The New Hacker's Dictionary

311

*[3508]despew:

*[3509]Devil Book:

*[3510]/dev/null:

*[3511]dickless workstation:

*[3512]dictionary flame:

*[3513]diddle:

*[3514]die:

*[3515]die horribly:

*[3516]diff:

*[3517]digit:

*[3518]dike:

*[3519]Dilbert:

*[3520]ding:

*[3521]dink:

*[3522]dinosaur:

*[3523]dinosaur pen:

*[3524]dinosaurs mating:

*[3525]dirtball:

312

*[3526]dirty power:

*[3527]disclaimer:

*[3528]Discordianism:

*[3529]disk farm:

*[3530]display hack:

*[3531]dispress:

*[3532]Dissociated Press:

*[3533]distribution:

*[3534]distro:

*[3535]disusered:

*[3536]do protocol:

*[3537]doc:

*[3538]documentation:

*[3539]dodgy:

*[3540]dogcow:

*[3541]dogfood:

*[3542]dogpile:

*[3543]dogwash:

313

*[3544]domainist:

*[3545]Don't do that then!:

*[3546]dongle:

*[3547]dongle-disk:

*[3548]donuts:

*[3549]doorstop:

*[3550]DoS attack:

*[3551]dot file:

*[3552]double bucky:

*[3553]doubled sig:

*[3554]down:

*[3555]download:

*[3556]DP:

*[3557]DPB:

*[3558]DPer:

*[3559]Dr. Fred Mbogo:

*[3560]dragon:

*[3561]Dragon Book:

314

*[3562]drain:

*[3563]dread high-bit disease:

*[3564]Dread Questionmark Disease:

*[3565]DRECNET:

*[3566]driver:

*[3567]droid:

*[3568]drone:

*[3569]drool-proof paper:

*[3570]drop on the floor:

*[3571]drop-ins:

*[3572]drop-outs:

*[3573]drugged:

*[3574]drum:

*[3575]drunk mouse syndrome:

*[3576]dub dub dub:

*[3577]Duff's device:

*[3578]dumb terminal:

*[3579]dumbass attack:

316

[from the mythological meaning, later rationalized as the acronym `Disk And Execution MONitor'] A program that is not invoked explicitly, but lies dormant waiting for some condition(s) to occur. The idea is that the perpetrator of the condition need not be aware that a daemon is lurking (though often a program will commit an action only because it knows that it will implicitly invoke a daemon). For example, under [3596]ITS writing a file on the [3597]LPT spooler's directory would invoke the spooling daemon, which would then print the file. The advantage is that programs wanting (in this example) files printed need neither compete for access to nor understand any idiosyncrasies of the [3598]LPT. They simply enter their implicit requests and let the daemon decide what to do with them. Daemons are usually spawned automatically by the system, and may either live forever or be regenerated at intervals.

Daemon and [3599]demon are often used interchangeably, but seem to have distinct connotations. The term `daemon' was introduced to computing by [3600]CTSS people (who pronounced it /dee'mon/) and used it to refer to what ITS called a [3601]dragon; the prototype was a program called DAEMON that automatically made tape backups of the file system. Although the meaning and the pronunciation have drifted, we think this glossary reflects current (2000) usage.

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Node:daemon book, Next:[3602]dahmum, Previous:[3603]daemon, Up:[3604]= D =

daemon book n.

"The Design and Implementation of the 4.3BSD UNIX Operating System", by Samuel J. Leffler, Marshall Kirk McKusick, Michael J. Karels, and John S. Quarterman (Addison-Wesley Publishers, 1989, ISBN 0-201-06196-1); or "The Design and Implementation of the 4.4 BSD Operating System" by Marshall Kirk McKusick, Keith Bostic, Michael J. Karels and John S. Quarterman (Addison-Wesley Longman, 1996, SBN 0-201-54979-4) Either of the standard reference books on the internals of [3605]BSD Unix. So

317

called because the covers have a picture depicting a little devil (a visual play on [3606]daemon) in sneakers, holding a pitchfork (referring to one of the characteristic features of Unix, the fork(2) system call). Also known as the [3607]Devil Book.

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Node:dahmum, Next:[3608]dancing frog, Previous:[3609]daemon book, Up:[3610]= D =

dahmum /dah'mum/ n.

[Usenet] The material of which protracted [3611]flame wars, especially those about operating systems, is composed. Homeomorphic to [3612]spam. The term `dahmum' is derived from the name of a militant [3613]OS/2 advocate, and originated when an extensively crossposted OS/2-versus-[3614]Linux debate was fed through [3615]Dissociated Press.

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Node:dancing frog, Next:[3616]dangling pointer, Previous:[3617]dahmum, Up:[3618]= D =

dancing frog n.

[Vancouver area] A problem that occurs on a computer that will not reappear while anyone else is watching. From the classic Warner Brothers cartoon "One Froggy Evening", featuring a dancing and singing Michigan J. Frog that just croaks when anyone else is around (now the WB network mascot).

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Node:dangling pointer, Next:[3619]dark-side hacker,

Previous:[3620]dancing frog, Up:[3621]= D =

318

dangling pointer n.

[common] A reference that doesn't actually lead anywhere (in C and some other languages, a pointer that doesn't actually point at anything valid). Usually this happens because it formerly pointed to something that has moved or disappeared. Used as jargon in a generalization of its techspeak meaning; for example, a local phone number for a person who has since moved to the other coast is a dangling pointer. Compare [3622]dead link.

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Node:dark-side hacker, Next:[3623]Datamation, Previous:[3624]dangling pointer, Up:[3625]= D =

dark-side hacker n.

A criminal or malicious hacker; a [3626]cracker. From George Lucas's Darth Vader, "seduced by the dark side of the Force". The implication that hackers form a sort of elite of technological Jedi Knights is intended. Oppose [3627]samurai.

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Node:Datamation, Next:[3628]DAU, Previous:[3629]dark-side hacker, Up:[3630]= D =

Datamation /day`t*-may'sh*n/ n.

A magazine that many hackers assume all [3631]suits read. Used to question an unbelieved quote, as in "Did you read that in `Datamation?'" (But see below; this slur may be dated by the time you read this.) It used to publish something hackishly funny every once in a while, like the original paper on [3632]COME FROM in 1973, and Ed Post's "Real Programmers Don't Use Pascal" ten years later, but for a long time after that it was much more exclusively [3633]suit-oriented and boring. Following a change of editorship in 1994, Datamation is trying for more of the technical content

320

Node:day mode, Next:[3648]dd, Previous:[3649]Dave the Resurrector, Up:[3650]= D =

day mode n.

See [3651]phase (sense 1). Used of people only.

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Node:dd, Next:[3652]DDT, Previous:[3653]day mode, Up:[3654]= D =

dd /dee-dee/ vt.

[Unix: from IBM [3655]JCL] Equivalent to [3656]cat or [3657]BLT. Originally the name of a Unix copy command with special options suitable for block-oriented devices; it was often used in heavy-handed system maintenance, as in "Let's dd the root partition onto a tape, then use the boot PROM to load it back on to a new disk". The Unix dd(1) was designed with a weird, distinctly non-Unixy keyword option syntax reminiscent of IBM System/360 JCL (which had an elaborate DD `Dataset Definition' specification for I/O devices); though the command filled a need, the interface design was clearly a prank. The jargon usage is now very rare outside Unix sites and now nearly obsolete even there, as dd(1) has been [3658]deprecated for a long time (though it has no exact replacement). The term has been displaced by [3659]BLT or simple English `copy'.

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Node:DDT, Next:[3660]de-rezz, Previous:[3661]dd, Up:[3662]= D =

DDT /D-D-T/ n.

[from the insecticide para-dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethene] 1. Generic term for a program that assists in debugging other programs by showing individual machine instructions in a readable symbolic form and letting the user change them. In this sense the term DDT is now archaic, having been