Use the Source/Glossary

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Use the Source

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#[edit | edit source]

  • 32V - a 32-bit release of the Unix operating system, based on SystemV, which is the most recent of the actual Unix code bases to be open sourced by Caldera Systems in January 2002
  • 386 - IBM PC clones based on the Intel 386 processors, include all Athlon, Pentium and Celerons

A[edit | edit source]

  • alpha - a processor class originally developed by DEC, now owned by HP
  • amd - Advanced Micro Devices Inc., a processor and flash producer
  • amd64 - a processor class based on the 386 architecture with added 64-bit extentions, produced by AMD
  • Amiga -
  • Apple -
  • AT&T - the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, original developers of the Unix codebase
  • Atari -
  • Altair -

B[edit | edit source]

  • bar -
  • Bell - Bell Laboratories the research and developement branch of AT&T/Lucent
  • Berkeley - the University of California Berkeley, original developers of the BSD codebase
  • bit - binary digit
  • BSD -
  • bug - Tech lore states that first computer debugging tool was a pair of tweezers, at MIT in the 1940s a problem with their computer system was traced back to a moth which had died in the machine, leading to the term "bug in the system" which later was shortened to simply bug.
  • byte - 8 bits in sequence, used to form standard 8-bit characters

C[edit | edit source]

  • C -
  • Caldera - Caldera International Inc., see SCO
  • CMS - content management system
  • crack - to break into a computer or programme, to subvert the original function of a programme
  • Compaq - the Compaq Computer Corporation, Compaq stood for Compatibility and Quality, which has now been merged with HP

D[edit | edit source]

  • DEC - Digital Equipment Corporation, a now defunct computer manufacturer and developer which created the VAX and alpha

E[edit | edit source]

F[edit | edit source]

  • flash - a class of memory, sometimes called compact flash, which can be written to and will retain its contents until new data is written over or it is wiped
  • foo -
  • foobar -
  • FreeBSD -

G[edit | edit source]

H[edit | edit source]

  • hack - to build up, modify, toy with or engineer a piece of software

I[edit | edit source]

J[edit | edit source]

K[edit | edit source]

  • K&R - Brian Kernighan & Dennis Ritchie, original promoter and writer of the C programming language and thus the fathers of modern programming.
  • K&R - The C Programming Language book, covering K&R C in the original edition and ANSI C in later versions. Also referred to as The White Book and The Old Testament and New Testament (for first and second editions).
  • K&R C - The original reference C programming style, no longer commonly used, but referred to in documentation when illustrating C standards, such as ISO and ANSI C.


L[edit | edit source]

  • Linux - pronounced lin-uks, following the form of Linus, its creator. A kernel developed originally as a substitute for the Minix kernel and now the centre of a large store of operating systems referred to as Linux distributions.
  • Lucent - Lucent Technologies, an offshoot company of AT&T

M[edit | edit source]

  • Minix -
  • Multics -

N[edit | edit source]

  • NetBSD -

O[edit | edit source]

  • OpenBSD -

P[edit | edit source]

Q[edit | edit source]

R[edit | edit source]

  • rar -

S[edit | edit source]

  • SCO - the Santa Cruz Operation, originally Caldera International Inc., which now calls itself the SCO Group, a company which is now based largely on its IP claims against systems using what it claims as its code
  • Sparc -
  • su -
  • sudo -
  • Sun -
  • SysV -

T[edit | edit source]

  • tar -

U[edit | edit source]

  • Unix -
  • UNIX -
  • Unix-like -

V[edit | edit source]

  • VAX - Virtual Address eXtension, one of the earliest Unix platforms, developed by DEC Note: Who owns the Vaxen rights, Intel or HP? Intel bought the chip branch of Digital, but obviously Alpha remained with the company until it's purchase by Compaq

W[edit | edit source]

X[edit | edit source]

  • X - the X Windows System, a graphical interface used by most Unix-like operating systems
  • Xenix -

Y[edit | edit source]

Z[edit | edit source]

  • zip -