BOF

(1) (Beginning Of File) The status of a file when it is first opened or when an instruction or command has reset the file pointer.

(2) (Birds Of a Feather session) An informal session or presentation. For example, in an IETF BOF, attendees explore a technology to determine if a working group should be established. See Internet Engineering Task Force.

Download Computer Desktop Encyclopedia to your iPhone/iTouch

1. [common] Abbreviation for the phrase “Birds Of a Feather” (flocking together), an informal discussion group and/or bull session scheduled on a conference program. It is not clear where or when this term originated, but it is now associated with the USENIX conferences for Unix techies and was already established there by 1984. It was used earlier than that at DECUS conferences and is reported to have been common at SHARE meetings as far back as the early 1960s.

2. Acronym, “Beginning of File”.