WhatIs

/swäb/

[From the mnemonic for the PDP-11 SWAp Byte instruction, as immortalized in the dd(1) option conv=swab (see dd)] 

1. vt. To solve the NUXI problem by swapping bytes in a file.

2. n. The program in V7 UNIX used to perform this action, or anything functionally equivalent to it.

/sü-zē kō-bȯl/

1. [IBM: prob. from Frank Zappa's Suzy Creamcheese] n. A coder straight out of training school who knows everything except the value of comments in plain English. Also (fashionable among personkind wishing to avoid accusations of sexism) Sammy Cobol or (in some non-IBM circles) Cobol Charlie.

2. [proposed] Meta-name for any code grinder, analogous to J. Random Hacker.

/sə-pȯrt/

n. After-sale handholding; something many software vendors promise but few deliver. To hackers, most support people are useless -- because by the time a hacker calls support he or she will usually know the relevant manuals better than the support people (sadly, this is not a joke or exaggeration). A hacker's idea of support is a t^ete-'a-t^ete with the software's designer.

/sü-pər-yü-zər/

[UNIX]

n. Syn. root, avatar. This usage has spread to non-UNIX environments; the superuser is any account with all wheel bits on. A more specific term than wheel.

/sü-pər-prō-gra-mər/

n. A prolific programmer; one who can code exceedingly well and quickly. Not all hackers are superprogrammers, but many are. (Productivity can vary from one programmer to another by three orders of magnitude. For example, one programmer might be able to write an average of 3 lines of working code in one day, while another, with the proper tools, might be able to write 3,000.

/sən-spätz/

n. 1. Notional cause of an odd error.
"Why did the program suddenly turn the screen blue?"
"Sunspots, I guess."

2. Also the cause of bit rot -- from the myth that sunspots will increase cosmic rays, which can flip single bits in memory.

See cosmic rays, phase of the moon.

/sən-stülz/

n. Unflattering hackerism for SunTools, a pre-X windowing environment notorious in its day for size, slowness, and misfeatures. X, however, is larger and slower; see second-system effect.

/sü-tə-bəl-lē smȯl/

[perverted from mathematical jargon]

adj. An expression used ironically to characterize unquantifiable behavior that differs from expected or required behavior. For example, suppose a newly created program came up with a correct full-screen display, and one publicly exclaimed: "It works!" Then, if the program dumps core on the first mouse click, one might add: "Well, for suitably small values of 'works'."

Compare the characterization of pi under random numbers.

/sü-tə-bəl win/

n. See win.

/süt/

n. 

1. Ugly and uncomfortable business clothing often worn by non-hackers. Invariably worn with a tie, a strangulation device that partially cuts off the blood supply to the brain. It is thought that this explains much about the behavior of suit-wearers.

   Compare droid.

2. A person who habitually wears suits, as distinct from a techie or hacker.