G

gcc

GNU Compiler Collection; programs usually used when creating binary executable files from source code.

GID

Group ID; numbering system used by the operating system to refer to a group.

GIMP

GNU Image Manipulation Program; high-powered image-editing program that runs under Linux, Unix, and Windows. Often preceded by the definite article: “The GIMP.”

GNOME

GNU Network Object Model Environment; a GUI-based desktop environment offering similar functionality to KDE. It uses the GTK+ libraries instead of the QT libraries used by KDE.

GNU

GNU’s Not Unix; see GNU Project, The.

GNU/Linux

Another name for the operating system referred to as Linux. The name GNU/Linux gives credit to the vast quantity of GNU Project, The software that is added to the Linux kernel within a distro to make a complete operating system. As such, GNU/Linux is the preferred term of many Free Software advocates.

GNU Project, The

Organization created by Stallman, Richard in order to further the aims of Free Software and create the body of software comprising the GNU operating system.

GNU Public License

Software license principally created by Stallman, Richard in order to protect software source code against proprietary interests and ensure that it will always be shared. It does this by insisting that any source code covered by the GNU Public License (GPL) must remain licensed under the GPL, even after it has been modified or added to by others. The Linux kernel, as well as much of the software that runs on it, uses the GPL.

GPL

See GNU Public License.

grep

Global Regular Expression Print; powerful shell command that lets you search a file or other form of input using regular expressions. Because of the ubiquity of the grep program, many Linux and Unix users refer to searching as “grepping.” To “grep a file” is to search through it for a string.

group

Collection of users under one heading (group name) to facilitate system administration.

GRUB

GRand Unified Bootloader; boot manager program that offers a menu from which you can choose which operating system you wish to boot. It’s needed to load the kernel program and thereby initiate the Linux boot procedure.

GUI

Graphical User Interface; describes the software that provides a graphical system to display data and let you control your PC (usually via a mouse).

guru

One who is experienced and knowledgeable about Linux/Unix and is willing to share his or her knowledge with others. In a perfect world, every newbie would have his or her own guru.

gzip

One of the two preferred forms of file compression used under Linux. Files employing gzip compression usually have a .gz file extension. See also bzip2.