The letter F

• face time n. Time spent interacting with somebody face-to-face (as
• factor n. See coefficient of X.
• fall over [IBM] vi. Yet another synonym for crash or lose.
• fall through v. (n. `fallthrough', var. `fall-through')
• fan n. Without qualification, indicates a fan of science
• fandango on core [UNIX/C hackers, from the Mexican dance] n.
• FAQ /F-A-Q/ or /fak/ [USENET] n. 1. A Frequently Asked Question.
• FAQ list /F-A-Q list/ or /fak list/ [USENET] n. Syn FAQ,
• FAQL /fa'kl/ n. Syn. FAQ list.
• faradize /far'*-diz/ [US Geological Survey] v. To start any
• farkled /far'kld/ [DeVry Institute of Technology, Atlanta] adj.
• farming [Adelaide University, Australia] n. What the heads of a
• fascist adj. 1. Said of a computer system with excessive or
• fat electrons n. Old-time hacker David Cargill's theory on the
• faulty adj. Non-functional; buggy. Same denotation as
• fd leak /F-D leek/ n. A kind of programming bug analogous to a
• fear and loathing [from Hunter S. Thompson] n. A state inspired by the
• feature n. 1. A good property or behavior (as of a program).
• feature creature [poss. fr. slang `creature feature' for a
• feature key n. The Macintosh key with the cloverleaf graphic on
• feature shock [from Alvin Toffler's book title "Future
• featurectomy /fee`ch*r-ek't*-mee/ n. The act of removing a
• feep /feep/ 1. n. The soft electronic `bell' sound of a
• feeper /fee'pr/ n. The device in a terminal or workstation (usually
• feeping creature [from feeping creaturism] n. An unnecessary
• feeping creaturism /fee'ping kree`ch*r-izm/ n. A deliberate
• feetch feetch /feech feech/ interj. If someone tells you about
• fence n. 1. A sequence of one or more distinguished
• fencepost error n. 1. A problem with the discrete equivalent of a
• fepped out /fept owt/ adj. The Symbolics 3600 LISP Machine has a
• FidoNet n. A worldwide hobbyist network of personal computers
• field circus [a derogatory pun on `field service'] n. The field
• field servoid [play on `android'] /fee'ld ser'voyd/ n.
• Fight-o-net [FidoNet] n. Deliberate distortion of FidoNet,
• File Attach [FidoNet] 1. n. A file sent along with a mail message
• File Request [FidoNet] 1. n. The FidoNet equivalent of
• file signature n. A magic number, sense 3.
• filk /filk/ [from SF fandom, where a typo for `folk' was
• film at 11 [MIT in parody of TV newscasters] 1. Used in
• filter [orig. UNIX, now also in MS-DOS] n. A program that
• Finagle's Law n. The generalized or `folk' version of
• fine [WPI] adj. Good, but not good enough to be cuspy. The word
• finger [WAITS, via BSD UNIX] 1. n. A program that displays
• finger-pointing syndrome n. All-too-frequent result of bugs, esp.
• finn [IRC] v. To pull rank on somebody based on the amount of
• firebottle n. A large, primitive, power-hungry active electrical
• firefighting n. 1. What sysadmins have to do to correct sudden
• firehose syndrome n. In mainstream folklore it is observed that
• firewall code n. 1. The code you put in a system (say, a
• firewall machine n. A dedicated gateway machine with special
• fireworks mode n. The mode a machine is sometimes said to be in when
• firmy /fer'mee/ Syn. stiffy (a 3.5-inch floppy disk).
• fish [Adelaide University, Australia] n. 1. Another {metasyntacticvariable}
• FISH queue [acronym, by analogy with FIFO (First In, First Out)]
• FITNR // [Thinking Machines, Inc.] Fixed In the Next Release.
• fix n.,v. What one does when a problem has been reported too many
• FIXME imp. A standard tag often put in C comments near a piece of
• flag n. A variable or quantity that can take on one of two
• flag day n. A software change that is neither forward- nor
• flaky adj. (var sp. `flakey') Subject to frequent lossage.
• flamage /flay'm*j/ n. Flaming verbiage, esp. high-noise,
• flame 1. vi. To post an email message intended to insult and
• flame bait n. A posting intended to trigger a flame war, or one
• flame on vi.,interj. 1. To begin to flame. The punning
• flame war n. (var. `flamewar') An acrimonious dispute,
• flamer n. One who habitually flames. Said esp. of obnoxious
• flap vt. 1. To unload a DECtape (so it goes flap, flap,
• flarp /flarp/ [Rutgers University] n. Yet another {metasyntacticvariable}
• flat adj. 1. Lacking any complex internal structure. "That
• flat-ASCII adj. Said of a text file that contains only 7-bit
• flat-file adj. A flattened representation of some database or
• flatten vt. To remove structural information, esp. to filter
• flavor n. 1. Variety, type, kind. "DDT commands come in two
• flavorful adj. Full of flavor (sense 2); esthetically pleasing. See
• flippy /flip'ee/ n. A single-sided floppy disk altered for
• flood [IRC] v. To dump large amounts of text onto an IRC
• flowchart [techspeak] n. An archaic form of visual control-flow
• flower key [Mac users] n. See feature key.
• flush v. 1. To delete something, usually superfluous, or to abort
• flypage /fli'payj/ n. (alt. `fly page') A banner, sense
• Flyspeck 3 n. Standard name for any font that is so tiny as to be
• flytrap n. See firewall machine.
• FM /F-M/ n. *Not* `Frequency Modulation' but rather an
• fnord [from the "Illuminatus Trilogy"] n. 1. A word used in
• FOAF // [USENET] n. Acronym for `Friend Of A Friend'. The
• FOD /fod/ v. [Abbreviation for `Finger of Death', originally a
• fold case v. See smash case. This term tends to be used
• followup n. On USENET, a posting generated in response to
• fontology [XEROX PARC] n. The body of knowledge dealing with the
• foo /foo/ 1. interj. Term of disgust. 2. Used very generally
• foobar n. Another common metasyntactic variable; see foo.
• fool n. As used by hackers, specifically describes a person who
• fool file, the [USENET] n. A notional repository of all the most
• Foonly n. 1. The PDP-10 successor that was to have been
• footprint n. 1. The floor or desk area taken up by a piece of
• for free adj. Said of a capability of a programming language or
• for the rest of us [from the Mac slogan "The computer for the
• for values of [MIT] A common rhetorical maneuver at MIT is to use
• fora pl.n. Plural of forum.
• foreground [UNIX] vt. To bring a task to the top of one's
• fork bomb [UNIX] n. A particular species of wabbit that can
• forked [UNIX; prob. influenced by a mainstream expletive] adj.
• Fortrash /for'trash/ n. Hackerism for the FORTRAN (FORmula
• fortune cookie [WAITS, via UNIX] n. A random quote, item of
• forum n. [USENET, GEnie, CI$; pl. `fora' or `forums'] Any
• fossil n. 1. In software, a misfeature that becomes
• four-color glossies 1. Literature created by marketroids
• fragile adj. Syn brittle.
• fred n. 1. The personal name most frequently used as a
• frednet /fred'net/ n. Used to refer to some random and
• freeware n. Free software, often written by enthusiasts and
• freeze v. To lock an evolving software distribution or document
• fried adj. 1. Non-working due to hardware failure; burnt out.
• frink /frink/ v. The unknown ur-verb, fill in your own meaning.
• friode /fri'ohd/ [TMRC] n. A reversible (that is, fused or
• fritterware n. An excess of capability that serves no productive
• frob /frob/ 1. n. [MIT] The TMRC definition was "FROB = a
• frobnicate /frob'ni-kayt/ vt. [Poss. derived from
• frobnitz /frob'nits/, plural `frobnitzem' /frob'nit-zm/ or
• frog alt. `phrog' 1. interj. Term of disgust (we seem to have
• frogging [University of Waterloo] v. 1. Partial corruption of a
• front end n. 1. An intermediary computer that does set-up and
• frotz /frots/ 1. n. See frobnitz. 2. `mumble frotz' An
• frotzed /frotst/ adj. down because of hardware problems. Compare
• frowney n. (alt. `frowney face') See emoticon.
• fry 1. vi. To fail. Said especially of smoke-producing hardware
• FTP /F-T-P/, *not* /fit'ip/ 1. [techspeak] n. The File
• FUBAR n. The Failed UniBus Address Register in a VAX. A good
• fuck me harder excl. Sometimes uttered in response to egregious
• FUD /fuhd/ n. Defined by Gene Amdahl after he left IBM to found
• FUD wars /fuhd worz/ n. [from FUD] Political posturing engaged in
• fudge 1. vt. To perform in an incomplete but marginally acceptable
• fudge factor n. A value or parameter that is varied in an ad hoc way
• fuel up vi. To eat or drink hurriedly in order to get back to
• fum [XEROX PARC] n. At PARC, often the third of the standard
• funky adj. Said of something that functions, but in a slightly
• funny money n. 1. Notional `dollar' units of computing time
• furrfu // [USENET] excl. Written-only equivalent of
• fuzzball [TCP/IP hackers] n. A DEC LSI-11 running a particular

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The letter G