The Jargon File - Eric S. Raymond (best books for 8th graders .txt) 📗

class="calibre2">between multiple instances of a program running in a multitasking OS.

Compare [13289]English. 2. Textual material in the mainstream sense;

data in ordinary [13290]ASCII or [13291]EBCDIC representation (see

[13292]flat-ASCII). "Those are text files; you can review them using

the editor." These two contradictory senses confuse hackers, too.

Node:thanks in advance, Next:[13293]That's not a bug that's a

feature!, Previous:[13294]text, Up:[13295]= T =

thanks in advance

[Usenet] Conventional net.politeness ending a posted request for

information or assistance. Sometimes written `advTHANKSance' or

aTdHvAaNnKcSe' or abbreviatedTIA'. See [13296]net.-,

[13297]netiquette.

Node:That's not a bug that's a feature!, Next:[13298]the literature,

Previous:[13299]thanks in advance, Up:[13300]= T =

That's not a bug, that's a feature!

The [13301]canonical first parry in a debate about a purported bug.

The complainant, if unconvinced, is likely to retort that the bug is

then at best a [13302]misfeature. See also [13303]feature.

Node:the literature, Next:[13304]the network, Previous:[13305]That's

not a bug that's a feature!, Up:[13306]= T =

the literature n.

Computer-science journals and other publications, vaguely gestured at

to answer a question that the speaker believes is [13307]trivial.

Thus, one might answer an annoying question by saying "It's in the

literature." Oppose [13308]Knuth, which has no connotation of

triviality.

Node:the network, Next:[13309]the X that can be Y is not the true X,

Previous:[13310]the literature, Up:[13311]= T =

the network n.

Historicaslly, the union of all the major noncommercial, academic,

and hacker-oriented networks, such as Internet, the pre-1990 ARPANET,

NSFnet, [13312]BITNET, and the virtual UUCP and [13313]Usenet

`networks', plus the corporate in-house networks and commercial

time-sharing services (such as CompuServe, GEnie and AOL) that gateway

to them. A site is generally considered `on the network' if it can be

reached through some combination of Internet-style (@-sign) and UUCP

(bang-path) addresses. See [13314]Internet, [13315]bang path,

[13316]Internet address, [13317]network address. 2. Following the

mass-culture discovery of the Internet in 1994 and subsequent

proliferation of cheap TCP/IP connections, "the network" is

increasingly synonymous with the Internet itself (as it was before the

second wave of wide-area computer networking began around 1980). 3. A

fictional conspiracy of libertarian hacker-subversives and

anti-authoritarian monkeywrenchers described in Robert Anton Wilson's

novel "Schr�dinger's Cat", to which many hackers have subsequently

decided they belong (this is an example of [13318]ha ha only serious).

In sense 1, the network' is often abbreviated tothe net'. "Are you

on the net?" is a frequent question when hackers first meet face to

face, and "See you on the net!" is a frequent goodbye.

Node:the X that can be Y is not the true X, Next:[13319]theology,

Previous:[13320]the network, Up:[13321]= T =

the X that can be Y is not the true X

Yet another instance of hackerdom's peculiar attraction to mystical

references -- a common humorous way of making exclusive statements

about a class of things. The template is from the "Tao te Ching": "The

Tao which can be spoken of is not the true Tao." The implication is

often that the X is a mystery accessible only to the enlightened. See

the [13322]trampoline entry for an example, and compare [13323]has the

X nature.

Node:theology, Next:[13324]theory, Previous:[13325]the X that can be Y

is not the true X, Up:[13326]= T =

theology n.

Ironically or humorously used to refer to [13327]religious issues.

Technical fine points of an abstruse nature, esp. those where the

resolution is of theoretical interest but is relatively

[13328]marginal with respect to actual use of a design or system. Used

esp. around software issues with a heavy AI or language-design

component, such as the smart-data vs. smart-programs dispute in AI.

Node:theory, Next:[13329]thinko, Previous:[13330]theology, Up:[13331]=

T =

theory n.

The consensus, idea, plan, story, or set of rules that is currently

being used to inform a behavior. This usage is a generalization and

(deliberate) abuse of the technical meaning. "What's the theory on

fixing this TECO loss?" "What's the theory on dinner tonight?"

("Chinatown, I guess.") "What's the current theory on letting lusers

on during the day?" "The theory behind this change is to fix the

following well-known screw...."

Node:thinko, Next:[13332]This can't happen, Previous:[13333]theory,

Up:[13334]= T =

thinko /thing'koh/ n.

[by analogy with `typo'] A momentary, correctable glitch in mental

processing, especially one involving recall of information learned by

rote; a bubble in the stream of consciousness. Syn. [13335]braino; see

also [13336]brain fart. Compare [13337]mouso.

Node:This can't happen, Next:[13338]This time for sure!,

Previous:[13339]thinko, Up:[13340]= T =

This can't happen

Less clipped variant of [13341]can't happen.

Node:This time for sure!, Next:[13342]thrash, Previous:[13343]This

can't happen, Up:[13344]= T =

This time, for sure! excl.

Ritual affirmation frequently uttered during protracted debugging

sessions involving numerous small obstacles (e.g., attempts to bring

up a UUCP connection). For the proper effect, this must be uttered in

a fruity imitation of Bullwinkle J. Moose. Also heard: "Hey, Rocky!

Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat!" The [13345]canonical response

is, of course, "But that trick never works!" See [13346]hacker humor.

Node:thrash, Next:[13347]thread, Previous:[13348]This time for sure!,

Up:[13349]= T =

thrash vi.

To move wildly or violently, without accomplishing anything useful.

Paging or swapping systems that are overloaded waste most of their

time moving data into and out of core (rather than performing useful

computation) and are therefore said to thrash. Someone who keeps

changing his mind (esp. about what to work on next) is said to be

thrashing. A person frantically trying to execute too many tasks at

once (and not spending enough time on any single task) may also be

described as thrashing. Compare [13350]multitask.

Node:thread, Next:[13351]three-finger salute, Previous:[13352]thrash,

Up:[13353]= T =

thread n.

[Usenet, GEnie, CompuServe] Common abbreviation of `topic thread', a

more or less continuous chain of postings on a single topic. To

`follow a thread' is to read a series of Usenet postings sharing a

common subject or (more correctly) which are connected by Reference

headers. The better newsreaders can present news in thread order

automatically. Not to be confused with the techspeak sense of

`thread', e.g. a lightweight process.

Interestingly, this is far from a neologism. The OED says: "That which

connects the successive points in anything, esp. a narrative, train of

thought, or the like; the sequence of events or ideas continuing

throughout the whole course of anything;" Citations are given going

back to 1642!

Node:three-finger salute, Next:[13354]throwaway account,

Previous:[13355]thread, Up:[13356]= T =

three-finger salute n.

Syn. [13357]Vulcan nerve pinch.

Node:throwaway account, Next:[13358]thud, Previous:[13359]three-finger

salute, Up:[13360]= T =

throwaway account n.

An inexpensive Internet account purchased on a legitimate

[13361]ISP for the the sole purpose of spewing [13362]spam. 2. An

inexpensive Internet account obtained for the sole purpose of doing

something which requires a valid email address but being able to

ignore spam since the user will not look at the account again.

Node:thud, Next:[13363]thumb, Previous:[13364]throwaway account,

Up:[13365]= T =

thud n.

Yet another [13366]metasyntactic variable (see [13367]foo). It is

reported that at CMU from the mid-1970s the canonical series of these

was foo',bar', thud',blat'. 2. Rare term for the hash character,

`#' (ASCII 0100011). See [13368]ASCII for other synonyms.

Node:thumb, Next:[13369]thundering herd problem, Previous:[13370]thud,

Up:[13371]= T =

thumb n.

The slider on a window-system scrollbar. So called because moving it

allows you to browse through the contents of a text window in a way

analogous to thumbing through a book.

Node:thundering herd problem, Next:[13372]thunk,

Previous:[13373]thumb, Up:[13374]= T =

thundering herd problem

Scheduler thrashing. This can happen under Unix when you have a number

of processes that are waiting on a single event. When that event (a

connection to the web server, say) happens, every process which could

possibly handle the event is awakened. In the end, only one of those

processes will actually be able to do the work, but, in the meantime,

all the others wake up and contend for CPU time before being put back

to sleep. Thus the system thrashes briefly while a herd of processes

thunders through. If this starts to happen many times per second, the

performance impact can be significant.

Node:thunk, Next:[13375]tick, Previous:[13376]thundering herd problem,

Up:[13377]= T =

thunk /thuhnk/ n.

[obs.]"A piece of coding which provides an address", according to

P. Z. Ingerman, who invented thunks in 1961 as a way of binding actual

parameters to their formal definitions in Algol-60 procedure calls. If

a procedure is called with an expression in the place of a formal

parameter, the compiler generates a thunk which computes the

expression and leaves the address of the result in some standard

location. 2. Later generalized into: an expression, frozen together

with its environment, for later evaluation if and when needed (similar

to what in techspeak is called a `closure'). The process of unfreezing

these thunks is called `forcing'. 3. A [13378]stubroutine, in an

overlay programming environment, that loads and jumps to the correct

overlay. Compare [13379]trampoline. 4. People and activities scheduled

in a thunklike manner. "It occurred to me the other day that I am

rather accurately modeled by a thunk -- I frequently need to be forced

to completion." -- paraphrased from a [13380]plan file.

Historical note: There are a couple of onomatopoeic myths circulating

about the origin of this term. The most common is that it is the sound

made by data hitting the stack; another holds that the sound is that

of the data hitting an accumulator. Yet another suggests that it is

the sound of the expression being unfrozen at argument-evaluation

time. In fact, according to the inventors, it was coined after they

realized (in the wee hours after hours of discussion) that the type of

an argument in Algol-60 could be figured out in advance with a little

compile-time thought, simplifying the evaluation machinery. In other

words, it had `already been thought of'; thus it was christened a

thunk', which is "the past tense ofthink' at two in the morning".

Node:tick, Next:[13381]tick-list features, Previous:[13382]thunk,

Up:[13383]= T =

tick n.

A [13384]jiffy (sense 1). 2. In simulations, the discrete unit of

time that passes between iterations of the simulation mechanism. In AI

applications, this amount of time is often left unspecified, since the

only constraint of interest is the ordering of events. This sort of AI

simulation is often pejoratively referred to as `tick-tick-tick'

simulation, especially when the issue of simultaneity of events with

long, independent chains of causes is [13385]handwaved. 3. In the

FORTH language, a single quote character.

Node:tick-list features, Next:[13386]tickle a bug,

Previous:[13387]tick, Up:[13388]= T =

tick-list features n.

[Acorn Computers] Features in software or hardware that customers

insist on but never use (calculators in desktop TSRs and that sort of

thing). The American equivalent would be `checklist features', but

this jargon sense of the phrase has not been reported.

Node:tickle a bug, Next:[13389]tiger team, Previous:[13390]tick-list

features, Up:[13391]= T =

tickle a bug vt.

To cause a normally hidden bug to manifest itself through some known

series of inputs or operations. "You can tickle the bug in the

Paradise VGA card's highlight handling by trying to set bright yellow

reverse video."

Node:tiger team, Next:[13392]time bomb, Previous:[13393]tickle a bug,

Up:[13394]= T =

tiger team n.

[U.S. military jargon] 1. Originally, a team (of [13395]sneakers)

whose purpose is to penetrate security, and thus test security

measures. These people are paid professionals who do hacker-type

tricks, e.g., leave cardboard signs saying "bomb" in critical defense

installations, hand-lettered notes saying "Your codebooks have been

stolen" (they usually haven't been) inside safes, etc. After a

successful penetration, some high-ranking security type shows up the

next morning for a `security review' and finds the sign, note, etc.,

and all hell breaks loose. Serious successes of tiger teams sometimes

lead to early retirement for base commanders and security officers

(see the [13396]patch entry for an example). 2. Recently, and more

generally, any official inspection team or special [13397]firefighting

group called in to look at a problem.

A subset of tiger teams are professional [13398]crackers, testing the

security of military computer installations by attempting remote

attacks via networks or supposedly `secure'