<company> The biggest supplier of {operating systems} and
	other software for {IBM PC} compatibles.  Software products
	include {MS-DOS}, {Microsoft Windows}, {Windows NT},
	{Microsoft Access}, {LAN Manager}, {MS Client}, {SQL Server},
	{Open Data Base Connectivity} (ODBC), {MS Mail}, and {SNA
	Server} for Windows NT.

	Microsoft was founded as "Micro-soft" in 1975 by {Bill Gates}
	(now CEO) and his high school pal Paul Allen.  Their first
	product was a version of {BASIC} for the new {Altair} computer
	[which one?].  In 1980, {IBM} chose Microsoft to supply the
	{operating system} for the {IBM PC}.

	On the UK television program "The Net" in May 1994, {Bill
	Gates} said he was betting his company on the {information
	highway}".

	Quarterly sales $1293M, profits $362M (Aug 1994).

	{Home (http://www.microsoft.com/)}.
	{(ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/)}.

	{Interesting Info and Other Microsoft WWW Servers
	(http://www-drg.microsoft.com/devinfo.htm)}.

	{Microsoft Windows Developer Information
	(http://www-drg.microsoft.com/devinfo.htm)}.

	{Microsoft Research Group Information
	(http://www.research.microsoft.com)}.

	{Win_News
	(http://www.microsoft.com/chicago/ms-www/ms-intro.htm)}.
	maintained by the Personal Operating Systems Division to
	distribute information on {Microsoft Windows}, {MS-DOS} and
	{Windows 95}.

	(1998-11-06)

1. Non-functional; {down}; {crash}ed.  Especially used of
	{hardware}.

	2. At {XEROX PARC}, software that is working but not
	undergoing continued development and support.

	[{Jargon File}]

<World-Wide Web> The {World-Wide Web} {search engine} that
	indexes the greatest number of web pages - over two billion by
	December 2001 and provides a free service that searches this
	index in less than a second.

	The site's name is apparently derived from "{googol}", but
	note the difference in spelling.

	The "Google" spelling is also used in "The Hitchhikers Guide
	to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams, in which one of Deep
	Thought's designers asks, "And are you not," said Fook,
	leaning anxiously foward, "a greater analyst than the
	Googleplex Star Thinker in the Seventh Galaxy of Light and
	Ingenuity which can calculate the trajectory of every single
	dust particle throughout a five-week Dangrabad Beta sand
	blizzard?"

	{Home (http://www.google.com/)}.

	(2001-12-28)

<World-Wide Web> Yet Another Hierarchical
	Officious/Obstreperous/Odiferous/Organized Oracle.

	(Or a member of a race of brutes in Swift's Gulliver's Travels
	who have the form and all the vices of man, or an uncouth or
	rowdy person).

	Probably the biggest hierarchical index of the {World-Wide
	Web}.  Originally at {Stanford University}, Yahoo moved to its
	own site in April 1995.  It allows you to move up and down the
	heirarchy, to search it and to suggest additions.  It also
	features "What's New", "What's Popular", "What's Cool" and a
	random link.

	{Home (http://www.yahoo.com/)}.

	(1995-04-05)

<jargon> {Marketroid} jargon for "{software}", "{hardware}",
	"{protocol}" or something else too technical to name.

	The most flagrant abuse of this word has to be "{Windows NT}"
	(New Technology) - {Microsoft}'s attempt to make the
	incorporation of some ancient concepts into their OS sound
	like real progress.  The irony, and even the meaning, of this
	seems to be utterly lost on Microsoft whose {Windows 2000}
	start-up screen proclaims "Based on NT Technology", (meaning
	yet another version of NT, including some {Windows 95}
	features at last).

	See also: {solution}.

	(2001-06-28)

1. <unit, text> (Sometimes abbreviated "pt") The unit of
	length used in {typography} to specify text character height,
	{rule} width, and other small measurements.

	There are six slightly different definitions: {Truchet point},
	{Didot point}, {ATA point}, {TeX point}, {Postscript point},
	and {IN point}.

	In Europe, the most commonly used is Didot and in the US, the
	formerly standard ATA point has essentially been replaced by
	the PostScript point due to the demise of traditional
	typesetting systems and rise of desktop computer based systems
	running software such as {QuarkXPress}, {Adobe InDesign} and
	{Adobe Pagemaker}.

	There are 20 {twips} in a point and 12 points in a {pica}
	(known as a "Cicero" in the Didot system).

	{Different point systems
	(http://www.vakcer.com/oberon/dtp/fonts/point.htm)}.

	(2004-12-23)

	2. <hardware> To move a {pointing device} so that the
	on-screen pointer is positioned over a certain object on the
	screen such as a {button} in a {graphical user interface}.  In
	most {window systems} it is then necessary to {click} a
	(physical) button on the pointing device to activate or select
	the object.  In some systems, just pointing to an object is
	known as "mouse-over" {event} which may cause some help text
	(called a "tool tip" in {Windows}) to be displayed.

	(2001-05-21)

That which surrounds, and gives meaning to, something else.

	<grammar> In a {grammar} it refers to the symbols before and
	after the symbol under consideration.  If the syntax of a
	symbol is independent of its context, the grammar is said to
	be {context-free}.

<programming> (Or "computer program", "program", "code") The
	instructions executed by a computer, as opposed to the
	physical device on which they run (the "{hardware}").

	The term was coined by the eminent statistician, {John Tukey}.

	Programs stored on {non-volatile storage} built from
	{integrated circuits} (e.g. {ROM} or {PROM}) are usually
	called {firmware}.

	Software can be split into two main types - {system software}
	and application software or {application programs}.  System
	software is any software required to support the production or
	execution of application programs but which is not specific to
	any particular application.  Examples of system software would
	include the {operating system}, {compilers}, editors and
	sorting programs.

	Examples of application programs would include an accounts
	package or a {CAD} program.  Other broad classes of
	application software include {real-time} software, {business
	software}, scientific and engineering software, {embedded
	software}, personal computer software and {artificial
	intelligence} software.

	Software includes both {source code} written by humans and
	executable {machine code} produced by {assemblers} or
	{compilers}.  It does not usually include the data processed
	by programs unless this is in a format such as {multimedia}
	which depends on the use of computers for its presentation.
	This distinction becomes unclear in cases such as {spread
	sheets} which can contain both instructions (formulae and
	{macros}) and data.  There are also various intermediate
	compiled or {semi-compiled}, forms of software such as
	{library} files and {byte-code}.

	Some claim that {documentation} (both paper and electronic) is
	also software.  Others go further and define software to be
	programs plus documentation though this does not correspond
	with common usage.

	The noun "program" describes a single, complete and
	more-or-less self-contained list of instructions, often stored
	in a single {file}, whereas "code" and "software" are
	uncountable nouns describing some number of instructions which
	may constitute one or more programs or part thereof.  Most
	programs, however, rely heavily on various kinds of {operating
	system} software for their execution.  The nounds "code" and
	"software" both refer to the same thing but "code" tends to
	suggest an interest in the implementation details whereas
	"software" is more of a user's term.

	(2002-07-21)

1. <messaging> One point-to-point transmission in a series
	required to get a message from point A to point B on a {store
	and forward} network.  On such networks (including {UUCPNET}
	and {FidoNet}), an important inter-machine metric is the hop
	count of the shortest path between them.  This can be more
	significant than their geographical separation.

	Each {exclamation mark} in a {bang path} represents one hop.

	2. <networking> One direct host-to-host connection forming
	part of the route between two hosts in a {routed} {network}
	such as the {Internet}.  Some {protocols} place an upper limit
	on the hop count in order to detect routing loops.

	3. <jargon, networking> To {log in} to a {remote} computer,
	especially via {rlogin} or {telnet}.  "I'll hop over to foovax
	to FTP that."

	[{Jargon File}]

	(1997-06-25)

<body, project> /g*noo/ 1. A {recursive acronym}:
	"GNU's Not Unix!".  The {Free Software Foundation}'s project
	to provide a freely distributable replacement for {Unix}.  The
	GNU Manifesto was published in the March 1985 issue of
	Dr. Dobb's Journal but the GNU project started a year and a
	half earlier when {Richard Stallman} was trying to get funding
	to work on his freely distributable editor, {Emacs}.

	{Emacs} and the GNU {C} compiler, {gcc}, two tools designed
	for this project, have become very popular.  GNU software is
	available from many {GNU archive sites}.

	See also {Hurd}.

	2. <person> {John Gilmore}.

	[{Jargon File}]

	(1997-04-12)

<operating system> ("Linus Unix") /li'nuks/ (but see below)
	An implementation of the {Unix} {kernel} originally written
	from scratch with no proprietary code.

	The kernel runs on {Intel} and {Alpha} hardware in the general
	release, with {SPARC}, {PowerPC}, {MIPS}, {ARM}, {Amiga},
	{Atari}, and {SGI} in active development.  The SPARC, PowerPC,
	ARM, {PowerMAC} - {OSF}, and 68k ports all support {shells},
	{X} and {networking}.  The Intel and SPARC versions have
	reliable {symmetric multiprocessing}.

	Work on the kernel is coordinated by Linus Torvalds, who holds
	the copyright on a large part of it.  The rest of the
	copyright is held by a large number of other contributors (or
	their employers).  Regardless of the copyright ownerships, the
	kernel as a whole is available under the {GNU} {General Public
	License}.  The GNU project supports Linux as its kernel until
	the research {Hurd} kernel is completed.

	This kernel would be no use without {application programs}.
	The GNU project has provided large numbers of quality tools,
	and together with other {public domain} software it is a rich
	Unix environment.  A compilation of the Linux kernel and these
	tools is known as a Linux distribution.  Compatibility modules
	and/or {emulators} exist for dozens of other computing
	environments.

	The kernel version numbers are significant: the odd numbered
	series (e.g. 1.3.xx) is the development (or beta) kernel which
	evolves very quickly.  Stable (or release) kernels have even
	major version numbers (e.g. 1.2.xx).

	There is a lot of commercial support for and use of Linux,
	both by hardware companies such as {Digital}, {IBM}, and
	{Apple} and numerous smaller network and integration
	specialists.  There are many commercially supported
	distributions which are generally entirely under the GPL.  At
	least one distribution vendor guarantees {Posix} compliance.
	Linux is particularly popular for {Internet Service
	Providers}, and there are ports to both parallel
	supercomputers and {embedded} {microcontrollers}.  {Debian} is
	one popular {open source} distribution.

	The pronunciation of "Linux" has been a matter of much debate.
	Many, including Torvalds, insist on the short I pronunciation
	/li'nuks/ because "Linus" has an /ee/ sound in Swedish
	(Linus's family is part of Finland's 6% ethnic-Swedish
	minority) and Linus considers English short /i/ to be closer
	to /ee/ than English long /i:/ dipthong.  This is consistent
	with the short I in words like "linen".  This doesn't stop
	others demanding a long I /li:'nuks/ following the english
	pronunciation of "Linus" and "minus".  Others say /li'niks/
	following {Minix}, which Torvalds was working on before Linux.

	{More on pronunciation
	(http://www.foldoc.org/pub/linux-pronunciation)}.

	{LinuxHQ (http://www.linuxhq.com/)}.  {slashdot
	(http://slashdot.org/)}.  {freshmeat (http://freshmeat.net/)}.
	{Woven Goods (http://www.fokus.gmd.de/linux/)}.  {Linux
	Gazette (http://www.ssc.com/lg)}.

	{funet Linux Archive (ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/Linux)}, {US
	mirror (ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/)}, {UK Mirror
	(ftp://sunsite.doc.ic.ac.uk/packages/Linux/)}.

	(2000-06-09)

<jargon> 1. A piece of {hardware} that encapsulates some
	function but can't be used without some kind of {front end}.
	Today we have, especially, "{print engine}": the guts of a
	{laser printer}.

	2. An analogous piece of software; notionally, one that does a
	lot of noisy {crunching}, such as a "database engine", or
	"{search engine}".

	The hackish senses of "engine" are actually close to its
	original, pre-Industrial-Revolution sense of a skill, clever
	device, or instrument (the word is cognate to "ingenuity").
	This sense had not been completely eclipsed by the modern
	connotation of power-transducing machinery in {Charles
	Babbage}'s time, which explains why he named the
	stored-program computer that he designed in 1844 the
	"{Analytical Engine}".

	[{Jargon File}]

	(1996-05-31)

<hardware> (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of
	Radiation) The type of light source used in a {laser
	printer}.

	(2003-05-08)

<jargon> ({MIT}) 1. To fail.  A program loses when it
	encounters an exceptional condition or fails to work in the
	expected manner.

	2. To be exceptionally unesthetic or crocky.

	3. Of people, to be obnoxious or unusually stupid (as opposed
	to ignorant).

	4. Refers to something that is {losing}, especially in the
	phrases "That's a lose!" and "What a lose!"

	[{Jargon File}]

	(1995-04-19)

A quantity which is multiplied by another quantity.  See
	{coefficient of X}.  See also {divisor}.

	[{Jargon File}]

<jargon> Something (not a person) that loses; a situation in
	which something is losing.  Emphatic forms include "moby
	loss", and "total loss", "complete loss".  Common
	interjections are "What a loss!"  and "What a moby loss!"
	Note that "moby loss" is OK even though **"moby loser" is not
	used; applied to an abstract noun, moby is simply a magnifier,
	whereas when applied to a person it implies substance and has
	positive connotations.

	Compare {lossage}.

	(1995-04-19)