Dusty deck

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The Jargon File Parts of this article are based on the Jargon File, v. 4.4.7, a public domain document of hacker jargon.

dusty deck

Usage: n. See Also: fossil, crawling horror

dusty deck: n.

Old software (especially applications) which one is obliged to remain compatible with, or to maintain (DP types call this legacy code, a term hackers consider smarmy and excessively reverent). The term implies that the software in question is a holdover from card-punch days. Used esp. when referring to old scientific and number-crunching software, much of which was written in FORTRAN and very poorly documented but is believed to be too expensive to replace. See fossil; compare crawling horror.

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