WEAR-OUT BITS n. A hypothetical (and sought after) mechanism by which
software houses could charge for software preventive maintenance, and thus
make a fortune. The idea is that some instructions in the machine would
become softwarily unreliable after N executions. However, having software
specialists come over to a shop and 'brush the wear-out bits' every so often
would prevent this from happening.
software houses could charge for software preventive maintenance, and thus
make a fortune. The idea is that some instructions in the machine would
become softwarily unreliable after N executions. However, having software
specialists come over to a shop and 'brush the wear-out bits' every so often
would prevent this from happening.
Related:
- bit rot n.
[common] Also bit decay. Hypothetical
disease the existence of which has been deduced from the
observation that unused programs or features will often stop
working after sufficient time has passed,
even if `nothing has changed'. The theory explains... - bit rot: n. Also {bit decay}. Hypothetical disease the existence
of which has been deduced from the observation that unused programs
or features will often stop working after sufficient time has
passed,
even if `nothing has changed'. The theory explains... - saga n.
[WPI] A cuspy but bogus raving story about N
random broken people.
Here is a classic example of the saga form, as told... - boot v.,n.
[techspeak; from `by one's bootstraps'] To
load and initialize the operating system on a machine.
This usage is no longer jargon (having passed into... - SOFTWARE ROT n. A hypothetical disease of which the existence has been
deduced from the observation that unused programs or features will stop
working after sufficient time has passed,
even if "nothing has changed!" Also known as "BIT DECAY... - FUD /fuhd/ n.
Defined by Gene Amdahl after he left IBM to
found his own company:
"FUD is the fear, uncertainty, and doubt that IBM... - softwarily /soft-weir'i-lee/ adv.
In a way pertaining to
software.
"The system is softwarily unreliable." The adjective... - virus n.
[from the obvious analogy with biological viruses,
via SF] A cracker program that searches out other programs... - beta /bay't*/, /be't*/ or (Commonwealth) /bee't*/ n.
1. Mostly working, but still under test; usu. used...
