The New Hacker's Dictionary

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Node:power hit, Next:[10548]PPN, Previous:[10549]power cycle, Up:[10550]= P =

power hit n.

A spike or drop-out in the electricity supplying your machine; a power [10551]glitch. These can cause crashes and even permanent damage to your machine(s).

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PPN /P-P-N/, /pip'n/ n. obs.

[from `Project-Programmer Number'] A user-ID under [10555]TOPS-10 and its various mutant progeny at SAIL, BBN, CompuServe, and elsewhere. Old-time hackers from the PDP-10 era sometimes use this to refer to user IDs on other systems as well.

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Node:pr0n, Next:[10556]precedence lossage, Previous:[10557]PPN, Up:[10558]= P =

pr0n //

[Usenet, IRC] Pornography. Originally this referred only to Internet porn but since then it has expanded to refer to just about anything. The term comes from the [10559]warez kiddies tendency to replace letters with numbers. At some point on IRC someone mistyped, swapped the middle two letters, and the name stuck, then propagated over into mainstream hacker usage. Compare [10560]filk, [10561]grilf, [10562]hing and [10563]newsfroup.

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Node:precedence lossage, Next:[10564]prepend, Previous:[10565]pr0n, Up:[10566]= P =

precedence lossage /pre's*-dens los'*j/ n.

[C programmers] Coding error in an expression due to unexpected grouping of arithmetic or logical operators by the compiler. Used esp. of certain common coding errors in C due to the nonintuitively low precedence levels of &, |, ^, <<, and >> (for this reason, experienced C programmers deliberately forget the language's [10567]baroque precedence hierarchy and parenthesize defensively). Can always be avoided by suitable use of parentheses. [10568]LISP fans enjoy pointing out that this can't happen in their favorite language, which eschews precedence entirely, requiring one to use explicit parentheses everywhere. See [10569]aliasing bug, [10570]memory leak, [10571]memory smash, [10572]smash the stack, [10573]fandango on core, [10574]overrun screw.

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Node:prepend, Next:[10575]prestidigitization, Previous:[10576]precedence lossage, Up:[10577]= P =

prepend /pree`pend'/ vt.

[by analogy with `append'] To prefix. As with `append' (but not `prefix' or `suffix' as a verb), the direct object is always the thing being added and not the original word (or character string, or whatever). "If you prepend a semicolon to the line, the translation routine will pass it through unaltered."

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Node:prestidigitization, Next:[10578]pretty pictures,

Previous:[10579]prepend, Up:[10580]= P =

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[Mac users] See [10594]feature key.

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Node:priesthood, Next:[10595]prime time, Previous:[10596]pretzel key, Up:[10597]= P =

priesthood n. obs.

[TMRC] The select group of system managers responsible for the operation and maintenance of a batch operated computer system. On these computers, a user never had direct access to a computer, but had to submit his/her data and programs to a priest for execution. Results were returned days or even weeks later. See [10598]acolyte.

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Node:prime time, Next:[10599]print, Previous:[10600]priesthood, Up:[10601]= P =

prime time n.

[from TV programming] Normal high-usage hours on a system or network. Back in the days of big timesharing machines `prime time' was when lots of people were competing for limited cycles, usually the day shift. Avoidance of prime time was traditionally given as a major reason for [10602]night mode hacking. The term fell into disuse during the early PC era, but has been revived to refer to times of day or evening at which the Internet tends to be heavily loaded, making Web access slow. The hackish tendency to late-night [10603]hacking runs has changed not a bit.

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profile n.

1. A control file for a program, esp. a text file automatically read from each user's home directory and intended to be easily modified by the user in order to customize the program's behavior. Used to avoid [10621]hardcoded choices (see also [10622]dot file, [10623]rc file). 2. [techspeak] A report on the amounts of time spent in each routine of a program, used to find and [10624]tune away the [10625]hot spots in it. This sense is often verbed. Some profiling modes report units other than time (such as call counts) and/or report at granularities other than per-routine, but the idea is similar. 3.[techspeak] A subset of a standard used for a particular purpose. This sense confuses hackers who wander into the weird world of ISO standards no end!

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Node:progasm, Next:[10626]proggy, Previous:[10627]profile,

Up:[10628]= P =

progasm /proh'gaz-m/ n.

[University of Wisconsin] The euphoria experienced upon the completion of a program or other computer-related project.

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Node:proggy, Next:[10629]proglet, Previous:[10630]progasm,

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proggy n.

1. Any computer program that is considered a full application. 2. Any computer program that is made up of or otherwise contains

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[10632]proglets. 3. Any computer program that is large enough to be normally distributed as an RPM or [10633]tarball.

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Node:proglet, Next:[10634]program, Previous:[10635]proggy,

Up:[10636]= P =

proglet /prog'let/ n.

[UK] A short extempore program written to meet an immediate, transient need. Often written in BASIC, rarely more than a dozen lines long, and containing no subroutines. The largest amount of code that can be written off the top of one's head, that does not need any editing, and that runs correctly the first time (this amount varies significantly according to one's skill and the language one is using). Compare [10637]toy program, [10638]noddy, [10639]one-liner wars.

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Node:program, Next:[10640]Programmer's Cheer,

Previous:[10641]proglet, Up:[10642]= P =

program n.

1. A magic spell cast over a computer allowing it to turn one's input into error messages. 2. An exercise in experimental epistemology. 3. A form of art, ostensibly intended for the instruction of computers, which is nevertheless almost inevitably a failure if other programmers can't understand it.

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Node:Programmer's Cheer, Next:[10643]programming,

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Used by hackers, this is syn. with [10656]computer geek. Non-hackers sometimes use it to describe all techies. Prob. derives from SF fandom's tradition (originally invented by old-time fan Ray Faraday Nelson) of propeller beanies as fannish insignia (though nobody actually wears them except as a joke).

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Node:propeller key, Next:[10657]proprietary, Previous:[10658]propeller head, Up:[10659]= P =

propeller key n.

[Mac users] See [10660]feature key.

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Node:proprietary, Next:[10661]protocol, Previous:[10662]propeller key, Up:[10663]= P =

proprietary adj.

1. In [10664]marketroid-speak, superior; implies a product imbued with exclusive magic by the unmatched brilliance of the company's own hardware or software designers. 2. In the language of hackers and users, inferior; implies a product not conforming to open-systems standards, and thus one that puts the customer at the mercy of a vendor able to gouge freely on service and upgrade charges after the initial sale has locked the customer in. Often in the phrase "proprietary crap". 3. Synonym for closed-source, e.g. software issued in binary without source and under a restructive license.

Since the coining of the term [10665]open source, many hackers have made a conscious effort to distinguish between `proprietary' and `commercial' software. It is possible for software to be commercial (that is, intended to make a profit for the producers) without being proprietary. The reverse is

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also possible, for example in binary-only freeware.

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Node:protocol, Next:[10666]provocative maintenance,

Previous:[10667]proprietary, Up:[10668]= P =

protocol n.

As used by hackers, this never refers to niceties about the proper form for addressing letters to the Papal Nuncio or the order in which one should use the forks in a Russian-style place setting; hackers don't care about such things. It is used instead to describe any set of rules that allow different machines or pieces of software to coordinate with each other without ambiguity. So, for example, it does include niceties about the proper form for addressing packets on a network or the order in which one should use the forks in the Dining Philosophers Problem. It implies that there is some common message format and an accepted set of primitives or commands that all parties involved understand, and that transactions among them follow predictable logical sequences. See also [10669]handshaking, [10670]do protocol.

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Node:provocative maintenance, Next:[10671]prowler,

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provocative maintenance n.

[common ironic mutation of `preventive maintenance'] Actions performed upon a machine at regularly scheduled intervals to ensure that the system remains in a usable state. So called because it is all too often performed by a [10674]field servoid who doesn't know what he is doing; such `maintenance' often induces problems, or otherwise results in the machine's remaining in an unusable state for an indeterminate amount of time. See also [10675]scratch monkey.