Definitions

From Wiki

[edit] A

Adobe - Multimedia company best known for its Acrobat PDF reader and the Photoshop line of graphic editors.

Amazon.com - An online retailer founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994. Initially conceived as a bookstore, Amazon now sell several thousand products including video games, cosmetics, and household appliances.

America Online (AOL) - A well-known Internet service provider. For a time, AOL was easily one of the most popular ISPs in the United States, clocking in 26.7 million subscribers at the height of its popularity. AOL is a subsidiary of Time Warmer.

[edit] B

BSD - An open source derivative of UNIX developed by engineers at the University of California Berkley. Although it came first, BSD is widely considered to be a distant "second" behind Linux in terms of popularity. Both Windows and OS X contain pieces of BSD code.

BSD License - A software license that encourages the free development and distribution of software. Unlike the similar (and admittedly, more popular) GNU Public License, users are not mandated to share the modifications he or makes to a program.

[edit] G

Google - An American software and internet technology company best known for its Googlesearch engine. Since its formation in 1998, Google has expanded to many other fields, including web-based email, mapping software, and internet marketing.

GNU Public License (GPL) - A software license created by Richard Stallman that encourages the free development and distribution of software. The GPL is widely considered to be the most popular public license in the world.

[edit] L

Linux - An open source operating system and UNIX derivative created by Linus Torvalds'. Linux is considered by many to be the "alternative" to Windows and OS X, largely due to its open source nature and attractive price tag (usually free).

[edit] M

Macromedia - A defunct multimedia company best known for its Flash development engine.

Micropayment - The transfer of an incredibly small amount of money, usually used in online games such has Second Life.

Microsoft - Started by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975, Microsoft is arguably the best known software company in the world. Among its flagship products are the Windows operating system, Office productivity suite, Internet Explorer web browser, and the Xbox family of video game systems. Many people, including Richard Stallman and members of the Free Software Foundation, accuse Microsoft of predatory business practices. Microsoft has been the subject of several anti-trust suits going back to the mid 1990's.

Mozilla Foundation - Software company responsible for the Mozilla and Firefox family of web browsers. The company was created after Mozilla was cut out of the development of Netscape by America Online. The name "Mozilla" is short for "Mosaic Godzilla."

[edit] N

Netscape - A subsidiary of America Online best known for the Navigator and Communicator lines of browsers. The "Netscape" name still lives on as a low-cost ISP.

Netscape Navigator - A defunct web browser from Mozilla and later, America Online. Netscape is widely considered to be the first "celebrity application" of the Internet age. It is also one its first casualties, thanks in large to Internet Explorer. Firefox is a direct descendant of Navigator.