23 lines
3.3 KiB
HTML
23 lines
3.3 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>smart terminal</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="../S.html" title="S"/><link rel="previous" href="smart.html" title="smart"/><link rel="next" href="smash-case.html" title="smash case"/></head><body><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">smart terminal</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="smart.html">Prev</a> </td><th width="60%" align="center">S</th><td width="20%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="smash-case.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr/></div><dt><a id="smart-terminal"/><dt xmlns="" id="smart-terminal"><b>smart terminal</b>: <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="grammar">n.</span></dt></dt><dd><p> 1. A terminal that has enough computing capability to render
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graphics or to offload some kind of front-end processing from the computer
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it talks to. The development of workstations and personal computers has
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made this term and the product it describes semi-obsolescent, but one may
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still hear variants of the phrase <span class="firstterm">act like a
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smart terminal</span> used to describe the behavior of workstations or
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PCs with respect to programs that execute almost entirely out of a remote
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<a href="server.html"><i class="glossterm">server</i></a>'s storage, using local devices as displays.
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</p></dd><dd><p> 2. obs. Any terminal with an addressable cursor; the opposite of a
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<a href="../G/glass-tty.html"><i class="glossterm">glass tty</i></a>. Today, a terminal with merely an
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addressable cursor, but with none of the more-powerful features mentioned
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in sense 1, is called a <a href="../D/dumb-terminal.html"><i class="glossterm">dumb terminal</i></a>.</p><p>There is a classic quote from Rob Pike (inventor of the
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<a href="../B/blit.html"><i class="glossterm">blit</i></a> terminal): “<span class="quote">A smart terminal is not a
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smart<span class="emphasis"><em>ass</em></span> terminal, but rather a terminal you can
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educate.</span>” This illustrates a common design problem: The attempt to
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make peripherals (or anything else) intelligent sometimes results in
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finicky, rigid ‘special features’ that become just so much dead
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weight if you try to use the device in any way the designer didn't
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anticipate. Flexibility and programmability, on the other hand, are
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<span class="emphasis"><em>really</em></span> smart. Compare
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<a href="../H/hook.html"><i class="glossterm">hook</i></a>.</p></dd><div class="navfooter"><hr/><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="smart.html">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="../S.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="smash-case.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">smart </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="../index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> smash case</td></tr></table></div></body></html>
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