:flag day: n. A software change that is neither forward- nor
backward-compatible, and which is costly to make and costly to
reverse. "Can we install that without causing a flag day for all
users?" This term has nothing to do with the use of the word
{flag} to mean a variable that has two values. It came into use
when a massive change was made to the {{Multics}} timesharing
system to convert from the old ASCII code to the new one; this was
scheduled for Flag Day (a U.S. holiday), June 14, 1966. See also
{backward combatability}.
-- The AI Hackers Dictionary
backward-compatible, and which is costly to make and costly to
reverse. "Can we install that without causing a flag day for all
users?" This term has nothing to do with the use of the word
{flag} to mean a variable that has two values. It came into use
when a massive change was made to the {{Multics}} timesharing
system to convert from the old ASCII code to the new one; this was
scheduled for Flag Day (a U.S. holiday), June 14, 1966. See also
{backward combatability}.
-- The AI Hackers Dictionary
Related:
- flag day n.
A software change that is neither forward-
nor backward-compatible, and which is costly to make... - backward combatability: /bak'w*rd k*m-bat'*-bil'*-tee/ [from
`backward compatibility'] n.
A property of hardware or software revisions in... - flag: n. A variable or quantity that can take on one of two
values;
a bit, particularly one that is used to indicate one... - flag n.
[very common] A variable or quantity that can
take on one of two values;
a bit, particularly one that is used to indicate... - mode bit: n. A {flag}, usually in hardware, that selects between
two (usually quite different) modes of operation.
The connotations are different from {flag} bit in... - backward combatability /bak'w*rd k*m-bat'*-bil'*-tee/ n.
[CMU, Tektronix: from `backward compatibility'] A property... - Great Renaming: n. The {flag day} in 1985 on which all of the
non-local groups on the {USENET} had their names changed from
the net.
format to the current multiple-hierarchies scheme.... - hidden flag: [scientific computation] n. An extra option added to
a routine without changing the calling sequence.
For example, instead of adding an explicit input... - security through obscurity
(alt. `security by obscurity')
A term applied by hackers to most OS vendors' favorite way of
coping with security holes -
namely, ignoring them, documenting neither any known...
