How about a list of abbreviations - and their meanings?

[Chelsea80]

If I have inadvertently posted this in the wrong section then please move it to the correct section.

Abbreviations

Hello all,

Ref the post:
Bionicpup 32bit won't boot, because puppy main SFS cannot be find (sic).

by rolandradio » Tue Nov 01, 2022 8:21 pm

Beginners Help section got me thinking.

I have often had to do a search to find out the meaning of a used abbreviation in a post. Sometimes successful, sometimes not.

I rather feel that it be most useful to a newcomer ( includes me after 1 year) if these abbreviations were available all together in a look-up table.

With the present discussion of encouraging ‘new blood’ to our Puppy world this would be an asset to an understanding for when the ‘new blood’ read posts by more experienced and knowledgeable members.

In the @rolandradio post @Wiz57 answered:

Notes: pdrv is a reference to the disk (whatever type) you installed puppy to, think of abbreviation for "puppy drive",
psub is the reference to the directory (folder) containing your puppy, abbreviation of "puppy sub-directory".
pix is abbreviation for "prefix", in my stanza I run file system check at boot, fsck, to validate my save file.

Thank you @Wiz57 because you not only helped @rolandradio but me as well.

On the other hand, there might already be such a list somewhere out there. However, I haven’t been able to find it.

With the present forum speed problems and that there are those that are trying to ‘hone’ a Puppy nomination for DistroWatch means that this subject is not mission critical. So your thoughts, ideas, opinions on this subject as and when time allows would be appreciated.

Best regards

Chelsea80

[bigpup]

In this forum:
Board index-> General Information-> Getting Started and System Requirements

There are several topics providing information about Puppy Linux.

What you may be asking about is here:
Boot Parameters in the Boot Stanza
https://forum.puppylinux.com/viewtopic.php?t=5484

[greengeek]

What you may be asking about is here:
Boot Parameters in the Boot Stanza
https://forum.puppylinux.com/viewtopic.php?t=5484

Yes you are right - there is some info there (eg pdrv) but I think Chelsea makes a good point.

There are heaps of abbreviations we use in Puppy and it would be great to summarise them somewhere.

eg:
What is:

sfs ?
3fs ?
ext2 ?
ext4 ?
gz ?
xz ?
initrd ?
fsck ?

etc

Would be handy to have a list for newbies maybe?

[bigpup]

@greengeek

Go for it.

Make a topic explaining these and others you can come up with.

It can be moved to Board index-> General Information-> Getting Started and System Requirements

Some will need to be a Puppy Linux definition and not the actual generic definition.

[Chelsea80]

@ bigpup

Thank you for your direction to that information.

@ greengeek

Thank you for laying out in a format of what I was trying to get at.

This is exactly what I had in mind.

My OP made sense to me but obviously was a bit misleading to @bigpup.

Must try and concentrate the mind better.

If you are willing, with others, to compile a What Is list then thanks.

I guess the What Is list would be rather long. So, how about a Submission Thread to gain from as many members as possible their contribution.

The end product would be an alpha / numeric table that could be used by everyone.

If the final version was then locked it could still be edited by the owner. This would allow updates to be made as and when necessary.

This would be an informative and educational way of helping new blood members. I suspect it would be used by many to give more clarity to posts when such abbreviations are used, me included. This would enable the reader to more fully understand that post and engage with it.

Best regards

Chelsea80

[greengeek]

Hmmm, I can see this becoming a very long list. Especially if not limited to TLAs.
Great project though.

Some will need to be a Puppy Linux definition and not the actual generic definition.

Very true.

While I think about how it can be done and by whom - I think I will just keep coming back here every so often to flesh out my list of TLAs that need clarification and would encourage anyone else to do the same. Once there is a critical mass of material to begin with then an appropriate format/place can be found:
2fs
3fs
4fs
sfs
ext2
ext3
ext4
gz
xz
init
fsck
e2fsck
grub
grub2
adrv
bdrv
fdrv etc
zdrv
zram
swap

Possibly it is even worth including the Linux filesystem abbreviations:
root
bin
boot
dev
etc
home
initrd
lib
lib64
libx32
media
mnt
opt
proc
root
run
sbin
srv
sys
system
tmp
usr
var

/bin – binary or executable programs.
/etc – system configuration files.
/home – home directory. ...
/opt – optional or third-party software.
/tmp – temporary space, typically cleared on reboot.
/usr – User related programs.
/var – log files.

And here are some previously compiled lists that may be of use:

https://www.allacronyms.com/linux/abbreviations

http://www.linfo.org/acronym_list.html

https://www.ubuntubuzz.com/2012/04/some ... -that.html

[greengeek]

What would be great is some sort of database or Wiki - that could be updated by pretty much anyone - rather than say the first post of a thread where only one person can update (and possibly get hit by a bus one day and go silent)

[Chelsea80]

@ greengeek

Thank you very much for taking the time, and the effort in going this far.

I have a feeling that as one came to mind you included it.

The finished product would need to be sorted for a quicker reference.

Perhaps a script could be written to produce a sorted list in the first instance.

Then used again as and when an inclusion happened.

Nothing fancy, maybe a Bubble Sort.

I agree that to include the file system abbreviations would be most beneficial.

Also, after each abbreviation a quick meaning of that, as you have with /bin.........../var

Otherwise it would just be looking at the same abbreviation as in a post.

Or perhaps I am jumping the gun and this is an example of how you think the format should be presented and the type of inclusion that would be helpful.

Looking at the links you provided were interesting.

The layout of http://www.linfo.org/acronym_list.html from my perspective, is very user friendly.

I have no knowledge of how to get a page on Wiki, so I will have to leave that. The idea of a multi-user database though sounds promising as this would, as you say “could be updated by pretty much anyone”. Maybe from those that can, a programme could be developed to achieve the result desired. So an inclusion is added to the bottom of the list, then with a click on an UPDATE button the list is sorted.

The suggested location by @ bigpup is logical.

I think, on paper, with the combined knowledge and experience of members, a positive result is possible.

The above are just extended thoughts from a user, not a tech. So apologies if I have given the impression of “not a clue of what’s involved”.

After a search I now know what TLA means, a feather in my cap.

Not one in ages then three knock you down at once.

Best regards

Chelsea80

[mikewalsh]

@Chelsea80 / @greengeek :-

Whilst I agree it's probably a good idea to include a brief explanation of the Linux file-system categories, I believe these ought to be grouped together in their own, separate category; just a brief description, and a couple of links given to some of the many excellent online guides that go into this subject in much greater detail.

I can see some calling for all this additional information to be included in the Puppy 'help' files! I know there are those who - even today - don't fully 'trust' the internet, and still prefer having 'local' copies of everything they consider to be important. In the case of Puppy, in particular, this can add up to quite a large wadge of data.....

(*shrug*)

Mike.

[greengeek]

...include a brief explanation of the Linux file-system categories, I believe these ought to be grouped together in their own, separate category; just a brief description, and a couple of links given to some of the many excellent online guides that go into this subject in much greater detail.

Agreed - wherever possible a link to a suitable online resource is all that is needed.
Mind you even online links are sometimes confusing. Just as a matter of interest - what do you make of these links:

https://linuxiac.com/linux-file-system- ... d-you-use/

Why does a search for "Linux file system" often come up with that sort of info - instead of this sort of info:

https://www.thegeekstuff.com/2010/09/li ... structure/

?