35 lines
4.3 KiB
HTML
35 lines
4.3 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>patch</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="../P.html" title="P"/><link rel="previous" href="pastie.html" title="pastie"/><link rel="next" href="patch-pumpkin.html" title="patch pumpkin"/></head><body><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">patch</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="pastie.html">Prev</a> </td><th width="60%" align="center">P</th><td width="20%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="patch-pumpkin.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr/></div><dt><a id="patch"/><dt xmlns="" id="patch"><b>patch</b></dt></dt><dd><p> 1. <span class="grammar">n.</span> A temporary addition to a
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piece of code, usually as a <a href="../Q/quick-and-dirty.html"><i class="glossterm">quick-and-dirty</i></a> remedy
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to an existing bug or misfeature. A patch may or may not work, and may or
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may not eventually be incorporated permanently into the program.
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Distinguished from a <a href="../D/diff.html"><i class="glossterm">diff</i></a> or
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<a href="../M/mod.html"><i class="glossterm">mod</i></a> by the fact that a patch is generated by more
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primitive means than the rest of the program; the classical examples are
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instructions modified by using the front panel switches, and changes made
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directly to the binary executable of a program originally written in an
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<a href="../H/HLL.html"><i class="glossterm">HLL</i></a>. Compare <a href="../O/one-line-fix.html"><i class="glossterm">one-line fix</i></a>.
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</p></dd><dd><p> 2. <span class="grammar">vt.</span> To insert a patch into a
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piece of code.</p></dd><dd><p> 3. [in the Unix world] <span class="grammar">n.</span> A
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<a href="../D/diff.html"><i class="glossterm">diff</i></a> (sense 2). </p></dd><dd><p> 4. A set of modifications to binaries to be applied by a patching
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program. IBM operating systems often receive updates to the operating
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system in the form of absolute hexadecimal patches. If you have modified
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your OS, you have to disassemble these back to the source. The patches
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might later be corrected by other patches on top of them (patches were said
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to “<span class="quote">grow scar tissue</span>”). The result was often a convoluted
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<a href="patch-space.html"><i class="glossterm">patch space</i></a> and headaches galore.</p></dd><dd><p> 5. [Unix] the
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<span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">patch</span>(1)</span>
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program, written by Larry Wall, which automatically applies a patch (sense
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3) to a set of source code.</p></dd><dd><p>There is a classic story of a <a href="../T/tiger-team.html"><i class="glossterm">tiger team</i></a>
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penetrating a secure military computer that illustrates the danger inherent
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in binary patches (or, indeed, any patches that you can't — or don't
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— inspect and examine before installing). They couldn't find any
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<a href="../T/trap-door.html"><i class="glossterm">trap door</i></a>s or any way to penetrate security of IBM's
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OS, so they made a site visit to an IBM office (remember, these were
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official military types who were purportedly on official business), swiped
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some IBM stationery, and created a fake patch. The patch was actually the
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trapdoor they needed. The patch was distributed at about the right time
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for an IBM patch, had official stationery and all accompanying
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documentation, and was dutifully installed. The installation manager very
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shortly thereafter learned something about proper procedures.</p></dd><div class="navfooter"><hr/><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="pastie.html">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="../P.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="patch-pumpkin.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">pastie </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="../index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> patch pumpkin</td></tr></table></div></body></html>
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