On a Rigol DS1052E oscilloscope, what does the word "Local" mean?
I found answer in datasheet for an oscilloscope I use. It says that when the scope is being remotely controlled, the front buttons are disabled. Pressing the force (local) key will reenable the front buttons. The force key forces the scope to capture even if the auto trigger conditions haven't been met, the local is a secondary button effect only for when in remote control.

Edit - To answer below question I have an Agilent 3000 series. The part I found is on page 77 of the following datasheet: http://cp.literature.agilent.com/litweb/pdf/D3000-97018.pdf