Glossary of Terms Whether you're a user or a seasoned kernel
developer who's simply new to DragonFly, few things are more
confusing than trying to figure out what's going on without
knowing what the acronyms mean. The purpose of this page is to
define (briefly) some of the more obscure technical terminology
you might encounter in DragonFly discussions. Terms that are
specific to DragonFly are indicated by an asterisk (*). Table of
contents Advanced Configuration & Power Interface. Is a standard
that defines power and configuration management interfacing
between the OS and the BIOS. It is meant to replace the APM
standard (for power management) but also provide a generic
interface for recognition and configuration of hardware devices.
Big Giant Lock. A mutual exclusion mechanism which encompasses
the entire running system. Unknown acronym first introduced by
Matt Dillon. A message-based IPC mechanism for applications;
basically, LWKT message-port services exposed to userland. CAPS
facilities are implemented in