WhatIs

/skrül/

[from the pioneering Roundtable chat system in Houston ca. 1984; prob. originated as a typo for scroll]

n. The log of old messages, available for later perusal or to help one get back in synch with the conversation. It was originally called the scrool monster, because an early version of the roundtable software had a bug where it would dump all 8K of scrool on a user's terminal.

/skräg/

[Bell Labs]

vt. To damage, trash, or corrupt a data structure. "The list header got scrogged." Also reported as skrog, and ascribed to the comic strip "The Wizard of Id". Equivalent to scribble or mangle.

/skri-bəl/

n. To modify a data structure in a random and unintentionally destructive way.

"Bletch! Somebody's disk-compactor program went berserk and scribbled on the i-node table."

"It was working fine until one of the allocation routines scribbled on low core."

Synonymous with trash; compare mung, which conveys a bit more intention, and mangle, which is more violent and final.

/skrü-āj/

n. Like lossage but connotes that the failure is due to a designed-in misfeature rather than a simple inadequacy or a mere bug.

/skrü/

[MIT]

n. A lose, usually in software. Especially used for user-visible misbehavior caused by a bug or misfeature. This use has become quite widespread outside MIT.

/skrach məŋ-kē/

n. As in "Before testing or reconfiguring, always mount a scratch monkey", a proverb used to advise caution when dealing with irreplaceable data or devices. Used to refer to any scratch volume hooked to a computer during any risky operation as a replacement for some precious resource or data that might otherwise get trashed.

/skrach/

1. [from 'scratchpad'] adj. Describes a data structure or recording medium attached to a machine for testing or temporary-use purposes; one that can be scribbled on without loss. Usually in the combining forms 'scratch memory', 'scratch register', 'scratch disk', 'scratch tape', 'scratch volume'.

See scratch monkey.

2. [primarily IBM] vt. To delete (as in a file).

/skram swich/

[from the nuclear power industry]

/sī-ən(t)s fik-shən fan-dəm/

n. Another voluntary subculture having a very heavy overlap with hackerdom; most hackers read SF and/or fantasy fiction avidly, and many go to 'cons' (SF conventions) or are involved in fandom-connected activities such as the Society for Creative Anachronism.

/sā/

vt. 1. To type to a terminal.

"To list a directory verbosely, you have to say ls -l."

Tends to imply a newline-terminated command (a 'sentence').

2. A computer may also be said to 'say' things to you, even if it doesn't have a speech synthesizer, by displaying them on a terminal in response to your commands. Hackers find it odd that this usage confuses mundanes.