What is the field of view in gluPerspective?

I’m trying to learn perspective projection in LWJGL with [icode]gluPerspective[/icode] function. I know to use [icode]glFructum[/icode] to create perspective projections but haven’t clearly understood what field of view (fov) which is the first parameter of [icode]gluPerspective[/icode] function. Most tutorials I’ve visited on the net set it to a fixed value ranging from 0 to 90 but none gave a clear explanation. Can anybody explain it clearly? Also why [icode]gluPerspective[/icode] is advantageous over [icode]glFructum[/icode]?