The Hackers'''' Dictionary legal torrents phần 5 docx

exposure as a name via {Zork}. These can also be applied to nonphysical objects, such as data structures.

Pete Samson, compiler of the {TMRC} lexicon, adds, "Under the TMRC [railroad] layout were many storage

boxes, managed (in 1958) by David R. Sawyer. Several had fanciful designations written on them, such as

`Frobnitz Coil Oil'. Perhaps DRS intended Frobnitz to be a proper name, but the name was quickly taken for

the thing". This was almost certainly the origin of the term.

:frog: alt. `phrog' 1. interj. Term of disgust (we seem to have a lot of them). 2. Used as a name for just about

anything. See {foo}. 3. n. Of things, a crock. 4. n. Of people, somewhere in between a turkey and a toad. 5.

`froggy': adj. Similar to `bagbiting' (see {bagbiter}), but milder. "This froggy program is taking forever to

run!"

:frogging: [University of Waterloo] v. 1. Partial corruption of a text file or input stream by some bug or

consistent glitch, as opposed to random events like line noise or media failures. Might occur, for example, if

one bit of each incoming character on a tty were stuck, so that some characters were correct and others were

not. See {terminak} for a historical example. 2. By extension, accidental display of text in a mode where the

output device emits special symbols or mnemonics rather than conventional ASCII. Often happens, for

example, when using a terminal or comm program on a device like an IBM PC with a special `high-half'

character set and with the bit-parity assumption wrong. A hacker sufficiently familiar with ASCII bit patterns

might be able to read the display anyway.

:front end: n. 1. An intermediary computer that does set-up and filtering for another (usually more powerful

but less friendly) machine (a `back end'). 2. What you're talking to when you have a conversation with

someone who is making replies without paying attention. "Look at the dancing elephants!" "Uh-huh." "Do

you know what I just said?" "Sorry, you were talking to the front end." See also {fepped out}. 3. Software that

provides an interface to another program `behind' it, which may not be as user-friendly. Probably from

analogy with hardware front-ends (see sense 1) that interfaced with mainframes.

:frotz: /frots/ 1. n. See {frobnitz}. 2. `mumble frotz': An interjection of very mild disgust.

:frotzed: /frotst/ adj. {down} because of hardware problems. Compare {fried}. A machine that is merely

frotzed may be fixable without replacing parts, but a fried machine is more seriously damaged.

:frowney: n. (alt. `frowney face') See {emoticon}.

:fry: 1. vi. To fail. Said especially of smoke-producing hardware failures. More generally, to become

non-working. Usage: never said of software, only of hardware and humans. See {fried}, {magic smoke}. 2. vt.

To cause to fail; to {roach}, {toast}, or {hose} a piece of hardware. Never used of software or humans, but

compare {fried}.

:FTP: /F-T-P/, *not* /fit'ip/ 1. [techspeak] n. The File Transfer Protocol for transmitting files between systems

on the Internet. 2. vt. To {beam} a file using the File Transfer Protocol. 3. Sometimes used as a generic even

for file transfers not using {FTP}. "Lemme get a copy of `Wuthering Heights' ftp'd from uunet."

:FUBAR: n. The Failed UniBus Address Register in a VAX. A good example of how jargon can occasionally

be snuck past the {suit}s; see {foobar}, and {foo} for a fuller etymology.

:fuck me harder: excl. Sometimes uttered in response to egregious misbehavior, esp. in software, and esp. of

misbehaviors which seem unfairly persistent (as though designed in by the imp of the perverse). Often

theatrically elaborated: "Aiighhh! Fuck me with a piledriver and 16 feet of curare-tipped wrought-iron fence

*and no lubricants*!" The phrase is sometimes heard abbreviated `FMH' in polite company.

Information prepared by the Project Gutenberg legal advisor 109

[This entry is an extreme example of the hackish habit of coining elaborate and evocative terms for lossage.

Here we see a quite self-conscious parody of mainstream expletives that has become a running gag in part of

the hacker culture; it illustrates the hackish tendency to turn any situation, even one of extreme frustration,

into an intellectual game (the point being, in this case, to creatively produce a long-winded description of the

most anatomically absurd mental image possible --- the short forms implicitly allude to all the ridiculous long

forms ever spoken). Scatological language is actually relatively uncommon among hackers, and there was

some controversy over whether this entry ought to be included at all. As it reflects a live usage recognizably

peculiar to the hacker culture, we feel it is in the hackish spirit of truthfulness and opposition to all forms of

censorship to record it here. --ESR & GLS]

:FUD: /fuhd/ n. Defined by Gene Amdahl after he left IBM to found his own company: "FUD is the fear,

uncertainty, and doubt that IBM sales people instill in the minds of potential customers who might be

considering [Amdahl] products." The idea, of course, was to persuade them to go with safe IBM gear rather

than with competitors' equipment. This was traditionally done by promising that Good Things would happen

to people who stuck with IBM, but Dark Shadows loomed over the future of competitors' equipment or

software. See {IBM}.

:FUD wars: /fuhd worz/ n. [from {FUD}] Political posturing engaged in by hardware and software vendors

ostensibly committed to standardization but actually willing to fragment the market to protect their own

shares. The UNIX International vs. OSF conflict is but one outstanding example.

:fudge: 1. vt. To perform in an incomplete but marginally acceptable way, particularly with respect to the

writing of a program. "I didn't feel like going through that pain and suffering, so I fudged it --- I'll fix it later."

2. n. The resulting code.

:fudge factor: n. A value or parameter that is varied in an ad hoc way to produce the desired result. The terms

`tolerance' and {slop} are also used, though these usually indicate a one-sided leeway, such as a buffer that is

made larger than necessary because one isn't sure exactly how large it needs to be, and it is better to waste a

little space than to lose completely for not having enough. A fudge factor, on the other hand, can often be

tweaked in more than one direction. A good example is the `fuzz' typically allowed in floating-point

calculations: two numbers being compared for equality must be allowed to differ by a small amount; if that

amount is too small, a computation may never terminate, while if it is too large, results will be needlessly

inaccurate. Fudge factors are frequently adjusted incorrectly by programmers who don't fully understand their

import. See also {coefficient of X}.

:fuel up: vi. To eat or drink hurriedly in order to get back to hacking. "Food-p?" "Yeah, let's fuel up." "Time

for a {great-wall}!" See also {{oriental food}}.

:fuggly: /fuhg'lee/ adj. Emphatic form of {funky}; funky + ugly). Unusually for hacker jargon, this may

actually derive from black street-jive. To say it properly, the first syllable should be growled rather than

spoken. Usage: humorous. "Man, the {{ASCII}}-to-{{EBCDIC}} code in that printer driver is *fuggly*." See

also {wonky}.

:fum: [XEROX PARC] n. At PARC, often the third of the standard {metasyntactic variable}s (after {foo} and

{bar}. Competes with {baz}, which is more common outside PARC.

:funky: adj. Said of something that functions, but in a slightly strange, klugey way. It does the job and would

be difficult to change, so its obvious non-optimality is left alone. Often used to describe interfaces. The more

bugs something has that nobody has bothered to fix because workarounds are easier, the funkier it is. {TECO}

and UUCP are funky. The Intel i860's exception handling is extraordinarily funky. Most standards acquire

funkiness as they age. "The new mailer is installed, but is still somewhat funky; if it bounces your mail for no

reason, try resubmitting it." "This UART is pretty funky. The data ready line is active-high in interrupt mode

Information prepared by the Project Gutenberg legal advisor 110