(Free and Eventually Eulisp) An initial implementation of an
	{EuLisp} {interpreter} by Pete Broadbery
	<pab@maths.bath.ac.uk>.  Version 0.75 features an integrated
	{object} system, {modules}, {parallelism}, interfaces to {PVM}
	library, {TCP/IP} {sockets}, {futures}, {Linda} and {CSP}.
	Portable to most {Unix} systems.  Can use {shared memory} and
	{threads} if available.

	{(ftp://ftp.bath.ac.uk/pub/eulisp/)}.

	(1992-09-14)

<operating system> A {binary} file containing a program in
	{machine language} which is ready to be {execute}d (run).

	The term might also be, but generally isn't, applied to
	{scripts} which are interpreted by a {command line
	interpreter}.  Executables are distinguished in {Unix} by
	having the execute permission bits set, at least for the
	owner.  {MS-DOS} uses the {filename extension} ".exe".

	(1997-06-21)

<operating system, programming> The process of carrying out
	the {instructions} in a computer program by a computer.

	See also {dry run}.

	(1996-05-13)

1. A program which provides some service to other ({client})
	programs.  The connection between client and server is
	normally by means of {message passing}, often over a
	{network}, and uses some {protocol} to encode the client's
	requests and the server's responses.  The server may run
	continuously (as a {daemon}), waiting for requests to arrive
	or it may be invoked by some higher level daemon which
	controls a number of specific servers ({inetd} on {Unix}).

	There are many servers associated with the {Internet}, such as
	those for {HTTP}, {Network File System}, {Network Information
	Service} (NIS), {Domain Name System} (DNS), {FTP}, {news},
	{finger}, {Network Time Protocol}.  On Unix, a long list can
	be found in /etc/services or in the {NIS} database "services".
	See {client-server}.

	2. A computer which provides some service for other computers
	connected to it via a network.  The most common example is a
	{file server} which has a local disk and services requests
	from remote clients to read and write files on that disk,
	often using {Sun}'s {Network File System} (NFS) {protocol} or
	{Novell Netware} on {PCs}.  Another common example is a {web
	server}.

	[{Jargon File}]

	(2003-12-29)

1. <World-Wide Web> {Internet Information Server}.

	2. <language> {Idealized Instruction Set}.

	(1999-08-26)

After-sale handholding; something many software vendors
	promise but few deliver.  To hackers, most support people are
	useless - because by the time a hacker calls support he or she
	will usually know the software and the relevant manuals better
	than the support people (sadly, this is *not* a joke or
	exaggeration).  A hacker's idea of "support" is a tte--tte
	or exchange of {electronic mail} with the software's designer.

	[{Jargon File}]

	(1995-02-15)

1. <World-Wide Web> {Common Gateway Interface}.

	2. <graphics> {computer-generated imagery}.

	3. <company> A French {software engineering} vendor in the US.

	4. <company> {Computer Generation Incorporated}.

	(1997-02-11)

1. <operating system> {Command Line Interface}.

	2. <database, standard> {Call-Level Interface}.

	(1997-03-04)

<operating system> 1. The common abbreviation for {MS-DOS}.

	2. {IBM}'s {Disk Operating System}.

	3. Any {disk operating system}.

	(2001-03-16)

<file system> An element of data storage in a {file system}.

	The history of computing is rich in varied kinds of files and
	{file systems}, whether ornate (e.g., {Macintosh file system}
	for a well-known case) or deficient (e.g., many simple
	pre-1980s file systems don't allow {directories}).

	However, the prototypical file has these characteristics:

	* It is a single sequence of bytes (but consider {Macintosh}
	{resource forks}).

	* It has a finite length, unlike, e.g. a {Unix} {device}.

	* It is stored in a {non-volatile storage} medium (but see
	{ramdrive}).

	* It exists (nominally) in a {directory}.

	* It has a name that it can be referred to by in file
	operations, possibly in combination with its {path}.

	Additionally, a file system may associate other information
	with a file, such as {permission} bits or other {file
	attributes}; timestamps for file creation, last revision, and
	last access; revision numbers (a` la VMS), and other kinds of
	{magic}.

	Compare: {document}.

	(1997-04-08)

<operating system> All activities involved in completing any
	project on a computer from start to finish.  A job may involve
	several {processes} and several {programs}.

	This term originates from a time when a user would manually
	submit a job as a deck of {punched cards} which would
	typically include {source code} interspersed with {job control
	language} instructions to guide phases of the job such as
	{compilation}, {linking}, {execution} and printing.

	(2005-03-16)

<theory, programming> (Or "data type") A set of values from
	which a {variable}, {constant}, {function}, or other
	{expression} may take its value.  A type is a classification
	of data that tells the {compiler} or {interpreter} how the
	programmer intends to use it.  For example, the process and
	result of adding two variables differs greatly according to
	whether they are integers, floating point numbers, or strings.

	Types supported by most programming languages include
	{integers} (usually limited to some range so they will fit in
	one {word} of storage), {Booleans}, {floating point numbers},
	and characters.  {Strings} are also common, and are
	represented as {lists} of characters in some languages.

	If s and t are types, then so is s -> t, the type of
	{functions} from s to t; that is, give them a term of type s,
	functions of type s -> t will return a term of type t.

	Some types are {primitive} - built-in to the language, with no
	visible internal structure - e.g. Boolean; others are
	composite - constructed from one or more other types (of
	either kind) - e.g. {lists}, {arrays}, {structures}, {unions}.
	{Object-oriented programming} extends this with {classes}
	which encapsulate both the structure of a type and the
	operations that can be performed on it.

	Some languages provide {strong typing}, others allow {implicit
	type conversion} and/or {explicit type conversion}.

	(2003-12-22)

1. <hardware> An electronic or electromechanical device for
	entering data into a computer or a communications system and
	displaying data received.  Early terminals were called
	{teletypes}, later ones {VDUs}.  Typically a terminal
	communicates with the computer via a {serial line}.

	2. <electronics> The end of a {line} where signals are either
	transmitted or received, or a point along the length of a line
	where the signals are made available to apparatus.

	3. <electronics> Apparatus to send and/or receive signals on a
	{line}.

	(1995-10-02)

1. <networking> A {bang path} or explicitly routed {Internet
	address}; a node-by-node specification of a link between two
	machines.

	2. <file system> {pathname}.

	3. <operating system>  The list of directories the kernel
	(under {Unix}) or the command interpreter (under {MS-DOS})
	searches for {executables}.  It is stored as part of the
	{environment} in both operating systems.

	Other, similar constructs abound under Unix; the {C}
	{preprocessor}, for example, uses such a search path to locate
	"#include" files.

	[{Jargon File}]

	(1996-11-21)

1. A new or better version of some {hardware} or {software}.

	Often used in {marketroid}-speak to mean "{bug fix}".

	2. The act of developing or installing a new version.

	(1995-03-14)

<operating system> See {Microsoft Windows}, {Windows NT}.

	(1997-11-23)

<abuse, operating system> /mi:'kroh-sloth" win"dohz/ (Or
	"Windoze", /win'dohz/) A derogatory term for {Microsoft
	Windows} which is so limited by bug-for-bug compatibility with
	{mess-dos} that it is agonisingly slow on anything less than a
	fast {486}.  Also called just "Windoze", with the implication
	that you can fall asleep waiting for it to do anything; the
	latter term is extremely common on {Usenet}.

	Compare {X}, {sun-stools}.

	[{Jargon File}]

	(1996-10-08)