EBCDIC: /eb´s@·dik/, /eb´see`dik/, n.
[abbreviation, Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code]
An alleged character set used on IBM dinosaurs. It exists in a multitude of mutually incompatible versions, all featuring such delights as non-contiguous letter sequences and the absence of several ASCII punctuation characters fairly important for modern computer languages (exactly which characters are absent varies according to which version of EBCDIC you're looking at).
IBM adapted EBCDIC from punched card code in the early 1960s and promulgated it as a customer-control tactic (see connector conspiracy), spurning the already established ASCII standard.
Today, IBM claims to be an open-systems company, but IBM's own description of the EBCDIC variants and how to convert between them is still internally classified top-secret, burn-before-reading.
EBCDIC codepages are language-dependent with no nomenclature or internal mechanism to denote non-"standard" usage. Different countries have different character requirements, such as the á, ê, and ü characters. Due to the fact that IBM sold its computer systems around the world, it had to create multiple versions of EBCDIC. In fact, over 57 different national variants were eventually wending their way across the planet. (A "standard" with 57 variants! You can only imagine how much fun everybody had when transferring files from one country to another).
Hackers blanch at the very name of EBCDIC and consider it a manifestation of purest evil.
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