(From the Star Trek Classic episode "The City on the Edge of Forever") A term traditionally used to describe (and deprecate) computing environments that are grotesquely primitive in light of what is known about good ways to design things.As in "Don' t get too used to the facilities here. Once you leave SAIL it' s stone knives and bearskins as far as the eye can see".Compare steam-powered.[Jargon File](1995-01-24)