The Jargon File v, part 15 of 17

[Eric S. Raymond]

Submitted-by: jargon at thyrsus.com
Archive-name: jargon/part15

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X   using the {TELNET} program.  TOPS-10 people used the word IMPCOM
X   since that was the program name for them.  Sometimes abbreviated to
X   TN.  "I usually TN over to SAIL just to read the AP News."
X
Xten-finger interface: n. The interface between two networks which
X   cannot be directly connected for security reasons; refers to the
X   practice of placing two terminals side by side and having an
X   operator read from one and type into the other.
X
Xtense: adj. Of programs, very clever and efficient.  A tense piece of
X   code often got that way because it was highly {bum}med, but
X   sometimes it was just based on a great idea.  A comment in a clever
X   display routine by Mike Kazar, a student hacker at CMU: "This
X   routine is so tense it will bring tears to your eyes.  Much thanks
X   to Craig Everhart and James Gosling for inspiring this {hack
X   attack}."  A tense programmer is one who produces tense code.
X
Xtenured graduate student: n. One who has been in graduate school for
X   ten years (the usual maximum is five or six): a `ten-yeared'
X   student (get it?).  Students don't really get tenure, of course,
X   the way professors do, but a tenth-year graduate student has
X   probably been around the university longer than any non-tenured
X   professor.
X
Xtera-: /te'r@/ pref. Multiplier, 10 ^ 12 or 2 ^ 40.  See {kilo-}.
X
Xteraflop club: /ter'a-flop kluhb/ [FLOP = Floating Point Operation]
X   n. Mythical group of people who consume outrageous amounts of
X   computer time in order to produce a few simple pictures of glass
X   balls with intricate ray tracing techniques.  Caltech professor
X   James Kajiya is said to have been the founding member.  See also
X   {kilo-}.
X
Xterminak: /ter'mi-nak`/ [Caltech, ca. 1979] n. Any malfunctioning
X   computer terminal.  A common failure mode of Lear-Siegler ADM3a
X   terminals caused the `L' key to produce the `K' code instead;
X   complaints about this tended to look like "Terminak #3 has a bad
X   keyboard.  Pkease fix."  See {sun-stools}, {Telerat}, {HP-SUX}.
X
Xterminal brain death: n. Extreme form of {terminal illness} (sense
X   #1).
X
Xterminal illness: n. 1. Syn. {raster burn}.  2. The `burn-in'
X   condition your CRT tends to get if you don't have a screen saver.
X
Xterminal junkie: [Great Britain] n. A {wannabee} or early
X   {larval stage} hacker who spends most of his/her time wandering
X   the directory tree and writing {noddy} programs just to get
X   his/her fix of computer time.  Variants include `terminal
X   jockey', `console junkie', or {console jockey}.  The term
X   `console jockey' seems to imply more expertise than the other
X   three (possibly because of the exalted status of the {{console}}
X   relative to an ordinary terminal).  See also {twink},
X   {read-only user}.
X
Xterpri: /ter'pree/ [from LISP 1.5 (and later, MacLISP)] vi. To
X   output a {crlf}.  Now rare as jargon, though still used as
X   techspeak in Common Lisp.  It is a contraction of `TERminate PRInt
X   line'.
X
Xtest: n. 1. Real users bashing on a prototype for long enough to
X   get thoroughly acquainted with it, with careful monitoring and
X   followup of the results.  2. Some bored random user trying a
X   couple of the simpler features with a developer looking over
X   his/her shoulder, ready to pounce on mistakes.  Judging by the
X   quality of most software, the second definition is far more
X   prevalent.  See also {demo}.
X
XTeX: /tekh/ n. An extremely powerful {macro}-based text-formatter
X   written by Donald E. Knuth, very popular in the computer-science
X   community (it is good enough to have displaced UNIX
X   `troff(1)', the other favored formatter, even at many UNIX
X   installations).  TeX fans insist on the correct (guttural)
X   pronunciation and spelling (all caps, with the E depressed below
X   the baseline) of the name (the mixed-case `TeX' is considered an
X   acceptable kluge on ASCII-only devices).  They like to proliferate
X   names from the word `TeX' --- such as TeXnician (TeX user),
X   TeXhacker (TeX programmer), TeXmaster (competent TeX programmer),
X   TeXhax, TeXnique, TeXpert.
X
Xtext: n. 1. Executable code, esp. a `pure code' portion shared
X   between multiple instances of a program running in a multitasking
X   OS (compare {English}).  2. Textual material in the mainstream
X   sense; data in ordinary {{ASCII}} or {{EBCDIC}} representation
X   (syn. {flat-ASCII}).  "Those are text files; you can review them
X   using the editor."  These two contradictory senses confuse
X   hackers, too.
X
Xthanks in advance: [USENET] Conventional net.politeness ending a
X   posted request for information or assistance.  Sometimes written
X   `advTHANKSance' or `aTdHvAaNnKcSe' or abbreviated `TIA'.  See
X   {net.-}, {netiquette}.
X
Xtheology: n. 1. Ironically used to refer to {religious issues}.  2.
X   Technical fine points of an abstruse nature, esp. those where the
X   resolution is of theoretical interest but relatively {marginal}
X   with respect to actual use of a design or system.  Used esp. around
X   software issues with a heavy AI or language design component.
X   Example: the deep- vs. shallow-binding debate in the design of
X   dynamically scoped LISPs.
X
Xtheory: n. Used in the general sense of idea, plan, story, or set of
X   rules.  This is a generalization and abuse of the technical
X   meaning.  "What's the theory on fixing this TECO loss?"  "What's
X   the theory on dinner tonight?"  ("Chinatown, I guess.")
X   "What's the current theory on letting lusers on during the day?"
X   "The theory behind this change is to fix the following well-known
X   screw...."
X
Xthinko: /thing'koh/ [by analogy with `typo'] n. A bubble in the
X   stream of consciousness; a momentary, correctable glitch in mental
X   processing, especially one involving recall of information learned
X   by rote.  Syn. {braino}.  Compare {mouso}.
X
XThis time, for sure!: excl. Ritual affirmation frequently uttered
X   during protracted debugging sessions involving numerous small
X   obstacles (as, in for example, attempts to bring up a UUCP
X   connection). For the proper effect, this must be uttered in a
X   fruity imitation of Bullwinkle the Moose.  Also heard: "Hey,
X   Rocky! Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat!".  The canonical
X   response is, of course, "But that trick *never* works!".
X   See {{Humor, Hacker}}.
X
Xthrash: vi. To move wildly or violently, without accomplishing
X   anything useful.  Paging or swapping systems that are overloaded
X   waste most of their time moving data into and out of core (rather
X   than performing useful computation) and are therefore said to
X   thrash.  Someone who keeps changing his mind (esp. about what to
X   work on next) is said to be thrashing.  A person frantically trying
X   to execute too many tasks at once (and not spending enough time on
X   any of them) may also be described as thrashing.  Compare
X   {multitask}.
X
Xthread: /thred/ n. [USENET, GEnie] Common abbreviation of `topic
X   thread', a more or less continuous chain of postings on a single
X   topic.
X
Xthree-finger salute: n. Syn. {vulcan nerve pinch}.
X
Xthunk: /thuhnk/ [mythically, the sound made by a result as it hits
X   the stack] n. 1. " ... a piece of coding which provides an
X   address." --- P. Z. Ingerman, who invented {thunk}s in 1961 as a
X   way of binding actual parameters to their formal definitions in
X   Algol-60 procedure calls.  If a procedure is called with an
X   expression in the place of a formal parameter, the compiler
X   generates a {thunk} to compute the expression and leave the
X   address of the result in some standard location such as a
X   designated register.  2. Later generalized into: an expression,
X   frozen together with its environment for later evaluation if and
X   when needed.  The process of unfreezing these {thunk}s is called
X   `forcing'.  3. A {stubroutine}, in an overlay programming
X   environment, that loads and jumps to the correct overlay.  4.
X   People and activities scheduled in a thunklike manner.  "It
X   occurred to me the other day that I am rather accurately modelled
X   by a thunk --- I frequently need to be forced to completion."  ---
X   paraphrased from a .plan file.
X
Xtick: n. 1. A {jiffy} (sense #1).  2. In simulations, the
X   discrete unit of time that passes `between' iterations of the
X   simulation mechanism.  In AI applications, this amount of time is
X   often left unspecified, since the only constraint of interest is
X   that caused things happen after their causes.  This sort of AI
X   simulation is often pejoratively referred to as
X   `tick-tick-tick' simulation, especially when the issue of
X   simultaneity of events with long, independent chains of causes is
X   {handwave}d.
X
Xtick-list features: [Acorn Computers] n. Features in software or
X   hardware that customers insist on but never use (calculators in
X   desktop TSRs and that sort of thing).  The American equivalent
X   would be `check-list features', but this jargon sense of the
X   phrase has not been reported.
X
Xtickle a bug: vt. To cause a normally hidden bug to manifest
X   through some known series of inputs or operations.  "You can
X   tickle the bug in the Paradise's highlight handling by trying to
X   set bright yellow reverse video".
X
Xtime sink: [poss. by analogy with `heat sink'] n. A project which
X   consumes unbounded amounts of time.
X
Xtime T: /tiem tee/ n. 1. An unspecified but usually
X   well-understood time, often used in conjunction with a later time
X   T+1.  "We'll meet on campus at time T or at Louie's at time T+1."
X   means, in the context of going out for dinner, "If we meet at
X   Louie's directly, we can meet there a little later than if we meet
X   on campus and then have to travel to Louie's."  (Louie's is a
X   Chinese restaurant in Palo Alto that is a favorite with hackers.
X   Had the number 30 been used instead of the number 1, it would have
X   implied that the travel time from campus to Louie's is thirty
X   minutes; whatever time T is (and that hasn't been decided on yet),
X   you can meet half an hour later at Louie's than you could on campus
X   and end up eating at the same time. See also {since time T equals
X   minus infinity}.
X
Xtinycrud: /tie'nee-kruhd/ n. Pejorative used by habitues of older
X   game-oriented {MUD} versions for TinyMuds and other
X   user-extensible {MUD} variants; esp. common among users of the
X   rather violent and competitive AberMUD and MIST systems.  These
X   people justify the slur on the basis of how (allegedly)
X   inconsistent and lacking in genuine feel or atmosphere the
X   scenarios generated in user extensible muds can be.  Other common
X   knocks on them are that they feature little overall plot, bad game
X   topology, little competitive interaction, etc. --- not to mention
X   the alleged horrors of the TinyMud code itself.  This dispute is
X   one of the MUD world's hardiest perennial {holy wars}.
X
Xtip of the ice-cube: [IBM] n. The visible part of something small and
X   insignificant.  Used as an ironic comment in situations where `tip
X   of the iceberg' might be appropriate if the subject were actually
X   nontrivial.
X
Xtired iron: [IBM] n. Hardware that is perfectly functional but enough
X   behind the state of the art to have been superseded by new
X   products, presumably with enough improvement in bang-per-buck that
X   the old stuff is starting to look a bit like a {dinosaur}.
X
Xtits on a keyboard: n. Small bumps on certain keycaps to keep
X   touch-typists registered (usually on the `5' of a numeric keypad,
X   and on the `F' and `J' of a QWERTY keyboard).
X
XTLA: /tee el ay/ [Three-Letter Acronym] n. 1. Self-describing
X   acronym for a species with which computing terminology is infested.
X   2. Any confusing acronym at all.  Examples include MCA, FTP, SNA,
X   CPU, MMU, SCCS, DMU, FPU, TLA, NNTP.  People who like this looser
X   usage argue that not all TLAs have three letters, just as not all
X   four-letter words have four letters.  One also hears of `ETLA'
X   (Extended Three Letter Acronym, pronounced /ee tee el ay/) being
X   used to describe four-letter acronyms.  The term `SFLA' (Stupid
X   Four-Letter Acronym) has also been reported.  See also {YABA}.
X
Xtoast: 1. n. Any completely inoperable system, esp. one that has
X   just crashed; "Uh, oh...I think the serial board is toast."
X   2. vt. To cause a system to crash accidentally, especially in a
X   manner that requires manual rebooting.  "Rick just toasted the
X   {firewall machine} again."
X
Xtoaster: n. 1. The archetypal really stupid application for an
X   embedded microprocessor controller; often used in comments which
X   imply that a scheme is inappropriate technology (but see
X   {elevator controller}).  "{DWIM} for an assembler?  That'd be
X   as silly as running UNIX on your toaster!"  2. A very, very dumb
X   computer. "You could run this program on any dumb toaster."  See
X   {bitty box}, {Get a real computer!}, {toy}, {beige toaster}.
X   3. A peripheral device.  "I bought my box without toasters, but
X   since then I've added two boards and a second disk drive."
X
Xtoeprint: n. A {footprint} of especially small size.
X
Xtoggle: vt. To change a {bit} from whatever state it is in to the
X   other state; to change from 1 to 0 or from 0 to 1. This probably
X   comes from `toggle switches', such as standard light switches,
X   though the word `toggle' actually refers to the mechanism that
X   keeps the switch in the position to which it is flipped, rather
X   than to the fact that the switch has two positions.  There are four
X   things you can do to a bit: set it (force it to be 1), clear (or
X   zero) it, leave it alone, or toggle it.  (Mathematically, one would
X   say that there are four distinct boolean-valued functions of one
X   boolean argument, but saying that is much less fun than talking
X   about toggling bits.)
X
Xtool: 1. n. A program primarily used to create other programs, such
X   as a compiler or editor or cross-referencing program.  Oppose
X   {app}, {operating system}.  2. [UNIX] An application program
X   with a simple, `transparent' (typically text-stream) interface
X   designed specifically to be used in programmed combination with
X   other tools (see {filter}).  3. [MIT] vi. To work; to study.  See
X   {hack}.  4. [MIT] n. A student who studies too much and hacks too
X   little.
X
Xtoolsmith: n. The software equivalent of a tool-and-die specialist;
X   one who specializes in making the tools with which other
X   programmers create applications.
X
XTOPS-10: /tops-ten/ n. DEC's proprietary OS for the fabled {PDP-10}
X   machines, long a favorite of hackers but now effectively extinct.
X   A fountain of hacker folklore; see Appendix A.  See also {ITS},
X   {TOPS-20}, {TWENEX}, {VMS}, {operating system}.  TOPS-10 was
X   sometimes called BOTS-10 (from `bottoms-ten') as a comment on the
X   inappropriateness of describing it as the top of anything.
X
XTOPS-20: /tops-twen'tee/ n. See {TWENEX}.
X
Xtoto: n. This is reported to be the default scratch file name among
X   French-speaking programmers; in other words, a Francophone {foo}.
X
Xtourist: [from MIT's ITS system] n. A guest on the system, especially
X   one who generally logs in over a network from a remote location for
X   games and other trivial purposes.  One step below {luser}.  Note:
X   hackers often spell this `turist', perhaps by some sort of tenuous
X   analogy with `luser'.  Compare {twink}, {read-only user}
X
Xtourist information: n. Information in an on-line report that is
X   not really relevant to its primary purpose, but contributes to a
X   viewer's gestalt of what's going on with the software or hardware
X   behind it.  Whether a given piece of info falls in this category or
X   not partly depends on what the user is looking for at any given
X   time.  The `bytes free' information at the bottom of an MS-DOS
X   `dir' display is tourist information; so is the TIME
X   information in a UNIX `ps(1)' display, most of the time.
X
Xtouristic: adj. Having the quality of a {tourist}.  Often used as
X   a pejorative, as in the phrase `losing touristic scum'.  Often
X   spelled `turistic'.
X
Xtoy: n. A computer system; always used with qualifiers.  1. `nice
X   toy': One that supports the speaker's hacking style adequately.
X   2. `just a toy': A machine that yields insufficient {computron}s
X   for the speaker's preferred uses.  This is not condemnatory as is
X   {bitty box}; toys can at least be fun.  See also {Get a real
X   computer!}.
X
Xtoy language: n. A language useful for instructional purposes or as
X   a proof-of-concept for some aspect of computer science theory, but
X   which is inadequate for general-purpose programming.  Bad Things
X   can result when a toy language is promoted as a general-purpose
X   solution for programming (see {bondage-and-discipline language});
X   the classic example is {{Pascal}}.  Several moderately well-known
X   formalisms for conceptual tasks like programming Turing machines
X   also qualify as toy languages in a less negative sense.
X
Xtoy problem: [AI] n. A deliberately simplified or even oversimplified
X   case of a challenging problem used to investigate, prototype, or
X   test algorithms for the real problem.  Sometimes used pejoratively.
X   See also {gedanken}.
X
Xtoy program: n. 1. One that can be readily comprehended; hence, a
X   trivial program.  2. One for which the effort of initial coding
X   dominates the costs through its life cycle.
X
Xtrampoline: n. An incredibly hairy technique found in some HLL and
X   program-overlay implementations (for example, on the Macintosh)
X   involves consing up small pieces of executable object code on the
X   fly to do indirection between program segments.  These pieces of
X   live data are called `trampolines'.  It is said by those who use
X   this term that the trampoline which can be understood is not the
X   true trampoline.
X
Xtrap: 1. n. A program interrupt, usually used specifically to refer
X   to an interrupt caused by some illegal action taking place in the
X   user program.  In most cases, the system monitor performs some
X   action related to the nature of the illegality, then returns
X   control to the program.  2. vi. To cause a trap.  "These
X   instructions trap to the monitor."  Also used transitively to
X   indicate the cause of the trap.  "The monitor traps all
X   input/output instructions."  
X
X   This term is associated with assembler programming (`interrupt'
X   is more common among {HLL} programmers) and appears to be fading
X   into history among programmers as the role of assembler continues
X   to shrink.  However, it is still important to computer architects,
X   who use it to distinguish deterministically repeatable exceptions
X   from timing-dependent ones (such as I/O interrupts).
X
Xtrap door: alt. `trapdoor' n. Syn. {back door}.
X
Xtrash: vt. To destroy the contents of (said of a data structure).
X   The most common of the family of near-synonyms including {mung},
X   {mangle}, and {scribble}.
X
Xtree-killer: [Sun] n. 1. A printer.  2. A person who wastes paper.
X   This should be interpreted in a broad sense; `wasting paper'
X   includes the production of {spiffy} but {content-free} documents.
X   Thus, most {suit}s are tree-killers.
X
Xtrit: [by analogy with `bit'] n. One base-3 digit; the amount of
X   information conveyed by a choice of one of three equally likely
X   outcomes (see also {bit}).  These arise, for example, in the
X   context of a {flag} that should actually be able to assume
X   *three* values --- yes, no, or unknown.  Trits are sometimes
X   jokingly called "three-state bits". A trit may be semi-seriously
X   referred to as "a bit and a half" though it is properly
X   equivalent to 1.58 bits (that is, log to the base 2 of 3 bits).
X
Xtrivial: adj. 1. In explanation, too simple to bother detailing.  2.
X   Not worth the speaker's time.  3. Complex, but solvable by methods
X   so well-known that anyone not utterly {cretinous} would have
X   thought of them already.  Hackers' notions of triviality may be
X   quite at variance with those of non-hackers.  See {nontrivial},
X   {uninteresting}.
X
Xtroglodyte: [Commodore] n. 1. A hacker who never leaves his cubicle.
X   The term `Gnoll' (from D&D) is also reported.  2. A curmudgeon
X   attached to an obsolescent computing environment.  The combination
X   `ITS troglodyte' got flung around some during the USENET and
X   email wringle-wrangle attending the 2.x.x revision of the Jargon
X   File; at least one of the people it was intended to describe
X   adopted it with pride.
X
Xtroglodyte mode: [Rice University] n. Programming with the lights
X   turned off, sunglasses on, and the (character) terminal inverted
X   (black on white) because you've been up for so many days straight
X   that your eyes hurt (see {raster burn}).  Loud music blaring from
X   a stereo stacked in the corner is optional but recommended.  See
X   {larval stage}, {hack mode}.
X
XTrojan horse: [coined by MIT-hacker-turned-spook Dan Edwards] n. A
X   program designed to break security or damage a system that is
X   disguised as something else benign, such as a directory lister,
X   archiver, or game.  See {back door}, {virus}, {worm}.
X
Xtrue-hacker: [analogy with `trufan' from SF fandom] n. One who
X   exemplifies the primary values of hacker culture, esp. competence
X   and helpfulness to other hackers.  A high compliment.  "He spent
X   six hours helping me bring up UUCP and netnews on my FOOBAR 4000
X   last week --- unequivocally the act of a true-hacker."  Compare
X   {demigod}, oppose {munchkin}.
X
Xtty: /tee-tee-wie/ [UNIX], /ti'tee/ [ITS, but some UNIX people say
X   it this way as well; this pronunciation is not considered to have
X   sexual undertones] n. 1. Terminal of the teletype variety,
X   characterized by a noisy mechanical printer, a very limited
X   character set, and poor print quality.  Usage: antiquated (like the
X   TTYs themselves).  See also {bit-paired keyboard}.  2.
X   [especially UNIX] Any terminal at all; sometimes used to refer to
X   the particular terminal controlling a given job.
X
Xtube: 1. n. A CRT terminal.  Never used in the mainstream sense of
X   TV; real hackers don't watch TV, except for Loony Toons and Rocky &
X   Bullwinkle and Star Trek and the occasional cheesy old swashbuckle
X   movie (see Appendix B).  2. [IBM] To send a copy of something to
X   someone else's terminal.  "Tube me that note?"
X
Xtube time: n. Time spent at a terminal or console; more inclusive
X   than hacking time.  Commonly used in discussions of what parts of
X   one's environment one uses most heavily.  "I find I'm spending too
X   much of my tube time reading mail since I started this revision."
X
Xtunafish: n. In hackish lore, refers to the mutated punchline of an
X   age-old joke to be found at the bottom of the man pages of
X   `tunefs(8)' in the original {BSD} 4.2 distribution.  The joke
X   was removed in later releases once commercial sites started
X   developing 4.2.  Tunefs relates to the `tuning' of file-system
X   parameters for optimum performance, and at the bottom of a few
X   pages of {black art} writings was a BUGS section consisting of the
X   line "You can tune a filing system, but you can't tunafish."
X
Xtune: [from automotive or musical usage] vt. To optimize a program
X   or system for a particular environment, esp. by adjusting numerical
X   parameters designed as {hook}s for tuning, e.g. by changing
X   #define lines in C.  One may `tune for time' (fastest
X   execution), `tune for space' (least memory utilization), or
X   `tune for configuration' (most efficient use of hardware).  See
X   {bum}, {hot spot}, {hand-hacking}.
X
Xturbo nerd: n. See {computer geek}.
X
Xturist: n. Var. sp. of {tourist}, q.v.  Also in adjectival form,
X   `turistic'.  Poss. influenced by {luser} and `Turing'?
X
Xtweak: vt. 1. To change slightly, usually in reference to a value.
X   Also used synonymously with {twiddle}.  If a program is almost
X   correct, rather than figuring out the precise problem, you might
X   just keep tweaking it until it works.  See {frobnicate} and {fudge
X   factor}.  2. To {tune} or {bum} a program.  This is preferred usage
X   in Great Britain.
X
XTWENEX: /twe'neks/ n. The TOPS-20 operating system by DEC.  TOPS-10
X   was a typically crufty DEC operating system for the PDP-10, so
X   TOPS-20 was the obvious name choice for the DECSYSTEM-20 OS.  Bolt,
X   Beranek, and Newman (BBN) had developed its own system, called
X   *TENEX* (TEN EXecutive), and in creating TOPS-20 DEC copied
X   TENEX and adapted it for the '20.  The term TWENEX was therefore a
X   contraction of `twenty TENEX'.  DEC people cringed when they heard
X   TOPS-20 referred to as `TWENEX', but the term caught on
X   nevertheless.  The written abbreviation `20x' was also used.
X   TWENEX was successful and very popular; in fact, there was a period
X   in the 1980s when it commanded almost as fervent a culture of
X   partisans as UNIX or ITS --- but DEC's decision to scrap all the
X   internal rivals to the VAX architecture and its relatively stodgy
X   VMS OS killed the DEC-20 and put a sad end to TWENEX's brief day in
X   the sun.
X
Xtwiddle: n. 1. Tilde (ASCII #b1111110, `~').  Also called
X   `squiggle', `sqiggle' (sic---pronounced /skig'l/), and
X   `twaddle', but twiddle is the most common term.  2. A small and
X   insignificant change to a program.  Usually fixes one bug and
X   generates several new ones.  3. vt. To change something in a small
X   way.  Bits, for example, are often twiddled.  Twiddling a switch or
X   knob implies much less sense of purpose than toggling or tweaking
X   it; see {frobnicate}.  To speak of twiddling a bit connotes
X   aimlessness, and at best doesn't specify what you're doing to the
X   bit; by contrast, toggling a bit has a more specific meaning (see
X   {toggle}).
X
Xtwink: /twink/ [UCSC] n. Equivalent to {read-only user}.
X
Xtwo pi: quant. The number of years it takes to finish one's thesis.
X   Occurs in stories in the form: "He started on his thesis; two pi
X   years later...".
X
Xtwo-to-the-n: quant. An amount much larger than {N}, but smaller
X   than {infinity}.  "I have two-to-the-N things to do before I can
X   go out for lunch" means you probably won't show up.
X
Xtwonkie: n. The software equivalent of a Twinkie; a useless
X   `feature' added to look sexy and placate a {marketroid}.  This
X   may be related to the `Twonky' in a classic SF short story by Henry
X   Kuttner.
X
X= U =
X=====
X
XUBD: /yoo-bee-dee/ [abbreviation for `User Brain Damage'] An
X   abbreviation used to close out trouble reports obviously due to
X   utter cluelessness on the user's part.  Compare {PBD}; see also
X   {brain-damaged}.
X
XUN*X: n. Used to refer to the UNIX operating system (a trademark of
X   AT&T) in writing, but avoiding the need for the ugly (tm)
X   typography.  Also used to refer to any or all varieties of Unixoid
X   operating systems.  Ironically, lawyers now say (1990) that the
X   requirement for superscript-tm has no legal force, but the asterisk
X   usage is entrenched anyhow.  It has been suggested that there may
X   be a psychological connection to practice in certain religions
X   where the name of the deity is never written out in full, e.g., YHWH
X   or G-d is used.  See also {glob}.
X
Xundefined external reference: excl. [UNIX] A message from UNIX's
X   linker.  Used in speech to indicate loose ends in an argument or
X   discussion.
X
Xunder the hood: prep. [hot-rodder talk] 1. Used to introduce the
X   underlying implementation of a product (hardware, software, or
X   idea).  Implies that the implementation is not intuitively obvious
X   from the appearance, but the speaker is about enable the listener
X   to {zen} it.  "Let's now look under the hood to see how
X   ...."  2. Can also imply that the implementation is much
X   simpler than the appearance would indicate, as in "Under the hood,
X   we are just fork/execling the shell."  3. Inside a chassis, as in
X   "Under the hood, this baby has a 40MHz 68030!"
X
Xundocumented feature: n. See {feature}.
X
Xuninteresting: adj. 1. Said of a problem that, while
X   {nontrivial}, can be solved simply by throwing sufficient
X   resources at it.  2. Also said of problems for which a solution
X   would neither advance the state of the art nor be fun to design and
X   code.
X
X   Hackers regard uninteresting problems as an intolerable waste of
X   time, to be solved (if at all) by lesser mortals.  *True*
X   hackers (see {toolsmith}) generalize uninteresting problems
X   enough to make them interesting and solve them --- thus solving
X   the original problem as a special case and, incidentally, creating
X   massive (but usually temporary) technological unemployment among
X   lesser mortals.  See {WOMBAT}, {SMOP}; compare {toy problem},
X   oppose {interesting}.
X
XUNIX: /yoo'niks/ [In the authors' words, "A weak pun on Multics"]
X   n. (also `Unix') A popular interactive time-sharing system
X   originally invented in 1969 by Ken Thompson after Bell Labs left
X   the Multics project, mostly so he could play {SPACEWAR} on a
X   scavenged PDP-7.  Dennis Ritchie, the inventor of C, is considered a
X   co-author of the system.  The turning point in UNIX's history came
X   when it was reimplemented almost entirely in C in 1974, making it
X   the first source-portable operating system.  Fifteen years and a
X   lot of changes later, UNIX is the most widely used multiuser
X   general-purpose operating system in the world.  Many people
X   consider this the single most important victory yet of hackerdom
X   over industry opposition (but see {UNIX weenie} for an opposing
X   point of view).  See {Version 7}, {BSD}, {USG UNIX}.
X
XUNIX conspiracy: [ITS] n. According to a conspiracy theory long
X   popular among {ITS} and {TOPS-20} fans, UNIX's growth is the
X   result of a plot hatched during the 1970s at Bell Labs, whose
X   intent was to hobble AT&T's competitors by making them dependent
X   upon a system whose future evolution was to be under AT&T control.
X   This would be accomplished by disseminating an operating system
X   that is seemingly inexpensive and easily portable, but relatively
X   unreliable and insecure.  This theory was lent a substantial
X   impetus in 1984 by the paper referenced in the {back door} entry.
X
X   In this view, UNIX was designed to be one of the first computer
X   viruses (see {virus}), but a virus spread to computers indirectly
X   by people and market forces, rather than directly through disks and
X   networks.  Adherents of this `UNIX virus' theory like to cite the
X   fact that the well-known quotation "UNIX is snake oil" was
X   uttered by DEC president Kenneth Olsen shortly before DEC began
X   actively promoting its own family of UNIX workstations (Olsen now
X   claims to have been misquoted).
X
XUNIX weenie: [ITS] n. 1. A derogatory pun on `UNIX wizard', common
X   among hackers who use UNIX by necessity but would prefer
X   alternatives.  The implication is that while the person in
X   question may consider mastery of UNIX arcana to be a wizardly
X   skill, the only real skill involved is the ability to tolerate (and
X   the bad taste to wallow in) the incoherence and needless complexity
X   that are alleged to infest many UNIX programs.  "This shell script
X   tries to parse its arguments in 69 bletcherous ways.  It must have
X   been written by a real UNIX weenie."  2. A derogatory term for
X   anyone who engages in uncritical praise of UNIX.  Often appearing
X   in the context "stupid UNIX weenie".  See {Weenix}, {UNIX
X   conspiracy}.  See also {weenie}.
X
Xunixism: n. A piece of code or coding technique that depends on
X   the protected multi-tasking environment with relatively low
X   process-spawn overhead that exists on UNIX systems.  Common
X   {unixism}s include: gratuitous use of `fork(2)'; the assumption that
X   certain undocumented but well-known features of UNIX libraries like
X   `stdio(3)' are supported elsewhere; reliance on {obscure}
X   side-effects of system calls (use of `sleep(2)' with a zero argument
X   to clue the scheduler that you're willing to give up your
X   time-slice, for example); the assumption that freshly allocated
X   memory is zeroed; the assumption that it's safe to never free()
X   memory; etc.  Compare {vaxocentrism}; see {New Jersey}.
X
Xunwind the stack: vi. 1. During the execution of a procedural
X   language one is said to `unwind the stack' from a called
X   procedure up to a caller when one discards the stack frame and any
X   number of frames above it, popping back up to the level of the
X   given caller.  In C this is done with longjmp/setjmp, in LISP with
X   THROW/CATCH.  This is sometimes necessary when handling exceptional
X   conditions.  See also {smash the stack}.  2. People can unwind the
X   stack as well, by quickly dealing with a bunch of problems: "Oh
X   heck, let's do lunch.  Just a second while I unwind my stack."
X
Xunwind-protect: [MIT, from the name of a LISP operator] n. A task you
X   must remember to perform before you leave a place or finish a
X   project.  "I have an unwind-protect to call my advisor."
X
Xup: adj. 1. Working, in order.  "The down escalator is up."
X   Oppose {down}.  2. `bring up': vt. To create a working
X   version and start it.  "They brought up a down system."
X
Xupload: /uhp'lohd/ v. 1. To transfer code or data over a digital
X   comm line from a smaller or peripheral `client' system to a larger
X   or central `host' one.  A transfer in the other direction is, of
X   course, called a `download'.  2. [speculatively] To move the
X   essential patterns and algorithms which make up one's mind from
X   one's brain into a computer.  Only those who are convinced that
X   such patterns and algorithms capture the complete essence of the
X   self view this prospect with aplomb.
X
Xupthread: adv. Earlier in the discussion (see {thread}). "As Joe
X   pointed out upthread...."  See also {followup}.
X
Xurchin: n. See {munchkin}.
X
XUSENET: /yoos'net/ or /yooz'net/ [from `Users' Network'] n. A
X   distributed {bboard} (bulletin board) system supported mainly by
X   UNIX machines, international in scope and probably the largest
X   non-profit information utility in existence.  As of early 1990 it
X   hosts over 700 {newsgroup}s and distributes up to 15 megabytes
X   (the equivalent of several thousand paper pages) of new technical
X   articles, news, discussion, chatter, and {flamage} every day.
X
Xuser: n. 1. Someone doing `real work' with the computer, who uses a
X   computer as a means rather than an end.  Someone who pays to use a
X   computer.  See {real user}.  2. A programmer who will believe
X   anything you tell him.  One who asks silly questions.  (This is
X   slightly unfair.  It is true that users ask questions (of
X   necessity).  Sometimes they are thoughtful or deep.  Very often
X   they are annoying or downright stupid, apparently because the user
X   failed to think for two seconds or look in the documentation before
X   bothering the maintainer.)  See {luser}.  3. Someone who uses a
X   program from the outside, however skillfully, without getting into
X   the internals of the program. One who reports bugs instead of just
X   going ahead and fixing them.
X
X   The general theory behind this term is that there are two classes of
X   people who work with a program: there are implementors (hackers)
X   and users (losers).  The users are looked down on by hackers to a
X   mild degree because they don't understand the full ramifications of
X   the system in all its glory.  (The few users who do are known as
X   `real winner's.)  The term is a relative one: a consummate hacker
X   may be a user with respect to some program he himself does not
X   hack.  A LISP hacker might be one who maintains LISP or one who
X   uses LISP (but with the skill of a hacker).  A LISP user is one who
X   uses LISP, whether skillfully or not.  Thus there is some overlap
X   between the two terms; the subtle distinctions must be resolved by
X   context.
X
Xuser-friendly: adj. Programmer-hostile.  Generally used by hackers in
X   a critical tone, to describe systems which hold the user's hand so
X   obsessively that they make it painful for the more experienced and
X   knowledgeable to get any work done.  See {menuitis}, {drool-proof
X   paper}, {Macintrash}, {user-obsequious}.
X
Xuser-obsequious: adj. Emphatic form of {user-friendly}.  Connotes
X   a system so verbose, inflexible, and determinedly simple-minded
X   that it is nearly unusable.  "Design a system any fool can use and
X   only a fool will want to use it".  See {WIMP environment},
X   {Macintrash}.
X
XUSG UNIX: /yoo-ess-jee yoo'niks/ n. Refers to AT&T UNIX commercial
X   versions after {Version 7}, especially System III and System V
X   releases 1, 2 and 3.  So called because at that time AT&T's support
X   crew was called the `UNIX Support Group'.  See {BSD}, {UNIX}.
X
XUUCPNET: n. The store-and-forward network consisting of all the
X   world's UNIX machines (and others running some clone of the UUCP
X   (UNIX-to-UNIX CoPy) software).  Any machine reachable via a
X   {bang path} is on UUCPNET.  See {network address}.
X
X= V =
X=====
X
Xvadding: /vad'ing/ [from VAD, a permutation of ADV (i.e.
X   {ADVENT}), used to avoid a particular {admin}'s continual
X   search-and-destroy sweeps for the game] n. A leisure-time activity
X   of certain hackers involving the covert exploration of the `secret'
X   parts of large buildings --- basements, roofs, freight elevators,
X   maintenance crawlways, steam tunnels, and the like.  A few go so
X   far as to learn locksmithing in order to synthesize vadding keys.
X   The verb is `to vad' (compare {phreaking}).
X
X   The most extreme and dangerous form of vadding is `elevator
X   rodeo', aka `elevator surfing', a sport played by wrasslin'
X   down a thousand-pound elevator car with a three-foot piece of
X   string, and then exploiting this mastery in various stimulating
X   ways (such as elevator hopping, shaft exploration, rat-racing, and
X   the ever-popular drop experiments).  Kids, don't try this at home!
X
Xvanilla: [from the default flavor of ice cream in the U.S.] adj.
X   Ordinary flavor, standard.  See {flavor}.  When used of food,
X   very often does not mean that the food is flavored with vanilla
X   extract!  For example, `vanilla-flavored wonton soup' (or simply
X   `vanilla wonton soup') means ordinary wonton soup, as opposed to
X   hot and sour wonton soup (suan la chow show).  Applied to hardware
X   and software.  As in "Vanilla Version 7 UNIX can't run on a
X   vanilla 11/34."  Also used to orthogonalize chip nomenclature; for
X   instance, a 74V00 means what TI calls a 7400, as distinct from a
X   74LS00, etc.  This word differs from {canonical} in that the
X   latter means `the thing you always use (or the way you always do
X   it) unless you have some strong reason to do otherwise', whereas
X   vanilla simply means `ordinary'.  For example, when hackers go
X   on a {great-wall}, hot-and-sour wonton soup is the {canonical}
X   wonton soup to get (because that is what most of them usually
X   order) even though it isn't the vanilla wonton soup.
X
Xvannevar: /van'@-var/ n. A bogus technological prediction or
X   foredoomed engineering concept, esp. one which fails by implicitly
X   assuming that technologies develop linearly, incrementally, and in
X   isolation from one another when in fact the learning curve tends to
X   be highly nonlinear, revolutions are common, and competition is the
X   rule.  The prototype was Vannevar Bush's prediction of "electronic
X   brains" the size of the Empire State Building with a
X   Niagara-Falls-equivalent cooling system for their tubes and relays,
X   at a time when the semiconductor effect had already been
X   demonstrated.  Other famous vannevars have included magnetic-bubble
X   memory, LISP machines, videotex, and a paper from the late 1970s
X   that computed a purported ultimate limit on areal density for ICs
X   which was in fact less than the routine densities of five years
X   later.
X
Xvaporware: n. Products announced far in advance of any shipment
X   (which may or may not actually take place).
X
Xvar: /veir/ or /vahr/ n. Short for `variable'.  Compare {arg},
X   {param}.
X
XVAX: /vaks/ n. 1. [from Virtual Address eXtension] The most
X   successful minicomputer design in industry history, possibly
X   excepting its immediate ancestor, the PDP-11.  Between its release in
X   1978 and eclipse by {killer micro}s after about 1986 the VAX was
X   probably the favorite hacker machine of them all, esp. after the
X   1982 release of 4.2BSD UNIX (see {BSD}).  Esp. noted for its
X   large, assembler-programmer-friendly instruction set, an asset
X   that became a liability after the RISC revolution following about
X   1985.  2. A major brand of vacuum cleaner in Britain.  Cited here
X   because its alleged sales pitch, "Nothing sucks like a VAX!"
X   became a sort of battle-cry of RISC partisans.  Ironically, the
X   slogan was actually that of a rival brand called Electrolux.
X
XVAXectomy: n. A VAX removal.  DEC's microvaxen, especially, are
X   much slower than newer RISC-based workstations like the SPARC.
X   Thus, if one knows one has a repacement coming, VAX removal can be
X   cause for celebration.
X
XVAXen: /vak'sn/ [from `oxen', perhaps influenced by `vixen'] n.
X   (alt. `vaxen') The plural standardly used among hackers for the DEC
X   VAX computers.  "Our installation has four PDP-10s and twenty
X   vaxen."  See {boxen}.
X
Xvaxism: n. A piece of code that exhibits {vaxocentrism} in critical
X   areas.  Compare {PC-ism}, {unixism}.
X
Xvaxocentrism: /vak`soh-sen'trizm/ [analogy with `ethnocentrism'] n.
X   A notional disease said to afflict C programmers who persist in
X   coding according to certain assumptions valid (esp. under UNIX) on
X   {VAXen}, but false elsewhere (this can create substantial
X   portability problems). Among these are:
X
X  1.    The assumption that dereferencing a null pointer is safe because
X        it is all bits zero, and location 0 is readable and zero (it may
X        instead cause an illegal-address trap on non-VAXen, and even on
X        VAXen under OSs other than BSD UNIX).
X
X  2.    The assumption that pointer and integer types are the same size,
X        and that pointers can be stuffed into integer variables and drawn
X        back out without being truncated or mangled.
X
X  3.    The assumption that a data type of any size may begin at any
X        byte address in memory (for example, that you can freely construct
X        and dereference a pointer to a word-sized object at an odd
X        address).  On many (esp. RISC) architectures better optimized for
X        {HLL} execution speed this is invalid and can cause an illegal
X        address fault or bus error.
X
X  4.    The (related) assumption that there is no `padding' at the end
X        of types and that in an array you can thus step right from the last
X        byte of a previous component to the first byte of the next one.
X
X  5.    The assumption that memory address space is globally flat and
X        that the array reference foo[-1] is necessarily valid.  This is not
X        true on segment-addressed machines like Intel chips (yes,
X        segmentation is universally considered a {brain-damaged} way to
X        design, but that is a separate issue).
X
X  6.    The assumption that objects can be arbitrarily large with no
X        special considerations (again, not true on segmented
X        architectures).
X
X  7.    The assumption that the parameters of a routine are stored in
X        memory, contiguously, and in strictly ascending or descending order
X        (fails on many RISC architectures).
X
X  8.    The assumption that bits and addressable units within an object
X        are ordered in the same way and that this order is a constant of
X        nature (fails on {big-endian} machines).
X
X  9.    The assumption that it is meaningful to compare pointers to
X        different objects not located within the same array, or to objects
X        of different types (the former fails on segmented architectures,
X        the latter on word-oriented machines or others with multiple
X        pointer formats).
X
X 10.    The assumption that a pointer to any one type can freely be cast
X        into a pointer to any other type (fails on word-oriented machines
X        or others with multiple pointer formats).
X
X 11.    The assumption that an `int' is 32 bits (fails on 286-based
X        systems and even on 386 and 68000 systems under some compilers), or
X        (nearly equivalently) the assumption that `sizeof(int) ==
X        sizeof(long)'.
X
X 12.    The assumption that argv[] is writable (fails in some
X        embedded-systems C environments).
X
X 13.    The assumption that characters are signed.
X
X 14.    The assumption that all pointers are the same size and format,
X        which means you don't have to worry about getting the types correct
X        in calls (fails on word-oriented machines or others with multiple
X        pointer formats).
X
X   Note that a programmer can be validly be accused of vaxocentrism
X   even if he/she has never seen a VAX.  The terms `vaxocentricity'
X   and `all-the-world's-a-VAX syndrome' have been used synonymously.
X
Xvdiff: /vee'dif/ v.,n. Visual diff.  The operation of finding
X   differences between two files by {eyeball search}.  See {diff}.
X
Xveeblefester: /vee'b at l-fes`tr/ [from the `Born Loser' comix via
X   Commodore; prob. originally from Mad Magazine's `Veeblefetzer' c.
X   1960] n.  Any obnoxious person engaged in the alleged professions
X   of marketing or management.  Antonym of {hacker}.  Compare {suit},
X   {marketroid}.
X
XVenus flytrap: [after the insect-eating plant] n. See {firewall
X   machine}.
X
Xverbage: /ver'b at j/ n. Deliberate misspelling/mispronunciation of
X   {verbiage} that assimilates it to the word `garbage'.  Compare
X   {content-free}.  More pejorative than `verbiage'.
X
Xverbiage: n. When the context involves a software or hardware
X   system, this refers to {{documentation}}.  This term borrows the
X   connotations of mainstream `verbiage' to suggest that the
X   documentation is of marginal utility, and that the motives from
X   which it is produced have little to do with the ostensible subject.
X
XVersion 7: alt. V7 /vee se'vn/ n. The 1978 unsupported release of
X   {UNIX} ancestral to all current commercial versions.  Before
X   the release of the POSIX/SVID standards, V7's features were often
X   treated as a UNIX portability baseline.  See {BSD}, {USG UNIX},
X   {UNIX}.  Some old-timers impatient with commercialization and
X   kernel bloat still maintain that V7 was the Last True UNIX.
X
Xvgrep: /vee'grep/ v.,n. Visual grep.  The operation of finding
X   patterns in a file {by hand}.  See {grep}; compare {vdiff}.
X
Xvi: /vee ie/, *not* /vie/ and *never* /siks/ [from
X   `Visual Interface'] n. A screen editor crufted together by Bill Joy
X   for an early {BSD} version.  Became the de-facto standard UNIX
X   editor and a nearly undisputed hacker favorite until the rise of
X   {EMACS} after about 1984.  Tends to frustrate new users no end,
X   as it will neither take commands while accepting input text nor
X   vice versa, and the default setup provides no indication of which
X   mode one is in (one correspondent accordingly reports that he has
X   often heard the editor's name pronounced /viel/).  Nevertheless it
X   is still widely used (about half the respondents in a 1991 USENET
X   poll preferred it), and even EMACS fans often resort to it as a
X   mail editor and for small editing jobs (mainly because it starts up
X   faster than bulky EMACS).  See {holy wars}.
X
Xvideotex: n.obs. An electronic service offering people the
X   privilege of paying to read the weather on their television screens
X   instead of having somebody read it to them for free while they brush
X   their teeth.  The idea bombed, because by the time videotex was
X   practical the installed base of personal computers could hook up to
X   timesharing services and do the things videotex might have been
X   worthwhile for better and cheaper.  Videotex planners badly
X   overestimated both the appeal of getting information from a
X   computer and the cost of local intelligence at the user's end.
X   Like the {gorilla arm} effect, this has been a cautionary tale to
X   hackers ever since.
X
Xvirgin: adj. Unused, in reference to an instantiation of a program.
X   "Let's bring up a virgin system and see if it crashes again."
X   Esp. useful after contracting a {virus} through {SEX}.  Also, by
X   extension, unused buffers and the like within a program.
X
Xvirtual: [via the technical term `virtual memory', prob. fr.
X   the term `virtual image' in optics] adj. 1. Common alternative
X   to {logical}.  2. Simulated; performing the functions of
X   something that isn't really there.  An imaginative child's doll may
X   be a virtual playmate.  Usage: never used with compass directions.
X
Xvirtual Friday: n. The last day before an extended weekend, if that
X   day is not a `real' Friday.  For example, the U.S. holiday
X   Thanksgiving is always on a Thursday.  The next day is often also
X   taken as a holiday or extra day off, in which case Wednesday of
X   that week is a virtual Friday (and Friday is a virtual Saturday).
X   There are also `virtual Mondays' that are actually Tuesdays,
X   after the three-day weekends associated with many U.S. national
X   holidays.
X
Xvirtual reality: n. 1. Computer simulations that involve OB3D graphics
X   and use devices such as the Dataglove to allow the user to interact
X   with the simulation.  See {cyberspace}.  2. A form of network
X   interaction incorporating aspects of role-playing games,
X   interactive theater, improvisational comedy, and `true
X   confessions' magazines.  In a virtual reality forum (such as
SHAR_EOF
true || echo 'restore of jargon.ascii failed'
fi
echo 'End of part 15, continue with part 16'
echo 16 > _shar_seq_.tmp
exit 0