Section 19 – Terminology and Acronyms

This section defines key terms and acronyms used throughout the JanOS framework. Definitions are intended to clarify usage within this document.

DOS: Digital Organic System

A class of computing systems designed around human intent, identity, narrative time, and adaptation. A Digital Organic System emphasizes long-lived coherence, contextual understanding, and humane interaction over raw execution or throughput.

NAFS: Narrative File System

A semantic, versioned file system in which storage is organized around tasks, intents, and narrative progression rather than directory hierarchies alone. History is preserved as an interpretable sequence of meaningful transitions rather than as arbitrary snapshots.

PARC: Personal AI-Assisted Reasoning Context

A constrained, system-level component responsible for assisting in the interpretation, refinement, and maintenance of user intent. PARC provides guidance and contextual support without autonomous decision-making or behavioral optimization.

CICS: Collective Insight Control System

An opt-in, federated mechanism for sharing abstracted, anonymized insights derived from completed work. CICS supports collective learning across JanOS installations while preserving local autonomy, privacy, and policy control.

HCP: Human Code Principles

A set of guiding principles that inform the design and purpose of JanOS. The Human Code Principles emphasize dignity, clarity, sustainability, and respect for human limits in computing systems.

Intent

A first-class system construct representing a directed human purpose, such as completing a task, making a decision, or producing an outcome. Intents have an explicit lifecycle, including formation, refinement, completion, abandonment, or transformation.

Closure

A recognized state in which an intent is considered complete, concluded, or intentionally ended. Closure establishes semantic boundaries for storage, replay, archival, and policy application.

Lineage (Identity Chain)

A verifiable, cryptographically linked record associating actions, applications, and artifacts with their origin, derivation history, and authorization context. Identity chains support accountability, trust, and interpretability across time.

Replayability

The ability to reconstruct and examine sequences of intent progression, semantic actions, and relevant system context in a controlled and privacy-aware manner. Replayability supports debugging, learning, auditing, and historical understanding.

Declarative User Interface

An interface model in which applications describe structure, roles, and interaction intent, while rendering and adaptation are performed by the operating system according to policy and context.

Semantic Telemetry

System observability that relates signals and outcomes to intent-level constructs rather than to raw events or continuous behavioral streams. Semantic telemetry supports insight and learning without pervasive monitoring.