What you said about the Free On-line Dictionary of Computing
Here are a few comments I've received about the dictionary over the
years.
I work in presales technical support for Sun. I need a fast,
definative and accurate source of external info on some issues. You
are it, I use no other internet dictionary. Many thanks for all the
good work, and for keeping it free.
-- keith poyser
You could begin a whole new career just by following the cross
references! An excellent tool - please don't let it die!
-- Neil Hardie, 1997-01-23
I was searching the web for a glossary of some kind for computers. I
found a few, but nothing that I wanted. Finally, I came across this.
This is exactly what I wanted and needed. I just want to tell you
that this is probably one of the best sites that I have ever seen on
the Internet. It was complete, exact, detailed, and could be used by
both beginners and advanced users. Thanks for your excellent work!
-- Damon Enright, 1997-01-30
I am a patent attorney and I prepare patents on many different
computer technologies. The Computing Dictionary is a
wonderful tool for me, as I often need quick general definitions. I
thank you for this tool, and keep up the good work!
-- Steven Funk
I looked for quite a while in a Barns and Noble. I found a book all
about it. But no where could I find what RPG meant. Thank you. I am
happy with the world. In doing a Lycos search for "computer
dictionary", I had to sift through many $$$ books to find your site.
I appreciate the fact that you exist. I hope the Internet does not
become some heinous complex info-mercial. Your efforts are
appreciated.
-- John Sullivan, 1997-04-06
Your Dictionary of Computing is extremely helpful to me. I am a
technical recruiter and have bookmarked your adderess to look up
unfamiliar terms. I use it every day and have told many others of
your site. You have no idea how helpful your dictionary is to me. I
cannot find techies who know many of the terms. Thanks again for
providing such a great service.
-- Lonnie Duke, 1997-06-27
I felt this site is good enough that it requires heaps of truely
heartfelt praise to insure all involved that their work is not in
vain! I appreciate the effort that was put into this page, and I hope
its obvious usefulness is noticed by the powers that be so that your
work may continue to reach plain folk such as myself who are
interested in learning more about these creatures of torment and
amusement that sit on all of our desks and laugh at us when we make
silly "user errors". Maybe that's "going over the edge" a bit, but I
hope you got a chuckle out of it! I sincerely appreciate this site
and your hard work! Thanks!
-- Steven Goldstein, 1997-09-08
Just wanted to say a big thank you, I use your service all the time
and it was indirectly responsible for helping me get my current job
which is Business Development Manager for a Database Software Company
called DISC. Anyway, Thanks again.
-- Boyd Goodfellow, 1997-09-25
I find FOLDOC to be one of the best resources on the web, period. I
am a computer science undergrad and will be graduating in June. I
consistently use FOLDOC while reading text books for classes as an
information resource and a more-than-handy clarification device. I
wanted to express my kudos for FOLDOC and express my thanks for an
excellent resource for the computer scientist.
-- Jeff Solin, 1997-09-25
I came across your site while trying to find some definitions that I
needed to, hopefully, sound intellegent on a job interview. I found
everything I needed with a minimum of searching. Thanks. I have a
nine month old, and today is not a good day for him, so I was able to
do this while he was napping, 'cause he was not about to let me go
into a library and look this stuff up.
-- Bob Vergis, 1997-11-03
I just wanted to say "thank you" to those responsible for FOLDOC. I
recently began a new job as a recruiter, specifically an IT recruiter.
I'm sure you can imagine how difficult it can be for someone like me
to wade through the multitude of abbreviations, acronyms and jargon.
I found your web site my first week here (thankfully!) and use it as
my primary resource for learning about the technical background of the
candidates I work with. Everyone in the office now has your site
listed in their "favorites". Thank you again for providing such an
invaluable resource to those of us who need it.
-- David Booth, 1997-12-29
Just a brief note to thank you for the computing dictionary.
Microsoft has just released a computing dictionary (with a CDROM) for
$30.00. It fails to define 'chad' - your free one does.
-- Dave Truslow
Need a def. for "Commodity Internet". Got one? Searched all the
online sources I could find, some have it used in text context but
nowhere found a def. Thanks,
-- Drew Schaefer
DBH replies:
I'm sorry to say I haven't. If I had one it would be in the
dictionary, that's where I put definitions. I thought it was quite a
clever system - I put definitions in the dictionary so you can search
for them there. This should save you wasting your time
sending me messages asking for definitions and it should save me
wasting my time replying to you.
Bizarrely, it doesn't seem to work all the time. Some special
customers seem to think I might keep a few definitions "under the
counter" just for them. Since these people are obviously badly in
need of help, it saddens me to have to turn them away empty handed.
I won't take up too much of your time, but I did want to send to you
this compliment on your Free On-Line Dictionary Of Computing. FOLDOC
is probably the best computer dictionary available in the realm of
both print and on-line dictionaries. I recently purchased "The Best
Computer Dictionary in Print" - "Webster's New World Dictionary of
Computer Terms" (Sixth Edition) by Bryan Pfaffenberger. After reading
a few entries, I was apalled. Linux was defined as "freeware" and GNU
wasn't ever defined. The GPL was defined as something the OSF put
together that supported software that was free unless it was used for
some commercial use. It took me hours just to drag my jaw off of the
floor. (I only mention a few of the blasphemies in the book) I
immediately mailed the author, a professor at UVA who apparently has
written over fifty books about computers.
Your dictionary never has disappointed me and has quite often
impressed me. I have put links to it on support pages at the ISP I
help administrate. I always refer it to friends wishing to learn more
about computers.
Anyway - I believe I've ranted enough. I just really wanted to let
you know that I greatly appreciate all of your efforts and the efforts
of everyone else involved. You have put together a wonderful
reference tool that is very useful and extremely helpful. I send my
thanks. :)
-- Ted Pavlic
Many thanks to the creators and contributors of the Free Online
Dictionary of Computing. I was working on my web site and realized
I'd never sent a letter to the maintainers of this database to say a
most heartfelt thank you.
About three years ago, I was in about the lowest point in my life. I
was working as a waiter in a restaurant for $2.75 an hour plus tips.
My car had been repossessed, I was spending all my tips on cabs to get
to work, rent was long overdue with eviction imminent. I had become
emotionally convinced I would never be worth more than $2.75 as a
human being.
I was fortunate to have a good friend working for America Online, who submitted my resume
and got me an interview. I did get the job, but that only lasted a
year and a half, and when AOL laid off the entire department, it
looked like my life was about to come crashing back down again, as AOL
had taught me little about computers and networking.
During my tenure at AOL, I had found the FOLDOC and spent many a late
night browsing its contents. Often I would still be in my chair when
the morning shift came in. I learned everything related to networking
I could find in the Dictionary, and used the terms, links, and
definitions to search the web for more information.
When the time came to go out to interview, I had learned enough to
convince a hiring manager at a major telecommunications company that I
was competent enough to work on the backbone of the internet. My
career had officially taken off.
Today I have far exceeded the database's knowlege in internetworking,
but I still point friends, new engineers, and the curious to your
site. I put in the time and effort, but if it wasn't for
your excellent Dictionary, I wouldn't have had such an easy and
effective starting point for my self-education. I needed you and your
contributors to know that your efforts have had a very large and
positive impact on my career and through that, my life. I wanted to
share my most heartfelt thanks for creating this wonderful resource.
-- John Patterson "InetDaemon", 1999-08-29
Denis, if you were a hot chick in a bathing suit, I would be more
inclined to have babies with you. And seeing that I don't play on the
dark side, I won't be having
any sort of babies with you. But I did want to let you know that your
site is ABSOLUTELY AWESOME! I use it every day and
it's an invaluable resource for me. I am returning my paper bound computer dictionary to Amazon today, because yours is
better, by far. Please keep up the good work!
-- Jon Macklin, 2000-04-05
I am at college (night class) and am working my way through an HND in
computing, I hope to be able to do a degree as well. I have to say
that I have found it heavy going at times, but this site has been a
life-saver on more than one occasion, if I had to sum it up in words I
would say, "It's the dog's bollocks". Keep up the good work!
--Henry T Henderson, 2001-02-09
Last modified: Sun Oct 15 23:39:13 BST 2006
Denis Howe