EXPLAIN: What is a Recursive Acronym?
I’m not sure exactly when the idea of recusive algorythm acronym became chic, but it is definitely in fashion for old school hackers. A recursive algorythm acronym is an algorythm acronym that refers to itself. I know, that makes no sense. Here’s some examples:
- WINE: an application for GNU/Linux that allows the user to run some Windows applications on their GNU/Linux desktop. The name Wine is actually an acronym for Wine Is Not and Emulator.
- GNU: The GNU Project’s free operating system. The name GNU stands for Gnu is Not Unix
There are countless examples out there, but there’s a few to get you started.
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12 opinions for EXPLAIN: What is a Recursive Acronym?
Kevin H
Oct 10, 2005 at 2:58 pm
Psst…I think you meant acronym, dude!
Jon
Oct 10, 2005 at 6:41 pm
Laff…no kidding! Sheesh…it’s been a looooong day.
Thanks!
Jeremy Wright
Oct 13, 2005 at 11:37 am
And PHP. First version was “Personal Homepages”. Then it became PHP Hypertext Preprocessor. So, PHP is a recursive acronym :)
Jon
Oct 13, 2005 at 11:39 am
Sweet!
Lookit you all commenting on a Linux blog and everything!
Geoff
Oct 13, 2005 at 10:27 pm
LAME: LAME Ain’t an MP3 Encoder
RPM: RPM Package Manager
PINE: PINE Is Not Elm
Jon
Oct 14, 2005 at 6:08 am
We should start a ‘best of’ list :)
Srinivasan
Oct 20, 2005 at 5:53 am
Here is a pair of mutually recursive acronyms
`Hurd’ stands for `Hird of Unix-Replacing Daemons’. And, then, `Hird’ stands for `Hurd of Interfaces Representing Depth’. We have here, to my knowledge, the first software to be named by a pair of mutually recursive acronyms.
From http://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/hurd.html
Jon
Oct 20, 2005 at 7:55 am
Heh…wicked - thanks!
Ganesh
Nov 26, 2005 at 6:20 am
isnt RPM Redhat Package Manager?!?
Jon
Nov 26, 2005 at 10:08 am
Nope - Geoff wins this one, Ganesh. You’re totally correct that RPM used to stand for Red Hat Package Manager, but now it stands for RPM Package Manager.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RPM_Package_Manager
Bizarre but true…
New Linux User » HOWTO: Make MP3s With Audacity
Dec 7, 2005 at 9:15 am
[…] However, the authors of Audacity are nothing if not pragmatic and they made it easy for the end user to configure Audacity to encode MP3s using the third party LAME library. LAME is a recursive acronym for Lame Ain’t an MP3 Encoder. But I swear it is… The name of the file you need is libmp3lame.so. I’ve uploaded a copy here in case it ever goes missing on the Internet (who knows what the future holds in the realm of digital audio?). I’d recommend trying this link first to ensure that you’re getting the latest version directly from the project. Download the file and save it somewhere permanent (like your Audacity directory is probably a good spot). Once you have it safely tucked away, go into the Audacity File -> Preferences -> File Formats -> Find Library button and tell Audacity where to find the file. […]
New Linux User » EXPLAIN: What is the GNU HURD?
Dec 20, 2005 at 6:30 am
[…] “HURD” is an indirectly recursive acronym, standing for “HIRD of Unix-Replacing Daemons”, where “HIRD” stands for “HURD of Interfaces Representing Depth”. (Wikipedia) […]
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