Started a Glossary page on the Wiki

[JaseP]

I started a glossary page on the wiki, for explaining basic terms to new users, especially those unfamiliar with media centers, home automation, etc.

It can be found by searching for the word, "Glossary," in the search field on the wiki.

There is no substantive content there yet. The idea is to explain things like; what 1080p is, what an ATA is, what DHCP is in very basic terms, what a network switch is, what a script is, what the various wireless standards are (and maybe the frequencies they operate at in various countries), etc.

Ideally, it shouldn't be a place for editorializing. But rather it should be; simple, factual explanations of things that the uninitiated may not know. Internal & external links should be encouraged.

I figured it would be a good idea. Please contribute. Thanks.

[Marie.O]

PLEASE - when you add a new page to the wiki, FILL IT WITH CONTENT! Don't ask others to do the work. There are already way too many skeleton pages not filled with useful content.

So, either fill it, or delete it.

[JaseP]

I intend to... I just didn't have the time to do so completely...

[Armor Gnome]

If your goal is a combined effort glossary of lmce and home automation terms, why not build the page here on the forums?  Start a single thread called something like "terms for the wiki", then as people contribute with thread responses you update the first post of the thread to what the Wiki page will contain.  When its substantial and thread replies slow down, then move it to the Wiki as a new page.

just a thought.

[JaseP]

The goal is a place to send new users who are unfamiliar with things (like what the various video resolutions are, what ATSC, NTSC are, etc.) and can (and prefer to) look them up on their own... along with links to the relevant parts of the wiki...

But if people want to contribute terminology in this thread,... I'm all for that. I'll be adding a few terms tonight/this weekend, and building from there.

[Armor Gnome]

Okay I will put some terms here then, I just felt it would be cleaner and easier for you to modify a thread post and be the one to update to the wiki instead of having several people modifying the same page.

[Armor Gnome]

General:
NAS = Networked Attached Storage
DHCP = Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
TCP/IP = Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol
Eth0 = Primary or first listed ethernet port (default installations of lmce make this External network)
Eth1 = Secondary or second listed ethernet port (default installations of lmce make this Internal network)
DCE = Data Communications Equipment
USB-A = Universal Serial Bus-A terminal (typical flat rectangular usb plug/jack)
USB-B = Universal Serial Bus-B terminal (typical square usb plug/jack used often for printer and some modem connections)
Switch (networking) = a device that forwards packets of information along a network, addressing is allowed but the device does not give new devices IP addresses
Hub (networking) = a device that forwards all packets to all connected devices, each device then reads the packet to see if it contains information intended for it)
Router (networking) = a device that reads incoming packets and sends them to only the addressed client, typically enabled as DHCP controller for the network)
VGA = Video Graphics Array (standard 15 pin, blue rectangular monitor plug)
DVI = Digital Visual Interface (rectangular connector for digital video transmission, types are DVI-D, DVI-A and DVI-I)
Serial Connector/Port = a 9 pin connector on some computers and devices that addresses attached devices in serial
D-Sub 9 = see Serial Connector/Port
AP (networking, wireless) = Access Point  - where wireless clients clients attach to a wired network, can be configured to extend wireless coverage in repeater mode
IP = Internet Protocol (typical usage is IP address or a location where computers can be addressed at)
MAC = Media Access Control address - the unique identifier of a hardware device, not to be confused with Mac' which is abbreviated for Macintosh Computers and OS
OS = Operating System
BIOS = Basic Input Output System - a set of commands that a computer uses to understand itself and its internal components
CMOS = Complimentary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor - the battery savable settings made to BIOS that allow for options to be stored and recalled after power loss
CPU = Central Processing Unit  - also referred to as proc, processor or in multiple core processors, a single core
RAM = Random Access Memory - also referred to as memory but not to be confused with storage memory
IDE = Integrated Drive Electronics - typically referring to physical drives (hard drive, dvd drive, cd drive) connected along a 44 pin IDE controller port on the motherboard
MotherBoard = the main component of your computer that contains the cpu, ram and ports for other devices to connect to
MoBo/Mainboard/SystemBoard - see Motherboard
SATA = Serial Advanced Technology Attachment or Serial ATA - a type of connect that allows connection to serial addressed devices such as hard drive, dvd-drives etc
PATA = Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment or Parallel ATA - an uncommon used term for IDE connections, sometimes used by linux programs such as Disk Utility
HDD = Hard Drive Disk - as BIOS understands detected devices the disks are labeled as disk then partition in numbers starting with 0, example hdd0,0 and hdd0,1 are the same device but   
          shown as to seperate partitions.  Linux displays SCSI, SATA and USB drives differently with alphabetical designations for devices and numeric extensions for partitions.  BIOS recognizes
          2 SATA harddrives with 2 partiions each as 'hdd0,0 hdd0,1 hdd1, 0 & hdd1,1' where linux recognizes 'sda1, sda2, sdb1 & sdb2'
HDMI = High-Definition Multimedia Interface - a common connector that combines a digital video signal with a digital audio signal on a single cable and connector.
VOIP = Voice Over Internet Protocol -
SIP = Session Initiation Protocol (see VOIP) - this is a signaling and transmission method that VOIP can be addressed via


Linux Terms:
sudo = Super User DO -
root =
terminal =
tty =
ls - lsusb, lspci, etc


LinuxMCE common terms
Core = The primary computer in the lmce network, the device containing lmce files and directories
DCE/dcerouter = The function of the lmce core that directs commands to various plugins and devices
GSD = Generic Serial Device
MD = Media Director, the term used to describe diskless nodes which store their image on the core and are capable of displaying media
Orbiter = a device used to control a media director, with small exceptions these function as controllers only and can not display media
Template = A developed set of instructions to instruct lmce how to communicate to attached devices and programs.  Created as generic for similar items or specific to one item as necessary
Dev = Developers - Programmers who develop, implement, bug-fix and often support Users and Testers, also referred to as devel(s)
User = A user of LinuxMCE, the development intention of lmce is to allow users functional home automation, media, phone, climate and communications integration without knowledge of the
          above listed items.  The end user of lmce
Tester = Users who assist developers by communicating device and setting issues to the developers, this information is used to make the User's experience automated and problem free
Community = Users, Testers & Developers that together make up the LinuxMCE project
Project = A term used to describe LinuxMCE in terms of an ongoing and ever improving software solution


more to come later, I will update this reply

[JaseP]

Beautiful!!! I'll work on getting them integrated into the Glossary,... Then after work on building internal/external links...

PS: I like your use of a dash between the terms that are anagrams and the definition versus the wordy method I used on the first three definitions... I think I'll switch to that on what I've done...

[JaseP]

Follow-up:

Thanks again Armor Gnome,... Looks like the Glossary is off to a good start now...

Your contributions have been reformatted/edited and put into the correct (I hope) Alpha sort. I fleshed out one or two of them.

I've designated the bottom of the page as a place to dump bulk text prior to formatting and sorting, so that it can be done efficiently. In the future, we can probably dispense with that.

[Armor Gnome]

I noticed you picked up a ton of ones I didn't think of.  As I was reading through it kept saying "ooh he thought of that!"  I think we have a good start we can add bits to as we think of them.

For my descriptions I recalled (this morning lol) reading through a wiki walk-through or install guide and keeping a separate browser tab open at all times to Google simple terms.  Most of the time all I need is a quick explanation of a protocol, command or acronym and can get that from Google search results page without even following a link.  I kept this in mind when doing my descriptions that if a users wants to master something there are better places than our wiki.  Hop to glossary, look something up, get back to your tutorial or hardware support page.

I would imagine only certain users can modify the main menu table to the left of every wiki page.  It would be nice to see a glossary link there for easy "right click open-in-new-tab" lookups.



 

[JaseP]

I agree with that. My idea is to also have the Glossary link to the relevant wiki pages on that subject,... so one can right click on the link and open a new Tab to that material... and also link to external Wikipedia stuff... So, both newbie stuff and look up table stuff...

One particular thing would be to include horizontal and vertical dimensions of the various TV resolutions. A lot of people don't know that stuff off the top of their head, and have to look it up. They may know the native resolution of their Monitor/TV, but not what that is in terms of 720p or 1080p, or what-have-you,... Same for when someone is ripping video.

Anyway, that's my idea...

[mcefan]

One particular thing would be to include horizontal and vertical dimensions of the various TV resolutions. ...
Anyway, that's my idea...

Were you able to do it?

[JaseP]

You know what,... I haven't even looked at that,... sorry. I'll need to look at wikis that have charts and see how they're put together/formatted, then go to some sites on the standard resolutions and refresh rates for content to flesh it out...

[mcefan]

What kind of time-frame should we expect?

[JaseP]

I'll give it a look this weekend... Been very busy with that pesky thing called life... What I am looking for this section to be like is a format similar to this...

http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Unofficial_Plugins#Frontend_Plugins

(Above is the MythTV unofficial plugins page)

Not wanting to duplicate content,... just the table format,... and put resolutions names (480p, 720p, 1080p, etc.), dimensions, typical frequencies, typical modelines, and a list or link to a list of known devices that support that resolution...

Still working on my other project ("drop down" terminal on all MDs), but for that, I'm trying to make sure that, when I do that, it will be fully forward compatible with resolving security issues with the default permissions (MDs running as root), user account logins, etc... and maybe do that more in accordance with "standard" Linux practices (compatibility with SOPs for securing remote ssh logins, for example). I don't want it breaking anything or contributing to any possible system insecurity.