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The New Hacker's Dictionary

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501

do report using the original term). Compare [5974]grok, [5975]zen.

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Node:glass, Next:[5976]glass tty, Previous:[5977]glark, Up:[5978]= G =

glass n.

[IBM] Synonym for [5979]silicon.

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Node:glass tty, Next:[5980]glassfet, Previous:[5981]glass, Up:[5982]= G =

glass tty /glas T-T-Y/ or /glas ti'tee/ n.

A terminal that has a display screen but which, because of hardware or software limitations, behaves like a teletype or some other printing terminal, thereby combining the disadvantages of both: like a printing terminal, it can't do fancy display hacks, and like a display terminal, it doesn't produce hard copy. An example is the early `dumb' version of Lear-Siegler ADM 3 (without cursor control). See [5983]tube, [5984]tty; compare [5985]dumb terminal, [5986]smart terminal. See "[5987]TV Typewriters" (Appendix A) for an interesting true story about a glass tty.

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Node:glassfet, Next:[5988]glitch, Previous:[5989]glass tty, Up:[5990]= G =

glassfet /glas'fet/ n.

[by analogy with MOSFET, the acronym for `Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor'] Syn. [5991]firebottle, a humorous way to refer to a vacuum tube.

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Node:glitch, Next:[5992]glob, Previous:[5993]glassfet, Up:[5994]= G =

glitch /glich/

[very common; from German `glitschig' to slip, via Yiddish `glitshen', to slide or skid] 1. n. A sudden interruption in electric service, sanity, continuity, or program function. Sometimes recoverable. An interruption in electric service is specifically called a `power glitch' (also [5995]power hit), of grave concern because it usually crashes all the computers. In jargon, though, a hacker who got to the middle of a sentence and then forgot how he or she intended to complete it might say, "Sorry, I just glitched". 2. vi. To commit a glitch. See [5996]gritch. 3. vt. [Stanford] To scroll a display screen, esp. several lines at a time. [5997]WAITS terminals used to do this in order to avoid continuous scrolling, which is distracting to the eye. 4. obs. Same as [5998]magic cookie, sense 2.

All these uses of `glitch' derive from the specific technical meaning the term has in the electronic hardware world, where it is now techspeak. A glitch can occur when the inputs of a circuit change, and the outputs change to some [5999]random value for some very brief time before they settle down to the correct value. If another circuit inspects the output at just the wrong time, reading the random value, the results can be very wrong and very hard to debug (a glitch is one of many causes of electronic [6000]heisenbugs).

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Node:glob, Next:[6001]glork, Previous:[6002]glitch, Up:[6003]= G =

glob /glob/, not /glohb/ v.,n.

[Unix; common] To expand special characters in a wildcarded name, or the act of so doing (the action is also called `globbing'). The Unix conventions for filename wildcarding have become sufficiently pervasive that many hackers use some of them in written English, especially in email or news on technical topics. Those commonly encountered include the following:

503

* wildcard for any string (see also [6004]UN*X)

? wildcard for any single character (generally read this way only at the beginning or in the middle of a word)

[] delimits a wildcard matching any of the enclosed characters

{} alternation of comma-separated alternatives; thus, `foo{baz,qux}' would be read as `foobaz' or `fooqux'

Some examples: "He said his name was [KC]arl" (expresses ambiguity). "I don't read talk.politics.*" (any of the talk.politics subgroups on [6005]Usenet). Other examples are given under the entry for [6006]X. Note that glob patterns are similar, but not identical, to those used in [6007]regexps.

Historical note: The jargon usage derives from glob, the name of a subprogram that expanded wildcards in archaic pre-Bourne versions of the Unix shell.

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Node:glork, Next:[6008]glue, Previous:[6009]glob, Up:[6010]= G =

glork /glork/

1. interj. Term of mild surprise, usually tinged with outrage, as when one attempts to save the results of two hours of editing and finds that the system has just crashed. 2. Used as a name for just about anything. See [6011]foo. 3. vt. Similar to [6012]glitch, but usually used reflexively. "My program just glorked itself." 4. Syn. for [6013]glark, which see.

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Node:glue, Next:[6014]gnarly, Previous:[6015]glork, Up:[6016]= G =

504

glue n.

Generic term for any interface logic or protocol that connects two component blocks. For example, [6017]Blue Glue is IBM's SNA protocol, and hardware designers call anything used to connect large VLSI's or circuit blocks `glue logic'.

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Node:gnarly, Next:[6018]GNU, Previous:[6019]glue, Up:[6020]= G =

gnarly /nar'lee/ adj.

Both [6021]obscure and [6022]hairy (sense 1). "[6023]Yow! -- the tuned assembler implementation of BitBlt is really gnarly!" From a similar but less specific usage in surfer slang.

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Node:GNU, Next:[6024]gnubie, Previous:[6025]gnarly, Up:[6026]= G =

GNU /gnoo/, not /noo/

1. [acronym: `GNU's Not Unix!', see [6027]recursive acronym] A Unix-workalike development effort of the Free Software Foundation headed by Richard Stallman [6028]<rms@gnu.org>. GNU EMACS and the GNU C compiler, two tools designed for this project, have become very popular in hackerdom and elsewhere. The GNU project was designed partly to proselytize for RMS's position that information is community property and all software source should be shared. One of its slogans is "Help stamp out software hoarding!" Though this remains controversial (because it implicitly denies any right of designers to own, assign, and sell the results of their labors), many hackers who disagree with RMS have nevertheless cooperated to produce large amounts of high-quality software for free redistribution under the Free Software Foundation's imprimatur. The GNU project has a web page at [6029]http://www.gnu.org. See [6030]EMACS,

505

[6031]copyleft, [6032]General Public Virus, [6033]Linux. 2. Noted Unix hacker John Gilmore [6034]<gnu@toad.com>, founder of Usenet's anarchic alt.* hierarchy.

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Node:gnubie, Next:[6035]GNUMACS, Previous:[6036]GNU, Up:[6037]=

G =

gnubie /noo'bee/ n.

Written-only variant of [6038]newbie in common use on IRC channels, which implies specifically someone who is new to the Linux/open source/free software world.

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Node:GNUMACS, Next:[6039]go flatline, Previous:[6040]gnubie, Up:[6041]= G =

GNUMACS /gnoo'maks/ n.

[contraction of `GNU EMACS'] Often-heard abbreviated name for the [6042]GNU project's flagship tool, [6043]EMACS. Used esp. in contrast with GOSMACS.

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Node:go flatline, Next:[6044]go root, Previous:[6045]GNUMACS, Up:[6046]= G =

go flatline v.

[from cyberpunk SF, refers to flattening of EEG traces upon brain-death] (also adjectival `flatlined'). 1. To [6047]die, terminate, or fail, esp. irreversibly. In hacker parlance, this is used of machines only, human death

506

being considered somewhat too serious a matter to employ jargon-jokes about. 2. To go completely quiescent; said of machines undergoing controlled shutdown. "You can suffer file damage if you shut down Unix but power off before the system has gone flatline." 3. Of a video tube, to fail by losing vertical scan, so all one sees is a bright horizontal line bisecting the screen.

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Node:go root, Next:[6048]go-faster stripes, Previous:[6049]go flatline, Up:[6050]= G =

go root vi.

[Unix; common] To temporarily enter [6051]root mode in order to perform a privileged operation. This use is deprecated in Australia, where v. `root' is a synonym for "fuck".

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Node:go-faster stripes, Next:[6052]GoAT, Previous:[6053]go root, Up:[6054]= G =

go-faster stripes n.

[UK] Syn. [6055]chrome. Mainstream in some parts of UK.

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Node:GoAT, Next:[6056]gobble, Previous:[6057]go-faster stripes, Up:[6058]= G =

GoAT //

[Usenet] Abbreviation: "Go Away, Troll". See [6059]troll.

507

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Node:gobble, Next:[6060]Godwin's Law, Previous:[6061]GoAT,

Up:[6062]= G =

gobble vt.

1. To consume, usu. used with `up'. "The output spy gobbles characters out of a [6063]tty output buffer." 2. To obtain, usu. used with `down'. "I guess I'll gobble down a copy of the documentation tomorrow." See also [6064]snarf.

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Node:Godwin's Law, Next:[6065]Godzillagram, Previous:[6066]gobble,

Up:[6067]= G =

Godwin's Law prov.

[Usenet] "As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one." There is a tradition in many groups that, once this occurs, that thread is over, and whoever mentioned the Nazis has automatically lost whatever argument was in progress. Godwin's Law thus practically guarantees the existence of an upper bound on thread length in those groups. However there is also a widelyrecognized codicil that any intentional triggering of Godwin's Law in order to invoke its thread-ending effects will be unsuccessful.

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Node:Godzillagram, Next:[6068]golden, Previous:[6069]Godwin's Law,

Up:[6070]= G =

Godzillagram /god-zil'*-gram/ n.

508

[from Japan's national hero] 1. A network packet that in theory is a broadcast to every machine in the universe. The typical case is an IP datagram whose destination IP address is [255.255.255.255]. Fortunately, few gateways are foolish enough to attempt to implement this case! 2. A network packet of maximum size. An IP Godzillagram has 65,536 octets. Compare [6071]super source quench, [6072]Christmas tree packet, [6073]martian.

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Node:golden, Next:[6074]golf-ball printer, Previous:[6075]Godzillagram, Up:[6076]= G =

golden adj.

[prob. from folklore's `golden egg'] When used to describe a magnetic medium (e.g., `golden disk', `golden tape'), describes one containing a tested, up-to-spec, ready-to-ship software version. Compare [6077]platinum-iridium.

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Node:golf-ball printer, Next:[6078]gonk, Previous:[6079]golden, Up:[6080]= G =

golf-ball printer n. obs.

The IBM 2741, a slow but letter-quality printing device and terminal based on the IBM Selectric typewriter. The `golf ball' was a little spherical frob bearing reversed embossed images of 88 different characters arranged on four parallels of latitude; one could change the font by swapping in a different golf ball. The print element spun and jerked alarmingly in action and when in motion was sometimes described as an `infuriated golf ball'. This was the technology that enabled APL to use a non-EBCDIC, non-ASCII, and in fact completely non-standard character set. This put it 10 years ahead of its time -- where it stayed, firmly rooted, for the next 20,

509

until character displays gave way to programmable bit-mapped devices with the flexibility to support other character sets.

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Node:gonk, Next:[6081]gonkulator, Previous:[6082]golf-ball printer, Up:[6083]= G =

gonk /gonk/ vi.,n.

1. To prevaricate or to embellish the truth beyond any reasonable recognition. In German the term is (mythically) `gonken'; in Spanish the verb becomes `gonkar'. "You're gonking me. That story you just told me is a bunch of gonk." In German, for example, "Du gonkst mich" (You're pulling my leg). See also [6084]gonkulator. 2. [British] To grab some sleep at an odd time; compare [6085]gronk out.

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Node:gonkulator, Next:[6086]gonzo, Previous:[6087]gonk, Up:[6088]= G

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gonkulator /gon'kyoo-lay-tr/ n.

[common; from the 1960s "Hogan's Heroes" TV series] A pretentious piece of equipment that actually serves no useful purpose. Usually used to describe one's least favorite piece of computer hardware. See [6089]gonk.

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Node:gonzo, Next:[6090]Good Thing, Previous:[6091]gonkulator,

Up:[6092]= G =

gonzo /gon'zoh/ adj.

510

[from Hunter S. Thompson] 1. With total commitment, total concentration, and a mad sort of panache. (Thompson's original sense.) 2. More loosely: Overwhelming; outrageous; over the top; very large, esp. used of collections of source code, source files, or individual functions. Has some of the connotations of [6093]moby and [6094]hairy, but without the implication of obscurity or complexity.

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Node:Good Thing, Next:[6095]gopher, Previous:[6096]gonzo, Up:[6097]=

G =

Good Thing n.,adj.

[very common; often capitalized; always pronounced as if capitalized.] 1. Self-evidently wonderful to anyone in a position to notice: "A language that manages dynamic memory automatically for you is a Good Thing." 2. Something that can't possibly have any ill side-effects and may save considerable grief later: "Removing the self-modifying code from that shared library would be a Good Thing." 3. When said of software tools or libraries, as in "YACC is a Good Thing", specifically connotes that the thing has drastically reduced a programmer's work load. Oppose [6098]Bad Thing.

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Node:gopher, Next:[6099]gopher hole, Previous:[6100]Good Thing, Up:[6101]= G =

gopher n.

A type of Internet service first floated around 1991 and obsolesced around 1995 by the World Wide Web. Gopher presents a menuing interface to a tree or graph of links; the links can be to documents, runnable programs, or other gopher menus arbitrarily far across the net.

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