Was formally called ARPA. Defence Advanced Reseach Project Agency.
DataBase Management, a library of functions which maintain key-content pairs in a data base. From NIS HOWTO
A DDoS attack is one that pits many machines against a single victim. An example is the attacks of February 2000 against some of the biggest websites. Even though these websites have a theoretical bandwidth of a gigabit/second, distributing many agents throughout the Internet flooding them with traffic can bring them down. Key point: The Internet is defenseless against these attacks. The best defense is for ISPs to do "egress filtering": prevent packets from going outbound that do not originate from IP addresses assigned to the ISP. This cuts down on the problem of spoofed IP addresses. History: The original DDoS tools were clonebots used during IRC wars. See also: zombie. From Hacking-Lexicon
/dek/ n. 1. v. Verbal (and only rarely written) shorthand for decrement, i.e. `decrease by one'. Especially used by assembly programmers, as many assembly languages have a dec mnemonic. Antonym: inc. 2. n. Commonly used abbreviation for Digital Equipment Corporation, later deprecated by DEC itself in favor of "Digital" and now entirely obsolete following the buyout by Compaq. Before the killer micro revolution of the late 1980s, hackerdom was closely symbiotic with DEC's pioneering timesharing machines. The first of the group of cultures described by this lexicon nucleated around the PDP-1 (see TMRC). Subsequently, the PDP-6, PDP-10, PDP-20, PDP-11 and VAX were all foci of large and important hackerdoms, and DEC machines long dominated the ARPANET and Internet machine population. DEC was the technological leader of the minicomputer era (roughly 1967 to 1987), but its failure to embrace microcomputers and Unix early cost it heavily in profits and prestige after silicon got cheap. Nevertheless, the microprocessor design tradition owes a major debt to the PDP-11 instruction set, and every one of the major general-purpose microcomputer OSs so far (CP/M, MS-DOS, Unix, OS/2, Windows NT) was either genetically descended from a DEC OS, or incubated on DEC hardware, or both. Accordingly, DEC was for many years still regarded with a certain wry affection even among many hackers too young to have grown up on DEC machines. DEC reclaimed some of its old reputation among techies in the first half of the 1990s. The success of the Alpha, an innovatively-designed and very high-performance killer micro, helped a lot. So did DEC's newfound receptiveness to Unix and open systems in general. When Compaq acquired DEC at the end of 1998 there was some concern that these gains would be lost along with the DEC nameplate, but the merged company has so far turned out to be culturally dominated by the ex-DEC side. From Jargon Dictionary
A controversial IBM developed encryption technique that was adopted by the US government for non-classified information, and widely used by financial institutions to transfer large sums of money electronically. Critics charge that DES technology was deliberately weakened so the government would be able to break DES-encoded messages when it chose to do so. From QUECID
In cryptography, DES (Data Encryption Standard) is the most popular algorithm for encrypting data. It is standardized by the United States government (ANSI X9.17) as well as the ISO. Key point: DES ushered in a new era of cryptography. Before DES, strong encryption was only available to large governments and militaries. Cryptography research was similarly limited. Anything that the average person might use could easily be cracked by a major government. DES created a well-defined, easily verifiable security architecture that was available to anyone. DES-capable products flooded the market. Beyond making encryption products available to anyone, DES essentially created the cryptographic community. Before DES researchers toiled away under government/big-business secrecy, After DES, cryptography became a normal computer-science subject. Whereas DES itself was developed by secretive government agencies (NSA) and mammoth corporations (IBM), DES's replacement will likely be created by relatively independent researchers and the cryptographic community as a whole. Contrast: As of the year 2000, DES has been supplanted by the newer AES. Because DES has only 56-bit keys, it can easily be cracked within hours. Contrast: An increasingly popular form of DES is Triple DES which increases the key strength to 112 bits. History: In September, 1998, a German court ruled DES "out of date and unsafe" for banking applications. From Hacking-Lexicon
DHCP is a protocol like BOOTP (actually dhcpd includes much of the functionality of BOOTPD). It assigns IP addresses to clients based on lease times. DHCP is used extensively by Microsoft and more recently also by Apple. It is probably essential in any multi-platform environment.
Dynamically Linked Library, a library linked to an executable program at run-time. From NIS HOWTO
DLX is a full featured Linux system running on Intel PCs. DLX comes on a single 3.5" floppy disk. DLX also supports a parallel-port ZIP-Drive drive. Good for network trouble-shooting and/or FTPing from a university pc-lab. Last new version was released in 1996. Distribution development is not all that active.
In firewalls, a DMZ is an area that is mostly public to the Internet. This is where a companies web, e-mail, and DNS servers are located. A DMZ often has some limited protection, but since it is very exposed to the Internet, the assumption is that the machines in the zone will eventually be compromised. Therefore, the machines often have as little connectivity to the private network as any other machine from the Internet. From Hacking-Lexicon
Analogy: When calling somebody via the telephone, you can lookup their name in the phone book in order to find the telephone number. DNS is a similar directory service. When contacting a web site, your browser looks up the name in DNS in order to find the IP number. History: DNS is relatively new. When the Internet was small, every machine simply had a list of all other machines on the Internet (stored in /etc/hosts). Generally, people just had the IP addresses of machines memorized in much the same way that people memorize phone numbers today. Key point: DNS is not needed for communication. If a DNS server goes down, newbies will think that the entire network is down. Hackers frequently deal with raw IP addresses, and indeed often bypass DNS entirely as it may give off signs of an attack. Key point: The DNS hierarchy starts from the "top level domains" of .com, .net, .org, .edu, .giv, .mil, and the two-letter country codes (e.g. .us for United States, .jp for Japan). Misunderstanding: Both IP addresses and domain names use dots: "www.robertgraham.com" vs. "192.0.2.133". This has no significance; the usage of these dots is unrelated. Trying to match things up one-to-one is wrong (i.e. ".com" == "192."). Analogy: What is your phone number? If I asked you this, you could give me both your home number and your cell phone number. I can reach you at either one. In much the same way, the a domain name like http://www.yahoo.com/ can have multiple IP addresses. Every time you visit that site, you might go to a separate IP address. You can test this out yourself. Go to the command-line and type "ping www.yahoo.com". Notice how it comes back with an IP address that it pings. After that runs, try it again. Notice how the second time it is pinging a different IP address. Details: DNS provides a number of resource records (RR): A ^ The normal record that contain an name to IP address mapping. LOC ^ The geographic location containing latitude, longitude, altitude, and size. Altitude is meters above sea level. Size is the exponent in the in meters of the volumetric size of the object. Hackers sometimes use these records to find where you are located physically. Humor: The original name of this record was ICBM. HOST ^ HOST records can contain information about the machine, such as if it is a Windows or UNIX machine. Administrators probably should not fill them in; they are dangerous. PTR. From Hacking-Lexicon
This system maps hostnames to IP numbers. DNS is the Domain Name System. DNS converts machine names to the IP addresses that all machines on the net have. It translates (or "maps" as the jargon would have it) from name to address and from address to name, and some other things. This HOWTO documents how to define such mappings using Unix system, with a few things specific to Linux. A mapping is simply an association between two things, in this case a machine name, like ftp.linux.org, and the machine's IP number (or address) 199.249.150.4. DNS also contains mappings the other way, from the IP number to the machine name; this is called a "reverse mapping". DNS is, to the uninitiated (you ;-), one of the more opaque areas of network administration. Fortunately DNS isn't really that hard. This HOWTO will try to make a few things clearer. It describes how to set up a simple DNS name server, starting with a caching only server and going on to setting up a primary DNS server for a domain. For more complex setups you can check the qanda section of this document. If it's not described there you will need to read the Real Documentation. I'll get back to what this Real Documentation consists of in the last chapter. Before you start on this you should configure your machine so that you can telnet in and out of it, and successfully make all kinds of connections to the net, and you should especially be able to do telnet 127.0.0.1 and get your own machine (test it now!). You also need good /etc/nsswitch.conf, /etc/resolv.conf and /etc/hosts files as a starting point, since I will not explain their function here. If you don't already have all this set up and working the Networking-HOWTO and/or the Networking-Overview-HOWTO explains how to set it up. Read them. When I say `your machine' I mean the machine you are trying to set up DNS on, not any other machine you might have that's involved in your networking effort. I assume you're not behind any kind of firewall that blocks name queries. If you are you will need a special configuration --- see the section on qanda. Name serving on Unix is done by a program called named. This is a part of the ``BIND'' package which is coordinated by The Internet Software Consortium. Named is included in most Linux distributions and is usually installed as /usr/sbin/named, usually from a package called BIND, in upper or lower case depending on the whim of the packager. If you have a named you can probably use it; if you don't have one you can get a binary off a Linux ftp site, or get the latest and greatest source from ftp://ftp.isc.org/isc/bind9/. This HOWTO is about BIND version 9. The old versions of the HOWTO, about BIND 4 and 8, is still available at http://langfeldt.net/DNS-HOWTO/ in case you use BIND 4 or 8 (incidentally, you will find this HOWTO there too). If the named man page talks about (at the very end, in the FILES section) named.conf you have BIND 8; if it talks about named.boot you have BIND 4. If you have 4 and are security conscious you really ought to upgrade to the latest version of BIND 8. Now. DNS is a net-wide database. Take care about what you put into it. If you put junk into it, you, and others, will get junk out of it. Keep your DNS tidy and consistent and you will get good service from it. Learn to use it, admin it, debug it and you will be another good admin keeping the net from falling to its knees by mismanagement. Tip: Make backup copies of all the files I instruct you to change if you already have them, so that if after going through this nothing works you can get it back to your old, working state. From DNS-HOWTO
A secure form of DNS. Its primary use is for updating DNS servers. TODO Algorithms: RSA, MD5. From Hacking-Lexicon
An application programming interface (API) for HTML and XML documents. It defines the logical structure of documents and the way a document is accessed and manipulated. In the DOM specification, the term "document" is used in the broad sense - increasingly, XML is being used as a way of representing many different kinds of information that may be stored in diverse systems, and much of this would traditionally be seen as data rather than as documents. Nevertheless, XML presents this data as documents, and the DOM may be used to manage this data. From Linux Guide @FirstLinux
To quote the manual, "dosemu" is a user-level program which uses certain special features of the Linux kernel and the 80386 processor to run MS-DOS/FreeDOS/DR-DOS in what we in the biz call a `DOS box.' The DOS box, a combination of hardware and software trickery, has these capabilities: the ability to virtualize all input/output and processor control instructions, the ability to support the word size and addressing modes of the iAPX86 processor family's "real mode," while still running within the full protected mode environment, the ability to trap all DOS and BIOS system calls and emulate such calls as are necessary for proper operation and good performance, the ability to simulate a hardware environment over which DOS programs are accustomed to having control, the ability to provide DOS services through native Linux services; for example, dosemu can provide a virtual hard disk drive which is actually a Linux directory hierarchy." From DOSEMU-HOWTO
An alternative public-key algorithm, the DSA is a standard promulgated by NIST. DSA is only used for digital signatures but is not used for key exchange. It is based upon work done by Schnorr and ElGamal. Contrast: Whereas RSA is based upon the mathematical problem of factoring large numbers, DSA is based upon the discrete logarithm problem. DSA generates signatures faster; RSA verifies signatures better. Contrast: The terms DSA and DSS are essentially the same and are generally used interchangeably. DSS (Digital Signature Standard) is a government document mandating the use of DSA (Digital Signature Algorithm). They are both part of the same FIPS-186 document. Key point: The DSS specification provides for keys only up to 1024-bits. This is considered "weak" and probably breakable in a few years. Some products (e.g. PGP) allow non-standard larger keys to be generated. History: The standard was created by NIST with the help See also: RSA, Diffie-Hellman From Hacking-Lexicon
A method for moving data over regular phone lines. A DSL circuit is much faster than a regular phone connection, and the wires coming into the subscriber's premises are the same (copper) wires used for regular phone service. A DSL circuit must be configured to connect two specific locations, similar to a leased line (howeverr a DSL circuit is not a leased line. A common configuration of DSL allows downloads at speeds of up to 1.544 megabits (not megabytes) per second, and uploads at speeds of 128 kilobits per second. This arrangement is called ADSL: Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line. Another common configuration is symmetrical: 384 Kilobits per second in both directions. In theory ADSL allows download speeds of up to 9 megabits per second and upload speeds of up to 640 kilobits per second. DSL is now a popular alternative to Leased Lines and ISDN, being faster than ISDN and less costly than traditional Leased Lines. From Matisse
an XML dialect for working with directory information. From Linux Guide @FirstLinux
From Rute-Users-Guide
Digital signal processors - specialized microprocessors that perform the same task repetitively at very high frequency. Most often used in telecommunications and multimedia application platforms. From Linux Guide @FirstLinux
A progammable sound processing circuit, used in both modems and sound boards. Sound boards use DSPs to handle a variety of sound resolutions, formats, and sound-altering filters without requiring separate circuits for each one, while modems use DSPs to handle several modulation protocols. From QUECID
DeVice Independent: a typesetter independent file which is generated from TeX. From Linux Guide @FirstLinux
A format for recording digital video onto compact disc allowing for compression and full motion video. From Glossary of Distance Education and Internet Terminology
Videoconferencing on a personal computer. From Glossary of Distance Education and Internet Terminology
A background process of the operating system that usually has root security level permission. A daemon usually lurks in the background until something triggers it into activity, such as a specific time or date, time interval, receipt of e-mail, etc. From I-gloss
A program, usually on a computer running UNIX, that serves some obscure function (such as routing electronic mail to its recipients) and usually has a very limited user interface. There's some debate about the origins of the word, but most say it derives from the devilish spirits of Greek mythology. From QUECID
Damn Small Linux is a business card size (50MB) Linux distribution. Despite it's miniscule size it strives to have a functional and easy to use desktop. The initial freshmeat announcement for version 0.1 was released March 19, 2003. Version 0.3.10 was released June 4, 2003. A CD-based distribution. From LWN Distribution List
A source-based multi-platform Linux distribution. From LWN Distribution List
An important method employed by redundant arrays of inexpensive disks (RAID) in which a single unit of data is distributed acroess several hard disks, increasing ressitance to a failure in one of the drives. From QUECID
A computer holding large amounts of information that can be searched by an Internet user. A storehouse of information on the Net. From Glossary of Distance Education and Internet Terminology
DeLi Linux stands for "Desktop Light" Linux, a desktop distribution for older computers, from 486 to Pentium MMX 166 or so. Slackware 7.1-based DeLi includes plenty of desktop software such as email clients, a graphical Web browser, an office package with word processor and spreadsheet, etc. A full install, including XFree86 and development tools, needs no more than 300 MB of harddisk space. DeLi uses the 2.2.19 kernel for a smaller footprint and rocksolid stability on older hardware. Initial version 0.1 was released November 3, 2002. Version 0.2 was released March 19, 2003. From LWN Distribution List
The DeMuDi Agnula Project aims to create a Debian-based distribution for multi-media work. This is not a mini-distribution, but it is special purpose. The first official release, DeMuDi Agnula 0.9, is due out in November 2002 [as of July 10, 2002]. A 'special purpose/mini' distribution. From LWN Distribution List
The Debian Project is currently the largest volunteer based distribution provider. Debian has an old stable version 2.2 (potato), a newer stable version 3.0r1 (woody), and less stable but more current branches available. From LWN Distribution List
Debian-Ham is a floppy distribution specifically for contesting and logging. It is based on uClibc, busybox, and tlf. The current scheme uses a LILO boot floppy with a minix root floppy. Network support is included to connect to a DX cluster. The initial Freshmeat announcment was for version 0.3, released July 21, 2002. Version 0.5 was released April 24, 2003. A floppy-based distribution. From LWN Distribution List
This is an internal project to make Debian an OS that children of all ages will want to use. Our initial focus will be on producing something for children up to age 8. Once we have accomplished this, our next target age range is 7 to 12. By the time children reach their teens, they should be comfortable with using Debian without any special modifications. From LWN Distribution List
Debian-Med is an internal Debian project to support tasks of people in medical care. The goal of Debian-Med is to build a a complete system for all tasks in medical care, using only free software. A 'special purpose/mini' distribution. From LWN Distribution List
A utility program, often included in compilers or interpreters, that helps programmers find and fix syntax errors and other errors in source code. From QUECID
The process of locating and correcting errors in a program. From QUECID
Definite Linux was a boxed set of desktop Linux and applications. It hasn't been maintained since late 2000. Distribution development is not all that active. From LWN Distribution List
see rm. From KADOWKEV
DemoLinux is a complete distribution on a bootable CDROM. Take Linux with you and run Linux anywhere. The website shows multi-lingual support for English, French, Italian, Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese. DemoLinux 3.01p15 was released July 27, 2002. A CD-based distribution. From LWN Distribution List
The operating system user interface, which is designed to represent an office desk with objects on it. Rather than physical telephones, lamps, in/out baskets, etc., the operating system desktop uses program and data icons, windows, taskbars, and the like. There are many different desktop environments available for Linux, including KDE, GNOME, and X11, that can be installed by a user. (Also, see GUI, Window manager and X Window System.) From I-gloss
The merging of video, telephone, and computer technologies for the purpose of delivering multimedia information and telecommunication capabilities at the individual computer workstation. From Glossary of Distance Education and Internet Terminology
Lycoris, formerly Redmond Linux, has a distribution targeted toward Windows users that are ready for a change. Desktop/LX Update 2 was released July 29, 2002. From LWN Distribution List
"probably the worlds nastiest Linux-distribution" You get just enough tools to download everything you need over the internet and build the packages on your computer. Could be very educational. From LWN Distribution List
Any hardware component or peripheral, such as a printer, modem, montor, or mouse, that can receive and/or receive data. Some devices require special software, called device drivers. From QUECID
A program that serves as an intermediary between the operating system and a device (ports, drives, monitors, printers, etc.) defining to the operating system what capabilities the device has and translating the operating system commands into instructions the device understands. From I-gloss
The capability of a program, operating system or programming language to work on a varity of computers or peripherals, despite their electronic variation. UNIX, an operating system for multiuser computer systems, is designed to run on a wide variety of coputers, from personal computers to mainframes. PostScript, a page description language for high-quality printing, is used by many printer manufacturers. From QUECID
In DOS, a three-letter abbreviation that registers to a peripheral device. From QUECID
An object in the hardware tree that represents a piece of hardware. From QUECID
Devil-Linux is a special Linux distribution used for Firewalls and Routers. The goal of Devil-Linux is to have a small, customizable and secure Linux OS. It comes on a CDROM and saves configuration data on a floppy disk, and it has several optional packages. Devil-Linux 0.5RC1 (Beta) was released May 30, 2002. Devil-Linux 0.5 was released September 2, 2002. A CD-based distribution. From LWN Distribution List
Connection to a network
It is using telephone lines or ISDN networks to connect your computer to the Internet. From Glossary of Distance Education and Internet Terminology
A sort order that ignores the case of characters as data is rearranged. See sort. From QUECID
DietLinux is a dietlibc-based Linux distribution. Glibc is fully avoided. Some of the most important server daemons (DHCP, DNS, etc.) are working. The initial version, 0.1, was released May 16, 2003. Version 0.1.1 was released May 22, 2003. A 'special purpose/mini' distribution. From LWN Distribution List
The original public-key algorithm. Modern cryptography starts in 1976 when Diffie and Hellman published their groundbreaking paper "New Directions in Cryptography". Contrast: Whereas RSA is based upon the mathematical problem of factoring large numbers, DH is based upon the discrete logarithm problem. Whereas RSA can be used to encrypt messages, DH can only be used for key-exchange. However, RSA is essentially only used for key-exchange in the first place. The disadvantages of DH vs. RSA are: message expansion DH encrypted messages are larger (though this isn't really an issue for key-exchange). key size Current standards (e.g. DSS) specify smaller key sizes than those supported by RSA-based standards. CPU DH based standards take processing time than RSA based equivalents (and a lot more than than elliptical curve techniques). Advantages of DH over RSA are: patents This is no longer an important issue now that RSA patents have expired, but the reason DH became popular was because it was essentially patent-free. key generation It takes a long time to generate RSA keys, so DH is a better option if keys must be generated often. key size For keys of the same size, DH is more secure. In other words, it takes longer keys for RSA to be as secure as DH. security DH is conjectured to be less likely to be broken by new developements in mathematical theory. Contrast: The most common use of Diffie-Hellman is ElGamal, a public-key encryption variant of Diffie-Hellman. The U.S. government standard DSS is based upon ElGamal. See also: RSA, public-key crypto. From Hacking-Lexicon
The digital version of literati, it is a reference to a vague cloud of people seen to be knowledgeable, hip, or otherwise in-the-know in regardsto the digital revolution. From Matisse
A data signal transmitted using discrete steps in voltage rather than frequency, as in an analog signal. From Glossary of Distance Education and Internet Terminology
A list of files or other directories on a computer at an Internet site. From Glossary of Distance Education and Internet Terminology
The Unix equivalent of a 'folder' on a Macintosh, all files are stored in directories. A directory can be created with the mkdir command and empty directories are removed with rmdir. From KADOWKEV
A directory is like a database, but tends to contain more descriptive, attribute-based information. The information in a directory is generally read much more often than it is written. As a consequence, directories don't usually implement the complicated transaction or roll-back schemes that regular databases use for doing high-volume complex updates. Directory updates are typically simple all-or-nothing changes, if they are allowed at all. From Linux Guide @FirstLinux
In a local area network (LAN), a workstation that has a central processing unit (CPU) and random-access memory (RAM) but lacks its own disk drives. Diskless workstations ensure that everyone in an organisation prodics compatible data and helps reduce security risks. However, diskless workstations cause serious loss of speed, flexibility, and originality and with greater vulneratibility to the effects of a disk or system crash. From QUECID
Conveying knowledge from a distance. The organizational framework and process of providing instruction at a distance. Distance education takes place when a teacher and student(s) are physically separated, and technology such that voice, video, data and/or print is used to bridge the instructional gap. From Glossary of Distance Education and Internet Terminology
The term Distance Learning is typically used describe video-enabled instruction (integrated voice, data, and video transmissions) in college, university, medical school or kindergarten through the twelfth-grade environment. Distance Learning permits especially gifted teachers to reach an almost limitless number of students around the world. From Glossary of Distance Education and Internet Terminology
A packaging of the Linux kernel (core) with various user interfaces, utilities, drivers, and other software into a user deliverable. Often available as a free download or in a low-cost CD-ROM package. Popular distributions include Caldera OpenLinux, CoreLinux, Debian, Red Hat, Slackware, SuSE, TurboLinux and others. From I-gloss
Any program that can be received by a satellite antenna and distributed into several viewing areas. From Glossary of Distance Education and Internet Terminology
An exploit whose purpose is to deny somebody the use of the service: namely to crash or hang a program or the entire system. Example: Some classes of DoS are: traffic flood Overwhelms the Internet connection. Because it is the Internet connection itself that is attacked, there isn't much the victim can do to stop the attack. A firewall might block the flood from going any further, but the Internet connection in front of the firewall is still overloaded. application floods or bombs Overwhelms a program with too many events. A firewall that allows the traffic cannot block these attacks. For example, a firewall configured to allow IRC cannot selectively block just the flood but allow all other traffic. Common services attacked this way are IRC, HTTP, and e-mail (SMTP). remote system crash/hang Historically, there have been a lot of ways of remotely crashing machines. These attack the TCP/IP stack within the system causing it to crash or hang. This affects all software running on the system. remote service crash Crashes just the application/service. This doesn't affect other software running on the system. Example: Some famous DoS attacks are: Ping of Death This exploit crashed most machines vintage 1995 by sending illegally fragmented packets at a victim. Even as late as 2000, some systems were vulnerable to variants of this DoS, such as the Jolt2 attack against Windows systems. SYN flood ping flood WinNuke Sending OOB/URG data across a TCP connection to Windows. teardrop Sends overlapping IP fragments at the victim. Overlapping IP fragments should normally never happen. This means that the code to handle them has never been tested -- and therefore many bugs exist. land (latierra) An attacker can forge a packet that is sent from the victim's machine to the victim's machine, which can cause it to reply back to itself in an infinite loop. targa A tool that includes many popular DoS attacks (by Mixter). Culture: A common word for DoS is "nuke", which was first popularized by the WinNuke program (a simple ping-of-death expoit script. These days, "nukes" are those DoS exploits that script kiddies in chat rooms use against each other. See also: SYN flood From Hacking-Lexicon
The instructions, tutorials, and refernce information that provides you with the information you need to use a program or computer system effectively. Documentation can appear in printed form or in on-line help systems. From QUECID
An internet 'domain' is a subsection of the internet. The primary domains of the internet are .COM, .NET, .MIL, and .ORG, which refer to Commercial, Network, Military, and Organization. These domains are administered by the Internic. Each domain has a primary and secondary Domain Name Server associated with it. From KADOWKEV
The part of the Internet address that specifies your computer's location in the world. The address is written as a series of names separated by full stops. For example, the Domain name at Global SchoolHouse Foundation is www.gsh.org--this shows that Global SchoolHouse Foundation is an organization. The another example, www.statistik.uni-dortmund.de, shows that Statistics faculty is in the University of Dortmund, and the last de shows the it is in Germany (Deutschland). The German word for Germany is (de)utschland. The most common top level domains: .edu Educations(US).net network resource .com Commercial(US) www.aspensys.com .org Organization(US) .de (Code for Germany..) .gov Public bodies
The unique name that identifies an Internet site. Domain Names always have 2 or more parts, separated by dots. The part on the left is the most specific, and the part on the right is the most general. A given machine may have more than one Domain Name but a given Domain Name points to only one machine. For example, the domain names: matisse.net mail.matisse.net workshop.matisse.net can all refer to the same machine, but each domain name can refer to no more than one machine. Usually, all of the machines on a given Network will have the same thing as the right-hand portion of their Domain Names (matisse.net in the examples above). It is also possible for a Domain Name to exist but not be connected to an actual machine. This is often done so that a group or business can have an Internet e-mail address without having to establish a real Internet site. In these cases, some real Internet machine must handle the mail on behalf of the listed Domain Name. From Matisse
Each internet domain has two domain name servers, or DNS. The primary DNS for a domain is usually located on one of the machine in that network, you can often determine the server from the output of the nslookup command. From KADOWKEV
In UNIX, a file thet has a name preceded by a dot. Such a file normally isn't displayed by UNIX file-listing utility progams. Dot files are frequently used for user configuration files, such as a file that lists the newsgroups the user regularly consults. From QUECID
The process of taking information stored on the internet and copying it to your computer's hard disk. You may find yourself downloading the latest shareware from a site such as http://www.search.com/. To transfer files from a server to a PC across a network (Internet). From Glossary of Distance Education and Internet Terminology
DragonLinux is a complete Linux operating system distribution that has been customized to install on top of versions of Microsoft Windows or any version of DOS. DragonLinux v2r2pre was released November 26, 2001. From LWN Distribution List
Dualix is a mini-distribution of Linux based on libc5, kernel 2.2.10. It is intended for use as a quick, portable, and configurable network client, not a rescue system. Distribution development is not all that active. From LWN Distribution List
DyneBolic is a live bootable CDROM that will give you a Linux desktop on any machine with a CD drive. Comes with audio streaming, realtime video effects, and Mozilla web browser. Development version 1.0 alpha 5 was released May 11, 2003. A CD-based distribution. From LWN Distribution List
Graphical tool for downloading files from Internet Downloader for X is a tool for downloading files from the Internet via both HTTP and FTP with a powerful but userfriendly interface. It supports reconnecting and resuming on connection timeouts, has a download queue for multiple files, support for simultaneous downloads, and many other features for powerful downloading. It is written in C++, the GUI uses GTK+. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Multi-algorithm compression DACT compresses each block within the file with all its known algorithms and uses the block with the best compression ratio. DACT can encrypt the compressed data with one of two algorithms. Compression time for DACT is slow as each block is compressed multiple times, Current supported compression algorithms include RLE, Delta, Text, Zlib, Modified Zlib, Bzip2 and Seminibble Encoding. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Exterminates all rational thought DadaDodo is a program that analyses texts for Markov chains of word probabilities and then generates random sentences based on that. Sometimes these sentences are nonsense; but sometimes they cut right through to the heart of the matter and reveal hidden meanings. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
/day'mn/ or /dee'mn/ n. [from the mythological meaning, later rationalized as the acronym `Disk And Execution MONitor'] A program that is not invoked explicitly, but lies dormant waiting for some condition(s) to occur. The idea is that the perpetrator of the condition need not be aware that a daemon is lurking (though often a program will commit an action only because it knows that it will implicitly invoke a daemon). For example, under ITS writing a file on the LPT spooler's directory would invoke the spooling daemon, which would then print the file. The advantage is that programs wanting (in this example) files printed need neither compete for access to nor understand any idiosyncrasies of the LPT. They simply enter their implicit requests and let the daemon decide what to do with them. Daemons are usually spawned automatically by the system, and may either live forever or be regenerated at intervals. Daemon and demon are often used interchangeably, but seem to have distinct connotations. The term `daemon' was introduced to computing by CTSS people (who pronounced it /dee'mon/) and used it to refer to what ITS called a dragon; the prototype was a program called DAEMON that automatically made tape backups of the file system. Although the meaning and the pronunciation have drifted, we think this glossary reflects current (2000) usage. From Jargon Dictionary
A process lurking in the background, usually unnoticed, until something triggers it into action. For example, the \cmd{update} daemon wakes up every thirty seconds or so to flush the buffer cache, and the \cmd{sendmail} daemon awakes whenever someone sends mail.
a program which runs for an extended period (usually "forever") to handle requests for service as needed. From Linux Guide @FirstLinux
On UNIX, a daemon is a program running in the background, usually providing some sort of service. Typical daemons are those that provide e-mail, printing, telnet, FTP, and web access. From Hacking-Lexicon
view web comic strips more conveniently A perl script that gathers online comic strips for more convenient viewing. When in normal mode, it creates an HTML page that references the strips directly, and when in local mode, it also downloads the images to your local disk. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
An IRC server designed for centrally maintained networks This is the ircd designed for use on OpenProjects Net (www.openprojects.net), based on the hybrid ircd used by efnet. It attempts to handle the network transparently as a unit, and to provide features to support the OPN philosophy. This package contains the main binary files. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
IRC services implementation for dancer-ircd This is the counterpart to dancer-ircd, a services implementation (nickserv, chanserv, etc) that works with the dancer protocol. It can connect to a remote server, but it is highly recommended that you run a local ircd instead and connect it to that. Note that dancer-services will not work properly with any ircd other than dancer-ircd. Dancer-services is essentially the same as hybserv, only patched to work with dancer-ircd. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Provides a SOCKS wrapper for users behind a firewall. Dante provides "socksify" - a program which forwards network requests from any program to the SOCKS server (v4 or v5) which then performs them on your behalf. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
SOCKS server. dante-server provides "danted" - a SOCKS (v4 and v5) server From Debian 3.0r0 APT
An indexed collection of information which can be accessed, modified and queried using a query language such as SQL. Popular databases applications for Linux include the commercial Oracle product and Informix-SE. From Linux Guide @FirstLinux
The database is one of the underpinning applications of the Internet. The concept of database "records" predates that of "files" within a computer. These days, most discussion of databases revolves around SQL (structured query language). An SQL statement is a special language that you may use to encode a statement such as show me everyone who has a first name of "Robert". The actual SQL statement would look like: "SELECT * from Everyone where firstname equals 'Robert'". Key point: The near-programming quality of SQL means that it is open to much the same security holes that plague other scripting languages. For example, a frequent attacks against databases is to insert shell metacharacters into data fields. For example, consider a reporting system using PERL that extracts data out of a database. I may create a bank acount where name is "| mail smc@robertgraham.com < /etc/passwd", which will send me the password field when you run your month-end reports. In late 1999 and early year 2000, thousands of Microsoft's web servers were broken into because programs submitted command-line statements through SQL query statements through a default script left open on default installations of their servers. From Hacking-Lexicon
A packet which includes both the source and destination addresses provided by the user, and not the network. Datagrams can also include data. From Linux Guide @FirstLinux
In protocols, a datagram is a single transmission that stands by itself. They are often known as unreliable datagrams because there is not guarantee that they will reach their destination. It is up to some higher protocol or application to verify that a datagram reaches its destination. Streaming media (audio/video/voice) often use datagrams because it doesn't really matter if a few are lost in transmission. From Hacking-Lexicon
print or set the system date and time From whatis
The Berkeley Database (Berkeley DB) is a programmatic toolkit that provides embedded database support for both traditional and client/server applications. It should be installed if compatibility is needed with databases created with db1. This library used to be part of the glibc package. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM
The Berkeley Database (Berkeley DB) is a programmatic toolkit that provides embedded database support for both traditional and client/server applications. This library used to be part of the glibc package. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM
(Jade Wrapper) converts SGML files to DVI From whatis
(Jade Wrapper) converts SGML files to HTML From whatis
(Jade Wrapper) converts SGML files to PDF From whatis
(Jade Wrapper) converts SGML files to PS From whatis
(Jade Wrapper) converts SGML files to RTF From whatis
The Berkeley Database (Berkeley DB) is a programmatic toolkit thatprovides embedded database support for both traditional and client/server applications. The Berkeley DB includes B+tree, ExtendedLinear Hashing, Fixed and Variable-length record access methods, transactions, locking, logging, shared memory caching, and database recovery. The Berkeley DB supports C, C++, Java, and Perl APIs. It is used by many applications, including Python and Perl, so this should be installed on all systems. From Redhat 8.0 RPM
the DB database archiver From whatis
the DB database checkpoint utility From whatis
the DB database deadlock detector From whatis
the DB database dump utility From whatis
the DB database dump utility From whatis
the DB database loader From whatis
Debugging utility to dump Berkeley DB log files. From whatis
the DB database recovery utility From whatis
display DB statistics From whatis
Database connection pooling, load balancing and write-replication DBBalancer provides facilities to transparently implement: - pooling of connections - load balancing across multiple backends - write replication to multiple backends DBBalancer is a middleware daemon that sits in between database clients, like C, C++, TCL, Java JDBC, Perl DBI, etc programs and a database server. Currently the only server supported is PostgreSQL, but the architecture is open to embrace more servers in future. Also see http://dbbalancer.sourceforge.net/ for more information. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
The dbench (disk) and tbench (TCP) benchmarks dbench and tbench simulate the load of the netbench "industry standard" benchmark used to rate (windows) file servers. Unlike netbench, they do not require a lab of Microsoft Windows PCs: dbench produces the filesystem load on a netbench run, and tbench produces the network load, allowing simpler bottleneck isolation. Note that this benchmark is *not* a realistic reflection of normal server load. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
xBase <--> MySQL This program takes an xBase file and sends queries to an MySQL server to insert it into an MySQL table and vice versa. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Converting xBase files to PostgreSQL This program takes an xBase-file and sends queries to an PostgreSQL-server to insert it into a table. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Interactive SQL shell with readline support Database shell with readline support [command history, tab completion etc] based on the Perl DBI: Has specific support for Oracle, MySQL, Sybase, PostgreSQL, and a generic driver that should work for anything supported by DBI. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Files used for the development of DBS source packages DBS stands for Debian Build System and is an alternative approach for source packages which want to ship a pristine source and then apply patches to it. This allows the distribution of multiple patches inside one package that are applied during the build process. Please see http://snoopy.apana.org.au/~bam/debian/faq/#dbs for further information on DBS. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
The fastest dictionary server for SKK dbskkd-cdb is an alternate version of skkserv using cdb. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
View dBase III files Dbview is a little tool that will display dBase III and IV files. You can also use it to convert your old .dbf files for further use with Unix. It wasn't the intention to write a freaking viewer and reinvent the wheel again. Instead dbview is intend to be used in conjunction with your favourite unix text utilities like cut, recode and more. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
The GNU dc arbitrary precision reverse-polish calculator GNU dc is a reverse-polish desk calculator which supports unlimited precision arithmetic. It also allows you to define and call macros. A reverse-polish calculator stores numbers on a stack. Entering a number pushes it on the stack. Arithmetic operations pop arguments off the stack and push the results. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Command-line CD player dcd (Dave's CD player) is a small CD player, for people who think workbone is too bloated and graphical. All functions are accessible from the command line. Loop tracks in the background, use it with 'at' as an alarm clock, whatever. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Direct Connect Graphical client (GTK+) (peer-based file-sharing) dc_gui is a gtk front-end for the dctc program. dctc handles all communication with dc hubs and clients, while dcgui presents an interface that has many of the features of the original directconnect client, plus some really useful improvements. It is intended for peer-based file-sharing. In practise it works better than gnutella and other similar systems as it allows dc hubs (servers) administators to require clients to share specified amount of data. The amount is usually based on type of client's connection and it is used not to hurt or exclude anybody but to make file sharing "fair play". dcgui is still alpha, so some care has to be taken - try it out! From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Digital clock for the X Window System with flexible display. Dclock main feature is its great flexibility in how it can draw. You can even display the output from "date" in it such as "Wednesday, 3rd Jan". Dclock also supports setting an alarm. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Perl bindings for DCOP Perl bindings for DCOP From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Python bindings for DCOP Python bindings for DCOP From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Direct Connect Text Client Text console client of well known DC (Direct Connect) protocol which offers peer-based file-sharing. In practise it works better than gnutella and other similar systems as it allows dc hubs (servers) administators to require clients to share specified amount of data. The amount is usually based on type of client's connection and it is used not to hurt or exclude anybody but to make file sharing "fair play". It is *really* not intended to be used "by hand". Instead You should install and use dcgui program. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
/dee-dee/ vt. [Unix: from IBM JCL] Equivalent to cat or BLT. Originally the name of a Unix copy command with special options suitable for block-oriented devices; it was often used in heavy-handed system maintenance, as in "Let's dd the root partition onto a tape, then use the boot PROM to load it back on to a new disk". The Unix dd(1) was designed with a weird, distinctly non-Unixy keyword option syntax reminiscent of IBM System/360 JCL (which had an elaborate DD `Dataset Definition' specification for I/O devices); though the command filled a need, the interface design was clearly a prank. The jargon usage is now very rare outside Unix sites and now nearly obsolete even there, as dd(1) has been deprecated for a long time (though it has no exact replacement). The term has been displaced by BLT or simple English `copy'. From Jargon Dictionary
convert and copy a file From whatis
copies a file (from standard input to standard output, by default) using specific input and output blocksizes, while optionally performing conversions on it. From Linux Guide @FirstLinux
converts Gregorian dates to Discordian dates From whatis
Update dynamic IP address at DynDNS.org A perl based client to update your dynamic IP address at DynDNS.org (or other dynamic DNS services such as Hammernode, Zoneedit or EasyDNS), thus allowing you and others to use a fixed hostname (myhost.dyndns.org) to access your machine. This client supports both the dynamic and (near) static services, MX setting, and alternative host. It caches the address, and only attempts the update if the address actually changes. For more information on DynDNS.org, see http://www.dyndns.org/. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
The Data Display Debugger, a graphical debugger frontend. The Data Display Debugger (DDD) is a popular graphical user interface to UNIX debuggers such as GDB, DBX, XDB, JDB and others. Besides ``usual'' front-end features such as viewing source texts and breakpoints, DDD provides an interactive graphical data display, where data structures are displayed as graphs. Using DDD, you can reason about your application by watching its data, not just by viewing it execute lines of source code. Other DDD features include: debugging of programs written in Ada, C, C++, Chill, Fortran, Java, Modula, Pascal, Perl and Python; machine-level debugging; hypertext source navigation and lookup; breakpoint, backtrace, and history editors; preferences and settings editors; program execution in terminal emulator window; debugging on remote host; on-line manual; interactive help on the Motif user interface; GDB/DBX/XDB command-line interface with full editing, history, and completion capabilities. This version is linked against Lesstif, an LGPL-ed implementation of Motif. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Tools for using DDS features of DAT drives with GNU tar This tool makes use of the fast seek command of DAT devices. Files from a selected file archive can be extracted within one minute. An undocumented c-shell script scsi_vendor is provided which may help in learning more about an unknown SCSI device. It is used by the mt-dds tool. scsi_vendor requires the tcsh flavor of c-shell. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Simple Kana to Kanji conversion program Daredevil SKK is a branch of SKK (Simple Kana to Kanji conversion program, an input method of Japanese). It forked from the main trunk, SKK version 10.56. It consists of a simple core and many optional programs which provide extensive features, however, our target is to more simplify core, and more expand its optional features. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Dynamic DNS Tools Client. This is the client side implementation of the DDTP protocol. It allows you to assign a fixed FQDN to any hosts that connects to the internet using a dynamic IP. You have to register with a DDT service provider in order to use it. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Dynamic DNS Tools Server. This is the server side implementation of the DDTP protocol. This is useful only if you want to provide a service similar to the one at ddts.net. You should not install unless you know what you are doing. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
adj. 1. Non-functional; down; crashed. Especially used of hardware. 2. At XEROX PARC, software that is working but not undergoing continued development and support. 3. Useless; inaccessible. Antonym: `live'. Compare dead code. From Jargon Dictionary
n. 1. [techspeak] A situation wherein two or more processes are unable to proceed because each is waiting for one of the others to do something. A common example is a program communicating to a server, which may find itself waiting for output from the server before sending anything more to it, while the server is similarly waiting for more input from the controlling program before outputting anything. (It is reported that this particular flavor of deadlock is sometimes called a `starvation deadlock', though the term `starvation' is more properly used for situations where a program can never run simply because it never gets high enough priority. Another common flavor is `constipation', in which each process is trying to send stuff to the other but all buffers are full because nobody is reading anything.) See deadly embrace. 2. Also used of deadlock-like interactions between humans, as when two people meet in a narrow corridor, and each tries to be polite by moving aside to let the other pass, but they end up swaying from side to side without making any progress because they always move the same way at the same time. From Jargon Dictionary
deallocate unused virtual terminals From whatis
Tool to handle debian package archives. This tool can create a potato like file structure that dselect, apt-get and similar tools can use for easier installation. You just have to place the package files into a incoming directory and the tool does the sorting (if you place the generated '.changes' file there too). OBSERVE! This package will create a cronjob that does the actual sorting. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Debian Auxiliary Programs This package contains Perl programs and modules to build and publish Debian packages. debaux-build automatically downloads APT sources before building, applies patches and additional sources. It has options to build the packages in an existing chroot environment, check the generated packages with lintian, install the created packages on your local system or turn them into RPM packages. debaux-build has experimental support for downloading Perl modules from CPAN and creating the necessary Debian packaging files. debaux-publish uploads packages and runs the scripts to create the APT sources and packages files on the remote system. debaux-publish doesn't support the pool structure yet. The DebAux::Debconf module provides an easy-to-use interface for the Debconf::Client::ConfModule::get function. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
The bug tracking system based on the active Debian BTS Debian has a bug tracking system which files details of bugs reported by users and developers. Each bug is given a number, and is kept on file until it is marked as having been dealt with. The system is mainly controlled by e-mail, but the bug reports can be viewed using WWW. This version is fully functional, but it does not autoconfig, see /usr/share/doc/debbugs/README.Debian after installation. Note: there might be some appearance issues where the a display variable doesn't expand as expected. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Access the Debian BTS from within Emacs This package contains: * debian-bug.el, an Elisp function to submit a bug from within Emacs. * gnus-BTS.el, an enhancement to Gnus to provide buttons on bug numbers seen in Debian-related messages. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Debian configuration management system Debconf is a configuration management system for debian packages. Packages use Debconf to ask questions when they are installed. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
communicate with debconf From whatis
copy a debconf db From whatis
extract a language from a templates file From whatis
load template file into debconf database From whatis
merge together multiple debconf template files From whatis
(unknown) From whatis
dummy package for upgrade purposes This is an empty package which depends on debconf. It exists only to ensure smooth upgrades from potato to woody, and can be safely removed at any time. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
debconf utilities This package contains some small utilities to aid users and developers. There are utilities to help manage debconf databases, others to manage translated template files and a program to communicate directly with debconf from the command line. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Install only wanted Debian packages debfoster is a wrapper program for apt and dpkg. When first run, it will ask you which of the installed packages you want to keep installed. After that, it maintains a list of packages that you want to have installed on your system. It uses this list to detect packages that have been installed only because other packages depended on them. If one of these dependencies changes, debfoster will take notice, and ask if you want to remove the old package. This helps you to maintain a clean Debian install, without old (mainly library) packages lying around that aren't used any more. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
download/compile source and binary Debian packages debget downloads source and binary Debian packages by name. It doesn't require a local copy of the Packages files, instead it lists directories on the FTP site to find out what versions are available. debget can also optionally unpack and compile source packages, and even install the generated binary packages. If you intend to use these features you should install the devscripts package for the dscverify script it contains. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
helper programs for debian/rules A collection of programs that can be used in a debian/rules file to automate common tasks related to building debian packages. Programs are included to install various files into your package, compress files, fix file permissions, integrate your package with the debian menu system, suidmanager, doc-base, etc. Most debian packages use debhelper as part of their build process. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Tools for building (Official) Debian CD set Debian-cd is the official tool for building Debian CD set since the potato release. It was formerly called YACS (for Yet Another CD Script). Its goal is to facilitate the creation of customized Debian CD set. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Text from: Debian GNU/Linux: Guide to Installation and Usage This package will install the full text in HTML and PostScript formats from the book "Debian GNU/Linux: Guide to Installation and Usage" by Debian developers John Goerzen and Ossama Othman (ISBN 0-7357-0914-9). You can find the installed items under /usr/doc/debian-guide. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
GnuPG (and obsolete PGP) keys of Debian Developers The Debian project wants developers to digitally sign the announcements of their packages with GnuPG, to protect against forgeries. This package contains keyrings of GnuPG and (deprecated) PGP keys of developers. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Debian Policy Manual and related documents This package contains: - Debian Policy Manual - Linux Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS) - Authoritative list of virtual package names - Paper about libc6 migration - Policy checklist for upgrading your packages It also replaces the old Packaging Manual; most of the still-relevant content is now included as appendices to the Policy Manual. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Scripts used to run tests against an installed Debian system This package contains tests and the framework to run them, and test provided by other packages to test themselves. The intent is that this should build into a test suite that provides a reasonable level of confidence that a Debian system is working correctly. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
DebianDoc SGML DTD and formatting tools This is an SGML-based documentation formatting package used for the Debian manuals. It reads markup files and produces DVI (via LaTeX), HTML, Info (via Texinfo), LaTeX, PostScript (via DVI), Texinfo, and plain text (with overstrikes a la troff as well as without) files. The LaTeX based output needs the libpaperg, tetex-bin and tetex-extra packages. The Texinfo based output needs the texinfo package. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Miscellaneous utilities specific to Debian. Debianutils includes installkernel mkboot mktemp readlink run-parts savelog sensible-editor sensible-pager tempfile which. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Debianizing Tool and automated binary generation Eases the development and maintenance of Debian Sourcepackages. - deb-make: Generate a debian style sourcepackage from a regular sourcecode archive. Customizes control files. Provides example setup for debstd that is usually usable with minimal editing. - "debstd" which has the following abilities: - Automates compression of documentation, localizes manpages compresses and installs them. - Supports multiple binaries generated from a single source package - Generates maintainer scripts for you and installs all scripts for you in the proper locations with the proper permissions. - Can perform modifications on a variety of important debian config files through generation of proper maintainer scripts. - Runs dpkg-shlibdeps on all ELF binaries for you and generates correct shlibs file for provided libraries automatically. - Checks symlinks to manpages /documentation and redirects them if a file was compressed. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Bootstrap a basic Debian system debootstrap is used to create a Debian base system from scratch, without requiring the availability of dpkg or apt. It does this by downloading .deb files from a mirror site, and carefully unpacking them into a directory which can eventually be chrooted into. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Find orphaned libraries. deborphan finds "orphaned" packages on your system. It determines which packages have no other packages depending on their installation, and shows you a list of these packages. It is most useful when finding libraries, but it can be used on packages in all sections. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Debian Packages/Sources file partition tool debpartial is a program to separate Packages.gz and Sources.gz files by size of packages and sources. It can be used in the case of: * creating 1 DVD/CD Debian (source & binary) * creating Debian Daily Diff CD. * separating the debian archive into several harddisks. * mirroring packages only you want (using debmirror etc). From Debian 3.0r0 APT
A package for use at expos. Debroster starts up an eterm with the Debian logo as the background, with a randomly-ordered list of the current developers scrolling up the screen. Use it to show just how many people contribute to the Debian project - and so why we are so damn good :-) From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Debian Package Signature Verification Tool This tool inspects and verifies package signatures based on predetermined policies. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
applies cryptographics signatures to Debian packages debsigs is a program that allows GPG signatures to be embedded inside .deb packages. These signatures can later be verified to ensure the authenticity of the contents of the .deb. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Verify installed package files against MD5 checksums. debsums can verify the integrity of installed package files against MD5 checksums installed by the package, or generated from a .deb archive. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
ext2 file system debugger From whatis
Emacs mode for viewing Debian packages After installing, you can use C-d in dired mode to view the .deb file on the current line. Allows both the structure and contents of a .deb archive to be examined. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Wrapper for dpkg/apt-get 'debwrap' is a wrapper program for dpkg/apt-get, which reply questions from each package described in {pre,post}-inst scripts. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
The opposite of encryption/encrypt/encipher, decryption is the process of taking encrypted data (called ciphertext) and converting it back to the original plaintext. From Hacking-Lexicon
Editor Tool with Japanese extension for beginners. The very simple editor with GNOME Environment for beginners. DEdit can handle gzipped files and some Japanese encoded files. (Japanese encode type: EUC-JP,ISO-2022-JP, SJIS) Also can convert Japanese string encode types. Original DEdit is distributed as a Debian native package. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
The "defaults" are the settings of a system before it has been configured. Key point: Security irritates customers who prefer products that are easy to use. Therefore, most vendors make the same trade off. They ship their systems with the best "out-of-box" experience, and as a result most boxes are easily hacked in their default state. The more a vendor touts its ease-of-use, the more likely hackers will find that vendor's products easy to hack. See also: samples. From Hacking-Lexicon
defender clone with penguins "Defendguin" is based loosely on William's classic arcade game, "Defender." Some recognizable stars in the realm of modern operating systems should be fairly obvious. A certain monopoly-owning bad guy has been cloned hundreds of times by an unknown alien race. They are now attacking earth, kidnapping little penguinoids and converting them into mutants. Helping them on their way are some other nasty alien ships, of which there are plenty... From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Debian Font Manager -- automatic font configuration framework. Defoma, which stands for DEbian FOnt MAnager, provides a framework of automatic font configuration. An application whose configuration of fonts requires users' hand can make the configuration process automated through Defoma, by installing a Defoma-configuration script to Defoma. The script gets called whenever a font is installed and removed, so that the script updates the configuration. Font packages should register their fonts to Defoma in order to have them configured automatically for applications. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
configure a specific application about fonts registered in Debian Font Manager. From whatis
register/unregister font(s) to Debian Font Manager From whatis
generate font hints. From whatis
Manage id-cache of Debian Font Manager From whatis
register fonts installed in a PostScript printer. From whatis
Reconfigure all from zero. From whatis
Modify a rulefile of Defoma font substitution system. From whatis
ext2, minix and xiafs filesystem defragmenter As a file system is used, data tends to become more and more scattered across the disk, degrading performance. A disk defragmenter simply re-organises the data on the disk, so that individual files occupy a single sequential set of disk blocks, and all the free space on the disk is collected together in a single region. Thie generally means that reading a whole file is faster, and disk accesses in general are more efficient. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
The term degauss means to erase magnetic media. They work by creating magnetic fields thousands of times stronger than that used to store data on magnetic devices, thereby erasing them. Degaussing is a destructive process. It generates a lot of heat which can physicaly damage the device, and it will remove the "low level" formatting that is shipped with the drive. Note that some SCSI hard-drives can be low-level formatted in the field. Best practice: Degauss all floppy disks and hard-drives before throwing them away. A lot of data from corporations have been recovered from defective disks that were thrown away. An equivalent for CD-ROMs is to put them in the microwave. See also: wipe. From Hacking-Lexicon
framework for running test suites on software tools. DejaGnu is a framework for testing other programs. Its purpose is to provide a single front end for all tests. DejaGnu provides a layer of abstraction which allows you to write tests that are portable to any host or target where a program must be tested. All tests have the same output format. DejaGnu is written in `expect', which in turn uses "Tcl"--Tool command language. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
remove a user or group from the system From whatis
/de-lim'-in-ay-t*r/ n. [portmanteau, delimiter + eliminate] A string or pattern used to delimit text into fields, but which is itself eliminated from the resulting list of fields. This jargon seems to have originated among Perl hackers in connection with the Perl split() function; however, it has been sighted in live use among Java and even Visual Basic programmers. From Jargon Dictionary
Local mail delivery agent Deliver delivers mail locally. Any user can write a shell (or perl or ...) script that processes each incoming message, possibly filing or deleting it based on content. The system administrator may also install scripts that process _all_ incoming messages. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
The set of changes that RCS records for an RCS file. From Linux Guide @FirstLinux
n. 1. [techspeak] A quantitative change, especially a small or incremental one (this use is general in physics and engineering). "I just doubled the speed of my program!" "What was the delta on program size?" "About 30 percent." (He doubled the speed of his program, but increased its size by only 30 percent.) 2. [Unix] A diff, especially a diff stored under the set of version-control tools called SCCS (Source Code Control System) or RCS (Revision Control System). 3. n. A small quantity, but not as small as epsilon. The jargon usage of delta and epsilon stems from the traditional use of these letters in mathematics for very small numerical quantities, particularly in `epsilon-delta' proofs in limit theory (as in the differential calculus). The term delta is often used, once epsilon has been mentioned, to mean a quantity that is slightly bigger than epsilon but still very small. "The cost isn't epsilon, but it's delta" means that the cost isn't totally negligible, but it is nevertheless very small. Common constructions include `within delta of --', `within epsilon of --': that is, `close to' and `even closer to'. From Jargon Dictionary
remove a user or group from the system From whatis
/de'moh/ [short for `demonstration'] 1. v. To demonstrate a product or prototype. A far more effective way of inducing bugs to manifest than any number of test runs, especially when important people are watching. 2. n. The act of demoing. "I've gotta give a demo of the drool-proof interface; how does it work again?" 3. n. Esp. as `demo version', can refer either to an early, barely-functional version of a program which can be used for demonstration purposes as long as the operator uses exactly the right commands and skirts its numerous bugs, deficiencies, and unimplemented portions, or to a special version of a program (frequently with some features crippled) which is distributed at little or no cost to the user for enticement purposes. 4. [demoscene] A sequence of demoeffects (usually) combined with self-composed music and hand-drawn ("pixelated") graphics. These days (1997) usually built to attend a compo. Often called `eurodemos' outside Europe, as most of the demoscene activity seems to have gathered in northern Europe and especially Scandinavia. See also intro, dentro. From Jargon Dictionary
n. 1. [Sun] The state of being heads down in order to finish code in time for a demo, usually due yesterday. 2. A mode in which video games sit by themselves running through a portion of the game, also known as `attract mode'. Some serious apps have a demo mode they use as a screen saver, or may go through a demo mode on startup (for example, the Microsoft Windows opening screen -- which lets you impress your neighbors without actually having to put up with Microsloth Windows). From Jargon Dictionary
n. 1. [MIT] A portion of a program that is not invoked explicitly, but that lies dormant waiting for some condition(s) to occur. See daemon. The distinction is that demons are usually processes within a program, while daemons are usually programs running on an operating system. 2. [outside MIT] Often used equivalently to daemon -- especially in the Unix world, where the latter spelling and pronunciation is considered mildly archaic. Demons in sense 1 are particularly common in AI programs. For example, a knowledge-manipulation program might implement inference rules as demons. Whenever a new piece of knowledge was added, various demons would activate (which demons depends on the particular piece of data) and would create additional pieces of knowledge by applying their respective inference rules to the original piece. These new pieces could in turn activate more demons as the inferences filtered down through chains of logic. Meanwhile, the main program could continue with whatever its primary task was. From Jargon Dictionary
A gtk+ frontend to GNU Lilypond GNU Denemo is a GUI musical score editor written in C/gtk+. It is intended primarily as a frontend to GNU Lilypond, but is adaptable to other computer-music-related purposes as well. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
The dependency analyst. This little script analyses the dependencies of a set of files, and produces a full detailed report or such an output, that can be passed to another program. Comes handy when setting up a chrooted environment... From Debian 3.0r0 APT
handle dependency descriptions for loadable kernel modules From whatis
adj. Said of a program or feature that is considered obsolescent and in the process of being phased out, usually in favor of a specified replacement. Deprecated features can, unfortunately, linger on for many years. This term appears with distressing frequency in standards documents when the committees writing the documents realize that large amounts of extant (and presumably happily working) code depend on the feature(s) that have passed out of favor. See also dusty deck. [Usage note: don't confuse this word with `depreciate', or the verb form `deprecate' with `depreciated`. They are different words; see any dictionary for discussion.] From Jargon Dictionary
removes roff and preprocessor constructs deroff strips out roff constructs and macros. The preprocessor (eqn, tbl, pic, grap, and vgrind) sections are removed entirely. The resulting output is suitable for spelling with e.g. spell(1). From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Desk Guide Applet for the GNOME panel. From whatis
A small utility for creating desktop icons. DeskLaunch is a small utility for creating desktop icons using pixmaps. A simple click will launch the desired application. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
A root menu for X11 window managers DeskMenu is a root menu program which is activated by clicking the root window. It is configured from a .deskmenurc file in your home directory. DeskMenu is useful for window managers which do not provide a menu such as Oroborus. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
.desktop files are used to describe an application for inclusion in GNOME or KDE menus. This package contains desktop-file-validate which checks whether a .desktop file complies with the specification athttp://www.freedesktop.org/standards/, and desktop-file-install which installs a desktop file to the standard directory, optionally fixing it up in the process. From Redhat 8.0 RPM
Attach/detach from interactive processes across the network detachtty lets you run interactive programs non-interactively, and connect to them over the network when you do need to interact with them. It's designed for long-running Lisp processes. Unlike screen, it works in emacs comint modes, and unlike qcmu, it deals correctly with passing on a SIGINT sent to it. Needs ssh for operation over the net. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
The Red Hat Linux operating system uses file system entries to representdevices (CD-ROMs, floppy drives, etc.) attached to the machine. All of these entries are in the /dev tree (although they do not have to be). This package contains the most commonly used /dev entries. The dev package is a basic part of your Red Hat Linux system and it needs to be installed. From Redhat 8.0 RPM
The dev86 package provides an assembler and linker for real mode 80x86instructions. You need to have this package installed in order to build programs that run in real mode from their sources, including LILOand the kernel's bootstrapping code. You should install dev86 if you intend to build programs that run in realmode from their source code. From Redhat 8.0 RPM
Daemon for the device filesystem This daemon sets up the /dev filesystem for use. It creates required symbolic links in /dev and also creates (if so configured, as is the default) symbolic links to the "old" names for devices. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
The devfsd programme is a daemon, run by the system bootscripts which can provide for intelligent management ofdevice entries in the Device Filesystem (devfs). As part of its setup phase devfsd creates certain symbolic links which are compiled into the code. These links are required by /usr/src/linux/Documentation/devices.txt. This behaviour may change in future revisions .devfsd will read the special control file .devfsd in amounted devfs, listening for the creation and removal of device entries (this is termed a change operation). For each change operation, devfsd can take many actions. The daemon will normally run itself in the background and send messages to syslog. The opening of the syslog service is automatically delayed until /dev/log is created. At startup, before switching to daemon mode, devfsd willscan the mounted device tree and will generate synthetic REGISTER events for each leaf node. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM
In Linux devices are accessed as files which are located in the /dev directory. The entries contains the device numbers used by the kernel. From Linux Guide @FirstLinux
code that controls and communicate with a device such as a graphics card, sound card or other peripherals. From Linux Guide @FirstLinux
Scripts to make the life of a Debian Package maintainer easier Contains the following scripts, dependencies/recommendations shown in brackets afterwards: - bts: A command-line tool for manipulating the BTS [www-browser, mailx] - dch, debchange: Automagically add entries to debian/changelog files - debclean: Purge a Debian source tree [fakeroot] - debuild: Wrapper to build a package without having to su or worry about how to invoke dpkg to build using fakeroot. Also deals with common environment problems, umask etc. [fakeroot, lintian, gnupg] - debdiff: Compare two versions of a Debian package to check for added and removed files [wdiff] - debpkg: Dpkg wrapper to be able to manage/test packages without su [perl-suid] - debi, debc: Convenience scripts to install a package and display its contents - debit: Convenience script to install a package and run debian-test on it [debian-test] - debrelease: Wrapper around dupload or dput [dupload | dput, ssh] - dscverify: Verify the integrity of a Debian package from the .changes or .dsc files [gnupg, debian-keyring, libdigest-md5-perl] - debsign, debrsign: sign a .changes/.dsc pair without needing any of the rest of the package to be present; can sign the pair remotely or fetch the pair from a remote machine for signing [gnupg, debian-keyring, ssh] - dpkg-depcheck, dpkg-genbuilddeps: Determine the packages used during the build of a Debian package; useful for determining the Build-Depends control field needed [build-essential, strace] - grep-excuses: grep the update_excuses.html file for your packages [libwww-perl] - mergechanges: merge .changes files from a package built on different architectures - plotchangelog: view a nice plot of the data in a changelog file [libtimedate-perl, gnuplot] - uupdate: Integrate upstream changes into a source package [patch] - uscan: Scan upstream sites for new releases of packages [libwww-perl] Also included are a set of example mail filters for filtering mail from Debian mailing lists using exim, procmail, etc. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
hierarchical, prioritized todo list manager Manipulate and display a hierarchical (ie "subtasks") and prioritized list of things with a coloured CLI. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
generate XFree86 X server configuration file from debconf database values From whatis
reports the amount of disk space used by the specified files, and by each directory in the hierarchies rooted at the specified files. From Linux Guide @FirstLinux
The Desktop-File-Manager for X11 DFM is a desktop-manager for linux and other UNIX-OS. Files are shown as icons and every folder has it's own window. The desktop-background is a special folder in the home-directory. The idea is to write a filemanager like the OS/2 WPS. Therefore, this filemanager is optimally used together with the window manager icewm and warp3 theme. It also works with well ratpoison or wmaker anyway. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
GUI frontend for defoma, DEbian FOnt MAnager. dfontmgr is a GUI frontend for defoma. You can see the fonts registered to defoma, their hints, their status (which applications they have succeeded or failed to register), the applications using defoma framework, information about the applications and the contents of their id-caches. You can also register a font by drag-and-drop a font file, which will generate as many hints as possible by asking you some questions, unregister a registered font, change hints of and re-register a registered font. If a defoma-aware application uses an id-cache and if there's an identifier conflict (which means some fonts provides the same identifier) in the id-cache, you can indicate which font should provide the identifier. GUI versions of some utilities in defoma and psfontmgr are also installed. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
test program for the XFree86-DGA extension From whatis
AMPRNet dynamic IPIP encapsulation routing daemon. This package provides both a client and server that implement the AMPRNet dynamic gateway routing protocol devised by Barry Siegfried, K2MF, and others. You will probably only make sensible use of this package if you are an amateur radio operator wishing to operate an encapsulating gateway. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Correct GPS location with DGPS signal from internet Differential GPS is a technique to apply a correction factor from a known location to a GPS signal. This can substantially reduce the uncertainty in the GPS location. Normally the correction signal is acquired using a special radio receiver: dgpsip allow you to receive a DGPS signal via TCP/IP, and send it to the GPS connected to your serial port. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
build debian packages From whatis
clean up package build directories From whatis
compress files and fix symlinks in package build directories From whatis
fix permissions of files in package build directories From whatis
generate and install control file From whatis
install files into package build directories From whatis
install changelogs into package build directories From whatis
install cron scripts into etc/cron.* From whatis
install files into the DEBIAN directory From whatis
install files used by debconf in package build directories From whatis
install a defoma related scripts From whatis
create subdirectories in package build directories From whatis
install documentation into package build directories From whatis
register an emacs add on package From whatis
install example files into package build directories From whatis
install and register info files From whatis
install init scripts into package build directories From whatis
install kernel patch into package build directories From whatis
install logrotate config files From whatis
install man pages into package build directories From whatis
old-style man page installer From whatis
install debian menu files into package build directories From whatis
install mime files into package build directories From whatis
register modules with modutils From whatis
install pam support files From whatis
register a window manager From whatis
install xaw wrappers config files into package build directories From whatis
register X fonts From whatis
create symlinks in package build directories From whatis
list binary packages debhelper will act on From whatis
automatically create shlibs file From whatis
generate DEBIAN/md5sums file From whatis
move files out of debian/tmp into subpackages From whatis
calculates perl scripts & modules dependencies From whatis
calculate shared library dependancies From whatis
strip executables, shared libraries, and some static libraries From whatis
obsolete suid registration program From whatis
test directory before building debian package From whatis
ensure that a package is built as root From whatis
ensure that the correct version of debhelper is installed From whatis
make symlinks to undocumented.7.gz man page From whatis
DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) is a protocol which allows individual devices on an IP network to get their own network configuration information (IP address, subnetmask, broadcast address,and more) from a DHCP server. The overall purpose of DHCP is to make iteasier to administer a large network. To use DHCP on your network, install a DHCP service (or relay agent),and on clients run a DHCP client daemon. The dhclient package provides the ISC DHCP client daemon. From Redhat 8.0 RPM
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol Client From whatis
DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) is a protocol which allows individual devices on an IP network to get their own network configuration information (IP address, subnetmask, broadcast address,etc.) from a DHCP server. The overall purpose of DHCP is to make iteasier to administer a large network. The dhcp package includes the DHCP server and a DHCP relay agent. You should install dhcp if you want to set up a DHCP server on yournetwork. You will also need to install the pump package, which provides the DHCP client daemon, on client machines. From Redhat 8.0 RPM
DHCP server for automatic IP address assignment DHCP is a protocol like BOOTP (actually dhcpd includes much of the functionality of BOOTPD!). It assigns IP addresses to clients based on lease times. DHCP is used extensively by Microsoft and more recently also by Apple. It is probably essential in any multi-platform environment. Multiple Ethernet Interfaces are supported by this DHCP package. You need to run Linux 2.0.32 or later. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol Server From whatis
Parse DHCP packets from tcpdump This package provides a tool for visualization of DHCP packets as recorded and output by tcpdump to analyze DHCP server responses. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
DHCP Daemon Ping Program This small tool provides an opportunity for a system administrator to perform a DHCP request to find out if a DHCP server is still running. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
online help system Read all documentation with a WWW browser. dhelp builds a index of all installed HTML documentation. You don't need a WWW server to read the documentation. dhelp offers a very fast search in the HTML documents. You can access the online help system with the dhelp program or with your browser. The URL to point your browser at is http://localhost/doc/HTML/index.html if you have a WWW server installed or file://localhost/usr/share/doc/HTML/index.html if not. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Dynamic Host Information System (DHIS) client With DHIS your machine gets a fully qualified domain name under a domain. Your host, even if dynamically IP assigned, may be reached while you are online through a single name recognised on the whole internet. People may, from the outside, connect to your machine's FTP, WWW, IRC, ... server as it is also possible for you to receive emails under that address. Many other purposes may be achieved with DHIS. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Minimal secure webserver. No cgi-bin support! As it doesn't run external programs, this webserver cannot be easily hacked. Does not need a permanent IP Address. Memory efficient. Low profile. Quick. Just transfers files. Can be run from a user account on high ports. No configuration necessary. It just works. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Diagram editor (common files) Dia is an editor for diagrams, graphs, charts etc. There is support for UML static structure diagrams (class diagrams), Entity-Relationship diagrams, network diagrams and much more. Diagrams can be exported to postscript. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Diagram editor Dia is an editor for diagrams, graphs, charts etc. There is support for UML static structure diagrams (class diagrams), Entity-Relationship diagrams, network diagrams and much more. Diagrams can be exported to postscript. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
a dia-UML to C/C++/Java code generator dia2code is a code generator which uses UML diagrams produced by dia, and turns them into C, C++ or Java files. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
dial on demand daemon for PPP and SLIP. Many sites use SLIP or PPP links to connect to other sites over phone lines. Normally these links must be explicitly turned on or off. diald can be used to bring a SLIP or PPP link up when there are Internet packets to be sent to another site, and to close the link down when it is idle. diald operates by starting a virtual link on a pseudo tty and setting up a route to the resulting interface. This interface is called the proxy. diald monitors the proxy to determine when to bring up a real communications link. When a real link is up diald routes packets from the proxy to the real link and monitors the real link to decide if it needs to be shut down. As well, if the link goes down unexpectedly diald will attempt to reestablish the link. The rules for controlling these operations are extensively configurable in run time startup files. Diald requires that you use either the ethertap interface (available in recent Linux kernels) or SLIP to provide the proxy interface. Thus, one or the other of these interfaces is required for diald to work. Diald needs a program like "chat" or "expect" to actually dial. Sorry, "dip" cannot be used. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Dialog is a utility that allows you to show dialog boxes (containing questions or messages) in TTY (text mode) interfaces. Dialog iscalled from within a shell script. The following dialog boxes are implemented: yes/no, menu, input, message, text, info, checklist,radiolist, and gauge. Install dialog if you would like to create TTY dialog boxes. From Redhat 8.0 RPM
Displays user-friendly dialog boxes from shell scripts This application provides a method of displaying several different types of dialog boxes from shell scripts. This allows a developer of a script to interact with the user in a much friendlier manner. The following types of boxes are at your disposal: yes/no Typical query style box with "Yes" and "No" answer buttons menu A scrolling list of menu choices with single entry selection input Query style box with text entry field message Similar to the yes/no box, but with only an "Ok" button text A scrollable text box that works like a simple file viewer info A message display that allows asynchronous script execution checklist Similar to the menu box, but allowing multiple selections radiolist Checklist style box allowing single selections gauge Typical "progress report" style box tail Allows viewing the end of files (tail) that auto updates background tail Similar to tail but runs in the background. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
CGI script for making bible website A command line utility for sword, and a cgi perl script that uses the utility to produce a bible browsing/searching website. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Dictionary Client Dict is the client that queries the dictd server. Since it is TCP based, it can access servers on the local host, on a local network, or on the Internet. The DICT Development Group maintains several public servers which can be accessed from any machine connected to the Internet. The default configuration is to query one of these servers first, but this may be changed in the configuration file /etc/dict.conf. Queries may be customized by numerous command line options, including specifying the database(s) to be queried and the search strategy to be used. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Dictionary Server Dictd is a TCP based server that allows a client to access dictionary definitions from a set of natural language dictionary databases. Ten dictionary databases have been packaged for debian. They are: dict-gcide - An comprehensive dictionary of the English language, based on the 1913 Webster's Unabridged Dictionary dict-wn - WordNet 1.7, A Lexical Database for English dict-jargon - Hacker's Jargon File dict-foldoc - The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing dict-vera - List of acronyms used in the field of computing dict-elements - Chemical and Physical Properties of the Elements dict-devil - "The Devil's Dictionary" by Ambrose Bierce dict-easton - Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary dict-hitchcock - Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary dict-gazetteer - Database of Geographic Data from the U.S. Census These packages are discussed in more detail in the file /usr/doc/dictd/README.Debian.gz Either dict-gcide or dict-wn is essential for a useful dictionary server. It is strongly recommended that both be installed. It is desirable that either dict-jargon or dict-foldoc, or both of them, be installed. The client program, dict, is packaged in dict*.deb If you are running a server, you will want the client for all machines in your network, and for testing server operations. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Utility to format a file for use by the dictd server. dictfmt converts an input file to a dictionary database that conforms to the DICT protocol, and creates a corresponding index file. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Utilities to help with style and diction (English and German) This is a free implementation of two Unix commands, style and diction. They may help you improve your writing. English and German rules are included. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
In hacking circles, a dictionary is simply a list of words that plug into cracking programs in order to break passwords. Such dictionaries not only contain real words, but words that people choose for passwords (example: NCC1701, which is the serial number for the starship Enterprise in Star Trek). Key point: It takes only a couple minutes to run through hundreds of thousands of words in a dictionary in order to crack a password. Therefore, never choose a word that may be in a dictionary. Key point: The dictionary files that hackers use are not necessarily the same as English dictionaries. In theory, users will choose the same passwords they have used before, and unrelated users will choose the same passwords. Therefore, lists of passwords users chose in the past forms a key component of hacker dictionaries. Key point: Hackers also run non-English dictionaries, so choosing foreign words isn't a good defense. From Hacking-Lexicon
/dif/ n. 1. A change listing, especially giving differences between (and additions to) source code or documents (the term is often used in the plural `diffs'). "Send me your diffs for the Jargon File!" Compare vdiff. 2. Specifically, such a listing produced by the diff(1) command, esp. when used as specification input to the patch(1) utility (which can actually perform the modifications; see patch). This is a common method of distributing patches and source updates in the Unix/C world. 3. v. To compare (whether or not by use of automated tools on machine-readable files); see also vdiff, mod. From Jargon Dictionary
File comparison utilities The diff package provides the diff, diff3, sdiff, and cmp programs. `diff' shows differences between two files, or each corresponding file in two directories. `cmp' shows the offsets and line numbers where two files differ. `cmp' can also show all the characters that differ between the two files, side by side. `diff3' shows differences among three files. `sdiff' merges two files interactively. The set of differences produced by `diff' can be used to distribute updates to text files (such as program source code) to other people. This method is especially useful when the differences are small compared to the complete files. Given `diff' output, the `patch' program can update, or "patch", a copy of the file. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Tool for reporting changes in system configuration. This tool is run by a nightly cron job, and takes a `diff' of specified system configuration files and emails them to a specified email address. Options to diff can be specified. This is useful in friendly environments where there are multiple sysadmins working on configuration files/setups and everyone's changes are reported. CVS is a better answer, but most of us don't want to have the hassle of putting system files in a repository. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
The diff command compares files line by line. Diffstat reads theoutput of the diff command and displays a histogram of the insertions, deletions, and modifications in each file. Diffstat is commonly used to provide a summary of the changes in large, complex patch files. Install diffstat if you need a program which provides a summary of the diff command's output. You also need to install diffutils. From Redhat 8.0 RPM
produces graph of changes introduced by a diff file This program is a simple that reads the output of the 'diff' program, and produces a histogram of the total number of lines that were changed. It is useful for scanning a patch file to see which files were changed. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Diffutils includes four utilities: diff, cmp, diff3 and sdiff. * Diff compares two files and shows the differences, line by line. * The cmp command shows the offset and line numbers where two files differ, or cmp can show the characters that differ between the two files. * The diff3 command shows the differences between three files. Diff3 can be used when two people have made independent changes to a common original; diff3 can produce a merged file that contains both persons' changes and warnings about conflicts. * The sdiff command can be used to merge two files interactively. Install diffutils if you need to compare text files. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM
DNS lookup utility From whatis
A tool for system administrators, dig sends DNS queries at the target server and decodes the replies. It is part of the BIND DNS server from the Internet Software Consortium. It is also popular with hackers because it allows fine-tuned queries to be crafted. Key point: Hackers like to run the following command in order to query the version of BIND: dig -t txt -c chaos VERSION.BIND @ns1.example.com The BIND server supports a kludge whereby a "chaos" "txt" record contains the version number of the server. You can look this up in your script-kiddy version list in order to figure out what scripts this server is vulnerable to. Here are some results I get back from this command: 4.9.6-REL RedHat 5.0 (Hurricane) 8.2.1 Mandrake 6.1 (Helios) SERVFAIL Solaris 2.6 NOTIMP WinNT DNS 8.2.2-P5 RedHat 6.2 A result of "SERVFAIL" means either that the target isn't running BIND, or that it is running a version of BIND older than 4.9.5. The result of "NOTIMP" means the server doesn't implement this type of query, which is returned by Microsoft's server. See also: DNS, BIND. From Hacking-Lexicon
An SQL based mp3 player front-end DigitalDJ is an SQL-based front-end to the mpg123 mp3 player designed for people who want to create an mp3 version of their CD collection. It is designed to work with the Grip ripping/encoding application (but can be used separately). When Grip encodes mp3 files, it will place all of the song information into an SQL database. DigitalDJ can then use this information to create playlists based on a number of criteria. You will need a MySQL server, which can either be on the local or a remote host. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
GTK-based web browser Dillo aims to be a multiplataform browser alternative that's small, stable, developer-friendly, usable, fast, and extensible. Dillo is mainly based on GTK+ (GNOME is NOT required!) Dillo is very fast! From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Dictionary lookup program for Unix This is "Ding" * a dictionary lookup program for Unix, * DIctionary Nice Grep, * a Tk based Front-End to [ae]grep, ispell, dict, ... * Ding {n} :: thing This package needs agrep(1) or egrep(1) as a back end. agrep from the glimpse package is preferable, because it supports fault tolerant searching. You have to install some translation dictionary word list with a word/phrase in two languages in one line with some kind of separator between them. The default configuration of ding uses the German-English dictionary which can be found in the trans-de-en package, but you can use every other translation word lists with one entry per line. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Write scientific papers with Debian Debian GNU/Linux is widely used at universities to do research and to write papers with LaTeX. The package diploma contains examples which illustrate the possible ways to do this effectively with Debian GNU/Linux. Each example consists of a source tree where you can do "make" in the top level directory and then the source code is compiled, the measurement data are processed, and the results are converted into nice figures. Then the text is processed and combined with the figures to a print file. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
list directory contents From whatis
color setup for ls From whatis
outputs a sequence of shell commands to define the desired color output from ls (and dir, etc.). From Linux Guide @FirstLinux
IRC proxy for people who use IRC from different workstations dircproxy is an IRC proxy server designed for people who use IRC from lots of different workstations or clients, but wish to remain connected and see what they missed while they were away. You connect to IRC through dircproxy, and it keeps you connected to the server, even after you detach your client from it. While you're detached, it logs channel and private messages as well as important events, and when you re-attach it'll let you know what you missed. This can be used to give you roughly the same functionality as using ircII and screen together, except you can use whatever IRC client you like, including X ones! From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Display and merge changes between two directory trees. Dirdiff can handle up to 5 trees. It displays a main window with a list of the files which are different between the trees, with colored squares to indicate the relative ages of the versions. A menu allows you to display the differences between any two of the versions in another window. Another menu allows you to copy the file from one tree to another. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
LDAP POSIX user/group manager for gnome. Directory administrator is an LDAP POSIX user/group manager. That, in plain English, means that it will allow you to easily manage your Linux/UNIX users and groups residing in an LDAP database. The 'rules' for this is defined in RFC2307. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Parse pathname components From whatis
strip non-directory suffix from file name From whatis
Generates CD-disc covers for jewel-cases Disc-cover generates a Postscript page of an audio cd, using the cddb database. Intermediate tex output is also possible. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
n. [Usenet] Statement ritually appended to many Usenet postings (sometimes automatically, by the posting software) reiterating the fact (which should be obvious, but is easily forgotten) that the article reflects its author's opinions and not necessarily those of the organization running the machine through which the article entered the network. From Jargon Dictionary
hardware identification system Discover is a hardware identification system based on the libdiscover1 library. Discover provides a flexible interface that programs can use to report a wide range of information about the hardware that is installed on a Linux system. In addition to reporting information, discover includes support for doing hardware detection at boot time. Detection occurs in two stages: The first stage, which runs from an initial ramdisk (initrd), loads just the drivers needed to mount the root file system, and the second stage loads the rest (ethernet cards, sound cards, etc.). From Debian 3.0r0 APT
disk daemon; wait for disk to be inserted TQ From whatis
Generate NFS file structure for diskless boot. This package comes with two programs, diskless_newimage, and diskless_newhost to simplify setting up and maintaining diskless clients NFS-Root file structure. These programs ask user friendly questions to aid configuration of the diskless system to the administrators preference. Either the diskless-image-simple or diskless-image-secure packages are required to be available (NOT INSTALLED!) in order to use this package. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
disk seek daemon; simulates Messy Dos' drive cleaning effect TQ From whatis
Displays verses from the Dhammapada. Displays a random verse (a dhammapada) from an English translation of the Dhammapada. It works similarly to fortune, so you can put it in your shell startup script. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Tools for developing, maintaining and distributing software. The dist package is a set of tools meant to ease the construction and maintenance of portable software. The first component is the Configure script generator, metaconfig, which automatically builds the Configure script from your sources. Ideally, the end-user receiving your source code will simply have to read your README file, run the Configure script (which is self-documented), and then run make. The second component is the Makefile.SH generator, which is a generic configured Makefile, reusing some of the information figured out by Configure, and a generic Jmakefile description. The third component is the RCS aware package generator, which is used when it's time to build up the shell archives used to distribute your program. The fourth and latest component is the patch generator, used to make updates of your sources, which can later be applied on the original distribution by using the patch program. The upstream sources for this packlage may be downloaded from CPAN, like so: http://search.cpan.org/doc/RAM/dist-3.0@70 From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Client/daemon for distributed MP3 compression over TCP/IP Client (distmp3) and a daemon (distmp3host) for distributed mp3-encoding across multiple hosts on a network. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
n. 1. A software source tree packaged for distribution; but see kit. Since about 1996 unqualified use of this term often implies `Linux distribution'. The short for distro is often used for this sense. 2. A vague term encompassing mailing lists and Usenet newsgroups (but not BBS fora); any topic-oriented message channel with multiple recipients. 3. An information-space domain (usually loosely correlated with geography) to which propagation of a Usenet message is restricted; a much-underutilized feature. From Jargon Dictionary
Allows you to play melodies from your built-in speaker Ditty enables you to play simple melodies from the command line. It does NOT require a sound card, as it can use the built-in speaker to play these melodies just as easily. (Note: in order for the built-in speaker to be used, ditty's stdout must be connected to a tty. Certain terminal emulators, such as xterm, don't support the sound controls. If you aren't using the sound card method, you should generally run ditty from a *real* pseudo-terminal). Some things that may make ditty fun to use are: Adding sound-effects to .bash_login and .bash_logout or other shellscripts. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Automatic IP configuration detection for laptops A utility to locate current network address via arp requests and perform light reconfigurations based on its findings. "divine" is intended for laptop users or people who use their machines in different networks all the time. It is meant to be run from the PCMCIA network initialization scripts. For more information see: http://www.fefe.de/divine From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Source only package for building djbdns The following were taken from various HTML pages under http://cr.yp.to/djbdns.html/ dnscache is a local DNS cache. It accepts recursive DNS queries from local clients such as web browsers and mail transfer agents. It collects responses from remote DNS servers. It caches the responses to save time later. tinydns is a DNS server. It accepts iterative DNS queries from hosts around the Internet, and responds with locally configured information. pickdns is a load-balancing DNS server. It accepts iterative DNS queries from hosts around the Internet, and responds with a dynamic selection of locally configured IP addresses with 5-second TTLs. walldns is a reverse DNS wall. It accepts iterative DNS queries for in-addr.arpa domains from hosts around the Internet, and supplies generic responses that avoid revealing local host information. rbldns is an IP-address-listing DNS server. It accepts iterative DNS queries from hosts around the Internet asking about various IP addresses. It provides responses showing whether the addresses are on a locally configured list, such as RBL or DUL. axfrdns is a DNS zone-transfer server. It reads a zone-transfer request in DNS-over-TCP format from its standard input, and responds with locally configured information. The security of this software is guaranteed by the author. Details of the guarantee can be found at http://cr.yp.to/djbdns/guarantee.html From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Tools for HP DeskJet printer. These tool purpose is to make better use of the HP DeskJet. They allow to send commands to a printer as well as make better use of the HP DeskJet's text modes. These programs were written for the HP DeskJet 500 series but should work with all printers that understand HP PCL. From Debian 3.0r0 APT
Checks dns zone information using nameserver lookups This program analyzes any DNS zone you specify, and reports any problems it finds by disp