Does anybody know who originated the term DONGLE to signify hardware for
the protection of software.
Is the term an acronym  

Harvey Pollins  e-mail h...@sonardyne.co.uk

Dan H.

/R

Roger

dongle

<hardware, security> /dong'gl/ (From "dangle" (because it dangles off
the back of the computer)?) A security or copy protection device for
commercial
microcomputer programs that must be connected to an I/O port of the
computer while the program is run. Programs that use a dongle query the
port
at start-up and at programmed intervals thereafter, and terminate if it
does not respond with the expected validation code.

One common form consisted of a serialised EPROM and some drivers in a
D-25 connector shell.

Dongles attempt to combat software theft by ensuring that, while users
can still make copies of the program (e.g. for backup), they must buy
one
dongle for each simultaneous use of the program.

The idea was clever, but initially unpopular with users who disliked
tying up a port this way. By 1993 almost all dongles passed data through
transparently while monitoring for their particular magic codes (and
combinations of status lines) with minimal if any interference with
devices
further down the line. This innovation was necessary to allow
daisy-chained dongles for multiple pieces of software.

In 1998, dongles and other copy protection systems are fairly uncommon
for Microsoft Windows software but one engineer in a print and CADD
bureau reports that their Macintosh computers typically run seven
dongles: After Effects, Electric Image, two for Media 100, Ultimatte,
Elastic Reality
and CADD. These dongles are made for the Mac's daisy-chainable ADB port.

The term is used, by extension, for any physical electronic key or
transferable ID required for a program to function. Common variations on
this
theme have used the parallel port or even the joystick port or a
dongle-disk.

An early 1992 advertisment from Rainbow Technologies (a manufacturer of
dongles) claimed that the word derived from "Don Gall", the alleged
inventor of the device. The company's receptionist however said that the
story was a myth invented for the ad.

(1998-12-13)
--
_____________________________________________________________________
                           _  
Gary Cadman,             _| |_
MOS Design               \.  _}               Tel. +44 (0)1604 663490
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_____________________________________________________________________

http://ftp.sunet.se/foldoc/foldoc.cgi?query=dongle

I did a search at the Free Online Dictionary Of Computing, here is what
I found:

(1998-12-13)

---

Best regards,

Peter Favrholdt

Harvey Pollins wrote:
>
> Hi All
>
> Does anybody know who originated the term DONGLE to signify hardware for
> the protection of software.
> Is the term an acronym
>
> Harvey Pollins  e-mail h...@sonardyne.co.uk

>An early 1992 advertisment from Rainbow Technologies (a manufacturer of
>dongles) claimed that the word derived from "Don Gall", the
>alleged inventor of the device. The company's receptionist however said
>that the story was a myth invented for the ad.
>

Dan H.

>
>Hi All
>
>Does anybody know who originated the term DONGLE to signify hardware for
>the protection of software.
>Is the term an acronym  

The first time I saw the word was in a Cambridge Entrace Examination
past-paper (either in Maths or Natural Sciences).  I was preparing for
Cambridge in 1976, so the paper was probably '73, '74, or '75.  This gives me
good reason to suppose this was the first recorded usage of the word.

It was a ``logic'' question.  The queston described a mythical computer with
various controls (large red button, panel labelled `DO NOT REMOVE' etc.).  It
then described various combinations of control actions and their outcomes (`the
babbocks break', `the dongles droop' etc), and candidates had to deduce the
truth table for individual control actions.

It is my theory that the current use of the word `dongle' was coined by someone
who had taken that paper (he'd be about the right age), and either consciously
or subliminally remembered the word used to describe something on a computer
that drooped....

I'm still waiting for a chance to use the word `babbock' to describe something
real....

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Ian Kemmish                   18 Durham Close, Biggleswade, Beds SG18 8HZ, UK
i...@five-d.com                Tel: +44 1767 601 361
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Behind every successful organisation stands one person who knows the secret
of how to keep the managers away from anything truly important.

`Here's a barrowful of dongles from a donkey'

or something extremely close to it.  So it may be British Army slang for the
stuff that hits the fan, as well....

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Ian Kemmish                   18 Durham Close, Biggleswade, Beds SG18 8HZ, UK
i...@five-d.com                Tel: +44 1767 601 361
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Behind every successful organisation stands one person who knows the secret
of how to keep the managers away from anything truly important.

I think all you guys might be overlooking the obvious...

Many of these things have puns or metaphors built into them.  For
example the word "bit" is short for "binary digit", but it also
represents a little teeny "bit" of information.  And of course a "byte"
is just a bigger "bite" of information than a bit.

Regardless of who coins these terms or what they intended at the time,
these things tend to survive because of their intrinsic value as puns or
metaphors.  Therefore, use of the word "dongle" must derive at least in
part from the word "dong"--because a dongle is obviously a unary
computer appendage.

(A note for those of you who aren't native English speakers: the word
"dong" is an English slang word for the sound of a bell.)

ding-dong,

=g2
--
_____________________________________________________________________

Grant R. Griffin                           grant....@iowegian.com
Iowegian International Corporation              http://www.iowegian.com
_____________________________________________________________________

>Regardless of who coins these terms or what they intended at the time,
>these things tend to survive because of their intrinsic value as puns or
>metaphors.  Therefore, use of the word "dongle" must derive at least in
>part from the word "dong"--because a dongle is obviously a unary
>computer appendage.
>
>(A note for those of you who aren't native English speakers: the word
>"dong" is an English slang word for the sound of a bell.)

Actually, I think it goes back as far as ancient France when the noblemen
didn't want the commoners to copy thier software. The noblemen, or the
'Dons' of ancient France, or Gaul: hence: Don-Gaul :)

> Regardless of who coins these terms or what they intended at the time,
> these things tend to survive because of their intrinsic value as puns or
> metaphors.  Therefore, use of the word "dongle" must derive at least in
> part from the word "dong"--because a dongle is obviously a unary
> computer appendage.
>
> (A note for those of you who aren't native English speakers: the word
> "dong" is an English slang word for the sound of a bell.)

Yeah, sure. And in German, Schlang means snake.
>
> ding-dong,
>
> =g2
> --
With some such words, the spelling is changed by the ignorant. When
people started calling me a nerd, it was spelled "knurd". That's "drunk"
spelled backwards, meaning not a party animal. In colleges we were
despised because we usually got better grades and pushed the curve down.
I was an axception.

Jerry
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Harvey Pollins wrote:

> Hi All
>
> Does anybody know who originated the term DONGLE to signify hardware for
> the protection of software.
> Is the term an acronym
>

> See http://www.datasec.com/history.htm

This looks like rubbish to me. Their web pages also seem to have been written
by someone who doesn't understand the concept of dongles (Sales? Marketing?).
They also make at least one false claim as to features in their products.

Roger

from Don Lancasters .sig
..
Know your acronymns:  url = utterly rancid location
                        net = not entirely true
                        www = world wide wait

...

:)

 
--Lasse                
--___--_-_-_-____--_-_--__---_-_--__---_-_-_-__--_----
Lasse Langwadt Christensen, MSEE (to be in 1999)
Aalborg University, Department of communication tech.    
Applied Signal Processing and Implementation (ASPI)      
http://www.kom.auc.dk/~fuz , mailto:lang...@ieee.org