The New Hacker's Dictionary

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TWENEX). However, the Unix world doesn't have an equivalent term, so perhaps [14430]wallpaper will take hold there. The term probably originated on ITS, where the commands to begin and end transcript files were :WALBEG and :WALEND, with default file WALL PAPER (the space was a path delimiter). 2. The background pattern used on graphical workstations (this is techspeak under the `Windows' graphical user interface to MS-DOS). 3. `wallpaper file' n. The file that contains the wallpaper information before it is actually printed on paper. (Even if you don't intend ever to produce a real paper copy of the file, it is still called a wallpaper file.)

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wango /wang'goh/ n.

Random bit-level [14434]grovelling going on in a system during some unspecified operation. Often used in combination with [14435]mumble. For example: "You start with the `.o' file, run it through this postprocessor that does mumble-wango -- and it comes out a snazzy object-oriented executable."

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wank /wangk/ n.,v.,adj.

[Columbia University: prob. by mutation from Commonwealth slang v. `wank', to masturbate] Used much as [14439]hack is elsewhere, as a noun denoting a clever technique or person or the result of such cleverness. May describe (negatively) the act of hacking for hacking's sake ("Quit wanking, let's go get supper!") or (more positively) a [14440]wizard. Adj. `wanky'

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describes something particularly clever (a person, program, or algorithm). Conversations can also get wanky when there are too many wanks involved. This excess wankiness is signalled by an overload of the `wankometer' (compare [14441]bogometer). When the wankometer overloads, the conversation's subject must be changed, or all non-wanks will leave. Compare `neep-neeping' (under [14442]neep-neep). Usage: U.S. only. In Britain and the Commonwealth this word is extremely rude and is best avoided unless one intends to give offense. Adjectival `wanky' is less offensive and simply means `stupid' or `broken' (this is mainstream in Great Britain).

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wannabee /won'*-bee/ n.

(also, more plausibly, spelled `wannabe') [from a term recently used to describe Madonna fans who dress, talk, and act like their idol; prob. originally from biker slang] A would-be [14446]hacker. The connotations of this term differ sharply depending on the age and exposure of the subject. Used of a person who is in or might be entering [14447]larval stage, it is semi-approving; such wannabees can be annoying but most hackers remember that they, too, were once such creatures. When used of any professional programmer, CS academic, writer, or [14448]suit, it is derogatory, implying that said person is trying to cuddle up to the hacker mystique but doesn't, fundamentally, have a prayer of understanding what it is all about. Overuse of terms from this lexicon is often an indication of the [14449]wannabee nature. Compare [14450]newbie.

Historical note: The wannabee phenomenon has a slightly different flavor now (1993) than it did ten or fifteen years ago. When the people who are now hackerdom's tribal elders were in [14451]larval stage, the process of becoming a hacker was largely unconscious and unaffected by models known in popular culture -- communities formed spontaneously around

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people who, as individuals, felt irresistibly drawn to do hackerly things, and what wannabees experienced was a fairly pure, skill-focused desire to become similarly wizardly. Those days of innocence are gone forever; society's adaptation to the advent of the microcomputer after 1980 included the elevation of the hacker as a new kind of folk hero, and the result is that some people semi-consciously set out to be hackers and borrow hackish prestige by fitting the popular image of hackers. Fortunately, to do this really well, one has to actually become a wizard. Nevertheless, old-time hackers tend to share a poorly articulated disquiet about the change; among other things, it gives them mixed feelings about the effects of public compendia of lore like this one.

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war dialer n.

A cracking tool, a program that calls a given list or range of phone numbers and records those which answer with handshake tones (and so might be entry points to computer or telecommunications systems). Some of these programs have become quite sophisticated, and can now detect modem, fax, or PBX tones and log each one separately. The war dialer is one of the most important tools in the [14455]phreaker's kit. These programs evolved from early [14456]demon dialers.

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-ware suff.

[from `software'] Commonly used to form jargon terms for classes of software. For examples, see [14460]annoyware, [14461]careware,

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[14462]crippleware, [14463]crudware, [14464]freeware, [14465]fritterware, [14466]guiltware, [14467]liveware, [14468]meatware, [14469]payware, [14470]psychedelicware, [14471]shareware, [14472]shelfware, [14473]vaporware, [14474]wetware.

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warez /weirz/ n.

Widely used in [14478]cracker subcultures to denote cracked version of commercial software, that is versions from which copy-protection has been stripped. Hackers recognize this term but don't use it themselves. See [14479]warez d00dz, [14480]courier, [14481]leech, [14482]elite.

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warez d00dz /weirz doodz/ n.

A substantial subculture of [14486]crackers refer to themselves as `warez d00dz'; there is evidently some connection with [14487]B1FF here. As `Ozone Pilot', one former warez d00d, wrote:

Warez d00dz get illegal copies of copyrighted software. If it has copy protection on it, they break the protection so the software can be copied. Then they distribute it around the world via several gateways. Warez d00dz form badass group names like RAZOR and the like. They put up boards that distribute the latest ware, or pirate program. The whole point of the Warez sub-culture is to get the pirate program released and distributed before any other group. I know, I know. But don't ask, and it won't hurt as much. This is how they prove their poweress [sic]. It gives them the right to

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webmaster n.

[WWW: from [14561]postmaster] The person at a site providing World Wide Web information who is responsible for maintaining the public pages and keeping the Web server running and properly configured.

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web ring n.

Two or more web sites connected by prominent links between sites sharing a common interest or theme. Usually such cliques have the topology of a ring, in order to make it easy for visitors to navigate through all of them.

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wedged adj.

1. To be stuck, incapable of proceeding without help. This is different from having crashed. If the system has crashed, it has become totally non-functioning. If the system is wedged, it is trying to do something but cannot make progress; it may be capable of doing a few things, but not be fully operational. For example, a process may become wedged if it [14568]deadlocks with another (but not all instances of wedging are deadlocks). See also [14569]gronk, [14570]locked up, [14571]hosed, [14572]hung (wedged is more severe than [14573]hung). 2. Often refers to humans suffering misconceptions. "He's totally wedged -- he's convinced