dusty deck

Old software (especially applications) which one is obliged to remain compatible with, or to maintain ({DP} types call this legacy code, a term hackers consider smarmy and excessively reverent). The term implies that the software in question is a holdover from card-punch days. Used esp. when referring to old scientific and {number-crunching} software, much of which was written in FORTRAN and very poorly documented but is believed to be too expensive to replace. See {fossil}; compare {crawling horror}.

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