Glossary

AIX

Advanced Interactive Executive. This is IBM's version of UNIX. AIX/370 is available from the NERDC. IBM's PowerStation series of workstations and servers run a version of AIX.

amd

Automounter Daemon. We run the Berkeley automounter daemon (amd) on all our workstations to establish file system access between workstations. When you log on, amd figures out what machine to get your files from and mounts them to the machine you are logging into.

anonymous ftp

An access method whereby users without accounts can copy software put in predesignated places. Anonymous ftp is one of the principle methods for obtaining public domain UNIX software. Our system uses many pieces of software obtained via anonymous ftp. In addition, we support anonymous ftp for external access of material on our systems, that is, we are an archive site (see below).

application

A program which a user might run to perform a particular kind of work. For example, a word processor is an application program.

architecture

The arrangement of devices in a computer network (network architecture) or a computer's central processing unit (CPU architecture).

archive sites

Sites which permit anonymous ftp access to their holdings.

ASCII

American Standard Code for Information Interchange. A numbering system for symbols that defines what numeric code in the range 0-127 will be used to represent each symbol in a character set. The ASCII codes are readily available.

ASCII file

A file in which each character is one of the ASCII characters. In DOS, each line is terminated by a carriage return (ASCII character 13) and a line feed (ASCII character 10). In UNIX, ASCII files have lines terminated only with a line feed. Thus you can have a carriage return (line wrap) without ending a line. Lines can be as long as you want.

backbone

The central thread of a network. Used to describe the section of a network that all other parts are dependent upon.

backup

A process of storing information on a daily basis to prevent loss in the case of catastrophy. A backup procedure consists of hardware (tape drive and tapes), software ( the tape archive utility - tar), communications (the network) and people (the system manager, assisted by clerical staff). The backup is run by an automatic process each night so that all user files are stored safely on tape. In the case of loss, files can be restored from as early as five previous working days.

BIND

Berkeley Internet Name Domain server. This software runs on the server and handles requests from the clients to access computers using Internet names. (See Internet). When a BIND machine does not know the IP number (see IP number) of a requested machine, it asks a name server (see name server) to supply a name.

BITNET

An international network of research computers organized to provide electronic mail, file transfer and remote login across the entire network. BITNET is an acronym for ``Because It's Time'' Network.

boot

The process of loading system software into the workstation. Client systems boot from the network. Servers boot from their own disks. The workstations are rarely booted. They are left turned on. The boot process takes 5-10 minutes. When client system configurations change (more memory is added, a disk is added) the workstation kernel may need to be rebuilt. This is done during the boot process and lengthens the time required for a boot (including kernel rebuild) to 15-20 minutes.

bridge

An electronic component of a network that links two smaller networks together.

C

A programming language developed at Bell Labs in the late 60's. C is intended to be suitable for system programming and numerical computing. C is the most popular programming language today for software development.

C++

An object oriented extension of the C programming language. C++ can be used to create powerful software objects that can be used in higher-level programming.

CSLG

The Campus-wide Software License Grant program is an agreement between DEC and UF to provide many DEC products for a one-time annual fee with distribution free to departments. Products on the CSLG are free to departments of the University. Adding products to the CSLG is quite difficult and involves University Legal Department negotiations.

CIRCA

The Center for Intructional and Research Computing Activities. CIRCA operates several large VAX computers for classroom use. CIRCA also operates the Faculty Support Center and negotiates site licenses with vendors for instructional and research software.

CISC

Complex Instruction Set Computer. A computer whose instruction set includes high-level operations which perform complex tasks. Most modern computers are CISC machines. The workstations are not. See RISC.

client

A computer on a network that uses files and programs stored on other systems (servers) on the network.

CPU

Central Processing Unit. The part of a computer which performs intructions. The workstations use RISC CPUs.

daemon

A process which runs in the background and performs a system function. There are daemons associated with printing, NFS, Yellow Pages, terminal control and many more. The typical wokstation is running 40-50 daemons at any time. Daemons are started at boot time and run indefinately.

DECnet

Software for the Ultrix workstations that permits the access of files and programs across the network.

DECstation

DEC's name brand for its line of UNIX workstations. Built around the MIPS RISC processor.

DECwindows

An X-windows system enhanced by DEC. DECwindows provides a polished look to window based applications such as the notepad, calculator, calendar and cardfiler.

DECwrite

A graphical oriented word processor for Ultrix incorporating mathematical typing, and WYSIWYG operation.

departmental computing

A style of computing in which interconnectivity is stressed, where incremental improvement in equipment is expected, and where the variance between users is smaller within the department and larger between departments.

depot

Depot is both a file system organization, and a piece of software from Carnegie Mellon University to implement the organization. Depot organization is used to manage software systems into collections that can be moved, uninstalled, and updated in a coherent manner.

derivative works

A computer program which contains code from a licensed product. A FORTRAN program that you wrote that calls a library routine that you bought is a derivative work of the library software.

device

Any piece of equipment connected to a network or computer. Usually reserved for storage devices such as disks and tapes.

disk

Hard disk storage. A machine for storing large amounts of information. DEC workstation disks come in five sizes - 105, 210, 330, 660, and 1200 megabytes.

diskette

Small removable disk storage. Disketttes are not often used in workstation computing.

DOS emulation

A program running on a workstation that appears to be DOS. Capable of running DOS application software. Usually runs at a much slower speed than the surrounding programs.

dynamic graphics

Graphics that move (animation) or can be moved under user control. Spinning, brushing, and linking graphics are common dynamic graphics operations.

ed

A very old-fashioned primitive editor. Stay away from this. There are far better choices. This is the UNIX equivalent of edlin on the PC.

A very powerful editing, programming development environment for UNIX. Distributed at no charge from the GNU group at the Free Software Foundation at MIT.

e-mail

Electronic mail. Mail which can be sent anywhere on the Internet and received without interrupting the recipient. A good mail system will notify the recipient that mail has arrived.

eqn

Equation typesetting software for UNIX. The Bell Labs analogue to .

ethernet

A cabling system and low-level protocol for networking.

Exp

Exp is a PC program for mathematical typing. It does not support printers.

ftp

File transfer protocol. A standard definition of the arrangement of data for sending and receiving files across a network. ftp is implemented by telnet.

Free Software Foundation

A grant sponsored group at MIT which develops and distributes free software for UNIX operating systems. The Free Software Foundation has developed such products as , X-windows, a C++ compiler, and the glib++ library.

FORTRAN

A programming language developed in the late 1950's for scientific computing. Used primarily for numerically intensive computations. Not well-suited for modern software development.

FPU

Floating Point Unit. The computer chip(s) which perform floating point (real arithmetic) calculations in a computer.

gateway

A piece of network hardware that connects two networks in such a way that differring network protocols can be converted and/or filtered.

libg++

A library of mathematical and statistical functions and objects written in the C++ language. Incorporates a matrix data type similar to the MLIB and numerous numerical algorithms all in the public domain.

GLIM

Generalized Linear Models. Software to fit and estimate the generalized linear model.

GNU

A group of programmers at the Free Software Foundation at MIT. GNU stands for GNU's Not UNIX. The G in GNU is not silent. We use GNU .

Gopher

A protocol for distributed document index and retrieval across the Internet. Machines which run Gopher can make document s available to users on remote machines using a simple to use program called gopher. The gopher program accesses information on cooperating computers without the user signing on, or even needing to be aware of where the information is begin served from.

GUI

Graphical User Interface. A collection of windows, scroll bars, buttons and other graphics objects and their relationships that define a way in which a user can interact with a computer primarily through a mouse.

hacker

This term has two meanings in computing: A ``good'' hacker is a person who tries everything. These people are indispensible in the construction and operation of a good departmental computing environment. Good hackers tell the system managers about combinations of things that don't work. ``Bad'' hackers are people who try to gain access to systems that they are not authorized to use. Bad hackers can be extremely dangerous and cause damage to the systems they access. Many security measures are designed to prevent unauthorized access and use of workstations by bad hackers.

host

A computer on a network that provides computational services and boot procedures to clinet systems and terminals.

icon

A small symbol which represents a window containing an application. Icons appear in the icon box for closed windows, and in the upper left-hand corner of each open window.

IMSL

The International Mathematical and Statistical Libraries - a collection of several hundred functions and subroutines wrritten in FORTRAN.

Internet

A national network of research computers organized to permit electronic mail, file access and remote login across the country.

IP number

A four part number, each number in the range 0-255. Used to identify computers on the Internet. The first two parts of the IP number are constant for all machines at a particular site. For UF, the first two parts of the IP numbers on campus are 128.227. A full IP number might look like 128.227.104.213. IP numbers are needed by various networking software (notably telnet and ftp) are usually supplied by name servers. Users should not be concerned with IP numbers.

JMP

is a software product from the SAS Institute which is currently available only on the Macintosh. JMP features a fairly complete, but completely non-extensible, collection of data analytic and graphic displays. Some of the displays are dynamic.

kernel

The center of the UNIX operating system. A piece of software responsible for the UNIX file system and the timing activites of the operating system. Operating system utilites use kernel functions to perform work. The kernel is recompiled occasionally when system changes require it.

LANworks

A collection of software for the Macintosh, PC, Ultrix and VMS that allow the access devices (PC's and Mac's) to act as X-terminals with mouse action and graphics to the Ultrix and VMS systems. LANworks also supports file transfer and file access via NFS.

LAT

Local Area Transport. A network protocol used by the DECstations to perform serial communications across the Ethernet. LAT is used to print documents from Workstations to the printer on the terminal server. Modem communications are also handled by LAT protocols.

Lisp

A computer language known for its very flexible expression syntax. Popular with artificial intelligence researchers due to its inherent ability to interchange data and code dynamically.

Macintosh

Any computer from Apple, Inc. from the Macintosh line, including, but not limited to, Mac/SE, Mac/II, Mac/IIx, Mac/IIc, Mac/IIci, Mac/IIsi, Mac/IIfx.

makefile

A set of commands that instructs the UNIX make system how to compile, link and install a piece of UNIX software.

mail

Software to facilitate the management of electronic mail. Messages can be composed, sent, forwarded, carbon copied, mailed to all users on a list. Received messages can be read, answered, forwarded, filed, and organized into folders.

man pages

A collection of short documents available on-line on UNIX systems that describe the commands available on the system. Accessed via the man command.

``A system for doing mathematics by computer'' - from the advertising. A powerful software system incorporating numerical, symbolic, and graphical computations with interactive programming.

memory

Synonymous with RAM memory. Silicon based memory chips. The term memory is never used to refer to disk storage.

MicroVax

DEC's brand name for its line of VMS-based minicomputers.

MLIB

A matrix library of functions and procedures in Pascal. Written by Michael Conlon, and in the public domain.

mouse

A small hand-held device used to move a cursor on the workstation screen. A workstation mouse has three buttons - although the left one is the most commonly used by far. A Mac has a one button mouse.

multi-processing

The ability of a computer operating system to perform several tasks simultaneously. UNIX is a multi-processing system. DOS is not.

name server

A computer that supplies an IP number when given Internet machine name. UF has several name servers. Each University has its own name serving computers. When we want to connect to a machine at another University, our server queries the UF name server (using BIND) and the UF name server queries the remote name server. Eventually an IP number is passed back along the chain to the user's program.

NCSA

The National Center for Supercomputing Activities. An NSF funded center which develops and distributes public domain network access tools. In particular, NCSA developed telnet and ftp for the PC and for the Macintosh.

NERDC

The NorthEast Regional Data Center. A state owned utility which operates a large IBM mainframe computer (currently an IBM 3090/600), and charges University staff and faculty for computer time, disk storage, printing and other resources.

NewsPrint

A licensed software system from SUN that converts to native printer control codes. We use NewsPrint to control our HP printers at Griffin-Floyd.

netlib

An archive site for mathematical software.

network

A collection of hardware and software components that enable workstations to share files and programs, as well as permitting remote sign-on and access to shared devices. The hardware of a network consists of a wire and interface boards. The wire we use is called thin-wire Ethernet. The interface boards are standard equipment for workstations, optional in PCs and Macs. The software we use is called DECnet on the workstations, and PCSA on the PCs.

NFS

Network File System. Developed by Sun Microsystems, but adopted as a standard throughout the UNIX industry (IBM, DEC and others have implemented NFS for their systems). NFS allows pieces of directory heirarchies to be exported and imported from and to workstation user directory structures to enable these structures to transparently span disks and systems. This means that what appears to you as a single directory structure may actually span several disk drives on several different workstations.

NIS

Network Information Services. SUN's new name for it's old product Yellow Pages.

Notepad

A graphics window, mouse-based, easy to use editor reminiscent of the Macintosh. Useful for most simple editing tasks.

nroff

A text formatting program which takes ASCII input files with imbedded formatting control words and prepares output suitable for a line-printer or dot matrix printer. The same commands can be interpreted to produce output for a typesetter or printer. See troff. The alternative to this program is .

Open Windows

Sun's licensed trademark for it's graphical user interface for SUN OS.

paging

A process of taking small sections of rarely used memory and putting them on disk to make room for other small pieces of processes. Similar to swapping, but finer-grained. Paging occurs automatically when memory is in short supply.

Pascal

A programming language useful for procedure oriented application programming.

password

A word assigned by a user using the passwd command that prevents other people from using a given username. A password must be at least 6 characters long.

Pathworks

Software from Digital Equipment Corporation that enables PC to have X-windows open from the workstations, as well as access workstation file systems as if they were on the PC.

PC

Personal computer. Any of the family of IBM- compatible computers running DOS. Includes the XT, AT, and 386 class machines.

PCSA

Personal Computer System Architecture. Software from Digital Equipment Corporation that enables PC to have DECwindows open on the workstations, as well as access workstation file systems as if they were on the PC.

perl

A very powerful, very flexible, fully capable programming language for processing files. Perl can be used to write scripts and is portable across SUN, DEC and the PC.

PostScript

PostScript is a page description language and is a trademark of Adobe Systems, Inc. A PostScript printer is a printer with a built-in CPU capable of receiving PostScript commands and preparing grahpical output from them. §, , , and all produce PostScript. PostScript files are ASCII files.

PowerStation

IBM's trademark name for its line of UNIX RISC workstations and servers. IBM's workstations are reported to be 2-3 times as fast as DECstations. Software is not compatible between them.

PV-Wave

From Precision Visuals. A scientific visualization software system oriented toward signal processing and pattern recognition.

RAM

Random Access Memory. The computer chips that make up the memory that can contain user and system programs. Workstations typically have 8 or more megabytes of RAM.

Rice Mail

A mail system for VM/CMS that enables NERDC users to send and receive mail to and from Internet machines such as the Ultrix workstations. Rice mail is documented in the NERDC Networks manual[].

RISC

Reduced Instruction Set Computer. A computer architecture in which the number of available instructions is very small. Hardware designers concentrate on making each instruction perform very quickly. Many instructions are necessary to perform a single task. The DEC workstations are RISC machines. Most other computers (PC, VAX, MacIntosh, NERDC) are CISC machines.

S

A powerful, interactive, graphic, statistical programming environment developed at Bell Labs. As one reviewer said ``If you have UNIX and you don't have S, get S. If you don't have UNIX, get UNIX, then get S.'' Old-S has been around for 10 years. New S is 2 years old. We have new S.

§

An implementation of new S for workstations. Produced and licensed by Statistical Sciences, Inc. of Seattle, Washington under a distribution agreement with AT&T.

The Statistical Analysis System. One of the largest and most common of the conventional statistics packages.

sed

The stream editor. A batch version of ed. Same comments here as per ed. But used and useful in many shell scripts.

server

A system on a network that provides files and programs to other systems (clients) on the network.

shell

The program that interprets your UNIX commands and decides how to execute them. There are several shells available in the UNIX world, and our workstations have two of them - the Bourne shell and the C-shell (cute). The Bourne shell is denoted sh and the C-shell is denoted csh. An improved C-shell (tcsh) is the default shell on the workstations. .

shell script

A UNIX command file written for a particular shell. While similar, UNIX shells are not identical, so scripts written for one may not be compatible with the other.

SoftPC

A software system that creates an emulated PC environment on the workstation. The environment is a hardware emulation of the PC capable of running any PC operating system - usually DOS. SoftPC is used to run PC software on the workstations.

Solaris

SUN's registered trademark for it's UNIX operating system.

SPARC

Scalable Processor Architecture with RISC CPU. SUN's trademark name for its line of RISC based processors.

SPARCStation

SUN's trademark name for its line of UNIX workstations - similar to the DECstation series in price and performance. See SUN.

statlib

An archive site for statistical software and data.

SUN

A company which markets a line of UNIX workstations. SUN markets only UNIX workstations. The SUN computer most similar to the DECstation 2100 is the SPARC Station 1. A DECstation 3100 is approximately 30%faster than a SPARC Station.

SunOS

SunOS is the SUN version of UNIX.

superuser

A special account on each workstation which has powers to read and write any file on the system. The superuser account is used by the Unix system manager to install software, fix problems and provide backups.

swap

The process of removing a process from physical memory and replacing it with another process. This is done automatically by the system when the memory requirements of the processes you are running exceeds the physical memory of your workstation. The disk space used to store swapped processes is called the swap area.

symbolic computation

Computations on the symbols of formalae, rather than on numbers. Differentiation and indefinite integration are examples of symbolic computations from calculus.

tape

The Ultrix system supports the TK50 tape drive, which uses TK50-K cartridge tapes. These tapes cost about $21each and store 95 megabytes of data each.

TCP/IP

A communication protocol for the Ethernet that is used by the workstations to transfer information across the wires. TCP/IP is used across the Internet to communicate between campuses.

telnet

Software developed at NCSA to enable network users to sign on to remote hosts. Incorporates ftp for file transfer between network computers.

The world-wide standard for mathematical text formatting, for UNIX is in the public domain. is official software of the American Mathematical Society.

386i

A SUN workstation built around an Intel 80386 processor - the same processor found in high-end DOS machines. Slow by workstation standards. Capable of running UNIX and DOS.

troff

The UNIX standard for typesetting text. Used in conjunction with eqn it provides an alternative to . Anyone who has both troff and uses because it is more powerful and easier to use.

UFNET

The campus wide area network which permits networked devices to be connected across the campus. In particular, UFNET provides a ``backbone'' for connecting Biostat to Stat and each to NERDC and the rest of the world via Internet and BITNET.

UIL

User Interface Language. A language that describes the XUI objects to be acted on by the user of an application, and the links between the interface and the underlying C program. UIL makes creating a DECwindows application feasible for mere mortals.

Ultrix

Digital Equipment Corporation's brand-name for its implementation of the UNIX operating system.

UNIX

A multi-user, multi-processing operating system developed in the early 1970's at Bell Labs. It has grown in popularity over 20 years of evolution to become the premier operating system for workstation computing.

UNIX News

Also known as Usenet News. A very large collection of open forums (over 3000) where Internet users can post questions, comments, and information and get feedback from other users.

username

To use the workstations, you must have a username created by the system manager which authorizes use on a particular workstation. A username generally looks like your own name, and is the name that you will be known by in mail messages. A popular choice for a username is your first initial followed by your last name. Your username must be 8 characters long or less.

UWS

Ultrix Workstation Software. The software that is standard on the Ultrix workstations.

VAX

Digital Equipment Corporation's brand-name for its mini-computer architecture introduced in the mid 1970's. VAX computing has dominated University minicomputing for 15 years.

vi

The universally available character oriented UNIX editor with cursor control. Does not know about the mouse. A little clumsy, and unusual for PC users.

VMS

Virtual Memory System. The operating system for a long line of DEC computers, including the CIRCA VAX's and the Biostat MicroVax. VMS is a mature, full-featured operating system with multi-tasking, multi-processing and network communications.

VTAM

Virtual Terminal Access Method. A software protocol for communicating with the NERDC. LAT can access NERDC via VTAM.

VT220

A character-based ASCII terminal. 80 by 24 display. No graphics.

window

A rectangle on the screen in which an application runs. There can be many windows on the screen at a single time. Windows can be moved, resized, closed (changed to icons) and opened with very simple mouse commands. Having multiple windows on the screen makes doing several things at one time very natural.

workstation

A powerful, multi-tasking, multi-user, graphically oriented computer designed to facilitate the computing needs of research and technical users by working in a network of connected machines.

workstation computing

See departmental computing.

WYSIWYG

What You See Is What You Get. Word processors that display graphics on the screen in an attempt to show the user what the output will look like when printed are referred to as WYSIWYG. Exp claims to be WYSIWYG, as does DECwrite. is not WYSIWYG, is WYGIWYW - What You Get is What You Want.

X11

The current release of the X-Windows system. The previous release, X10, is not used on our machines.

XLISP

An experimental, object-oriented implementation of the Lisp programming language. Lisp is a very fluid, highly expressive language that allows functions to be used as objects in the language. XLISP is available at no charge on a non-commerical use agreement.

XLISP-STAT

is an experimental statistical environment built on the XLISP programming language. XLISP-STAT enables users to construct dynamic graphics of their own specification, unlike the fixed collection of displays available in a menu-driven system such as SAS Institute's JMP product. XLISP-STAT also allows the creation of linked graphics in which user manipulation of points and objects in one window affects changes in other linked windows. XLISP-STAT is intended to be a development platform for the investigation of dynamic graphics concepts in data analysis. It is available at no charge for research use and was devloped by Luke Tierney at the University of Minnesota.

X-terminal

A graphics terminal with a mouse and keyboard and Ethernet adapter that sits on a network and can access any host on the network.

XT

The IBM PC/XT personal computer. An 8086 computer with a 10 meg hard disk.

X-windows

A software system that performs standardized windowing operations on a large variety of UNIX computers. X-windows was developed by the Free Software Foundation at MIT.

xgobi

A dynamics graphics program for exploring multivariate data. xgobi (aka xdv) can rotate 3D plots, brush points, create linked scatterplots, perform a grand tour and operate dynamically linked. xgobi is available as a stand-alone program, and as an S function.

Yellow Pages

A collection of utilities, daemons and files that when implemented create the concept of a ``network account'' so that a user with an account can sit at any machine in the Yellow Pages domain (a collection of machines managed by Yellow Pages) and log on. As implemented at Statistics, Yellow Pages enables users to log on to any workstation and access their files and mail as if they were working from their own machine.