provocative maintenance
n.
[common ironic mutation of preventive maintenance] Actions performed
upon a machine at regularly scheduled intervals to ensure that the
system remains in a usable state. So called because it is all too
often performed by a {field servoid} who doesn't know what he is
doing; such `maintenance' often induces problems, or otherwise results
in the machine's remaining in an unusable state for an indeterminate
amount of time. See also {scratch monkey}.
provocative maintenance
[Common ironic mutation of "preventive maintenance"] Actions
performed upon a machine at regularly scheduled intervals to
ensure that the system remains in a usable state. So called
because it is all too often performed by a {field servoid} who
doesn't know what he is doing; such "maintenance" often
*induces* problems, or otherwise results in the machine's
remaining in an *un*usable state for an indeterminate amount
of time. See also {scratch monkey}.
[{Jargon File}]