Some Concepts !!

[Ahmad]

Hello everyone.

Some concepts are strange for some people, especially who are new to internet chatting.
For me, there are some concepts that I don't know what they mean like :

1-)  LOL .
2-)  DDL servers .
For the previous 2 concepts, I just want to know; the letters are abbreviations of which words?

And another important computer related one :
3-)  Proxy  .
They say, do you have a proxy server? I don't know what it means or how it works. 

Thanks. 

[topdog]

Hello everyone.

Some concepts are strange for some people, especially who are new to internet chatting.
For me, there are some concepts that I don't know what they mean like :

1-)  LOL .
2-)  DDL servers .
For the previous 2 concepts, I just want to know; the letters are abbreviations of which words?

And another important computer related one :
3-)  Proxy  .
They say, do you have a proxy server? I don't know what it means or how it works. 

Thanks. 

LOL = laugh out loud. I use it to show a comment I've made is not too serious, and no one should be offended by it or that someone's post has amused me
Here is a link to some other such  chat acronyms http://www.freesmileys.org/free-smileys-chat-acronyms.php

DDL has many meanings. Here I use it to stand for Direct Download Link listing site such as Softarchive, AvaxHome, Releaselog, gfxworld, magazinesdownload etc. Most of them (in my opinion) are rubbish, but some are very good.

I'll leave it to someone more qualified to cover proxies.

Would be interested to see what others mean by DDL

[Ahmad]

Thanks for the prompt reply, dear friend.
It's very enough for me regarding those 2 concepts. 

Let's wait for the Proxy one.

Thanks a lot for the link. 

[BLADESHARK]

Proxy:-
Proxies are mostly used to control, or monitor, outbound traffic. Some application proxies cache the requested data. This lowers bandwidth requirements and decreases the access the same data for the next user. It also gives unquestionable evidence of what was transferred.
There are two types of proxy servers.
Application Proxies - that do the work for you.
SOCKS Proxies - that cross wire ports.
The best example is a person telneting to another computer and then telneting from there to the outside world. With a application proxy server the process is automated. As you telnet to the outside world the client send you to the proxy first. The proxy then connects to the server you requested (the outside world) and returns the data to you.

Because proxy servers are handling all the communications, they can log everything they (you) do. For HTTP (web) proxies this includes very URL they you see. For FTP proxies this includes every file you download. They can even filter out "inappropriate" words from the sites you visit or scan for viruses.

Application proxy servers can authenticate users. Before a connection to the outside is made, the server can ask the user to login first. To a web user this would make every site look like it required a login.

A SOCKS server is a lot like an old switch board. It simply cross wires your connection through the system to another outside connection.

Most SOCKS server only work with TCP type connections. And like filtering firewalls they don't provide for user authentication. They can however record where each user connected to.

[humbert]

Blade: Thanks for both the link with the acronyms and your explanation of the different types of proxy servers, which is something I myself didn't know. Before I ask my question, when Admad asked about DLL's, it's true the acronym stands for many things, but somehow i'm thinking he's referring to "dynamic link library", i.e., like the ton of files in the C:\Windows directory. If you know what those files do, can you elaborate? I think I know what they're all about, I'm just not totally sure.

Another thing. I know you're not specifically a Linux guy, this isn't totally Linux based. If you know the answer to this, great, but if not, would you please copy and paste this to a text file and run it by a friend who just might?

Here's the thing. I downloaded the latest copy of Ubuntu and successfully put it on a bootable flashdrive. This is what I'd like to do in the near future but don't exactly know how, given that no tutorial on Google covers my query.

I found a tutorial on a manual Ubuntu installation, which describes the partitions that need to be created, their sizes, types etc. and explains how all can be done with Ubuntu with no need for 3rd party programs. This is all clear. The problem is I want to install it on my drive D:, which is only about 13% full and the whole drive is on one NTFS partition. Touching C: is out of the question -- Windows and my whole life is on there, plus it's an SSD so it doesn't have all that much space. If I want Ubuntu instead of Windows, all I do is reboot and press F8 for the motherboards's bootup menu, and just take it from there. Better this than create a dual boot system.

Since my attempts at installation failed, there is no question in my mind that the reason is precisely because all of D: is currently all NTFS, meaning I'd have to make the partition smaller in order to create "unpartitioned space" for Ubuntu. Is this even possible? Could a simple utility such as one on Hirens do the job, assuming this is what would work and permit creation of Ubuntu's partitions? Also, could the data presently on D: simply be moved to another drive and restored to what remains of NTFS partition that was just made smaller? I assumed it'll get destroyed if I don't back it up first.

Also, as your friends this - if I simply download a "for Linux" program, how do I install it? All software installations I've seen with non-Windows OS's simply do so in the background, and I am clueless as to what's happening.

If you don't know or can't help, don't worry -- it's cool and this is no real emergency . It would be if Windows were down, but that's not the case.