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unixism


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.