View source for List of computer term etymologies

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{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{more citations needed|list|date=December 2010}}

This is a list of the origins of computer-related terms or terms used in the computing world (i.e., a '''list of computer term [[etymology|etymologies]]'''). It relates to both [[computer hardware]] and [[computer software]].

Names of many computer terms, especially computer applications, often relate to the function they perform, e.g., a [[compiler]] is an application that ''compiles'' (programming language [[source code]] into the computer's [[machine language]]). However, there are other terms with less obvious origins, which are of etymological interest. This article lists such terms.
{{Compact ToC|seealso=yes|short1}}

==A==

* '''[[abnormal end|ABEND]]''' – originally from an [[IBM System/360]] error message, short for "abnormal end". Jokingly reinterpreted as [[German language|German]] ''Abend'' ("evening"), because "it is what system operators do to the machine late on Friday when they want to call it a day."<ref>{{cite book
  |title = The New Hacker's Dictionary
  |edition = Third
  |others = Compiled by [[Eric S. Raymond]]
  |page = 34
  |year = 1996
  |publisher = MIT Press
 |isbn = 978-0-262-18178-5
  |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=g80P_4v4QbIC
}}</ref>

* '''[[Ada (programming language)|Ada]]''' – named after [[Ada Lovelace]], who is considered by many to be the first programmer.
* '''[[Apache HTTP Server|Apache]]''' – originally chosen from respect for the Native American Indian tribe of [[Apache]]. It was suggested that the name was appropriate, as Apache began as a series of [[Patch (computing)|patch]]es to code written for [[National Center for Supercomputing Applications|NCSA]]'s [[NCSA HTTPd|HTTPd]] [[Daemon (computing)|daemon]]. The result was "a patchy" server.<ref>
{{cite web
  |url = http://wiki.apache.org/httpd/FAQ#Why_the_name_.22Apache.22.3F
  |title = FAQ – Httpd Wiki
  |accessdate = 2012-11-15
}}
</ref>

* '''[[AWK]]''' – composed of the initials of its authors [[Alfred V. Aho|Aho]], [[Peter J. Weinberger|Weinberger]], and [[Brian W. Kernighan|Kernighan]].<ref>{{cite web
|url = http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/216844/a-z_programming_languages_awk/
|title = The A-Z of Programming Languages: AWK
|last = Hamilton
|first = Naomi
|date = 2008-05-27
|work = ComputerWorld.com.au 
|accessdate = 2012-11-15
}}</ref>

==B==

[[File:First Computer Bug, 1945.jpg|thumb|right|The first case of an actual [[computer bug]], a moth trapped in a relay of the [[Harvard Mark II]]]]

* '''[[B (programming language)|B]]''' – probably a contraction of "[[BCPL]]", reflecting [[Ken Thompson]]'s efforts to implement a smaller BCPL in 8&nbsp;KB of memory on a [[Digital Equipment Corporation|DEC]] [[PDP-7]]. Or, named after [[Bon (programming language)|Bon]].<ref name="ritchie">{{cite conference
|last=Ritchie
|first=Dennis M.
|date=1 January 1996
|editor-last=Bergin
|editor-first=Thomas J.
|editor2-last=Gibson
|editor2-first=Richard G.
|title=The development of the C programming language
|url=http://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/234286.1057834
|conference=Second ACM SIGPLAN History of Programming Languages Conference
|language=en
|publisher=[[Association for Computing Machinery]]
|pages=672,673
|doi=10.1145/234286.1057834
|isbn=978-0-201-89502-5
|doi-access=free
|book-title=History of programming languages---II
|place=New York, NY, USA
|quote=[The [[B (programming language)|B language's]]] name most probably represents a contraction of BCPL, though an alternate theory holds that it derives from Bon [Thompson 69], an unrelated language created by Thompson during the Multics days. Bon in turn was named either after his wife Bonnie, or (according to an encyclopedia quotation in its manual), after a religion whose rituals involve the murmuring of magic formulas.
|url-access=subscription
}}</ref>

* '''[[Biff (Unix)|biff]]''' – named after a dog known by the developers at [[University of California, Berkeley|Berkeley]], who – according to the UNIX [[manual page]] – died on 15 August 1993, at the age of 15, and belonged to Heidi Stettner. Some sources<ref>{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/unixhelp/didyou/biff.html
 |title       = biff: Did You Know?
 |first       = Eric
 |last        = Cooper
 |accessdate  = 2012-11-17
 |url-status     = dead
 |archiveurl  = https://web.archive.org/web/20121113023650/http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/unixhelp/didyou/biff.html
 |archivedate = 13 November 2012
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url = http://www.unixguide.net/unix/faq/1.3.shtml
|title = What does {some strange unix command name} stand for?
|work = UNIXguide.net
|accessdate = 2012-11-17
}}</ref> report that the dog would bark at the mail carrier, making it a natural choice for the name of a mail notification system. The [[Jargon File]] contradicts<ref>{{cite web
|title = Jargon File: biff
|url = http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/B/biff.html
|accessdate = 2012-11-17
}}</ref> this description, but confirms at least that the dog existed.

* '''[[bit]]''' – first used by [[Claude E. Shannon]] in his seminal 1948 paper "[[A Mathematical Theory of Communication]]". Shannon's "bit" is a [[portmanteau]] of "[[binary numeral system|binary]] [[Numerical digit|digit]]". He attributed its origin to [[John W. Tukey]],<ref>{{cite journal
|last = Shannon
|first = Claude E.
|authorlink = Claude E. Shannon
|title = A Mathematical Theory of Communication
|date = July 1948
|journal = The Bell System Technical Journal
|volume = 27
|issue = 3
|pages = 379–423
|url = http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/ms/what/shannonday/shannon1948.ps
|quote = The choice of a logarithmic base corresponds to the choice of a unit for measuring information. If the base 2 is used the resulting units may be called binary digits, or more briefly ''bits'', a word suggested by J. W. Tukey.
|doi = 10.1002/j.1538-7305.1948.tb01338.x
|bibcode = 1948BSTJ...27..379S
|hdl = 10338.dmlcz/101429
|access-date = 20 November 2012
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071001030817/http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/ms/what/shannonday/shannon1948.ps
|archive-date = 1 October 2007
|url-status = dead
|hdl-access = free
}}</ref> who had used the word in a [[Bell Labs]] memo of 9 January 1947.<ref>{{cite book
|title = Darwin Among the Machines
|last = Dyson
|first = George
|authorlink = George Dyson (science historian)
|page = 98
|isbn = 9780718196950
|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=NY7GlDGToRIC
|date = 29 March 2012
|publisher = Penguin Books Limited
}}</ref>

* '''[[Bon (programming language)|Bon]]''' – created by Ken Thompson and named either after his wife Bonnie, or else after "a religion whose rituals involve the murmuring of magic formulas" (a reference to the Tibetan native religion [[Bön]]).<ref name="ritchie" />
* '''[[booting]]''' or '''[[Bootstrapping (compilers)|bootstrapping]]''' – from the phrase "[[bootstrapping|to pull oneself up by one's bootstraps]]", originally used as a metaphor for any self-initiating or self-sustaining process. Used in computing due to the apparent paradox that a computer must run code to load anything into memory, but code cannot be run until it is loaded.
* '''[[software bug|bug]]''' – often (but erroneously) credited to [[Grace Hopper]]. In 1946, she joined the [[Harvard University|Harvard]] Faculty at the Computation Laboratory where she traced an error in the [[Harvard Mark II]] to a [[moth]] trapped in a [[relay]]. This bug was carefully removed and taped to the log book. However, use of the word 'bug' to describe defects in mechanical systems dates back to at least the 1870s, perhaps especially in [[Scotland]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2012}} [[Thomas Edison]], for one, used the term in his notebooks and letters.<ref>Edison to Puskas, 13 November 1878, Edison papers, Edison National Laboratory, U.S. National Park Service, West Orange, N.J., cited in Thomas P. Hughes, American Genesis: A History of the American Genius for Invention, Penguin Books, 1989, {{ISBN|0-14-009741-4}}, on page 75.</ref>
* '''[[byte]]''' – coined by [[Werner Buchholz]] in June 1956 during the early design phase for the [[IBM 7030 Stretch|IBM Stretch]] computer.<ref name="Bemer_2000">{{cite web |title=Why is a byte 8 bits? Or is it? |author-first=Robert William |author-last=Bemer |author-link=Robert William Bemer |date=2000-08-08 |work=Computer History Vignettes |url=http://www.bobbemer.com/BYTE.HTM |access-date=2017-04-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170403130829/http://www.bobbemer.com/BYTE.HTM |archive-date=3 April 2017 |quote=[…] With [[IBM]]'s [[IBM STRETCH|STRETCH]] computer as background, handling 64-character words divisible into groups of 8 (I designed the character set for it, under the guidance of Dr. [[Werner Buchholz]], the man who DID coin the term "[[byte]]" for an 8-bit grouping). […] The [[IBM System 360|IBM 360]] used 8-bit characters, although not ASCII directly. Thus Buchholz's "byte" caught on everywhere. I myself did not like the name for many reasons. […] }}</ref><ref name="Buchholz_1956">{{cite book |title=The Link System |chapter=7. The Shift Matrix |author-first=Werner |author-last=Buchholz |author-link=Werner Buchholz |date=1956-06-11 |id=[[IBM Stretch|Stretch]] Memo No. 39G |publisher=[[IBM]] |pages=5–6 |chapter-url=http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/text/IBM/Stretch/pdfs/06-07/102632284.pdf |access-date=2016-04-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170404152534/http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/text/IBM/Stretch/pdfs/06-07/102632284.pdf |archive-date=4 April 2017 |quote=[…] Most important, from the point of view of editing, will be the ability to handle any characters or digits, from 1 to 6 bits long […] the Shift Matrix to be used to convert a 60-bit [[word (computer architecture)|word]], coming from Memory in parallel, into [[character (computing)|character]]s, or "[[byte]]s" as we have called them, to be sent to the [[serial adder|Adder]] serially. The 60 bits are dumped into [[magnetic core]]s on six different levels. Thus, if a 1 comes out of position 9, it appears in all six cores underneath. […] The Adder may accept all or only some of the bits. […] Assume that it is desired to operate on 4 bit [[decimal digit]]s, starting at the right. The 0-diagonal is pulsed first, sending out the six bits 0 to 5, of which the Adder accepts only the first four (0-3). Bits 4 and 5 are ignored. Next, the 4 diagonal is pulsed. This sends out bits 4 to 9, of which the last two are again ignored, and so on. […] It is just as easy to use all six bits in [[alphanumeric]] work, or to handle bytes of only one bit for logical analysis, or to offset the bytes by any number of bits. […] }}</ref><ref name="Buchholz_1977">{{cite journal |author-last=Buchholz |author-first=Werner |author-link=Werner Buchholz |title=The Word "Byte" Comes of Age... |journal=[[Byte Magazine]] |date=February 1977 |volume=2 |issue=2 |page=144 |url=https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1977-02/1977_02_BYTE_02-02_Usable_Systems#page/n145/mode/2up |quote=[…] The first reference found in the files was contained in an internal memo written in June 1956 during the early days of developing [[IBM Stretch|Stretch]]. A [[byte]] was described as consisting of any number of parallel bits from one to six. Thus a byte was assumed to have a length appropriate for the occasion. Its first use was in the context of the input-output equipment of the 1950s, which handled six bits at a time. The possibility of going to 8 bit bytes was considered in August 1956 and incorporated in the design of Stretch shortly thereafter. The first published reference to the term occurred in 1959 in a paper "Processing Data in Bits and Pieces" by [[Gerrit Anne Blaauw|G&nbsp;A&nbsp;Blaauw]], [[Frederick Phillips Brooks, Jr.|F&nbsp;P&nbsp;Brooks&nbsp;Jr]] and [[Werner Buchholz|W&nbsp;Buchholz]] in the ''[[IRE Transactions on Electronic Computers]]'', June 1959, page 121. The notions of that paper were elaborated in Chapter 4 of ''[[#Buchholz-1962|Planning a Computer System (Project Stretch)]]'', edited by W&nbsp;Buchholz, [[McGraw-Hill Book Company]] (1962). The rationale for coining the term was explained there on page 40 as follows:<br/>Byte ''denotes a group of bits used to encode a character, or the number of bits transmitted in parallel to and from input-output units. A term other than ''character'' is used here because a given character may be represented in different applications by more than one code, and different codes may use different numbers of bits (ie, different byte sizes). In input-output transmission the grouping of bits may be completely arbitrary and have no relation to actual characters. (The term is coined from ''[[bite]]'', but respelled to avoid accidental mutation to ''bit''.)''<br/>[[System/360]] took over many of the Stretch concepts, including the basic byte and word sizes, which are powers of 2. For economy, however, the byte size was fixed at the 8 bit maximum, and addressing at the bit level was replaced by byte addressing. […]}}</ref><ref name="Buchholz_1962">{{anchor|Buchholz-1962}}{{citation |title=Planning a Computer System – Project Stretch |author-first1=Gerrit Anne |author-last1=Blaauw |author-link1=Gerrit Anne Blaauw |author-first2=Frederick Phillips |author-last2=Brooks, Jr. |author-link2=Frederick Phillips Brooks, Jr. |author-first3=Werner |author-last3=Buchholz |author-link3=Werner Buchholz |editor-first=Werner |editor-last=Buchholz |editor-link=Werner Buchholz |publisher=[[McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc.]] / The Maple Press Company, York, PA. |lccn=61-10466 |year=1962 |chapter=4: Natural Data Units |pages=39–40 |chapter-url=http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/text/IBM/Stretch/pdfs/Buchholz_102636426.pdf |access-date=2017-04-03 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170403014651/http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/text/IBM/Stretch/pdfs/Buchholz_102636426.pdf |archive-date=2017-04-03}}</ref>

==C==

[[File:Human computers - Dryden.jpg|thumb|right|Computer room at Dryden Flight Research Center, 1949]]

* '''[[C (programming language)|C]]''' – a programming language.
:[[Dennis Ritchie]], having improved on the [[B (programming language)|B language]], named his creation ''New B''. He later renamed it ''C''. (See also [[D (programming language)|D]]).

* '''[[C++]]''' – an [[Object-oriented programming|object-oriented]] programming language, a successor to the [[C (programming language)|C]] programming language.
:C++ creator [[Bjarne Stroustrup]] named his new language "C with Classes" and then "new C". The original language began to be called "old C" which was considered insulting to the C community. At this time Rick Mascitti suggested the name C++ as a successor to C.  In C the '++' operator increments the value of the [[variable (programming)|variable]] it is appended to, thus ''C++'' would increment the value of ''C''.

* '''[[computer]]''' – from the [[Computer (occupation)|human computers]] who carried out [[calculation]]s [[Mental calculation|mentally]] and possibly with [[Mechanical calculator|mechanical]] aids, [[History of computing hardware|now replaced]] by electronic programmable computers.

* '''[[HTTP cookie|cookie]]''' – a packet of information that travels between a browser and the web server.
: The term was coined by [[web browser]] programmer [[Lou Montulli]] after the term "[[magic cookie]]s" used by [[Unix]] programmers. The term "[[magic cookie]]" in turn derives from "[[fortune cookie]]", a cookie with an embedded message.

* '''[[Carriage_return|Carriage Return(CR)]]''' - The control character "carriage return" (CR) and its companion "line feed" (LF) originate from the mechanical workings of typewriters and early teleprinters. The carriage is the part of a typewriter that "carries" the paper horizontally for the next character to be typed. A "Carriage Return" was a mechanism to bring the carriage back to the beginning of the line. The "Line Feed" was a mechanism to move the paper vertically to the next line. 

* '''[[Cursor (user interface)]]''' - Cursor is Latin for 'runner.' A cursor is the name given to the transparent slide engraved with a hairline that is used for marking a point on a [[slide rule]]. The term was then transferred to computers through analogy.

==D==

* '''[[D (programming language)|D]]''' – a programming language.
:Designed by [[Walter Bright]] as an improved C, avoiding many of the design problems of C (''e.g.'', extensive pointer manipulation, unenforced array boundaries, ''etc.'').

* '''[[Daemon (computing)|daemon]]''' – a process in an operating system that runs in the background.
: It is not an acronym for '''D'''isk '''A'''nd '''E'''xecution '''Mon'''itor: according to the original team that introduced the concept, the use of the word daemon was inspired by the [[Maxwell's demon]] of physics and thermodynamics (an imaginary agent which helped sort molecules with differing velocities and worked tirelessly in the background).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ei.cs.vt.edu/~history/Daemon.html|title = The Origin of the word Daemon}}</ref> The term was embraced, and possibly popularized,{{Citation needed|date=November 2012}} by the [[Unix]] operating systems which supported multiple background processes: various local (and later Internet) services were provided by daemons. This is exemplified by the [[Berkeley Software Distribution|BSD]] mascot, [[John Lasseter]]'s drawing of a friendly [[imp]].

* '''[[Dashboard]]''' - Originally, the word dashboard applied to a barrier of wood or leather fixed at the front of a horse-drawn carriage or sleigh to protect the driver from mud or other debris "dashed up" (thrown up) by the horses' hooves.[1] The first known use of the term (hyphenated as dash-board, and applied to sleighs) dates from 1847.[2] Commonly these boards did not perform any additional function other than providing a convenient handhold for ascending into the driver's seat, or a small clip with which to secure the reins when not in use.
* '''[[Debian]]''' – a [[Linux distribution]].
:A [[portmanteau]] of the names [[Ian Murdock]], the Debian Project creator, and Debra Lynn, Ian's then girlfriend and future wife.<ref>{{cite book
|last = Nixon
|first = Robin
|title = Ubuntu: Up and Running
|page = [https://archive.org/details/ubuntuuprunning0000nixo/page/3 3]
|publisher = [[O'Reilly Media]]
|year = 2010
|isbn = 978-0-596-80484-8
|url = https://archive.org/details/ubuntuuprunning0000nixo
|url-access = registration
}}</ref><ref>[http://www.debian.org/intro/about#history About Debian]</ref>

* '''[[Default (computer science)|default]]''' – an initial value for a variable or user setting.
:The original meaning of the word 'default' is 'failure to fulfill an obligation'. The obligation here is to provide an input that is required by a program. In the early days of programming, if an input value was missing, or 'null', the program would almost certainly crash. This is often to do with variable 'typing' – for example, a simple calculation program would expect a number as an input: any other type of input such as a text string or even a null (no value), would make any mathematical operation such as multiplication impossible. In order to guard against this possibility, programmers defined initial values that would be used if the user *defaulted* or failed to fulfill the obligation of providing the correct input value. Over time, the term 'default' has come to refer to the initial value itself.

==E==

* '''[[Ethernet]]''' – a [[computer network]]ing technology.
:According to [[Robert Metcalfe]] (one of its initial developers), he devised the name in an early company memo as an [[compound (linguistics)#Semantic classification|endocentric compound]] of "[[luminiferous ether]]"—the "substance" that was widely believed to be the medium through which [[electromagnetic radiation]] propagated in the late 19th century—and "net", short for "[[computer network|network]]".<ref>{{cite web|website=The Register |title=Ethernet – a <s>networking protocol</s> name for the ages: Michelson, Morley, and Metcalfe |url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/13/metcalfe_remembers/page2.html |accessdate=4 March 2013 |date=13 March 2009 |author=Cade Metz |page=2}}</ref> When the networking team would describe data flowing into the network infrastructure, they would routinely describe it as data packets going "up into the ether".<ref name="metcalfe video">{{cite video |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5MezxMcRmk  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/g5MezxMcRmk |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=The History of Ethernet |publisher=NetEvents.tv |date=2006 |accessdate=10 September 2011}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

==F==

* '''[[Finger protocol|finger]]''' – [[Unix]] command that provides information about users logged into a system.
:[[Les Earnest]] wrote the finger program in 1971 to provide for users who wanted information about other users on a network or system. According to Earnest, it was named after the act of pointing, because it "bypassed the need to point to a user ID and ask, 'Who is that?'"<ref>{{Cite web|title=Origins of the finger command|url=https://groups.google.com/g/alt.folklore.computers/c/IdFAN6HPw3k/m/Ci5BfN8i26AJ?pli=1|access-date=2021-04-30|website=groups.google.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Earnest|first=Les|date=2017-10-29|title=How a nosy bureaucrat accidentally created the first social networking and blogging service|url=https://web.stanford.edu/~learnest/sail/finger.html|access-date=2021-04-30|website=web.stanford.edu}}</ref>

* '''[[foobar]]''' – from the U.S. Army slang acronym, [[FUBAR]]. Both ''foo'' and ''bar'' are commonly used as [[metasyntactic variables]].<ref>{{cite journal
|url = https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3092
|title = RFC 3092 – Etymology of "Foo"
|author1 = Eastlake, D.
|author2 = Manros, C.
|author3 = Raymond, E.
|authorlink3 = Eric S. Raymond
|date = 2001-04-01
|doi = 10.17487/RFC3092
|accessdate = 2012-11-15
|doi-access = free
|url-access = subscription
}}</ref>

* '''[[Application framework|Framework]]''' – The word "framework" originates from the field of architecture, where a framework refers to the structural skeleton of buildings. The derived figurative meaning used in computing is "a reusable code structure that provides a foundation for developing software applications". 

==G==

[[File:Antarctica 2013 Journey to the Crystal Desert (8369519075).jpg|thumb|right|Gentoo Linux is named after [[Gentoo penguin|the penguin]]]]

* '''[[Gentoo Linux|Gentoo]]''' – a [[Linux distribution]].
:Named after a variety of [[penguin]], the universal Linux [[mascot]].

* '''[[Git]]''' – a [[distributed version control]] system.
:In the project's initial [[README]] file, [[Linus Torvalds]] wrote that "'git' can mean anything, depending on your mood", and offers several definitions:<ref>{{cite web|title=Initial revision of 'git', the information manager from hell · git/git@e83c516|url=https://github.com/git/git/blob/e83c5163316f89bfbde7d9ab23ca2e25604af290/README|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171008211145/https://github.com/git/git/blob/e83c5163316f89bfbde7d9ab23ca2e25604af290/README|archive-date=8 October 2017|access-date=2016-01-21|website=GitHub}}</ref>
:* A random three-letter combination which is pronounceable and not a preexisting [[Unix command]]
:* [[British English]] slang, meaning a stupid or contemptible person
:* An acronym for "global information tracker" (when it works)
:* An acronym for "goddamn idiotic truckload of sh*t" (when it breaks)
:When asked about the origin of the name, Torvalds jokingly stated, "I'm an egotistical bastard, and I name all my projects after myself."<ref>{{Cite web|title=After controversy, Torvalds begins work on "git"|url=https://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/article/129776/after_controversy_torvalds_begins_work_git_/|access-date=2021-04-30|website=PC World|language=en-AU}}</ref>

* '''[[GNU]]''' – a project with an original goal of creating a free [[operating system]].
:[[Gnu]] (also called wildebeest) are a genus of African [[antelopes]] resembling cattle. The founder of the GNU project [[Richard Stallman]] liked the name because of the humour associated with its pronunciation (officially, {{IPAc-en|ɡ|n|uː|audio=En-gnu.ogg}}),<ref>{{cite web |date=September 4, 2009 |title=What is GNU? |url=https://www.gnu.org/ |access-date=October 9, 2009 |work=The GNU Operating System |publisher=[[Free Software Foundation]] |quote=The name ‘GNU’ is a [[recursive acronym]] for ‘GNU's Not Unix‘; it is pronounced ''g-noo'', as one syllable with no vowel sound between the ''g'' and the ''n''.}}</ref><ref name="rms-zagreb-talk">{{cite AV media |url=https://mjesec.ffzg.hr/~dpavlin/stallman2006/free_software_movement_and_the_future_of_freedom_zagreb_09_march_2006.ogg |title=The Free Software Movement and the Future of Freedom |date=March 9, 2006 |last=Stallman |first=Richard |publisher=[[Free Software Foundation|FSF Europe]] |author-link=Richard Stallman |location=Zagreb, Croatia |access-date=February 20, 2007}}</ref> and was also influenced by ''The Gnu Song'',<ref>[http://www.poppyfields.net/poppy/songs/gnu.html The Gnu Song]</ref> by [[Flanders and Swann]], which is sung by a gnu. It is also an early example of a [[recursive acronym]]: "'''G'''NU's '''N'''ot '''U'''nix".<ref>{{cite web|last=Stallman|first=Richard|title=Initial Announcement of the GNU Project September 27, 1983|url=https://www.gnu.org/gnu/initial-announcement.html|publisher=gnu.org|accessdate=20 November 2013}}</ref>

* '''[[Google]]''' – a [[search engine]].
:The name started as an exaggerated boast about the amount of information the search engine would be able to search. It was originally named '[[Googol]]', a word for the number represented by 1 followed by 100 zeros. The word was originally invented by [[Milton Sirotta]], nephew of mathematician Edward Kasner, in 1938 during a discussion of large numbers and exponential notation.

* '''[[Gopher (protocol)|Gopher]]''' – an early protocol for distributing documents over a network. Declined in favor of the [[World Wide Web]].
:The name was coined by developer Farhad Anklesaria, as a play on {{Wt|en|gofer}}, an assistant who fetches things, and a [[gopher]], who digs, as if through nested hierarchies.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2016-08-11|title=The rise and fall of the Gopher protocol|url=https://www.minnpost.com/business/2016/08/rise-and-fall-gopher-protocol/|access-date=2021-04-30|website=MinnPost|language=en-US}}</ref> The name was also inspired by [[Goldy Gopher]], the mascot for the [[University of Minnesota]] where the protocol was developed.

* '''[[grep]]''' – a Unix [[command line]] utility
:The name comes from a command in the Unix text editor [[ed (UNIX)|ed]] that takes the form <code> g/re/p </code> meaning search '''g'''lobally for a '''r'''egular '''e'''xpression and '''p'''rint lines where instances are found.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 7 IEEE Std 1003.1, 2013 Edition Copyright © 2001-2013 The IEEE and The Open Group|url=http://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/utilities/ed.html#tag_20_38|publisher=The Open Group|accessdate=20 November 2013}}</ref> "Grep" like "Google" is often used as a verb, meaning "to search".

==H==

* '''[[Hotmail]]''' – free email service, now named [[Outlook.com]].
:Founder [[Jack Smith (Hotmail)|Jack Smith]] got the idea of accessing e-mail via the web from a computer anywhere in the world. When [[Sabeer Bhatia]] came up with the business plan for the mail service, he tried all kinds of names ending in '[[mail]]' and finally settled for Hotmail as it included the letters "[[HTML]]" – the markup language used to write web pages. It was initially referred to as HoTMaiL with selective upper casing.

==I==

* '''[[i18n]]''' – short for "'''i'''nternationalizatio'''n'''".
:"18" is for the number of letters between the ''i'' and the ''n''. Related, less common terms include ''l10n'' (for '''l'''ocalizatio'''n'''), ''g11n'' (for '''g'''lobalizatio'''n''') and ''a11y'' (for '''a'''ccessibilit'''y''').

* '''[[ICQ]]''' – an [[instant messaging]] service.
: ICQ is not an [[initialism]]. It is a play on the phrase "I seek you" or "Internet seek you" (similar to [[CQ (call)|CQ]] in ham radio usage).{{citation needed|date=October 2013}}

* '''[[ID10T]]''' – pronounced "ID ten T" – is a code frequently used by a customer service representative (CSR) to annotate their notes and identify the source of a problem as the person who is reporting the problem rather than the system being blamed. This is a thinly veiled reference to the CSR's opinion that the person reporting the problem is an IDIOT. Example: Problem reported caused by ID10T, no resolution possible. See also [[PEBKAC]].{{citation needed|date=October 2013}}

==J==

* '''[[Jakarta Project]]''' – a project constituted by [[Sun Microsystems|Sun]] and [[Apache Software Foundation|Apache]] to create a [[web server]] for [[Java (programming language)|Java]] [[Java servlet|servlets]] and [[JavaServer Pages|JSPs]].
:Jakarta was the name of the conference room at Sun where most of the meetings between Sun and Apache took place. The conference room was most likely named after [[Jakarta]], the capital city of [[Indonesia]], which is located on the northwest coast of the island of [[Java]].

* '''[[Java (programming language)|Java]]''' – a programming language by [[Sun Microsystems]], later acquired by [[Oracle Corporation|Oracle]].
:Named after {{wt|en|java}}, a blend of [[coffee]] from the island of [[Java]], and also used as slang for coffee in general. The language was initially called "Greentalk" and later "Oak", but this was already trademarked by [[Oak Technologies]], so the developers had to choose another name shortly before release. Other suggested names were "WebRunner", "DNA", and "Silk".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Murphy|first=Kieron|date=1996-10-04|title=So why did they decide to call it Java?|url=https://www.infoworld.com/article/2077265/so-why-did-they-decide-to-call-it-java-.html|access-date=2021-04-30|website=InfoWorld|language=en}}</ref>

{{anchor|JavaScript}}
* '''[[JavaScript]]''' – a programming language.
:It was originally developed by [[Brendan Eich]] of Netscape under the name "Mocha", which was later renamed to "LiveScript", and finally to "JavaScript".<ref>{{cite magazine
|last=Krill 
|first=Paul 
|url=http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/06/23/eich-javascript-interview_1.html 
|title=JavaScript creator ponders past, future 
|magazine=InfoWorld 
|date=2008-06-23 
|accessdate=2009-05-19
}}</ref> The change of name from LiveScript to JavaScript roughly coincided with Netscape adding support for Java technology in its [[Netscape Navigator]] [[web browser]]. JavaScript was first introduced and deployed in the Netscape browser version 2.0B3 in December 1995. The naming has caused confusion, giving the impression that the language is a spin-off of Java, and it has been characterized by many as a marketing ploy by Netscape to give JavaScript the cachet of what was then the hot new web-programming language.<ref>{{cite web 
|url = http://safari.oreilly.com/0596101996/jscript5-CHP-1 
|title = O'Reilly – Safari Books Online – 0596101996 – JavaScript: The Definitive Guide, 5th Edition 
|publisher = Safari.oreilly.com 
|accessdate = 2009-05-19 
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081208130508/http://safari.oreilly.com/0596101996/jscript5-CHP-1 
|archive-date = 8 December 2008 
|url-status = dead 
}}</ref>

==K==

* '''[[Computer keyboard|Keyboard]]''' – The word "keyboard" originates from the control keys of musical instruments like pianos or organs.

* '''[[Kerberos (protocol)|Kerberos]]''' – a [[computer network]] [[authentication]] [[cryptographic protocol|protocol]] that is used by both [[Windows 2000]] and [[Windows XP]] as their default authentication method.
:When created by programmers at [[MIT]] in the 1970s, they wanted a name that suggested high security for the project, so they named it after ''[[Cerberus|Kerberos]]'', in [[Greek mythology]] the three-headed dog guarding the gates of Hades. The reference to Greek mythology is most likely because Kerberos was developed as part of [[Project Athena]].{{citation needed|date=October 2013}}

==L==

* '''[[Linux]]''' – an operating system [[Kernel (operating system)|kernel]], and the common name for many of the operating systems which use it.
:Linux creator [[Linus Torvalds]] originally used the [[MINIX]] [[operating system]] on his computer, didn't like it, liked [[DOS]] less, and started a project to develop an operating system that would address the problems of MINIX. Hence the working name was ''Linux'' (Linus' Minix). Originally, however, Linus had planned to have it named ''Freax'' (''free'' + ''freak'' + ''x''). His friend [[Ari Lemmke]] encouraged Linus to upload it to a network so it could be easily downloaded. Ari gave Linus a directory named ''linux'' on his [[FTP server]], as he did not like the name ''Freax''.

* '''[[Apple Lisa|Lisa]]''' – A [[personal computer]] designed at [[Apple Inc.|Apple Computer]] during the early 1980s.
:Apple stated that Lisa was an acronym for ''Local Integrated Software Architecture''; however, it is often inferred that the machine was originally named after the daughter of Apple co-founder [[Steve Jobs]], and that this acronym was invented later to fit the name. Accordingly, two humorous suggestions for expanding the acronym included ''Let's Invent Some Acronyms'', and ''Let's Invent Silly Acronyms''.

* '''[[liveware]]''' – computer personnel. 
:A play on the terms "software" and "hardware". Coined in 1966, the word indicates that sometimes the computer problem is not with the computer itself, but with the user.

* '''[[Lotus Software]]''' – Lotus founder [[Mitch Kapor]] got the name for his company from 'The [[Lotus Position]]' ('Padmasana' in [[Sanskrit]]). Kapor used to be a teacher of [[Transcendental Meditation technique]] as taught by [[Maharishi Mahesh Yogi]].

==M==

[[File:McIntosh.jpg|thumb|right|The original apple [[McIntosh apple|McIntosh]]]]

* '''[[Mac (computer)|Macintosh]]''', '''Mac''' – a personal computer from [[Apple Inc.|Apple Computer]].
:From [[McIntosh (apple)|McIntosh]], a popular type of apple.

==N==

* '''[[Nerd]]''' – A colloquial term for a computer person, especially an obsessive, singularly focused one. Originally created by Dr. Seuss from his book [[If I Ran the Zoo]].

==O==

* '''[[Oracle Database|Oracle]]''' – a [[relational database management system]] (RDBMS).
:[[Larry Ellison]], Ed Oates and Bob Miner were working on a consulting project for the CIA ([[Central Intelligence Agency]]). The code name for the project was ''[[Oracle]]'' (the CIA evidently saw this as a system that would give answers to all questions). The project was designed to use the newly written [[SQL]] database language from [[IBM]]. The project eventually was terminated but they decided to finish what they started and bring it to the world. They kept the name ''Oracle'' and created the RDBMS engine.

==P==

* '''[[Pac-Man]]''' – a [[video arcade]] game.
: The term comes from ''paku paku'' which is a Japanese [[onomatopoeia]] used for noisy eating; similar to ''chomp chomp''. The game was released in Japan with the name ''Puck-Man'', and released in the US with the name ''Pac-Man'', fearing that kids may deface a Puck-Man cabinet by changing the ''P'' to an ''F''.

*[[Patch (computing)|'''Patch''']] – A set of changes to a [[computer program]] or its supporting data designed to update, fix, or improve it.
: Historically, software suppliers distributed patches on [[paper tape]] or on [[punched cards]], expecting the recipient to cut out the indicated part of the original tape (or deck), and patch in (hence the name) the replacement segment

* '''[[PCMCIA]]''' – the standards body for [[PC card]] and [[ExpressCard]], expansion card form factors.
: The '''P'''ersonal '''C'''omputer '''M'''emory '''C'''ard '''I'''nternational '''A'''ssociation is an international standards body that defines and promotes standards for expansion devices such as [[modem]]s and external [[hard disk|hard disk drives]] to be connected to [[notebook computer]]s. Over time, the acronym PCMCIA has been used to refer to the PC card [[Computer form factor|form factor]] used on notebook computers. A twist on the acronym is '''P'''eople '''C'''an't '''M'''emorize '''C'''omputer '''I'''ndustry '''A'''cronyms.

* '''[[PEBKAC]]''' – an acronym for "Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair", which is a code frequently used by a customer service representative (CSR) to annotate their notes and identify the source of a problem as the person who is reporting the problem rather than the system being blamed.  This is a thinly veiled reference to the CSR's opinion that the person reporting the problem is the problem. Example: PEBKAC, no resolution possible. See also ''ID10T''.
* '''[[Pentium]]''' – a series of [[microprocessor]]s from [[Intel]].
:The fifth microprocessor in the [[80x86]] series. It would have been named i586 or 80586, but Intel decided to name it ''Pentium'' (penta = five) after it lost a trademark infringement lawsuit against [[AMD]] due to a judgment that numbers like "286", "386", and "486" cannot be trademarked.  According to Intel, ''Pentium'' conveys a meaning of strength, like [[titanium]].{{citation needed|date=October 2013}}

:Since some early Pentium chips contained a mathematical precision error, it has been jokingly suggested that the reason for the chip being named Pentium rather than 586 was that Intel chips would calculate 486 + 100 = 585.99999948.

* '''[[Perl]]''' – an [[interpreter (computing)|interpreted]] [[scripting language]].
:Perl was originally named ''Pearl'', after the "pearl of great price" of [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] 13:46.{{citation needed|date=October 2013}} [[Larry Wall]], the creator of Perl, wanted to give the language a short name with positive connotations and claims to have looked at (and rejected) every three- and four-letter word in the dictionary. He even thought of naming it after his wife Gloria. Before the language's official release Wall discovered that there was already a programming language named ''Pearl'', and changed the spelling of the name. Although the original manuals suggested the [[backronym]]s "Practical Extraction and Report Language" and "Pathologically Eclectic Rubbish Lister", these were intended humorously.{{citation needed|date=October 2013}}

* '''[[PHP]]''' – a server-side [[scripting language]]
:Originally named "'''P'''ersonal '''H'''ome '''P'''age Tools" by creator [[Rasmus Lerdorf]], it was rewritten by developers [[Zeev Suraski]] and [[Andi Gutmans]] who gave it the recursive name "'''P'''HP '''H'''ypertext '''P'''reprocessor". Lerdorf currently insists the name should not be thought of as standing for anything, for he selected "Personal Home Page" as the name when he did not foresee PHP evolving into a general-purpose programming language.

* '''[[Pine (e-mail client)|Pine]]''' – [[e-mail client]].
:Many people believe that Pine stands for "'''P'''ine '''I'''s '''N'''ot [[Elm (email client)|'''E'''lm]]". However, one of its original authors, Laurence Lundblade, insists this was never the case and that it started off simply as a word and not an acronym; his first choice of a [[backronym]] for pine would be "Pine Is Nearly Elm".  Over time it was changed to mean ''Program for Internet News and E-mail''.<ref>{{cite web
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607212819/http://www.island-resort.com/pine.htm|archivedate=2011-06-07
|accessdate=2012-11-17
|last = Lundblade
|first = Laurence
|title=Laurence's home page: Naming Pine
|url=http://www.island-resort.com/pine.htm
}}</ref>

* '''[[Ping (networking utility)|ping]]''' – a computer network tool used to detect hosts.
:The author of ping, [[Mike Muuss]], named it after the pulses of sound made by a [[sonar]] called a "ping". Later [[David L. Mills|Dave Mills]] provided the backronym "'''P'''acket '''I'''nter'''n'''et '''G'''roper".

* '''[[Python (programming language)|Python]]''' – an [[interpreter (computing)|interpreted]] [[scripting language|scripting]] [[programming language]].
:Named after the television series [[Monty Python's Flying Circus]].<ref>{{cite web|title=General Python FAQ|url=https://docs.python.org/3/faq/general.html#why-is-it-called-python|website=Python.org|publisher=Python Software Foundation|accessdate=4 June 2020}}</ref>

==R==

* '''[[Radio button]]''' – a [[GUI widget]] used for making selections.
:Radio buttons got their name from the preset buttons in [[radio receiver]]s. When one used to select preset stations on a radio receiver physically instead of electronically, depressing one preset button would pop out whichever other button happened to be pushed in.

* '''[[Red Hat Linux]]''' – a [[Linux distribution]] from [[Red Hat]].
:Company founder [[Marc Ewing]] was given the [[Cornell University|Cornell]] [[lacrosse]] team cap (with red and white stripes) by his grandfather while at college. People would turn to him to solve their problems, and he was referred to as "that guy in the red hat". He lost the cap and had to search for it desperately. The manual of the beta version of Red Hat Linux had an appeal to readers to return the hat if found by anyone.

* '''[[RSA (algorithm)|RSA]]''' – an [[symmetry|asymmetric]] [[algorithm]] for [[public key cryptography]].
:Based on the surnames of the authors of this algorithm – [[Ron Rivest|Ron '''R'''ivest]], [[Adi Shamir|Adi '''S'''hamir]] and [[Len Adleman|Len '''A'''dleman]].

==S==

* '''[[Samba (software)|Samba]]''' – a free implementation of [[Microsoft]]'s networking protocol.
:The name ''samba'' comes from inserting two vowels into the name of the standard protocol that Microsoft Windows network file system use, named [[Server Message Block]] (SMB). The author searched a dictionary using ''grep'' for words containing S M and B in that order; the only matches were ''Samba'' and ''Salmonberry''.

* '''[[shareware]]''' – coined by [[Bob Wallace (computer scientist)|Bob Wallace]] to describe his word processor PC-Write in early 1983.{{citation needed|date=October 2013}} Before this [[Jim Knopf]] (also known as Jim Button) and [[Andrew Fluegelman]] called their distributed software "user supported software" and "freeware" respectively, but it was Wallace's terminology that prevailed.
* '''[[Spam (electronic)|spam]]''' – unwanted repetitious messages, such as unsolicited bulk [[e-mail]].
: The term ''spam'' is derived from the [[Monty Python]] [[Spam (Monty Python)|SPAM sketch]], set in a cafe where everything on the menu includes [[Spam (food)|SPAM]] luncheon meat. While a customer plaintively asks for some kind of food without SPAM in it, the server reiterates the SPAM-filled menu. Soon, a chorus of Vikings join in with a song: "SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, lovely SPAM, wonderful SPAM", over and over again, drowning out all conversation.

* '''[[SPIM]]''' – a simulator for a virtual machine closely resembling the instruction set of [[MIPS architecture|MIPS processors]], is simply MIPS spelled backwards. In recent time, ''spim'' has also come to mean [[Spam (electronic)|'''SP'''am]] sent over [[Instant messaging|'''I'''nstant '''M'''essaging]].
* '''[[Swing (Java)|Swing]]''' – a graphics library for Java.
:''Swing'' was the code-name of the project that developed the new graphic components (the successor of [[Abstract Window Toolkit|AWT]]). It was named after [[swing (dance)|swing]], a style of dance band [[jazz]] that was popularized in the 1930s and unexpectedly revived in the 1990s. Although an unofficial name for the components, it gained popular acceptance with the use of the word in the package names for the Swing API, which begin with <code>javax.swing</code>.{{citation needed|date=October 2013}}

==T==

* '''[[Jakarta Tomcat|Tomcat]]''' – a [[web server]] from the [[Jakarta Project]].
:''Tomcat'' was the code-name for the JSDK 2.1{{clarify|date=October 2013}} project inside [[Sun Microsystems|Sun]].{{citation needed|date=October 2013}} Tomcat started off as a servlet specification implementation by James Duncan Davidson who was a software architect at Sun. Davidson had initially hoped that the project would be made [[open-source software|open-source]], and since most open-source projects had [[O'Reilly Media|O'Reilly]] books on them with an animal on the cover, he wanted to name the project after an animal. He came up with [[cat|Tomcat]] since he reasoned the animal represented something that could take care of and fend for itself.

* '''[[troff]]''' – a document processing system for [[Unix]].
:''Troff'' stands for "'''t'''ypesetter '''roff'''", although many people have speculated that it actually means "Times roff" because of the use of the [[Times New Roman|Times font family]] in troff by default.  Troff has its origins from [[roff (computer program)|roff]], an earlier formatting program, whose name is a contraction of "run off".{{citation needed|date=October 2013}}

* '''[[Trojan horse (computing)|Trojan horse]]''' – a malicious program that is disguised as legitimate software.
:The term is derived from the classical myth of the [[Trojan Horse]]. Analogously, a Trojan horse appears innocuous (or even to be a gift), but in fact is a vehicle for bypassing security.

* '''[[Tux (mascot)|Tux]]''' – The [[penguin]] mascot used as the primary logo for the [[Linux kernel]], and [[Linux|Linux-based operating systems]].
:[[Linus Torvalds]], the creator of Linux, suggested a penguin mascot because he "likes penguins a lot", and wanted Linux to be associated with something "kind of goofy and fun".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Tux Gallery - Everyone's Favorite Linux Mascot|url=https://www3.nd.edu/~ljordan/linux/tuxhistory.html|access-date=2021-04-30|website=www3.nd.edu}}</ref> The logo was originally created by [[Larry Ewing]] in 1996 as an entry in a Linux Logo competition. The name Tux was contributed by James Hughes, who suggested "('''T''')orvolds ('''U''')ni('''X''') — '''TUX'''!"<ref>{{Cite magazine|title=The Story Behind Tux the Penguin|language=en-US|magazine=Wired|url=https://www.wired.com/2001/03/the-story-behind-tux-the-penguin/|access-date=2021-04-30|issn=1059-1028}}</ref>

==U==

* '''[[Ubuntu Linux]]''' – a [[Debian]]-based [[Linux]] distribution sponsored by [[Canonical Ltd.]]
:Derived from [[Ubuntu (ideology)|ubuntu]], a South African ideology.

* '''[[Unix]]''' – an [[operating system]].
:When [[Bell Laboratories|Bell Labs]] pulled out of the MULTiplexed Information and Computing System ([[MULTICS]]) project, which was originally a joint Bell Labs/[[GE]]/[[MIT]] project, [[Ken Thompson]] of Bell Labs, soon joined by [[Dennis Ritchie]], wrote a simpler version of the operating system for a spare DEC minicomputer, allegedly found in a corridor. They needed an OS to run the game ''[[Space Travel (video game)|Space Travel]]'', which had been compiled under MULTICS. The new OS was named UNICS – '''UN'''iplexed '''I'''nformation and '''C'''omputing '''S'''ystem by Brian Kernighan.

==V==

* '''[[Vi (text editor)|vi]]''' – a [[text editor]],
:Initialism for '''vi'''sual, a command in the [[ex (text editor)|ex]] editor which helped users to switch to the visual mode from the ex mode. the first version was written by [[Bill Joy]] at UC Berkeley.

* '''[[Vim (text editor)|Vim]]''' – a [[text editor]].
:Acronym for '''V'''i '''im'''proved after Vim added several features over the [[Vi (text editor)|vi]] editor. Vim however had started out as an imitation of Vi and was expanded as '''V'''i '''im'''itation.

* '''[[Computer virus|Virus]]''' – a piece of [[computer program|program code]] that spreads by making copies of itself.
:The term ''virus'' was first used as a technical computer science term by [[Fred Cohen]] in his 1984 paper "Computer Viruses Theory and Experiments", where he credits [[Len Adleman]] with coining it. Although Cohen's use of ''virus'' may have been the first academic use, it had been in the common parlance long before that. A mid-1970s [[science fiction]] novel by [[David Gerrold]], ''When H.A.R.L.I.E. was One'', includes a description of a fictional computer program named ''VIRUS'' that worked just like a virus (and was countered by a program named ''ANTIBODY''). The term "computer virus" also appears in the [[comic book]] "Uncanny [[X-Men]]" No. 158, published in 1982. A computer virus's basic function is to insert its own executable code into that of other existing executable files, literally making it the electronic equivalent to the biological virus, the basic function of which is to insert its genetic information into that of the invaded cell, forcing the cell to reproduce the virus.

==W==

* '''[[Wiki]]''' or '''WikiWiki''' – a hypertext document collection or the [[collaborative software]] used to create it.
:Coined by [[Ward Cunningham]], the creator of the wiki concept, who named them for the "wiki wiki" or "quick" shuttle buses at Honolulu Airport. Wiki wiki was the first [[Hawaiian language|Hawaiian]] term he learned on his first visit to the islands. The airport counter agent directed him to take the wiki wiki bus between terminals.

* '''[[Computer worm|Worm]]''' –  a self-replicating [[computer program|program]], similar to a [[computer virus|virus]].
: The name 'worm' was taken from a 1970s [[science fiction]] novel by [[John Brunner (novelist)|John Brunner]] entitled ''[[The Shockwave Rider]]''. The book describes programs known as "tapeworms" which spread through a network for the purpose of deleting data. Researchers writing an early paper on experiments in distributed computing noted the similarities between their software and the program described by Brunner, and adopted that name.

* '''[[WYSIWYG]]''' – describes a system in which content during editing appears very similar to the final product.
:Acronym for ''What You See Is What You Get'', the phrase was originated by a newsletter published by Arlene and Jose Ramos, named WYSIWYG. It was created for the emerging Pre-Press industry going electronic in the late 1970s.

==X==

* '''[[X Window System]]''' –  a [[windowing system]] for computers with [[bitmap]] displays.
:X derives its name as a successor to a pre-1983 window system named the [[W Window System]].

==Y==

* '''[[Yahoo!]]''' – internet portal and [[web directory]].
:Yahoo!'s history site says the name is an acronym for "Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle", but some remember that in its early days (mid-1990s), when Yahoo! lived on a server named akebono.stanford.edu, it was glossed as "Yet Another Hierarchical Object Organizer." The word "Yahoo!" was originally invented by [[Jonathan Swift]] and used in his book ''[[Gulliver's Travels]]''. It represents a person who is repulsive in appearance and action and is barely human. Yahoo! founders Jerry Yang and David Filo selected the name because they considered themselves yahoos.

==Z==

* '''[[ZIP (file format)|zip]]''' – a [[file format]], also used as a verb to mean ''compress''.
:The file format was created by [[Phil Katz]], and given the name by his friend Robert Mahoney. The compression tool Phil Katz created was named [[PKZIP]]. Zip means "speed", and they wanted to imply their product would be faster than ARC and other compression formats of the time.

== See also ==
* [[Glossary of computer terms]]
* [[List of company name etymologies]]
* [[Lists of etymologies]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Lists of computer terms|Etymologies]]
[[Category:Lists of etymologies|Computer terms]]