Chapter 48

Node:replicator, Next:reply, Previous:religious issues, Up:= R =

replicator n.

Any construct that acts to produce copies of itself; this could be a living organism, an idea (see meme), a program (see quine, worm, wabbit, fork bomb, and virus), a pattern in a cellular automaton (see life, sense 1), or (speculatively) a robot or nanobot. It is even claimed by some that Unix and C are the symbiotic halves of an extremely successful replicator; see Unix conspiracy.

Node:reply, Next:restriction, Previous:replicator, Up:= R =

reply n.

See followup.

Node:restriction, Next:retcon, Previous:reply, Up:= R =

restriction n.

A bug or design error that limits a program's capabilities, and which is sufficiently egregious that nobody can quite work up enough nerve to describe it as a feature. Often used (esp. by marketroid types) to make it sound as though some crippling bogosity had been intended by the designers all along, or was forced upon them by arcane technical constraints of a nature no mere user could possibly comprehend (these claims are almost invariably false).

Old-time hacker Joseph M. Newcomer advises that whenever choosing a quantifiable but arbitrary restriction, you should make it either a power of 2 or a power of 2 minus 1. If you impose a limit of 107 items in a list, everyone will know it is a random number -- on the other hand, a limit of 15 or 16 suggests some deep reason (involving 0- or 1-based indexing in binary) and you will get less flamage for it. Limits which are round numbers in base 10 are always especially suspect.

Node:retcon, Next:RETI, Previous:restriction, Up:= R =

retcon /ret'kon/

[short for `retroactive continuity', from the Usenet newsgroup _rec.arts.comics_] 1. n. The common situation in pulp fiction (esp. comics or soap operas) where a new story `reveals' things about events in previous stories, usually leaving the `facts' the same (thus preserving continuity) while completely changing their interpretation. For example, revealing that a whole season of "Dallas" was a dream was a retcon. 2. vt. To write such a story about a character or fictitious object. "Byrne has retconned Superman's cape so that it is no longer unbreakable." "Marvelman's old adventures were retconned into synthetic dreams." "Swamp Thing was retconned from a transformed person into a sentient vegetable." "Darth Vader was retconned into Luke Skywalker's father in "The Empire Strikes Back".

[This term is included because it is a good example of hackish linguistic innovation in a field completely unrelated to computers. The word `retcon' will probably spread through comics fandom and lose its association with hackerdom within a couple of years; for the record, it started here. --ESR]

[1993 update: some comics fans on the net now claim that retcon was independently in use in comics fandom before _rec.arts.comics_. In lexicography, nothing is ever simple. --ESR]

Node:RETI, Next:retrocomputing, Previous:retcon, Up:= R =

RETI v.

Syn. RTI

Node:retrocomputing, Next:return from the dead, Previous:RETI, Up:= R =

retrocomputing /ret'-roh-k*m-pyoo'ting/ n.

Refers to emulations of way-behind-the-state-of-the-art hardware or software, or implementations of never-was-state-of-the-art; esp. if such implementations are elaborate practical jokes and/or parodies, written mostly for hack value, of more `serious' designs. Perhaps the most widely distributed retrocomputing utility was the pnch(6) or bcd(6) program on V7 and other early Unix versions, which would accept up to 80 characters of text argument and display the corresponding pattern in punched card code. Other well-known retrocomputing hacks have included the programming language INTERCAL, a JCL-emulating shell for Unix, the card-punch-emulating editor named 029, and various elaborate PDP-11 hardware emulators and RT-11 OS emulators written just to keep an old, sourceless Zork binary running.

A tasty selection of retrocomputing programs are made available at the Retrocomputing Museum, http://www.ccil.org/retro.

Node:return from the dead, Next:RFC, Previous:retrocomputing, Up:= R =

return from the dead v.

To regain access to the net after a long absence. Compare person of no account.

Node:RFC, Next:RFE, Previous:return from the dead, Up:= R =

RFC /R-F-C/ n.

[Request For Comment] One of a long-established series of numbered Internet informational documents and standards widely followed by commercial software and freeware in the Internet and Unix communities. Perhaps the single most influential one has been RFC-822 (the Internet mail-format standard). The RFCs are unusual in that they are floated by technical experts acting on their own initiative and reviewed by the Internet at large, rather than formally promulgated through an institution such as ANSI. For this reason, they remain known as RFCs even once adopted as standards.

The RFC tradition of pragmatic, experience-driven, after-the-fact standard writing done by individuals or small working groups has important advantages over the more formal, committee-driven process typical of ANSI or ISO. Emblematic of some of these advantages is the existence of a flourishing tradition of `joke' RFCs; usually at least one a year is published, usually on April 1st. Well-known joke RFCs have included 527 ("ARPAWOCKY", R. Merryman, UCSD; 22 June 1973), 748 ("Telnet Randomly-Lose Option", Mark R. Crispin; 1 April 1978), and 1149 ("A Standard for the Transmission of IP Datagrams on Avian Carriers", D. Waitzman, BBN STC; 1 April 1990). The first was a Lewis Carroll pastiche; the second a parody of the TCP-IP documentation style, and the third a deadpan skewering of standards-document legalese, describing protocols for transmitting Internet data packets by carrier pigeon.

The RFCs are most remarkable for how well they work -- they manage to have neither the ambiguities that are usually rife in informal specifications, nor the committee-perpetrated misfeatures that often haunt formal standards, and they define a network that has grown to truly worldwide proportions.

Node:RFE, Next:rib site, Previous:RFC, Up:= R =

RFE /R-F-E/ n.

1. [techspeak] Request For Enhancement (compare RFC). 2. [from `Radio Free Europe', Bellcore and Sun] Radio Free Ethernet, a system (originated by Peter Langston) for broadcasting audio among Sun SPARCstations over the ethernet.

Node:rib site, Next:rice box, Previous:RFE, Up:= R =

rib site n.

[by analogy with backbone site] A machine that has an on-demand high-speed link to a backbone site and serves as a regional distribution point for lots of third-party traffic in email and Usenet news. Compare leaf site, backbone site.

Node:rice box, Next:Right Thing, Previous:rib site, Up:= R =

rice box n.

[from ham radio slang] Any Asian-made commodity computer, esp. an 80x86-based machine built to IBM PC-compatible ISA or EISA-bus standards.

Node:Right Thing, Next:rip, Previous:rice box, Up:= R =

Right Thing n.

That which is compellingly the correct or appropriate thing to use, do, say, etc. Often capitalized, always emphasized in speech as though capitalized. Use of this term often implies that in fact reasonable people may disagree. "What's the right thing for LISP to do when it sees (mod a 0)? Should it return a, or give a divide-by-0 error?" Oppose Wrong Thing.

Node:rip, Next:ripoff, Previous:Right Thing, Up:= R =

rip v.

1. To extract the digital representation of a piece of music from an audio CD. Software that does this is often called a "CD ripper". 2. [Amiga hackers] To extract sound or graphics from a program that they have been compiled/assembled into, or which generates them at run-time. In the case of older Amiga games this entails searching through memory shortly after a reboot. This sense has been in use for many years and probably gave rise to the (now more common) sense 1.

Node:ripoff, Next:RL, Previous:rip, Up:= R =

ripoff n.

Synonym for chad, sense 1.

Node:RL, Next:roach, Previous:ripoff, Up:= R =

RL // n.

[MUD community] Real Life. "Firiss laughs in RL" means that Firiss's player is laughing. Compare meatspace; oppose VR.

Node:roach, Next:robocanceller, Previous:RL, Up:= R =

roach vt.

[Bell Labs] To destroy, esp. of a data structure. Hardware gets toasted or fried, software gets roached.

Node:robocanceller, Next:robot, Previous:roach, Up:= R =

robocanceller /roh-boh-kan'sel-*r/

A program that monitors Usenet feeds, attempting to detect and eliminate spam by sending appropriate cancel messages . Robocancellers may use the Breidbart Index as a trigger. Programming them is not a game for amateurs; see ARMM. See also Dave the Resurrector.

Node:robot, Next:robust, Previous:robocanceller, Up:= R =

robot n.

See bot.

Node:robust, Next:rococo, Previous:robot, Up:= R =

robust adj.

Said of a system that has demonstrated an ability to recover gracefully from the whole range of exceptional inputs and situations in a given environment. One step below bulletproof. Carries the additional connotation of elegance in addition to just careful attention to detail. Compare smart, oppose brittle.

Node:rococo, Next:rogue, Previous:robust, Up:= R =

rococo adj.

Terminally baroque. Used to imply that a program has become so encrusted with the software equivalent of gold leaf and curlicues that they have completely swamped the underlying design. Called after the later and more extreme forms of Baroque architecture and decoration prevalent during the mid-1700s in Europe. Alan Perlis said: "Every program eventually becomes rococo, and then rubble." Compare critical mass.

Node:rogue, Next:room-temperature IQ, Previous:rococo, Up:= R =

rogue

1. [Unix] n. A Dungeons-and-Dragons-like game using character graphics, written under BSD Unix and subsequently ported to other Unix systems. The original BSD curses(3) screen-handling package was hacked together by Ken Arnold primarily to support games, and the development of rogue(6) popularized its use; it has since become one of Unix's most important and heavily used application libraries. Nethack, Omega, Larn, Angband, and an entire subgenre of computer dungeon games (all known as `roguelikes') all took off from the inspiration provided by rogue(6); the popular Windows game Diablo, though graphics-intensive, has very similar play logic. See also nethack. 2. [Usenet] adj. An ISP which permits net abuse (usually in the form of spamming) by its customers, or which itself engages in such activities. Rogue ISPs are sometimes subject to IDPs or UDPs. Sometimes deliberately mispelled as "rouge". See also nethack, moria, Angband.

Node:room-temperature IQ, Next:root, Previous:rogue, Up:= R =

room-temperature IQ quant.

[IBM] 80 or below (nominal room temperature is 72 degrees Fahrenheit, 22 degrees Celsius). Used in describing the expected intelligence range of the luser. "Well, but how's this interface going to play with the room-temperature IQ crowd?" See drool-proof paper. This is a much more insulting phrase in countries that use Celsius thermometers.

Node:root, Next:root mode, Previous:room-temperature IQ, Up:= R =

root n.

[Unix] 1. The superuser account (with user name `root') that ignores permission bits, user number 0 on a Unix system. The term avatar is also used. 2. The top node of the system directory structure; historically the home directory of the root user, but probably named after the root of an (inverted) tree. 3. By extension, the privileged system-maintenance login on any OS. See root mode, go root, see also wheel.

Node:root mode, Next:rot13, Previous:root, Up:= R =

root mode n.

Syn. with wizard mode or `wheel mode'. Like these, it is often generalized to describe privileged states in systems other than OSes.

Node:rot13, Next:rotary debugger, Previous:root mode, Up:= R =

rot13 /rot ther'teen/ n.,v.

[Usenet: from `rotate alphabet 13 places'] The simple Caesar-cypher encryption that replaces each English letter with the one 13 places forward or back along the alphabet, so that "The butler did it!" becomes "Gur ohgyre qvq vg!" Most Usenet news reading and posting programs include a rot13 feature. It is used to enclose the text in a sealed wrapper that the reader must choose to open -- e.g., for posting things that might offend some readers, or spoilers. A major advantage of rot13 over rot(N) for other N is that it is self-inverse, so the same code can be used for encoding and decoding. See also spoiler space, which has partly displaced rot13 since non-Unix-based newsreaders became common.

Node:rotary debugger, Next:round tape, Previous:rot13, Up:= R =

rotary debugger n.

[Commodore] Essential equipment for those late-night or early-morning debugging sessions. Mainly used as sustenance for the hacker. Comes in many decorator colors, such as Sausage, Pepperoni, and Garbage. See ANSI standard pizza.

Node:round tape, Next:RSN, Previous:rotary debugger, Up:= R =

round tape n.

Industry-standard 1/2-inch magnetic tape (7- or 9-track) on traditional circular reels. See macrotape, oppose square tape.

Node:RSN, Next:RTBM, Previous:round tape, Up:= R =

RSN /R-S-N/ adj.

See Real Soon Now.

Node:RTBM, Next:RTFAQ, Previous:RSN, Up:= R =

RTBM /R-T-B-M/ imp.

[Unix] Commonwealth Hackish variant of RTFM; expands to `Read The Bloody Manual'. RTBM is often the entire text of the first reply to a question from a newbie; the second would escalate to "RTFM".

Node:RTFAQ, Next:RTFB, Previous:RTBM, Up:= R =

RTFAQ /R-T-F-A-Q/ imp.

[Usenet: primarily written, by analogy with RTFM] Abbrev. for `Read the FAQ!', an exhortation that the person addressed ought to read the newsgroup's FAQ list before posting questions.

Node:RTFB, Next:RTFM, Previous:RTFAQ, Up:= R =

RTFB /R-T-F-B/ imp.

[Unix] Abbreviation for `Read The Fucking Binary'. Used when neither documentation nor source for the problem at hand exists, and the only thing to do is use some debugger or monitor and directly analyze the assembler or even the machine code. "No source for the buggy port driver? Aaargh! I hate proprietary operating systems. Time to RTFB."

Of the various RTF? forms, `RTFB' is the least pejorative against anyone asking a question for which RTFB is the answer; the anger here is directed at the absence of both source and adequate documentation.

Node:RTFM, Next:RTFS, Previous:RTFB, Up:= R =

RTFM /R-T-F-M/ imp.

[Unix] Abbreviation for `Read The Fucking Manual'. 1. Used by gurus to brush off questions they consider trivial or annoying. Compare Don't do that then!. 2. Used when reporting a problem to indicate that you aren't just asking out of randomness. "No, I can't figure out how to interface Unix to my toaster, and yes, I have RTFM." Unlike sense 1, this use is considered polite. See also FM, RTFAQ, RTFB, RTFS, STFW, RTM, all of which mutated from RTFM, and compare UTSL.

Node:RTFS, Next:RTI, Previous:RTFM, Up:= R =

RTFS /R-T-F-S/

[Unix] 1. imp. Abbreviation for `Read The Fucking Source'. Variant form of RTFM, used when the problem at hand is not necessarily obvious and not answerable from the manuals -- or the manuals are not yet written and maybe never will be. For even trickier situations, see RTFB. Unlike RTFM, the anger inherent in RTFS is not usually directed at the person asking the question, but rather at the people who failed to provide adequate documentation. 2. imp. `Read The Fucking Standard'; this oath can only be used when the problem area (e.g., a language or operating system interface) has actually been codified in a ratified standards document. The existence of these standards documents (and the technically inappropriate but politically mandated compromises that they inevitably contain, and the impenetrable legalese in which they are invariably written, and the unbelievably tedious bureaucratic process by which they are produced) can be unnerving to hackers, who are used to a certain amount of ambiguity in the specifications of the systems they use. (Hackers feel that such ambiguities are acceptable as long as the Right Thing to do is obvious to any thinking observer; sadly, this casual attitude towards specifications becomes unworkable when a system becomes popular in the Real World.) Since a hacker is likely to feel that a standards document is both unnecessary and technically deficient, the deprecation inherent in this term may be directed as much against the standard as against the person who ought to read it.

Node:RTI, Next:RTM, Previous:RTFS, Up:= R =

RTI /R-T-I/ interj.

The mnemonic for the `return from interrupt' instruction on many computers including the 6502 and 6800. The variant `RETI' is found among former Z80 hackers (almost nobody programs these things in assembler anymore). Equivalent to "Now, where was I?" or used to end a conversational digression. See pop; see also POPJ.

Node:RTM, Next:RTS, Previous:RTI, Up:= R =

RTM /R-T-M/

[Usenet: abbreviation for `Read The Manual'] 1. Politer variant of RTFM. 2. Robert Tappan Morris, perpetrator of the great Internet worm of 1988 (see Great Worm); villain to many, naive hacker gone wrong to a few. Morris claimed that the worm that brought the Internet to its knees was a benign experiment that got out of control as the result of a coding error. After the storm of negative publicity that followed this blunder, Morris's username on ITS was hacked from RTM to RTFM.

Node:RTS, Next:rude, Previous:RTM, Up:= R =

RTS /R-T-S/ imp.

Abbreviation for `Read The Screen'. Mainly used by hackers in the microcomputer world. Refers to what one would like to tell the suit one is forced to explain an extremely simple application to. Particularly appropriate when the suit failed to notice the `Press any key to continue' prompt, and wishes to know `why won't it do anything'. Also seen as `RTFS' in especially deserving cases.

Node:rude, Next:runes, Previous:RTS, Up:= R =

rude [WPI] adj.

1. (of a program) Badly written. 2. Functionally poor, e.g., a program that is very difficult to use because of gratuitously poor (random?) design decisions. Oppose cuspy. 3. Anything that manipulates a shared resource without regard for its other users in such a way as to cause a (non-fatal) problem. Examples: programs that change tty modes without resetting them on exit, or windowing programs that keep forcing themselves to the top of the window stack. Compare all-elbows.

Node:runes, Next:runic, Previous:rude, Up:= R =

runes pl.n.

1. Anything that requires heavy wizardry or black art to parse: core dumps, JCL commands, APL, or code in a language you haven't a clue how to read. Not quite as bad as line noise, but close. Compare casting the runes, Great Runes. 2. Special display characters (for example, the high-half graphics on an IBM PC). 3. [borderline techspeak] 16-bit characters from the Unicode multilingual character set.

Node:runic, Next:rusty iron, Previous:runes, Up:= R =

runic adj.

Syn. obscure. VMS fans sometimes refer to Unix as `Runix'; Unix fans return the compliment by expanding VMS to `Very Messy Syntax' or `Vachement Mauvais Système' (French idiom, "Hugely Bad System").

Node:rusty iron, Next:rusty memory, Previous:runic, Up:= R =

rusty iron n.

Syn. tired iron. It has been claimed that this is the inevitable fate of water MIPS.

Node:rusty memory, Next:rusty wire, Previous:rusty iron, Up:= R =

rusty memory n.

Mass-storage that uses iron-oxide-based magnetic media (esp. tape and the pre-Winchester removable disk packs used in washing machines). Compare donuts.

Node:rusty wire, Next:S/N ratio, Previous:rusty memory, Up:= R =

rusty wire n.

[Amateur Packet Radio] Any very noisy network medium, in which the packets are subject to frequent corruption. Most prevalent in reference to wireless links subject to all the vagaries of RF noise and marginal propagation conditions. "Yes, but how good is your whizbang new protocol on really rusty wire?".

Node:= S =, Next:= T =, Previous:= R =, Up:The Jargon Lexicon

= S =

S/N ratio:

sacred:

saga:

sagan:

SAIL:

salescritter:

salt:

salt mines:

salt substrate:

same-day service:

samizdat:

samurai:

sandbender:

sandbox:

sanity check:

Saturday-night special:

say:

scag:

scanno:

scary devil monastery:

schroedinbug:

science-fiction fandom:

scram switch:

scratch:

scratch monkey:

scream and die:

screaming tty:

screen:

screen name:

screw:

screwage:

scribble:

script kiddies:

scrog:

scrool:

scrozzle:

scruffies:

SCSI:

ScumOS:

search-and-destroy mode:

second-system effect:

secondary damage:

security through obscurity:

SED:

segfault:

seggie:

segment:

segmentation fault:

segv:

self-reference:

selvage:

semi:

semi-automated:

semi-infinite:

senior bit:

September that never ended:

server:

SEX:

sex changer:

shambolic link:

shar file:

sharchive:

Share and enjoy!:

shareware:

sharing violation:

shebang:

shelfware:

shell:

shell out:

shift left (or right) logical:

shim:

shitogram:

short card:

shotgun debugging:

shovelware:

showstopper:

shriek:

Shub-Internet:

sidecar:

SIG:

sig block:

sig quote:

sig virus:

signal-to-noise ratio:

silicon:

silly walk:

silo:

Silver Book:

since time T equals minus infinity:

sitename:

skrog:

skulker:

slab:

slack:

slap on the side:

slash:

slashdot effect:

sleep:

slim:

slop:

slopsucker:

Slowlaris:

slurp:

smart:

smart terminal:

smash case:

smash the stack:

smiley:

smoke:

smoke and mirrors:

smoke test:

smoking clover:

smoot:

SMOP:

smurf:

SNAFU principle:

snail:

snail-mail:

snap:

snarf:

snarf & barf:

snarf down:

snark:

sneaker:

sneakernet:

sniff:

snivitz:

'Snooze:

SO:

social engineering:

social science number:

sock puppet:

sodium substrate:

soft boot:

softcopy:

software bloat:

software hoarding:

software laser:

software rot:

softwarily:

softy:

some random X:

sorcerer's apprentice mode:

SOS:

source:

source of all good bits:

space-cadet keyboard:

spaceship operator:

SPACEWAR:

spaghetti code:

spaghetti inheritance:

spam:

spam bait:

spamblock:

spamhaus:

spamvertize:

spangle:

spawn:

special-case:

speedometer:

spell:

spelling flame:

spider:

spider food:

spiffy:

spike:

spin:

spl:

splash screen:

splat:

splat out:

spod:

spoiler:

spoiler space:

sponge:

spoof:

spool:

spool file:

spungle:

square tape:

squirrelcide:

stack:

stack puke:

stale pointer bug:

star out:

state:

stealth manager:

steam-powered:

STFW:

stiffy:

stir-fried random:

stomp on:

Stone Age:

stone knives and bearskins:

stoppage:

store:

strided:

stroke:

strudel:

stubroutine:

studly:

studlycaps:

stunning:

stupid-sort:

Stupids:

Sturgeon's Law:

sucking mud:

sufficiently small:

suit:

suitable win:

suitably small:

Sun:

sun lounge:

sun-stools:

sunspots:

super source quench:

superloser:

superprogrammer:

superuser:

support:

surf:

Suzie COBOL:

swab:

swap:

swap space:

swapped in:

swapped out:

swizzle:

sync:

syntactic salt:

syntactic sugar:

sys-frog:

sysadmin:

sysape:

sysop:

system:

systems jock:

system mangler:

SysVile:

Node:S/N ratio, Next:sacred, Previous:rusty wire, Up:= S =

S/N ratio // n.

(also `s/n ratio', `s:n ratio'). Syn. signal-to-noise ratio. Often abbreviated `SNR'.

Node:sacred, Next:saga, Previous:S/N ratio, Up:= S =

sacred adj.

Reserved for the exclusive use of something (an extension of the standard meaning). Often means that anyone may look at the sacred object, but clobbering it will screw whatever it is sacred to. The comment "Register 7 is sacred to the interrupt handler" appearing in a program would be interpreted by a hacker to mean that if any other part of the program changes the contents of register 7, dire consequences are likely to ensue.

Node:saga, Next:sagan, Previous:sacred, Up:= S =

saga n.

[WPI] A cuspy but bogus raving story about N random broken people.

Here is a classic example of the saga form, as told by Guy L. Steele: