Article 6516 of alt.folklore.computers:
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From: eric@snark.thyrsus.com (Eric S. Raymond)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers,comp.unix.internals,comp.misc
Subject: Jargon file v2.1.5 28 NOV 1990 -- part 6 of 6
Message-ID: <1YbxHj#2jzgrJ2StQml17gm0k86l6k4=eric@snark.thyrsus.com>
Date: 28 Nov 90 18:00:42 GMT
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Xref: wet alt.folklore.computers:6516 comp.unix.internals:283 comp.misc:3795


			= T =

T (tee) 1. [from LISP terminology for ``true''] Yes.  Usage: used in
   reply to a question, particularly one asked using the ``-P''
   convention).  See NIL.  2. See TIME T. 3. In transaction-processing
   circles, an abbreviation for the noun ``transaction''.

TALK MODE n. The state a terminal is in when linked to another via a
   bidirectional character pipe to support on-line dialogue between
   two or more users.  Talk mode has a special set of jargon words,
   used to save typing, which are not used orally:

	BCNU	Be seeing you.
	BTW	By the way...
	BYE?	Are you ready to unlink?  (This is the standard way to
		end a com mode conversation; the other person types
		BYE to confirm, or else continues the conversation.)
	CUL	See you later.
	FOO?	A greeting, also meaning R U THERE?  Often used in the
		case of unexpected links, meaning also ``Sorry if I
		butted in'' (linker) or ``What's up?'' (linkee).
	FYI	For your information...
	FYA	For your amusement...
	GA	Go ahead (used when two people have tried to type
		simultaneously; this cedes the right to type to
		the other).
	HELLOP	A greeting, also meaning R U THERE?  (An instance
		of the ``-P'' convention.)
	NIL	No (see the main entry for NIL).
	O	Over to you.
	OO	Over and out.
	OBTW	Oh, by the way...
	R U THERE?	Are you there?
	SEC	Wait a second (sometimes written SEC...).
	T	Yes (see the main entry for T).
	TNX	Thanks.
	TNX 1.0E6	Thanks a million (humorous).
	WTF	The universal interrogative particle. WTF knows what
		it means?
	WTH	What the hell
	<double CRLF>  When the typing party has finished, he types
		two CRLFs to signal that he is done; this leaves a
		blank line between individual ``speeches'' in the
		conversation, making it easier to re-read the
		preceding text.
	<name>:	When three or more terminals are linked, each speech
		is preceded by the typist's login name and a colon (or
		a hyphen) to indicate who is typing.  The login name
		often is shortened to a unique prefix (possibly a
		single letter) during a very long conversation.

   Most of the above ``sub-jargon'' is used at both Stanford and MIT.
   Several of these are also common in EMAIL, esp. FYI, FYA, BTW,
   BCNU, and CUL A few other abbrevs have been reported from
   commercial networks such as GEnie and Compuserve where on-line
   `live' chat including more than two people is common and usually
   involves a more `social' context, notably

	<g>	grin
	BRB	be right back
	HHOJ	ha ha only joking
	HHOS	HA HA ONLY SERIOUS
	LOL	laughing out load
	ROTF	rolling on the floor
	AFK	away from keyboard
	b4	before
	CU l8tr	see you later
	MORF	Male or Female?
	TTFN	ta-ta for now
	OIC	Oh, I see
	rehi	hello again

   These are not used at universities; conversely, most of the people
   who know these are unfamiliar with FOO?, BCNU, HELLOP, NIL, and T.

TANKED adj. Same as DOWN, used primarily by UNIX hackers. See also
   HOSED. Popularized as a synonym for ``drunk'' by Steve Dallas in
   the late lamented ``Bloom County'' comix.

TASTE n. [primarily MIT-DMS] The quality in programs which tends to be
   inversely proportional to the number of features, hacks, and kluges
   programmed into it.  Also, TASTY, TASTEFUL, TASTEFULNESS.  ``This
   feature comes in N tasty flavors.''  Although TASTEFUL and
   FLAVORFUL are essentially synonyms, TASTE and FLAVOR are not.

TCB (tee see bee) [IBM] Trouble Came Back. Intermittent or
   difficult-to reproduce problem which has failed to respond to
   neglect. Compare HEISENBUG.

TELERAT (tel'@-rat) n. Unflattering hackerism for ``Teleray'', a line
   of extremely losing terminals. See also TERMINAK, SUN-STOOLS,
   HP-SUX.

TELNET (telnet) v. To communicate with another ARPAnet host using the
   TELNET program.  TOPS-10 people use the word IMPCOM since that is
   the program name for them.  Sometimes abbreviated to TN.  ``I
   usually TN over to SAIL just to read the AP News.''

TENSE adj. Of programs, very clever and efficient.  A tense piece of
   code often got that way because it was highly bummed, but sometimes
   it was just based on a great idea.  A comment in a clever display
   routine by Mike Kazar: ``This routine is so tense it will bring
   tears to your eyes.  Much thanks to Craig Everhart and James
   Gosling for inspiring this hack attack.''  A tense programmer is
   one who produces tense code.

TERAFLOP CLUB (ter'a-flop kluhb) n. Mythical group of people who
   consume outragous amounts of computer time in order to produce a
   few simple pictures of glass balls with intricate ray tracing
   techniques.  Cal Tech professor James Kajiya is said to be the
   founding member.

TERMINAK (ter'mi-nak) [Caltech, ca. 1979] n. Any malfunctioning
   computer terminal. A common failure mode of Lear-Siegler ADM3a
   terminals caused the ``L'' key to produce the ``K'' code instead;
   complaints about this tended to look like ``Terminak #3 has a bad
   keyboard.  Pkease fix.'' See SUN-STOOLS, TELERAT, HP-SUX.

TERMINAL ILLNESS n. 1. Syn. with RASTER BURN.  2.  The `burn-in'
   condition your CRT tends to get if you don't have a screen saver.

TERPRI (ter'pree) [from the LISP 1.5 (and later, MacLISP) function to
   start a new line of output] v. To output a CRLF (q.v.).

THANKS IN ADVANCE [USENET] Conventional net.politeness ending a posted
   request for information or assistance. Sometimes written
   ``advTHANKSance''. See ``NET.'', NETIQUETTE.

THEOLOGY n. 1. Ironically used to refer to RELIGIOUS ISSUES.  2.
   Technical fine points of an abstruse nature, esp. those where the
   resolution is of theoretical interest but relatively MARGINAL with
   respect to actual use of a design or system. Used esp. around
   software issues with a heavy AI or language design component.
   Example: the deep- vs. shallow-binding debate in the design of
   dynamically-scoped LISPS.

THEORY n. Used in the general sense of idea, plan, story, or set of
   rules.  ``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...''

THINKO (thin'ko) [by analogy with `typo'] n. A bubble in the stream of
   consciousness; a momentary, correctable glitch in mental
   processing, especially one involving recall of information learned
   by rote. Compare MOUSO.

THRASH v. To move wildly or violently, without accomplishing anything
   useful.  Paging or swapping systems which 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.

THREE-FINGER SALUTE n. Syn. for VULCAN NERVE PINCH.

THUNK n. 1. An expression, frozen together with its environment for
   later evaluation if and when needed. The process of unfreezing a
   THUNK is called `7'scanf'. 2. People and and activities scheduled
   in a thunklike manner. ``It occurred to me the other day that I am
   rather accurately modelled by a thunk -- I frequently need to be
   forced to completion.'' -- paraphrased from a .plan file.

TICK n. 1. Interval of time; basic clock time on the computer.
   Typically 1/60 second.  See JIFFY.  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 that caused
   things happen after their causes.  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 handwaved.

TIME T (tiem tee) n. 1. An unspecified but usually well-understood
   time, often used in conjunction with a later time T+1.  ``We'll
   meet on campus at time T or at Louie's at time T+1.''  2. SINCE (OR
   AT) TIME T EQUALS MINUS INFINITY: A long time ago; for as long as
   anyone can remember; at the time that some particular frob was
   first designed.

TIP OF THE ICE-CUBE [IBM] n. The visible part of something small and
   insignificant. Used as an ironic comment in situations where ``tip
   of the iceberg'' might be appropriate if the subject were actually
   nontrivial.

TIRED IRON [IBM] n. Hardware that is perfectly functional but enough
   behind the state of the art to have been superseded by new
   products, presumably with enough improvement in bang-per-buck that
   the old stuff is starting to look a bit like a DINOSAUR.

TLA (tee el ay) [Three-Letter-Abbreviation] n. 1. Self-describing
   acronym for a species with which computing terminology is infested.
   2. Any confusing acronym at all.  Examples include MCA, FTP, SNA,
   CPU, MMU, SCCS, DMU, FPU, TLA, NNTP.  People who like this looser
   usage argue that not all TLAs have three letters, just as not all
   four letter words have four letters.

TOAST 1. n. Any completely inoperable system, esp. one that has just
   crashed; ``I think BUACCA is toast.'' 2. v. To cause a system to
   crash accidentally, especially in a manner that requires manual
   rebooting. ``Rick just toasted harp again.''

TOASTER n. 1. The archetypal really stupid application for an embedded
   microprocessor controller esp. `toaster oven'; often used in
   comments which imply that a scheme is inappropriate technology.
   ``DWIM for an assembler?  That'd be as silly as running UNIX on
   your toaster!'' 2.  A very very dumb computer. ``You could run this
   program on any dumb toaster.'' See BITTY BOX, TOASTER, TOY.

TOOL 1. n. A program primarily used to create other programs, such as
   a compiler or editor or cross-referencing program. Oppose APP,
   OPERATING SYSTEM. 2. [UNIX] An application program with a simple,
   ``transparent'' (typically text-stream) interface designed
   specifically to be used in programmed combination with other tools
   (see FILTER).  3. [MIT] v.i. To work; to study.  See HACK (def #9).

TOPS-10 (tops-ten) n. DEC's proprietary OS for the fabled PDP-10
   machines, long a favorite of hackers but now effectively extinct. A
   fountain of hacker folklore; see Appendix B. See also ITS, TOPS-20,
   TWENEX, VMS, OPERATING SYSTEM.

TOPS-20 (tops-twen'tee) n. See TWENEX.

TOURIST [from MIT's ITS system] n. A guest on the system, especially
   one who generally logs in over a network from a remote location for
   games and other trivial purposes. One step below LUSER. TOURISTIC
   is often used as a pejorative, as in ``losing touristic scum''.

TOY (toy) n. A computer system; always used with qualifiers. 1. NICE
   TOY One which supports the speaker's hacking style adequately. 2.
   JUST A TOY A machine that yields insufficient COMPUTRONS for the
   speaker's preferred uses (this is not condemnatory as is BITTY BOX,
   toys can at least be fun). See also GET A REAL COMPUTER, BITTY BOX.

TOY PROBLEM [AI] n. A deliberately simplified or even oversimplified
   case of a challenging problem used to investigate, prototype, or
   test algorithms for the real problem. Sometimes used pejoratively.
   See also GEDANKEN.

TRAP 1. n. A program interrupt, usually used specifically to refer to
   an interrupt caused by some illegal action taking place in the user
   program.  In most cases the system monitor performs some action
   related to the nature of the illegality, then returns control to
   the program.  See UUO.  2. v. To cause a trap.  ``These
   instructions trap to the monitor.''  Also used transitively to
   indicate the cause of the trap.  ``The monitor traps all
   input/output instructions.''

TRASH v. To destroy the contents of (said of a data structure). The
   most common of the family of near-synonyms including MUNG, MANGLE
   and SCRIBBLE.

TRIVIAL adj. 1. In explanation, too simple to bother detailing. 2. Not
   worth the speaker's time. 3. Complex, but solvable by methods so
   well-known that anyone not utterly CRETINOUS would have thought of
   them already. Hackers' notions of triviality may be quite at
   variance with those of non-hackers. See NONTRIVIAL, UNINTERESTING.

TROGLODYTE [Commodore] n. A hacker who never leaves his cubicle.  The
   term `Gnoll' (from D&D) is also reported.

TROGLODYTE MODE [Rice University] n. Programming with the lights
   turned off, sunglasses on, and the (character) terminal inverted
   (black on white) because you've been up for so many days straight
   that your eyes hurt. Loud music blaring from a stereo stacked in
   the corner is optional but recommended. See LARVAL STAGE, MODE.

TROJAN HORSE n. A program designed to break security or damage a
   system that is disguised as something else benign, such as a
   directory lister or archiver. See VIRUS, WORM.

TRUE-HACKER [analogy with ``trufan'' from SF fandom] n.  One who
   exemplifies the primary values of hacker culture, esp.  competence
   and helpfulness to other hackers. A high complement.  ``He spent
   six hours helping me bring up UUCP and netnews on my FOOBAR 4000
   last week -- unequivocally the act of a true-hacker.''  Compare
   DEMIGOD, oppose MUNCHKIN.

TTY (tee-tee-wie [UNIX], titty [ITS]) n. 1. Terminal of the teletype
   variety, characterized by a noisy mechanical printer, a very
   limited character set, and poor print quality.  Usage: antiquated
   (like the TTYs themselves).  2. [especially UNIX] Any terminal at
   all; sometimes used to refer to the particular terminal controlling
   a job.

TUBE n. A CRT terminal. Never used in the mainstream sense of TV; real
   hackers don't watch TV, except for Loony Toons and Bullwinkle &
   Rocky and the occasional cheesy old swashbuckle movie.

TUNE [from automotive or musical usage] v. To optimize a program or
   system for a particular environment. One may `tune for time'
   (fastest execution) `tune for space' (least memory utilization) or
   `tune for configuration' (most efficient use of hardware). See BUM,
   HOT SPOT, HAND-HACK.

TWEAK v. To change slightly, usually in reference to a value.  Also
   used synonymously with TWIDDLE.  See FROBNICATE and FUDGE FACTOR.

TWENEX (twe-neks) n. The TOPS-20 operating system by DEC.  So named
   because TOPS-10 was a typically crufty DEC operating system for the
   PDP-10.  BBN developed their own system, called TENEX (TEN
   EXecutive), and in creating TOPS-20 for the DEC-20 DEC copied TENEX
   and adapted it for the 20.  Usage: DEC people cringe when they hear
   TOPS-20 referred to as ``Twenex'', but the term seems to be
   catching on nevertheless.  Release 3 of TOPS-20 is sufficiently
   different from release 1 that some (not all) hackers have stopped
   calling it TWENEX, though the written abbreviation ``20x'' is still
   used.

TWIDDLE n. 1. tilde (ASCII 176, ``~'').  Also called ``squiggle'',
   ``sqiggle'' (sic--pronounced ``skig'gul''), and ``twaddle'', but
   twiddle is by far the most common term.  2. A small and
   insignificant change to a program.  Usually fixes one bug and
   generates several new ones.  3. v. To change something in a small
   way.  Bits, for example, are often twiddled.  Twiddling a switch or
   knob implies much less sense of purpose than toggling or tweaking
   it; see FROBNICATE.

TWINK (twink) [UCSC] n. Equivalent to READ-ONLY USER.

TWO-TO-THE-N quant. Used like N, but referring to bigger numbers. ``I
   have two to the N things to do before I can go out for lunch''
   means you probably won't show up.

TWO-PI q. The number of years it takes to finish one's thesis.  Occurs
   in stories in the form: ``He started on his thesis; two pi years
   later...''.

			= U =

UNINTERESTING adj. 1. Said of a problem which, while NONTRIVIAL, can
   be solved simply by throwing sufficient resources at it. 2. Also
   said of problems for which a solution would neither advance the
   state of the art nor be fun to design and code. True hackers regard
   uninteresting problems as an intolerable waste of time, to be
   solved (if at all) by lesser mortals. See WOMBAT, SMOP.

U*IX, UN*X n. Used to refer to the Unix operating system (trademark
   and/or copyright AT&T) in writing, but avoiding the need for the
   ugly (tm) typography.  Also used to refer to any or all varieties
   of Unixoid operating systems. Ironically, some lawyers now claim
   (1990) that the requirement for superscript-tm has no legal force,
   but the asterisk usage is entrenched anyhow.

UNWIND THE STACK v. 1. During the execution of a procedural language
   one is said to `unwind the stack' from a called procedure up to a
   caller when one discards the stack frame and any number of frames
   above it, popping back up to the level of the given caller.  In C
   this is done with longjmp/setjmp; in LISP with THROW/CATCH.  This
   is sometimes necessary when handling exceptional conditions.  See
   also SMASH THE STACK. 2. People can unwind the stack as well, by
   quickly dealing with a bunch of problems ``Oh hell, let's do lunch.
   Just a second while I unwind my stack''.

UNWIND-PROTECT [MIT, from the name of a LISP operator] n. A task you
   must remember to perform before you leave a place or finish a
   project.  ``I have an unwind-protect to call my advisor.''

UNIX (yoo'nix) [In the authors' words, ``A weak pun on MULTICS''] n. A
   popular interactive time-sharing system originally invented in 1969
   by Ken Thompson after Bell Labs left the MULTICS project, mostly so
   he could play SPACEWAR on a scavenged PDP7. The turning point in
   UNIX's history came when it was reimplemented almost entirely in C
   in 1974, making it the first source-portable operating system.
   Fifteen years and a lot of changes later UNIX is the most widely
   used multiuser general-purpose operating system in the world. This
   fact probably represents the single most important victory yet of
   hackerdom over industry opposition. See VERSION 7, BSD UNIX, USG
   UNIX.

UP adj. 1. Working, in order.  ``The down escalator is up.''  2.
   BRING UP: v. To create a working version and start it.  ``They
   brought up a down system.''

UPLOAD [uhp'lohd] v. 1. To transfer code or data over a digital comm
   line from a smaller `client' system to a larger `host' one. Oppose
   DOWNLOAD. 2.  [speculatively] To move the essential patterns and
   algorithms which make up one's mind from one's brain into a
   computer.  Only those who are convinced that such patterns and
   algorithms capture the complete essence of the self view this
   prospect with aplomb.

URCHIN n. See MUNCHKIN.

USENET (yooz'net) n. A distributed bulletin board system supported
   mainly by UNIX machines, international in scope and probably the
   largest non-profit information utility in existence. As of early
   1990 it hosts over 300 topic groups and distributes up to 15
   megabytes of new technical articles, news, discussion, chatter, and
   FLAMAGE every day. See NEWSGROUP.

USER n. A programmer who will believe anything you tell him.  One who
   asks annoying questions.  Identified at MIT with ``loser'' by the
   spelling ``luser''.  See REAL USER.  [Note by GLS: I don't agree
   with RF's definition at all.  Basically, there are two classes of
   people who work with a program: there are implementors (hackers)
   and users (losers).  The users are looked down on by hackers to a
   mild degree because they don't understand the full ramifications of
   the system in all its glory.  (A few users who do are known as real
   winners.)  It is true that users ask questions (of necessity).
   Very often they are annoying or downright stupid.]

USER FRIENDLY adj. Programmer-hostile. Generally used by hackers in a
   hostile tone, to describe systems which hold the user's hand so
   obsessively that they make it painful for the more experienced and
   knowledgeable to get any work done. See MENUITIS, DROOL-PROOF
   PAPER, MACINTRASH.

USER-OBSEQUIOUS adj. Emphatic form of USER FRIENDLY. Connotes a system
   so verbose, inflexible, and determinedly simple-minded that it is
   nearly unusable. ``Design a system any fool can use and only a fool
   will want to use it''.

USG UNIX (yoo-ess-jee yoo'nix) n. Refers to AT&T UNIX versions after
   VERSION 7, especially System III and System V releases 1, 2 and 3.
   So called because at that time AT&T's support crew was called the
   `Unix Support Group' See BSD UNIX.

			= V =

VADDING (vad'ing) [from VAD, a permutation of ADV (i.e. ADVENT
   (q.v.)), used to avoid a particular sysadmin's continual
   search-and-destroy sweeps for the game] n. A leisure-time activity
   of certain hackers involving the covert exploration of the
   ``secret'' parts of large buildings -- basements, roofs, freight
   elevators, maintenance crawlways, steam tunnels and the like. A few
   go so far as to learn locksmithing in order to synthesize vadding
   keys. The verb is `to vad'. The most extreme and dangerous form of
   vadding is ELEVATOR RODEO, aka ELEVATOR SURFING, a sport played by
   wrasslin' down a thousand-pound elevator car with a three-foot
   piece of string, and then exploiting this mastery in various
   stimulating ways (such as elevator hopping, shaft exploration,
   rat-racing and the ever-popular drop experiments).  Kids, don't try
   this at home!

VANILLA adj. Ordinary flavor, standard.  See FLAVOR.  When used of
   food, very often does not mean that the food is flavored with
   vanilla extract!  For example, ``vanilla-flavored wonton soup'' (or
   simply ``vanilla wonton soup'') means ordinary wonton soup, as
   opposed to hot and sour wonton soup.  Applied to hardware and
   software. As in ``Vanilla Version 7 UNIX can't run on a vanilla
   11/34''.

VANNEVAR (van'@-var) n. A bogus technological prediction or foredoomed
   engineering concept, esp. one which fails by implicitly assuming
   that technologies develop linearly, incrementally, and in isolation
   from one another when in fact the learning curve tends to be highly
   nonlinear, revolutions are common, and competition is the rule. The
   prototype was Vannevar Bush's prediction of ``electronic brains''
   the size of the Empire State Building with a
   Niagara-Falls-equivalent cooling system for their tubes and relays,
   at a time when the semiconductor effect had already been
   demonstrated. Other famous vannevars have included commercial LISP
   machines and a paper from the late 1970s that purported to prove
   maximum achievable areal densities for ICs less than those
   routinely achieved five years later.

VAPORWARE n. Products announced far in advance of any shipment (which
   may or may not actually take place).

VAR (veir, vahr) n. Short for ``variable''. Compare ARG, PARAM.

VAX n. (vaks) [from Virtual Address eXtended] 1. The most successful
   minicomputer design in industry history, possibly excepting its
   immediate ancestor the PDP-11. Between its release in 1978 and
   eclipse by KILLER MICROS after