A User's Guide to Evolution
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# Glossary

Attachment

  Any file sent along with an email. Attachments may be embedded in a message or appended to it.

Automatic Indexing

  Pre-sorting procedure that allows `Evolution` to refer to data quickly. It enables faster searches and decreases memory usage for data displays.

Bcc (Blind Carbon Copy)

  A way of addressing a message. Bcc is used to send a group of people an e-mail, while hiding their names and addresses from each other.

Cc (Carbon Copy)

  Carbon-copies are used to send a 3rd party a copy of the e-mail, so they an keep up to date on a conversation, without being in the To: list.

Druid

  A tool which guides a user through a series of steps, usually to configure or set up a program. Equivalent to "Assistant" and "Wizard."

Emoticon

  Also called "smileys," emoticons are the little sideways faces made of colons and parentheses which people use to convey emotion in email. Examples: :-) or ;( .

Evolution

  `Evolution` is the GNOME groupware application.

Execute

  To run a program. Any file that can be run is called an executable. `Evolution` can download executable attachments, but before they can be run, the files must be marked as executable with a shell or file manager. This security precaution prevents the automatic or accidental execution of malicious programs. For more information on executables and file permissions, see the documentation for your file manager or shell.

File Tree

  A way of describing a group of files on a computer. With the perversity typical of computer (and especially Unix and Linux) nomenclature, the top of the tree is called the root directory, and denoted by `/`. The rest of the "branches" spread downwards from the root. Don't confuse the root directory with the root account, or root's home directory, `/home/root`.

Filter

  Within `Evolution`, a filter is a method of sorting mail automatically. You can create filters to perform one or more actions on a message that meets any (or all) of a wide range of criteria.

Forward

  the user can send a third party a message which was sent to the user originally.

Groupware

  Groupware is a term describing an application which helps groups of people work together. Typically, a groupware application will have several productivity features built into one program.

Haiku

  A traditional Japanese form of poetry. The poems are three lines long, with first and last lines having five syllables, and the second line seven syllables.

HTML

  Hyper-text Markup Language(HTML) is the layout language which all web pages are written in. HTML can be used inside of e-mails to insert images, justify text different ways, and even include web pages inside the e-mail itself.

Hot Key

  Hot-keys are keyboard combinations used to do actions on a computer instead of using the mouse to do the same action. Hot-keys can speed up computer usage.

iCal

  `iCal` is the program which `Evolution` uses to manage the calendar section.

IMAP

  Depending upon whom you ask, IMAP stands for the Internet Mail Access Protocol, or the Interim Mail Access Protocol. Whatever it stands for, it allows access to email which is typically (although not always) stored remotely on a server rather than on a local hard disk. Often contrasted with POP. This will not be on the test.

Inline

  Displayed as part of a message or other document, rather than attached as a separate file. Contrast with Attachment.

LDAP

  LDAP, the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol, allows a client to search through a large database of addresses, phone numbers, and people stored on a server.

Mail Client

  A mail client is the application with which a person reads and sends e-mail. Its counterparts are the various types of mail servers, which handle user authentication and direct messages from sender to recipient.

Minicard

  A format for the display of contact data. Similar in appearance to a small business card.

Nautilus

  `Nautilus` is the next generation file manager for GNOME being written by Eazel.

Nickname

  An alias for an e-mail address.

POP

  POP, the Post Office Protocol, is a mechanism for email transport. In contrast to IMAP, it is used only to get mail from a server and store it locally on your hard disk.

Protocol

  An agreed-upon method of communication, especially one for sending particular types of information between computer systems. Examples include POP (Post Office Protocol), for email, and HTTP (HypterText Transfer Protocol), for web pages.

Regular Expression

  A regular expression, or "regex", is a way of describing a string of text using metacharacters or wild-card symbols. For example, the statement `fly*so[a|u]p` means "any phrase beginning with 'fly' and ending in 'soup' or 'soap'". If you searched for that expression, you'd find both "fly in my soup" and "fly in my soap." There's not room here to go into depth, but if you want, have a look at the documentation for the grep command.

Script

  A program written in an interpreted (rather than compiled) language. Often used as a synonym for "macro," to denote a series of pre-recorded commands or actions within an application.

Sendmail

  As its name implies, `sendmail` is a program which sends mail. `Evolution` can use it instead of SMTP; some people prefer it because it offers more flexibility, but is more difficult to set up.

Shortcut Bar

  A portion of `Evolution` which offers users fast access to the most frequently used portions of the application.

Signature

  In email terms, a signature is a piece of text placed at the end of every email sent, like a hand-written signature at the bottom of a written letter. A signature can be anything from a favorite quotation to a link to a web page; courtesy dictates that it be fewer than four lines long.

SMTP

  This is the most common way of transporting mail messages from the client's computer (you) to the server. SMTP stands for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol.

Spam

  Useless, unwanted e-mail. Spam normally comes in forms of chain-letters and advertisements for unscrupulous web sites or services. Messages that are merely useless are called "opt-in newsletters."

Virus

  A malicious program which inserts itself into others so that it will be executed, allowing it to spread to still more programs and other computers. A virus can cause substantial damage by clogging networks or disk drives, deleting files, or opening security holes.

vCard

  A file format for the exchange of contact information. When you get an address card attached to an email, it's probably in vCard format. Not to be confused with vFolder.

vFolder

  An email organization tool. vFolders allows you to create a folder that contains the results of a complex search. Folder contents are are updated dynamically.

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