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

poster' is explicitly permitted by [10850]RFC-1036. I'll

quote chapter and verse if you don't believe me." See also

[10851]legalese, [10852]language lawyer, [10853]RTFS (sense 2).

Node:quotient, Next:[10854]quux, Previous:[10855]quote chapter and

verse, Up:[10856]= Q =

quotient n.

See [10857]coefficient of X.

Node:quux, Next:[10858]qux, Previous:[10859]quotient, Up:[10860]= Q =

quux /kwuhks/ n.

[Mythically, from the Latin semi-deponent verb quuxo, quuxare,

quuxandum iri; noun form variously quux' (pluralquuces', anglicized

to quuxes') andquuxu' (genitive plural is `quuxuum', for four

u-letters out of seven in all, using up all the `u' letters in

Scrabble).] 1. Originally, a [10861]metasyntactic variable like

[10862]foo and [10863]foobar. Invented by Guy Steele for precisely

this purpose when he was young and naive and not yet interacting with

the real computing community. Many people invent such words; this one

seems simply to have been lucky enough to have spread a little. In an

eloquent display of poetic justice, it has returned to the originator

in the form of a nickname. 2. interj. See [10864]foo; however, denotes

very little disgust, and is uttered mostly for the sake of the sound

of it. 3. Guy Steele in his persona as `The Great Quux', which is

somewhat infamous for light verse and for the `Crunchly' cartoons. 4.

In some circles, used as a punning opposite of `crux'. "Ah, that's the

quux of the matter!" implies that the point is not crucial (compare

[10865]tip of the ice-cube). 5. quuxy: adj. Of or pertaining to a

quux.

Node:qux, Next:[10866]QWERTY, Previous:[10867]quux, Up:[10868]= Q =

qux /kwuhks/

The fourth of the standard [10869]metasyntactic variable, after

[10870]baz and before the quu(u...)x series. See [10871]foo,

[10872]bar, [10873]baz, [10874]quux. This appears to be a recent

mutation from [10875]quux, and many versions (especially older

versions) of the standard series just run [10876]foo, [10877]bar,

[10878]baz, [10879]quux, ....

Node:QWERTY, Next:[10880]rabbit job, Previous:[10881]qux, Up:[10882]=

Q =

QWERTY /kwer'tee/ adj.

[from the keycaps at the upper left] Pertaining to a standard

English-language typewriter keyboard (sometimes called the Sholes

keyboard after its inventor), as opposed to Dvorak or non-US-ASCII

layouts or a [10883]space-cadet keyboard or APL keyboard.

Historical note: The QWERTY layout is a fine example of a

[10884]fossil. It is sometimes said that it was designed to slow down

the typist, but this is wrong; it was designed to allow faster typing

-- under a constraint now long obsolete. In early typewriters, fast

typing using nearby type-bars jammed the mechanism. So Sholes fiddled

the layout to separate the letters of many common digraphs (he did a

far from perfect job, though; th',tr', ed', ander', for example,

each use two nearby keys). Also, putting the letters of `typewriter'

on one line allowed it to be typed with particular speed and accuracy

for [10885]demos. The jamming problem was essentially solved soon

afterward by a suitable use of springs, but the keyboard layout lives

on.

The QWERTY keyboard has also spawned some unhelpful economic myths

about how technical standards get and stay established; see

[10886]http://www.reasonmag.com/9606/Fe.QWERTY.html.

Node:= R =, Next:[10887]= S =, Previous:[10888]= Q =, Up:[10889]The

Jargon Lexicon

= R =

[10890]rabbit job:

[10891]rain dance:

[10892]rainbow series:

[10893]random:

[10894]Random Number God:

[10895]random numbers:

[10896]randomness:

[10897]rape:

[10898]rare mode:

[10899]raster blaster:

[10900]raster burn:

[10901]rasterbation:

[10902]rat belt:

[10903]rat dance:

[10904]ratio site:

[10905]rave:

[10906]rave on!:

[10907]ravs:

[10908]raw mode:

[10909]RBL:

[10910]rc file:

[10911]RE:

[10912]read-only user:

[10913]README file:

[10914]real:

[10915]real estate:

[10916]real hack:

[10917]real operating system:

[10918]Real Programmer:

[10919]Real Soon Now:

[10920]real time:

[10921]real user:

[10922]Real World:

[10923]reality check:

[10924]reality-distortion field:

[10925]reaper:

[10926]recompile the world:

[10927]rectangle slinger:

[10928]recursion:

[10929]recursive acronym:

[10930]Red Book:

[10931]red wire:

[10932]regexp:

[10933]register dancing:

[10934]rehi:

[10935]reincarnation cycle of:

[10936]reinvent the wheel:

[10937]relay rape:

[10938]religion of CHI:

[10939]religious issues:

[10940]replicator:

[10941]reply:

[10942]restriction:

[10943]retcon:

[10944]RETI:

[10945]retrocomputing:

[10946]return from the dead:

[10947]RFC:

[10948]RFE:

[10949]rib site:

[10950]rice box:

[10951]Right Thing:

[10952]rip:

[10953]ripoff:

[10954]RL:

[10955]roach:

[10956]robocanceller:

[10957]robot:

[10958]robust:

[10959]rococo:

[10960]rogue:

[10961]room-temperature IQ:

[10962]root:

[10963]root mode:

[10964]rot13:

[10965]rotary debugger:

[10966]round tape:

[10967]RSN:

[10968]RTBM:

[10969]RTFAQ:

[10970]RTFB:

[10971]RTFM:

[10972]RTFS:

[10973]RTI:

[10974]RTM:

[10975]RTS:

[10976]rude:

[10977]runes:

[10978]runic:

[10979]rusty iron:

[10980]rusty memory:

[10981]rusty wire:

Node:rabbit job, Next:[10982]rain dance, Previous:[10983]QWERTY,

Up:[10984]= R =

rabbit job n.

[Cambridge] A batch job that does little, if any, real work, but

creates one or more copies of itself, breeding like rabbits. Compare

[10985]wabbit, [10986]fork bomb.

Node:rain dance, Next:[10987]rainbow series, Previous:[10988]rabbit

job, Up:[10989]= R =

rain dance n.

Any ceremonial action taken to correct a hardware problem, with the

expectation that nothing will be accomplished. This especially applies

to reseating printed circuit boards, reconnecting cables, etc. "I

can't boot up the machine. We'll have to wait for Greg to do his rain

dance." 2. Any arcane sequence of actions performed with computers or

software in order to achieve some goal; the term is usually restricted

to rituals that include both an [10990]incantation or two and physical

activity or motion. Compare [10991]magic, [10992]voodoo programming,

[10993]black art, [10994]cargo cult programming, [10995]wave a dead

chicken; see also [10996]casting the runes.

Node:rainbow series, Next:[10997]random, Previous:[10998]rain dance,

Up:[10999]= R =

rainbow series n.

Any of several series of technical manuals distinguished by cover

color. The original rainbow series was the NCSC security manuals (see

[11000]Orange Book, [11001]crayola books); the term has also been

commonly applied to the PostScript reference set (see [11002]Red Book,

[11003]Green Book, [11004]Blue Book, [11005]White Book). Which books

are meant by "`the' rainbow series" unqualified is thus dependent on

one's local technical culture.

Node:random, Next:[11006]Random Number God, Previous:[11007]rainbow

series, Up:[11008]= R =

random adj.

Unpredictable (closest to mathematical definition); weird. "The

system's been behaving pretty randomly." 2. Assorted; undistinguished.

"Who was at the conference?" "Just a bunch of random business types."

(pejorative) Frivolous; unproductive; undirected. "He's just a

random loser." 4. Incoherent or inelegant; poorly chosen; not well

organized. "The program has a random set of misfeatures." "That's a

random name for that function." "Well, all the names were chosen

pretty randomly." 5. In no particular order, though deterministic.

"The I/O channels are in a pool, and when a file is opened one is

chosen randomly." 6. Arbitrary. "It generates a random name for the

scratch file." 7. Gratuitously wrong, i.e., poorly done and for no

good apparent reason. For example, a program that handles file name

defaulting in a particularly useless way, or an assembler routine that

could easily have been coded using only three registers, but

redundantly uses seven for values with non-overlapping lifetimes, so

that no one else can invoke it without first saving four extra

registers. What [11009]randomness! 8. n. A random hacker; used

particularly of high-school students who soak up computer time and

generally get in the way. 9. n. Anyone who is not a hacker (or,

sometimes, anyone not known to the hacker speaking); the noun form of

sense 2. "I went to the talk, but the audience was full of randoms

asking bogus questions". 10. n. (occasional MIT usage) One who lives

at Random Hall. See also [11010]J. Random, [11011]some random X. 11.

[UK] Conversationally, a non sequitur or something similarly

out-of-the-blue. As in: "Stop being so random!" This sense equates to

`hatstand', taken from the Viz comic character "Roger Irrelevant -

He's completely Hatstand."

Node:Random Number God, Next:[11012]random numbers,

Previous:[11013]random, Up:[11014]= R =

Random Number God

[rec.games.roguelike.angband; often abbreviated `RNG'] The malign

force which lurks behind the random number generator in [11015]Angband

(and by extension elsewhere). A dark god that demands sacrifices and

toys with its victims. "I just found a really great item; I suppose

the RNG is about to punish me..." Apparently, Angband's random number

generator occasionally gets locked in a repetition, so you get

something with a 3% chance happening 8 times in a row. Improbable, but

far too common to be pure chance. Compare [11016]Shub-Internet.

Node:random numbers, Next:[11017]randomness, Previous:[11018]Random

Number God, Up:[11019]= R =

random numbers n.

When one wishes to specify a large but random number of things, and

the context is inappropriate for [11020]N, certain numbers are

preferred by hacker tradition (that is, easily recognized as

placeholders). These include the following:

17

Long described at MIT as `the least random number'; see 23.

23

Sacred number of Eris, Goddess of Discord (along with 17 and 5).

42

The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything. (Note that this answer is completely fortuitous. :-))

69

From the sexual act. This one was favored in MIT's ITS culture.

105

69 hex = 105 decimal, and 69 decimal = 105 octal.

666

The Number of the Beast.

For further enlightenment, study the "Principia Discordia",

"[11021]The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", "The Joy of Sex", and

the Christian Bible (Revelation 13:18). See also [11022]Discordianism

or consult your pineal gland. See also [11023]for values of.

Node:randomness, Next:[11024]rape, Previous:[11025]random numbers,

Up:[11026]= R =

randomness n.

An inexplicable misfeature; gratuitous inelegance. 2. A [11027]hack

or [11028]crock that depends on a complex combination of coincidences

(or, possibly, the combination upon which the crock depends for its

accidental failure to malfunction). "This hack can output characters

40-57 by putting the character in the four-bit accumulator field of an

XCT and then extracting six bits -- the low 2 bits of the XCT opcode

are the right thing." "What randomness!" 3. Of people, synonymous with

`flakiness'. The connotation is that the person so described is

behaving weirdly, incompetently, or inappropriately for reasons which

are (a) too tiresome to bother inquiring into, (b) are probably as

inscrutable as quantum phenomena anyway, and (c) are likely to pass

with time. "Maybe he has a real complaint, or maybe it's just

randomness. See if he calls back."

Despite the negative connotations jargon uses of this term have, it is

worth noting that randomness can actually be a valuable resource, very

useful for applications in cryptography and elsewhere. Computers are

so thoroughly deterministic that they have a hard time generating

high-quality randomess, so hackers have sometimes felt the need to

built special-purpose contraptions for this purpose alone. One

well-known website offers random bits [11029]generated by radioactive

decay. Another derives random bits from [11030]images of Lava Lite

lamps. (Hackers invariably find the latter hilarious. If you have to

ask why, you'll never get it.)

Node:rape, Next:[11031]rare mode, Previous:[11032]randomness,

Up:[11033]= R =

rape vt.

To [11034]screw someone or something, violently; in particular, to

destroy a program or information irrecoverably. Often used in

describing file-system damage. "So-and-so was running a program that

did absolute disk I/O and ended up raping the master directory." 2. To

strip a piece of hardware for parts. 3. [CMU/Pitt] To mass-copy files

from an anonymous ftp site. "Last night I raped Simtel's dskutl

directory."

Node:rare mode, Next:[11035]raster blaster, Previous:[11036]rape,

Up:[11037]= R =

rare mode adj.

[Unix] CBREAK mode (character-by-character with interrupts enabled).

Distinguished from [11038]raw mode and [11039]cooked mode; the phrase

"a sort of half-cooked (rare?) mode" is used in the V7/BSD manuals to

describe the mode. Usage: rare.

Node:raster blaster, Next:[11040]raster burn, Previous:[11041]rare

mode, Up:[11042]= R =

raster blaster n.

[Cambridge] Specialized hardware for [11043]bitblt operations (a

[11044]blitter). Allegedly inspired by `Rasta Blasta', British slang

for the sort of portable stereo Americans call a boom box' orghetto

blaster'.

Node:raster burn, Next:[11045]rasterbation, Previous:[11046]raster

blaster, Up:[11047]= R =

raster burn n.

Eyestrain brought on by too many hours of looking at low-res, poorly

tuned, or glare-ridden monitors, esp. graphics monitors. See

[11048]terminal illness.

Node:rasterbation, Next:[11049]rat belt, Previous:[11050]raster burn,

Up:[11051]= R =

rasterbation n.

[portmanteau: raster + masturbation]