WhatIs

/dau̇n-ˌlōd/

vt. To transfer data or (esp.) code from a larger 'host' system (esp. a mainframe) over a digital comm link to a smaller 'client' system, esp. a microcomputer or specialized peripheral.

Oppose upload.

/dau̇n/

1. adj. Not operating.

"The up escalator is down" is considered a humorous thing to say, and "The elevator is down" always means "The elevator isn't working" and never refers to what floor the elevator is on. With respect to computers, this usage has passed into the mainstream; the extension to other kinds of machine is still hackish.

/də-bəl'd sig/

[USENET] n. A sig block that has been included twice in a USENET article or, less commonly, in an electronic mail message. An article or message with a doubled sig can be caused by improperly configured software. More often, however, it reveals the author's lack of experience in electronic communication.

See BIFF, pseudo.

/də-bəl de-kərs/

n. Used to describe married couples in which both partners work for Digital Equipment Corporations.

/də-bəl bəkē/

adj. Using both the CTRL and META keys.

"The command to burn all LEDs is double bucky F."

/dät fī(-ə)l/

[UNIX]

n. A file which is not visible to normal directory-browsing tools (on UNIX, files named with a leading dot are, by convention, not normally presented in directory listings). Many programs define one or more dot files in which startup or configuration information may be optionally recorded; a user can customize the program's behavior by creating the appropriate file in the current or home directory.

See also rc file.

/dȯr-ˌstäp/

n. Used to describe equipment that is non-functional and halfway expected to remain so, especially obsolete equipment kept around for political reasons or ostensibly as a backup.

"When we get another Wyse-50 in here, that ADM 3 will turn into a doorstop."

Compare boat anchor.

/do·nuts/

n.obs. A collective noun for any set of memory bits. This is extremely archaic and may no longer be live jargon; it dates from the days of ferrite-core memories in which each bit was implemented by a doughnut-shaped magnetic flip-flop.

/don'gl disk/

n. See dongle; a 'dongle-disk' is a floppy disk with some coding that allows an application to identify it uniquely. It can therefore be used as a dongle. Also called a 'key disk'.

/dong'gl/

n. 1. A security or copy-protection device for commercial microcomputer programs consisting of a serialized EPROM and some drivers in a D-25 connector shell, which must be connected to an I/O port of the computer while the program is run. Programs that use a dongle query the port at startup and at programmed intervals thereafter, and terminate if it does not respond with the dongle's programmed validation code. Thus, users can make as many copies of the program as they want but must pay for each dongle.