Share and enjoy!
1. Commonly found at the end of software release announcements and README files,
this phrase indicates allegiance to the hacker ethic of free information sharing
(see hacker ethic).
2. The motto of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation (the ultimate gaggle of
incompetent suits) in Douglas Adams's "Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy". The
irony of using this as a cultural recognition signal appeals to freeware
hackers.
[Jargon File]
Nearby terms:
ShapeTools « shar « sharchive « Share and enjoy!
» shared memory » Shared Time Repair of Big
Electronic Systems » shareware
shared memory
1. Memory in a parallel computer, usually RAM, which can be accessed by more
than one processor, usually via a shared bus or network.
It usually takes longer for a processor to access shared memory than to access
its own private memory because of contention for the processor-to-memory
connections and because of other overheads associated with ensuring synchronised
access. Computers using shared memory usually have some kind of local cache on
each processor to reduce the number of accesses to shared memory. This requires
a cache consistency protocol to ensure that one processor's cached copy of a
shared memory location is invalidated when another processor writes to that
location.
The alternative to shared memory is message passing where all memory is private
to some particular processor and processors communicate by sending messages down
special links. This is usually slower than shared memory but it avoids the
problems of contention for memory and can be implemented more cheaply.
2. Memory which can be access by more than one process in a multitasking
operating system with memory protection. Some Unix variants, e.g. SunOS provide
this kind of shared memory.
Unix manual pages: shmop(2), shmctl(2), shmget(2).
(1994-10-20)
Nearby terms:
shar « sharchive « Share and enjoy! « shared
memory » Shared Time Repair of Big Electronic
Systems » shareware » shar file
Shared Time Repair of Big Electronic Systems
<language> (STROBES) A language for computer testing.
[Sammet 1969, p. 699].
(1995-02-06)
Nearby terms:
sharchive « Share and enjoy! « shared memory «
Shared Time Repair of Big Electronic Systems »
shareware » shar file » sharp
shareware
<software> /sheir'weir/ Software that, like freeware, can be usually
obtained (downloaded) and redistributed for free, but most often is under
copyright and does legally require a payment in the EULA, at least beyond the
evaluation period or for commercial applications. This payment, as well as
fulfilling the user's legal obligations, may buy additional support,
documentation, or functionality. Generally, source code for shareware programs
is not available. Shareware is sometimes also nagware and/or crippleware, which
muddles the term and is frowned upon in the community.
See also careware, charityware, guiltware, postcardware, and -ware; compare
payware.
[Jargon File]
(2002-01-30)
Nearby terms:
Share and enjoy! « shared memory « Shared Time
Repair of Big Electronic Systems « shareware
» shar file » sharp » Sharp APL
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