dink /dink/ adj.
Said of a machine that has the bitty
box nature; a machine too small to be worth bothering
with -- sometimes the system you're currently forced to work on.
First heard from an MIT hacker working on a CP/M system with 64K,
in reference to any 6502 system, then from fans of 32-bit
architectures about 16-bit machines. "GNUMACS will never work on
that dink machine." Probably derived from mainstream `dinky',
which isn't sufficiently pejorative. See macdink.
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dinosaur n.
1. Any hardware requiring raised flooring and special power.
Used especially of old minis and mainframes, in contrast with
newer microprocessor-based machines. In a famous quote from the
1988 Unix EXPO, Bill Joy compared the liquid-cooled mainframe in
the massive IBM display with a grazing dinosaur "with a truck
outside pumping its bodily fluids through it". IBM was not
amused. Compare big iron; see
also mainframe. 2. [IBM] A very
conservative user; a zipperhead.
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dinosaur pen n.
A traditional mainframe
computer room complete with raised flooring, special power, its
own ultra-heavy-duty air conditioning, and a side order of Halon
fire extinguishers. See boa.