• FAQ
  Frequently Asked Questions: these are lists of questions that occur frequently on Usenet newsgroups, they are posted at regular intervals and archived at several sites
   
• FDDI
  Fiber Distributed Data Interface - a 100 Mbps Local Area Network, defined by ANSI and OSI standard
   
• fg
  A built-in shell command that will take a suspended process and run it in the foreground.
   
• field
  In text-processing, a segment of a line of text that may be named and processed by a program. The sort program can use fields when it sorts lines in a file. In Linux, fields are usually separated by spaces or tab
   
• field separator
  A character, also called a delimiter, that is used to separate one field from another. The default field separator for many programs, such as sort, is a blank space (or a tab)
   
• file extension
  In filenames, the group of letters after the period is called the file extension
   
• File Manager
  software that allows you to select, copy, move, and open files and directories in a graphical environment.
   
• file server
  A process that provides access to a file from remote devices.
   
• file system
  the physical or logical device that holds a collection of files and directories. This might be a hard disk drive or a partition on a disk drive
   
• file type
  A description of the function of a file. These types include ordinary files, directories, and special files, which represent devices in the system
   
• filter
  A program that takes a set of data (usually in a file) as input, processes the data, and makes the processed data its output. Some examples of filters include grep, sort, awk, and sed
   
• finger
  A user information lookup program that shows a person's full name, most recent log-in time, and other information
   
• firewall
  a device that protects a private network from the public part (the internet as a whole)
   
• firmware
  Programming that is inserted into programmable read-only memory (PROM), thus becoming a permanent part of a computing device. Firmware is created and tested like software (using microcode simulation). When ready, it can be distributed like other software and, using a special user interface, installed in the programmable read-only memory by the user. Firmware is sometimes distributed for printers, modems, and other computer devices.
   
• fixed width fonts
  Look like typewriter text, because each character is the same width. This quality is desirable for something like a text editor or a computer console, but not desirable for the body text of a long document. See variable width fonts
   
• FLOPS
  A measure of processor performance based on floating point operations per second
   
• focus
  The command line of a terminal has the focus when the actual input is being directed to it.
   
• font
  A character set or typeface family denoting a particular size and style, either for on-screen display or printing, usually on a laser or inkjet printer. Popular fonts are Times New Roman, Helvetica and Courier
   
• foreground
  A conceptual location in a computer system where interaction takes place between a user and a process initiated by the user; the opposite of background
   
• fork
  A Linux system call used by a process (the "parent") to make a copy (the "child") of itself. The child process is identical to the parent except it has a different process identifier and a zero return value from the fork call. It is assumed to have used no resources
   
• Fortran
  FORmula TRANslator - The first and still the most widely used programming language for numerical and scientific applications. The original versions lacked recursive procedures and block structure and had a line-oriented syntax in which certain columns had special significance
   
• FORTRAN 77
  A popular version of FORTRAN with Block IF, PARAMETER and SAVE statements added, but still no WHILE. It has fixed-length character strings, format-free I/O, and arrays with lower bounds
   
• Fortran 90
  An extensive enlargement of FORTRAN 77. Fortran 90 has derived types, assumed shape arrays, array sections, functions returning arrays, case statement, module subprograms and internal subprograms, optional and keyword subprogram arguments, recursion, and dynamic allocation
   
• freeware
  software that is freely distributable but the copyright remains with the original author(s)
   
• fsck
  audits and interactively repairs inconsistent conditions for the file systems on mass storage device files
   
• FSF
  Free Software Foundation. The FSF owns most of the offical GNU SW and licences its use with the 3000 word GPL and 4000 word LGPL licences
   
• FSP
  A file transfer system similar to FTP, distinguished by the ability for servers to run on any port without requiring special privledges, and the lower system load from FSP servers than from FTP
   
• FTP
  File Transfer Protocol - allows a user to transfer files electronically from remote computers back to the user's computer. Part of the TCP/IP/TELNET software suite
   
• FUD
  Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt: a special set of tactics used by monopolies to stifle and subvert competitors by spreading the (usually false) perception that the alternative choices are unreliable, unstable, or otherwise risky
   
• full pathname
  the name of a directory or file in relation to the root (/) directory
   
• full-duplex
  A communication mode that allows data to flow in both directions simultaneously
   
• fuzzy hashing
  a hashing scheme which can handle range based lookups and multiple keys. It was born from debugging problems arising from from the removal of the old AVL tree mechanism for finding the virtual memory area (vma) associated with a page fault

Key:  Commands - People - General

Last Updated Saturday, December 04 2004 @ 10:37 AM EST