The Jargon File - Eric S. Raymond (best books for 8th graders .txt) 📗
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[3319]freeware circulated by user's groups and BBS systems in the
micro-hobbyist world. "Yet another set of disk catalog utilities for
[3320]MS-DOS? What crudware!"
Node:cruft, Next:[3321]cruft together, Previous:[3322]crudware,
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cruft /kruhft/
[very common; back-formation from [3324]crufty] 1. n. An unpleasant
substance. The dust that gathers under your bed is cruft; the TMRC
Dictionary correctly noted that attacking it with a broom only
produces more. 2. n. The results of shoddy construction. 3. vt. [from
hand cruft', pun onhand craft'] To write assembler code for
something normally (and better) done by a compiler (see
[3325]hand-hacking). 4. n. Excess; superfluous junk; used esp. of
redundant or superseded code. 5. [University of Wisconsin] n. Cruft is
to hackers as gaggle is to geese; that is, at UW one properly says "a
cruft of hackers".
Node:cruft together, Next:[3326]cruftsmanship, Previous:[3327]cruft,
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cruft together vt.
(also `cruft up') To throw together something ugly but temporarily
workable. Like vt. [3329]kluge up, but more pejorative. "There isn't
any program now to reverse all the lines of a file, but I can probably
cruft one together in about 10 minutes." See [3330]hack together,
[3331]hack up, [3332]kluge up, [3333]crufty.
Node:cruftsmanship, Next:[3334]crufty, Previous:[3335]cruft together,
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cruftsmanship /kruhfts'm*n-ship / n.
[from [3337]cruft] The antithesis of craftsmanship.
Node:crufty, Next:[3338]crumb, Previous:[3339]cruftsmanship,
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crufty /kruhf'tee/ adj.
[very common; origin unknown; poss. from crusty' orcruddy'] 1.
Poorly built, possibly over-complex. The [3341]canonical example is
"This is standard old crufty [3342]DEC software". In fact, one
fanciful theory of the origin of `crufty' holds that was originally a
mutation of crusty' applied to DEC software so old that thes'
characters were tall and skinny, looking more like `f' characters. 2.
Unpleasant, especially to the touch, often with encrusted junk. Like
spilled coffee smeared with peanut butter and catsup. 3. Generally
unpleasant. 4. (sometimes spelled `cruftie') n. A small crufty object
(see [3343]frob); often one that doesn't fit well into the scheme of
things. "A LISP property list is a good place to store crufties (or,
collectively, [3344]random cruft)."
This term is one of the oldest in the jargon and no one is sure of its
etymology, but it is suggestive that there is a Cruft Hall at Harvard
University which is part of the old physics building; it's said to
have been the physics department's radar lab during WWII. To this day
(early 1993) the windows appear to be full of random techno-junk. MIT
or Lincoln Labs people may well have coined the term as a knock on the
competition.
Node:crumb, Next:[3345]crunch, Previous:[3346]crufty, Up:[3347]= C =
crumb n.
Two binary digits; a [3348]quad. Larger than a [3349]bit, smaller than
a [3350]nybble. Considered silly. Syn. [3351]tayste. General
discussion of such terms is under [3352]nybble.
Node:crunch, Next:[3353]cryppie, Previous:[3354]crumb, Up:[3355]= C =
crunch 1. vi.
To process, usually in a time-consuming or complicated way. Connotes
an essentially trivial operation that is nonetheless painful to
perform. The pain may be due to the triviality's being embedded in a
loop from 1 to 1,000,000,000. "FORTRAN programs do mostly
[3356]number-crunching." 2. vt. To reduce the size of a file by a
complicated scheme that produces bit configurations completely
unrelated to the original data, such as by a Huffman code. (The file
ends up looking something like a paper document would if somebody
crunched the paper into a wad.) Since such compression usually takes
more computations than simpler methods such as run-length encoding,
the term is doubly appropriate. (This meaning is usually used in the
construction `file crunch(ing)' to distinguish it from
[3357]number-crunching.) See [3358]compress. 3. n. The character #.
Used at XEROX and CMU, among other places. See [3359]ASCII. 4. vt. To
squeeze program source into a minimum-size representation that will
still compile or execute. The term came into being specifically for a
famous program on the BBC micro that crunched BASIC source in order to
make it run more quickly (it was a wholly interpretive BASIC, so the
number of characters mattered). [3360]Obfuscated C Contest entries are
often crunched; see the first example under that entry.
Node:cryppie, Next:[3361]CTSS, Previous:[3362]crunch, Up:[3363]= C =
cryppie /krip'ee/ n.
A cryptographer. One who hacks or implements cryptographic software or
hardware.
Node:CTSS, Next:[3364]cube, Previous:[3365]cryppie, Up:[3366]= C =
CTSS /C-T-S-S/ n.
Compatible Time-Sharing System. An early (1963) experiment in the
design of interactive time-sharing operating systems, ancestral to
[3367]Multics, [3368]Unix, and [3369]ITS. The name [3370]ITS
(Incompatible Time-sharing System) was a hack on CTSS, meant both as a
joke and to express some basic differences in philosophy about the way
I/O services should be presented to user programs.
Node:cube, Next:[3371]cubing, Previous:[3372]CTSS, Up:[3373]= C =
cube n.
[short for `cubicle'] A module in the open-plan offices used atmany programming shops. "I've got the manuals in my cube." 2. A NeXT
machine (which resembles a matte-black cube).
Node:cubing, Next:[3374]cup holder, Previous:[3375]cube, Up:[3376]= C
=
cubing vi.
[parallel with `tubing'] 1. Hacking on an IPSC (Intel Personal
SuperComputer) hypercube. "Louella's gone cubing again!!" 2. Hacking
Rubik's Cube or related puzzles, either physically or mathematically.
An indescribable form of self-torture (see sense 1 or 2).Node:cup holder, Next:[3377]cursor dipped in X, Previous:[3378]cubing,
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cup holder n.
The tray of a CD-ROM drive, or by extension the CD drive itself. So
called because of a common tech support legend about the idiot who
called to complain that the cup holder on his computer broke. A joke
program was once distributed around the net called "cupholder.exe",
which when run simply extended the CD drive tray. The humor of this
was of course lost on people whose drive had a slot or a caddy
instead.
Node:cursor dipped in X, Next:[3380]cuspy, Previous:[3381]cup holder,
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cursor dipped in X n.
There are a couple of metaphors in English of the form `pen dipped in
X' (perhaps the most common values of X are acid',bile', and
`vitriol'). These map over neatly to this hackish usage (the cursor
being what moves, leaving letters behind, when one is composing
on-line). "Talk about a [3383]nastygram! He must've had his cursor
dipped in acid when he wrote that one!"
Node:cuspy, Next:[3384]cut a tape, Previous:[3385]cursor dipped in X,
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cuspy /kuhs'pee/ adj.
[WPI: from the [3387]DEC abbreviation CUSP, for `Commonly Used System
Program', i.e., a utility program used by many people] 1. (of a
program) Well-written. 2. Functionally excellent. A program that
performs well and interfaces well to users is cuspy. See [3388]rude.
[NYU] Said of an attractive woman, especially one regarded asavailable. Implies a certain curvaceousness.
Node:cut a tape, Next:[3389]cybercrud, Previous:[3390]cuspy,
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cut a tape vi.
To write a software or document distribution on magnetic tape for
shipment. Has nothing to do with physically cutting the medium! Early
versions of this lexicon claimed that one never analogously speaks of
`cutting a disk', but this has since been reported as live usage.
Related slang usages are mainstream business's `cut a check', the
recording industry's cut a record', and the military'scut an
order'.
All of these usages reflect physical processes in obsolete recording
and duplication technologies. The first stage in manufacturing an
old-style vinyl record involved cutting grooves in a stamping die with
a precision lathe. More mundanely, the dominant technology for mass
duplication of paper documents in pre-photocopying days involved
"cutting a stencil", punching away portions of the wax overlay on a
silk screen. More directly, paper tape with holes punched in it was an
important early storage medium.
Node:cybercrud, Next:[3392]cyberpunk, Previous:[3393]cut a tape,
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cybercrud /si:'ber-kruhd/ n.
[coined by Ted Nelson] Obfuscatory tech-talk. Verbiage with a high[3395]MEGO factor. The computer equivalent of bureaucratese. 2.
Incomprehensible stuff embedded in email. First there were the
"Received" headers that show how mail flows through systems, then MIME
(Multi-purpose Internet Mail Extensions) headers and part boundaries,
and now huge blocks of radix-64 for PEM (Privacy Enhanced Mail) or PGP
(Pretty Good Privacy) digital signatures and certificates of
authenticity. This stuff all services a purpose and good user
interfaces should hide it, but all too often users are forced to wade
through it.
Node:cyberpunk, Next:[3396]cyberspace, Previous:[3397]cybercrud,
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cyberpunk /si:'ber-puhnk/ n.,adj.
[orig. by SF writer Bruce Bethke and/or editor Gardner Dozois] A
subgenre of SF launched in 1982 by William Gibson's epoch-making novel
"Neuromancer" (though its roots go back through Vernor Vinge's "True
Names" (see the [3399]Bibliography in Appendix C) to John Brunner's
1975 novel "The Shockwave Rider"). Gibson's near-total ignorance of
computers and the present-day hacker culture enabled him to speculate
about the role of computers and hackers in the future in ways hackers
have since found both irritatingly na�ve and tremendously stimulating.
Gibson's work was widely imitated, in particular by the short-lived
but innovative "Max Headroom" TV series. See [3400]cyberspace,
[3401]ice, [3402]jack in, [3403]go flatline.
Since 1990 or so, popular culture has included a movement or fashion
trend that calls itself `cyberpunk', associated especially with the
rave/techno subculture. Hackers have mixed feelings about this. On the
one hand, self-described cyberpunks too often seem to be shallow
trendoids in black leather who have substituted enthusiastic
blathering about technology for actually learning and doing it.
Attitude is no substitute for competence. On the other hand, at least
cyberpunks are excited about the right things and properly respectful
of hacking talent in those who have it. The general consensus is to
tolerate them politely in hopes that they'll attract people who grow
into being true hackers.
Node:cyberspace, Next:[3404]cycle, Previous:[3405]cyberpunk,
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cyberspace /si:'br-spays`/ n.
Notional `information-space' loaded with visual cues and navigablewith brain-computer interfaces called `cyberspace decks'; a
characteristic prop of [3407]cyberpunk SF. Serious efforts to
construct [3408]virtual reality interfaces modeled explicitly on
Gibsonian cyberspace are under way, using more conventional devices
such as glove sensors and binocular TV headsets. Few hackers are
prepared to deny outright the possibility of a cyberspace someday
evolving out of the network (see [3409]the network). 2. The Internet
or [3410]Matrix (sense #2) as a whole, considered as a crude
cyberspace (sense 1). Although this usage became widely popular in the
mainstream press during 1994 when the Internet exploded into public
awareness, it is strongly deprecated among hackers because the
Internet does not meet the high, SF-inspired standards they have for
true cyberspace technology. Thus, this use of the term usually tags a
[3411]wannabee or outsider. Oppose [3412]meatspace. 3. Occasionally,
the metaphoric location of the mind of a person in [3413]hack mode.
Some hackers report experiencing strong eidetic imagery when in hack
mode; interestingly, independent reports from multiple sources suggest
that there are common features to the experience. In particular, the
dominant colors of this subjective `cyberspace' are often gray and
silver, and the imagery often involves constellations of marching
dots, elaborate shifting patterns of lines and angles, or moire
patterns.
Node:cycle, Next:[3414]cycle crunch, Previous:[3415]cyberspace,
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cycle
n. The basic unit of computation. What every hacker wants more of(noted hacker Bill Gosper described himself as a "cycle junkie"). One
can describe an instruction as taking so many `clock cycles'. Often
the computer can access its memory once on every clock cycle, and so
one speaks also of `memory cycles'. These are technical meanings of
[3417]cycle. The jargon meaning comes from the observation that there
are only so many cycles per second, and when you are sharing a
computer the cycles get divided up among the users. The more cycles
the computer spends working on your program rather than someone
else's, the faster your program will run. That's why every hacker
wants more cycles: so he can spend less time waiting for the computer
to respond. 2. By extension, a notional unit of human thought power,
emphasizing that lots of things compete for the typical hacker's think
time. "I refused to get involved with the Rubik's Cube back when it
was big. Knew I'd burn too many cycles on it if I let myself." 3.
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