:finger: [WAITS, via BSD Unix] 1. /n./ A program that displays
information about a particular user or all users logged on the
system, or a remote system. Typically shows full name, last login
time, idle time, terminal line, and terminal location (where
applicable). May also display a {plan file} left by the user
(see also {Hacking X for Y}). 2. /vt./ To apply finger to a
username. 3. /vt./ By extension, to check a human's current state
by
any means. "Foodp?" "T!" "OK, finger Lisa and see if she's
idle." 4. Any picture (composed of ASCII characters) depicting
`the finger'. Originally a humorous component of one's plan file
to deter the curious fingerer (sense 2), it has entered the arsenal
of some {flamer}s.
:finger trouble: /n./ Mistyping, typos, or generalized keyboard incompetence (this is surprisingly common among hackers, given the amount of time they spend at keyboards). "I keep putting colons at the end of statements instead of semicolons", "Finger trouble again, eh?".
:finger-pointing syndrome: /n./ All-too-frequent result of bugs, esp. in new or experimental configurations. The hardware vendor points a finger at the software. The software vendor points a finger at the hardware. All the poor users get is the finger.
:finn: /v./ [IRC] To pull rank on somebody based on the amount
of time one has spent on {IRC}. The term derives from the fact
that IRC was originally written in Finland in 1987. There may be
some influence from the `Finn' character in William Gibson's
seminal cyberpunk novel "Count Zero", who at one point says to
another (much younger) character "I have a pair of shoes older
than you are, so shut up!"
:firebottle: /n./ A large, primitive, power-hungry active
electrical device, similar in function to a FET but constructed out
of glass, metal, and vacuum. Characterized by high cost, low
density, low reliability, high-temperature operation, and high
power dissipation. Sometimes mistakenly called a `tube' in the
U.S. or a `valve' in England; another hackish term is
{glassfet}.
:firefighting: /n./ 1. What sysadmins have to do to correct sudden operational problems. An opposite of hacking. "Been hacking your new newsreader?" "No, a power glitch hosed the network and I spent the whole afternoon fighting fires." 2. The act of throwing lots of manpower and late nights at a project, esp. to get it out before deadline. See also {gang bang}, {Mongolian Hordes technique}; however, the term `firefighting' connotes that the effort is going into chasing bugs rather than adding features.
:firehose syndrome: /n./ In mainstream folklore it is observed that trying to drink from a firehose can be a good way to rip your lips off. On computer networks, the absence or failure of flow control mechanisms can lead to situations in which the sending system sprays a massive flood of packets at an unfortunate receiving system, more than it can handle. Compare {overrun}, {buffer overflow}.
:firewall code: /n./ 1. The code you put in a system (say, a telephone switch) to make sure that the users can't do any damage. Since users always want to be able to do everything but never want to suffer for any mistakes, the construction of a firewall is a question not only of defensive coding but also of interface presentation, so that users don't even get curious about those corners of a system where they can burn themselves. 2. Any sanity check inserted to catch a {can't happen} error. Wise programmers often change code to fix a bug twice: once to fix the bug, and once to insert a firewall which would have arrested the bug before it did quite as much damage.
:firewall machine: /n./ A dedicated gateway machine with special security precautions on it, used to service outside network connections and dial-in lines. The idea is to protect a cluster of more loosely administered machines hidden behind it from {cracker}s. The typical firewall is an inexpensive micro-based Unix box kept clean of critical data, with a bunch of modems and public network ports on it but just one carefully watched connection back to the rest of the cluster. The special precautions may include threat monitoring, callback, and even a complete {iron box} keyable to particular incoming IDs or activity patterns. Syn. {flytrap}, {Venus flytrap}.
[When first coined in the mid-1980s this term was pure jargon. Now (1996) it is borderline techspeak, and may have to be dropped from this lexicon before very long —ESR]