.) Now better known as Adventure or Colossal

Cave Adventure, but the [375]TOPS-10 operating system permitted only

six-letter filenames. See also [376]vadding, [377]Zork, and

[378]Infocom.

This game defined the terse, dryly humorous style since expected in

text adventure games, and popularized several tag lines that have

become fixtures of hacker-speak: "A huge green fierce snake bars the

way!" "I see no X here" (for some noun X). "You are in a maze of

twisty little passages, all alike." "You are in a little maze of

twisty passages, all different." The `magic words' [379]xyzzy and

[380]plugh also derive from this game.

Crowther, by the way, participated in the exploration of the Mammoth &

Flint Ridge cave system; it actually has a `Colossal Cave' and a

Bedquilt' as in the game, and theY2' that also turns up is cavers'

jargon for a map reference to a secondary entrance.

ADVENT sources are available for FTP at

[381]ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/doc/misc/if-archive/games/source/advent.tar.Z

. There is a

[382]http://people.delphi.com/rickadams/adventure/index.html.

Node:AFAIK, Next:[383]AFJ, Previous:[384]ADVENT, Up:[385]= A =

AFAIK // n.

[Usenet] Abbrev. for "As Far As I Know".

Node:AFJ, Next:[386]AFK, Previous:[387]AFAIK, Up:[388]= A =

AFJ // n.

Written-only abbreviation for "April Fool's Joke". Elaborate April

Fool's hoaxes are a long-established tradition on Usenet and Internet;

see [389]kremvax for an example. In fact, April Fool's Day is the only

seasonal holiday consistently marked by customary observances on

Internet and other hacker networks.

Node:AFK, Next:[390]AI, Previous:[391]AFJ, Up:[392]= A =

AFK

[MUD] Abbrev. for "Away From Keyboard". Used to notify others that you

will be momentarily unavailable online. eg. "Let's not go kill that

frost giant yet, I need to go AFK to make a phone call". Often MUDs

will have a command to politely inform others of your absence when

they try to talk with you. The term is not restricted to MUDs,

however, and has become common in many chat situations, from IRC to

Unix talk.

Node:AI, Next:[393]AI-complete, Previous:[394]AFK, Up:[395]= A =

AI /A-I/ n.

Abbreviation for `Artificial Intelligence', so common that the full

form is almost never written or spoken among hackers.

Node:AI-complete, Next:[396]AI koans, Previous:[397]AI, Up:[398]= A =

AI-complete /A-I k*m-pleet'/ adj.

[MIT, Stanford: by analogy with `NP-complete' (see [399]NP-)] Used to

describe problems or subproblems in AI, to indicate that the solution

presupposes a solution to the `strong AI problem' (that is, the

synthesis of a human-level intelligence). A problem that is

AI-complete is, in other words, just too hard.

Examples of AI-complete problems are `The Vision Problem' (building a

system that can see as well as a human) and `The Natural Language

Problem' (building