Help with the Lingo - Terminology

good questions.. and yeah.. it takes time to get it all straight in your head.
I will try to unclog it for you.. best to my understanding. i am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong.

Rooting.. is giving you access to the ROOT directory of your device..to get your admin rights back to you. so that you have access to set the super-user permissions.

part of rooting.. you have to unlock the bootloader. otherwise, if you dont change the bootloader. even if you get root access.. once you reboot your device, the stock bootloader will check and then reset and kill your root access again.

rooting does not change anything!!!!
it only gives you more access to your device. so you can leave it with the stock ROM.

if you want to try custom ROMs .. then you have to Flash the MOD (custom ROMs, kernels, etc). these custom ROMs .. have interesting things added or taken away. up to you if you want to try them out. I love them! makes my phone faster, better, prettier..

OTA.. once you root.. stay away from OTAs!!!!!
they will unroot you, and lock you back down.
you will have to wait for a new ROOT method, and go through the process again!!!

most OTAs, once released.. some Developer will have it repackaged for you to use.. within 24 hrs... most times within a few hours. safe for rooted phones.

 

I'll try to help you as much as I can, but I'm not anywhere near as root savvy as most of the people on here!

Rooting gives you superuser permissions, in other words it allows you to use your phone to its full capability. Your phone and Android OS is able to do some things that your carrier or phone manufacturer won't allow. For example, mobile hotspot. Your phone is capable of connecting a computer to the internet via your 3G/4G connection, but your carrier requires you to pay for it. If you root, you can do it without using your carrier's application, which allows you to do it for free. You can also delete pre-loaded apps as you mentioned.

Flashing a ROM is something you can do after you root. A ROM is a skin that lays over Android. It's almost like an operating system itself. Every manufacturer usually has its own version of a ROM. For example, HTC has Sense, Samsung has Touchwiz, etc. The ROM or skin is what makes your phone layout look the way it does. The icons, menu, taskbar, just about everything is specific to your ROM. Use ROMs to change the look of your phone and even the way things work.

As for unlocking the bootloader, kernels, etc. this is where I get lost. I'm pretty sure there's a difference between rooting and unlocking the bootloader, but I'm not sure. Hopefully someone else will jump in and fill us in, and correct me if I've been wrong about anything above.

 

ROM vs Theme
there is a distinction between the two... some times it gets blurred.

ROM.. is a full working OS .. of Android. The dev of that ROM.. has changed how some parts of that android OS works... tweaks and changed and deleting parts. hopefully for the better.

Theme.. are changes to the look or layout or function of some visual UI components. Color, size, etc...

Most times there is a combination of both ROM and Theme. which gives a new look, but the OS has been Tweaked. since the OS is tweaked, then it is also called a ROM.

 

Terminology - CyanogenMod Wiki

maybe that will help a little

 

thanks!