L

LAN

Local Area Network - a computer network which operates over short distances, usually at high speed. Typically, LANs are isolated in single buildings but in the case of some universities can connect a number of buildings. WANs (or Wide Area Networks) typically connect an enterprise or institution which might be separated by larger distances. From Faculty-of-Education

LAN (Local Area Network)

A private transmission that interconnects computers within a building or among buildings for the purpose of sharing voice, data, facsimile, and/or video. From Glossary of Distance Education and Internet Terminology

LAN Manager

LAN Manager is the older file server product from Microsoft and IBM. The details of this aren't all that important except that backwards compatibility has introduced security holes in products 10 years later. LAN Manager authentication splits a password into two case-insensitive parts that are 7 letters each. Therefore, if your password was "RobertGraham.com", under LAN Manager it would be the same as "ROBERTG RAHAM.C". Whereas new products like Win98, WinNT, and SAMBA support newer/stronger authentication methods, the need for backwards compatibility often exposes the LAN Manager password, which can easily be cracked. From Hacking-Lexicon

LASER5

Japanese distribution originally based on Red Hat Linux. From LWN Distribution List

LBA (Logical Bloack Addressing)

Part of the Enhanced IDE standard, permits hard disks to store up to 8.4GB of data. Without LBA, hard disks could store only 528MB of data. From QUECID

LDAP

A directory service, LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) is used by e-mail programs (Microsoft, Netscape, Eudora, etc.) to allow you to lookup a person's name in a corporate database and find their e-mail address, phone number, and other information that the corporate administrators decided to put in there. Key point: Most corporate LDAP servers have little or no authentication. Finding LDAP servers and downloading their contents is an important step in the reconnaissance phase of a hacking attack. Key point: While LDAP is in theory lightweight, in practice it is still fairly complicated. There are many implementation and deployment bugs that can be exploited in order to break into servers. From Hacking-Lexicon

LDAP

LDAP stands for Lightweight Directory Access Protocol. As the name suggests, it is a lightweight client-server protocol for accessing directory services, specifically X.500-based directory services. LDAP runs over TCP/IP or other connection oriented transfer services. LDAP is defined in RFC2251 "The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (v3). A directory is similar to 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. Directories are tuned to give quick-response to high-volume lookup or search operations. They may have the ability to replicate information widely in order to increase availability and reliability, while reducing response time. When directory information is replicated, temporary inconsistencies between the replicas may be OK, as long as they get in sync eventually. There are many different ways to provide a directory service. Different methods allow different kinds of information to be stored in the directory, place different requirements on how that information can be referenced, queried and updated, how it is protected from unauthorized access, etc. Some directory services are local, providing service to a restricted context (e.g., the finger service on a single machine). Other services are global, providing service to a much broader context. From LDAP-Linux-HOWTO

LDAP

Lightwight Directory Access Protocol. Allows network nodes to get info on other nodes. From Linux Guide @FirstLinux

LEAF (Linux Embedded Appliance Firewall)

LEAF (Linux Embedded Appliance Firewall) is an easy-to-use embedded Linux system that is meant for creating network appliances for use in small office, home office, and home automation environments. There are several branches of LEAF, including Bering, Dachstein, Oxygen, PacketFilter, and WRP. The initial release of Bering (Beta 4), was released March 7, 2002. Bering 1.2 was released May 11, 2003. Shorewall 1.3.9b was released October 23, 2002. Mosquito 3.4 was announced July 7, 2002. The WISP-Dist branch released version 2397 on December 26, 2002. From LWN Distribution List

LEM

LEM is a small i386 Linux distribution which provides full network and X Server. LEM has disappeared from this website [May 6, 2002]. From LWN Distribution List

LGPL (Library GPL)

A variation of the GPL that covers program libraries. From I-gloss

LHArc

An older file compression and archiving method rarely used anymore. Files packaged with this technology typically have a .lha or .lzh extension. From I-gloss

LIAP (Linux in a Pillbox)

This project puts together encapsulated pieces of a Linux operating system. Site is in English and Polish. Last update August 2001. A floppy-based distribution. From LWN Distribution List

LILO

A versatile boot loader for Linux. It does not depend on a specific file system, can boot Linux kernel images from floppy disks and from hard disks and can even act as a boot manager'' for other operating systems. From Linux Guide @FirstLinux

LIRC (Linux Infrared Remote Control)

LIRC is a package that allows you to decode and send infra-red signals of many (but not all) commonly used remote controls. Former versions docussed on home-brew hardware connected to the serial and parallel port. Current versions of LIRC also support a varity of other hardware. The most important part of LIRC is the lircd dameon that will decode the IR signals received by the device drivers and provide information on a socket. It will also provide the information on a socket. It will also accept commands for IR signals to be sent if the hardware suports this. The second daemon program called lircmd will connect to lircd and traslate the decoded IR signals to mouse movements. For example, you can configure X to use your remote control as a remote input device. The user space applications allow you to control your computer with your remote control. You can send X events to applications, start programs and much more on just one button press. The possible applications are obvious: Infra-red mouse, remote control for your TV tuner card or CD-ROM, shutdown by remote, program your VCR and/or satellite tuner with your computer, etc. MP3 players are also quite popular. From LIRC

LISP

A high-level programming language, often used for artificial intelligence research, that makes no distinction between the program and the data. This language is considered ideal for manupulating text. One of the oldest programming labguages still in use, LISP is a declarative language; the programer composes lists that declare the relationships among symbolic values. Lists are the fundamental data structure of LISP, and the program performs computations on the symbolic values expressed in those lists. Like other public domain programming languages, however, a numbver of mutually unintelligible versions of LISP exist. A standardised, fully configured, and widely accepted version is Common LISP. See interpreter. From QUECID

LISP

LISt Processing language - Artificial Intelligence's mother tongue, a symbolic, functional, recursive language based on the ideas of lambda-calculus, variable-length lists and trees as fundamental data types and the interpretation of code as data and vice-vers. From Linux Guide @FirstLinux

LISP

n. [from `LISt Processing language', but mythically from `Lots of Irritating Superfluous Parentheses'] AI's mother tongue, a language based on the ideas of (a) variable-length lists and trees as fundamental data types, and (b) the interpretation of code as data and vice-versa. Invented by John McCarthy at MIT in the late 1950s, it is actually older than any other HLL still in use except FORTRAN. Accordingly, it has undergone considerable adaptive radiation over the years; modern variants are quite different in detail from the original LISP 1.5. The dominant HLL among hackers until the early 1980s, LISP now shares the throne with C. Its partisans claim it is the only language that is truly beautiful. See languages of choice. All LISP functions and programs are expressions that return values; this, together with the high memory utilization of LISPs, gave rise to Alan Perlis's famous quip (itself a take on an Oscar Wilde quote) that "LISP programmers know the value of everything and the cost of nothing". One significant application for LISP has been as a proof by example that most newer languages, such as COBOL and Ada, are full of unnecessary crocks. When the Right Thing has already been done once, there is no justification for bogosity in newer languages. From Jargon Dictionary

LISTSERV

provide a forum for the exchange of information and ideas through email. A popular mailing list server for Linux is Majordomo. From Linux Guide @FirstLinux

LNX System

The LNX System aims to be a well-engineered Linux distribution, with a centralized CVS repository; structured and flexible packaging; maintained and integrated subsystems; pro-actively-secure and audited code; ... LNXS 0.2.0 was released April 11, 2001. From LWN Distribution List

LNX-BBC

The LNX-BBC is a mini Linux-distribution, small enough to fit on a business card sized CDROM. LNX-BBC can be used to rescue ailing machines, perform intrusion post-mortems, act as a temporary workstation, install Debian, and perform many other tasks. Version 2.1 was released May 1, 2003. A CD-based distribution. From LWN Distribution List

LOAF

Linux On A Floppy (LOAF) is a small yet extensible distribution of the Linux operating system. As the name implies, LOAF generally fits on a single floppy, but is not limited to just one, or floppies at all for that matter. LOAF's "new" [December 2001] intended purpose is a base in which the user can expand to his or her liking. Version 1 was essentially 'ssh on a floppy', as this was its initial raison d'etre. As of version 2, however, LOAF is a much more generic distribution, meant to be expanded via packages. It can be a client, it can be a server, it can be a router. The ultimate function of LOAF is completely up to the user. A floppy-based distribution. From LWN Distribution List

LPRng

LPRng is an enhanced, extended, and portable implementation of the Berkeley LPR print spooler functionality. LPRng provides the same interface and meets RFC1179 requirements, but the implementation is completely new and provides support for the following features:lightweight (no databases needed) lpr, lpc, and lprm programs; dynamic redirection of print queues; automatic job holding; highly verbose diagnostics; multiple printers serving a single queue; client programs do not need to run SUID root; greatly enhanced security checks; and a greatly improved permission and authorization mechanism. LPRng is compatible with other print spoolers and network printers that use the LPR interface and meet RFC1179 requirements. LPRng provides emulation packages for the SVR4 lp and lpstat programs, eliminating the need for another print spooler package. These emulation packages can be modified according to local requirements, in order to support older printing systems. For users who require secure and/or authenticated printing support,LPRng supports Kerberos V, MIT Kerberos IV Print Support, and PGPauthentication. Additional authentication support is very simple to add. From Redhat 8.0 RPM

LPT

/L-P-T/ or /lip'it/ or /lip-it'/ n. 1. Line printer (originally Line Printing Terminal). Rare under Unix, more common among hackers who grew up with ITS, MS-DOS, CP/M and other operating systems that were strongly influenced by early DEC conventions. 2. Local PorT. Used among MS-DOS programmers (and so expanded in the MS-DOS 5 manual). It seems likely this is a backronym. From Jargon Dictionary

LRs-Linux

LRs-Linux is based upon Linux From Scratch (LFS). In contrast to LFS and most common distros, LRs Linux has the ability to compile directly from the CD. This means that binaries can be natively compiled for the target host during the install, enhancing the performance of the resultant system. The install process is largely automated. LRs-Linux was initially released at version 0.2.5 on February 27, 2002. Version 0.3.1-rc2 was released February 12, 2003. From LWN Distribution List

LSD

LSD was proposed as a Linux OS that could be a cache server distribution on CD-ROM, is suitable for installation on lowest-common-denominator PC hardware. Version 001 of the cache appliance was released in June 1998. Distribution development is not all that active. From LWN Distribution List

LTSP

The Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) is all about running thin client computers in a GNU/Linux environment. Version 3.0 was announced January 7, 2002. From LWN Distribution List

LUG

Linux Users' Group - A LUG is a group of Linux users. Usually avid Linux users and advocates join a local LUG. From Linux Guide @FirstLinux

LVM

Logical Volume Manager: Most Unix-like systems now have the ability to break up physical discs into some number of units. Storage units from multiple drives can be pooled into a "logical volume", where they can be allocated to partitions. Additionally, units can be added or removed from partitions as space requirements change. From Linux Guide @FirstLinux

LZO

Lempel-Ziv-Oberhumer (a compression algorithm). From Linux Guide @FirstLinux

Lag

The delay in information coming across the network through telnet or other types of connections, usually caused by a slow or error-prone connection somewhere between the two communicating machines. Technically there are two causes of lag, the second being chew. From KADOWKEV

Lanthan Linux

A German Linux distribution for Windows-PCs with revolutionary concept of installation. From LWN Distribution List

Laonux

Laonux is a relatively small Linux distribution that contains most of the basics that you would expect in a Linux system, but nothing more. It features gcc-2.95.2, glibc 2.1.2, and kernel 2.2.14. It is not easy to install, but it provides a complete system. It is great for hobbyists who wish build up their own personalized Linux distribution from a basic core. From LWN Distribution List

Latency

Latency refers to a time lag between the access and transmission of data. In the case of multimedia distributed over networks, it is crucial that this be rectified, or at least synchronised -- a simple example of this is keeping compressed video in synchronisation with audio. From Faculty-of-Education

Leased Line

Refers to line such as a telephone line or fiber-optic cable that is rented for exclusive 24-hour, 7-days-a-week use from your location to another location. The highest speed data connections require a leased line. From Matisse

Leetnux

Leetnux is a Linux distribution specifically designed for Linux users who want maximum configuratibility. Therefore, the installation is quite hard, absolutely nothing is done "automagically" as in modern Linux distributions, but the user has total control over the installation. The idea behind Leetnux comes from Linux From Scratch, but a Leetnux system is not as "pure" as an LFS system, because a minimal pre-compiled system must be installed. Distribution development is not all that active. From LWN Distribution List

Leka Rescue Floppy

Leka Rescue Floppy is a Linux mini-distribution that installs into one floppy disk. It is meant for disaster recovery, but also contains many fine features like networking support, a dhcpd, a Web browser, and an IRC client. Initial release 0.5.0 is dated February 26, 2002. V0.5.1 was released the following day. Stable version 0.7.1 was released July 6, 2002. A floppy-based distribution. From LWN Distribution List

LibraNet GNU/Linux

A Debian based distribution for the desktop. Version 2.7 was released September 4, 2002. Version 2.8 was released May 1, 2003. From LWN Distribution List

Library

A collection of programs kept with a computer system and made available for processing purposes. The term often refers to a collection of library toutines written in a given programmin glanguage such as C or Pascal.

LinEx

Developed by the Extremadura Regional Government, LinEx is a GNU/Linux distribution based on Debian and Gnome. LinEx forms part of a wider regional project which aims at promoting the Information Society in order to improve citizens' quality of life. Spanish distribution. From LWN Distribution List

LinNeighborhood

LinNeighborhood is a front end to Samba using the gtk libraries. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

LindowsOS

LindowsOS is a product of Lindows.com, first announced in October 2001. This is a Debian-based distribution targeted at non-technical Windows users and boasts a 10 minute installation. Starting with version 4.0, there is also a LindowsCD, a Knoppix-like live CD. Version 4.0 was released June 23, 2003. From LWN Distribution List

Linmodem

A Linmodem is the Linux implementation of a "winmodem" (see disclaimer). These devices are 'less than' a modem in the sense that they depend on software to perform, to a greater or lesser extent, the functions traditionally handled by modem hardware. The rationale for this is, of course, that software is cheaper than hardware, and can be upgraded/expanded/improved without the use of screwdrivers (usually); however, for the modem to function at all, one requires software that can run on one's preferred operating system. From Linmodem-HOWTO

Linpus Linux

Comes in Desktop, Server or Internet appliance editions. Linpus Linux 8.2 desktop and server editions were released June 27, 2002. Taiwanese distribution. From LWN Distribution List

Lintel

n. The emerging Linux/Intel alliance. This term began to be used in early 1999 after it became clear that the Wintel alliance was under increasing strain and Intel started taking stakes in Linux companies. From Jargon Dictionary

Linu

Linu, from Korean company MIZI, is available for ARM, StrongARM, x86, and MIPS processors (so far). From LWN Distribution List

Linus

/leen'us'/ or /lin'us'/, not /li:'nus/ Linus Torvalds, the author of Linux. Nobody in the hacker culture has been as readily recognized by first name alone since Ken (Thompson). From Jargon Dictionary

Linux

/lee'nuhks/ or /li'nuks/, not /li:'nuhks/ n. The free Unix workalike created by Linus Torvalds and friends starting about 1991. The pronunciation /lee'nuhks/ is preferred because the name `Linus' has an /ee/ sound in Swedish (Linus's family is part of Finland's 6% ethnic-Swedish minority). This may be the most remarkable hacker project in history -- an entire clone of Unix for 386, 486 and Pentium micros, distributed for free with sources over the net (ports to Alpha and Sparc and many other machines are also in use). Linux is what GNU aimed to be, and it relies on the GNU toolset. But the Free Software Foundation didn't produce the kernel to go with that toolset until 1999, which was too late. Other, similar efforts like FreeBSD and NetBSD have been technically successful but never caught fire the way Linux has; as this is written in 2000, Linux is seriously challenging Microsoft's OS dominance. It has already captured 31% of the Internet-server market and 25% of general business servers. An earlier version of this entry opined "The secret of Linux's success seems to be that Linus worked much harder early on to keep the development process open and recruit other hackers, creating a snowball effect." Truer than we knew. See bazaar. (Some people object that the name `Linux' should be used to refer only to the kernel, not the entire operating system. This claim is a proxy for an underlying territorial dispute; people who insist on the term `GNU/Linux' want the the FSF to get most of the credit for Linux because RMS and friends wrote many of its user-level tools. Neither this theory nor the term `GNU/Linux' has gained more than minority acceptance). From Jargon Dictionary

Linux

<operating system> ("Linus Unix") /li'nuks/ (but see below) An implementation of the {Unix} {kernel} originally written from scratch with no proprietary code. The kernel runs on {Intel} and {Alpha} hardware in the general release, with {SPARC}, {PowerPC}, {MIPS}, {ARM}, {Amiga}, {Atari}, and {SGI} in active development. The SPARC, PowerPC, ARM, {PowerMAC} - {OSF}, and 68k ports all support {shells}, {X} and {networking}. The Intel and SPARC versions have reliable {symmetric multiprocessing}. Work on the kernel is coordinated by Linus Torvalds, who holds the copyright on a large part of it. The rest of the copyright is held by a large number of other contributors (or their employers). Regardless of the copyright ownerships, the kernel as a whole is available under the {GNU} {General Public License}. The GNU project supports Linux as its kernel until the research {Hurd} kernel is completed. This kernel would be no use without {application programs}. The GNU project has provided large numbers of quality tools, and together with other {public domain} software it is a rich Unix environment. A compilation of the Linux kernel and these tools is known as a Linux distribution. Compatibility modules and/or {emulators} exist for dozens of other computing environments. The kernel version numbers are significant: the odd numbered series (e.g. 1.3.xx) is the development (or beta) kernel which evolves very quickly. Stable (or release) kernels have even major version numbers (e.g. 1.2.xx). There is a lot of commercial support for and use of Linux, both by hardware companies such as {Digital}, {IBM}, and {Apple} and numerous smaller network and integration specialists. There are many commercially supported distributions which are generally entirely under the GPL. At least one distribution vendor guarantees {Posix} compliance. Linux is particularly popular for {Internet Service Providers}, and there are ports to both parallel supercomputers and {embedded} {microcontrollers}. {Debian} is one popular {open source} distribution. The pronunciation of "Linux" has been a matter of much debate. Many, including Torvalds, insist on the short I pronunciation /li'nuks/ because "Linus" has an /ee/ sound in Swedish (Linus's family is part of Finland's 6% ethnic-Swedish minority) and Linus considers English short /i/ to be closer to /ee/ than English long /i:/ dipthong. This is consistent with the short I in words like "linen". This doesn't stop others demanding a long I /li:'nuks/ following the english pronunciation of "Linus" and "minus". Others say /li'niks/ following {Minix}, which Torvalds was working on before Linux. From Hyperdictionary From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (09 FEB 02) [foldoc]

Linux

A widely used Open Source Unix-like operating system. Linux was first released by its inventor Linus Torvalds in 1991. There are versions of Linux for almost every available type of computer hardware from desktop machines to IBM mainframes. The inner workings of Linux are open and available for anyone to examine and change as long as they make their changes available to the public. This has resulted in thousands of people working on various aspects of Linux and adaptation of Linux for a huge variety of purposes, from servers to TV-recording boxes. From Matisse

Linux

An open source UNIX-like operating system, originally begun by Linus Torvalds. "Linux" really refers to only the operating system kernel, or core. More than 200 people have contributed to the development of the Linux kernel. The rest of a Linux distribution consists of various utilities, device drivers, applications, a user interface and other tools that generally can be compiled and run on other UNIX operating systems as well. From I-gloss

Linux

Linux is a completely free reimplementation of the POSIX specification, with SYSV and BSD extensions (which means it looks like Unix, but does not come from the same source code base), which is available in both source code and binary form. Its copyright is owned by Linus Torvalds <torvalds@transmeta.com> and other contributors, and is freely redistributable under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL). A copy of the GPL is included with the Linux source; you can also get a copy from ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu/COPYING Linux, per se, is only the kernel of the operating system, the part that controls hardware, manages files, separates processes, and so forth. There are several combinations of Linux with sets of utilities and applications to form a complete operating system. Each of these combinations is called a distribution of Linux. The word Linux, though it in its strictest form refers specifically to the kernel, is also widely and correctly to refer to an entire operating system built around the Linux kernel. For a list and brief discription of various distributions, see http://sunsite.unc.edu/LDP/HOWTO/Distribution-HOWTO.html None of these distributions is ``the official Linux''. Linux is not public domain, nor is it `shareware'. It is `free' software, commonly called freeware or Open Source Software[tm] (see http://www.opensource.org), and you may give away or sell copies, but you must include the source code or make it available in the same way as any binaries you give or sell. If you distribute any modifications, you are legally bound to distribute the source for those modifications. See the GNU General Public License for details. Linux is still free as of version 2.0, and will continue to be free. Because of the nature of the GPL to which Linux is subject, it would be illegal for it to be made not free. Note carefully: the `free' part involves access to the source code rather than money; it is perfectly legal to charge money for distributing Linux, so long as you also distribute the source code. This is a generalization; if you want the fine points, read the GPL. Linux runs on 386/486/Pentium machines with ISA, EISA, PCI and VLB busses. MCA (IBM's proprietary bus) is not well-supported in 2.0.x and earlier versions, but support has been added to the current development tree, 2.1.x. If you are interested, see http://glycerine.itsmm.uni.edu/mca There is a port to multiple Motorola 680x0 platforms (currently running on some Amigas, Ataris, and VME machines), which now works quite well. It requires a 68020 with an MMU, a 68030, 68040, or a 68060, and also requires an FPU. Networking and X now work. See news:comp.os.linux.m68k Linux runs well on DEC's Alpha CPU, currently supporting the "Jensen", "NoName", "Cabriolet", "Universal Desktop Box" (better known as the Multia), and many other platforms. For more information, see http://www.azstarnet.com/~axplinux/FAQ.html Linux runs well on Sun SPARCs; most sun4c, sun4m, and sun4u machines now run Linux, with support for sun4 in development. Red Hat Linux is (as of this writing) the only Linux distribution available for SPARCs; see http://www.redhat.com/support/docs/rhl-sparc/ Linux is being actively ported to the PowerPC architecture, including PowerMac (Nubus and PCI), Motorola, IBM, and Be machines. See http://www.cs.nmt.edu/~linuxppc/ and http://www.linuxppc.org/ Ports to other machines, including MIPS (see http://linus.linux.sgi.com and http://lena.fnet.fr/) and ARM, are under way and showing various amounts of progress. Don't hold your breath, but if you are interested and able to contribute, you may well find other developers who wish to work with you. Linux is no longer considered to be in beta testing, as version 1.0 was released on March 14, 1994. There are still bugs in the system, and new bugs will creep up and be fixed as time goes on. Because Linux follows the ``open development model'', all new versions will be released to the public, whether or not they are considered ``production quality''. However, in order to help people tell whether they are getting a stable version or not, the following scheme has been implemented: Versions n.x.y, where x is an even number, are stable versions, and only bug fixes will be applied as y is incremented. So from version 1.2.2 to 1.2.3, there were only bug fixes, and no new features. Versions n.x.y, where x is an odd number, are beta-quality releases for developers only, and may be unstable and may crash, and are having new features added to them all the time. >From time to time, as the currect development kernel stabilizes, it will be frozen as the new ``stable'' kernel, and development will continue on a new development version of the kernel. Note that most releases of the Linux kernel, beta or not, are relatively robust; ``stable'' in this context means ``slow to change'' in addition to ``robust''. The current stable version is 2.0.35 (this will continue to change as new device drivers get added and bugs fixed), and development has also started on the experimental 2.1.x kernels. The Linux kernel source code contains a file, Documentation/Changes, which explains changes that you should be aware of when upgrading from one kernel version to another. However, the great majority of Linux users simply update their Linux distribution occasionally to get a new kernel version. Most versions of Linux, beta or not, are quite robust, and you can keep using those if they do what you need and you don't want to be on the bleeding edge. One site had a computer running version 0.97p1 (dating from the summer of 1992) for over 136 days without an error or crash. (It would have been longer if the backhoe operator hadn't mistaken a main power transformer for a dumpster...) Others have posted uptimes in excess of a year. One site still had a computer running Linux 0.99p15s over 600 days at last report. One thing to be aware of is that Linux is developed using an open and distributed model, instead of a closed and centralized model like much other software. This means that the current development version is always public (with up to a week or two of delay) so that anybody can use it. The result is that whenever a version with new functionality is released, it almost always contains bugs, but it also results in a very rapid development so that the bugs are found and corrected quickly, often in hours, as many people work to fix them. In contrast, the closed and centralized model means that there is only one person or team working on the project, and they only release software that they think is working well. Often this leads to long intervals between releases, long waiting for bug fixes, and slower development. The latest release of such software to the public is sometimes of higher quality, but the development speed is generally much slower. For a discussion of these two models, read ``The Cathedral and the Bazaar'' at http://sagan.earthspace.net/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/ by Eric Raymond. As of September 1, 1998, the current stable version of Linux is 2.0.35, and the latest development version is 2.1.119. From Linux-Intro-HOWTO

Linux

The free Unix workalike created by Linus Torvalds and friends starting about 1991. The pronunciation /li'nuhks/ is preferred because the name `Linus' has an /ee/ sound in Swedish (Linus's family is part of Finland's 6% ethnic-Swedish minority) and Linus considers English short /i/ to be closer to /ee/ than English long /i:/. This may be the most remarkable hacker project in history -- an entire clone of Unix for 386, 486 and Pentium micros, distributed for free with sources over the net (ports to Alpha and Sparc and many other machines are also in use). Linux is what {GNU} aimed to be, and it relies on the GNU toolset. But the Free Software Foundation didn't produce the kernel to go with that toolset until 1999, which was too late. Other, similar efforts like FreeBSD and NetBSD have been technically successful but never caught fire the way Linux has; as this is written in 2001, Linux is seriously challenging Microsoft's OS dominance. It has already captured 31% of the Internet-server market and 25% of general business servers. An earlier version of this entry opined "The secret of Linux's success seems to be that Linus worked much harder early on to keep the development process open and recruit other hackers, creating a snowball effect." Truer than we knew. See {bazaar}. (Some people object that the name `Linux' should be used to refer only to the kernel, not the entire operating system. This claim is a proxy for an underlying territorial dispute; people who insist on the term `GNU/Linux' want the {FSF} to get most of the credit for Linux because RMS and friends wrote many of its user-level tools. Neither this theory nor the term `GNU/Linux' has gained more than minority acceptance). From Hyperdictionary From Jargon File (4.3.0, 30 APR 2001) [jargon]

Linux

The term "Linux" refers to either full the full OS packages provided by many vendors, or specifically the kernel these packages are based upon. The packages are known as distributions or distros. Well-known Linux distros include RedHat, SuSE, TurboLinux, Trinux, etc. Most of these distros rely solely upon open-source software. Point: Linux vies with Solaris and Windows as being the most popular OS for Internet servers. Contrast: Linux is a UNIX-like operating-system, more similar to UNIX System 5 than to BSD UNIX. From Hacking-Lexicon

Linux

a completely free reimplementation of the POSIX specification, with SYSV and BSD extensions (which means it looks like Unix, but does not come from the same source code base), which is available in both source code and binary form. From Linux Guide @FirstLinux

Linux Cyrillic Edition

UrbanSoft created the Linux Cyrillic Edition, Red Hat in Russian. This web site is no longer available [May 6, 2002]. From LWN Distribution List

Linux DA OS

More info on LinuxDevices.com Empower Technologies makes this embedded OS for the Motorola Dragonball platform. Other platforms are "in the works". From LWN Distribution List

Linux ESware

Box sets are available, with a desktop edition and server edition. Support, classes and other services are available. Spanish distribution. From LWN Distribution List

Linux MLD

This appears to be a full distribution from Media Lab. There is also a mini-distribution, as well as other Linux products. Japanese distribution. From LWN Distribution List

Linux MLD From LWN Distribution List

Linux Router Project

LRP is small enough to fit on a single 1.44MB floppy disk, and makes building and maintaining routers, access servers, thin servers, thin clients, network appliances, and typically embedded systems next to trivial. A floppy-based distribution. From LWN Distribution List

Linux for Windows 9X

This is a Windows 9X friendly version of Linux. It installs onto a Windows 9X disk and allows for two way exchange of files between both Linux and Win9X. From LWN Distribution List

Linux-SIS

SIS stands for SchoolNet Internet Server and project to connect schools in Thailand. The latest version of Linux-SIS is 4.0, released October 3, 2001. From LWN Distribution List

Linux/Coldfire

A distribution dedicated to making available a Linux based system for the Motorla ColdFire processor family. The core is a port of the Micro-controller Linux (uC-Linux) kernel to the ColdFire processors. Additionally there is a growing number of ports of GNU/Linux utilities to the ColdFire. It is currently possible to build stable, complete, fully functional, embedded, Linux systems using uClinux/ColdFire. From LWN Distribution List

Linux/Epia

Q Rey Linux/Epia is a Linux distribution for Epia M motherboards. It boots quickly (in less than 20 seconds), has a quick installation (less than 4 minutes), and allows quick configuration (less than 5 minutes). It's ready for classic precompiled software (OpenOffice.org, Mozilla, etc.). Any GTK application should compile directly. Version 1.0 was released March 26, 2003. From LWN Distribution List

Linux/MNIS

French based distribution. Slackware and Debian based versions available. Support for Intel, Sparc, Alpha and Motorola platforms. From LWN Distribution List

Linux4Geeks

Linux4Geeks is a LFS-based small distro which works around several problems and issues mainstream Linux distributions have. It offers different versions compiled for each architecture and has all the packages required for a slim installation including a firewall and network administration tools, amongst others. Version 0.01 was released June 11, 2003. From LWN Distribution List

LinuxAlpha.org

A resource for Linux on Alpha processors. From LWN Distribution List

LinuxFromScratch

Linux From Scratch (LFS) is a project that provides you with the steps necessary to build your own custom Linux system using the LFS book. The web site also contains links to other resources such as mailing lists, mailing list archives, newsgroups, search engine, faq and more. Released under the original BSD License. Development version 3.2-rc2 was released February 27, 2002. Stable version 3.3 was released April 7, 2002. Version 4.1 was released April 28, 2003. From LWN Distribution List

LinuxInstall.org Project

LinuxInstall.org 1.0 is based on Red Hat Linux 8.0 with Personal Desktop Packages including Mozilla Web Browser, Evolution Mail Client, and the OpenOffice.org Office Suite. It also comes with latest kernel as of January 7, 2003 and the latest software updates (also as of January 7, 2003). The main features are auto hardware detection, auto root account creation, auto hard drive partitioning, auto network setup using DHCP and auto package selection. No questions are asked during installation, the process is completely automated and it only takes about 15 minutes. The entire system comes on one CD. Version 3.0 was released April 20, 2003. From LWN Distribution List

LinuxPPC

LinuxPPC Inc. started the frst wave of interest in native Linux on PowerPC systems in 1996, releasing its first CD-ROM discs, and providing them to developers and people interested in alternative operating systems. Its fourth major release, LinuxPPC R4, came out in June 1998. That highly successful release was followed by LinuxPPC 4.1, 1999 (5.0), 1999 Q3 (5.5), and the current release, LinuxPPC 2000 (6.0). Unfortunately now dead - March 5, 2003. From LWN Distribution List

Linuxcare Bootable Business Card

The LBT is a fully usable miniature Linux distribution which can be placed on a credit-card sized CD media. The distribution should work in almost any PC with almost any operating system. It offers over 101mb of software including a 2.4 kernel, Xfree86 4.1, full network services for both pci and pcmcia cards, wireless connectivity, perl, and a lot more. From LWN Distribution List

Linuxin GNU/Linux

Linuxin GNU/Linux is based on Debian Woody, with many ease-of-use type of enhancements, such as automated graphical installation, hardware autodetection and configuration -- all geared towards users with little Linux experience. Version 1.0 was released August 6, 2002. Spanish distribution. From LWN Distribution List

Listserv

The most common kind of maillist, "Listserv" is a registered trademark of L-Soft international, Inc. Listservs originated on BITNET but they are now common on the Internet. See also: BITNET, Internet (Upper case I), Maillist. From Matisse

Listserver

Listservers (also just called mailing lists or electronic discussion lists) extend simple email communication onto another level of efficiency by enabling a user to send one message to a large audience. They are usually semi-automated (sometimes fully automated) email distribution systems and have been around since the early 80's and the launch of BITNET by the State University of New York. From Faculty-of-Education

Log

To store application or system messages or errors. Also, a file that holds this information. From I-gloss

Log file rotation

Log files are rotated daily or weekly by the logrotate package. Its configuration file is /etc/logrotate.conf. For each package that happens to produce a log file, there is an additional configuration file under /etc/logrotate.d/. It is also easy to write your own - begin by using one of the existing files as an example. Rotation means that the log file is renamed with a .1 extension and then truncated to zero length. The service is notified by the logrotate program, sometimes with a SIGHUP. Your /var/log/ may contain a number of old log files named .2, .3, etc. The point of log file rotation is to prevent log files from growing indefinitely. From Rute-Users-Guide

Log files

UNIX has a strict policy of not reporting error messages to the user interface whenever there might be no user around to read those messages. Whereas error messages of interactive commands are sent to the terminal screen, error or information messages produced by non-interactive commands are ``logged'' to files in the directory /var/log/. A log file is a plain text file that continually has one-liner status messages appended to it by a daemon process. The usual directory for log files is /var/log. The main log files are /var/log/messages and possibly /var/log/syslog. It contains kernel messages and messages from a few primary services. When a service would produce large log files (think web access with thousands of hits per hour), the service would use its own log file. sendmail, for example, uses /var/log/maillog. Actually, lpd does not have a log file of its own--one of its failings. View the system log file with the follow option to tail: tail -f /var/log/messages; tail -f /var/log/syslog. Restarting the lpd service gives messages like: [Not all distributions log this information.] . Jun 27 16:06:43 cericon lpd: lpd shutdown succeeded; Jun 27 16:06:45 cericon lpd: lpd startup succeeded. From Rute-Users-Guide

Login

Noun or a verb. Noun: The account name used to gain access to a computer system. Not a secret (contrast with Password). Verb: the act of connecting to a computer system by giving your credentials (usually your "username" and "password"). From Matisse

Lonix

Lonix is a console-based full Linux system which runs from a live CD. Based on Linux From Scratch, this distribution includes useful utilities for students and developers. Some servers, such as Apache, Proftpd, and sshd are pre-configured and included. It can also be used as a partition tool (featuring fdisk and parted) or as a rescue CD. Currently, the homepage and some scripts in the CD are just in Spanish. There may be a future release that is also in English. The initial Freshmeat announcement for version 1.0rc3, was made on October 13, 2002. Version 1.0rc5 was released October 27, 2002. A CD-based distribution. From LWN Distribution List

Looks like Italian. Distro at 4.0; site is also news and comments in Italian. From LWN Distribution List

LoopLinux

This is a Slackware based distribution of the Linux operating system that can be installed and run from a DOS system, i.e. MSDOS, PCDOS, DRDOS, and Win9X in DOS mode. With the loop or UMSDOS version of the Linux system there's no need to repartition. The Linux system will just be a file or directory on your current DOS/Win9X system, and act like it was on it's own partition. LoopLinux 3.0 was released June 4, 2003. From LWN Distribution List

Lossless compression

A data compression technique that reduces the size of a file without sacrificing any original data; used by programs, such as Stacker to compress all the program and document files on a hard disk. In lossless compression, the expanded or restored file is an exact replica of the original fie before it was compressed, while in lossy comprssion, data is lost in a way imperceptible to humans. Lossless compression is suitable for text and computer code, while lossy compression is good mainly for shrinking audio and graphics files. From QUECID

Lossy compression

A data compression technique in which some data is deliberately discarded to achieve massive reductions in the size of the compressed file. Lossy compression techniques can reduce a file to 1/50 of its former size (or less), compred to the average of one-third achieved by lossless compression techniques. Lossy compression is used for graphics files in which the loss of data - such as information about some of the graphic's several million colors - isn't noticeable. An example is the JPEG compression technique.see lossless compression. From QUECID

Lost cluster

A cluster that remains on disk, even though the file allocation table (FAT) contains no record of its link to a file. Lost clusters can occur when the computer is turned off (or the power fails) or tries to perform other operation while a file is being written. From QUECID

Lunar-Linux

Lunar-Linux began as a fork of Sorcerer GNU/Linux. Lunar-Penguin, the development group behind Lunar-Linux, say they plan for this fork to stay close to the bleeding edge. The initial ISO image lunar-20020321.iso.bz2 was released March 21, 2002. An ISO codenamed PETRO was released April 9, 2002. A revised ISO Petro_e was released April April 19, 2002. Petro_h, the last of the Petro series, was released May 3, 2002. A development version of Lunar, theedge, was made available May 23, 2002. theedge achieved enough stability to become the first Lunar, announced July 15, 2002. Lunar-1.0Beta was released September 2, 2002. From LWN Distribution List

LuteLinux

LuteLinux is a desktop oriented distribution. The most recent notes on the web site are dated November 2000. Distribution development is not all that active. From LWN Distribution List

Lynx

A full-screen, text-only Web browser for UNIX computers, created by Lou Montoulli of the University of Kansas. Lynx is a full-featured Web browser but it cannot display in-line images. From QUECID

l2tpd

A layer 2 tunneling client/server program. l2tpd is the open source implementation of the l2tp tunneling protocol (rfc2661). It does implement both LAC and LNS role in a l2tp networking architecture. The main goal of this protocol is to tunnel PPP frame trough an ip network. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

labelnation

A command-line label-printing program Label Nation is a Perl program that provides a command-line interface for printing onto peel-off label sheets. It comes with built-in support for the most common label standards (Avery Dennison 5160, Maco LL-5805, etc.), plus the ability to define your own label parameters. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

lacheck

A simple syntax checker for LaTeX. LaCheck is a simple syntax checker for LaTex that is based on a single-pass lexical scanner. This makes clear that there are a lot of LaTeX problems this program cannot find, although it will find most simple mistakes. Complex macro packages may, however, make it completely unusable. This program was bundled with AUC TeX up until recently and is best known from there. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

ladspa-sdk

sample tools for linux-audio-dev plugin architecture LADSPA is a free standard specification for audio effect plugins. Contains sample plugins, and analyseplugin, listplugin, applyplugin programs, and the ladspa.h, the LADSPA specification. Please build-depend on this package if you need ladspa.h From Debian 3.0r0 APT

lam-mpidoc

Documentation for the Message Passing Interface standard. This package contains man pages describing the Message Passing Interface standard. These pages are newly provided by the LAM package, and are also found in the mpi-doc package build from the mpich source package. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

lam-runtime

LAM runtime environment for executing parallel programs. LAM is an implementation of the Message Passing Interface (MPI) protocol commonly used in parallel processing applications. Some enhancements in LAM 6.3 are: o Added the MPI-2 C++ bindings package (chapter 10 from the MPI-2 standard) from the Laboratory for Scientific Computing at the University of Notre Dame. o Added ROMIO MPI I/O package (chapter 9 from the MPI-2 standard) from the Argonne National Laboratory. o Pseudo-tty support for remote IO (e.g., line buffered output). o Ability to pass environment variables through mpirun. o Ability to mpirun shell scripts/debuggers/etc. (that eventually run LAM/MPI programs). o Ability to execute non-MPI programs across the multicomputer. o Added configurable ability to zero-fill internal LAM buffers before they are used (for development tools such as Purify). o Greatly expanded error messages; provided for customizable local help files. o Expanded and updated documentation. o Various bug fixes and minor enhancements. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

lam3

Shared libraries used by LAM parallel programs. LAM is an implementation of the Message Passing Interface (MPI) protocol commonly used in parallel processing applications. This package provides the shared library. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

lambda

extended unicode TeX From whatis

lambdacore

core database for lambdamoo Lambdacore is a lambdamoo database, a set of objects and programs that are run by the lambdamoo server to add functionality to lambdamoo. Lambdacore includes: * Integrated help system * Internal mail and news * Object editors * Additional object classes Lambdacore provides a base that you can build on to create your own lambdamoo system. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

lambdamoo

a server for an online multiuser virtual world Lambdamoo is a server for a virtual world, a computer program which users can log into and explore. Each user takes control of a computerized persona/avatar/incarnation/character. You can walk around, chat with other people, solve puzzles, and even create your very own rooms, descriptions and items. Advanced users can program Lambdamoo, via its built in object-oriented programming language. Lambdamoo only provides the bare framework for your virtual world. A lambdamoo guru could theoretically start with lambdamoo and the included minimal core database and work their way up to a full-fledged system. The rest of us will want to install the lambdacore or jhcore packages which add objects and functionality to lambdamoo. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

langdrill

Language Drills langdrill is a helper for testing your foreign language vocabulary. It uses GTK+ toolkit and VDK (a C++ wrapper arround VDK). langrill looks similar with JavaDrill (JavaDrill helped me cristalize the ideas on how langdrill should look like). Limited support for Japanese characters displaying is included. For this, Japanese fonts must be installed on your system. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

language-env

simple configuration tool for native language environment This tool adds basic settings for natural language environment such as LANG variable, font specifications, input methods, and so on into user's several dot-files such as .bashrc and .emacs. This version of language-env supports Belarusian, Bulgarian, Danish, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Macedonian, Polish, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, Thai, and Ukrainian. Japanese support comes from precursor package 'user-ja'. Thai support is written by Chanop Silpa-Anan. German support comes from 'user-de' package version 0.8. Spanish support comes from 'user-es' 0.5. Russian support is written by Peter Novodvorsky <petya@logic.ru>. Belarusian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Serbian and Ukrainian supports are written by Anton Zinoviev <zinoviev@debian.org>, the Belarusian translation is by Alexander Mikhailian <mikhailian@altern.org>, and the Serbian translation is by Milos Rancic <millosh@isgf.grf.bg.ac.yu>. Korean support is written by Ho-seok Lee <alee@kuls.korea.ac.kr>. French support is written by Nicolas Sabouret <nico@limsi.fr>. Polish support is written by Robert Luberda <robert@debian.org>. Danish support is written by Claus Hindsgaul <claus_h@image.dk>. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

lanoche

creates laptop or notebook hardware report in HTML lanoche should fit on smaller systems, for instance a "One Floppy Linux". Therefore no Perl or other sophisticated programming methods are used. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

lapack

a library of linear algebra routines - shared version LAPACK version 3.0 is a comprehensive FORTRAN library that does linear algebra operations including matrix inversions, least squared solutions to linear sets of equations, eigenvector analysis, singular value decomposition, etc. It is a very comprehensive and reputable package that has found extensive use in the scientific community. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

lapack-pic

a library of linear algebra routines - static PIC version LAPACK version 3.0 is a comprehensive FORTRAN library that does linear algebra operations including matrix inversions, least squared solutions to linear sets of equations, eigenvector analysis, singular value decomposition, etc. It is a very comprehensive and reputable package that has found extensive use in the scientific community. Normally one would want to use non-PIC code for static linking. In this case, install lapack-dev. This package is provided for other packages, such as atlas, needing access to PIC versions of the lapack objects in their own build process. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

lapack-test

a library of linear algebra routines - testing programs LAPACK version 3.0 is a comprehensive FORTRAN library that does linear algebra operations including matrix inversions, least squared solutions to linear sets of equations, eigenvector analysis, singular value decomposition, etc. It is a very comprehensive and reputable package that has found extensive use in the scientific community. These testing and timing programs have been run against the shared library in the lapack package. The results have been collected in the files test_results and timing_results. These programs are provided separately here so that the user can test and compare alternate versions of the lapack libraries, such as those provided by the atlas packages, and the lapack99 package. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

lapack99

linear algebra library - shared version, rev. 10/99 LAPACK version 3.0 is a comprehensive FORTRAN library that does linear algebra operations including matrix inversions, least squared solutions to linear sets of equations, eigen analysis, SVD, etc. It is a very comprehensive and reputable package that has found extensive use in the scientific community. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

laptop-net

Automatically adapt laptop ethernet This package supports the built-in ethernet of laptops by providing several integrated features that automatically adapt the laptop to the network environment. The package is easily configured to support a wide variety of network environments, and supports manual as well as automatic management of the network interface. The package can automatically: start and stop the network interface at appropriate times; disable the network interface when the network cable is removed, and enable it when the cable is inserted; select the network interface's IP address, either by probing the network for known hosts or by use of the DHCP protocol; customize the laptop's software configuration to match the network interface's IP address. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

laptop-netconf

network detection and configuration program for laptops laptop-netconf can automatically determine the network to which your laptop is connected, from a set of preconfigured alternatives. Once the network has been detected, you can run arbitrary scripts to configure the services on your laptop for correct local operation. This package requires some basic networking knowledge at present. A sample configuration is enclosed. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

larswm

Lars Window Manager with tiled windows larswm is a hack for 9wm, adding automatic window tiling, virtual desktops and many other features designed to make it a very efficient user environment. It uses very little CPU time and virtual memory. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

last

show listing of last logged in users From whatis

lastb

show listing of last logged in users From whatis

lastlog

examine lastlog file From whatis

latd

LAT (Local Area Transport) Daemon This is a server for DEC LAT. It allows users to log in to the Linux system from a LAT terminal server and also the creation of "reverse" LAT ports on the system that connect to other LAT services on the network. There is also an llogin utility that allows users to login to remote LAT services. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

latex

structured text formatting and typesetting From whatis

latex2html

LaTeX to HTML translator. LaTeX2HTML is a conversion tool that that converts documents written in LaTeX to HTML format. In addition, it offers an easy migration path towards authoring complex hypermedia documents using familiar word-processing concepts. LaTeX2HTML replicates the basic structure of a LaTeX document as a set of interconnected HTML files which can be explored using automatically generated navigation panels. The cross-references, citations, footnotes, the table of contents and the lists of figures and tables, are also translated into hypertext links. Formatting information which has equivalent ``tags'' in HTML (lists, quotes, paragraph breaks, type styles, etc.) is also converted appropriately. The remaining heavily formatted items such as mathematical equations, pictures or tables are converted to images which are placed automatically at the correct positions in the final HTML document. LaTeX2HTML extends LaTeX by supporting arbitrary hypertext links and symbolic cross-references between evolving remote documents. It also allows the specification of conditional text and the inclusion of raw HTML commands. These hypermedia extensions to LaTeX are available as new commands and environments from within a LaTeX document. Pstoimg, the part of latex2html that produces bitmap images from the LaTeX source, can support both GIF and PNG format. Because of certain legal limitations on the use of the GIF image format, GIF support is disabled in this package. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

latex2rtf

convert from LaTeX to RTF format Attempts to convert as much formatting information as possible from LaTeX to Microsoft's Rich Text Format (RTF). While RTF has limited support for mathematical markup, it is widely supported as a "least common denominator" word processing format. Home Page: http://latex2rtf.sourceforge.net/ From Debian 3.0r0 APT

latte

The Language for Transforming Text (currently to html) Latte is a simple and powerful language for including markup in text documents. Documents written in Latte can be converted to high-quality HTML, making it a good language for writing World Wide Web documents. A Latte mode for Emacs is included as well as an Emacs autoloader. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

launcher

Selects which program to launch according to extension. Launcher maps files to MIME types via filename extension or output from the Unix "file" command. If there are more than one handler defined for a given MIME type it presents you with a GUI giving you a choice of which one to use. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

lavaps

a lava lamp of currently running processes From whatis

lavaps

a lava lamp of currently running processes Lavaps is an interactive process-tracking program like ``top'', but with a much different attitude. Rather than presenting lots of specific info in digital form, it tries to present certain important information in a graphical analog form. The idea is that you can run it in the background and get a rough idea of what's happening to your system without devoting much concentration to the task. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

lbdb

The little brother's database for the mutt mail reader This package consists of a set of small tools, which collect mail addresses from several sources and offer these addresses to the mutt external query feature. At the moment the following modules are supported: - m_finger (uses the finger(1) command) - m_inmail (scans incoming mail for addresses) - m_passwd (searches /etc/passwd) - m_yppasswd (searches the YP password database) - m_nispasswd (searches the YP password database) - m_getent (searches the configured password database) - m_pgp2, m_pgp5, m_gpg (searches your PGP or GnuPG keyrings) - m_fido (searches the Fidonet nodelist) - m_abook (uses the address book application abook(1)) - m_addr_email (uses addr-email from the addressbook Tk program) - m_muttalias (searches your Mutt mail aliases) - m_pine (searches your Pine addressbook files) - m_wanderlust (search the WanderLust alias database) - m_palm (uses your Palm database; needs libpalm-perl package) - m_gnomecard (uses GnomeCard database files) - m_bbdb (search your BBDB (big brother database)) - m_ldap (query some LDAP server) From Debian 3.0r0 APT

lbreakout2

A ball-and-paddle game with nice graphics lbreakout2 is a game similar to the classics breakout and xboing, featuring a number of added graphical enhancements and effects. You control a paddle at the bottom of the playing-field, and must destroy bricks at the top by bouncing balls against them. lbreakout2 is a complete rewrite of the game "lbreakout". Users of lbreakout probably want to install this. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

lbxproxy

Low BandWidth X proxy From whatis

lbxproxy

Low Bandwidth X (LBX) proxy server Applications that would like to take advantage of the Low Bandwidth extension to X (LBX) must make their connections to an lbxproxy. These applications need know nothing about LBX, they simply connect to the lbxproxy as if were a regular X server. The lbxproxy accepts client connections, multiplexes them over a single connection to the X server, and performs various optimizations on the X protocol to make it faster over low bandwidth and/or high latency connections. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

lcap

Removes 'capabilities' in the kernel, making the system more secure Capabilities are a form of kernel-based access control. This program provides a user-friendlier way than setting proc/sys/kernel/cap-bound by hand to remove capabilities from your Linux kernel. For example, you can remove the capability to load kernel modules by executing 'lcap CAP_SYS_MODULE' as root. Then no one, not even root, can load modules into your kernel. This can be useful for tightening the security of your Linux machines. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

lcdproc

LCD display driver daemon This is a client/server suite inclduding drivers for all kinds of nifty LCD displays. The server supports several serial devices: Matrix Orbital, Crystal Fontz, Bayrad, LB216, LCDM001 (kernelconcepts.de), Wirz-SLI and PIC-an-LCD; and some devices connected to the LPT port: HD44780, STV5730, T6963, SED1520 and SED1330. Various clients are available that display things like CPU load, system load, memory usage, uptime, and a lot more. http://lcdproc.omnipotent.net/ From Debian 3.0r0 APT

ld

Using LD, the GNU linker From whatis

ld.so

The dynamic library loader. Each binary using shared libraries used to have about 3K of start-up code to find and load the shared libraries. Now that code has been put in a special shared library, /lib/ld.so, where all binaries can look for it, so that it wastes less disk space, and can be upgraded more easily. From Linux Guide @FirstLinux

ld.so.preload-manager

A utility to manage the libraries in /etc/ld.so.preload This script is written to be used with the installation of libsafe, but perhaps it could prove itself useful for more things ;) From Debian 3.0r0 APT

ld86

Linker for as86(1) From whatis

ldap-gateways

OpenLDAP Gateways These programs provide directory interaction (gateways) with your existing servers. They include fax, finger, gopher and mail gateways, aswell as some useful utilities. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

ldap-utils

OpenLDAP utilities. Utilities from the OpenLDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) package. These utilities can access a local or remote LDAP server and contain all the client programs required to access LDAP servers. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

ldap2dns

LDAP based DNS management system. ldap2dns is a program to create DNS (Domain Name Service) records directly from a LDAP directory. It can and should be be used to replace the secondary name-server by a second primary one. ldap2dns reduces all kind of administration overhead: No more flat file editing, no more zone file editing. After having installed ldap2dns, the administrator only has to access the LDAP directory. ldap2dns is designed to write ASCII data files used by tinydns from the djbdns package, but also may be used to write .db-files used by named as found in the BIND package. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

ldapexplorer

A set of PHP-scripts to administrate LDAP over the WWW. LDAP Explorer is a handy LDAP Client tool designed to work as a generic web based, running on server side. You can use it to browse tree hierarchical LDAP server, add, modify or delete entries; and add, modify, delete attributes in an entry. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

ldconfig

Ldconfig is a basic system program which determines run-time linkbindings between ld.so and shared libraries. Ldconfig scans a running system and sets up the symbolic links that are used to load shared libraries properly. It also creates a cache (/etc/ld.so.cache) which speeds the loading of programs which use shared libraries. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

ldconfig

determine run-time link bindings From whatis

ldd

print shared library dependencies From whatis

lde

Linux Disk Editor This allows you to view some Linux fs's (a la Norton disk edit), hex block and inode editing are now supported and you can use it to dump an erased file to another partition with a little bit of work. Supports ext2, minix, and msdos. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

ldetect

The hardware device lists provided by this package are used as lookup table to get hardware autodetection From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

ldetect-lst

The hardware device lists provided by this package are used as lookup table to get hardware autodetection From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

ldirectord

Monitors virtual services provided by LVS. ldirectord is a stand-alone daemon to monitor services of real for virtual services provided by The Linux Virtual Server (http://www.linuxvirtualserver.org/). It is simple to install and works with the heartbeat code (http://www.linux-ha.org/). From Debian 3.0r0 APT

ldp-docbook-dsssl

The Linux Documentation Project's DSSSL stylesheets This is a customized stylesheet authored by contributors to the Linux Documentation Project. It imports standard DocBook stylesheets and overrides certain components. This package provides the DSSSL stylesheet; XSL versions can be found in ldp-docbook-xsl. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

ldp-docbook-xsl

The Linux Documentation Project's XSL stylesheets These are customized stylesheets authored by contributors to the Linux Documentation Project. They import standard DocBook stylesheets and override certain components. This package provides the XSL stylesheets; a DSSSL version can be found in ldp-docbook-dsssl. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

ldp-sag

HTML, PS version of Linux System Administrator's Guide This is the Linux System Administrator's Guide, one of the documents of the Linux Documentation Project. The Linux Documentation Project (LDP) is working on developing good, reliable documentation for the Linux operating system. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

ldso

The Linux dynamic linker and library for libc4 and libc5. This dynamic linker provides the user-level support for loading and linking DLL and ELF shared libraries. You do not need this package unless you have very old programs which use libc4 or libc5. The libc6 package has its own dynamic linker that is used for all current programs. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

le

Text Editor with block and binary operations LE has many block operations with stream and rectangular blocks, can edit both unix and dos style files (LF/CRLF), is binary clean, has hex mode, can edit large files and mmap'able devices in MAP_SHARED mode, has tunable syntax highlighting, tunable color scheme (can use default colors), tunable key map. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

leafnode

NNTP server for small leaf sites Leafnode is a news server suitable for small, limited-bandwidth sites with only a few users. Leafnode keeps track of which groups are being read, and downloads only articles in those groups. Leafnode has been designed to require no maintenance and to be easy to set up. Perl and the libnet-perl package are required to use some optional features of the package for handling very low volume newsgroups. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

leaktracer

Simple and efficient memory-leak tracer for C++ programs LeakTracer traces calls to new and delete, and reports inconsistencies in the C++-level memory-management. It has limitations (eg. when you override the new and delete operators yourself), but is very easy to use (eg. compared to more complete tools like mpatrol), traces the C++ level (unlike most other tools), and gives pretty good results. It uses gdb to display source-file information. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

least privilege

A best-practices principle that states that users have only the minimum access they need, and no more. Example: System administrators typically have multiple accounts with different rights. For example, when I'm logged in as a normal user, I do not have rights to administrator my own machine. I must login as a separate account in order to administer the system, then log out as soon as I'm done. Most UNIX systems will use the hash/pound sign # at the command prompt in order to hint to the user that they have root access and should be careful. Key point: One of the leading causes of security breaches is authorization creep: as users change roles, they often get new privileges, but old privileges are rarely taken away. From Hacking-Lexicon

leave

Reminds you when you have to leave Leave waits until the specified time, then reminds you that you have to leave. You are reminded 5 minutes and 1 minute before the actual time, at the time, and every minute thereafter. When you log off, leave exits just before it would have printed the next message. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

ledcontrol

Scriptable keyboard LED control Ledcontrol is a package designed to show any kind of information on the unused LEDs on your keyboard. Features include blinking LEDs, animations, priority levels etc. The GTK+ interface gled is in the package ledcontrol-gtk. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

ledcontrol-gtk

GTK frontend for ledcontrol Ledcontrol-gtk is a GTK+ frontend for ledcontrol with which you can easily test different kinds of blinkings, animations, etc. with ledd. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

ledit

A line editor for interactive programs. Ledit is a line editor, allowing to use control commands like in emacs or in shells (bash, tcsh). To be used with interactive commands. It is written in Ocaml and Camlp4 and uses the library unix.cma. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

legos

Alternative OS for Lego Mindstorms RCX supports devel. in C/C++ A development environment and multitasking operating system for use as an alternative to the standard Lego Mindstorms RCX firmware. For more info: http://legos.sourceforge.net From Debian 3.0r0 APT

leksbot

An explanatory dictionary of botanic and biological terms LEKSBOT is an explanatory dictionary of botanic and biological terms. Currently it contains about 1500 terms but the number is growing up and will cover other sciences relative with biology (entomology, etc.). The included program KATAXWR is a simple utility with which you can add terms in your personal database. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

less

A file pager program, similar to more(1) Less is a program similar to more (1), but which allows backward movement in the file as well as forward movement. Also, less does not have to read the entire input file before starting, so with large input files it starts up faster than text editors like vi (1). Less uses termcap (or terminfo on some systems), so it can run on a variety of terminals. There is even limited support for hardcopy terminals. Homepage: http://www.greenwoodsoftware.com/less/ From Debian 3.0r0 APT

less

The less utility is a text file browser that resembles more, but has more capabilities. Less allows you to move backwards in the file as well as forwards. Since less doesn't have to read the entire input file before it starts, less starts up more quickly than text editors (for example, vi). You should install less because it is a basic utility for viewing textfiles, and you'll use it frequently. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

less

The less utility is a text file browser that resembles more, but has more capabilities. Less allows you to move backwards in the file as well as forwards. Since less does not have to read the entire input file before it starts, less starts up more quickly than text editors. From Redhat 8.0 RPM

less

opposite of more From whatis

lessecho

expand metacharacters, such as * and ?, in filenames on Unix systems. From whatis

lessfile

"input preprocessor" for less. From whatis

lesskey

specify key bindings for less From whatis

lesspipe

"input preprocessor" for less. From whatis

lesstif

LessTif is a free replacement for OSF/Motif(R), which provides a full set of widgets for application development (menus, text entry areas, scrolling windows, etc.). LessTif is source compatible with OSF/Motif(R) 1.2. The widget set code is the primary focus of development. If you are installing lesstif, you also need to install lesstif-clients. From Redhat 8.0 RPM

lesstif

Lesstif is an API compatible clone of the Motif toolkit. Most of the Motif 1.2 API is in place. Motif 2.1 functionality is being improved. Many Motif applications compile and run out-of-the-box with LessTif, and we want to hear about those that don't. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

lesstif-bin

User binaries for LessTif. Contains user binaries for LessTif, the Hungry Programmers' version of OSF/Motif, including a clone of mwm, the Motif Window Manager. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

lesstif-dbg

Library with debugging symbols for LessTif. LessTif, made by the Hungry Programmers, is a free (LGPL-ed) version of OSF/Motif; it aims ultimately at binary compatibility with Motif 1.2. Contains shared libraries with debugging symbols for libXm and libMrm. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

lesstif1

OSF/Motif implementation released under LGPL. Contains runtime shared libraries for LessTif, the Hungry Programmers' version of OSF/Motif. Contains runtime shared libraries for libXm and libMrm. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

levee

a very small vi clone Levee is a screen oriented editor based on the Unix editor "vi". It provides a terse, powerful way to enter and edit text. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

lex

a "Lexical Analyser". Its main job is to break up an input stream into more usable elements. From Linux Guide @FirstLinux

lex

fast lexical analyzer generator From whatis

lexgrog

parse header information in man pages From whatis

lexmark7000linux

A printer driver for Lexmark 7000 "GDI" printers This is the printer driver for Lexmark 7000 "GDI" printers. * Known to work with Lexmark 7000, 7200 and 5700 printers * 600x600 dpi Black & White printing * Preliminary 600x600 CMY colour printing for 7000, 7200 Note that Lexmark printer drivers are now available for Ghostscript, so Debian's gs / gs-aladdin packages will include Lexmark printer support. Hence, this lexmark7000linux package will be obsolete soon, if not already. :-) Author: Henryk Paluch <paluch@bimbo.fjfi.cvut.cz> From Debian 3.0r0 APT

lftp

LFTP is a shell-like command line ftp client. The main two advantages over other ftp clients are reliability and ability to perform tasks in background. It will reconnect and reget the file being transferred if the connection broke. You can start a transfer in background and continue browsing on the ftp site. It does this all in one process. When you have started background jobs and feel you are done, you can just exit lftp and it automatically moves to nohup mode and completes the transfers. It has also such nice features as reput and mirror. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

lftp

LFTP is a sophisticated ftp/http file transfer program. Like bash, it has jobcontrol and uses the readline library for input. It has bookmarks, built-inmirroring, and can transfer several files in parallel. It is designed with reliability in mind. From Redhat 8.0 RPM

lftp

Sophisticated command-line FTP/HTTP client programs Lftp is a file retrieving tool that supports FTP and HTTP protocols under both IPv4 and IPv6. Lftp has an amazing set of features, while preserving its interface as simple and easy as possible. The main two advantages over other ftp clients are reliability and ability to perform tasks in background. It will reconnect and reget the file being transferred if the connection broke. You can start a transfer in background and continue browsing on the ftp site. It does this all in one process. When you have started background jobs and feel you are done, you can just exit lftp and it automatically moves to nohup mode and completes the transfers. It has also such nice features as reput and mirror. It can also download a file as soon as possible by using several connections at the same time. Lftp can also be scriptable, it can be used to mirror sites, it let you copy files among remote servers (even between FTP and HTTP). It has an extensive online help. It supports bookmarks, and connecting to several ftp/http sites at the same time. This package also includes lftpget - A simple non-interactive tool for downloading files. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

lg

Linux Gazette magazine. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

lgeneral

A "Panzer General" - like game A game similar to well known to most of PC users strategic game - Panzer General. It is a turned-based strategy written by Michael Speck. Uses libSDL and requires X Window System. It's not a final version but works fine and is worth playing. Included HOWTO describes step-by-step how to create custom scenarios and campaigns. From Debian 3.0r0 APT

lha

LHA is an archiving and compression utility for LHarc format archives. LHA is mostly used in the DOS world, but can be used under Linux to extract DOS files from LHA archives. Install the lha package if you need to extract DOS files from LHA archives. From Redhat 8.0 RPM

libGConf2_4

GConf is a configuration data storage mechanism scheduled to ship with GNOME 2.0. GConf does work without GNOME however; itcan be used with plain GTK+, Xlib, KDE, or even text mode applications as well. This package contains necessary libraries to run any programs linked with GConf. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libIDL

libIDL is a library for parsing IDL (Interface Definition Language). It can be used for both COM-style and CORBA-style IDL. From Redhat 8.0 RPM

libIDL2_0

libIDL is a small library for creating parse trees of CORBA v2.2compliant Interface Definition Language (IDL) files, which is a specification for defining interfaces which can be used between different CORBA implementations. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libMagick5.5.4

This package contains the libraries needed to run programs dynamically linked with ImageMagick libMagick/libMagick++ libraries. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libMesaGLU1

Mesa is an OpenGL 1.4 compatible 3D graphics library. GLU parts. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libMesaglut3

Mesa is an OpenGL 1.4 compatible 3D graphics library. glut and GLU parts. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libORBit2_0

ORBit is a high-performance CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture) ORB (object request broker). It allows programs to send requests and receive replies from other programs, regardless of the locations of the two programs. CORBA is an architecture that enables communication between program objects, regardless of the programming language they're written in or the operating system they run on. This package contains all core libraries of the ORBit implementation of CORBA technology. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libPropList

The purpose of PL is to closely mimic the behavior of the property lists used in the GNUstep/OPENSTEP (they're formed with the NSString, NSData, NSArray and NSDictionary classes) and to be duly compatible. PL enables programs that use configuration or preference 3 files to make these compatible with GNUstep/OPENSTEP's user defaults handling mechanism, without needing to use Objective-C or GNUstep/OPENSTEP themselves. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libXaw3d7

Xaw3d is an enhanced version of the MIT Athena Widget set for the X Window System. Xaw3d adds a three-dimensional look to applications with minimal or no source code changes. You should install Xaw3d if you are using applications which incorporate the MIT Athena widget set and you'd like to incorporate a 3D look into those applications. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libaa1

AA-lib is a low level gfx library just as many other libraries are. The main difference is that AA-lib does not require graphics device. In fact, there is no graphical output possible. AA-lib replaces those old-fashioned output methods with powerful ascii-art renderer. Now my linux boots with a nice penguin logo at secondary display (yes! LikeWin95 does:) AA-lib API is designed to be similar to other graphics libraries. Learning a new API would be a piece of cake! The AA library is needed for GIMP From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libacl

This package contains the libacl.so dynamic library which contains the POSIX 1003.1e draft standard 17 functions for manipulating access control lists. From Redhat 8.0 RPM

libalsa2

Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (ALSA) is a modularized architecture which supports quite a large range of ISA and PCI cards. It's fully compatible with old OSS drivers (either OSS/Lite, OSS/commercial). To use the features of alsa, one can either use:- the old OSS api- the new ALSA api that provides many enhanced features.Using the ALSA api requires to use the ALSA library. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libao

Libao is a cross platform audio output library. It currently supports ESD, OSS, Solaris, and IRIX. From Redhat 8.0 RPM

libart_lgpl

Graphics routines used by the GnomeCanvas widget and some other applications. libart renders vector paths and the like. From Redhat 8.0 RPM

libart_lgpl2

This is the LGPL'd component of libart. Libart is a library forhigh-performance 2D graphics. All functions needed for running the Gnome canvas, and for printing support, will be going in here. The GPL'd component will be getting various enhanced functions for specific applications. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libatk1.0_0

Accessibility means providing system infrastructure that allows add-on assistive software to transparently provide specalized input and ouput capabilities. For example, screen readers allow blind users to navigate through applications, determine the state of controls, and read text via text to speech conversion. On-screen keyboards replace physical keyboards, and head-mounted pointers replace mice. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libattr

This package contains the libattr.so dynamic library which contains the extended attribute system calls and library functions. From Redhat 8.0 RPM

libbmpeg1

The MPEG Library is a collection of C routines to decode MPEG movies and dither them in a variety of colour schemes. Most of the code in the library comes directly from the Berkely MPEG player, an X11-specific implementation that works fine, but suffers from minimal documentation and a lack of modularity. A front end to the Berkeley decoding engine was developed by Greg Ward at theMontreal Neurological Institute in May/June 1994 to facilitate the development of an MPEG player specifically for Silicon Graphics workstations. The decoding engine together with the MNI front end constitute the MPEG Library. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libbonobo

Bonobo is a component system based on CORBA, used by the GNOME desktop. From Redhat 8.0 RPM

libbonobo

Bonobo is a library that provides the necessary framework for GNOME applications to deal with compound documents, i.e. those with a spreadsheet and graphic embedded in a word-processing document. This package contains various needed modules and files for bonobo 2 to operate. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libbonobo-activation4

Bonobo Activation is an object activation framework for GNOME. It uses ORBit. This package contains necessary libraries to run any programs linked with bonobo-activation. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libbonobo-conf0

Bonobo configuration moniker. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libbonobo2

Bonobo is a library that provides the necessary framework for GNOME applications to deal with compound documents, i.e. those with aspreadsheet and graphic embedded in a word-processing document. This package provides libraries to use Bonobo. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libbonoboui

Bonobo is a component system based on CORBA, used by the GNOME desktop. libbonoboui contains the user interface related components that come with Bonobo. From Redhat 8.0 RPM

libbonoboui

Bonobo is a library that provides the necessary framework for GNOME applications to deal with compound documents, i.e. those with a spreadsheet and graphic embedded in a word-processing document. This package contains various needed modules and files for bonobo 2 to operate. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libbzip2_1

Library of bzip2 functions, for developing apps which will use thebzip2 library (aka libz2). From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libcap

libcap is a library for getting and setting POSIX.1e (formerly POSIX 6)draft 15 capabilities. From Redhat 8.0 RPM

libcapplet0

This package provides the "libcapplet.so.0" library and header filesas found in GNOME 1, used by some packages not yet ported to GNOME 2. From Redhat 8.0 RPM

libcapplet1

libcapplet originally belongs to GNOME control-center, and is a library necessary for 'capplets', which means different modules for control-center. It has been splitted off from control-center as a package of its own. This package contains the main libraries necessary to run capplets. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libcdda0

This is the development libraries for cdparanoia. cdparanoia is a complete rewrite of Heiko Eissfeldt's 'cdda2wav' program, and generally is much better at succeeding to read difficult discs with cheap drives. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libcddb-slave2_0

libraries for running GNOME media. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libconsole0

This package contains libraries for console tools From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libcups1

The Common Unix Printing System provides a portable printing layer for UNIX(TM) operating systems. This package contains the CUPS API library which contains common functions used by both the CUPS daemon and all CUPS frontends (lpr-cups, xpp, qtcups, kups, ...). This package you need for both CUPS clients and servers. It is also needed by Samba. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libcurl2

libcurl is a library of functions for sending and receiving files through various protocols, including http and ftp. You should install this package if you plan to use any applications that use libcurl From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libdb

The Berkeley Database (Berkeley DB) is a programmatic toolkit that provides embedded database support for both traditional and client/server applications. Berkeley DB is used by many applications, including Python and Perl, so this should be installed on all systems. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libdbcxx

The Berkeley Database (Berkeley DB) is a programmatic toolkit that provides embedded database support for both traditional and client/server applications. Berkeley DB is used by many applications, including Python and Perl, so this should be installed on all systems. This package contains the files needed to build C++ programs which use Berkeley DB. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libefs1

This is a first approach to implement a file-system-inside-a-file. The library is called libefs (EFS = Embedded File System). This package is part of Bonobo. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libelf

The libelf package contains a library for accessing ELF object files. Libelf allows you to access the internals of the ELF object file format, so you can see the different sections of an ELF file. From Redhat 8.0 RPM

libevolution0

Evolution is the GNOME mailer, calendar, contact manager and communications tool. The tools which make up Evolution willbe tightly integrated with one another and act as a seamless personal information-management tool. This package contains dynamic librairies used by Evolution. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libexif-gtk4

Most digital cameras produce EXIF files, which are JPEG files with extra tags that contain information about the image. The EXIF library allows you to parse an EXIF file and read the data from those tags. This library does not contain any documentation, but it seems to make the connection between libexif, the core library for EXIF, and GTK-based graphical frontends. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libexif8

Most digital cameras produce EXIF files, which are JPEG files withe xtra tags that contain information about the image. The EXIF library allows you to parse an EXIF file and read the data from those tags. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libext2fs2

The e2fsprogs package contains a number of utilities for creating, checking, modifying and correcting any inconsistencies in second extended (ext2) filesystems. E2fsprogs contains e2fsck (used to repair filesystem inconsistencies after an unclean shutdown), mke2fs (used toinitialize a partition to contain an empty ext2 filesystem), debugfs (used to examine the internal structure of a filesystem, to manually repair a corrupted filesystem or to create test cases for e2fsck), tune2fs(used to modify filesystem parameters) and most of the other core ext2fs filesystem utilities. You should install libext2fs2 to use tools who use ext2fs features. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libf2c

This package contains Fortran 77 shared library which is needed to run Fortran 77 3.1 dynamically linked programs. From Redhat 8.0 RPM

libfam0

fam, the File Alteration Monitor, provides a daemon and an API which applications can use to be notified when specific files or directories are changed.This package contains library used by fam daemon. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libfltk1.1

The Fast Light Tool Kit ("FLTK", pronounced "fulltick") is a LGPL'd C++ graphical user interface toolkit for X (UNIX(r)), OpenGL(r), and Microsoft(r) Windows(r) NT 4.0, 95, or 98. It was originally developed by Mr. Bill Spitzak and is currently maintained by asmall group of developers across the world with a central repository in the US. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libfontconfig1

Fontconfig is designed to locate fonts within the system and select them according to requirements specified by applications. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libg-wrap1

g-wrap is a tool for specifying types, functions, and constants to import into a Scheme interpreter, and for generating code (in C) to interface these to the Guile and RScheme interpreters in particular. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libgail17

Gail is the GNOME Accessibility Implementation Library From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libgal19

A collection of GNOME widgets and utility functions. From Redhat 8.0 RPM

libgal21

This the G App Libs (GAL). This module contains some library functions that came from Gnumeric and Evolution. The idea is to reuse those widgets across various larger GNOME applications that might want to use these widgets. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libgcc

Some GCC version 3.0 and later compiled libraries and/or binaries need this shared support library. From Redhat 8.0 RPM

libgcj

The libgcj package includes the Java runtime library, which is needed to run Java programs compiled using the gcc Java compiler (gcj). From Redhat 8.0 RPM

libgd2

This package contains the library needed to run programs dynamically linkedwith libgdgd is a graphics library. It allows your code to quickly draw imagescomplete with lines, arcs, text, multiple colors, cut and paste fromother images, and flood fills, and write out the result as a .PNG or .JPGfile. This is particularly useful in World Wide Web applications, where .PNG and .JPG are two of the formats accepted for inline images by mostbrowsers. gd is not a paint program. If you are looking for a paint program, you are looking in the wrong place.gd does not provide for every possible desirable graphics operation. It is not necessary or desirable for gd to become a kitchen-sinkgraphics package, but version 1.7.3 incorporates most of the commonlyrequested features for an 8-bit 2D package. Support for truecolor images, including truecolor JPEG and truecolor PNG is planned for version 2.0. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libgda0

GNU Data Access is an attempt to provide uniform access to different kinds of data sources (databases, information servers, mail spools, etc). It is a complete architecture that provides all you need toaccess your data. libgda was part of the GNOME-DB project(http://www.gnome.org/projects/gnome-db), but has beenseparated from it to allow non-GNOME applications to be developed based on it. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libgdbm2

This package provides library needed to run programs dynamically linked with gdbm. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libgdk-pixbuf2

The GdkPixBuf library provides a number of features: - Image loading facilities. - Rendering of a GdkPixBuf into various formats: drawables (windows, pixmaps), GdkRGB buffers. This package provides GTK+ version of gdk-pixbuf From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libgdk_pixbuf2.0_0

This package contains libraries used by GTK+ to load and handle various image formats. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libghttp

The GNOME library for making HTTP 1.1 requests. From Redhat 8.0 RPM

libgimp1.2

This is the non so versionated parts of the gimp core, aka part that're either build for gimp-1.2.x or gimp-1.3.x. We can handle multiple libgimpX.Y_Z at the same time since they've different version (eg libgimp1.2_1 and libgimp1.2_3) but we can install only one libgimp1.2 at the same time. So come the split From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libgimp1.2_1

This is the versionated library that contains the gimp fonctionnality core. It enable other programs to use gimp's features but is mainly intendedto be used by the GIMP and its "external" plugins. It contains :* libgck: color managment* libgimp: the gimp features core* libgimpui: the gimp GUI part From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libgimpprint1

This is a high-quality printing library used by the GIMP-Print plugin, the "stp" color/photo inkjet/laser driver in GhostScript, and by specialized CUPS drivers. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libglade

Libglade is a small library that allows a program to load its user interface from am XML description at runtime. Libglade uses the XML file format used by the GLADE user interface builder GLADE, so libglade acts as an alternative to GLADE's code generation approach. Libglade also provides a simple interface for connecting handlers to the various signals in the interface (on platforms where the gmodule library works correctly, it is possible to connect all the handlers with a single function call). Once the interface has been instantiated, libglade gives no overhead, so other than the short initial interface loading time, there is no performance tradeoff. From Redhat 8.0 RPM

libglade0

This library allows you to load user interfaces in your program, which are stored externally. This allows alteration of the interface without recompilation of the program. The interfaces can also be edited with GLADE. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libglib2.0_0

Glib is a handy library of utility functions. This C library is designed to solve some portability problems and provide other useful functionality which most programs require.Glib is used by GDK, GTK+ and many applications. You should install Glib because many of your applications will depend on this library. This package contains the library needed to run programs dynamically linked with the glib. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libgmp3

The gmp package contains GNU MP, a library for arbitrary precision arithmetic, signed integers operations, rational numbers and floatingpoint numbers. GNU MP is designed for speed, for both small and verylarge operands.GNU MP is fast for several reasons: - it uses fullwords as the basic arithmetic type, - it uses fast algorithms - it carefully optimizes assembly code for many CPUs' most common inner loops - it generally emphasizes speed over simplicity/elegance in its operations From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libgnat

GNAT is a GNU Ada 95 front-end to GCC. This package includes shared libraries, which are required to run programs compiled with the GNAT. From Redhat 8.0 RPM

libgnet1.1

Gnet is a simple network library. It is written in C, object-oriented, and built upon glib. It is intended to be small, fast, easy-to-use, and easy to port. The interface is similar to the interface for Java's network library. Features: * TCP 'client' sockets * TCP 'server' sockets * Non-blocking TCP sockets * UDP * IP Multicast * Internet address abstraction Gnet requires Glib 1.2. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libgnome

GNOME (GNU Network Object Model Environment) is a user-friendly set of GUI applications and desktop tools to be used in conjunction with a window manager for the X Window System. The libgnome package includes non-GUI-related libraries that are needed to run GNOME. The libgnomeui package contains X11-dependent GNOME library features. From Redhat 8.0 RPM

libgnome-vfs2_0

The GNOME Virtual File System provides an abstraction to common filesystem operations like reading, writing and copying files, listing directories and so on. This package contains the main GNOME VFS libraries, which is requiredby the basic GNOME 2 system. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libgnome32

GNOME (GNU Network Object Model Environment) is a user-friendly set of GUI applications and desktop tools to be used in conjunction with a window manager for the X Window System. The gnome-libs package includes libraries that are needed to run GNOME. This package contains main library for GNOME From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libgnomecanvas

The canvas widget allows you to create custom displays using stock items such as circles, lines, text, and so on. It was originally a port of the Tk canvas widget but has evolved quite a bit over time. From Redhat 8.0 RPM

libgnomecanvas2_0

The GNOME canvas is an engine for structured graphics that offers a rich imaging model, high performance rendering, and a powerful, high-level API. It offers a choice of two rendering back-ends, one based on Xlib forextremely fast display, and another based on Libart, a sophisticated, antialiased, alpha-compositing engine. Applications have a choice between the Xlib imaging model or a superset of the PostScript imaging model, depending on the level of graphic sophistication required. This package contains the main canvas library. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libgnomemm-1.2_9

This package provides a C++ interface for GnomeUI. It is a subpackage of the Gtk-- project. The interface provides a convenient interface for C++ programmers to create Gnome GUIs with GTK+'s flexible object-orientedframework. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libgnomeprint

GNOME (GNU Network Object Model Environment) is a user-friendly set of applications and desktop tools to be used in conjunction with a window manager for the X Window System. The gnome-print package contains libraries and fonts needed by GNOME applications for printing. You should install the gnome-print package if you intend to use any ofthe GNOME applications that can print. If you would like to develop GNOME applications that can print you will also need to install the gnome-print devel package. From Redhat 8.0 RPM

libgnomeprint

This is an implementation of the Gnome Printing Architecture, asdescribed in: http://www.levien.com/gnome/print-arch.html From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libgnomeprint15

This package contains the printing apparatus for GNOME, the complete graphical desktop environment based entirely on free software. From Redhat 8.0 RPM

libgnomeprintui

The libgnomeprintui package contains GTK+ widgets related to printing. From Redhat 8.0 RPM

libgnomeprintui2-2_0

This is an implementation of the Gnome Printing Architecture, as described in: http://www.levien.com/gnome/print-arch.html From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libgnomeui

GNOME (GNU Network Object Model Environment) is a user-friendly set of GUI applications and desktop tools to be used in conjunction with a window manager for the X Window System. The lib gnomeui packageincludes GUI-related libraries that are needed to run GNOME. (The libgnome package includes the library features that do not use the X Window System.) From Redhat 8.0 RPM

libgphoto2

This library contains all the functionality to access to modern digital cameras via USB or the serial port. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libgpm1

Library used by the gpm program. Install libgpm1-devel if you need to develop text-mode programs which will use the mouse. You'll also need to install the gpm package. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libgsf-1_1

A library for reading and writing structured files (eg MS OLE and Zip). From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libgstreamer0.6

GStreamer is a streaming-media framework, based on graphs of filters whichoperate on media data. Applications using this library can do anythingfrom real-time sound processing to playing videos, and just about anything else media-related. Its plugin-based architecture means that new datatypes or processing capabilities can be added simply by installing newplugins.This package contains the libraries. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libgtk+2.0_0

This package contains the static libraries and header files needed for developing GTK+ (GIMP ToolKit) applications. It contains GDK (the General Drawing Kit, which simplifies the interface for writing GTK+ widgets and using GTK+ widgets in applications), and GTK+(the widget set). This package contains the library needed to run programs dynamically linked with gtk+. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libgtkhtml1.1_3

GtkHTML is a HTML rendering/editing library. GtkHTML is not designed to be the ultimate HTML browser/editor: instead, it is designed to be easily embedded into applications that require lightweight HTML functionality. This package contains libraries used by GtkHTML. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libgtop2

LibGTop is a library that fetches information about the runningsystem such as CPU and memory usage, active processes and more. On Linux systems, this information is taken directly from the /proc filesystem while on other systems a server is used to read that information from other /dev/kmem, among others. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libguile

This package contains Guile shared object libraries and the ice-9 scheme module. Guile is the GNU Ubiquitous Intelligent Language for Extension. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libieee1284_3

libieee1284 is a cross-platform library for parallel port access From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libintl2

This package contains the libintl library for the gettext package. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libjpeg

The libjpeg package contains a library of functions for manipulating JPEG images, as well as simple client programs for accessing the libjpeg functions. Libjpeg client programs include cjpeg, djpeg,jpegtran, rdjpgcom and wrjpgcom. Cjpeg compresses an image file into JPEG format. Djpeg decompresses a JPEG file into a regular image file. Jpegtran can perform various useful transformations on JPEGfiles. Rdjpgcom displays any text comments included in a JPEG file. Wrjpgcom inserts text comments into a JPEG file. From Redhat 8.0 RPM

liblinc1

linc is a library that eases the task of writing networked servers &clients. It takes care of connection initiation and maintenance, and the details of various transports. It is used by ORBit2 to handle message transmission/receipt. Currently supported transports:

libmad0

MAD is a high-quality MPEG audio decoder. It currently supports MPEG-1and the MPEG-2 extension to Lower Sampling Frequencies, as well as theso-called MPEG 2.5 format. All three audio layers (Layer I, Layer II,and Layer III a.k.a. MP3) are fully implemented. MAD does not yet support MPEG-2 multichannel audio (although it should be backward compatible with such streams) nor does it currently support AAC. MAD has the following special features: * 24-bit PCM output * 100% fixed-point (integer) computation * completely new implementation based on the ISO/IEC standards From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libmal0

libmal is really just a convenience library of the functions in Tom Whittaker's malsync distribution, along with a few wrapper functions. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libmng

LibMNG is a library for accessing graphics in MNG (Multi-image Network Graphics) and JNG (JPEG Network Graphics) formats. MNG graphics are basically animated PNGs. JNG graphics are basically JPEG streams integrated into a PNG chunk. From Redhat 8.0 RPM

libmng1

The libmng library supports decoding, displaying, encoding, and various other manipulations of the Multiple-image Network Graphics (MNG) format image files. It uses the zlib compression library, and optionally the JPEG library by the Independent JPEG Group (IJG) and/or lcms (little cms), a color-management library by Marti Maria Saguar. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libmysql12

This package contains the shared libraries (*.so*) which certainlanguages and applications need to dynamically load and use MySQL. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libncurses5

The curses library routines are a terminal-independent method of updating character screens with reasonalble optimization. The ncurses (new curses) library is a freely distributable replacement for the discontinued 4.4BSD classic curses library. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libnet

Allows low-level manipulation of TCP/IP headers that is impossible for normal programs. Key point: Most programs go through a high-level interface (like sockets) in order to send traffic on the network. Sometimes, for security or hacking reasons, a program needs to construct its own network headers. The existing TCP/IP stack is unable to build these headers, so you must bypass it and go directly to the hardware drivers. Libnet is a library that makes custom packet generation easier. Misunderstanding: Some people believe that libnet will not work on Win95 or WinNT because these systems do not support raw sockets. This is false -- libnet has been widely used on these platforms. From Hacking-Lexicon

libnetpbm9

The netpbm package contains a library of functions which supportprograms for handling various graphics file formats, including .pbm(portable bitmaps), .pgm (portable graymaps), .pnm (portable anymaps), .ppm (portable pixmaps) and others. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libnewt0.51

Newt is a programming library for color text mode, widget based userinterfaces. Newt can be used to add stacked windows, entry widgets, checkboxes, radio buttons, labels, plain text fields, scrollbars,etc., to text mode user interfaces. This package contains theshared library needed by programs built with newt. Newt is based on theslang library. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libnsl

Name services library, a library of name service calls (getpwnam, getservbyname, etc...) on SVR4 Unixes. GNU libc uses this for the NIS (YP) and NIS+ functions. From Linux Guide @FirstLinux

libnspr4

NSPR provides platform independence for non-GUI operating systemfacilities. These facilities include threads, thread synchronization, normal file and network I/O, interval timing and calendar time, basic memory management (malloc and free) and shared library linking. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libnss3

Network Security Services (NSS) is a set of libraries designed to support cross-platform development of security-enabled server applications. Applications built with NSS can support SSL v2 and v3,TLS, PKCS #5, PKCS #7, PKCS #11, PKCS #12, S/MIME, X.509 v3 certificates,and other security standards. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

liboaf0

OAF (Object Activation Framework) provides the activation mechanism for GNOME components. It is a replacement for GOAD in the GNOME 2 platform. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libogg

Libogg is a library for manipulating Ogg bitstream file formats. Libogg supports both making Ogg bitstreams and getting packets from Ogg bitstreams. From Redhat 8.0 RPM

libole20

The applications today needs store multiple type of data. One way to do it is using a filesystem in a file. OLE2-developers used this approach. Inside a OLE2 file, there are streams (files) and directories. Using libole2 is easy to travel through such filesystem-in-a-file, and create, read, write or remove files, and create or remove directories. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libopenssl0

The libraries files are needed for various cryptographic algorithmsand protocols, including DES, RC4, RSA and SSL. This product includes software developed by the OpenSSL Project for use in the OpenSSL Toolkit (http://www.openssl.org/).This product includes cryptographic software written by Eric Young(eay@cryptsoft.com). This product includes software written by Tim Hudson (tjh@cryptsoft.com). Patches for many networking apps can be found at:

libpango1.0_0

A library to handle unicode strings as well as complex bidirectionalor context dependent shaped strings. It is the next step on Gtk+ internationalization. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libpcap

Allows low-level capture of network traffic. Most UNIX-based sniffers use this library. Misconception: You must have root privileges to run libpcap-based programs. This is a common problem when script-kiddies try to run programs based upon this library: they don't know they must run under root, and the scripts themselves rarely give instructional error messages as to what exactly is wrong. Point: Most Windows packet-sniffers are based upon a variation of the PCAUSA driver. This includes "WinDump", a libpcap implementation for Windows. From Hacking-Lexicon

libpcap

Libpcap provides a portable framework for low-level network monitoring. Libpcap can provide network statistics collection, security monitoring and network debugging. Since almost every system vendor provides a different interface for packet capture, the libpcap authors created this system-independent API to ease in porting and to alleviate the need for several system-dependent packet capture modules in each application. Install libpcap if you need to do low-level network traffic monitoring on your network. From Redhat 8.0 RPM

libpcre0

PCRE has its own native API, but a set of "wrapper" functions that are based on the POSIX API are also supplied in the library libpcreposix. Note that this just provides a POSIX calling interface to PCRE: the regular expressionsthemselves still follow Perl syntax and semantics. The header file for the POSIX-style functions is called pcreposix.h. The official POSIX name is regex.h, but I didn't want to risk possible problems with existing files of that name by distributing it that way. To use it with an existing program that uses the POSIX API, it will have to be renamed or pointed at by a link. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libpng

The libpng package contains a library of functions for creating and manipulating PNG (Portable Network Graphics) image format files. PNG is a bit-mapped graphics format similar to the GIF format. PNG was created to replace the GIF format, since GIF uses a patented data compression algorithm. From Redhat 8.0 RPM

libpq3

C and C++ libraries to enable user programs to communicate with the PostgreSQL database backend. The backend can be on another machine and accessed through TCP/IP. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libpwdb0

The pwdb package contains libpwdb, the password database library. Libpwdb is a library which implements a generic user information database. Libpwdb was specifically designed to work with Linux's PAM (Pluggable Authentication Modules). Libpwdb allows configurable access to and management of security tools like /etc/passwd, /etc/shadow and network authentication systems including NIS and Radius. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libpython2.2

This packages contains Python shared object library. Python is an interpreted, interactive, object-oriented programming language often compared to Tcl, Perl, Scheme or Java. From Mandrake 9.0 RPM

libqt3

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