F

f2c

A FORTRAN 77 to C/C++ translator, plus static & shared libs. f2c translates FORTRAN 77 (with some extensions) into C, so that it can then be compiled and run on a system with no Fortran compiler. The C files must then be linked against the appropriate libraries. This is an actively maintained FORTRAN to C translator and with the fort77 frontend provides an ideal way to compile FORTRAN routines as black boxes (for example for invocation from C). Source level debugging facilities are not available, and error messages are not as well developed as in g77. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

F2C

FORTRAN to C [converter] From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

F2F

Frequency - Double Frequency From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FA

FernmeldeAmt (Telekom) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FAA

Flow Admission Acknowledge [message] (LFAP) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FABS

Fast Access Btree Structure From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FAC

Final Assembly Code (IMEI, GSM, mobile-systems) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FACCH

Fast Associated Control CHannel (GSM, DCCH, mobile-systems) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FACE

Framed Access Command Environment (Unix, SVR4) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

faces

Faces is a program for visually monitoring a list (typically a list of incoming mail messages, a list of jobs in a print queue or a list ofsystem users). Faces operates in five different modes: monitoring fornew mail, monitoring an entire mail file, monitoring a specified printqueue, monitoring users on a machine and custom monitoring. Faces also includes a utility for including a face image (a compressed, scannedimage) with mail messages. The image has to be compressed in a certain way, which can then be uncompressed and displayed on-the-fly in the mail program. This feature of faces is typically used with the exmh mailhandling system. Install faces if you'd like to use its list monitoring capability orits face image inclusion capability. If you would like to include face images in email, you'll also need to install the faces-xface package. If you would like to develop xface applications, you'll need to also install faces-devel. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FACS

Firmware ACPI Control Structure (ACPI) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

Facsimile (FAX)

System used to transmit textual or graphical images over standard telephone lines. From Glossary of Distance Education and Internet Terminology http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

factor

prints prime factors From whatis http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FADOS

Fast Amsterdam Distributed (???) Operating System (OS, FAMP) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FADT

Fixed ACPI Description Table (ACPI) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FADU

File Access Data Unit (FTAM) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FAE

Field Application Engineer From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fai

Fully Automatic Installation FAI is a non interactive system to install a Debian Linux operating system on a PC cluster. You can take one or more virgin PCs, turn on the power and after a few minutes Linux is installed, configured and running on the whole cluster, without any interaction necessary. Homepage: http://www.informatik.uni-koeln.de/fai From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fail-safe (fail-open, fail-close)

A philosophic point of view. When a system fails, how should it leave things: secure or unsecure? For example, if a firewall crashes, should it disable all network connectivity, or should it allow network connectivity to continue unprotected? A lot of security vulnerabilities occur because designers make the wrong choice. It is often easier to cause a system to fail than to break through it, so security items should probably fail in such a way to result in greater security at the expensive of stopping everything. Confusion: The terms "fail-open" and "fail-close" are frequently used to mean the opposite of each other. Some people think of a door, which when "open" allows things to pass through. Other people think of an electrical circuit, when "open" stops the flow of current (and conversely, a "closed" circuit passes current). Therefore, use the word "fail-safe" instead in order to avoid confusion. Analogy: The electrical circuit-breakers in your home are fail-safe switches using this concept. In the case of an electrical fault causing a short, the circuit breaker will blow open, halting the flow of electricity. This prevents a fire from starting. From Hacking-Lexicon http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

faillog

examine faillog and set login failure limits From whatis http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

faillog

Login failure logging file From whatis http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fake

IP address takeover tool Fake is a utility that enables the IP address be taken over by bringing up a second interface on the host machine and using gratuitous arp. Designed to switch in backup servers on a LAN. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fakeroot

Gives a fake root environment. This package is intended to enable something like: dpkg-buildpackage -rfakeroot i.e. to remove the need to become root for a package build. This is done by setting LD_PRELOAD to libfakeroot.so, which provides wrappers around getuid, chown, chmod, mknod, stat, ..., thereby creating a fake root environment. If you don't understand any of this, you do not need fakeroot! From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FAL

File Access Listener (DEC, DNA) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

falconseye

A port of NetHack using SDL Falcon's Eye is a mouse-driven interface for NetHack that enhances the visuals, audio and accessibility of the game, yet retains all the original gameplay and game features. NetHack is a single player dungeon exploration game that runs on a wide variety of computer systems, with a variety of graphical and text interfaces all using the same game engine. Unlike many other Dungeons & Dragons-inspired games, the emphasis in NetHack is on discovering the detail of the dungeon and not simply killing everything in sight - in fact, killing everything in sight is a good way to die quickly. Each game presents a different landscape - the random number generator provides an essentially unlimited number of variations of the dungeon and its denizens to be discovered by the player in one of a number of characters: you can pick your race, your role, and your gender. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

false

do nothing, unsuccessfully From whatis http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

falselogin

False login shell Strange kind of 'shell' which don't let the user to log in. Before the next login prompt falselogin gives some info to the user. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fam

FAM, the File Alteration Monitor, provides a daemon and an API which applications can use for notification of changes in specific files ordirectories. From Redhat 8.0 RPM http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fam

File Alteration Monitor FAM monitors files and directories, notifying interested applications of changes. This package provides a server that can monitor a given list of files and notify applications through a socket. If the imon pseudo device driver is loaded into the kernel, it notifies FAM. Otherwise it has to poll the files' status. FAM can also provide a RPC service for monitoring remote files (such as on a mounted NFS filesystem). From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FAME

FORMEX Applied to Multilingualism in Europe (SGML, Europe) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

Familiar (iPAQ)

The Familiar Project is composed of a group of loosely knit developers all contributing to creating the next generation of PDA OS. Currently, most development time is geared towards producing a stable, and full featured Linux distribution for the Compaq iPAQ h3600-series of handheld computers, as well as apps to run on top of the distribution. Familiar v0.5.3 was released July 11, 2002. Familiar v0.6.1 was released January 9, 2003. From LWN Distribution List http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FAMOS

Floating gate Avalanche injection Metal Oxide Semiconductor (IC) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FAMP

Fast Amsterdam MultiProcessor From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FANP

Flow Attribute Notification Protocol (Toshiba, RFC 2129) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FAPI

Family Application Programmer Interface (DOS, VDM, API) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FAQ

/F-A-Q/ or /fak/ n. [Usenet] 1. A Frequently Asked Question. 2. A compendium of accumulated lore, posted periodically to high-volume newsgroups in an attempt to forestall such questions. Some people prefer the term `FAQ list' or `FAQL' /fa'kl/, reserving `FAQ' for sense 1. This lexicon itself serves as a good example of a collection of one kind of lore, although it is far too big for a regular FAQ posting. Examples: "What is the proper type of NULL?" and "What's that funny name for the # character?" are both Frequently Asked Questions. Several FAQs refer readers to this file. From Jargon Dictionary http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FAQ

An Acronym for 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. You should always read the FAQ (if there is one) for a group before posting a message, or risk being flamed. From KADOWKEV http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions (slang, Usenet) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

FAQs are documents that list and answer the most common questions on a particular subject. There are hundreds of FAQs on subjects as diverse as Pet Grooming and Cryptography. FAQs are usually written by people who have tired of answering the same question over and over. From Matisse http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

faqomatic

Online interactive FAQ CGI Creates updatable web-based FAQs with CGI. It keeps cumulative statistics about hits. Highly customizable to permit only those you choose to update the FAQ, or to allow anyone to change it depending on your requirements. It will also generate a cache of static pages if desired so that most accesses to unchanging data will be served directly through your webserver without the overhead of CGI. If you want to generate graphs of access statistics, install the libgd-perl package as well. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FAR

False Acception Rate From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FAR

Fixed Alternative Routing (SNI) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FAR

Flow Admission Request [message] (LFAP) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FARNET

Federation of American Research NETworks (network) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FAS

Flow Admission Service From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FASMI

Fast Analysis of Shared Multidimensional Information (OLAP) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FAST

First Application System Test From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FAST

Forschungsinstitut fuer Angewandte Software-Technologie [e.v.] (org.) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fastdnaml

[Biology] A tool for construction of phylogenetic trees of DNA sequences fastDNAml is a program derived from Joseph Felsenstein's version 3.3 DNAML (part of his PHYLIP package). Users should consult the documentation for DNAML before using this program. fastDNAml is an attempt to solve the same problem as DNAML, but to do so faster and using less memory, so that larger trees and/or more bootstrap replicates become tractable. Much of fastDNAml is merely a recoding of the PHYLIP 3.3 DNAML program from PASCAL to C. URL: http://geta.life.uiuc.edu/~gary/programs/fastDNAml.html From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fastjar

Jar creation utility Replacement for Suns .jar creation program. It is written in C instead of java and is tons faster. It is currently not complete. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fastlink

[Biology] A faster version of pedigree programs of Linkage Fastlink is much faster than the original Linkage but does not implement all the programs. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FAT

File Allocation Table (DOS) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FAT

see file allocation table (FAT). From Redhat-9-Glossary http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FAT (File allocation table)

A hidden table of every cluster on a floppy or hard disk. The FAT records how files are stored in distinct - and not necessarily contiguous - clusters. Viruses also like to hide out in the FAT; make sute youur virus-checking software loooks there for malicious programs. A file allocation table uses a simple method, much like a scavenger hunt, to keep track of data. The directory file stores the address of the file's first cluster. In the entry for the second cluster is the address of the third cluster, and so on, until the last cluster entry, which contains an end-of0-file code. Because this table provides only a menas for finding data on a disk, DOS creates and maintains two copies of the FAT in case one is damaged. From QUECID http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

Fatal error

An error in a program that, at best causes the program to abort, and, at worst causes a crash with losss of data. Bulletproff programs are supposed to be immune to fatal errors, but they usually are not. From QUECID http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

Fatware

Software that is so laden with features, or is designed so inefficiently, that it monopolizes huge chunks of hard disk space, random-access memory (RAM), and microprocesssor power. Fatware is one of the undesirable result of creeping featurism. From QUECID http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FAU

Flow Admission Update [message] (LFAP) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FAU

Friedrich-Alexander-Universitaet (org., Erlangen, Germany, Nuernberg, Germany) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

faubackup

Backup System using a Filesystem for Storage This Program uses a filesystem on a hard drive for incremental and full backups. All Backups can easily be accessed by standard filesystem tools (ls, find, grep, cp, ...) Later Backups to the same filesystem will automatically be incremental, as unchanged files are only hard-linked with the existing version of the file. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

Fault tolerance

The capability of a computer system to cope with internal hardware problems without interrupting the system's performance, often by automatically bringing backup systems online whenever computers are assigned critical functions, such as guiding aircraft to a safe landing or ensuring a steady flow of medicines to a patient. Fault tolerance also is beneficial for non-critical everyday applications. From QUECID http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FAW

Forschungsinstitut fuer Anwendungsorientierte Wissensverarbeitung (org., KI, Ulm) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FB

Fiber optic Backbone From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FBAS

FarbBild-AustastSystem / Farb-Bild-Austast-Synchron-signal (video) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fbb

Packet radio mailbox and utilities. The fbb package contains software written by f6fbb for setting up a packet radio mailbox. It is intended for amateur radio operators. A short overview of some of the binaries: o fbb: Script to start the daemon. o xfbbd: The daemon which listens for incoming connects. o epurmess: Delete messages based on age. o epurwp: White Pages maintenance. o reqdir: FBB server which requests directory listings. o xfbbC: B/W Ncurses console for xfbbd. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fbbdoc

Documentation for fbb, the packet radio mailbox This package provides documentation on setting up a packet radio mailbox with fbb. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fbgetty

A console getty with and without frame buffer capability fbgetty is a console getty, which supports frame buffers. It also uses an extend issue field and refreshes the displayed issue, when an VT (Virtual Terminal) is activated. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fbi

linux FrameBuffer Imageviewer This is a image viewer for linux framebuffer devices. It has buildin support for a number of common formats. For unknown files it tries to use convert from the ImageMagick package as external converter. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FBL

Frame Burst error Length (CD) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fblogo

Converts images to framebuffer-logo header file fblogo takes an image as input and generates an appropriate linux_logo.h which can simply be included in the kernel. It will be displayed when the framebuffer device is enabled. You can also use it to generate full screen splash screens for the Linux Progress Patch. It will work for 2.2.x, 2.4.x and 2.5.x kernels. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FBM

Flexible Buffer Management (QMS) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FBS

Flexible Bandwidth Service (ATM, SDH) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fbset

Fbset is a utility for maintaining frame buffer resolutions. Fbsetcan change the video mode properties of a frame buffer device, and is usually used to change the current video mode. Install fbset if you need to manage frame buffer resolutions. From Redhat 8.0 RPM http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fbset

Framebuffer device maintenance program. Program to modify settings for the framebuffer devices (/dev/fb?) on Linux, like depth, virtual resolution, timing parameters etc. This program is useful for all Linux/m68k kernel versions, and for late 2.1 kernels on most other architectures. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fbtv

linux console (fbcon) TV application TV application for the linux console, requires a framebuffer device (vesafb, matroxfb, atyfb, ...) and a video4linux driver like bttv. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FC

Federal Criteria [for information technology security] (NIST, USA) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FC

Feedback Control From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FC

Fibre Channel From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FC

Frame Control (FDDI, Token Ring) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FCA

Flow Control Ack (DLSW) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FCAL

Fibre Channel - Arbitrated Loop, "FC-AL" From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FCAPS

Fault, Configuration, Accounting, Performance, Security [management areas] From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FCB

File Control Block (DOS) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FCBS

File Control BlockS (DOS) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FCC

Federal Communications Commission (org., USA) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FCC

Forward Carbon Copy (DFUe) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FCCH

Frequency Correction CHannel (GSM, mobile-systems) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FCCN

Fundacao para a Computacao Cientifica Nacional (org., Portugal) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FCD

Floating Car Data From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FCEDIT

The default editor for the fc builtin command. From Rute-Users-Guide http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FCFS

First Come, First Served From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fcheck

IDS filesystem baseline integrity checker. The fcheck utility is an IDS (Intrusion Detection System) which can be used to monitor changes to any given filesystem. Essentially, fcheck has the ability to monitor directories, files or complete filesystems for any additions, deletions, and modifications. It is configurable to exclude active log files, and can be ran as often as needed from the command line or cron making it extremely difficult to circumvent. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FCI

Fibre Channel Interface From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FCI

Flow Control Indicator (DLSW) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FCI

Forward Cache Identifier (CATNIP) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fcmp

Free media files for FreeCraft. These are a set of free sounds and graphics for FreeCraft, a clone of the realtime fantasy strategy game, WarCraft II, from Blizzard Entertainment. These files come from the FreeCraft Media Project, reachable at http://www.freecraft.net/fcmp . Note that this version contains almost all the files needed for a fair game experience, and has not anything to do with WarCraft II data (in fact spoofs it), as it's completely free. This is the last stable snapshot from the CVS repository. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FCO

Flow Control Operator Bits (DLSW) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FCP

[SCSI-3] Fibre Channel Protocol (SAM) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FCPGA

Flip Chip Pin Grid Array (CPU), "FC-PGA" From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FCPH

Fibre Channel PHysical and signaling interface (SAM), "FC-PH" From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FCR

Flow Change Request [message] (LFAP) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fcron

cron-like scheduler with extended capabilities Fcron is a scheduler. It implements most of Vixie Cron's functionalities. But contrary to Vixie Cron, fcron does not need your system to be up 7 days a week, 24 hours a day: it also works well with systems which are running neither all the time nor regularly. Fcron also includes a useful system of options, such as: run jobs one by one, run jobs at fcron's startup if they should have been run during system down time, a better management of the mailing of outputs, set a nice value for a job... From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FCS

Fast Circuit Switching From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FCS

First Customer Ship (IBM) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FCS

Frame Check Sequence (FDDI, Token Ring) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FCS

Frame Check Sum (MODEM) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

Fd Linux

Fd Linux is a very tiny floppy distribution of Linux, set to fit on one floppy disk (kernel and root fs are combined!). All binaries are based on Red Hat. Version 2.1-0 was released March 12, 2002. Version 3.0-0 was released March 10, 2003. A floppy-based distribution. From LWN Distribution List http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fda

C malloc debug library Provides routines that can be plugged in to replace malloc(), realloc(), calloc(), and free(). If you're not debugging, and an allocation fails, FDA will call user supplied callbacks to allow you to free up some memory or shut down the program cleanly -- this means you don't have to check the return values from malloc if you don't want to. For debugging FDA provides a nice toolkit for validating pointers, checking for leaks, gathering memory statistics, bounds checking and other nice things. FDA uses shredding, prefix and postfix signatures, and a liberal amount of predicate asserts. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FDA

FORTRAN Design Aid (FORTRAN) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FDAD

Functional Data ADministrator From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FDC

Floppy Disk Controller (FDD) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fdclone

A console-base lightweight file manager FD(FD represents "File and Directory") is an easy-to-use file management tool for Un*x newbies. As its name shows, this is a rewrite from scratch - the original version was written by Atsushi Idei for MS-DOS(tm) and once very popular in Japan. Messages are available either in English or in Japanese. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FDCT

Fast Discrete Cosine Transformation (DCT) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FDD

Floppy Disk Drive From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FDDI

Fiber Distributed Data Interface (ANSI, ISO 8314) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data Interface)

A standard for transmitting data on optical fiber cables at a rate of around 100,000,000 bits-per-second (10 times as fast as 10-BaseTEthernet, about twice as fast as T-3). See also: Ethernet, T-3 From Matisse http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FDDITPPMD

FDDI Twisted Pair-Physical layer, Medium Dependent, "FDDI TP-PMD" From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FDE

Full Duplex Ethernet (ethernet) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FDES

Full Duplex EtherSwitch (Kalpana) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fdflush

A disk-flushing program. fdflush is a band-aid for floppy (or other) drivers with bad disk-change sensing. fdflush makes the system believe the disk-change switch has been triggered forcing the system to discard the buffered data. If you have one of these slightly-broken disk drives, you'll have to run fdflush every time you change a disk From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fdformat

Low-level formats a floppy disk From whatis http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FDI

[fachverband der ] Fuehrungskraefte der Druckindustrie und Informationsverarbeitung (org.) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fdisk

Partition table manipulator for Linux From whatis http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FDL

File Definition Language From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FDL

Free Documentation License (GNU) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fdlist

Floppy disk mount utility TQ From whatis http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FDM

Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FDMA

Frequency Division Multiple Access (mobile-systems) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fdmount

Floppy disk mount utility TQ From whatis http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fdmountd

Floppy disk mount utility TQ From whatis http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FDO

Functional Device Object From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fdrawcmd

send raw commands to the floppy disk controller TQ From whatis http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FDT

Formal Description Technique From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fdumount

Floppy disk mount utility TQ From whatis http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fdupes

Identifies duplicate files within given directories. FDupes uses md5sums and then a byte by byte comparison to find duplicate files within a set of directories. It has several useful options including recursion. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fdutils

Linux floppy utilities This package contains utilities for configuring and debugging the Linux floppy driver, for formatting extra capacity disks (up to 1992K on a high density disk), for sending raw commands to the floppy controller, for automatic floppy disk mounting and unmounting, etc. Author: alain@linux.lu Released-date: 1999-07-03 Keywords: floppy 2m xdf superformat floppycontrol fdrawcmd URL: http://www.tux.org/pub/knaff/fdutils/ From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fdutilsconfig

configure the suid bit of fdmount From whatis http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FDX

Full DupleX From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FE

Forschung und Entwicklung, "F&E" From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FE

Functional Entity (IN) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FEA

Functional Entity Action (IN, UNI) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FEAL

Fast Data Encipherment Algorithm (DES, cryptography) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FEAST

Fast Data Enciphering Algorithm (cryptography) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FEBE

Far End Block Error (SONET) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FEC

Forward Error Correction (GSM, mobile-systems) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FECN

Forward Explicit Congestion Notification (ATM) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FEFCO

??? From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

feh

imlib2 based image viewer feh is a fast, lightweight image viewer which uses imlib2. It is commandline-driven and supports multiple images through slideshows, thumbnail browsing or multiple windows, and montages or index prints (using truetype fonts to display file info). Advanced features include fast dynamic zooming, progressive loading, loading via HTTP (with reload support for watching webcams), recursive file opening (slideshow of a directory hierarchy), and mousewheel/keyboard control. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FEIT

Fujitsu Enhanced Imaging Technology (Fujitsu) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FEK

File Encryption Key (cryptography) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

felt

Package for introductory level finite element analysis. FElt is a free system for introductory level finite element analysis. It is primarily intended as a teaching tool for introductory type courses in finite elements - probably in the mechanical/structural/civil fields. In a command line environment, FElt uses an intuitive, straightforward input syntax to describe problems. It also includes a graphical user interface for workstations that allows the user to set-up, solve and post-process the problem in a single CAD-like environment. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FEM

Finite Elemente Methode From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FEN

Free-net Erlangen/Nuernberg From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FEP

Front End Processor From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FER

Forward Error Correction (satellite) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FERF

Far End Receive Failure (UNI, ATM, SONET, OAM) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

ferite

Ferite programming language Ferite is a language that incorporates the design philosophies of other languages, but without many of their drawbacks. It has strong similiarities to perl, python, C, Java and pascal, while being both lightweight, modular, and embeddable. This package contains the ferite language interpreter. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

ferm

maintain and setup complicated firewall rules ferm allows one to reduce the tedious task of carefully inserting rules and chains by a large factor, thus enabling the firewall administrator to spend more time on developing good rules then the proper implementation of the rule. ferm supports ipchains firewalls, ipfwadm rules and iptables firewalls. Changing to another system will be very easy, and ferm will help in the process. ferm compiles ready to go firewall-rules from a structured rule- setup. These rules will be executed by the preferred kernel interface, such as ipchains(8) and iptables(8). ferm will also add in modularizing firewalls, because it creates the possibility to split up the firewall into several different files, which can be reloaded at will, so you can dynamically adjust your rules. ferm, pronounced "firm", stands for "For Easy Rule Making". From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FESI

Federacion Espanola de Sociedades de Informatica (org., Spain) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

festival

speech synthesis system Festival is a general multi-lingual speech synthesis system. It offers a full text to speech system with various APIs, as well an environment for development and research of speech synthesis techniques. It includes a Scheme-based command interpreter. Besides research into speech synthesis, festival is useful as a stand-alone speech synthesis program. It is capable of producing clearly understandable speech from text. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FET

Field Effect Transistor From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fetchmail

Fetchmail is a remote mail retrieval and forwarding utility intended for use over on-demand TCP/IP links, like SLIP or PPP connections. Fetchmail supports every remote-mail protocol currently in use on the Internet (POP2, POP3, RPOP, APOP, KPOP, all IMAPs, ESMTP ETRN, IPv6,and IPSEC) for retrieval. Then Fetchmail forwards the mail through SMTP so you can read it through your favorite mail client. Install fetchmail if you need to retrieve mail over SLIP or PPP connections. From Redhat 8.0 RPM http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fetchmail

POP3, APOP, IMAP mail gatherer/forwarder (crypto-crippled binary) fetchmail is a free, full-featured, robust, and well-documented remote mail retrieval and forwarding utility intended to be used over on-demand TCP/IP links (such as SLIP or PPP connections). It retrieves mail from remote mail servers and forwards it to your local (client) machine's delivery system, so it can then be read by normal mail user agents such as mutt, elm, pine, (x)emacs/gnus, or mailx. The fetchmailconf package includes an interactive GUI configurator suitable for end-users. Kerberos IV & V, RPA, OPIE and GSSAPI support are available if the package is recompiled. SSL is provided by the fetchmail-ssl package. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FF

Form(ular) Feed From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FFAPI

File Format API (MS, API) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FFC

Fully Formed Character [printer] From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FFDC

First Failure Data Capture From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FFDT

FDDI Full Duplexing Technology (FDDI) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

ffingerd

a secure finger daemon ffingerd is a secure fingerd replacement. This version of the finger daemon is invoked by inetd, but it's not meant to be run as root. Requests that may indicate attacks are logged by ffinger through the syslog(3) facility. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FFOL

FDDI Follow-On-LAN From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FFS

Fallback Fault-tolerant Server (IBM, OS/2) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FFS

Fast File System (Amiga, Commodore) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FFS

Fast Filing System (BSD, Unix) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FFS

Flexible Fertigungs-Systeme From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FFST2

First Failure Support Technology /2 (IBM), "FFST/2" From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FFT

Final Form Text From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fftw2

Library for computing Fast Fourier Transforms This library computes Fast Fourier Transforms (FFT) in one or more dimensions. It is extremely fast. This package contains the shared library version of the fftw libraries in double precision. To get the static library and the header files you need to install fftw-dev. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fg

A built-in shell command that will take a suspended process and run it in the foreground.From Linux Guide @FirstLinux http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FGA

Future Graphics Adapter (Spea) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fgconsole

print the number of the active VT. From whatis http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FGCS

Fifth Generation Computer Systems [project] (ICOT) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fgfs-base

Flight Gear Flight Simulator -- base files Flight Gear is a free and highly sophisticated flight simulator. This package contains graphics, sounds, aircraft models, and the minimum scenery you need to start Flight Gear. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FGREP

Fixed Global Regular Expression Print (Unix, GREP) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fgrep

print lines matching a pattern From whatis http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FHGS

FreeHand Graphics Studio (Macromedia, DTP) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fhist

File history, comparison and merge utilities The fhist package contains 3 utilities fhist - a file history tool fcomp - a file comparison tool fmerge - a file merging tool All three are bundled together, because they all use the same minimal-difference algorithm. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FHSS

Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (WLAN) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FIA

Fiberoptic Industry Association (org.) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

Fiber Optic Cable

The transport fibres of glass or plastic that are enclosed by material of a lower index of refraction and that transmit light throughout their length by internal reflections. These fibres are bundled into cables and are capable of transmitting very large amounts of digital information (data) in both directions with very little loss in signal quality. From Glossary of Distance Education and Internet Terminology http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FIBU

FInanzBUchhaltung From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FIC

First International Computer [inc.] (manufacturer) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FID

File IDentifier (APDU) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FID

File Identifier Descriptor (UDF, CD-R) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fidelio

Gnome Hotline client. For more info on what Hotline is, see <http://www.bigredh.com/>. Essentially it is a file-sharing and communication protocol that lets you share your files, post messages, and chat realtime. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FIDO

FIlter Device Object, "FiDO" From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fidogate

Gateway Fido <-> Internet Fidogate is a Fido-Internet gateway and a Fido tosser. The gateway converts between the worlds of Fido NetMail/EchoMail (or FTNs, Fido Technology Networks in general) and the UNIX mail/news system. FIDOGATE will convert Fido mail packets to RFC822/1036-style messages and vice versa. FIDOGATE also includes a complete FIDO mail processor (NetMail/EchoMail scanner and tosser), an FTN-FTN gateway (NetMail only), a file processor (TIC file areas) and an Areafix/Filefix. Supports the Gatebau 94 standard. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

Fidonet

A set of data exchange standards and procedures that permit privately operated copmuter bulletin board systems (BBSs) to exchange data, files, and electronic mail internationally, using the world telephone syste. At an agreed-on time when telephone rates are low, subscribing BBSs send e-mail messages and files to a regional host, which in turn distributes them to other bulletin boards. Responses, or echoes eventually find their way back to the host bulletin board. A popular Fidonet feature is EchoMail, a set of moderated conferences that cover a variety of popular subjects, such as Star Trek, model aircraft, and political issues. From QUECID http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

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. From Linux Guide @FirstLinux http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

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). From Linux Guide @FirstLinux http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FIF

Fractal Interchange Format From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FIFF

Forum Informatikerinnen Fuer den Frieden (org.) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FIFO

First In First Out (CPU) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fifteenapplet

fifteen pieces puzzle for KDE An applet for the KDE panel that lets you play the Fifteen Pieces sliding block puzzle. You have to order 15 pieces in a 4x4 square by moving them around. This package is part of the official KDE toys module. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FIG

Forth Interest Group (org., Forth) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

figlet

Frank, Ian & Glenn's Letters Figlet is a program that creates large characters out of ordinary screen characters. It can create characters in many different styles and can kern and "smush" these characters together in various ways. Figlet output is generally reminiscent of the sort of "signatures" many people like to put at the end of e-mail and Usenet messages. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FIGLET

Frank, Ian and Glenn's LETters (ASCII, fonts) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

figurine

an X11 vector graphics drawing program figurine is an X drawing program that is compatible with the xfig application. figurine is intended to be easier to use than xfig, while providing a similar set of features. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

File

A document or other collection of information stored on a disk and identified as a unit by a unique name. When you save a file, the disk may scatter the data among dozens or even hundreds of noncontiguous clusters. The file allocation table (FAT) is an index of the order in which those clusters are linked to equal a file. To the user, however files appear as units on disk directories and are retreived and copied as units. From QUECID http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

file

A piece of data stored as a single addressable object on a file system. Files can be executable, text or binary-based, and can also represent computer system hardware to be controlled by the operating system. From Redhat-9-Glossary http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

file

Determines file type using "magic" numbers File tests each argument in an attempt to classify it. There are three sets of tests, performed in this order: filesystem tests, magic number tests, and language tests. The first test that succeeds causes the file type to be printed. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FILE

Free Internet Lexicon and Encyclopedia (WWW, DICT) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

file

The file command is used to identify a file according to the type of data it contains. File can identify many different file types, including ELF binaries, system libraries, RPM packages, and different graphics formats. From Redhat 8.0 RPM http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

file

The file command is used to identify a particular file according to thetype of data contained by the file. File can identify many different file types, including ELF binaries, system libraries, RPM packages, and different graphics formats. You should install the file package, since the file command is such a useful utility. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

file allocation table (FAT)

A special file located in sector 0 on a disk that contains information about the sizes and locations of files stored on a disk. From Redhat-9-Glossary http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

File attribute

A hidden code, stored with a file's directory, that contains the file's read-only or archive status and whether the file is a system, hidden, or directory archive. See archive attribute, hidden file, loacked file, and read-only attribute. From QUECID http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

File compression utility

A utility program, such as PKZIP, StuffIt or DriveSpace, that compresses and decompresses infrequently used files so that they take up to 40 to 90 percent less rooom on a hard disk. You use another utilit to decompress a file. Specialty file compression utilities that compress only certain types of files, such as downloadable font files, are also available. These programs usually load a special driver that remains in memory to decompress and recompress the files as needed. See archive, bulletin board system (BBSs), and compressed file. From QUECID http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

File conversion utility

A utility program that converts text or graphoics files created with one program to the file format used by another program. The best application programs now include a conversion utility that can handle a dozen or more file formats. From QUECID http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

file extension

In filenames, the group of letters after the period is called the file extension.From Linux Guide @FirstLinux http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

File format

The patterns and standards that a program uses to store data on disk. Few programs store data in ASCII format. Most use a proprietry file format that other programs cannot read, ensuring that customers continue to use the company's progam and enabling the progammers to include special features that standard formats might not allow. See file conversion utilitu and native file format. From QUECID http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

File fragmentattion

The allocation of a file in noncontiguoug sectors on a floppy or hard disk. Fragmentation occues because of multiple file delections and write operations. File gramentattion can seriously reduce disk efficiency, because a disk drive's rad/write head must travel longer distances to retreive a file that's scattered all over the disk. Defragmenting can improve disk efficiency by as much as 50 percent by rewriting files so that they are placed in contiguous clusters. See defragmentation. From QUECID http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

File Locking

Often, one would like a process to have exclusive access to a file. By this we mean that only one process can access the file at any one time. Consider a mail folder: if two processes were to write to the folder simultaneously, it could become corrupted. We also sometimes want to ensure that a program can never be run twice at the same time; this insurance is another use for ``locking.'' In the case of a mail folder, if the file is being written to, then no other process should try read it or write to it: and we would like to create a write lock on the file. However if the file is being read from, no other process should try to write to it: and we would like to create a read lock on the file. Write locks are sometimes called exclusive locks; read locks are sometimes called shared locks. Often, exclusive locks are preferred for simplicity. Locking can be implemented by simply creating a temporary file to indicate to other processes to wait before trying some kind of access. UNIX also has some more sophisticated builtin functions. From Rute-Users-Guide http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

File locking

On a network, a method of concurrency control that ensures the integrity of data. File locking prevents moe than one user from accessing and altering a file at the same time. See Local Area Network (LAN). From QUECID http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

File Manager

software that allows you to select, copy, move, and open files and directories in a graphical environment. From Linux Guide @FirstLinux Examples of file managers on Linux include konqueror for KDE and mc (Midnight Commander). The Windows equivalent would be Windows Explorer. From Binh http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

file name

The name given to a file to distinguish one piece of data from others. Modern operating systems such as Red Hat Linux allow long and descriptive file names with few restrictions (for example, all alphanumeric characters and spaces are allowed). From Redhat-9-Glossary http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

File Ownerships

Each file on a system is owned by a particular user and also owned by a particular group. When you run ls -al, you can see the user that owns the file in the third column and the group that owns the file in the fourth column (these will often be identical, indicating that the file's group is a group to which only the user belongs). To change the ownership of the file, simply use the chown, change ownerships, command as follows. chown <user>[:<group>] <filename> From Rute-Users-Guide http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

file server

A process that provides access to a file from remote devices. From Linux Guide @FirstLinux http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

File server

In a Local Area Network (LAN), a computer that stoes on its hard disk the application programs and data files for all workstations in the network. In a peer-to-peer network, all workstations act as file servers, because each workstattion can provide files to other workstations. In the more common client/server architecure, a single, high-powered machine with a huge hard disk is set aside to functino as the file server for all the workstations (clients) in the network. See Network Operating System (NOS). From QUECID http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

File System

A set of programs that tells an operating system how to access and interpret the contents of a disk or tape drive, or other storage medium. Common file systems include: FAT and FAT-32 (DOS/Windows), HPFS (OS/2), NFS, NTFS (Windows NT/2000), and others. From I-gloss http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

file system

The method in which an operating system organizes and manages files. Red Hat Linux uses a hierarchical file system in which files are stored in directories and subdirectories. From Redhat-9-Glossary http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

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. From Linux Guide @FirstLinux http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

A protocol used for transferring files between machines on networks such as LANs and the Internet. In a typical FTP session, a client logs onto an FTP server, views directory listings, and downloads files from the server. FTP sessions can either be anonymous or require authentication for access. From Redhat-9-Glossary http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

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. From Linux Guide @FirstLinux http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

file-kanji

kanji code checker This package contains file2. File2 tests each argument in an attempt to classify it to JIS, EUC, SJIS, ascii and UNKNOWN. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

file-rc

Alternative boot mechanism using a single configuration file This package provides an alternative mechanism to boot the system, to shut it down and to change runlevels. The /etc/rc?.d/* links will be converted into one single configuration file /etc/runlevel.conf instead, which is easier to administrate than symlinks, and is also more flexible. The package will automatically convert your existing symlinks into the file method on installation, and convert the file back into symlinks on removal. Both mechanisms are compatible through /etc/init.d/rc, /etc/init.d/rcS, /usr/sbin/update-rc.d, and /usr/sbin/invoke-rc.d scripts. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

file-roller

File Roller is an archive manager for the GNOME environment. This means that you can : create and modify archives; view the content of an archive; view afile contained in the archive; extract files from the archive. File Roller is only a front-end (a graphical interface) to archiving programs like tar and zip. The supported file types are : Tar archives uncompressed (.tar) or compressed with gzip (.tar.gz , .tgz), bzip (.tar.bz , .tbz), bzip2 (.tar.bz2 , .tbz2), compress (.tar.Z , .taz), lzop (.tar.lzo , .tzo), Zip archives (.zip), Jar archives (.jar , .ear , .war), Lha archives (.lzh), Rar archives (.rar), Single files compressed with gzip, bzip, bzip2, compress, lzop From Mandrake 9.0 RPM http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

file-types-capplet

allows you to configure how files of various types should be handled. From whatis http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

filemenu-applet

A directory navigation GNOME applet. File Menu Applet is a small GNOME panel application which creates a file manager. File Menu Applet is not designed to replace your existing file manager, but instead work with it. It supports standard drag and drop, GNOME file types, and Nautilus icons. One may use it for small tasks such a easily attaching files to emails in Evolution or Sylpheed by dragging them out of File Menu Applet into the composer window. It's also excellent for selecting songs to play from your MP3 or OGG collection. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

Filename

A unique name assigned to a file when the file is written on a disk. From QUECID http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

filerunner

X-Based FTP program & file manager FileRunner is an X-Based FTP program. It gives you a windowed view of files on your local system and a remote system. It allows transferring multiple files at once, tagging of files, etc. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

Files

Common to every computer system invented is the file. A file holds a single contiguous block of data. Any kind of data can be stored in a file, and there is no data that cannot be stored in a file. Furthermore, there is no kind of data that is stored anywhere else except in files. A file holds data of the same type, for instance, a single picture will be stored in one file. During production, this book had each chapter stored in a file. It is uncommon for different types of data (say, text and pictures) to be stored together in the same file because it is inconvenient. A computer will typically contain about 10,000 files that have a great many purposes. Each file will have its own name. The file name on a LINUX or UNIX machine can be up to 256 characters long. From Rute-Users-Guide http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

filesystem

The methods and data structures that an operating system uses to keep track of files on a disk or partition; the way the files are organized on the disk. Also used to describe a partition or disk that is used to store the files or the type of the filesystem. From Linux Administrator's Guide http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

filetraq

Small utility to keep track of changes in config files. FileTraq is just a shell script that reads a list of files to watch, runs diff against each file and its backup, and reports any discrepancies, along with keeping a dated backup of the original. It's designed to be run as a cron job. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fileutils

GNU file management utilities This package contains the essential system utilities to manipulate files on your system. Included in this package are commands to change the permissions on files, list the files in a directory, create new directories, and list free disk space, among other things. The specific utilities included are: chgrp chmod chown cp dd df dir dircolors du install ln ls mkdir mkfifo mknod mv rm rmdir shred touch vdir sync. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fileutils

The fileutils package includes a number of GNU versions of common andpopular file management utilities. Fileutils includes the following tools: chgrp (changes a file's group ownership), chown (changes a file's ownership), chmod (changes a file's permissions), cp (copies files), dd (copies and converts files), df (shows a filesystem's diskusage), dir (gives a brief directory listing), dircolors (the setup program for the color version of the ls command), du (shows disk usage), install (copies files and sets permissions), ln (creates file links), ls (lists directory contents), mkdir (creates directories),mkfifo (creates FIFOs or named pipes), mknod (creates special files),mv (renames files), rm (removes/deletes files), rmdir (removes empty directories), sync (synchronizes memory and disk), touch (changes file timestamps), and vdir (provides long directory listings). From Redhat 8.0 RPM http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

filler

Simple game in Java Filler is a simple two-player game written in java. The object of the game is to conquer more area of the playing board than your opponent. This game requires a java 2 runtime environment. Try www.blackdown.de or java.sun.com From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FILO

First In Last Out From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

filter

A program that filters local email via forward/pipe filter is one of the original mailfiltering programs written for UNIX. (originally a part of the 'elm' mailer) Install it via a pipe(|) reference in $HOME/.forward, and let it separate your incoming email into different personal mailboxes. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

Filter

A program that reads data (from a file, program output or command line entry) as input, processes it according to a set of predefined conditions (for example, sorted alphabetically) and outputs the processed data. Some filters include Awk, Grep, Sed and Sort. From I-gloss http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

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. From Linux Guide @FirstLinux http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

Filter

Any utility program that functions automatically to screen data. In electronic mail, you can use a filter to delete unwanted messages automatically. From QUECID http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

Filter

Hardware or software designed to restrict access to certain areas on the Internet. From Glossary of Distance Education and Internet Terminology http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

filterproxy

A filtering proxy, which can among other things remove ads. FilterProxy is a Perl script that acts as a generic web proxy. It is unique in that it allows "Modules" to be installed that can perform arbitrary transformations on HTML(or any other mime-type). Currently it filters ads, and compresses HTML content (for a 5-1 speedup on modems!) Configuration is done with web forms. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

filters

a collection of filters, including B1FF and the Swedish Chef A collection of filters to do all sorts of strange things to text. This includes such favorites as B1FF and the Swedish Chef, and a wide range of others. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FIMAS

Financial Institution Message Authentication Standard (banking, ANSI) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

find

search for files in a directory hierarchy From whatis http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

find2perl

translate find command lines to Perl code From whatis http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

findaffix

Interactive spelling checking From whatis http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

findimagedupes

Finds visually similar or duplicate images findimagedupes is a commandline utility which performs a rough "visual diff" to two images. This allows you to compare two images or a whole tree of images and determine if any are similar or identical. The program can optionally export a GQView compatible collection file, so you can deal with the duplicates visually. On common image types, findimagedupes seems to be around 98% accurate. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

findutils

The findutils package contains programs which will help you locatefiles on your system. The find utility searches through a hierarchy of directories looking for files which match a certain set of criteria(such as a filename pattern). The locate utility searches a database (create by updatedb) to quickly find a file matching a given pattern. The xargs utility builds and executes command lines from standard input arguments (usually lists of file names generated by the findcommand). You should install find utils because it includes tools that are very useful for finding things on your system. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

findutils

The findutils package contains programs which will help you locatefiles on your system. The find utility searches through a hierarchy of directories looking for files which match a certain set of criteria (such as a filename pattern). The xargs utility builds and executescommand lines from standard input arguments (usually lists of filenames generated by the find command). From Redhat 8.0 RPM http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

findutils

utilities for finding files--find, xargs, and locate These utilities find files meeting specified criteria and perform various actions on the files which are found. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

Finger

A Unix command that provides information about users logged in, and can also be used to retrieve the .plan and .project files from a users home directory. From KADOWKEV http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

finger

A user information lookup program that shows a person's full name, most recent log-in time, and other information. From Linux Guide @FirstLinux http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

Finger

An Internet software tool for locating people on other Internet sites. Finger is also sometimes used to give access to non-personal information, but the most common use is to see if a person has an account at a particular Internet site. Many sites do not allow incoming Finger requests, but many do. From Matisse http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

Finger

An Internet utility that enables you to obtain information about a use who has an electronic mail addrss. Normally, this infromation is limited to the person's full name, job titile, and address. However, the use can set up finger to retrieve one or more text files that contain information (such as a resume) that the user wants to make public. From QUECID http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

finger

Finger is a utility that displays information about system users (login name, home directory, name, how long they have been logged in, etc.). The finger package includes a standard finger client. You should install finger if you would like to retrieve finger information from other systems. From Redhat 8.0 RPM http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

finger

In UNIX, the finger service provides information about a users. Fingering a user, such as running the command "finger rob@robertgraham.com", will often display the contents of the .plan file. Fingering no specific user, such as finger @robertgraham.com, will list all the users who are logged on. Fingering users is often done during the reconnaissance phase of an attack. Example: The following shows the output of the command "finger rob@rh5.robertgraham.com": Login: rob Name: Robert David Graham Directory: /home/rob Shell: /bin/bash On since Fri Dec 3 18:13 (PST) on ttyp0 from gemini No mail. No Plan Key point: The finger command reveals extensive information. For example, if I were attacking the above machine, I would notice that the user is running bash Therefore, I may try something like http://rh5.robertgraham.com/ against the user, which in about 1% of the cases will give me a history file of recent commands they've entered, which may contain passwords and such. Key point: There are a number of fun things you can do with finger. The first is that you can use the "finger bounce" technique. Finger servers will often forward requests for you. The command: finger rob@robertgraham.com@example.com will query example.com for rob@robertgraham.com. You can use this technique to hide where your are coming from. On some systems, you can do a DoS attack by sending a finger command like: finger rob@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@robertgraham.com causing the system to go into a loop trying to resolve this. There are also special names you can finger. An empty name will sometimes list the currently logged on users, or sometimes all users with accounts on a machine. The special names of "0", "*", "**" will sometimes have similar effects. From Hacking-Lexicon http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

finger

User information lookup program. finger displays information about the system users. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

finger

[WAITS, via BSD Unix] 1. n. A program that displays information about a particular user or all users logged on the system, or a remote system. Typically shows full name, last login time, idle time, terminal line, and terminal location (where applicable). May also display a plan file left by the user (see also Hacking X for Y). 2. vt. To apply finger to a username. 3. vt. By extension, to check a human's current state by any means. "Foodp?" "T!" "OK, finger Lisa and see if she's idle." 4. Any picture (composed of ASCII characters) depicting `the finger'. Originally a humorous component of one's plan file to deter the curious fingerer (sense 2), it has entered the arsenal of some flamers. From Jargon Dictionary http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

finger-server

Finger is a utility that displays information about system users(login name, home directory, name, how long they've been logged in,etc.). The finger-server package includes a standard finger server. From Redhat 8.0 RPM http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fingerd

Remote user information server. Fingerd is a simple daemon based on RFC1196 that provides an interface to the "finger" program at most network sites. The program is supposed to return a friendly, human-oriented status report on either the system at the moment or a particular person in depth. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

fingerprint

A common scan hackers perform nowadays is fingerprinting a system in order to figure out what operating system it is running. The two main types of fingerprinting are Queso, which sends weird TCP flags, and nmap, which sends weird TCP options. Narrowing down the operating system is important. For example, attempting Windows-specific hacks against a UNIX system is pointless. Fingerprinting is possible because the TCP/IP specifications do not fully define the behavior of a protocol stack. Therefore, by sending unusual (undefined) network traffic at a system, the hacker will receive responses unique to that system. Key point: One of the key reasons for fingerprinting a system is to search for "old" or "unusual" systems. Non-computer devices like routers, printers, modem banks, etc. are not written to the same level of security standards as real computers. In addition, a hacker may be able to find old SunOS 4 systems which are rife with well-known security flaws. From Hacking-Lexicon http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

Finnix

Finnix is a self-contained, bootable Linux CD distribution, based on Red Hat Linux 6.1. Finnix was created as a system maintenance distribution. You can mount hard drives, set up network devices, repair filesystems, and pretty much do anything you can do with a regular distribution. A CD-based distribution. From LWN Distribution List http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FIOC

Frame Input/Output Controller From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FIP

Facility Interface Processor From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FIP

Factory Instrumentation Protocol From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FIP

Fluorescent Indicator Panel From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FIPA

Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents (org., Agents) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FIPS

Federal Information Processing Standard (NIST, USA) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FIR

Fast IRDA (IRDA) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FIR

Finite Impulse Response (DSP) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FIRE

FIRE is a portable bootable cdrom based distribution with the goal of providing an immediate environment to perform forensic analysis, incident response, data recovery, virus scanning and vulnerability assessment. The initial version (v.0.1.0.5b) was released February 28, 2002. FIRElite v0.2b was released August 19, 2002. A CD-based distribution. From LWN Distribution List http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FIRE

Flexible Intelligent Routing Engine (3Com) From VERA http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

FireCast

FireCast is a Linux-based software suite for building and managing interactive kiosk networks. It is designed for use with standard PC hardware, and bundles a tamper-resistant kiosk environment, customizable user interface, Web browser, and full multimedia support with a plug- and-play Linux operating system. It also includes a complete set of Web- based remote management and advertising control tools for scheduling content, monitoring device status, and creating and tracking ad campaigns. It requires no prior knowledge of Linux, and uses a familiar graphical interface for all administrative functions. This is a proprietary package, with a free trial. Version 2.0 was released August 31, 2002. A 'special purpose/mini' distribution. From LWN Distribution List http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

Firegate Server

The Firegate Server SMB Edition from Wiresoft is a self-managing server operating system designed for small and mid-sized businesses. It securely connects offices to the Internet and to each other, protecting valuable electronic information. Office staff can securely surf the web, send and receive email, host the company Web site, share files, host a customer database, and more. It is controlled through a simple Web browser or mobile telephone interface and managed by an artificial intelligence-based administration service. This package contains proprietary software. Version 7.1 was released September 25, 2002. A 'secured' distribution. From LWN Distribution List http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

firestarter

gtk program for managing and observing your firewall. Firestarter is a complete firewall tool for Linux machines. It features an easy to use firewall wizard to quickly create a firewall. Using the program you can then open and close ports with a few clicks, or stealth your machine giving access only to a select few. The real-time hit monitor shows attackers probing your machine. Firestarter is made for the GNOME desktop. From Debian 3.0r0 APT http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

Firewall

A combination of hardware and software that separates a Network into two or more parts for security purposes. From Matisse http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

firewall

A device that isolates a network from the Internet. The word is derived from construction, where "firewalls" isolate areas of a building in order to stop a fire from spreading. A firewall acts as a "choke point". Corporations install firewalls between their internal (private) networks and the (public) Internet. All traffic between the corporation and the Internet flows through the firewall. It acts as a "gate" with virtual guards that examines the traffic, and decided whether to allow it or block it. Misunderstanding: Many people believe that a firewall makes your network immune to hacker penetration. Firewalls have no ability to decide for themselves whether traffic is hostile or benign. Instead, the administrator must program the firewall with rules as to what type of traffic to allow or deny. This is similar to a guard checking badges at a gate: the guard can only detect if the badge is allowed/denied, but cannot detect impersonations or somebody climbing the fence in the back. Key point: Firewalls are based on the principle of blocking everything by default and only allowing those things that are absolutely necessary. Key point: Firewall administrators are frequently at odds with their management. Executives are frequently frustrated by things that don't work in the network. They don't understand how difficult it is to secure each new application, or the increased risks involved. Controversy: A lot of time is wasted on trying to come up with the exact definition of the word "firewall", usually by marketing flaks or nerds with attitude. The term isn't well defined. Most people equate firewalls with packet filters. Others include proxy servers and NATs along with the definition. Misunderstanding: A common question posed is "what is the best firewall?". People who ask the question mean "what stops hackers the best?". This is based upon the same misunderstanding highlighted above: firewalls isolate you from the Internet in the hopes of reducing exposure to hackers. The best firewall that will protect you best from hackers is therefore to completely isolate yourself from the Internet (i.e. don't use the Internet at all). If you want to use the Internet, then you will have some risk due to hackers that firewalls cannot prevent. For example, if you tell the firewall to accept incoming e-mail, then you are suddenly at risk to hacks against e-mail (either viruses, or attempts to force spam through your server). Therefore, the most secure firewall tends to be the cheapest, such as the basic packet filters built into most routers and operating systems. The more expensive firewalls allow you to secure more applications through the firewall, but the more features that you use, the more applications you expose, and ultimately the more risk you undertake. Misunderstanding: Some vendors are selling personal firewalls. This is based upon the misconception highlighted above: firewalls do not block hacker traffic, they are instead a (blunt) tool that allows security administrators to reduce risk. Putting packet filters in the hands of end-users doesn't give them the necessary expertise to secure their systems against hackers. There is also the issue that properly configuring a firewall is actually more difficult than hardening a single machine in the first place. It is only worthwhile because one firewall controls access to hundreds/thousands of machines. Putting a single firewall on a single machine isn't really worth the effort. From Hacking-Lexicon http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

firewall

a device that protects a private network from the public part (the internet as a whole). From Linux Guide @FirstLinux http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

Firewall

A firewall is a structure intended to keep a fire from spreading. Building have firewalls made of brick walls completely dividing sections of the building. In a car a firewall is the metal wall separating the engine and passenger compartments. Internet firewalls are intended to keep the flames of Internet hell out of your private LAN. Or, to keep the members of your LAN pure and chaste by denying them access the all the evil Internet temptations. ;-) The first computer firewall was a non-routing Unix host with connections to two different networks. One network card connected to the Internet and the other to the private LAN. To reach the Internet from the private network, you had to logon to the firewall (Unix) server. You then used the resources of the system to access the Internet. For example, you could use X-windows to run Netscape's browser on the firewall system and have the display on your work station. With the browser running on the firewall it has access to both networks. This sort of dual homed system (a system with two network connections) is great if you can TRUST ALL of your users. You can simple setup a Linux system and give an account accounts on it to everyone needing Internet access. With this setup, the only computer on your private network that knows anything about the outside world is the firewall. No one can download to their personal workstations. They must first download a file to the firewall and then download the file from the firewall to their workstation. BIG NOTE: 99% of all break-ins start with gaining account level access on the system being attacked. Because of this I don't recommend this type of firewall. It is also very limiting. From Firewall-HOWTO http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

Firewall

A firewall is used on some networks to provide added security by blocking access to certain services in the private network from the rest of the internet, in the same way that a firewall in a building keeps fire from spreading, an internet firewall keeps hackers from spreading. From KADOWKEV http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

Firewall

A security procedure that places a specially progammed computer system between an organisation's Local Area Network (LAN) and the Internet. The firewall computer precents acrackes from accessing the internal network. Unfortunately, it also prevents the organisation's copmuter uses form gaining direct access to the Internet. The access the the firewall provides is indirect and mediated by programs called proxy servers. From QUECID http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html/index.html

firewall

An access system that keeps unauthorized users from accessing resources on a local private network. From Redhat-9-Glossary http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Dictionary/html