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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" standalone="no"?>
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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>Borg</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="../../jargon.css" type="text/css"/><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.61.0"/><link rel="home" href="../index.html" title="The Jargon File"/><link rel="up" href="../B.html" title="B"/><link rel="previous" href="boot.html" title="boot"/><link rel="next" href="borken.html" title="borken"/></head><body><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">Borg</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="boot.html">Prev</a> </td><th width="60%" align="center">B</th><td width="20%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="borken.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr/></div><dt><a id="Borg"/><dt xmlns="" id="Borg"><b>Borg</b>: <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="grammar">n.</span></dt></dt><dd><p> In <i class="citetitle">Star Trek: The Next Generation</i> the Borg is
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a species of cyborg that ruthlessly seeks to incorporate all sentient life
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into itself; their slogan is “<span class="quote">You will be assimilated. Resistance is
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futile.</span>” In hacker parlance, the Borg is usually
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<a href="../M/Microsoft.html"><i class="glossterm">Microsoft</i></a>, which is thought to be trying just as
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ruthlessly to assimilate all computers and the entire Internet to itself
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(there is a widely circulated image of Bill Gates as a Borg). Being forced
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to use Windows or NT is often referred to as being “<span class="quote">Borged</span>”.
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Interestingly, the <a href="../H/Halloween-Documents.html"><i class="glossterm">Halloween Documents</i></a> reveal that
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this jargon is live within Microsoft itself. See also
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<a href="../E/Evil-Empire.html"><i class="glossterm">Evil Empire</i></a>,
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<a href="../I/Internet-Exploiter.html"><i class="glossterm">Internet Exploiter</i></a>.</p><p>Other companies, notably Intel and UUNet, have also occasionally been
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equated to the Borg. In IETF circles, where direct pressure from Microsoft
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is not a daily reality, the Borg is sometimes Cisco. This usage
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commemorates their tendency to pay any price to hire talent away from their
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competitors. In fact, at the Spring 1997 IETF, a large number of ex-Cisco
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employees, all former members of Routing Geeks, showed up with t-shirts
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printed with “<span class="quote">Recovering Borg</span>”.</p></dd><div class="navfooter"><hr/><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="boot.html">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="../B.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="borken.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">boot </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="../index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> borken</td></tr></table></div></body></html>
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