The Jargon File - Eric S. Raymond (best books for 8th graders .txt) 📗
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comp.risks article by Gene Spafford during the Worm crisis, and again
in the text of "The Internet Worm Program: An Analysis", Purdue
Technical Report CSD-TR-823.
Node:confuser, Next:[2943]connector conspiracy, Previous:[2944]condom,
Up:[2945]= C =
confuser n.
Common soundalike slang for `computer'. Usually encountered in
compounds such as confuser room',personal confuser', `confuser
guru'. Usage: silly.
Node:connector conspiracy, Next:[2946]cons, Previous:[2947]confuser,
Up:[2948]= C =
connector conspiracy n.
[probably came into prominence with the appearance of the KL-10 (one
model of the [2949]PDP-10), none of whose connectors matched anything
else] The tendency of manufacturers (or, by extension, programmers or
purveyors of anything) to come up with new products that don't fit
together with the old stuff, thereby making you buy either all new
stuff or expensive interface devices. The KL-10 Massbus connector was
actually patented by [2950]DEC, which reputedly refused to license the
design and thus effectively locked third parties out of competition
for the lucrative Massbus peripherals market. This policy is a source
of never-ending frustration for the diehards who maintain older PDP-10
or VAX systems. Their CPUs work fine, but they are stuck with dying,
obsolescent disk and tape drives with low capacity and high power
requirements.
(A closely related phenomenon, with a slightly different intent, is
the habit manufacturers have of inventing new screw heads so that only
Designated Persons, possessing the magic screwdrivers, can remove
covers and make repairs or install options. A good 1990s example is
the use of Torx screws for cable-TV set-top boxes. Older Apple
Macintoshes took this one step further, requiring not only a long Torx
screwdriver but a specialized case-cracking tool to open the box.)
In these latter days of open-systems computing this term has fallen
somewhat into disuse, to be replaced by the observation that
"Standards are great! There are so many of them to choose from!"
Compare [2951]backward combatability.
Node:cons, Next:[2952]considered harmful, Previous:[2953]connector
conspiracy, Up:[2954]= C =
cons /konz/ or /kons/
[from LISP] 1. vt. To add a new element to a specified list, esp. at
the top. "OK, cons picking a replacement for the console TTY onto the
agenda." 2. `cons up': vt. To synthesize from smaller pieces: "to cons
up an example".
In LISP itself, cons is the most fundamental operation for building
structures. It takes any two objects and returns a `dot-pair' or
two-branched tree with one object hanging from each branch. Because
the result of a cons is an object, it can be used to build binary
trees of any shape and complexity. Hackers think of it as a sort of
universal constructor, and that is where the jargon meanings spring
from.
Node:considered harmful, Next:[2955]console, Previous:[2956]cons,
Up:[2957]= C =
considered harmful adj.
[very common] Edsger W. Dijkstra's note in the March 1968
"Communications of the ACM", "Goto Statement Considered Harmful",
fired the first salvo in the structured programming wars (text at
[2958]http://www.acm.org/classics). Amusingly, the ACM considered the
resulting acrimony sufficiently harmful that it will (by policy) no
longer print an article taking so assertive a position against a
coding practice. (Years afterwards, a contrary view was uttered in a
CACM letter called, inevitably, "`Goto considered harmful' considered
harmful'"'. In the ensuing decades, a large number of both serious
papers and parodies have borne titles of the form "X considered Y".
The structured-programming wars eventually blew over with the
realization that both sides were wrong, but use of such titles has
remained as a persistent minor in-joke (the `considered silly' found
at various places in this lexicon is related).
Node:console, Next:[2959]console jockey, Previous:[2960]considered
harmful, Up:[2961]= C =
console n.
The operator's station of a [2962]mainframe. In times past, thiswas a privileged location that conveyed godlike powers to anyone with
fingers on its keys. Under Unix and other modern timesharing OSes,
such privileges are guarded by passwords instead, and the console is
just the [2963]tty the system was booted from. Some of the mystique
remains, however, and it is traditional for sysadmins to post urgent
messages to all users from the console (on Unix, /dev/console). 2. On
microcomputer Unix boxes, the main screen and keyboard (as opposed to
character-only terminals talking to a serial port). Typically only the
console can do real graphics or run [2964]X.
Node:console jockey, Next:[2965]content-free, Previous:[2966]console,
Up:[2967]= C =
console jockey n.
See [2968]terminal junkie.
Node:content-free, Next:[2969]control-C, Previous:[2970]console
jockey, Up:[2971]= C =
content-free adj.
[by analogy with techspeak `context-free'] Used of a message that adds
nothing to the recipient's knowledge. Though this adjective is
sometimes applied to [2972]flamage, it more usually connotes derision
for communication styles that exalt form over substance or are
centered on concerns irrelevant to the subject ostensibly at hand.
Perhaps most used with reference to speeches by company presidents and
other professional manipulators. "Content-free? Uh... that's anything
printed on glossy paper." (See also [2973]four-color glossies.) "He
gave a talk on the implications of electronic networks for
postmodernism and the fin-de-siecle aesthetic. It was content-free."
Node:control-C, Next:[2974]control-O, Previous:[2975]content-free,
Up:[2976]= C =
control-C vi.
"Stop whatever you are doing." From the interrupt character used onmany operating systems to abort a running program. Considered silly.
interj. Among BSD Unix hackers, the canonical humorous response to"Give me a break!"
Node:control-O, Next:[2977]control-Q, Previous:[2978]control-C,
Up:[2979]= C =
control-O vi.
"Stop talking." From the character used on some operating systems to
abort output but allow the program to keep on running. Generally means
that you are not interested in hearing anything more from that person,
at least on that topic; a standard response to someone who is flaming.
Considered silly. Compare [2980]control-S.
Node:control-Q, Next:[2981]control-S, Previous:[2982]control-O,
Up:[2983]= C =
control-Q vi.
"Resume." From the ASCII DC1 or [2984]XON character (the pronunciation
/X-on/ is therefore also used), used to undo a previous
[2985]control-S.
Node:control-S, Next:[2986]Conway's Law, Previous:[2987]control-Q,
Up:[2988]= C =
control-S vi.
"Stop talking for a second." From the ASCII DC3 or XOFF character (the
pronunciation /X-of/ is therefore also used). Control-S differs from
[2989]control-O in that the person is asked to stop talking (perhaps
because you are on the phone) but will be allowed to continue when
you're ready to listen to him -- as opposed to control-O, which has
more of the meaning of "Shut up." Considered silly.
Node:Conway's Law, Next:[2990]cookbook, Previous:[2991]control-S,
Up:[2992]= C =
Conway's Law prov.
The rule that the organization of the software and the organization of
the software team will be congruent; commonly stated as "If you have
four groups working on a compiler, you'll get a 4-pass compiler". The
original statement was more general, "Organizations which design
systems are constrained to produce designs which are copies of the
communication structures of these organizations." This first appeared
in the April 1968 issue of [2993]Datamation. Compare [2994]SNAFU
principle.
The law was named after Melvin Conway, an early proto-hacker who wrote
an assembler for the Burroughs 220 called SAVE. (The name `SAVE'
didn't stand for anything; it was just that you lost fewer card decks
and listings because they all had SAVE written on them.)
There is also Tom Cheatham's amendment of Conway's Law: "If a group of
N persons implements a COBOL compiler, there will be N-1 passes.
Someone in the group has to be the manager."
Node:cookbook, Next:[2995]cooked mode, Previous:[2996]Conway's Law,
Up:[2997]= C =
cookbook n.
[from amateur electronics and radio] A book of small code segments
that the reader can use to do various [2998]magic things in programs.
One current example is the "[2999]PostScript Language Tutorial and
Cookbook" by Adobe Systems, Inc (Addison-Wesley, ISBN 0-201-10179-3),
also known as the [3000]Blue Book which has recipes for things like
wrapping text around arbitrary curves and making 3D fonts. Cookbooks,
slavishly followed, can lead one into [3001]voodoo programming, but
are useful for hackers trying to [3002]monkey up small programs in
unknown languages. This function is analogous to the role of
phrasebooks in human languages.
Node:cooked mode, Next:[3003]cookie, Previous:[3004]cookbook,
Up:[3005]= C =
cooked mode n.
[Unix, by opposition from [3006]raw mode] The normal character-input
mode, with interrupts enabled and with erase, kill and other
special-character interpretations performed directly by the tty
driver. Oppose [3007]raw mode, [3008]rare mode. This term is techspeak
under Unix but jargon elsewhere; other operating systems often have
similar mode distinctions, and the raw/rare/cooked way of describing
them has spread widely along with the C language and other Unix
exports. Most generally, `cooked mode' may refer to any mode of a
system that does extensive preprocessing before presenting data to a
program.
Node:cookie, Next:[3009]cookie bear, Previous:[3010]cooked mode,
Up:[3011]= C =
cookie n.
A handle, transaction ID, or other token of agreement between
cooperating programs. "I give him a packet, he gives me back a
cookie." The claim check you get from a dry-cleaning shop is a perfect
mundane example of a cookie; the only thing it's useful for is to
relate a later transaction to this one (so you get the same clothes
back). Compare [3012]magic cookie; see also [3013]fortune cookie. Now
mainstream in the specific sense of web-browser cookies.
Node:cookie bear, Next:[3014]cookie file, Previous:[3015]cookie,
Up:[3016]= C =
cookie bear n. obs.
Original term, pre-Sesame-Street, for what is now universally called a
[3017]cookie monster. A correspondent observes "In those days, hackers
were actually getting their yucks from...sit down now...Andy Williams.
Yes, that Andy Williams. Seems he had a rather hip (by the standards
of the day) TV variety show. One of the best parts of the show was the
recurring `cookie bear' sketch. In these sketches, a guy in a bear
suit tried all sorts of tricks to get a cookie out of Williams. The
sketches would always end with Williams shrieking (and I don't mean
figuratively), `No cookies! Not now, not ever...NEVER!!!' And the bear
would fall down. Great stuff."
Node:cookie file, Next:[3018]cookie jar, Previous:[3019]cookie bear,
Up:[3020]= C =
cookie file n.
A collection of [3021]fortune cookies in a format that facilitates
retrieval by a fortune program. There are several different cookie
files in public distribution, and site admins often assemble their own
from various sources including this lexicon.
Node:cookie jar, Next:[3022]cookie monster, Previous:[3023]cookie
file, Up:[3024]= C =
cookie jar n.
An area of memory set aside for storing [3025]cookies. Most commonly
heard in the Atari ST community; many useful ST programs record their
presence by storing a distinctive [3026]magic number in the jar.
Programs can inquire after the presence or otherwise of other programs
by searching the contents of the jar.
Node:cookie monster, Next:[3027]copious free time,
Previous:[3028]cookie jar, Up:[3029]= C =
cookie monster n.
[from the children's TV program "Sesame Street"] Any of a family of
early (1970s) hacks reported on [3030]TOPS-10, [3031]ITS,
[3032]Multics, and elsewhere that would lock up either the victim's
terminal (on a time-sharing machine) or the [3033]console (on a batch
[3034]mainframe), repeatedly demanding "I WANT A COOKIE". The required
responses ranged in complexity from "COOKIE" through "HAVE A COOKIE"
and upward. Folklorist Jan Brunvand (see [3035]FOAF) has described
these programs as urban legends (implying they probably never existed)
but they existed, all right, in several different versions. See also
[3036]wabbit. Interestingly, the term `cookie monster' appears to be a
[3037]retcon; the original term was [3038]cookie bear.
Node:copious free time, Next:[3039]copper, Previous:[3040]cookie
monster, Up:[3041]= C =
copious free time n.
[Apple; orig. fr. the intro to Tom Lehrer's song "It Makes A Fellow
Proud To Be A Soldier"] 1. [used ironically to indicate the speaker's
lack of the quantity in question] A mythical schedule slot for
accomplishing tasks held to be unlikely or impossible. Sometimes used
to indicate that the speaker is interested in accomplishing the task,
but believes that the opportunity will not arise. "I'll implement the
automatic layout stuff in my copious free time." 2. [Archly] Time
reserved for bogus or otherwise idiotic tasks, such as implementation
of [3042]chrome, or the stroking of [3043]suits. "I'll get back to him
on that feature in my copious free time."
Node:copper, Next:[3044]copy protection, Previous:[3045]copious free
time, Up:[3046]= C =
copper n.
Conventional electron-carrying network cable with a core conductor
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