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150 lines
5.5 KiB
Markdown
150 lines
5.5 KiB
Markdown
---
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lang: en
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layout: doc
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permalink: /doc/glossary/
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redirect_from:
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- /en/doc/glossary/
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- /doc/Glossary/
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- /wiki/Glossary/
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ref: 140
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title: Glossary
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---
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## app qube
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Any [qube](#qube) that depends on a [template](#template) for its root
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filesystem.
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* Historical note: This term originally meant "a qube intended for running user
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software applications" (hence the name "app").
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* Historical note: This is the preferred term replacing the deprecated term
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"TemplateBasedVM."
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## disposable
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See [How to Use Dispoables](/doc/how-to-use-disposables/). A temporary [app
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qube](#app-qube) based on a [disposable template](#disposable-template) that
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can quickly be created, used, and destroyed.
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## disposable template
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A type of [app qube](#app-qube) on which [disposables](#disposable) are based.
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(Not to be confused with the concept of a [template](#template) that is itself
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disposable, which does not exist in Qubes OS.)
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Disposable templates are not [templates](#template), since (being app qubes)
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they do not have root filesystems of their own to provide to other qubes.
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Rather, disposable templates are complementary to templates insofar as
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disposable templates provide their own user filesystems to the disposables
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based on them.
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## dom0
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[Domain](#domain) Zero. Also known as the **host** domain, dom0 is the initial
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qube started by the Xen hypervisor on boot. Dom0 runs the Xen management
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toolstack and has special privileges relative to other domains, such as direct
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access to most hardware.
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* The term "dom0" is not a proper noun and should not be capitalized unless
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it's the first word in a sentence.
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* The use of [domain](#domain) as a synonym for [VM](#vm) is specific to Xen.
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Qubes diverges from this practice. See: [domain](#domain).
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## domain
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_This term is deprecated in the context of Qubes OS._
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In Xen, a synonym for [VM](#vm). See ["domain" on the Xen
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Wiki](https://wiki.xenproject.org/wiki/Domain).
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## domU
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Unprivileged [domain](#domain). Also known as **guest** domains, domUs are the
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counterparts to dom0. In Xen, all VMs except dom0 are domUs. By default, most
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domUs lack direct hardware access.
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* The term "domU" is not a proper noun and should not be capitalized unless it
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is the first word in a sentence.
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* The use of [domain](#domain) as a synonym for [VM](#vm) is specific to Xen.
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Qubes diverges from this practice. See: [domain](#domain).
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## HVM
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[Hardware-assisted Virtual Machine](/doc/standalones-and-HVM/). Any fully
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virtualized, or hardware-assisted, [VM](#vm) utilizing the virtualization
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extensions of the host CPU. Although HVMs are typically slower than
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paravirtualized qubes due to the required emulation, HVMs allow the user to
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create domains based on any operating system.
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## qube
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A secure compartment in Qubes OS. Currently, qubes are implemented as Xen
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[VMs](#vm), but Qubes OS is independent of its underlying compartmentalization
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technology. VMs could be replaced with a different technology, and qubes would
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still be called "qubes."
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* **Important:** The term "qube" should be lowercase unless it is the first
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word in a sentence. Note that starting a sentence with the plural of "qube"
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(i.e., "Qubes...") can be ambiguous, since it may not be clear whether the
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referent is a collection of qubes or [Qubes OS](#qubes-os).
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* Example usage: "In Qubes OS, you do your banking in your 'banking' qube and
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your web surfing in your 'untrusted' qube. That way, if your 'untrusted' qube
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is compromised, your banking activities will remain secure."
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* Historical note: The term "qube" was originally invented as an alternative to
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"VM" intended to make it easier for less technical users to understand Qubes
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OS and learn how to use it.
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## Qubes OS
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A security-oriented operating system (OS). The main principle of Qubes OS is
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security by compartmentalization (or isolation), in which activities are
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compartmentalized (or isolated) in separate [qubes](#qube).
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* **Important:** The official name is "Qubes OS" (note the capitalization and
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the space between "Qubes" and "OS"). However, in casual conversation this is
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often shortened to "Qubes." Only in technical contexts where spaces are not
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permitted (e.g., usernames) may the space be omitted, as in `@QubesOS`.
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## Qubes Windows Tools
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[Qubes Windows Tools (QWT)](/doc/windows-tools/) are a set of programs and
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drivers that provide integration of Windows qubes with the rest of the Qubes OS
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system. Also see [Windows](/doc/windows/).
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## service qube
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A [qube](#qube) the primary purpose of which is to provide a service or
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services to other qubes. `sys-net` and `sys-firewall` are examples of service
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qubes.
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## standalone
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See [Standalones and HVMs](/doc/standalones-and-hvm/). A type of [qube](#qube)
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that does not depend on any other qube for its root filesystem. The opposite of
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an app qube. A standalone is created by cloning a template. Unlike templates,
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however, standalones do not supply their root filesystems to other qubes.
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## template
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See [Templates](/doc/templates/). Any [qube](#qube) that supplies its root
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filesystem to another qube. Templates are intended for installing and updating
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software applications, but not for running them.
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* Since every template supplies its *own* root filesystem to at least one other
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qube, no template can be based on another template. In other words, no
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template is an [app qube](#app-qube).
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* Since every template supplies its *root* filesystem to at least one other
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qube, no [disposable template](#disposable-template) is a template.
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## VM
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An abbreviation for "virtual machine." A software implementation of a machine
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(for example, a computer) that executes programs like a physical machine.
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