fascist

1. [common] Said of a computer system with excessive or annoying security barriers, usage limits, or access policies. The implication is that said policies are preventing hackers from getting interesting work done. The variant fascistic seems to have been preferred at MIT, poss. by analogy with touristic (see {tourist} or under the influence of German/Yiddish faschistisch).
2. In the design of languages and other software tools, the fascist alternative is the most restrictive and structured way of capturing a particular function; the implication is that this may be desirable in order to simplify the implementation or provide tighter error checking. Compare {bondage-and-discipline language}, although that term is global rather than local.

   

   Fascist security strikes again.

   (The next cartoon in the Crunchly saga is 73-05-28. The previous one is 73-05-20.)

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