Glossary
3g - Short form of third generation, the third generation of mobile telecommunications technology
alsa - Advanced Linux Sound Architecture, provides kernel driven sound card drivers
architecture - In regards to this Manual, architecture refers to a type of CPU and/or software, ie. 32bit or 64bit
bios - Basic Input/Output System, a type of firmware used during the booting process
compositing - Process of combining an image with a background to create the appearance of partial or full transparency
credentials - Username and password. Used to control access to information or other resources
decrypt - The process of decoding data that has been encrypted into a secret format
desktop environment - Provides a complete graphical user interface (GUI) for a system
developer - A computer programmer who writes software
domain - A domain contains a group of computers that can be accessed and administered with a common set of rules
driver - A computer program that operates or controls a device that is attached to a computer
encrypt - The process of encoding messages or data in such a way that only authorized parties can read it
extended partition - Is a primary partition that has been divided up into logical partitions as a means of creating more partitions than the four that would otherwise be possible
ext2 - Second extended filesystem is a file system for Linux
ext3 - Third extended filesystem, a journaled file system for Linux
ext4 - Fourth extended filesystem is a journaling file system for Linux, developed as the successor to ext3
fat32 - A Windows filesystem. FAT32 supports up to 2 terabytes of hard disk storage
filesystem - Used to control how data is stored and retrieved
firmware - Software that resides in hardware as read only
free software - Software that the users have the freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve
fstab - File Systems Table file is a system configuration file /etc/fstab that lists and mounts storage devices at start up
gnu - GNUS Not Unix a collection of software that is free software and built around linux kernel
gpt - GUID Partition Table, is a partitioning scheme
grub - Provides a user the choice to boot one of multiple operating systems installed on a computer
ip address - Internet Protocol Address, 4 blocks of numbers assigned to each device participating in a computer network
kernel - A layer of software that is a bridge between computer hardware and applications
legacy - A term for out of date hardware and/or software still in use
linux - A Kernel developed by Linus Torvalds and a global community of contributors
logical partition - A logical partition is a partition that has been created inside of an extended partition
mbr - Master Boot Record is a special type of boot sector at the very beginning of a partitioned drive
mount - In order for a hard disk or disk partition to be accessible by a computer, it must first be mounted
nas - Network Attached Storage, 1 or more external hard drives connected to a computer network
ntfs - New Technology File System, a Windows filesystem capable of storing larger files and volumes than fat32
open source - When a software program is open source, it means the program's source code is freely available to the public
package - A program compressed into one file for installation on a linux based operating system
partition - A partition is a section of a hard disk
ppa - Personal Package Archive, a special software repository for uploading source packages to be built and published as an APT repository by Launchpad
primary partition - A primary partition is any of the four possible first-level partitions into which a hard disk on a personal computer can be divided
pulseaudio - A sound server. A background process accepting sound input from one or more sources (processes or capture devices) and redirecting it to one or more sinks (sound cards, remote network PulseAudio servers, or other processes)
repo - see repository
repository - A storage location from which software packages may be retrieved and installed onto a computer
samba - Software that provides file and print services for various Windows clients from linux
secure boot - Secure Boot is a feature enabled by uefi – which replaces the traditional PC bios
ssd - Solid State Drive is a data storage device that uses integrated circuit assemblies as memory to store data
su - allows a computer operator to change the current user account associated with the running terminal (do not use on Linux Lite)
sudo - Superuser do, A command that allows users to run programs with the security privileges of another user (normally the superuser, or root)
terminal - A text-based interface for typing commands into the computer
trim - A feature supported by modern solid state drives (SSDs) that helps improve drive performance
ubuntu - A Debian-based GNU/Linux operating system
uefi - A specification that defines a software interface between an operating system and platform firmware (replacing the BIOS)
umount - A command that allows a disk to be safely removed, without causing damage
uuid - Universally Unique Identifier In regards to hard drives or SSDs, a means to identify a partition with hexadecimal text and inserted hyphenated characters
vpn - Virtual Private Network Allows you to communicate private information securely over a public network
workgroup - A collection of computers on a local area network (LAN) that share common resources eg. files, peripherals
xfce - A free software desktop environment. It aims to be fast and lightweight, while still being visually appealing and easy to use
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/
https://www.google.com/
http://techterms.com/
http://www.linfo.org/