Glossary · MSL Wiki

Term	Meaning
Balloon	How dynamic memory hands memory back: a device inside Linux that inflates to return memory to your Mac and deflates to give it back.
Check at start	An optional disk check before every start. See Checking at every start.
Distro	A Linux distribution: Alpine, Debian, Ubuntu, Arch, Fedora, Rocky and more — see Choosing a distro.
Dynamic disk	A disk that only takes the space Linux has written, up to a limit.
Dynamic memory	Memory that starts at a maximum and gives back what isn't used.
e2fsck, e2fsprogs	The Linux filesystem checker, and the package it comes in. Installed on a Mac with `brew install e2fsprogs`.
Fixed disk	A disk whose whole size is reserved on your Mac up front.
Gate	One of the four Sandbox switches.
Guest	Linux, inside the virtual machine.
Hibernate	Save an instance's memory to disk and stop it; starting resumes exactly where it was.
Host	Your Mac.
Image	A distro's disk, as one file on your Mac. Shared by every instance of that distro.
Instance	One named Linux machine.
Maintenance boot	Starting Linux in a minimal mode to check its own disk.
Manual memory	A fixed amount of memory, reserved while the instance runs.
msl	MSL's command-line tool.
mslgd	MSL's own X11 display server, which turns Linux windows into Mac windows.
mslhd	MSL's background service, which runs every instance.
/mnt/mac	Where your Mac home folder appears inside Linux.
Posture	The Sandbox tab's summary: Open, Partly sealed or Sealed.
Slot	One of the four instances MSL will run at once.
Snapshot	A saved machine state under a name.
Stall	Time Linux programs spend waiting for memory — a sign of memory pressure.
Suspend	Freeze an instance in memory; resuming is almost instant.
vCPU	A virtual processor.
vsock	The direct channel between your Mac and a virtual machine, which doesn't use the network.
X11	The protocol Linux GUI apps draw with.

See also