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The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (foldoc)

1. A file containing a listing (e.g. assembly listing) or a
transcript, especially a file containing a transcript of all
or part of a login session. (The idea was that the paper for
such listings was essentially good only for wallpaper, as
evidenced at {Stanford}, where it was used to cover windows).

The term is now rare, especially since other systems have
developed other terms for it (e.g. PHOTO on {TWENEX}).
However, the {Unix} world doesn't have an equivalent term, so
perhaps wallpaper will take hold there. The term probably
originated on {ITS}, where the commands to begin and end
transcript files were ":WALBEG" and ":WALEND", with default
file "WALL PAPER" (the space was a path delimiter).

2. The background pattern used on graphical workstations under
the {Microsoft Windows} {graphical user interface} to
{MS-DOS}.

(1994-12-22)