30 lines
4.0 KiB
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30 lines
4.0 KiB
HTML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" standalone="no"?>
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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>dongle</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="../../jargon.css" type="text/css"/><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.61.0"/><link rel="home" href="../index.html" title="The Jargon File"/><link rel="up" href="../D.html" title="D"/><link rel="previous" href="Don-t-do-that-then-.html" title="Don't do that then!"/><link rel="next" href="dongle-disk.html" title="dongle-disk"/></head><body><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">dongle</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="Don-t-do-that-then-.html">Prev</a> </td><th width="60%" align="center">D</th><td width="20%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="dongle-disk.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr/></div><dt><a id="dongle"/><dt xmlns="" id="dongle"><b>dongle</b>: <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="pronunciation">/dong´gl/</span>, <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="grammar">n.</span></dt></dt><dd><p> 1. [now obs.] A security or <a href="../C/copy-protection.html"><i class="glossterm">copy protection</i></a>
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device for proprietary software consisting of a serialized EPROM and some
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drivers in a D-25 connector shell, which must be connected to an I/O port
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of the computer while the program is run. Programs that use a dongle query
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the port at startup and at programmed intervals thereafter, and terminate
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if it does not respond with the dongle's programmed validation code. Thus,
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users can make as many copies of the program as they want but must pay for
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each dongle. The first sighting of a dongle was in 1984, associated with a
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software product called PaperClip. The idea was clever, but it was
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initially a failure, as users disliked tying up a serial port this way. By
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1993, dongles would typically pass data through the port and monitor for
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<a href="../M/magic.html"><i class="glossterm">magic</i></a> codes (and combinations of status lines) with
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minimal if any interference with devices further down the line — this
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innovation was necessary to allow daisy-chained dongles for multiple pieces
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of software. These devices have become rare as the industry has moved away
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from copy-protection schemes in general. </p></dd><dd><p> 2. By extension, any physical electronic key or transferable ID
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required for a program to function. Common variations on this theme have
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used parallel or even joystick ports. See
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<a href="dongle-disk.html"><i class="glossterm">dongle-disk</i></a>. </p></dd><dd><p> 3. An adaptor cable mating a special edge-type connector on a PCMCIA
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or on-board Ethernet card to a standard 8p8c Ethernet jack. This usage
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seems to have surfaced in 1999 and is now dominant. Laptop owners curse
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these things because they're notoriously easy to lose and the vendors
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commonly charge extortionate prices for replacements.</p></dd><dd><p>[Note: in early 1992, advertising copy from Rainbow Technologies (a
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manufacturer of dongles) included a claim that the word derived from
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“<span class="quote">Don Gall</span>”, allegedly the inventor of the device. The
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company's receptionist will cheerfully tell you that the story is a myth
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invented for the ad copy. Nevertheless, I expect it to haunt my life as a
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lexicographer for at least the next ten years. :-( —ESR]</p></dd><div class="navfooter"><hr/><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="Don-t-do-that-then-.html">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="../D.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="dongle-disk.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">Don't do that then! </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="../index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> dongle-disk</td></tr></table></div></body></html>
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