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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>evil</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="../E.html" title="E"/><link rel="previous" href="eurodemo.html" title="eurodemo"/><link rel="next" href="evil-and-rude.html" title="evil and rude"/></head><body><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">evil</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="eurodemo.html">Prev</a> </td><th width="60%" align="center">E</th><td width="20%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="evil-and-rude.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr/></div><dt><a id="evil"/><dt xmlns="" id="evil"><b>evil</b>: <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="grammar">adj.</span></dt></dt><dd><p> As used by hackers, implies that some system, program, person, or
institution is sufficiently maldesigned as to be not worth the bother of
dealing with. Unlike the adjectives in the
<a href="../C/cretinous.html"><i class="glossterm">cretinous</i></a>/<a href="../L/losing.html"><i class="glossterm">losing</i></a>/<a href="../B/brain-damaged.html"><i class="glossterm">brain-damaged</i></a>
series, <span class="firstterm">evil</span> does not imply
incompetence or bad design, but rather a set of goals or design criteria
fatally incompatible with the speaker's. This usage is more an esthetic
and engineering judgment than a moral one in the mainstream sense.
&#8220;<span class="quote">We thought about adding a <a href="../B/Blue-Glue.html"><i class="glossterm">Blue Glue</i></a> interface
but decided it was too evil to deal with.</span>&#8221;
&#8220;<span class="quote"><a href="../T/TECO.html"><i class="glossterm">TECO</i></a> is neat, but it can be pretty evil if
you're prone to typos.</span>&#8221; Often pronounced with the first syllable
lengthened, as <span class="pronunciation">/eeee'vil/</span>.
Compare <a href="evil-and-rude.html"><i class="glossterm">evil and rude</i></a>.</p></dd><div class="navfooter"><hr/><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="eurodemo.html">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="../E.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="evil-and-rude.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">eurodemo </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="../index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> evil and rude</td></tr></table></div></body></html>