:distribution: /n./ 1. A software source tree packaged for
distribution; but see {kit}. 2. A vague term encompassing
mailing lists and Usenet newsgroups (but not {BBS} {fora});
any topic-oriented message channel with multiple recipients. 3. An
information-space domain (usually loosely correlated with
geography) to which propagation of a Usenet message is restricted;
a much-underutilized feature.
:disusered: /adj./ [Usenet] Said of a person whose account on a
computer has been removed, esp. for cause rather than through
normal attrition. "He got disusered when they found out he'd been
cracking through the school's Internet access." The verbal form
`disuser' is live but less common. Both usages probably derive
from the DISUSER account status flag on VMS; setting it disables
the account. Compare {star out}.
:do protocol: /vi./ [from network protocol programming] To perform an interaction with somebody or something that follows a clearly defined procedure. For example, "Let's do protocol with the check" at a restaurant means to ask for the check, calculate the tip and everybody's share, collect money from everybody, generate change as necessary, and pay the bill. See {protocol}.
:doc: /dok/ /n./ Common spoken and written shorthand for `documentation'. Often used in the plural `docs' and in the construction `doc file' (i.e., documentation available on-line).
:documentation:: /n./ The multiple kilograms of macerated, pounded, steamed, bleached, and pressed trees that accompany most modern software or hardware products (see also {tree-killer}). Hackers seldom read paper documentation and (too) often resist writing it; they prefer theirs to be terse and on-line. A common comment on this predilection is "You can't {grep} dead trees". See {drool-proof paper}, {verbiage}, {treeware}.
:dodgy: /adj./ Syn. with {flaky}. Preferred outside the U.S.
:dogcow: /dog'kow/ /n./ See {Moof}. The dogcow is a semi-legendary creature that lurks in the depths of the Macintosh Technical Notes Hypercard stack V3.1. The full story of the dogcow is told in technical note #31 (the particular dogcow illustrated is properly named `Clarus'). Option-shift-click will cause it to emit a characteristic `Moof!' or `!fooM' sound. *Getting* to tech note 31 is the hard part; to discover how to do that, one must needs examine the stack script with a hackerly eye. Clue: {rot13} is involved. A dogcow also appears if you choose `Page Setup…' with a LaserWriter selected and click on the `Options' button.
:dogpile: /v./ [Usenet: prob. fr. mainstream "puppy pile">[
When many people post unfriendly responses in short order to a
single posting, they are sometimes said to "dogpile" or "dogpile
on" the person to whom they're responding. For example, when a
religious missionary posts a simplistic appeal to alt.atheism,
he can expect to be dogpiled.
:dogwash: /dog'wosh/ [From a quip in the `urgency' field
of a very optional software change request, ca. 1982. It was
something like "Urgency: Wash your dog first".] 1. /n./ A project
of minimal priority, undertaken as an escape from more serious
work. 2. /v./ To engage in such a project. Many games and much
{freeware} get written this way.
:domainist: /doh-mayn'ist/ /adj./ 1. [USENET, by pointed analogy with "sexist", "racist", etc.] Someone who judges people by the domain of their email addresses; esp. someone who dismisses anyone who posts from a public internet provider. "What do you expect from an article posted from aol.com?" 2. Said of an {{Internet address}} (as opposed to a {bang path}) because the part to the right of the `@' specifies a nested series of `domains'; for example, esr@snark.thyrsus.com specifies the machine called snark in the subdomain called thyrsus within the top-level domain called com. See also {big-endian}, sense 2.