clone

	This is the JargonFile ^(V4.00) entry for clone - Next: clone-and-hack coding, Prev: clocks
:clone: /n./ 1. An exact duplicate: "Our product is a clone of their product." Implies a legal reimplementation from documentation or by reverse-engineering. Also connotes lower price. 2. A shoddy, spurious copy: "Their product is a clone of our product." 3. A blatant ripoff, most likely violating copyright, patent, or trade secret protections: "Your product is a clone of my product." This use implies legal action is pending. 4. PC clone: a PC-BUS/ISA or EISA-compatible 80x86-based microcomputer (this use is sometimes spelled klone or PClone). These invariably have much more bang for the buck than the IBM archetypes they resemble. 5. In the construction Unix clone: An OS designed to deliver a Unix-lookalike environment without Unix license fees, or with additional mission-critical features such as support for real-time programming. 6. /v./ To make an exact copy of something. "Let me clone that" might mean "I want to borrow that paper so I can make a photocopy" or "Let me get a copy of that file before you mung it".
* (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)*