WhatIs

/ȯr-fən/

[UNIX]

n. A process whose parent has died; one inherited by 'init(1)'.

Compare zombie.

/ȯr-ē-en-tᵊl füd/

n. Hackers display an intense tropism towards oriental cuisine, especially Chinese, and especially of the spicier varieties such as Szechuan and Hunan. This phenomenon (which has also been observed in subcultures that overlap heavily with hackerdom, most notably science-fiction fandom) has never been satisfactorily explained, but is sufficiently intense that one can assume the target of a hackish dinner expedition to be the best local Chinese place and be right at least three times out of four.

/är-inj bu̇k/

n. The U.S. Government's standards document 'Trusted Computer System Evaluation Criteria, DOD standard 5200.28-STD, December, 1985' which characterize secure computing architectures and defines levels A1 (most secure) through D (least). Stock UNIXes are roughly C2, and can be upgraded to about C1 without excessive pain.

See also book titles.

/ä-pə-rā-tiŋ si-stəm/

[techspeak]

/ō-pən swich/

[IBM: prob. from railroading]

n. An unresolved question, issue, or problem.

/ō-pən/

n. Abbreviation for 'open (or left) parenthesis' -- used when necessary to eliminate oral ambiguity. To read aloud the LISP form (DEFUN FOO (X) (PLUS X 1)) one might say:

"Open defun foo, open eks close, open plus eks one close close."

/ōō-blik/

[from Dr. Seuss's Bartholomew and the Oobleck]

n. A bizarre semi-liquid sludge made from cornstarch and water. Enjoyed among hackers who make batches during playtime at parties for its amusing and extremely non-Newtonian behavior; it pours and splatters, but resists rapid motion like a solid and will even crack when hit by a hammer. Often found near lasers.

Here is a field-tested ooblick recipe contributed by GLS:

/wən-līn-ər wȯrz/

n. A game popular among hackers who code in the language APL (see write-only language). The objective is to see who can code the most interesting and/or useful routine in one line of operators chosen from APL's exceedingly hairy primitive set. A similar amusement was practiced among TECO hackers.

/wən-līn fiks/

n. Used (often sarcastically) of a change to a program that is thought to be trivial or insignificant right up to the moment it crashes the system. Usually 'cured' by another one-line fix.

See also I didn't change anything!

/ōld te-stə-mənt/

n. [C programmers]

The first edition of K&R, the sacred text describing Classic C.