<
operating system>
On Unix systems that support
finger,
the ".plan" file in a user's
home directory is displayed
when the user is fingered. This feature was originally
intended to be used to keep potential fingerers apprised of
one's location and near-future plans, but has been turned
almost universally to humorous and self-expressive purposes
(like a
sig block). See also
Hacking X for Y.
A later innovation in plan files was the introduction of
"scrolling plan files" which are
one-dimensional animations
made using only the printable
ASCII character set, {carriage
return} and
line feed, avoiding terminal specific {escape
sequences}, since the
finger command will (for security
reasons; see
letterbomb) not pass the
escape character.
Scrolling .plan files have become art forms in miniature, and
some sites have started competitions to find who can create
the longest running, funniest, and most original animations.
A compiler (ASP) is available
on Usenet for producing them.
Typical animation components include:
Centipede: mmmmme
Lorry/Truck: oo-oP
Andalusian Video Snail: _@/
In the mid-1990s
WWW home pages largely supplanted .plan
files, providing a much richer forum for the publication of
personal minutiae and digital creativity.
See also
twirling baton.
[
Jargon File]
(1998-01-16)