alt
/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. 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}]
(1997-04-12)