Jargon File

Jargon File

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ofty n. [IBM] Hardware hackers' term for a software expert who is largely ignorant of the mysteries of hardware.
ome random X adj. Used to indicate a member of class X, with the implication that Xs are interchangeable.
I think some random cracker tripped over the guest timeout last night." See al...
orcerer's apprentice mode n.
SOS /S-O-S/ n.,obs. An infamously losing text editor.
ource of all good bits n. A person from whom (or a place from which) useful information may be obtained.
If you need to know about a program, a guru might be the source of all good bits....
pace-cadet keyboard n. A now-legendary device used on MIT LISP machines, which inspired several still-current jargon terms and influenced the design of EMACS.
It was equipped with no few...
paceship operator n. The glyph <=>, so-called apparently because in the low-resolution constant-width font used on many terminals it vaguely resembles a flying saucer.
Perl uses th...
SPACEWAR n. A space-combat simulation game, inspired by E.
paghetti code n. Code with a complex and tangled control structure, esp.
one using many GOTOs, exceptions, or other `unstructured' branching constructs....
paghetti inheritance n.

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