May 15, 2003

ken

/ken/ n.

1. [Unix] Ken Thompson, principal inventor of Unix. In the early days he used to hand-cut distribution tapes, often with a note that read Love, ken. Old-timers still use his first name (sometimes uncapitalized, because it's a login name and mail address) in third-person reference; it is widely understood (on Usenet, in particular) that without a last name ‘Ken’ refers only to Ken Thompson. Similarly, ‘Dennis’ without last name means Dennis Ritchie (and he is often known as dmr). See also demigod, Unix.

2. A flaming user. This was originated by the Software Support group at Symbolics because the two greatest flamers in the user community were both named Ken.

Posted by Jargon File at May 15, 2003 10:41 AM

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