Alt
<character> /awlt/ 1. The alt modifier key on many keyboards, including the
IBM PC.
On some keyboards and operating systems, (but not the IBM PC) the alt key sets bit 7 of the character generated.
See
bucky bits.
2. The "
clover" or "Command" key on a
Macintosh; use of this term usually reveals that the speaker hacked PCs before coming to the Mac (see also
feature key).
Some Mac hackers, confusingly, reserve "alt" for the Option key (and it is so labelled on some Mac II keyboards).
3. (Obsolete
PDP-10; often "ALT") An alternate name for the
ASCII ESC character (Escape, ASCII 27), after the keycap labelling on some older terminals; also "altmode" (/awlt'mohd/).
This character was almost never pronounced "escape" on an
ITS system, in
TECO or under
TOPS-10, always alt, as in "Type alt alt to end a TECO command" or "alt-U onto the system" (for "log onto the [ITS] system"). This usage probably arose because alt is easier to say.
4. <messaging> One of the
Usenet newsgroup hierarchies. It was founded by
John Gilmore and
Brian Reid.
The alt hierarchy is special in that anyone can create new groups here without going though the normal voting proceduers, hence the regular appearence of new groups with names such as "alt.swedish.chef.bork.bork.bork".
[
Jargon File]
