guru meditation
<operating system, exception> The Amiga equivalent of Unix's panic
(sometimes just called a "guru" or "guru event"). When the system crashes, a
cryptic message of the form "GURU MEDITATION #XXXXXXXX.YYYYYYYY" may appear,
indicating what the problem was. An Amiga guru can figure things out from the
numbers.
In the earliest days of the Amiga, there was a device called a "Joyboard" which
was basically a plastic board built onto a joystick-like device; it was sold
with a skiing game cartridge for the Atari game machine. It is said that
whenever the prototype OS crashed, the system programmer responsible would
concentrate on a solution while sitting cross-legged, balanced on a Joyboard,
resembling a meditating guru. Sadly, the joke was removed in AmigaOS 2.04.
The Jargon File claimed that a guru event had to be followed by a Vulcan nerve
pinch but, according to a correspondent, a mouse click was enough to start a
reboot.
(2002-06-25)
Nearby terms:
Gupta Corporation « gurfle « guru « guru
meditation » Guy Lewis Steele, Jr. » Guy Steele
» GVL
|
