Alias
1. <operating system> A name, usually short and easy to remember and type, that is translated into another name or string, usually long and difficult to remember or type.
Most command interpreters (e.g.
Unix's
csh) allow the user to define aliases for commands, e.g. "alias l ls -al".
These are loaded into memory when the interpreter starts and are expanded without needing to refer to any file.
2. <networking> One of several alternative hostnames with the same
Internet address.
E.g. in the
Unix hosts database (/etc/hosts or
NIS map) the first field on a line is the
Internet address, the next is the official hostname (the "
canonical name" or "
CNAME"), and any others are aliases.
Hostname aliases often indicate that the host with that alias provides a particular network service such as
archie,
finger,
FTP, or
World-Wide Web.
The assignment of services to computers can then be changed simply by moving an alias (e.g. www.doc.ic.ac.uk) from one
Internet address to another, without the clients needing to be aware of the change.
3. <file system> The name used by
Apple computer, Inc. for symbolic links when they added them to the System 7 {operating system} in 1991.
