The Jargon File - Eric S. Raymond (best books for 8th graders .txt) 📗
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WAITS (the name itself having been arrived at by a rather sideways
process), but it was frequently glossed as `West-coast Alternative to
ITS'. Though WAITS was less visible than ITS, there was frequent
exchange of people and ideas between the two communities, and
innovations pioneered at WAITS exerted enormous indirect influence.
The early screen modes of [14382]EMACS, for example, were directly
inspired by WAITS's `E' editor -- one of a family of editors that were
the first to do `real-time editing', in which the editing commands
were invisible and where one typed text at the point of
insertion/overwriting. The modern style of multi-region windowing is
said to have originated there, and WAITS alumni at XEROX PARC and
elsewhere played major roles in the developments that led to the XEROX
Star, the Macintosh, and the Sun workstations. Also invented there
were [14383]bucky bits -- thus, the ALT key on every IBM PC is a WAITS
legacy. One WAITS feature very notable in pre-Web days was a news-wire
interface that allowed WAITS hackers to read, store, and filter AP and
UPI dispatches from their terminals; the system also featured a
still-unusual level of support for what is now called `multimedia'
computing, allowing analog audio and video signals to be switched to
programming terminals.
Node:waldo, Next:[14384]walk, Previous:[14385]WAITS, Up:[14386]= W =
waldo /wol'doh/ n.
[From Robert A. Heinlein's story "Waldo"] 1. A mechanical agent, such
as a gripper arm, controlled by a human limb. When these were
developed for the nuclear industry in the mid-1940s they were named
after the invention described by Heinlein in the story, which he wrote
in 1942. Now known by the more generic term `telefactoring', this
technology is of intense interest to NASA for tasks like space station
maintenance. 2. At Harvard (particularly by Tom Cheatham and
students), this is used instead of [14387]foobar as a metasyntactic
variable and general nonsense word. See [14388]foo, [14389]bar,
[14390]foobar, [14391]quux.
Node:walk, Next:[14392]walk off the end of, Previous:[14393]waldo,
Up:[14394]= W =
walk n.,vt.
Traversal of a data structure, especially an array or linked-list data
structure in [14395]core. See also [14396]codewalker, [14397]silly
walk, [14398]clobber.
Node:walk off the end of, Next:[14399]walking drives,
Previous:[14400]walk, Up:[14401]= W =
walk off the end of vt.
To run past the end of an array, list, or medium after stepping
through it -- a good way to land in trouble. Often the result of an
[14402]off-by-one error. Compare [14403]clobber, [14404]roach,
[14405]smash the stack.
Node:walking drives, Next:[14406]wall, Previous:[14407]walk off the
end of, Up:[14408]= W =
walking drives n.
An occasional failure mode of magnetic-disk drives back in the days
when they were huge, clunky [14409]washing machines. Those old
[14410]dinosaur parts carried terrific angular momentum; the
combination of a misaligned spindle or worn bearings and stick-slip
interactions with the floor could cause them to `walk' across a room,
lurching alternate corners forward a couple of millimeters at a time.
There is a legend about a drive that walked over to the only door to
the computer room and jammed it shut; the staff had to cut a hole in
the wall in order to get at it! Walking could also be induced by
certain patterns of drive access (a fast seek across the whole width
of the disk, followed by a slow seek in the other direction). Some
bands of old-time hackers figured out how to induce disk-accessing
patterns that would do this to particular drive models and held
disk-drive races.
Node:wall, Next:[14411]wall follower, Previous:[14412]walking drives,
Up:[14413]= W =
wall interj.
[WPI] 1. An indication of confusion, usually spoken with a quizzical
tone: "Wall??" 2. A request for further explication. Compare
[14414]octal forty. 3. [Unix, from `write all'] v. To send a message
to everyone currently logged in, esp. with the wall(8) utility.
It is said that sense 1 came from the idiom `like talking to a blank
wall'. It was originally used in situations where, after you had
carefully answered a question, the questioner stared at you blankly,
clearly having understood nothing that was explained. You would then
throw out a "Hello, wall?" to elicit some sort of response from the
questioner. Later, confused questioners began voicing "Wall?"
themselves.
Node:wall follower, Next:[14415]wall time, Previous:[14416]wall,
Up:[14417]= W =
wall follower n.
A person or algorithm that compensates for lack of sophistication or
native stupidity by efficiently following some simple procedure shown
to have been effective in the past. Used of an algorithm, this is not
necessarily pejorative; it recalls `Harvey Wallbanger', the winning
robot in an early AI contest (named, of course, after the cocktail).
Harvey successfully solved mazes by keeping a `finger' on one wall and
running till it came out the other end. This was inelegant, but it was
mathematically guaranteed to work on simply-connected mazes -- and, in
fact, Harvey outperformed more sophisticated robots that tried to
`learn' each maze by building an internal representation of it. Used
of humans, the term is pejorative and implies an uncreative,
bureaucratic, by-the-book mentality. See also [14418]code grinder;
compare [14419]droid.
Node:wall time, Next:[14420]wall wart, Previous:[14421]wall follower,
Up:[14422]= W =
wall time n.
(also wall clock time') 1.Real world' time (what the clock on the
wall shows), as opposed to the system clock's idea of time. 2. The
real running time of a program, as opposed to the number of
[14423]ticks required to execute it (on a timesharing system these
always differ, as no one program gets all the ticks, and on
multiprocessor systems with good thread support one may get more
processor time than real time).
Node:wall wart, Next:[14424]wallpaper, Previous:[14425]wall time,
Up:[14426]= W =
wall wart n.
A small power-supply brick with integral male plug, designed to plug
directly into a wall outlet; called a `wart' because when installed on
a power strip it tends to block up at least one more socket than it
uses.. These are frequently associated with modems and other small
electronic devices which would become unacceptably bulky or hot if
they had power supplies on board (there are other reasons as well
having to do with the cost of UL certification).
Node:wallpaper, Next:[14427]wango, Previous:[14428]wall wart,
Up:[14429]= W =
wallpaper n.
A file containing a listing (e.g., assembly listing) or atranscript, esp. a file containing a transcript of all or part of a
login session. (The idea was that the paper for such listings was
essentially good only for wallpaper, as evidenced at Stanford, where
it was used to cover windows.) Now rare, esp. since other systems have
developed other terms for it (e.g., PHOTO on TWENEX). However, the
Unix world doesn't have an equivalent term, so perhaps
[14430]wallpaper will take hold there. The term probably originated on
ITS, where the commands to begin and end transcript files were :WALBEG
and :WALEND, with default file WALL PAPER (the space was a path
delimiter). 2. The background pattern used on graphical workstations
(this is techspeak under the `Windows' graphical user interface to
MS-DOS). 3. `wallpaper file' n. The file that contains the wallpaper
information before it is actually printed on paper. (Even if you don't
intend ever to produce a real paper copy of the file, it is still
called a wallpaper file.)
Node:wango, Next:[14431]wank, Previous:[14432]wallpaper, Up:[14433]= W
=
wango /wang'goh/ n.
Random bit-level [14434]grovelling going on in a system during some
unspecified operation. Often used in combination with [14435]mumble.
For example: "You start with the `.o' file, run it through this
postprocessor that does mumble-wango -- and it comes out a snazzy
object-oriented executable."
Node:wank, Next:[14436]wannabee, Previous:[14437]wango, Up:[14438]= W
=
wank /wangk/ n.,v.,adj.
[Columbia University: prob. by mutation from Commonwealth slang v.
`wank', to masturbate] Used much as [14439]hack is elsewhere, as a
noun denoting a clever technique or person or the result of such
cleverness. May describe (negatively) the act of hacking for hacking's
sake ("Quit wanking, let's go get supper!") or (more positively) a
[14440]wizard. Adj. `wanky' describes something particularly clever (a
person, program, or algorithm). Conversations can also get wanky when
there are too many wanks involved. This excess wankiness is signalled
by an overload of the `wankometer' (compare [14441]bogometer). When
the wankometer overloads, the conversation's subject must be changed,
or all non-wanks will leave. Compare `neep-neeping' (under
[14442]neep-neep). Usage: U.S. only. In Britain and the Commonwealth
this word is extremely rude and is best avoided unless one intends to
give offense. Adjectival `wanky' is less offensive and simply means
stupid' orbroken' (this is mainstream in Great Britain).
Node:wannabee, Next:[14443]war dialer, Previous:[14444]wank,
Up:[14445]= W =
wannabee /won'*-bee/ n.
(also, more plausibly, spelled `wannabe') [from a term recently used
to describe Madonna fans who dress, talk, and act like their idol;
prob. originally from biker slang] A would-be [14446]hacker. The
connotations of this term differ sharply depending on the age and
exposure of the subject. Used of a person who is in or might be
entering [14447]larval stage, it is semi-approving; such wannabees can
be annoying but most hackers remember that they, too, were once such
creatures. When used of any professional programmer, CS academic,
writer, or [14448]suit, it is derogatory, implying that said person is
trying to cuddle up to the hacker mystique but doesn't, fundamentally,
have a prayer of understanding what it is all about. Overuse of terms
from this lexicon is often an indication of the [14449]wannabee
nature. Compare [14450]newbie.
Historical note: The wannabee phenomenon has a slightly different
flavor now (1993) than it did ten or fifteen years ago. When the
people who are now hackerdom's tribal elders were in [14451]larval
stage, the process of becoming a hacker was largely unconscious and
unaffected by models known in popular culture -- communities formed
spontaneously around people who, as individuals, felt irresistibly
drawn to do hackerly things, and what wannabees experienced was a
fairly pure, skill-focused desire to become similarly wizardly. Those
days of innocence are gone forever; society's adaptation to the advent
of the microcomputer after 1980 included the elevation of the hacker
as a new kind of folk hero, and the result is that some people
semi-consciously set out to be hackers and borrow hackish prestige by
fitting the popular image of hackers. Fortunately, to do this really
well, one has to actually become a wizard. Nevertheless, old-time
hackers tend to share a poorly articulated disquiet about the change;
among other things, it gives them mixed feelings about the effects of
public compendia of lore like this one.
Node:war dialer, Next:[14452]-ware, Previous:[14453]wannabee,
Up:[14454]= W =
war dialer n.
A cracking tool, a program that calls a given list or range of phone
numbers and records those which answer with handshake tones (and so
might be entry points to computer or telecommunications systems). Some
of these programs have become quite sophisticated, and can now detect
modem, fax, or PBX tones and log each one separately. The war dialer
is one of the most important tools in the [14455]phreaker's kit. These
programs evolved from early [14456]demon dialers.
Node:-ware, Next:[14457]warez, Previous:[14458]war dialer, Up:[14459]=
W =
-ware suff.
[from `software'] Commonly used to form jargon terms for classes of
software. For examples, see [14460]annoyware, [14461]careware,
[14462]crippleware, [14463]crudware, [14464]freeware,
[14465]fritterware, [14466]guiltware, [14467]liveware,
[14468]meatware, [14469]payware, [14470]psychedelicware,
[14471]shareware, [14472]shelfware, [14473]vaporware, [14474]wetware.
Node:warez, Next:[14475]warez d00dz, Previous:[14476]-ware,
Up:[14477]= W =
warez /weirz/ n.
Widely used in [14478]cracker subcultures to denote cracked version of
commercial software, that is versions from which copy-protection has
been stripped. Hackers recognize this term but don't use it
themselves. See [14479]warez d00dz, [14480]courier, [14481]leech,
[14482]elite.
Node:warez d00dz, Next:[14483]warez kiddies, Previous:[14484]warez,
Up:[14485]= W =
warez d00dz /weirz doodz/ n.
A substantial subculture of [14486]crackers refer to themselves as
`warez d00dz'; there is evidently some connection with [14487]B1FF
here. As `Ozone Pilot', one former warez d00d, wrote:
Warez d00dz get illegal copies of copyrighted software. If it has
copy protection on it, they break the protection so the software
can be copied. Then they distribute it around the world via several
gateways. Warez d00dz form badass group names like RAZOR and the
like. They put up boards
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