You might have been seeing Linux (Ubuntu) related articles on Knowliz for quite some time now.  Many times I just assume that you will be aware of couple of commonly used terms in Linux.  It is my wrong assumption that you are well acquainted with Linux.
That’s why today I am trying to explain some of these Linux Lingo to you in simple terms.  I am not planning to give any technical details here.  The terms are explained in a way that any existing Windows user can compare them to something they already know.
In fact I am assuming again that at least you know Windows terms.  But I think you will pardon my assumption on this one as I haven’t seen anyone having a computer knowledge without knowing Windows (being a default environment we all are thrown in)
So here are some most common terms you will hear while talking about Linux:

  1. Desktop Environment: It is the graphical user interface which people see when using any operating system.  This includes themes, wallpaper, sounds, window arrangements, folder structure etc etc.  GNOME and KDE are the most common desktop environments in Linux world.
  2. GNOME: I know as soon as I mentioned GNOME above you will have a question, what is GNOME.  GNOME pronounced as ‘nome’ abbreviated from GNU Network Object Model is a Linux desktop environment.  (GNU pronounced as ‘guh-noo’) is a free software project under which Linux and its apps are developed.
  3. KDE: It is known as K Desktop Environment which has very ‘Kool’ X windows environment.  KDE is very popular for vast variety of apps and being very similar to Windows. People coming from Windows environment find KDE very easy to work with because of the same scheme they are used to.
    KDE
    GNOME
  4. Kernel: This is the core element of the OS, controlling how various processes communicates with the processor. All distributions like Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Fedora, OpenSUSE etc have Linux Kernel.  You can say Kernel is the heart of Linux.
  5. Distro: It is a short for ‘Distribution’.  A distro is in fact a distribution of Linux providing a variation of applications and desktop environment. For example Ubuntu, Kubuntu are two distro based on Ubuntu Linux but provides two entirely different set of applications and desktop environment.  Ubuntu is GNOME and Kubuntu is KDE.
    Linux can be further modified to create a modified distro as well.  For instance, Ubuntu Studio is a modified Ubuntu distro with the attention on more media related apps.  Similarly Edubuntu is a modified Ubuntu to suit education needs.  But all of them are Ubuntu based and have Linux at their heart.
  6. Synaptic or Package Manager: If you compare it to Windows then it is your control panel where you can add/remove programs and do some other package related modifications.  In all distro the package manage name differs a little bit, in Ubuntu it is called ‘Synaptic’.
    Synaptic
  7. Repository: A humongous database of applications.  There are some official and some unofficial repositories.
  8. Packages: Applications are stored in packages. That not only tell about the program you want to install but also what it needs to run. It also tells how to install and uninstall the application. (Reference: The Official Ubuntu Book).
    Software Sources
  9. Mount: You may understand mounting as connecting.  For example when you attach a USB drive then it is mounted in Linux to be able to use it.  And when you want to disconnect and safely remove it, you just unmount it.  In windows you use ‘Safely Remove Hardware’.  Similarly any hard drive partition is mounted in Linux to be able to use it.
  10. Terminal/Console: Terminal is kind of a command prompt in Windows that you use to run commands and give directions to the OS to do something for you.  In early Linux days, terminal was the only thing you could run applications.  But now it is all GUI (Graphical User Interface) based so you don’t use it to run applications, you just launch them as you do in Windows.
    Terminal
Hope you find these explanations useful and they help you in your way on exploring Linux.  Let me know if there is any other word you don’t understand, I will try to explore and provide answer for you.  There will obviously be other terms you keep hearing about Linux, so let us know in comments.

Also if you find any information misleading, then let us know so that I can correct them.

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