資料來源 : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

luser
     
         /loo'zr/ A {user}; especially one who is also
        a {loser}.  ({luser} and {loser} are pronounced identically.)
        This word was coined around 1975 at {MIT}.
     
        Under {ITS}, when you first walked up to a terminal at MIT and
        typed Control-Z to get the computer's attention, it printed
        out some status information, including how many people were
        already using the computer; it might print "14 users", for
        example.  Someone thought it would be a great joke to patch
        the system to print "14 losers" instead.  There ensued a great
        controversy, as some of the users didn't particularly want to
        be called losers to their faces every time they used the
        computer.  For a while several hackers struggled covertly,
        each changing the message behind the back of the others; any
        time you logged into the computer it was even money whether it
        would say "users" or "losers".  Finally, someone tried the
        compromise "lusers", and it stuck.
     
        Later one of the ITS machines supported "luser" as a
        request-for-help command.  ITS died the death in mid-1990,
        except as a museum piece; the usage lives on, however, and the
        term "luser" is often seen in program comments.
     
        See: also {LART}.  Compare: {tourist}, {weenie}.
     
        [{Jargon File}]
     
        (1998-07-01)