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

>vendors are all too willing to turn over and go back to sleep. After

all, actually fixing the bugs would siphon off the resources needed to

implement the next user-interface frill on marketing's wish list --

and besides, if they started fixing security bugs customers might

begin to expect it and imagine that their warranties of

merchantability gave them some sort of right to a system with fewer

holes in it than a shotgunned Swiss cheese, and then where would we

be?

Historical note: There are conflicting stories about the origin of

this term. It has been claimed that it was first used in the Usenet

newsgroup in comp.sys.apollo during a campaign to get HP/Apollo to fix

security problems in its Unix-[11965]clone Aegis/DomainOS (they didn't

change a thing). [11966]ITS fans, on the other hand, say it was coined

years earlier in opposition to the incredibly paranoid [11967]Multics

people down the hall, for whom security was everything. In the ITS

culture it referred to (1) the fact that by the time a tourist figured

out how to make trouble he'd generally gotten over the urge to make

it, because he felt part of the community; and (2) (self-mockingly)

the poor coverage of the documentation and obscurity of many commands.

One instance of deliberate security through obscurity is recorded; the

command to allow patching the running ITS system (escape escape

control-R) echoed as $$^D. If you actually typed alt alt ^D, that set

a flag that would prevent patching the system even if you later got it

right.

Node:SED, Next:[11968]segfault, Previous:[11969]security through

obscurity, Up:[11970]= S =

SED /S-E-D/ n.

[TMRC, from `Light-Emitting Diode'] Smoke-emitting diode. A

[11971]friode that lost the war. See also [11972]LER.

Node:segfault, Next:[11973]seggie, Previous:[11974]SED, Up:[11975]= S

=

segfault n.,vi.

Syn. [11976]segment, [11977]segmentation fault.

Node:seggie, Next:[11978]segment, Previous:[11979]segfault,

Up:[11980]= S =

seggie /seg'ee/ n.

[Unix] Shorthand for [11981]segmentation fault reported from Britain.

Node:segment, Next:[11982]segmentation fault, Previous:[11983]seggie,

Up:[11984]= S =

segment /seg'ment/ vi.

To experience a [11985]segmentation fault. Confusingly, this is often

pronounced more like the noun `segment' than like mainstream v.

segment; this is because it is actually a noun shorthand that has been

verbed.

Node:segmentation fault, Next:[11986]segv, Previous:[11987]segment,

Up:[11988]= S =

segmentation fault n.

[Unix] 1. [techspeak] An error in which a running program attempts to

access memory not allocated to it and [11989]core dumps with a

segmentation violation error. This is often caused by improper usage

of pointers in the source code, dereferencing a null pointer, or (in

C) inadvertently using a non-pointer variable as a pointer. The

classic example is:

int i;

scanf ("%d", i); / should have used &i /

To lose a train of thought or a line of reasoning. Also uttered as

an exclamation at the point of befuddlement.

Node:segv, Next:[11990]self-reference, Previous:[11991]segmentation

fault, Up:[11992]= S =

segv /seg'vee/ n.,vi.

Yet another synonym for [11993]segmentation fault (actually, in this

case, `segmentation violation').

Node:self-reference, Next:[11994]selvage, Previous:[11995]segv,

Up:[11996]= S =

self-reference n.

See [11997]self-reference.

Node:selvage, Next:[11998]semi, Previous:[11999]self-reference,

Up:[12000]= S =

selvage /sel'v*j/ n.

[from sewing and weaving] See [12001]chad (sense 1).

Node:semi, Next:[12002]semi-automated, Previous:[12003]selvage,

Up:[12004]= S =

semi /se'mee/ or /se'mi:/

n. Abbreviation for `semicolon', when speaking. "Commands to

[12005]grind are prefixed by semi-semi-star" means that the prefix is

;;*, not 1/4 of a star. 2. A prefix used with words such as

`immediately' as a qualifier. "When is the system coming up?"

"Semi-immediately." (That is, maybe not for an hour.) "We did consider

that possibility semi-seriously." See also [12006]infinite.

Node:semi-automated, Next:[12007]semi-infinite, Previous:[12008]semi,

Up:[12009]= S =

semi-automated adj.

[US Geological Survey] A procedure that has yet to be completely

automated; it still requires a smidge of clueful human interaction.

Semi-automated programs usually come with written-out operator

instructions that are worth their weight in gold - without them, very

nasty things can happen. At USGS semi-automated programs are often

referred to as "semi-automated weapons".

Node:semi-infinite, Next:[12010]senior bit,

Previous:[12011]semi-automated, Up:[12012]= S =

semi-infinite n.

See [12013]infinite.

Node:senior bit, Next:[12014]September that never ended,

Previous:[12015]semi-infinite, Up:[12016]= S =

senior bit n.

[IBM; rare] Syn. [12017]meta bit.

Node:September that never ended, Next:[12018]server,

Previous:[12019]senior bit, Up:[12020]= S =

September that never ended

All time since September 1993. One of the seasonal rhythms of the

Usenet used to be the annual September influx of clueless newbies who,

lacking any sense of [12021]netiquette, made a general nuisance of

themselves. This coincided with people starting college, getting their

first internet accounts, and plunging in without bothering to learn

what was acceptable. These relatively small drafts of newbies could be

assimilated within a few months. But in September 1993, AOL users

became able to post to Usenet, nearly overwhelming the old-timers'

capacity to acculturate them; to those who nostalgically recall the

period before hand, this triggered an inexorable decline in the

quality of discussions on newsgroups. See also [12022]AOL!.

Node:server, Next:[12023]SEX, Previous:[12024]September that never

ended, Up:[12025]= S =

server n.

A kind of [12026]daemon that performs a service for the requester and

which often runs on a computer other than the one on which the server

runs. A particularly common term on the Internet, which is rife with

web servers',name servers', domain servers',news servers',

`finger servers', and the like.

Node:SEX, Next:[12027]sex changer, Previous:[12028]server, Up:[12029]=

S =

SEX /seks/

[Sun Users' Group & elsewhere] n. 1. Software EXchange. A technique

invented by the blue-green algae hundreds of millions of years ago to

speed up their evolution, which had been terribly slow up until then.

Today, SEX parties are popular among hackers and others (of course,

these are no longer limited to exchanges of genetic software). In

general, SEX parties are a [12030]Good Thing, but unprotected SEX can

propagate a [12031]virus. See also [12032]pubic directory. 2. The

rather Freudian mnemonic often used for Sign EXtend, a machine

instruction found in the PDP-11 and many other architectures. The RCA

1802 chip used in the early Elf and SuperElf personal computers had a

`SEt X register' SEX instruction, but this seems to have had little

folkloric impact. The Data General instruction set also had SEX.

[12033]DEC's engineers nearly got a PDP-11 assembler that used the SEX

mnemonic out the door at one time, but (for once) marketing wasn't

asleep and forced a change. That wasn't the last time this happened,

either. The author of "The Intel 8086 Primer", who was one of the

original designers of the 8086, noted that there was originally a SEX

instruction on that processor, too. He says that Intel management got

cold feet and decreed that it be changed, and thus the instruction was

renamed CBW and CWD (depending on what was being extended). Amusingly,

the Intel 8048 (the microcontroller used in IBM PC keyboards) is also

missing straight SEX but has logical-or and logical-and instructions

ORL and ANL.

The Motorola 6809, used in the Radio Shack Color Computer and in

U.K.'s `Dragon 32' personal computer, actually had an official SEX

instruction; the 6502 in the Apple II with which it competed did not.

British hackers thought this made perfect mythic sense; after all, it

was commonly observed, you could (on some theoretical level) have sex

with a dragon, but you can't have sex with an apple.

Node:sex changer, Next:[12034]shambolic link, Previous:[12035]SEX,

Up:[12036]= S =

sex changer n.

Syn. [12037]gender mender.

Node:shambolic link, Next:[12038]shar file, Previous:[12039]sex

changer, Up:[12040]= S =

shambolic link /sham-bol'ik link/ n.

A Unix symbolic link, particularly when it confuses you, points to

nothing at all, or results in your ending up in some completely

unexpected part of the filesystem....

Node:shar file, Next:[12041]sharchive, Previous:[12042]shambolic link,

Up:[12043]= S =

shar file /shar' fi:l/ n.

Syn. [12044]sharchive.

Node:sharchive, Next:[12045]Share and enjoy!, Previous:[12046]shar

file, Up:[12047]= S =

sharchive /shar'ki:v/ n.

[Unix and Usenet; from /bin/sh archive] A [12048]flattened

representation of a set of one or more files, with the unique property

that it can be unflattened (the original files restored) by feeding it

through a standard Unix shell; thus, a sharchive can be distributed to

anyone running Unix, and no special unpacking software is required.

Sharchives are also intriguing in that they are typically created by

shell scripts; the script that produces sharchives is thus a script

which produces self-unpacking scripts, which may themselves contain

scripts. (The downsides of sharchives are that they are an ideal venue

for [12049]Trojan horse attacks and that, for recipients not running

Unix, no simple un-sharchiving program is possible; sharchives can and

do make use of arbitrarily-powerful shell features.) Sharchives are

also commonly referred to as `shar files' after the name of the most

common program for generating them.

Node:Share and enjoy!, Next:[12050]shareware,

Previous:[12051]sharchive, Up:[12052]= S =

Share and enjoy! imp.

Commonly found at the end of software release announcements and

[12053]README files, this phrase indicates allegiance to the hacker

ethic of free information sharing (see [12054]hacker ethic, sense 1).

The motto of the complaints division of Sirius Cybernetics

Corporation (the ultimate gaggle of incompetent [12055]suits) in

Douglas Adams's "Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy". The irony of

using this as a cultural recognition signal appeals to hackers.

Node:shareware, Next:[12056]sharing violation, Previous:[12057]Share

and enjoy!, Up:[12058]= S =

shareware /sheir'weir/ n.

A kind of [12059]freeware (sense 1) for which the author requests some

payment, usually in the accompanying documentation files or in an

announcement made by the software itself. Such payment may or may not

buy additional support or functionality. See also [12060]careware,

[12061]charityware, [12062]crippleware, [12063]FRS, [12064]guiltware,

[12065]postcardware, and [12066]-ware; compare [12067]payware.

Node:sharing violation, Next:[12068]shebang,

Previous:[12069]shareware, Up:[12070]= S =

sharing violation

[From a file error common to several [12071]OSs] A response to

receiving information, typically of an excessively personal nature,

that you were probably happier not knowing. "You know those little

noises that Pat makes in bed..?" "Whoa! Sharing violation!" In

contrast to the original file error, which indicated that you were not

being given data that you did want.

Node:shebang, Next:[12072]shelfware, Previous:[12073]sharing

violation, Up:[12074]= S =

shebang /sh*-bang/ n.

The character sequence "#!" that frequently begins executable shell

scripts under Unix. Probably derived from "shell bang" under the

influence of American slang "the whole shebang" (everything, the

works).

Node:shelfware, Next:[12075]shell, Previous:[12076]shebang,

Up:[12077]= S =

shelfware /shelf'weir/ n.

Software purchased on a whim (by an individual user) or in accordance

with policy (by a corporation or government agency), but not actually

required for any particular use. Therefore, it often ends up on some

shelf.

Node:shell, Next:[12078]shell out, Previous:[12079]shelfware,

Up:[12080]= S =

shell [orig. [12081]Multics n.

techspeak, widely propagated via Unix] 1. [techspeak] The command

interpreter used to pass commands to an operating system; so called

because it is the part of the operating system that interfaces with

the outside world. 2. More generally, any interface program that

mediates access to a special resource or [12082]server for

convenience, efficiency, or security reasons; for this meaning, the

usage is usually `a shell around' whatever. This sort of program is

also called a `wrapper'. 3. A skeleton program, created by hand or by

another program (like, say, a parser generator), which provides the

necessary [12083]incantations to set up some task and the control flow

to drive it (the term [12084]driver is sometimes used synonymously).

The user is meant to fill in whatever code is needed to get real work

done. This usage is common in the AI and Microsoft Windows worlds, and

confuses Unix hackers.

Historical note: Apparently, the original Multics shell (sense 1) was

so called because it was a shell (sense 3); it ran user programs not

by starting up separate processes, but by dynamically linking the

programs into its own code, calling them as subroutines, and then

dynamically de-linking them on return. The VMS command interpreter

still does something very like this.

Node:shell out, Next:[12085]shift left (or right) logical,

Previous:[12086]shell, Up:[12087]= S =

shell out vi.

[Unix] To [12088]spawn an interactive subshell from within a program

(e.g., a mailer or editor). "Bang foo runs foo in a subshell, while

bang alone shells out."

Node:shift left (or right) logical,