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

See [11441]pop; see also [11442]POPJ.

Node:RTM, Next:[11443]RTS, Previous:[11444]RTI, Up:[11445]= R =

RTM /R-T-M/

[Usenet: abbreviation for `Read The Manual'] 1. Politer variant of

[11446]RTFM. 2. Robert Tappan Morris, perpetrator of the great

Internet worm of 1988 (see [11447]Great Worm); villain to many, naive

hacker gone wrong to a few. Morris claimed that the worm that brought

the Internet to its knees was a benign experiment that got out of

control as the result of a coding error. After the storm of negative

publicity that followed this blunder, Morris's username on ITS was

hacked from RTM to [11448]RTFM.

Node:RTS, Next:[11449]rude, Previous:[11450]RTM, Up:[11451]= R =

RTS /R-T-S/ imp.

Abbreviation for `Read The Screen'. Mainly used by hackers in the

microcomputer world. Refers to what one would like to tell the

[11452]suit one is forced to explain an extremely simple application

to. Particularly appropriate when the suit failed to notice the `Press

any key to continue' prompt, and wishes to know `why won't it do

anything'. Also seen as `RTFS' in especially deserving cases.

Node:rude, Next:[11453]runes, Previous:[11454]RTS, Up:[11455]= R =

rude [WPI] adj.

(of a program) Badly written. 2. Functionally poor, e.g., a program

that is very difficult to use because of gratuitously poor (random?)

design decisions. Oppose [11456]cuspy. 3. Anything that manipulates a

shared resource without regard for its other users in such a way as to

cause a (non-fatal) problem. Examples: programs that change tty modes

without resetting them on exit, or windowing programs that keep

forcing themselves to the top of the window stack. Compare

[11457]all-elbows.

Node:runes, Next:[11458]runic, Previous:[11459]rude, Up:[11460]= R =

runes pl.n.

Anything that requires [11461]heavy wizardry or [11462]black art to

[11463]parse: core dumps, JCL commands, APL, or code in a language you

haven't a clue how to read. Not quite as bad as [11464]line noise, but

close. Compare [11465]casting the runes, [11466]Great Runes. 2.

Special display characters (for example, the high-half graphics on an

IBM PC). 3. [borderline techspeak] 16-bit characters from the Unicode

multilingual character set.

Node:runic, Next:[11467]rusty iron, Previous:[11468]runes, Up:[11469]=

R =

runic adj.

Syn. [11470]obscure. VMS fans sometimes refer to Unix as `Runix'; Unix

fans return the compliment by expanding VMS to `Very Messy Syntax' or

`Vachement Mauvais Syst�me' (French idiom, "Hugely Bad System").

Node:rusty iron, Next:[11471]rusty memory, Previous:[11472]runic,

Up:[11473]= R =

rusty iron n.

Syn. [11474]tired iron. It has been claimed that this is the

inevitable fate of [11475]water MIPS.

Node:rusty memory, Next:[11476]rusty wire, Previous:[11477]rusty iron,

Up:[11478]= R =

rusty memory n.

Mass-storage that uses iron-oxide-based magnetic media (esp. tape and

the pre-Winchester removable disk packs used in [11479]washing

machines). Compare [11480]donuts.

Node:rusty wire, Next:[11481]S/N ratio, Previous:[11482]rusty memory,

Up:[11483]= R =

rusty wire n.

[Amateur Packet Radio] Any very noisy network medium, in which the

packets are subject to frequent corruption. Most prevalent in

reference to wireless links subject to all the vagaries of RF noise

and marginal propagation conditions. "Yes, but how good is your

whizbang new protocol on really rusty wire?".

Node:= S =, Next:[11484]= T =, Previous:[11485]= R =, Up:[11486]The

Jargon Lexicon

= S =

[11487]S/N ratio:

[11488]sacred:

[11489]saga:

[11490]sagan:

[11491]SAIL:

[11492]salescritter:

[11493]salt:

[11494]salt mines:

[11495]salt substrate:

[11496]same-day service:

[11497]samizdat:

[11498]samurai:

[11499]sandbender:

[11500]sandbox:

[11501]sanity check:

[11502]Saturday-night special:

[11503]say:

[11504]scag:

[11505]scanno:

[11506]scary devil monastery:

[11507]schroedinbug:

[11508]science-fiction fandom:

[11509]scram switch:

[11510]scratch:

[11511]scratch monkey:

[11512]scream and die:

[11513]screaming tty:

[11514]screen:

[11515]screen name:

[11516]screw:

[11517]screwage:

[11518]scribble:

[11519]script kiddies:

[11520]scrog:

[11521]scrool:

[11522]scrozzle:

[11523]scruffies:

[11524]SCSI:

[11525]ScumOS:

[11526]search-and-destroy mode:

[11527]second-system effect:

[11528]secondary damage:

[11529]security through obscurity:

[11530]SED:

[11531]segfault:

[11532]seggie:

[11533]segment:

[11534]segmentation fault:

[11535]segv:

[11536]self-reference:

[11537]selvage:

[11538]semi:

[11539]semi-automated:

[11540]semi-infinite:

[11541]senior bit:

[11542]September that never ended:

[11543]server:

[11544]SEX:

[11545]sex changer:

[11546]shambolic link:

[11547]shar file:

[11548]sharchive:

[11549]Share and enjoy!:

[11550]shareware:

[11551]sharing violation:

[11552]shebang:

[11553]shelfware:

[11554]shell:

[11555]shell out:

[11556]shift left (or right) logical:

[11557]shim:

[11558]shitogram:

[11559]short card:

[11560]shotgun debugging:

[11561]shovelware:

[11562]showstopper:

[11563]shriek:

[11564]Shub-Internet:

[11565]sidecar:

[11566]SIG:

[11567]sig block:

[11568]sig quote:

[11569]sig virus:

[11570]signal-to-noise ratio:

[11571]silicon:

[11572]silly walk:

[11573]silo:

[11574]Silver Book:

[11575]since time T equals minus infinity:

[11576]sitename:

[11577]skrog:

[11578]skulker:

[11579]slab:

[11580]slack:

[11581]slap on the side:

[11582]slash:

[11583]slashdot effect:

[11584]sleep:

[11585]slim:

[11586]slop:

[11587]slopsucker:

[11588]Slowlaris:

[11589]slurp:

[11590]smart:

[11591]smart terminal:

[11592]smash case:

[11593]smash the stack:

[11594]smiley:

[11595]smoke:

[11596]smoke and mirrors:

[11597]smoke test:

[11598]smoking clover:

[11599]smoot:

[11600]SMOP:

[11601]smurf:

[11602]SNAFU principle:

[11603]snail:

[11604]snail-mail:

[11605]snap:

[11606]snarf:

[11607]snarf & barf:

[11608]snarf down:

[11609]snark:

[11610]sneaker:

[11611]sneakernet:

[11612]sniff:

[11613]snivitz:

[11614]'Snooze:

[11615]SO:

[11616]social engineering:

[11617]social science number:

[11618]sock puppet:

[11619]sodium substrate:

[11620]soft boot:

[11621]softcopy:

[11622]software bloat:

[11623]software hoarding:

[11624]software laser:

[11625]software rot:

[11626]softwarily:

[11627]softy:

[11628]some random X:

[11629]sorcerer's apprentice mode:

[11630]SOS:

[11631]source:

[11632]source of all good bits:

[11633]space-cadet keyboard:

[11634]spaceship operator:

[11635]SPACEWAR:

[11636]spaghetti code:

[11637]spaghetti inheritance:

[11638]spam:

[11639]spam bait:

[11640]spamblock:

[11641]spamhaus:

[11642]spamvertize:

[11643]spangle:

[11644]spawn:

[11645]special-case:

[11646]speedometer:

[11647]spell:

[11648]spelling flame:

[11649]spider:

[11650]spider food:

[11651]spiffy:

[11652]spike:

[11653]spin:

[11654]spl:

[11655]splash screen:

[11656]splat:

[11657]splat out:

[11658]spod:

[11659]spoiler:

[11660]spoiler space:

[11661]sponge:

[11662]spoof:

[11663]spool:

[11664]spool file:

[11665]spungle:

[11666]square tape:

[11667]squirrelcide:

[11668]stack:

[11669]stack puke:

[11670]stale pointer bug:

[11671]star out:

[11672]state:

[11673]stealth manager:

[11674]steam-powered:

[11675]STFW:

[11676]stiffy:

[11677]stir-fried random:

[11678]stomp on:

[11679]Stone Age:

[11680]stone knives and bearskins:

[11681]stoppage:

[11682]store:

[11683]strided:

[11684]stroke:

[11685]strudel:

[11686]stubroutine:

[11687]studly:

[11688]studlycaps:

[11689]stunning:

[11690]stupid-sort:

[11691]Stupids:

[11692]Sturgeon's Law:

[11693]sucking mud:

[11694]sufficiently small:

[11695]suit:

[11696]suitable win:

[11697]suitably small:

[11698]Sun:

[11699]sun lounge:

[11700]sun-stools:

[11701]sunspots:

[11702]super source quench:

[11703]superloser:

[11704]superprogrammer:

[11705]superuser:

[11706]support:

[11707]surf:

[11708]Suzie COBOL:

[11709]swab:

[11710]swap:

[11711]swap space:

[11712]swapped in:

[11713]swapped out:

[11714]swizzle:

[11715]sync:

[11716]syntactic salt:

[11717]syntactic sugar:

[11718]sys-frog:

[11719]sysadmin:

[11720]sysape:

[11721]sysop:

[11722]system:

[11723]systems jock:

[11724]system mangler:

[11725]SysVile:

Node:S/N ratio, Next:[11726]sacred, Previous:[11727]rusty wire,

Up:[11728]= S =

S/N ratio // n.

(also s/n ratio',s:n ratio'). Syn. [11729]signal-to-noise ratio.

Often abbreviated `SNR'.

Node:sacred, Next:[11730]saga, Previous:[11731]S/N ratio, Up:[11732]=

S =

sacred adj.

Reserved for the exclusive use of something (an extension of the

standard meaning). Often means that anyone may look at the sacred

object, but clobbering it will screw whatever it is sacred to. The

comment "Register 7 is sacred to the interrupt handler" appearing in a

program would be interpreted by a hacker to mean that if any other

part of the program changes the contents of register 7, dire

consequences are likely to ensue.

Node:saga, Next:[11733]sagan, Previous:[11734]sacred, Up:[11735]= S =

saga n.

[WPI] A cuspy but bogus raving story about N random broken people.

Here is a classic example of the saga form, as told by Guy L. Steele:

Jon L. White (login name JONL) and I (GLS) were office mates at MIT

for many years. One April, we both flew from Boston to California

for a week on research business, to consult face-to-face with some

people at Stanford, particularly our mutual friend Richard P.

Gabriel (RPG; see [11736]gabriel).

RPG picked us up at the San Francisco airport and drove us back to

Palo Alto (going [11737]logical south on route 101, parallel to

[11738]El Camino Bignum). Palo Alto is adjacent to Stanford

University and about 40 miles south of San Francisco. We ate at The

Good Earth, a `health food' restaurant, very popular, the sort

whose milkshakes all contain honey and protein powder. JONL ordered

such a shake -- the waitress claimed the flavor of the day was

"lalaberry". I still have no idea what that might be, but it became

a running joke. It was the color of raspberry, and JONL said it

tasted rather bitter. I ate a better tostada there than I have ever

had in a Mexican restaurant.

After this we went to the local Uncle Gaylord's Old Fashioned Ice

Cream Parlor. They make ice cream fresh daily, in a variety of

intriguing flavors. It's a chain, and they have a slogan: "If you

don't live near an Uncle Gaylord's -- MOVE!" Also, Uncle Gaylord (a

real person) wages a constant battle to force big-name ice cream

makers to print their ingredients on the package (like air and

plastic and other non-natural garbage). JONL and I had first

discovered Uncle Gaylord's the previous August, when we had flown

to a computer-science conference in Berkeley, California, the first

time either of us had been on the West Coast. When not in the

conference sessions, we had spent our time wandering the length of

Telegraph Avenue, which (like Harvard Square in Cambridge) was

lined with picturesque street vendors and interesting little shops.

On that street we discovered Uncle Gaylord's Berkeley store. The

ice cream there was very good. During that August visit JONL went

absolutely bananas (so to speak) over one particular flavor, ginger

honey.

Therefore, after eating at The Good Earth -- indeed, after every

lunch and dinner and before bed during our April visit -- a trip to

Uncle Gaylord's (the one in Palo Alto) was mandatory. We had

arrived on a Wednesday, and by Thursday evening we had been there

at least four times. Each time, JONL would get ginger honey ice

cream, and proclaim to all bystanders that "Ginger was the spice

that drove the Europeans mad! That's why they sought a route to the

East! They used it to preserve their otherwise off-taste meat."

After the third or fourth repetition RPG and I were getting a

little tired of this spiel, and began to paraphrase him: "Wow!

Ginger! The spice that makes rotten meat taste good!" "Say! Why

don't we find some dog that's been run over and sat in the sun for

a week and put some ginger on it for dinner?!" "Right! With a

lalaberry shake!" And so on. This failed to faze JONL; he took it

in good humor, as long as we kept returning to Uncle Gaylord's. He

loves ginger honey ice cream.

Now RPG and his then-wife KBT (Kathy Tracy) were putting us up

(putting up with us?) in their home for our visit, so to thank them

JONL and I took them out to a nice French restaurant of their

choosing. I unadventurously chose the filet mignon, and KBT had je

ne sais quoi du jour, but RPG and JONL had lapin (rabbit).

(Waitress: "Oui, we have fresh rabbit, fresh today." RPG: "Well,

JONL, I guess we won't need any ginger!")

We finished the meal late, about 11 P.M., which is 2 A.M Boston

time, so JONL and I were rather droopy. But it wasn't yet midnight.

Off to Uncle Gaylord's!

Now the French restaurant was in Redwood City, north of Palo Alto.

In leaving Redwood City, we somehow got onto route 101 going north

instead of south. JONL and I wouldn't have known the difference had

RPG not mentioned it. We still knew very little of the local

geography. I did figure out, however, that we were headed in the

direction of Berkeley, and half-jokingly suggested that we continue

north and go to Uncle Gaylord's in Berkeley.

RPG said "Fine!" and we drove on for a while and talked. I was

drowsy,