The New Hacker's Dictionary by Eric S. Raymond (each kindness read aloud TXT) 📖
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- Author: Eric S. Raymond
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Book online «The New Hacker's Dictionary by Eric S. Raymond (each kindness read aloud TXT) 📖». Author Eric S. Raymond
Previous:[11295]retrocomputing, Up:[11296]= R =
return from the dead v.
To regain access to the net after a long absence. Compare
[11297]person of no account.
Node:RFC, Next:[11298]RFE, Previous:[11299]return from the dead,
Up:[11300]= R =
RFC /R-F-C/ n.
[Request For Comment] One of a long-established series of numbered
Internet informational documents and standards widely followed by
commercial software and freeware in the Internet and Unix communities.
Perhaps the single most influential one has been RFC-822 (the Internet
mail-format standard). The RFCs are unusual in that they are floated
by technical experts acting on their own initiative and reviewed by
the Internet at large, rather than formally promulgated through an
institution such as ANSI. For this reason, they remain known as RFCs
even once adopted as standards.
The RFC tradition of pragmatic, experience-driven, after-the-fact
standard writing done by individuals or small working groups has
important advantages over the more formal, committee-driven process
typical of ANSI or ISO. Emblematic of some of these advantages is the
existence of a flourishing tradition of `joke' RFCs; usually at least
one a year is published, usually on April 1st. Well-known joke RFCs
have included 527 ("ARPAWOCKY", R. Merryman, UCSD; 22 June 1973), 748
("Telnet Randomly-Lose Option", Mark R. Crispin; 1 April 1978), and
1149 ("A Standard for the Transmission of IP Datagrams on Avian
Carriers", D. Waitzman, BBN STC; 1 April 1990). The first was a Lewis
Carroll pastiche; the second a parody of the TCP-IP documentation
style, and the third a deadpan skewering of standards-document
legalese, describing protocols for transmitting Internet data packets
by carrier pigeon.
The RFCs are most remarkable for how well they work -- they manage to
have neither the ambiguities that are usually rife in informal
specifications, nor the committee-perpetrated misfeatures that often
haunt formal standards, and they define a network that has grown to
truly worldwide proportions.
Node:RFE, Next:[11301]rib site, Previous:[11302]RFC, Up:[11303]= R =
RFE /R-F-E/ n.
[techspeak] Request For Enhancement (compare [11304]RFC). 2. [from`Radio Free Europe', Bellcore and Sun] Radio Free Ethernet, a system
(originated by Peter Langston) for broadcasting audio among Sun
SPARCstations over the ethernet.
Node:rib site, Next:[11305]rice box, Previous:[11306]RFE, Up:[11307]=
R =
rib site n.
[by analogy with [11308]backbone site] A machine that has an on-demand
high-speed link to a [11309]backbone site and serves as a regional
distribution point for lots of third-party traffic in email and Usenet
news. Compare [11310]leaf site, [11311]backbone site.
Node:rice box, Next:[11312]Right Thing, Previous:[11313]rib site,
Up:[11314]= R =
rice box n.
[from ham radio slang] Any Asian-made commodity computer, esp. an
80x86-based machine built to IBM PC-compatible ISA or EISA-bus
standards.
Node:Right Thing, Next:[11315]rip, Previous:[11316]rice box,
Up:[11317]= R =
Right Thing n.
That which is compellingly the correct or appropriate thing to use,
do, say, etc. Often capitalized, always emphasized in speech as though
capitalized. Use of this term often implies that in fact reasonable
people may disagree. "What's the right thing for LISP to do when it
sees (mod a 0)? Should it return a, or give a divide-by-0 error?"
Oppose [11318]Wrong Thing.
Node:rip, Next:[11319]ripoff, Previous:[11320]Right Thing, Up:[11321]=
R =
rip v.
To extract the digital representation of a piece of music from anaudio CD. Software that does this is often called a "CD ripper". 2.
[Amiga hackers] To extract sound or graphics from a program that they
have been compiled/assembled into, or which generates them at
run-time. In the case of older Amiga games this entails searching
through memory shortly after a reboot. This sense has been in use for
many years and probably gave rise to the (now more common) sense 1.
Node:ripoff, Next:[11322]RL, Previous:[11323]rip, Up:[11324]= R =
ripoff n.
Synonym for [11325]chad, sense 1.
Node:RL, Next:[11326]roach, Previous:[11327]ripoff, Up:[11328]= R =
RL // n.
[MUD community] Real Life. "Firiss laughs in RL" means that Firiss's
player is laughing. Compare [11329]meatspace; oppose [11330]VR.
Node:roach, Next:[11331]robocanceller, Previous:[11332]RL, Up:[11333]=
R =
roach vt.
[Bell Labs] To destroy, esp. of a data structure. Hardware gets
[11334]toasted or [11335]fried, software gets roached.
Node:robocanceller, Next:[11336]robot, Previous:[11337]roach,
Up:[11338]= R =
robocanceller /roh-boh-kan'sel-*r/
A program that monitors Usenet feeds, attempting to detect and
eliminate [11339]spam by sending appropriate cancel messages .
Robocancellers may use the [11340]Breidbart Index as a trigger.
Programming them is not a game for amateurs; see [11341]ARMM. See also
[11342]Dave the Resurrector.
Node:robot, Next:[11343]robust, Previous:[11344]robocanceller,
Up:[11345]= R =
robot n.
See [11346]bot.
Node:robust, Next:[11347]rococo, Previous:[11348]robot, Up:[11349]= R
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robust adj.
Said of a system that has demonstrated an ability to recover
gracefully from the whole range of exceptional inputs and situations
in a given environment. One step below [11350]bulletproof. Carries the
additional connotation of elegance in addition to just careful
attention to detail. Compare [11351]smart, oppose [11352]brittle.
Node:rococo, Next:[11353]rogue, Previous:[11354]robust, Up:[11355]= R
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rococo adj.
Terminally [11356]baroque. Used to imply that a program has become so
encrusted with the software equivalent of gold leaf and curlicues that
they have completely swamped the underlying design. Called after the
later and more extreme forms of Baroque architecture and decoration
prevalent during the mid-1700s in Europe. Alan Perlis said: "Every
program eventually becomes rococo, and then rubble." Compare
[11357]critical mass.
Node:rogue, Next:[11358]room-temperature IQ, Previous:[11359]rococo,
Up:[11360]= R =
rogue
[Unix] n. A Dungeons-and-Dragons-like game using charactergraphics, written under BSD Unix and subsequently ported to other Unix
systems. The original BSD curses(3) screen-handling package was hacked
together by Ken Arnold primarily to support games, and the development
of rogue(6) popularized its use; it has since become one of Unix's
most important and heavily used application libraries. Nethack, Omega,
Larn, Angband, and an entire subgenre of computer dungeon games (all
known as `roguelikes') all took off from the inspiration provided by
rogue(6); the popular Windows game Diablo, though graphics-intensive,
has very similar play logic. See also [11361]nethack. 2. [Usenet] adj.
An [11362]ISP which permits net abuse (usually in the form of
[11363]spamming) by its customers, or which itself engages in such
activities. Rogue ISPs are sometimes subject to [11364]IDPs or
[11365]UDPs. Sometimes deliberately mispelled as "rouge". See also
[11366]nethack, [11367]moria, [11368]Angband.
Node:room-temperature IQ, Next:[11369]root, Previous:[11370]rogue,
Up:[11371]= R =
room-temperature IQ quant.
[IBM] 80 or below (nominal room temperature is 72 degrees Fahrenheit,
22 degrees Celsius). Used in describing the expected intelligence
range of the [11372]luser. "Well, but how's this interface going to
play with the room-temperature IQ crowd?" See [11373]drool-proof
paper. This is a much more insulting phrase in countries that use
Celsius thermometers.
Node:root, Next:[11374]root mode, Previous:[11375]room-temperature IQ,
Up:[11376]= R =
root n.
[Unix] 1. The [11377]superuser account (with user name `root') that
ignores permission bits, user number 0 on a Unix system. The term
[11378]avatar is also used. 2. The top node of the system directory
structure; historically the home directory of the root user, but
probably named after the root of an (inverted) tree. 3. By extension,
the privileged system-maintenance login on any OS. See [11379]root
mode, [11380]go root, see also [11381]wheel.
Node:root mode, Next:[11382]rot13, Previous:[11383]root, Up:[11384]= R
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root mode n.
Syn. with [11385]wizard mode or `wheel mode'. Like these, it is often
generalized to describe privileged states in systems other than OSes.
Node:rot13, Next:[11386]rotary debugger, Previous:[11387]root mode,
Up:[11388]= R =
rot13 /rot ther'teen/ n.,v.
[Usenet: from `rotate alphabet 13 places'] The simple Caesar-cypher
encryption that replaces each English letter with the one 13 places
forward or back along the alphabet, so that "The butler did it!"
becomes "Gur ohgyre qvq vg!" Most Usenet news reading and posting
programs include a rot13 feature. It is used to enclose the text in a
sealed wrapper that the reader must choose to open -- e.g., for
posting things that might offend some readers, or [11389]spoilers. A
major advantage of rot13 over rot(N) for other N is that it is
self-inverse, so the same code can be used for encoding and decoding.
See also [11390]spoiler space, which has partly displaced rot13 since
non-Unix-based newsreaders became common.
Node:rotary debugger, Next:[11391]round tape, Previous:[11392]rot13,
Up:[11393]= R =
rotary debugger n.
[Commodore] Essential equipment for those late-night or early-morning
debugging sessions. Mainly used as sustenance for the hacker. Comes in
many decorator colors, such as Sausage, Pepperoni, and Garbage. See
[11394]ANSI standard pizza.
Node:round tape, Next:[11395]RSN, Previous:[11396]rotary debugger,
Up:[11397]= R =
round tape n.
Industry-standard 1/2-inch magnetic tape (7- or 9-track) on
traditional circular reels. See [11398]macrotape, oppose [11399]square
tape.
Node:RSN, Next:[11400]RTBM, Previous:[11401]round tape, Up:[11402]= R
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RSN /R-S-N/ adj.
See [11403]Real Soon Now.
Node:RTBM, Next:[11404]RTFAQ, Previous:[11405]RSN, Up:[11406]= R =
RTBM /R-T-B-M/ imp.
[Unix] Commonwealth Hackish variant of [11407]RTFM; expands to `Read
The Bloody Manual'. RTBM is often the entire text of the first reply
to a question from a [11408]newbie; the second would escalate to
"RTFM".
Node:RTFAQ, Next:[11409]RTFB, Previous:[11410]RTBM, Up:[11411]= R =
RTFAQ /R-T-F-A-Q/ imp.
[Usenet: primarily written, by analogy with [11412]RTFM] Abbrev. for
`Read the FAQ!', an exhortation that the person addressed ought to
read the newsgroup's [11413]FAQ list before posting questions.
Node:RTFB, Next:[11414]RTFM, Previous:[11415]RTFAQ, Up:[11416]= R =
RTFB /R-T-F-B/ imp.
[Unix] Abbreviation for `Read The Fucking Binary'. Used when neither
documentation nor source for the problem at hand exists, and the only
thing to do is use some debugger or monitor and directly analyze the
assembler or even the machine code. "No source for the buggy port
driver? Aaargh! I hate proprietary operating systems. Time to RTFB."
Of the various RTF? forms, `RTFB' is the least pejorative against
anyone asking a question for which RTFB is the answer; the anger here
is directed at the absence of both source and adequate documentation.
Node:RTFM, Next:[11417]RTFS, Previous:[11418]RTFB, Up:[11419]= R =
RTFM /R-T-F-M/ imp.
[Unix] Abbreviation for `Read The Fucking Manual'. 1. Used by
[11420]gurus to brush off questions they consider trivial or annoying.
Compare [11421]Don't do that then!. 2. Used when reporting a problem
to indicate that you aren't just asking out of [11422]randomness. "No,
I can't figure out how to interface Unix to my toaster, and yes, I
have RTFM." Unlike sense 1, this use is considered polite. See also
[11423]FM, [11424]RTFAQ, [11425]RTFB, [11426]RTFS, [11427]STFW,
[11428]RTM, all of which mutated from RTFM, and compare [11429]UTSL.
Node:RTFS, Next:[11430]RTI, Previous:[11431]RTFM, Up:[11432]= R =
RTFS /R-T-F-S/
[Unix] 1. imp. Abbreviation for `Read The Fucking Source'. Variant
form of [11433]RTFM, used when the problem at hand is not necessarily
obvious and not answerable from the manuals -- or the manuals are not
yet written and maybe never will be. For even trickier situations, see
[11434]RTFB. Unlike RTFM, the anger inherent in RTFS is not usually
directed at the person asking the question, but rather at the people
who failed to provide adequate documentation. 2. imp. `Read The
Fucking Standard'; this oath can only be used when the problem area
(e.g., a language or operating system interface) has actually been
codified in a ratified standards document. The existence of these
standards documents (and the technically inappropriate but politically
mandated compromises that they inevitably contain, and the
impenetrable [11435]legalese in which they are invariably written, and
the unbelievably tedious bureaucratic process by which they are
produced) can be unnerving to hackers, who are used to a certain
amount of ambiguity in the specifications of the systems they use.
(Hackers feel that such ambiguities are acceptable as long as the
[11436]Right Thing to do is obvious to any thinking observer; sadly,
this casual attitude towards specifications becomes unworkable when a
system becomes popular in the [11437]Real World.) Since a hacker is
likely to feel that a standards document is both unnecessary and
technically deficient, the deprecation inherent in this term may be
directed as much against the standard as against the person who ought
to read it.
Node:RTI, Next:[11438]RTM, Previous:[11439]RTFS, Up:[11440]= R =
RTI /R-T-I/ interj.
The mnemonic for the `return from interrupt' instruction on many
computers including the 6502 and 6800. The variant `RETI' is found
among former Z80 hackers (almost nobody programs these things in
assembler anymore). Equivalent to "Now, where was I?" or used to end a
conversational digression.
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