Weenix

Tags

/wē-nikz/

[ITS]

n. A derogatory term for UNIX, derived from UNIX weenie. According to one noted ex-ITSer, it is "the operating system preferred by Unix Weenies: typified by poor modularity, poor reliability, hard file deletion, no file version numbers, case sensitivity everywhere, and users who believe that these are all advantages". Some ITS fans behave as though they believe UNIX stole a future that rightfully belonged to them.

See ITS, sense 2.

Weenie

Tags

/wē-nē/

n. 1. When used with a qualifier (for example, as in UNIX weenie, VMS weenie, IBM weenie) this can be either an insult or a term of praise, depending on context, tone of voice, and whether or not it is applied by a person who considers him or herself to be the same sort of weenie.

Weeds

Tags

/wēdz/

n. 1. Refers to development projects or algorithms that have no possible relevance or practical application. Comes from 'off in the weeds'. Used in phrases like "lexical analysis for microcode is serious weeds..."

2. At CDC/ETA before its demise, the phrase 'go off in the weeds' was equivalent to IBM's branch-to-fishkill and mainstream hackerdom's jump off into never-never land.

Wave a Dead Chicken

Tags

/wāv ā ded chi-kᵊn/

v.,n. 

  1. [techspeak] The action of checking the status of an input line, sensor, or memory location to see if a particular external event has been registered.
  2. To repeatedly call or check with someone:
    "I keep polling him, but he's not answering his phone; he must be swapped out."
  3. To ask.
    "Lunch? I poll for a takeout order daily."