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Newcomer's Glossary

applications: The software that lets you do things with your computer (word processor, Internet browser, email, etc.). The programs you see and use.

distribution: Also called "distro." An operating system (usu. Linux) combined with a selection of application programs, in a ready-to-install form. Different distributions are customized for different purposes, e.g., desktop computing, music editing, Internet server, and so on.

FOSS: "Free / Open Source Software," a catch-all term. Sometimes F/OSS or FLOSS.

free software: Refers to free as in freedom, not free as in free beer. Specifically, the freedom to run, study, share, and modify the software.

howto: A short tutorial telling "how to" perform some task. See, for instance, the Linux HowTos.

Linux: Strictly, GNU/Linux. A free operating system, modeled on Unix, developed since 1991 by volunteers around the world.

open source: Refers to software whose source code can be examined, modified, and redistributed. Similar to but not exactly the same as "free software."

operating system: The software that manages your computer's hardware (disk drives, display, network connection, etc.). The stuff "under the hood" that makes your computer work.

repository: An on-line library of application programs for a particular distribution, in a ready-to-download-and-install format. In many distributions, programs can be installed from the repository with just a few mouse clicks.

Unix: A computer operating system originally released by Bell Labs in 1970. It is still widely used in several commercial variants, and in the open-source BSD Unix.

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