Questions tagged [terminology]

For questions about words/terms that are specific to Unix and/or Linux.

197 questions
1638
votes
10 answers

What is the exact difference between a 'terminal', a 'shell', a 'tty' and a 'console'?

I think these terms almost refer to the same thing, when used loosely: terminal shell tty console What exactly does each of these terms refer to?
Lazer
  • 36,385
262
votes
9 answers

What does etc stand for?

What does the "etc" folder in the root directory stand for? I think knowing this will help me remember where certain files are located. Update : Might be useful for others, the folder is used for "Host specific configuration files" - reference .
David Tang
  • 2,731
  • 2
  • 16
  • 7
166
votes
5 answers

What is a Superblock, Inode, Dentry and a File?

From the article Anatomy of the Linux file system by M. Tim Jones, I read that Linux views all the file systems from the perspective of a common set of objects and these objects are superblock , inode , dentry and file . Even though the rest of the…
Navaneeth Sen
  • 9,789
164
votes
3 answers

Difference between pts and tty

Possible Duplicate: What is the exact difference between a 'terminal', a 'shell', a 'tty' and a 'console'? I always see pts and tty when I use the who command but I never understand how they are different? Can somebody please explain me this?
pradeepchhetri
  • 10,217
119
votes
2 answers

What are the differences between interactive, non-interactive, login, and non-login shells?

Possible Duplicate: Difference between Login Shell and Non-Login Shell? I have been looking at /etc/profile and /etc/bash.bashrc to see how they are run, and notice that some are executed by non-login shells, some work with interactive shells, etc.…
vfclists
  • 7,999
  • 15
  • 63
  • 93
86
votes
1 answer

Why a "login" shell over a "non-login" shell?

I have a basic understanding of dotfiles in *nix system. But I am still quite confused about this Difference between Login Shell and Non-Login Shell? A bunch of different answers (including multiple duplicates) have already addressed the following…
Allen
  • 1,105
84
votes
6 answers

What is a socket?

Could someone explain to me what a socket is? I see it in many acronyms in context of SSL, etc. Also, why is it called a socket? Is it purely because it was what a name they invented? Or was it the first name they came up with?
chrisl-921fb74d
  • 8,873
78
votes
6 answers

Differences between volume, partition and drive

What do these terms mean exactly? partition volume drive On Windows, one may say drive C: or partition C: . On Linux I'm not sure what should be used for partitions because they don't have a name.
user44920
70
votes
3 answers

What is $PWD? (vs current working directory)

So Wikipedia ( link ) tells me that the command pwd is short for "print working directory", and that makes sense. But for the environment variable, the "P" has to be an acronym for something else than print. I hear people talking about "current…
Mads Skjern
  • 1,035
66
votes
4 answers

What is the difference between a job and a process?

What is the difference between a "job" and a "process"?
Olivier Lalonde
  • 5,519
65
votes
5 answers

Why is there a * when there is mention of Unix throughout the Internet?

I've noticed that throughout the Internet, within forums and blog posts, Unix always has a * in the word, whether it is *nix or Un*x, as I noticed at the welcoming banner at the Unix StackExchange site. Why is this like this?
JFW
  • 2,197
60
votes
3 answers

understanding "mount" as a concept in the OS

I want to understand what mounting is. It is used in different contexts and situations (directories, flash drives, network cards, etc) and I can't find resources which: Describe the mount concept; Explain the actions taken by the computer/OS/utility…
Vass
  • 5,541
53
votes
2 answers

Why do some Linux files have a 'd' suffix?

I observed some of the binary files and configuration filenames end with a d . What is reason for putting a d at the end of the file name? Like httpd , ospfd , pppd , syslogd , telnetd , pptpd , inetd , bootlogd and dhcpd .
Ankur Loriya
  • 637
  • 6
  • 14
50
votes
1 answer

Understanding window manager terminology: Mod Keys, Meta Keys, and key naming conventions

In window managers' circles, there are some technical terms; a couple of them are "Mod keys" and "Meta keys." The questions I am asking are: What exactly are those, and are they universal across different keyboards? What are the names for the Alt ,…
r004
  • 3,609
46
votes
4 answers

What is the correct name for the ">" command

I was trying to find how to pass some text to a file without overwriting what's there already using the > command and I realised I don't know what it's called. Searching for right arrow or right chevron or more than command didn't show up anything.…
blarg
  • 1,625
  • 8
  • 24
  • 35
1
2 3
…
13 14