Series · The web as a system capability
The web as a system capability: glossary
This glossary is grouped by origin. The grouping is not a value judgement. It helps a reader tell which terms are ARC architecture, which are open standards, and which are products or practices belonging to a particular period.
ARC architecture terms
| Term | Meaning | Boundary |
|---|---|---|
| ARC, Agentic Realm Computer | ArcBlock's cross-platform runtime and computing environment for people and agents. | Not a synonym for a traditional virtual machine, and not a single web framework. |
| AFS, Agentic File System | ARC's filesystem abstraction, expressing content, configuration, data and callable capability through addressable paths. | Not a drop-in replacement for a POSIX filesystem, and it does not automatically supply every database or external service capability. |
| Web Device | ARC's system provider for documents and content publishing. It assembles HTML from declared site resources, pages and content, and supports build, preview, check and publish workflows. | Does not maintain a continuing interactive browser session, and does not replace arbitrary dynamic application runtimes. |
| UI Device | ARC's interface provider that maintains a continuing interactive session. | Shares AFS/AUP semantics with the Web Device, for a different purpose. |
| AUP, Agentic UI Protocol | ARC's UI expression for describing interface nodes, data binding and event relationships. | Not a visual framework that requires every interface to look the same. |
| Provider | An implementation that mounts some capability or data source onto an AFS path. | Complex business logic, unusual data sources and external services may still need a dedicated provider. |
| Action | An operation invoked through an AFS path. | An action does not turn all program logic into files automatically; it provides a consistent callable boundary. |
| DID | Decentralized identifier. Inside ARC's runtime it can be part of a verifiable caller identity. | Identity is not authorization; specific capability and permission still require a separate decision. |
| Discuss Kit | ArcBlock's reference application for a complete discussion board. | ARC has moved some generic comment and reaction primitives down into the system, and Discuss Kit has not been fully replaced. |
| ABT Node / Blocklet Server | ABT Node was the runtime's name when ArcBlock released it in 2020, renamed Blocklet Server in late 2021. It installs, composes, runs and manages blocklets. | Not a separate product called Blocklet Server starting in 2020, and not the same thing as a static hosting service. |
Open web standards and practices
| Term | Meaning | Boundary |
|---|---|---|
| HTML | The markup language for the structure of web documents, an application of SGML. | HTML by itself does not solve site deployment, identity or interaction. |
| HTTP | The application-layer protocol web clients and servers use to exchange resources. | HTTP does not prescribe how a page is implemented, how users sign in, or how social relationships are managed. |
| CGI | A common interface letting a web server invoke an external program to generate a response. | CGI opened up programmatic responses; it did not fully detach URLs from files or the server environment. |
| UserDir / public_html | A convention in Apache and other servers for mapping a ~user URL to a user directory. | Not a built-in Unix capability for automatic public publishing. |
| TrackBack | An early blog mechanism for notifying cross-site responses. | Not a shared comment database, and not inherently spam-resistant or source-verifying. |
| Webmention | A W3C standard for cross-URL link notification. The receiver verifies that the source really links to the target. | Does not define identity, comment UI, moderation, a follow graph or storage policy. |
| ActivityPub | A W3C federated social protocol built on ActivityStreams, with Client-to-Server and Server-to-Server layers. | Supports activities, Actors and inbox/outbox; does not prescribe a unified UI, algorithm, moderation regime or automatic trust. |
| SPA | Single-Page Application, a web application form that renders and routes largely in the browser. | Not the only way to build an interactive web, and not inherently unindexable. |
| SSR | Server-Side Rendering, generating initial page output on the server. | Predates React, and serves more purposes than search optimisation. |
Historical products, services and practices
| Name | What it was | Do not confuse it with |
|---|---|---|
| Gopher | An early internet information navigation system. | The web's single predecessor, or the only mainstream option before some given year. |
| Weblog / Blog | A continuously updated personal or group publishing form, later popularised by tools and hosting services. | The origin of all personal publishing. |
| FrontPage | Microsoft's visual website authoring and management software. | A complete publishing solution requiring no server or configuration. |
| Vignette StoryServer | An early enterprise content and personalisation product. | A representative price sample for all CMS products. |
| Mac Personal Web Sharing | macOS serving a user's Sites content through the built-in web server. | Public home page hosting provided automatically by Apple. |
| HomePage / .Mac | Apple's consumer page authoring and hosting services. | Publishing from a local Mac directory. |
| iWeb | Apple's desktop web and media authoring tool, able to publish to .Mac. | Another name for Personal Web Sharing. |
| Dropbox Public folder | The older Dropbox folder capability that let a public link render HTML. | A complete, permanent website hosting platform. |
| Google Drive Web Hosting | A capability, later shut down, for publishing static sites from a public Drive folder. | Today's Google Drive file sharing, Google Sites or Google Cloud Storage. |
Third-party build and publish products
| Name | What it is | Do not confuse it with |
|---|---|---|
| Netlify | A web publishing platform that productised Git-driven builds, deployment and Deploy Previews. | The first static hosting, the first Git-push publishing, or a runtime for all web applications. |
| ZEIT/now and Vercel | ZEIT's now started from simplifying deployment, and ZEIT later became Vercel. Vercel organises Git, previews and production releases, and covers common static and web runtime work. | A linear upgrade of Netlify, or a substitute for every backend need. |
| v0 | Vercel's AI build product, initially focused on generating React, Tailwind CSS and shadcn/ui code from prompts, later connected to Vercel's deployment flow. | A single instruction that completes deployment, data, identity and runtime design for a team. |
| Lovable | A product centred on prompt-driven building, preview and explicit publishing; published projects can use a lovable.app URL or a custom domain. | A tool that turns a project into a permanent production site without a publish confirmation. |
How sources are used here
- Open standards link to primary sources first: W3C, IETF, CERN and similar.
- Historical products link to vendor archives or historical institutions first, with Wikipedia and web archives used where a stable secondary reference is needed.
- ARC terms follow the current ARC technical reference and the boundaries of the versioned implementation, noting whether something is implemented or a design direction.