Vanilla software

Short description: Software not customized from their original form

In computer science, vanilla describes software, hardware or algorithms that have not been customized or modified from their original form.[1] The term "Vanilla software" has become a widespread de facto industry standard, widely used by businesses and individuals. The term comes from the traditional standard flavor of ice cream, vanilla.[2] According to Eric S. Raymond's The New Hacker's Dictionary, "vanilla" means more "ordinary", not "default".[3]

Examples of how to use "vanilla" in a sentence:

* As one of the earliest examples, IBM's mainframe text publishing system BookMaster, provides a default way to specify which parts of a book to publish, called "vanilla", and a fancier way, called "mocha".[4]
* The term "vanilla" is sometimes also used for hardware components. For instance, in the 1990s non-upgraded Amiga home computers were called "(plain) vanilla";[5] similarly, it was later also applied to PC parts.[6]
* For Unix-based kernels, a "vanilla kernel" is a kernel that has been unmodified by any third-party source. For instance, the vanilla Linux kernel is often given a Linux distribution-specific "flavour" by being heavily modified.[7][8]
* In his book End of Ignorance, Charles Winborne refers to a static page that is "only a text file, but one that links to accompanying files" as a plain-vanilla web page.[9]
* Video game players usually refer to games without installed mods as "vanilla".
* JavaScript, when used without any libraries or third party plugins is referred to as "vanilla JavaScript".

## See also

* Commercial off-the-shelf
* Mod (video games)
* Out of the box (feature)
* Plain vanilla
* Turnkey

## References

1. ↑ "What is vanilla?". September 2005. http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/vanilla.
2. ↑ Hilden, Katri; Robinson, Tim; Currie, Lee; Hutchinson, Emma (2006). Iced: 180 Very Cool Concoctions. Murdoch Books. p. 15. ISBN 978-1-74045-818-4. https://books.google.com/books?id=02YG2aTL89MC. Retrieved 4 Apr 2013. "Vanilla has become a synonymous with 'plain'- perhaps most vanilla ice cream is flavoured with fake vanilla extract"
3. ↑ vanilla /adj./ "[from the default flavor of ice cream in the U.S.] Ordinary flavor, standard." from the Jargon File
4. ↑ Gary Richtmeyer (2002-05-01). "B2H User's Guide (HTML 3 version)". AT&T. http://public.dhe.ibm.com/printers/products/dcf/samples/B2H.HTM. "Conditional sections (.cs) and BookMaster's "vanilla" DVCF macros (.CONFIG and .WHEN) are supported, but not BookMaster's "mocha" DVCF macros (e.g. .USING, .INCLUDE)."
5. ↑ EGS Spectrum 28: True Color Graphics for the Amiga
6. ↑ How to upgrade your color graphics card. from Compute's Getting Started with Power Computing (Buyers Guide) by Steven Anzovin
7. ↑ "Re: What is the vanilla kernel?". 2005-10-10. http://lkml.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/0510.1/0248.html.
8. ↑ "Ubuntu Kernel vs. Vanilla Kernel". October 2009. http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1301291.
9. ↑ Winborne, Charle`s (2003). End of Ignorance. iUniverse. p. 150. ISBN 9780595277438. https://books.google.com/books?id=Z5h8Sr0240cC. Retrieved 2015-05-21.

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