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FOSS Community Acronyms

PRs Welcome

List of abbreviations used within the FOSS community, and their definitions and usages. This list inludes more common english acronyms popular on internet.

Maintained by folks at D-EDGE.

Contributing

If you have a GitHub account, you can submit a pull request to any json in the data folder.

Tip

Write out the full name when you want to introduce a term (with the acronym in brackets). Use only the acronym after this. Example:

Companies don’t usually talk about FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). Instead, they use phrases such as “shiny object syndrome” and “market expectations.” Google is a great example of how FOMO can creep in.

FOMO Is Disastrous for Company Strategies by Ruben Ugarte

If you are only going to use the acronym once, maybe don’t use it at all and rely on the whole expression instead.

Acronyms

</tbody></table> ## Common chat acronyms
AbbreviationDefinitionUsageExample
ACKACKnowledgementAgreed/accepted change. A loose ACK can be confusing. It's best to avoid them unless it's a documentation/comment only change in which case there is nothing to test/verify; therefore the tested/untested distinction is not thereHumanizer, Bitcoin
AFAICTAs Far As I Can Tellaiohttp
AFAIKAs Far As I KnowAFAIK, he will be away for three months.Diffract
AOAAnalysis of Alternatives/r/programming
ASAPAs Soon As PossibleIt is an informal way to say that who wrote it is busy at the moment and will reply as soon as he can.Britannica
BBLBrown Bag LunchIt is an informal training meeting usually performed during lunch. It is a nice way to share knowledge, train on technical, business or any kind of skills. The speaker does not have to be an expert of the topic.brownbaglunch on Github (French)
CCWComment and Criticism Welcome
CLAContributor License AgreementPlay Framework, Microsoft
CLICommand Line InterfaceI prefer using the CLI because it is faster.Wikipedia page for CLI
CMVChange My View
CoCCode of ConductOur Code of Conduct
Concept ACKConcept ACKnowledgementAgree with the idea and overall direction, but haven't reviewed the code changes or tested themBitcoin
DevOpsDevlopment Operations
DI/DIPDependency Inversion PrincipleThe higher-level orchestrating components should not have to know the details of their dependenciesHacker Laws
DoDDefinition of DoneWhen all conditions, or acceptance criteria, that a software product must satisfy are met and ready to be accepted by a user, customer, team, or consuming system.DEFINITION OF DONE
DRYDon't Repeat YourselfThis is used in couple with modular programming, and emphasize on code reusabilityWikipedia
DTOData Transfer ObjectDTO Wikipedia
DXDeveloper ExperienceGuidelines to make onboarding and development of a project easy to get into and maintainNear (Github)
EBKACError Between Keyboard And ChairIt's an error made by the human user of a complex system, usually a computer system, in interacting with it.User error
ETAEstimated Time of ArrivalTo ask when something will be ready/r/fsharp
FOMOFear Of Missing OutThe feeling of apprehension that one is either not in the know or missing out on information, events, experiences, or life decisions that could make one's life betterHacker News
FOSS/FLOSSFree & Open Source SoftwareThat is both free software and open-source software where anyone is freely licensed to use, copy, study, and change the software in any way, and the source code is openly shared so that people are encouraged to voluntarily improve the design of the softwareFOSS/FLOSS
FOUCFlash Of Unstyled ContentWhen a web page appears briefly with the browser's default styles prior to loading an external CSS stylesheetmd-block, Wikipedia
FPFunctional Programming
FYAFor Your ActionWhen you ask someone to do something usually on an email or correspondence
FYIFor Your InformationArduPilot, F#'s slack
GUIGraphical User InterfaceThe GUI makes it very simple for beginners to useWikipedia page for GUI
IANALI Am Not A LawyerUsed often before talking about licensing issuesHackerNews, CUPS
ICYMIIn Case You Missed It
IIRCIf I Recall Correctly
IMOIn My Opinion
ITTIn This Thread
KISSKeep It Simple, StupidKISS is a design principle stating that most systems work fine if it is built/kept simple than making the system complex.Wikipedia
LGTMLooks Good To MeSee ACKCardidy, Simple Icons, proposal-array-grouping, /r/webdev
LOC/SLOC(Source) Lines Of CodeAbove each file on GitHub you can find something like `50 lines (43 sloc)`. The difference is the empty lines.GitHub
MCVEMinimal Complete Valid/Verfiable ExampleWhen asking a question, people will be better able to provide help if you provide code that they can easily understand and use to reproduce the problem. Such a question will be to the point, include just the information that what is necessary, be valid, and be accompanied by a clear example of your problem which leaves no room for guesswork. This is referred to by community members as MCVEStack Exchange
MPAMulti-Page Application/r/web_design
MRMerge RequestSee PR
MREMinimal Reproducible ExampleIn computing, a minimal reproducible example (abbreviated MRE) is a collection of source code and other data files which allow a bug or problem to be demonstrated and reproduced.Stack Overflow
MVCModel View ControllerA commonly used software design architecture based around the Model (data), the View (user interface), and the Controller (logic to handle requests).Medium
MVPMinimum Viable ProductA prototype version of a product with the minimum required feature setWikipedia
MVVMModel View ViewModelA front-end software design architecture based around the Model (data), the View (user interface), and the ViewModel (logic that handles view data and interactions).Knockout MVVM Explanation
NACK/NAKNegative ACKnowledgementDisagree with the code changes/concept. Should be accompanied by an explanationBitcoin
NIHNot Invented HereNIH Syndrome is a decision-making error where we tend to value our own ideas above those conceived by people outside of our grouplearnosity
NPNo ProblemNo stress, it is fine
OOPObject Oriented Programming
OPOriginal Post/Original PosterOriginal Poster (who started a thread) or Original Post (the message that started it)/r/ProgrammerHumor, StackExchange
PEBCAKProblem Exists Between Chair And KeyboardIt is a user error, not a problem / bug in the programHumanizer, Community
PEBKACProblem Exists Between Keyboard And ChairIt is a user error, not a problem / bug in the programHumanizer, Community
PEBMACProblem Exists Between Monitor And ChairIt's an error made by the human user of a complex system, usually a computer system, in interacting with it.User error
PEBUAKProblem Exists Between User and KeyboardIt's an error made by the human user of a complex system, usually a computer system, in interacting with it.User error
PICNICProblem In Chair Not In ComputerIt's an error made by the human user of a complex system, usually a computer system, in interacting with it.User error
POBCAKa US government/military acronym for Problem Occurs Between Chair And KeyboardIt's an error made by the human user of a complex system, usually a computer system, in interacting with it.User error, List of U.S. government and military acronyms
PRPull RequestTell others about changes you've pushed to a branch in a repository/r/vuejs
RACIResponsible, Accountable, Consulted, and InformedA responsibility assignment matrix, also known as RACI matrix or linear responsibility chart, describes the participation by various roles in completing tasks or deliverables for a project or business process.IBM
RCERemote Code ExecutionRemote code execution is a cyber-attack whereby an attacker can remotely execute commands on someone else’s computing device. Remote code executions (RCEs) usually occur due to malicious malware downloaded by the host and can happen regardless of the device’s geographic location. Remote Code Execution (RCE) is also referred to as Remote Code Evaluation.RCE
ReprEx Reproducible ExampleA reprex facilitates easier conversations about your code by presenting it in a concise and repeatable way. A simple copy-paste should be all that’s needed to run the reprex, and running it shouldn’t generate errors except for those that the reprex is intended to exemplifyTidyverse, University of Virginia Library
RFCRequest For Comments
RFIRequest for InformationAn RFI (request for information) is a formal process for gathering information from potential suppliers of a good or service. RFIs are intended to be written by customers and sent to potential suppliers. An RFI is typically the first and most broad series of requests intended to narrow down a list of potential vendor candidates.RFI
RFPRequest for ProposalA request for proposal (RFP) is a document that an organization, often a government agency or large enterprise, posts to elicit a response -- a formal bid -- from potential vendors for a desired IT solution. The RFP specifies what the customer is looking for and describes each evaluation criterion on which a vendor's proposal will be assessed.RFP
RTFMRead The F*****g ManualOriginally a way for the _gurus_ to get rid of trivial questions from newbies, now a humble way to state that a mistake or a waste of time can be avoided by reading the freaking manual first (assuming it exists).XKCD comic, Github commits
SCMSource Code ManagementSee VCS
SESoftware Engineer or System Engineer
SOLIDSingle responsibility, Open-closed, Liskov substitution, Interface segregation and Dependency inversion5 (of many) software design principles, promoted by Robert "Uncle Bob" MartinWikipedia
SPASingle-Page Application/r/web_design
SRESite Reliability EngineerHow They SRE
SRPSingle-Responsibility PrincipleThe single-responsibility principle is a computer-programming principle that states that every module, class or function in a computer program should have responsibility over a single part of that program's functionality, and it should encapsulate that part. wikipedia/r/csharp/
SSOCSocial Summer of CodeSocial foundation offers this two-month long summer program for students to learn about the open-source culture and get involved in the community. Participants contribute to real-life projects under the guidance of experienced mentors.Social Summer of Code
SWESoftWare Engineer
TBDTo Be Defined/DoneSoftware Craft Website
tested ACKTested ACKnowledgmentReviewed the code changes and have verified the functionality or bug fixBitcoin
TILToday I LearnedTIL that TIL is Today I Learned/r/ProgrammerTIL/
TYSMThank You So MuchCyber Definitions
utACKUnTested ACKnowledgmentReviewed and agree with the code changes but haven't actually tested themBitcoin
VCSVersion Control SoftwareA way to keep a track of the changes in the code so that if something goes wrong, we can make comparisons in different code versions and revert to any previous version that we want. Git, SVN or Mercurial are VCS/r/ProgrammerHumor, softwaretestinghelp.com
WDYTWhat Do You ThinkBitrise Workflow Editor
WIPWork In ProgressDo not merge yetGitLab's blog
WRTWith Respect toIn reference to a particular thing or situationTailwind Blog, Hacker News
WYSIWYGWhat You See Is What You GetIt is a system in which editing software allows content to be edited in a form that resembles its appearance when printed or displayed as a finished product. It is typically used an arbitrary markup language to define the codes/tagsWYSIWYG
XPExtreme ProgrammingWikipedia</td></tr>
YAGNIYou Ain't Gonna Need ItTech Excellence
YMMVYour Mileage May VaryWhisper
AbbreviationDefinition
AFKAway From Keyboard
BRBBe Right Back
CMIIWCorrect me if i'm wrong
IKRI know, right
ILYI love you
IRLIn Real Life
IYKYKIf You Know You Know
LFGlet's freaking go
LMFAOLaughing my freaking *a* off
LMKLet me know
LOLLaugh out loud
LTRLeft To Right
NVMNever mind
OFCOf course
ROFLRolling on floor laughing
RTLRight To Left
SMHShaking my head
STFUShut the *freak* up
TTYLTalk to you later
TYVMThank you very much
YOLOYou only live once
## Communities, Companies, Organizations
AbbreviationMeaningURLWhat they do
AWSAmazon web Serviceshttps://aws.amazon.com/Amazon Web Services offers reliable, scalable, and inexpensive cloud computing services.
FSFFree Software Foundationhttps://www.fsf.orgOversee a number of open source organizations
GHGitHubhttps://github.comSource code host, owned by Microsoft
GNUCollection of free software, a licensehttps://gnu.orgprogram of FSF, develops many linux tools and a commonly used license
MSMicrosofthttps://microsoft.comMakers of windows, azure, vscode, and other tools that might be relevent to developers
OSIOpen Source Initiativehttps://opensource.orgDefining 'Open Source'
SOStackOverflowhttps://stackoverflow.comPopular question and answer website
## Stacks
AbbreviationDefinitionExample
EFKElasticsearch, Fluentd, and KibanaHow To Set Up an Elasticsearch, Fluentd and Kibana (EFK) Logging Stack on Kubernetes
ELKElasticsearch, Logstash, and KibanaWhat is the ELK Stack?
LAMPLinux, Apache, MySQL, PHP (Perl or Python)IBM Cloud, Wikipedia
LEMPLinux, Nginx Server, MySQL, PHP (Perl or Python)
MEANMongoDB, Express.js, Angular.js, Node.js
MERNMongoDB, Express.js, React.js, Node.js
SAFESuave (or Saturn), Azure, Fable, Elmish/r/fsharp
## Related document - [The Jargon File](http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/index.html) - [Bitcoin's CONTRIBUTING.md](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md#peer-review) - [Bitcoin hacker lingo (stolen from TCP)](https://nitter.vxempire.xyz/jgarzik/status/601815506291531776) - [What do cryptic Github comments mean?](https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/what-do-cryptic-github-comments-mean-9c1912bcc0a4/) ## Want to support us? * Don't forget to give a ⭐ to this repo on GitHub! * Share your feedback and ideas to improve the collection! * Share the collection on your favorite social media and your friends! * Help us to improve the collection! ## License [CC0 1.0 Universal](/foss-acronyms/LICENSE)