box

	This is the JargonFile ^(V4.00) entry for box - Next: boxed comments, Prev: boustrophedon
:box: /n./ 1. A computer; esp. in the construction foo box where foo is some functional qualifier, like graphics, or the name of an OS (thus, Unix box, MS-DOS box, etc.) "We preprocess the data on Unix boxes before handing it up to the mainframe." 2. [IBM] Without qualification but within an SNA-using site, this refers specifically to an IBM front-end processor or FEP /F-E-P/. An FEP is a small computer necessary to enable an IBM mainframe to communicate beyond the limits of the dinosaur pen. Typically used in expressions like the cry that goes up when an SNA network goes down: "Looks like the box has fallen over." (See fall over.) See also IBM, fear and loathing, fepped out, Blue Glue.
* (text is auto-included via JargonExtension by mutante using jargon with VERSION 4.0.0, 24 JUL 1996* - JargonFile by Eric S. Raymond is in the public domain)*