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unixism
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unixism /n./ A piece of code or a coding technique that
depends on the protected multi-tasking environment with relatively
low process-spawn overhead that exists on virtual-memory Unix
systems. Common unixisms include: gratuitous use of
`fork(2)'; the assumption that certain undocumented but
well-known features of Unix libraries such as `stdio(3)' are
supported elsewhere; reliance on obscure side-effects of
system calls (use of `sleep(2)' with a 0 argument to clue the
scheduler that you're willing to give up your time-slice, for
example); the assumption that freshly allocated memory is zeroed;
and the assumption that fragmentation problems won't arise from
never `free()'ing memory. Compare vaxocentrism; see also
New Jersey.
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