:WYSIWYG: /wiz'ee-wig/ adj. Describes a user interface under
which "What You See Is What You Get", as opposed to one that uses
more-or-less obscure commands that do not result in immediate
visual feedback. True WYSIWYG in environments supporting multiple
fonts or graphics is a a rarely-attained ideal; there are variants
of this term to express real-world manifestations including
WYSIAWYG (What You See Is *Almost* What You Get) and
WYSIMOLWYG (What You See Is More or Less What You Get). All these
can be mildly derogatory, as they are often used to refer to
dumbed-down {user-friendly} interfaces targeted at
non-programmers; a hacker has no fear of obscure commands (compare
{WYSIAYG}). On the other hand, {EMACS} was one of the very first
WYSIWYG editors, replacing (actually, at first overlaying) the
extremely obscure, command-based {TECO}. See also {WIMP
environment}. [Oddly enough, WYSIWYG has already made it into the
OED, in lower case yet. --- ESR]
-- The AI Hackers Dictionary
