JargonFile/entries/fascist.txt
2014-04-26 16:54:15 +01:00

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fascist
adj. 1. [common] Said of a computer system with excessive or annoying
security barriers, usage limits, or access policies. The implication is that
said policies are preventing hackers from getting interesting work done. The
variant fascistic seems to have been preferred at MIT, poss. by analogy with
touristic (see tourist or under the influence of German/Yiddish faschistisch
). 2. In the design of languages and other software tools, the fascist
alternative is the most restrictive and structured way of capturing a
particular function; the implication is that this may be desirable in order
to simplify the implementation or provide tighter error checking. Compare
bondage-and-discipline language , although that term is global rather than
local. Fascist security strikes again. (The next cartoon in the Crunchly
saga is 73-05-28. The previous one is 73-05-20.