Scoop! The next dozen SIGtellites.

[Vaughan Pratt]

The Washington Post has just let one of Cap Weinberger's favorite cats
out of the bag, namely the geosynchronous satellite to be launched from
the shuttle Discovery next month for deployment in a stationary orbit
above the Soviet Union, where it will monitor radio, telephone, and
satellite transmissions.  ("Good news, Natasha, we don't have to listen
to the radio anymore.  American automation is doing it for us.") The
newspapers knew about it for a month, but had promised Cap they would
not breathe a word.  Needless to say, Cap is hopping mad, or at least
says he is.

Of interest to Un*x hackers should be this satellite's name: SIGINT,
for Signal Intercept.  This puts the Un*x world in the unique position
of being able to scoop even the Washington Post on the duties and names
of some upcoming launches.

The next military satellite:                    SIGHUP
The Surgeon-General's private satellite:        SIGQUIT
The National Institutes of Health satellite:    SIGILL
The first police satellite:                     SIGTRAP
A local-area shuttle:                           SIGBUS
First computer center in space:                 SIGSYS
First rest room in space:                       SIGURG
First diner in space:                           SIGSTOP
First satellite made in space:                  SIGCHLD
Educational satellite:                          SIGPROF
First honest-to-god skyhook:                    SIGWINCH

There are several other satellites likely to be launched, some with
intriguing names like SIGPIPE, SIGALRM, SIGCONT, and SIGTERM, others
with mysterious names like SIGTSTP and SIGIO, not to mention SIGCOIN
(found on Un*ces used in vending machines).  The probable duties of
these satellites remain a matter for speculation.

Expect to find your copy of /usr/include/signal.h reclassified as
top secret in the near future, say around April 1.

-v