A humourous term for the ref="module.php?name=Lexikon&file=search&eid=1&query=token">token - the object (notional or real) that gives its possessor (the "pumpking" or the "pumpkineer") exclusive access to something, e.g. applying ref="module.php?name=Lexikon&file=search&eid=1&query=patches">patches to a master copy of ref="module.php?name=Lexikon&file=search&eid=1&query=source">source (for which the pumpkin is called a "patch pumpkin"). Chip Salzenberg wrote: David Croy once told me once that at a previous job, there was one tape drive and multiple systems that used it for backups. But instead of some high-tech exclusion software, they used a low-tech method to prevent multiple simultaneous backups: a stuffed pumpkin. No one was allowed to make backups unless they had the "backup pumpkin". (1999-02-23)
