:fireworks mode: /n./ The mode a machine is sometimes said to
be in when it is performing a {crash and burn} operation.
:firmy: /fer'mee/ /n./ Syn. {stiffy} (a 3.5-inch floppy
disk).
:fish: /n./ [Adelaide University, Australia] 1. Another {metasyntactic variable}. See {foo}. Derived originally from the Monty Python skit in the middle of "The Meaning of Life" entitled "Find the Fish". 2. A pun for `microfiche'. A microfiche file cabinet may be referred to as a `fish tank'.
:FISH queue: /n./ [acronym, by analogy with FIFO (First In, First Out)] `First In, Still Here'. A joking way of pointing out that processing of a particular sequence of events or requests has stopped dead. Also `FISH mode' and `FISHnet'; the latter may be applied to any network that is running really slowly or exhibiting extreme flakiness.
:FITNR: // /adj./ [Thinking Machines, Inc.] Fixed In The
Often Next Release. A written-only notation attached to bug
reports.
wishful thinking.
:fix: /n.,v./ What one does when a problem has been reported too many times to be ignored.
:FIXME: /imp./ A standard tag often put in C comments near a piece of code that needs work. The point of doing so is that a `grep' or a similar pattern-matching tool can find all such places quickly.
/* FIXME: note this is common in {GNU} code. */
Compare {XXX}.
:flag: /n./ A variable or quantity that can take on one of two values; a bit, particularly one that is used to indicate one of two outcomes or is used to control which of two things is to be done. "This flag controls whether to clear the screen before printing the message." "The program status word contains several flag bits." Used of humans analogously to {bit}. See also {hidden flag}, {mode bit}.