blinkenlights
= B =
blitter
blit /blit/ vt.
1. [common] To copy a large array of
bits from one part of a computer's memory to another part,
particularly when the memory is being used to determine what is
shown on a display screen. "The storage allocator picks through
the table and copies the good parts up into high memory, and then
blits it all back down again." See bitblt, BLT,
dd, cat, blast, snarf. More generally, to
perform some operation (such as toggling) on a large array of bits
while moving them. 2. [historical, rare] Sometimes all-capitalized
as `BLIT': an early experimental bit-mapped terminal designed by
Rob Pike at Bell Labs, later commercialized as the AT&T 5620. (The
folk etymology from `Bell Labs Intelligent Terminal' is incorrect.
Its creators liked to claim that "Blit" stood for the Bacon,
Lettuce, and Interactive Tomato.)
--The Jargon File version 4.3.1, ed. ESR, autonoded by rescdsk.