Glossary and Reference

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short_description: "The platform's lexicon and lookup material: orientation for a new reader, general computing terms defined plainly, the full glossary, and the standards this wiki holds its own writing to."
status: active
bcsc_class: public-disclosure-safe
last_edited: 2026-08-04
last_edited: 2026-09-04
editor: pointsav-engineering
paired_with: _index.es.md
---
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## Platform orientation

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- [[getting-started|Getting started with the PointSav platform]] — what the platform is, who it's for, and where to go first
- [[glossary-documentation|PointSav encyclopedia — glossary and lexicon]] — the canonical term-by-term definition source
- [[wiki-structure|How this knowledge base is organized]] — a reader's map of all fifteen documentation-wiki areas
- [[guide-catalog|Developer guide index]] — every how-to guide, grouped by developer concern
- [[hardware-reference|Hardware reference]] — reference hardware profiles for workstations and fleet devices
- [[service-slm-operationalization-plan|SLM operationalization plan]] — the plan for moving from external model calls to a per-tenant local model
- [[getting-started|Getting started with the PointSav platform]] — An orientation to the PointSav developer platform: what it is, who it is for, where to start, and how the pieces fit together before the first task.
- [[glossary-documentation|PointSav encyclopedia — glossary and lexicon]] — A canonical A-to-Z lexicon bridging standard industry terminology with PointSav platform concepts, with authoritative definitions across technical and financial domains.
- [[wiki-structure|How this knowledge base is organized]] — A reader's map of the platform knowledge base: fifteen areas covering what PointSav builds, how it's built, and why it can be trusted, for every reader.
- [[guide-catalog|Developer guide index]] — Developer guide index for the PointSav platform — task-oriented how-to guides organised by concern, from toolchain setup to session lifecycle.
- [[hardware-reference|Hardware reference]] — Reference hardware profiles for developer workstations and fleet devices, specifying CPU requirements including Haswell-generation x86_64 and fsgsbase support.
- [[service-slm-operationalization-plan|SLM operationalization plan]] — The plan for transitioning from externally hosted language model calls toward a per-tenant small language model substrate that heals via a feedback loop.
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## General computing concepts

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- [[application-programming-interface|Application programming interface]] — how software systems communicate through a defined set of calls
- [[computer-appliance|Computer appliance]] — hardware and software sealed together for one well-defined function
- [[edge-computing|Edge computing]] — placing computation near the data it operates on, rather than in a central data center
- [[fog-computing|Fog computing]] — the layer of compute and storage between edge devices and the cloud
- [[just-enough-operating-system|Just enough operating system]] — reducing the OS to only what a specific application needs
- [[lightweight-linux-distribution|Lightweight linux distribution]] — Linux builds engineered for far less RAM and CPU than a full distribution
- [[virtual-appliance|Virtual appliance]] — a pre-configured VM image combining a minimal OS with one application
- [[security-through-obscurity|Security through obscurity]] — why secrecy of design is not treated as a security mechanism here
- [[user-experience-design|User experience design]] — the discipline covering every aspect of a user's interaction with a product
- [[user-interface-design|User interface design]] — designing the human-machine interface itself, governed by ISO 9241
- [[application-programming-interface|Application programming interface]] — Defined interface that lets software systems communicate by specifying the available calls, how to make them, and the data formats exchanged.
- [[computer-appliance|Computer appliance]] — Computing device pairing hardware and software engineered for one well-defined function, deployed as a sealed unit that cannot be repurposed for general computing.
- [[edge-computing|Edge computing]] — Distributed computing paradigm that places computation and storage near data sources, cutting latency and bandwidth versus centralized cloud data centers.
- [[fog-computing|Fog computing]] — Distributed architecture placing compute, storage, and network services between edge devices and the cloud, defined by Cisco in 2012 and standardized as IEEE 1934-2018.
- [[just-enough-operating-system|Just enough operating system]] — Operating system philosophy that reduces the OS to the minimum components a specific application needs, shrinking attack surface, memory footprint, and maintenance.
- [[lightweight-linux-distribution|Lightweight linux distribution]] — Linux distribution engineered to use far less RAM and processor capacity than full-featured distributions, suited to constrained, embedded, and legacy hardware.
- [[virtual-appliance|Virtual appliance]] — Pre-configured virtual machine image combining a minimal operating system with a specific application, distributed as a self-contained unit for compatible hypervisors.
- [[security-through-obscurity|Security through obscurity]] — Reliance on secrecy of design or implementation as a primary security mechanism, rejected in professional practice since Kerckhoffs' principle of 1883.
- [[user-experience-design|User experience design]] — Multidisciplinary design practice covering every aspect of a user's interaction with a company and its products, coined by Donald Norman at Apple in the early 1990s.
- [[user-interface-design|User interface design]] — Discipline of designing human-machine interfaces to maximize usability and user experience, governed by the dialogue principles of the ISO 9241 standard.
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## Editorial and publishing standards

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- [[editorial-language-registers|Editorial language registers]] — the three prose registers this wiki writes in, matched to audience
- [[editorial-philosophy|Editorial philosophy]] — why every article teaches understanding rather than just retrieving facts
- [[news-release-standards|News release typography and layout standards]] — formatting rules for corporate news syndication
- [[preprint-notice-convention|Preprint notice]] — what the mandatory notice on a working research paper actually means
- [[root-files-discipline|Root files discipline]] — the canonical, enumerated set of files every repository root keeps
- [[structural-positioning|Structural positioning]] — how this platform differentiates without naming competitors
- [[wiki-provider-landscape|Wiki provider landscape]] — a structural audit of why no existing provider has closed Wikipedia's gap
- [[editorial-language-registers|Editorial language registers]] — Three distinct language registers matching the PointSav wikis to their audiences: financial-press, developer-platform, and regulatory-specification prose.
- [[editorial-philosophy|Editorial philosophy]] — Every article is a learning resource that teaches understanding rather than retrieving facts, structured with encyclopedic leads and internal linking for readers.
- [[news-release-standards|News release typography and layout standards]] — Strict formatting rules for corporate news syndication: left alignment, title case discipline, geographic precision, and standardized header and dateline structures.
- [[preprint-notice-convention|Preprint notice]] — What the mandatory preprint notice on every research paper means: a working draft, not yet peer-reviewed, subject to revision, and not a final or authoritative account.
- [[root-files-discipline|Root files discipline]] — The convention that every repository and project sub-clone keeps a small, explicitly enumerated set of canonical companion files at its root — and nothing else.
- [[structural-positioning|Structural positioning]] — Structural positioning is PointSav's approach to market differentiation: architectural commitments visible in code and topology, not named-competitor comparisons.
- [[wiki-provider-landscape|Wiki provider landscape]] — A structural audit of the wiki-shaped knowledge-surface market by archetype, documenting why no category of provider has closed Wikipedia's encyclopedic gap, and what closing it would require.
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For a specific term, go to the [[glossary-documentation|glossary]] directly. Architectural