line eater, the n. obs.
[Usenet] 1. A bug in some
now-obsolete versions of the netnews software that used to eat up
to BUFSIZ bytes of the article text. The bug was triggered by
having the text of the article start with a space or tab. This bug
was quickly personified as a mythical creature called the `line
eater', and postings often included a dummy line of `line eater
food'. Ironically, line eater `food' not beginning with a space
or tab wasn't actually eaten, since the bug was avoided; but if
there was a space or tab before it, then the line eater
would eat the food and the beginning of the text it was
supposed to be protecting. The practice of `sacrificing to the
line eater' continued for some time after the bug had been
nailed to the wall, and is still humorously referred to. The
bug itself was still occasionally reported to be lurking in some
mail-to-netnews gateways as late as 1991. 2. See NSA line eater.
[Usenet] 1. A bug in some
now-obsolete versions of the netnews software that used to eat up
to BUFSIZ bytes of the article text. The bug was triggered by
having the text of the article start with a space or tab. This bug
was quickly personified as a mythical creature called the `line
eater', and postings often included a dummy line of `line eater
food'. Ironically, line eater `food' not beginning with a space
or tab wasn't actually eaten, since the bug was avoided; but if
there was a space or tab before it, then the line eater
would eat the food and the beginning of the text it was
supposed to be protecting. The practice of `sacrificing to the
line eater' continued for some time after the bug had been
nailed to the wall, and is still humorously referred to. The
bug itself was still occasionally reported to be lurking in some
mail-to-netnews gateways as late as 1991. 2. See NSA line eater.
Related:
- line eater, the: [USENET] n. 1. A bug in some now-obsolete
versions of the netnews software that used to eat up to BUFSIZ
bytes of the article text.
The bug was triggered by having the text of the... - bug n.
An unwanted and unintended property of a program or
piece of hardware,
esp. one that causes it to malfunction. Antonym... - TECO /tee'koh/ n.,v. obs.
1. [originally an acronym for
`[paper] Tape Editor and COrrector';
later, `Text Editor and COrrector'] n. A text editor... - NSA line eater n.
The National Security Agency trawling
program sometimes assumed to be reading the net for the
U.S.
Government's spooks. Most hackers used to think it... - phase of the moon n.
Used humorously as a random parameter
on which something is said to depend.
Sometimes implies unreliability of whatever is dependent... - ARMM n.
[acronym, `Automated Retroactive Minimal
Moderation'] A Usenet cancelbot created by Dick Depew of Munroe Falls,
Ohio. ARMM was intended to automatically cancel posts... - splat n.
1. Name used in many places (DEC, IBM, and
others) for the asterisk (*) character (ASCII 0101010).
This may derive from the `squashed-bug' appearance... - condom n.
1. The protective plastic bag that accompanies
3.5-inch microfloppy diskettes.
Rarely, also used of (paper) disk envelopes. Unlike... - What a quiche-eater
you are...
From the same category:
- tanked adj.
Same as down, used primarily by Unix
hackers.
See also hosed. Popularized as a synonym for `drunk'... - doubled sig [Usenet] n.
A sig block that has been
included twice in a Usenet article or,
less commonly, in an electronic mail message. An... - pilot error n.
[Sun: from aviation] A user's
misconfiguration or misuse of a piece of software,
producing apparently buglike results (compare UBD)... - four-color glossies n.
1.
Literature created by marketroids that allegedly... - copper n.
Conventional electron-carrying network cable with
a core conductor of copper -
or aluminum! Opposed to light pipe or, say, a short...
