PPRuNe Forums

PPRuNe Forums (https://www.pprune.org/)
-   Computer/Internet Issues & Troubleshooting (https://www.pprune.org/computer-internet-issues-troubleshooting-46/)
-   -   A Technological Paradox! (https://www.pprune.org/computer-internet-issues-troubleshooting/133414-technological-paradox.html)

Rupert S 9th June 2004 07:27

A Technological Paradox!
 
Has anyone considered the computing term GNU? It is an abbreviation of "GNU is Not Unix". It is a never ending loop of abbreviations. Quite deep :=

122.45 9th June 2004 07:39

With GNU/Hurd, `Hurd' stands for `Hird of Unix-Replacing Daemons'. And `Hird' stands for `Hurd of Interfaces Representing Depth'. Deeper? :hmm:

The Nr Fairy 9th June 2004 09:21

Rupe:

Search for "recursion" on Google. You're right, it is a geeky piece of fun.

Memetic 9th June 2004 16:01

I always liked TWAIN - "Technology Without An Interesting Name" :D

Globaliser 9th June 2004 17:30

Although the stuff of potential urban legend. From the Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing (which has been adopted by twain.org):-

TWAIN
<graphics, standard> An image capture API for Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh operating systems. The standard was first released in 1992, and is currently ratified at version 1.9 as of January 2000. TWAIN is typically used as an interface between image processing software and a scanner or digital camera.

The word TWAIN is from Kipling's "The Ballad of East and West" - "...and never the twain shall meet...", reflecting the difficulty, at the time, of connecting scanners and personal computers. It was up-cased to TWAIN to make it more distinctive. This led people to believe it was an acronym, and then to a contest to come up with an expansion. None were selected, but the entry "Technology Without An Interesting Name" continues to haunt the standard.

Dop 9th June 2004 21:39

PCMCIA - People Can't Memorise Computer Industry Acronyms

ORAC 10th June 2004 05:49

Not computer industry, but of interest, another word taken upper case and then turned into an acronym - SCRAM

RomeoTangoFoxtrotMike 10th June 2004 12:21

ISDN: Innovations Subscribers Don't Need or It Simply Does Nothing

or, for the elder statesmen here,

EMACS: Escape Meta Alt Control Shift or Eight Megabytes And Constantly Swapping (from the days when that was a lot :)

As for recursion...

Recursion: see recursion.

:E

Evo 10th June 2004 12:49

There are many EMACS jokes - Evil Manifestation of All Computer Science is another.

And, yes, I do use Emacs... :)

Memetic 11th June 2004 00:36

Globaliser
 
Globaliser - illusion shattered regarding TWAIN - but I like the story of the name's evolution.


All times are GMT. The time now is 07:50.


Copyright © 2026 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.