Said of a computer system with excessive or annoying
security barriers, usage limits, or access policies. The
implication is that said policies are preventing hackers from
getting interesting work done. The variant "fascistic" seems
to have been preferred at MIT.
In the design of languages and other software tools, "the
fascist alternative" is the most restrictive and structured
way of capturing a particular function; the implication is
that this may be desirable in order to simplify the
implementation or provide tighter error checking. Compare
bondage-and-discipline language, although that term is
global rather than local.
fas·cistic (f-shstk) adj.
Word History: It is fitting that the name of an authoritarian political movement like Fascism, founded in 1919 by Benito Mussolini, should come from the name of a symbol of authority. The Italian name of the movement, fascismo, is derived from fascio, “bundle, (political) group,” but also refers to the movement's emblem, the fasces, a bundle of rods bound around a projecting axe-head that was carried before an ancient Roman magistrate by an attendant as a symbol of authority and power. The name of Mussolini's group of revolutionaries was soon used for similar nationalistic movements in other countries that sought to gain power through violence and ruthlessness, such as National Socialism.