The New Hacker's Dictionary
.pdf671
[from communication theory] Used to indicate a talk that, although not [8156]content-free, was not terribly informative. "That was a low-bandwidth talk, but what can you expect for an audience of [8157]suits!" Compare [8158]zero-content, [8159]bandwidth, [8160]math-out.
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Node:LPT, Next:[8161]Lubarsky's Law of Cybernetic Entomology,
Previous:[8162]low-bandwidth, Up:[8163]= L =
LPT /L-P-T/ or /lip'it/ or /lip-it'/ n.
1. Line printer (originally Line Printing Terminal). Rare under Unix, more common among hackers who grew up with ITS, MS-DOS, CP/M and other operating systems that were strongly influenced by early [8164]DEC conventions. 2. Local PorT. Used among MS-DOS programmers (and so expanded in the MS-DOS 5 manual). It seems likely this is a [8165]backronym.
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Node:Lubarsky's Law of Cybernetic Entomology, Next:[8166]Lumber Cartel, Previous:[8167]LPT, Up:[8168]= L =
Lubarsky's Law of Cybernetic Entomology prov.
"There is always one more bug."
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Node:Lumber Cartel, Next:[8169]lunatic fringe, Previous:[8170]Lubarsky's Law of Cybernetic Entomology, Up:[8171]= L =
Lumber Cartel n.
672
A mythical conspiracy accused by [8172]spam-spewers of funding anti-spam activism in order to force the direct-mail promotions industry back onto paper. Hackers, predictably, responded by forming a "Lumber Cartel" spoofing this paranoid theory; the web page is [8173]http://come.to/the.lumber.cartel. Members often include the tag TINLC ("There Is No Lumber Cartel") in their postings; see [8174]TINC, [8175]backbone cabal and [8176]NANA for explanation.
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Node:lunatic fringe, Next:[8177]lurker, Previous:[8178]Lumber Cartel, Up:[8179]= L =
lunatic fringe n.
[IBM] Customers who can be relied upon to accept release 1 versions of software. Compare [8180]heatseeker.
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Node:lurker, Next:[8181]luser, Previous:[8182]lunatic fringe, Up:[8183]= L =
lurker n.
One of the `silent majority' in a electronic forum; one who posts occasionally or not at all but is known to read the group's postings regularly. This term is not pejorative and indeed is casually used reflexively: "Oh, I'm just lurking." Often used in `the lurkers', the hypothetical audience for the group's [8184]flamage-emitting regulars. When a lurker speaks up for the first time, this is called `delurking'.
The creator of the popular science-fiction TV series "Babylon 5" has ties to SF fandom and the hacker culture. In that series, the use of the term `lurker' for a homeless or displaced person is a conscious reference to the jargon term.
673
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Node:luser, Next:[8185]M, Previous:[8186]lurker, Up:[8187]= L =
luser /loo'zr/ n.
[common] A [8188]user; esp. one who is also a [8189]loser. ([8190]luser and [8191]loser are pronounced identically.) This word was coined around 1975 at MIT. Under ITS, when you first walked up to a terminal at MIT and typed Control-Z to get the computer's attention, it printed out some status information, including how many people were already using the computer; it might print "14 users", for example. Someone thought it would be a great joke to patch the system to print "14 losers" instead. There ensued a great controversy, as some of the users didn't particularly want to be called losers to their faces every time they used the computer. For a while several hackers struggled covertly, each changing the message behind the back of the others; any time you logged into the computer it was even money whether it would say "users" or "losers". Finally, someone tried the compromise "lusers", and it stuck. Later one of the ITS machines supported luser as a request-for-help command. ITS died the death in mid-1990, except as a museum piece; the usage lives on, however, and the term `luser' is often seen in program comments and on Usenet. Compare [8192]mundane, [8193]muggle.
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Node:= M =, Next:[8194]= N =, Previous:[8195]= L =, Up:[8196]The Jargon Lexicon
= M =
*[8197]M:
*[8198]M$:
* [8199]macdink:
674
*[8200]machinable:
*[8201]machoflops:
*[8202]Macintoy:
*[8203]Macintrash:
*[8204]macro:
*[8205]macro-:
*[8206]macrology:
*[8207]macrotape:
*[8208]maggotbox:
*[8209]magic:
*[8210]magic cookie:
*[8211]magic number:
*[8212]magic smoke:
*[8213]mail storm:
*[8214]mailbomb:
*[8215]mailing list:
*[8216]main loop:
*[8217]mainframe:
675
*[8218]management:
*[8219]mandelbug:
*[8220]manged:
*[8221]mangle:
*[8222]mangled name:
*[8223]mangler:
*[8224]manularity:
*[8225]marbles:
*[8226]marginal:
*[8227]Marginal Hacks:
*[8228]marginally:
*[8229]marketroid:
*[8230]Mars:
*[8231]martian:
*[8232]massage:
*[8233]math-out:
*[8234]Matrix:
*[8235]maximum Maytag mode:
676
*[8236]meatspace:
*[8237]meatware:
*[8238]meeces:
*[8239]meg:
*[8240]mega-:
*[8241]megapenny:
*[8242]MEGO:
*[8243]meltdown network:
*[8244]meme:
*[8245]meme plague:
*[8246]memetics:
*[8247]memory farts:
*[8248]memory leak:
*[8249]memory smash:
*[8250]menuitis:
*[8251]mess-dos:
*[8252]meta:
*[8253]meta bit:
677
*[8254]metasyntactic variable:
*[8255]MFTL:
*[8256]mickey:
*[8257]mickey mouse program:
*[8258]micro-:
*[8259]MicroDroid:
*[8260]microfloppies:
*[8261]microfortnight:
*[8262]microLenat:
*[8263]microReid:
*[8264]microserf:
*[8265]Microsloth Windows:
*[8266]Microsoft:
*[8267]micros~1:
*[8268]middle-endian:
*[8269]middle-out implementation:
*[8270]milliLampson:
*[8271]minifloppies:
678
*[8272]MIPS:
*[8273]misbug:
*[8274]misfeature:
*[8275]Missed'em-five:
*[8276]missile address:
*[8277]miswart:
*[8278]MMF:
*[8279]mobo:
*[8280]moby:
*[8281]mockingbird:
*[8282]mod:
*[8283]mode:
*[8284]mode bit:
*[8285]modulo:
*[8286]molly-guard:
*[8287]Mongolian Hordes technique:
*[8288]monkey up:
*[8289]monkey scratch:
679
*[8290]monstrosity:
*[8291]monty:
*[8292]Moof:
*[8293]Moore's Law:
*[8294]moose call:
*[8295]moria:
*[8296]MOTAS:
*[8297]MOTOS:
*[8298]MOTSS:
*[8299]mouse ahead:
*[8300]mouse around:
*[8301]mouse belt:
*[8302]mouse droppings:
*[8303]mouse elbow:
*[8304]mouso:
*[8305]MS-DOS:
*[8306]mu:
*[8307]MUD:
680
*[8308]muddie:
*[8309]mudhead:
*[8310]muggle:
*[8311]multician:
*[8312]Multics:
*[8313]multitask:
*[8314]mumblage:
*[8315]mumble:
*[8316]munch:
*[8317]munching:
*[8318]munching squares:
*[8319]munchkin:
*[8320]mundane:
*[8321]mung:
*[8322]munge:
*[8323]Murphy's Law:
*[8324]music:
*[8325]mutter: