WhatIs

/fuhd worz/

n. [from FUD] Political posturing engaged in by hardware and software vendors ostensibly committed to standardization but actually willing to fragment the market to protect their own shares. The UNIX International vs. OSF conflict is but one outstanding example.

/fuhd/

n. Defined by Gene Amdahl after he left IBM to found his own company:

"FUD is the fear, uncertainty, and doubt that IBM sales people instill in the minds of potential customers who might be considering [Amdahl] products."

The idea, of course, was to persuade them to go with safe IBM gear rather than with competitors' equipment. This was traditionally done by promising that Good Things would happen to people who stuck with IBM, but Dark Shadows loomed over the future of competitors' equipment or software.

See IBM.

/klaʊd/

n., v., pre.

/fü-ˌbär/

n. The Failed UniBus Address Register in a VAX. A good example of how jargon can occasionally be snuck past the suits; see foobar.

/F-T-P/, *not* /fit'ip/

1. [techspeak] n. The File Transfer Protocol for transmitting files between systems on the Internet.

2. vt. To beam a file using the File Transfer Protocol.

3. Sometimes used as a generic even for file transfers not using FTP.

"Lemme get a copy of Wuthering Heights FTP'd from uunet."

/frī/

1. vi. To fail. Said especially of smoke-producing hardware failures. More generally, to become non-working.

Usage: never said of software, only of hardware and humans.

See fried, magic smoke.

2. vt. To cause to fail; to roach, toast, or hose a piece of hardware. Never used of software or humans, but compare fried.

/frau̇nē/

n. (alt. 'frowney face') ☹️

See emoticon.

/frotst/

adj. down because of hardware problems.

Compare fried.

A machine that is merely frotzed may be fixable without replacing parts, but a fried machine is more seriously damaged.

/frots/

1. n. See frobnitz.

2. mumble frotz: An interjection of very mild disgust.

/frənt end/

n. 1. An intermediary computer that does set-up and filtering for another (usually more powerful but less friendly) machine (a 'back end').

2. What you're talking to when you have a conversation with someone who is making replies without paying attention.

 "Look at the dancing elephants!"

 "Uh-huh."

 "Do you know what I just said?"

 "Sorry, you were talking to the front end."

 See also fepped out.