D. Glossary¶
The technical words of this book, in alphabetical order, with the chapter that explains them.
- Administrator
- A user who may change the computer for everybody: install software, add users, change system settings. On amadeOS, a member of the group
sudo(chapter 50). - AppStream
- The descriptions, icons and screenshots of applications that Software shows, published with the Debian archive (chapter 51).
- Autostart
- Programs that start by themselves at every login, from
~/.config/amadeos/autostart.d(chapter 55). - Backdrop
- The pattern, picture or colour behind the windows (chapter 32).
- BIOS, UEFI
- The two kinds of firmware a PC starts with, before any operating system. amadeOS starts with both (chapter 10).
- CDE
- The Common Desktop Environment, the Unix desktop of the 1990s that amadeOS follows (chapter 5, appendix C).
- Clipboard
- Where a copy waits to be pasted. amadeOS keeps a history of the last copies (chapter 36).
- CUPS
- The print system of Linux, which the Print Manager talks to (chapters 27 and 54).
- Debian
- The free Linux distribution amadeOS is built on; version 13 is called trixie (chapters 2 and 60).
- Desktop entry
- A small text file (
.desktop) that describes a program for the Front Panel: name, icon, command and kind (chapter 63). - Display manager, greeter
- The program that shows the login screen and starts your session; on amadeOS
amadeos-dm(chapters 20 and 61). - Drawer
- The list that opens above a slot of the Front Panel (chapter 22).
- EUPL
- The European Union Public Licence, the licence of amadeOS (chapter 4).
- EWMH, ICCCM
- The written conventions by which programs and the window manager understand each other (chapter 61).
- Firmware
- Software built into a device; also the files some WLAN and graphics chips need from the system to work (chapter 10).
- Free software
- Software that anyone may use, study, change and pass on (chapter 4).
- Front Panel
- The bar at the bottom of the screen with the clock, the drawers, the workspaces and the status slot (chapter 22).
- GRUB
- The boot menu of an installed amadeOS (chapters 14 and 15).
- Group
- A set of users that share a right, such as
sudoorlpadmin(chapter 53). - Home folder
- Your own folder,
/home/<name>, with your files and settings (chapters 41 and 56). - IPP, IPP Everywhere
- The protocol by which computers talk to printers; printers that speak it print without a driver (chapter 27).
- ISO image
- The file of the amadeOS live system, which is written to a USB stick (chapters 11 and 12).
- Java, Swing
- The programming language of the amadeOS desktop, and its toolkit for windows and buttons (chapters 3 and 61).
- Keyring
- The encrypted store where programs keep passwords, opened with your login password (chapter 58).
- Live system
- amadeOS started from the USB stick, without installing; it forgets changes at the next start (chapter 13).
- Motif
- The look of CDE: raised and sunken edges, the window frames of amadeOS (chapters 5 and 23).
- Package
- A program or a part of the system as one file (
.deb), installed and updated by the package manager (chapters 51 and 60). - Palette
- The set of colours of the desktop, chosen in Settings (chapter 31).
- PAM
- The service that checks passwords at login and at the screen lock (chapter 61).
- Partition
- A part of a disk with a file system of its own (chapters 14 and 15).
- polkit
- The service that decides whether a program may do something that needs an administrator, and asks for the password (chapter 50).
- Root
- The account that may do everything. On amadeOS nobody logs in as root; administrators use
sudo(chapter 50). - Secure Boot
- A firmware setting that starts only signed boot loaders (chapter 13).
- Security update
- An update that closes a security hole, from Debian's security team (chapter 52).
- Session
- Everything that runs between login and logout (chapter 55).
- Settings
- The program that sets the look and behaviour of the desktop: colours, text size, backdrop, keyboard, mouse, windows and more; CDE called it the Style Manager (Part IV).
- Status slot
- The small cells at the right of the Front Panel, for the network, the sound, the battery and the updates (chapter 22).
- sudo
- The command that runs another command with administrator rights (chapter 50).
- Terminal
- A window in which you type commands (chapter 22).
- Window manager
- The program that draws the window frames and moves, resizes and arranges the windows; on amadeOS
amadeos-wm(chapters 23 and 61). - Workspace
- One of four desktops, each with its own windows, its own name and, if you like, its own backdrop (chapters 24 and 32).
- X11, Xorg
- The display system of amadeOS: X11 is the protocol, Xorg the program that owns screen, keyboard and mouse (chapter 61).