diff --git a/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/introduction/chapter.sgml b/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/introduction/chapter.sgml
index f8c699b7d6..381cc5be91 100644
--- a/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/introduction/chapter.sgml
+++ b/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/introduction/chapter.sgml
@@ -1,598 +1,704 @@
Introduction
-
- FreeBSD is a 4.4BSD-Lite2 based operating system for Intel architecture
- (x86) and DEC Alpha based computer systems. For an overview of FreeBSD, see
- FreeBSD in a nutshell. For a history of
- the project, read a brief history of FreeBSD.
- To see a description of the latest release, read about the current release. If you are
- interested in contributing something to the FreeBSD project (code,
- equipment, sacks of unmarked bills), please see about contributing to FreeBSD.
-
+
+ Restructured, reorganized, and parts rewritten by
+ &a.jim;, 17 January 2000.
+
+
+ Synopsis
+
+ Thank you for your interest in FreeBSD! The following chapter
+ covers various items about the FreeBSD Project, such as its history,
+ goals, development model, and so on.
+
+ FreeBSD is a 4.4BSD-Lite2 based operating system for the Intel
+ architecture (x86) and DEC Alpha based systems. Ports to other
+ architectures are also underway. For a brief overview of FreeBSD,
+ see the next section. You can also
+ read about the history of FreeBSD,
+ or the the current release. If you
+ are interested in contributing something to the Project (code,
+ hardware, unmarked bills), see the contributing to FreeBSD section.
+
+
- FreeBSD in a Nutshell
+ Welcome to FreeBSD!
+
+ Since you are still here reading this, you most likely have some
+ idea as to what FreeBSD is and what it can do for you. If you are
+ new to FreeBSD, read on for more information.
+
+
+ What is FreeBSD?
+
+ In general, FreeBSD is a state-of-the-art operating system
+ based on 4.4BSD-Lite2. It runs on computer systems based on the
+ Intel architecture (x86), and also the DEC Alpha
+ architecture.
+
+ FreeBSD is used to power some of the biggest sites on the
+ Internet, including:
+
+
+
+ Yahoo!
+
+
+
+ Hotmail
+
+
+
+ Apache
+
+
+
+ Be, Inc.
+
+
+
+ Blue Mountain
+ Arts
+
+
+
+ Pair
+ Networks
+
+
+
+ Whistle
+ Communications
+
+
+
+ Walnut Creek
+ CDROM
+
+
+
+ and many more.
+
+
+
+ What can FreeBSD do?
+
+ FreeBSD has many noteworthy features. Some of these
+ are:
+
+
+
+ Preemptive multitasking with
+ dynamic priority adjustment to ensure smooth and fair
+ sharing of the computer between applications and users, even
+ under the heaviest of loads.
+
+
+
+ Multiuser facilities which allow many
+ people to use a FreeBSD system simulatenously for a variety
+ of things. This means, for example, that system peripherals
+ such as printers and tape drives are properly shared between
+ all users on the system or the network and that individual
+ resource limits can be placed on users or groups of users,
+ protecting critical system resources from over-use.
+
+
+
+ Strong TCP/IP networking with
+ support for industry standards such as SLIP, PPP, NFS, DHCP
+ and NIS support. This means that your FreeBSD machine can
+ inter-operate easily with other systems as well act as an
+ enterprise server, providing vital functions such as NFS
+ (remote file access) and e-mail services or putting your
+ organization on the Internet with WWW, ftp, routing and
+ firewall (security) services.
+
+
+
+ Memory protection ensures that
+ applications (or users) cannot interfere with each other. One
+ application crashing will not affect others in any way.
+
+
+
+ FreeBSD is a 32-bit operating
+ system (64-bit on the Alpha) and was
+ designed as such from the ground up.
+
+
+
+ The industry standard X Window System
+ (X11R6) provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for the cost
+ of a common VGA card and monitor and comes with full
+ sources.
+
+
+
+ Binary compatibility with many
+ programs built for Linux, SCO, SVR4, BSDI and NetBSD.
+
+
+
+ Thousands of ready-to-run
+ applications are available from the FreeBSD
+ ports and packages
+ collection. Why search the net when you can find it all right
+ here?
+
+
+
+ Thousands of additional and
+ easy-to-port applications available on
+ the Internet. FreeBSD is source code compatible with most
+ popular commercial Unix systems and thus most applications
+ require few, if any, changes to compile.
+
+
+
+ Demand paged virtual memory and
+ “merged VM/buffer cache” design efficiently
+ satisfies applications with large appetites for memory while
+ still maintaining interactive response to other users.
+
+
+
+ SMP support for machines with
+ multiple CPUs (Intel only).
+
+
+
+ A full complement of C,
+ C++, Fortran, and
+ Perl development tools.
+ Many additional languages for advanced research
+ and development are also available in the ports and packages
+ collection.
+
+
+
+ Source code for the entire system
+ means you have the greatest degree of control over your
+ environment. Why be locked into a proprietary solution and
+ at the mercy of your vendor when you can have a truly Open
+ System?
+
+
+
+ Extensive on-line
+ documentation.
+
+
+
+ And many more!
+
+
- FreeBSD is a state of the art operating system for computer
- systems based on both the Intel CPU architecture, which includes
- the 386 and Pentium family of processors as well as Intel
- compatible CPUs from Cyrix and AMD, and the DEC Alpha
- architecture. FreeBSD provides you with many advanced features
- previously available only on much more expensive systems.
- These features include:
+ FreeBSD is based on the 4.4BSD-Lite2 release from Computer
+ Systems Research Group (CSRG) at the University of California at
+ Berkeley, and carries on the distinguished tradition of BSD
+ systems development. In addition to the fine work provided by
+ CSRG, the FreeBSD Project has put in many thousands of hours in
+ fine tuning the system for maximum performance and reliability in
+ real-life load situations. As many of the commercial giants
+ struggle to field PC operating systems with such features,
+ performance and reliability, FreeBSD can offer them
+ now!
-
-
- Preemptive multitasking with
- dynamic priority adjustment to ensure smooth and fair
- sharing of the computer between applications and users, even
- under the heaviest of loads.
-
-
-
- Multiuser facilities which allow many
- poeple to use a FreeBSD system simulatenously for a variety
- of things. This means, for example, that system peripherals
- such as printers and tape drives are properly shared between
- all users on the system or the network and that individual
- resource limits can be placed on users or groups of users,
- protecting critical system resources from over-use.
-
-
-
- Strong TCP/IP networking with
- support for industry standards such as SLIP, PPP, NFS, DHCP
- and NIS support. This means that your FreeBSD machine can
- inter-operate easily with other systems as well act as an
- enterprise server, providing vital functions such as NFS
- (remote file access) and e-mail services or putting your
- organization on the Internet with WWW, ftp, routing and
- firewall (security) services.
-
-
-
- Memory protection ensures that applications
- (or users) cannot interfere with each other. One application
- crashing will not affect others in any way.
-
-
-
- FreeBSD is a 32-bit operating
- system (64-bit on the Alpha) and was
- designed as such from the ground up.
-
-
-
- The industry standard X Window System
- (X11R6) provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for the cost of a
- common VGA card and monitor and comes with full sources.
-
-
-
- Binary compatibility with many programs
- built for Linux, SCO, SVR4, BSDI and NetBSD.
-
-
-
- Thousands of ready-to-run applications are
- available from the FreeBSD ports and
- packages collection. Why search the net when
- you can find it all right here?
-
-
-
- Thousands of additional and easy-to-port
- applications available on the Internet. FreeBSD is source code
- compatible with most popular commercial Unix systems and thus most
- applications require few, if any, changes to compile.
-
-
-
- Demand paged virtual memory and
- “merged VM/buffer cache” design efficiently satisfies
- applications with large appetites for memory while still maintaining
- interactive response to other users.
-
-
-
- SMP support for machines with multiple
- CPUs (Intel only).
-
-
-
- A full complement of C,
- C++, Fortran, and
- Perl development tools.
- Many additional languages for advanced research
- and development are also available in the ports and packages
- collection.
-
-
-
- Source code for the entire system means you
- have the greatest degree of control over your environment. Why be
- locked into a proprietary solution and at the mercy of your vendor
- when you can have a truly Open System?
-
-
-
- Extensive on-line documentation.
-
-
-
- And many more!
-
-
+ The applications to which FreeBSD can be put are truly
+ limited only by your own imagination. From software development
+ to factory automation, inventory control to azimuth correction of
+ remote satellite antennae; if it can be done with a commercial
+ UNIX product then it is more than likely that you can do it with
+ FreeBSD, too! FreeBSD also benefits significantly from the
+ literally thousands of high quality applications developed by
+ research centers and universities around the world, often
+ available at little to no cost. Commercial applications are also
+ available and appearing in greater numbers every day.
+
+ Because the source code for FreeBSD itself is generally
+ available, the system can also be customized to an almost unheard
+ of degree for special applications or projects, and in ways not
+ generally possible with operating systems from most major
+ commercial vendors. Here is just a sampling of some of the
+ applications in which people are currently using FreeBSD:
- FreeBSD is based on the 4.4BSD-Lite2 release from Computer Systems
- Research Group (CSRG) at the University of California at Berkeley, and
- carries on the distinguished tradition of BSD systems development. In
- addition to the fine work provided by CSRG, the FreeBSD Project has put
- in many thousands of hours in fine tuning the system for maximum
- performance and reliability in real-life load situations. As many of
- the commercial giants struggle to field PC operating systems with such
- features, performance and reliability, FreeBSD can offer them
- now!
+
+
+ Internet Services: The robust TCP/IP
+ networking built into FreeBSD makes it an ideal platform for a
+ variety of Internet services such as:
- The applications to which FreeBSD can be put are truly limited only
- by your own imagination. From software development to factory
- automation, inventory control to azimuth correction of remote satellite
- antennae; if it can be done with a commercial UNIX product then it is
- more than likely that you can do it with FreeBSD, too! FreeBSD also
- benefits significantly from the literally thousands of high quality
- applications developed by research centers and universities around the
- world, often available at little to no cost. Commercial applications are
- also available and appearing in greater numbers every day.
+
+
+ FTP servers
+
+
+
+ World Wide Web servers (standard or secure
+ [SSL])
+
+
+
+ Firewalls and NAT (“IP masquerading”)
+ gateways.
+
+
+
+ Electronic Mail servers
+
+
+
+ USENET News or Bulletin Board Systems
+
+
+
+ And more...
+
+
- Because the source code for FreeBSD itself is generally available,
- the system can also be customized to an almost unheard of degree for
- special applications or projects, and in ways not generally possible
- with operating systems from most major commercial vendors. Here is just
- a sampling of some of the applications in which people are currently
- using FreeBSD:
+ With FreeBSD, you can easily start out small with an
+ inexpensive 386 class PC and upgrade all the way up to a
+ quad-processor Xeon with RAID storage as your enterprise
+ grows.
+
+
+
+ Education: Are you a student of
+ computer science or a related engineering field? There is no
+ better way of learning about operating systems, computer
+ architecture and networking than the hands on, under the hood
+ experience that FreeBSD can provide. A number of freely
+ available CAD, mathematical and graphic design packages also
+ make it highly useful to those whose primary interest in a
+ computer is to get other work
+ done!
+
+
+
+ Research: With source code for the
+ entire system available, FreeBSD is an excellent platform for
+ research in operating systems as well as other branches of
+ computer science. FreeBSD's freely available nature also makes
+ it possible for remote groups to collaborate on ideas or
+ shared development without having to worry about special
+ licensing agreements or limitations on what may be discussed
+ in open forums.
+
+
+
+ Networking: Need a new router? A
+ name server (DNS)? A firewall to keep people out of your
+ internal network? FreeBSD can easily turn that unused 386 or
+ 486 PC sitting in the corner into an advanced router with
+ sophisticated packet filtering capabilities.
+
+
+
+ X Window workstation: FreeBSD is a
+ fine choice for an inexpensive X terminal solution, either
+ using the freely available XFree86 server or one of the
+ excellent commercial servers provided by X Inside. Unlike an
+ X terminal, FreeBSD allows many applications to be run
+ locally, if desired, thus relieving the burden on a central
+ server. FreeBSD can even boot “diskless”, making
+ individual workstations even cheaper and easier to
+ administer.
+
+
+
+ Software Development: The basic
+ FreeBSD system comes with a full complement of development
+ tools including the renowned GNU C/C++ compiler and
+ debugger.
+
+
-
-
- Internet Services: The robust TCP/IP
- networking built into FreeBSD makes it an ideal platform for a
- variety of Internet services such as:
-
-
-
- FTP servers
-
-
-
- World Wide Web servers (standard or secure [SSL])
-
-
-
- Firewalls and NAT ("IP masquerading") gateways.
-
-
-
- Electronic Mail servers
-
-
-
- USENET News or Bulletin Board Systems
-
-
-
- And more...
-
-
-
- With FreeBSD, you can easily start out small with an
- inexpensive 386 class PC and upgrade all the way up to a
- quad-processor Xeon with RAID storage as your enterprise
- grows.
-
-
-
- Education: Are you a student of computer
- science or a related engineering field? There is no better way of
- learning about operating systems, computer architecture and
- networking than the hands on, under the hood experience that FreeBSD
- can provide. A number of freely available CAD, mathematical and
- graphic design packages also make it highly useful to those whose
- primary interest in a computer is to get other
- work done!
-
-
-
- Research: With source code for the entire
- system available, FreeBSD is an excellent platform for research in
- operating systems as well as other branches of computer science.
- FreeBSD's freely available nature also makes it possible for remote
- groups to collaborate on ideas or shared development without having
- to worry about special licensing agreements or limitations on what
- may be discussed in open forums.
-
-
-
- Networking: Need a new router? A name
- server (DNS)? A firewall to keep people out of your internal
- network? FreeBSD can easily turn that unused 386 or 486 PC sitting
- in the corner into an advanced router with sophisticated packet
- filtering capabilities.
-
-
-
- X Window workstation: FreeBSD is a fine
- choice for an inexpensive X terminal solution, either using the
- freely available XFree86 server or one of the excellent commercial
- servers provided by X Inside. Unlike an X terminal, FreeBSD allows
- many applications to be run locally, if desired, thus relieving the
- burden on a central server. FreeBSD can even boot
- “diskless”, making individual workstations even cheaper
- and easier to administer.
-
-
-
- Software Development: The basic FreeBSD
- system comes with a full complement of development tools including
- the renowned GNU C/C++ compiler and debugger.
-
-
-
- FreeBSD is available in both source and binary form on CDROM and via
- anonymous ftp. See Obtaining FreeBSD
- for more details.
+ FreeBSD is available in both source and binary form on CDROM
+ and via anonymous ftp. See Obtaining
+ FreeBSD for more details.
+
-
- A Brief History of FreeBSD
+
+ About the FreeBSD Project
+
+ The following section provides some background information on
+ the project, including a brief history, project goals, and the
+ development model of the project.
+
+
+ A Brief History of FreeBSD
+
+ Contributed by &a.jkh;.
- Contributed by &a.jkh;.
+ The FreeBSD project had its genesis in the early part of 1993,
+ partially as an outgrowth of the “Unofficial 386BSD
+ Patchkit” by the patchkit's last 3 coordinators: Nate
+ Williams, Rod Grimes and myself.
- The FreeBSD project had its genesis in the early part of 1993,
- partially as an outgrowth of the “Unofficial 386BSD
- Patchkit” by the patchkit's last 3 coordinators: Nate Williams,
- Rod Grimes and myself.
+ Our original goal was to produce an intermediate snapshot of
+ 386BSD in order to fix a number of problems with it that the
+ patchkit mechanism just was not capable of solving. Some of you
+ may remember the early working title for the project being
+ “386BSD 0.5” or “386BSD Interim” in
+ reference to that fact.
- Our original goal was to produce an intermediate snapshot of 386BSD
- in order to fix a number of problems with it that the patchkit mechanism
- just was not capable of solving. Some of you may remember the early
- working title for the project being “386BSD 0.5” or
- “386BSD Interim” in reference to that fact.
-
- 386BSD was Bill Jolitz's operating system, which had been up to that
- point suffering rather severely from almost a year's worth of neglect.
- As the patchkit swelled ever more uncomfortably with each passing day,
- we were in unanimous agreement that something had to be done and decided
- to try and assist Bill by providing this interim “cleanup”
- snapshot. Those plans came to a rude halt when Bill Jolitz suddenly
- decided to withdraw his sanction from the project without any clear
- indication of what would be done instead.
+ 386BSD was Bill Jolitz's operating system, which had been up
+ to that point suffering rather severely from almost a year's worth
+ of neglect. As the patchkit swelled ever more uncomfortably with
+ each passing day, we were in unanimous agreement that something
+ had to be done and decided to try and assist Bill by providing
+ this interim “cleanup” snapshot. Those plans came to
+ a rude halt when Bill Jolitz suddenly decided to withdraw his
+ sanction from the project without any clear indication of what
+ would be done instead.
- It did not take us long to decide that the goal remained worthwhile,
- even without Bill's support, and so we adopted the name
- “FreeBSD”, coined by David Greenman. Our initial objectives
- were set after consulting with the system's current users and, once it
- became clear that the project was on the road to perhaps even becoming a
- reality, I contacted Walnut Creek CDROM with an eye towards improving
- FreeBSD's distribution channels for those many unfortunates without easy
- access to the Internet. Walnut Creek CDROM not only supported the idea
- of distributing FreeBSD on CD but went so far as to provide the project
- with a machine to work on and a fast Internet connection. Without
- Walnut Creek CDROM's almost unprecedented degree of faith in what was,
- at the time, a completely unknown project, it is quite unlikely that
- FreeBSD would have gotten as far, as fast, as it has today.
+ It did not take us long to decide that the goal remained
+ worthwhile, even without Bill's support, and so we adopted the
+ name “FreeBSD”, coined by David Greenman. Our initial
+ objectives were set after consulting with the system's current
+ users and, once it became clear that the project was on the road
+ to perhaps even becoming a reality, I contacted Walnut Creek CDROM
+ with an eye towards improving FreeBSD's distribution channels for
+ those many unfortunates without easy access to the Internet.
+ Walnut Creek CDROM not only supported the idea of distributing
+ FreeBSD on CD but went so far as to provide the project with a
+ machine to work on and a fast Internet connection. Without Walnut
+ Creek CDROM's almost unprecedented degree of faith in what was, at
+ the time, a completely unknown project, it is quite unlikely that
+ FreeBSD would have gotten as far, as fast, as it has today.
- The first CDROM (and general net-wide) distribution was FreeBSD 1.0,
- released in December of 1993. This was based on the 4.3BSD-Lite
- (“Net/2”) tape from U.C. Berkeley, with many components also
- provided by 386BSD and the Free Software Foundation. It was a fairly
- reasonable success for a first offering, and we followed it with the
- highly successful FreeBSD 1.1 release in May of 1994.
+ The first CDROM (and general net-wide) distribution was
+ FreeBSD 1.0, released in December of 1993. This was based on the
+ 4.3BSD-Lite (“Net/2”) tape from U.C. Berkeley, with
+ many components also provided by 386BSD and the Free Software
+ Foundation. It was a fairly reasonable success for a first
+ offering, and we followed it with the highly successful FreeBSD
+ 1.1 release in May of 1994.
- Around this time, some rather unexpected storm clouds formed on the
- horizon as Novell and U.C. Berkeley settled their long-running lawsuit
- over the legal status of the Berkeley Net/2 tape. A condition of that
- settlement was U.C. Berkeley's concession that large parts of Net/2 were
- “encumbered” code and the property of Novell, who had in
- turn acquired it from AT&T some time previously. What Berkeley got
- in return was Novell's “blessing” that the 4.4BSD-Lite
- release, when it was finally released, would be declared unencumbered
- and all existing Net/2 users would be strongly encouraged to switch.
- This included FreeBSD, and the project was given until the end of July
- 1994 to stop shipping its own Net/2 based product. Under the terms of
- that agreement, the project was allowed one last release before the
- deadline, that release being FreeBSD 1.1.5.1.
+ Around this time, some rather unexpected storm clouds formed
+ on the horizon as Novell and U.C. Berkeley settled their
+ long-running lawsuit over the legal status of the Berkeley Net/2
+ tape. A condition of that settlement was U.C. Berkeley's
+ concession that large parts of Net/2 were “encumbered”
+ code and the property of Novell, who had in turn acquired it from
+ AT&T some time previously. What Berkeley got in return was
+ Novell's “blessing” that the 4.4BSD-Lite release, when
+ it was finally released, would be declared unencumbered and all
+ existing Net/2 users would be strongly encouraged to switch. This
+ included FreeBSD, and the project was given until the end of July
+ 1994 to stop shipping its own Net/2 based product. Under the
+ terms of that agreement, the project was allowed one last release
+ before the deadline, that release being FreeBSD 1.1.5.1.
- FreeBSD then set about the arduous task of literally re-inventing
- itself from a completely new and rather incomplete set of 4.4BSD-Lite
- bits. The “Lite” releases were light in part because
- Berkeley's CSRG had removed large chunks of code required for actually
- constructing a bootable running system (due to various legal
- requirements) and the fact that the Intel port of 4.4 was highly
- incomplete. It took the project until November of 1994 to make this
- transition, at which point it released FreeBSD 2.0 to the net
- and on CDROM (in late December). Despite being still more than a little
- rough around the edges, the release was a significant success and was
- followed by the more robust and easier to install FreeBSD 2.0.5 release
- in June of 1995.
+ FreeBSD then set about the arduous task of literally
+ re-inventing itself from a completely new and rather incomplete
+ set of 4.4BSD-Lite bits. The “Lite” releases were
+ light in part because Berkeley's CSRG had removed large chunks of
+ code required for actually constructing a bootable running system
+ (due to various legal requirements) and the fact that the Intel
+ port of 4.4 was highly incomplete. It took the project until
+ November of 1994 to make this transition, at which point it
+ released FreeBSD 2.0 to the net and on CDROM (in late December).
+ Despite being still more than a little rough around the edges,
+ the release was a significant success and was followed by the
+ more robust and easier to install FreeBSD 2.0.5 release in June of
+ 1995.
- We released FreeBSD 2.1.5 in August of 1996, and it appeared to be
- popular enough among the ISP and commercial communities that another
- release along the 2.1-STABLE branch was merited. This was FreeBSD
- 2.1.7.1, released in February 1997 and capping the end of mainstream
- development on 2.1-STABLE. Now in maintenance mode, only security
- enhancements and other critical bug fixes will be done on this branch
- (RELENG_2_1_0).
+ We released FreeBSD 2.1.5 in August of 1996, and it appeared
+ to be popular enough among the ISP and commercial communities that
+ another release along the 2.1-STABLE branch was merited. This was
+ FreeBSD 2.1.7.1, released in February 1997 and capping the end of
+ mainstream development on 2.1-STABLE. Now in maintenance mode,
+ only security enhancements and other critical bug fixes will be
+ done on this branch (RELENG_2_1_0).
- FreeBSD 2.2 was branched from the development mainline
- (“-CURRENT”) in November 1996 as the RELENG_2_2 branch, and
- the first full release (2.2.1) was released in April, 1997. Further
- releases along the 2.2 branch were done in the Summer and Fall of '97,
- the last of which (2.2.8) appeared in November, 1998. The first
- official 3.0 release appeared in October, 1998 and spelled the beginning
- of the end for the 2.2 branch.
+ FreeBSD 2.2 was branched from the development mainline
+ (“-CURRENT”) in November 1996 as the RELENG_2_2
+ branch, and the first full release (2.2.1) was released in April,
+ 1997. Further releases along the 2.2 branch were done in the
+ Summer and Fall of '97, the last of which (2.2.8) appeared in
+ November, 1998. The first official 3.0 release appeared in
+ October, 1998 and spelled the beginning of the end for the 2.2
+ branch.
- The tree branched again on Jan 20, 1999, leading to the 4.0-CURRENT
- and 3.X-STABLE branches. From 3.X-STABLE, 3.1 was released on February
- 15th, 1999 and 3.2 on May 15, 1999. The most current release on this
- branch is 3.3, which was released on September 16th, 1999.
+ The tree branched again on Jan 20, 1999, leading to the
+ 4.0-CURRENT and 3.X-STABLE branches. From 3.X-STABLE, 3.1 was
+ released on February 15, 1999, 3.2 on May 15, 1999, and 3.3 on
+ September 16, 1999. The most current release on this branch is
+ &rel.current;, which was released on December 20, 1999.
- Long term development projects continue to take place in the
- 4.0-CURRENT branch, and SNAPshot releases of 4.0 on CDROM (and,
- of course, on the net) are continually made available as work
- progresses.
-
+ Long term development projects continue to take place in the
+ 4.0-CURRENT branch, and SNAPshot releases of 4.0 on CDROM (and, of
+ course, on the net) are continually made available as work
+ progresses.
+
-
- FreeBSD Project Goals
+
+ FreeBSD Project Goals
- Contributed by &a.jkh;.
+ Contributed by &a.jkh;.
- The goals of the FreeBSD Project are to provide software that may be
- used for any purpose and without strings attached. Many of us have a
- significant investment in the code (and project) and would certainly not
- mind a little financial compensation now and then, but we are definitely
- not prepared to insist on it. We believe that our first and foremost
- “mission” is to provide code to any and all comers, and for
- whatever purpose, so that the code gets the widest possible use and
- provides the widest possible benefit. This is, I believe, one of the
- most fundamental goals of Free Software and one that we enthusiastically
- support.
+ The goals of the FreeBSD Project are to provide software that
+ may be used for any purpose and without strings attached. Many of
+ us have a significant investment in the code (and project) and
+ would certainly not mind a little financial compensation now and
+ then, but we are definitely not prepared to insist on it. We
+ believe that our first and foremost “mission” is to
+ provide code to any and all comers, and for whatever purpose, so
+ that the code gets the widest possible use and provides the widest
+ possible benefit. This is, I believe, one of the most fundamental
+ goals of Free Software and one that we enthusiastically
+ support.
- That code in our source tree which falls under the GNU General Public
- License (GPL) or Library General Public License (LGPL) comes with slightly
- more strings attached, though at least on the side of enforced access
- rather than the usual opposite. Due to the additional complexities that
- can evolve in the commercial use of GPL software we do, however,
- prefer software submitted under the more relaxed BSD copyright when it's
- a reasonable option to do so.
-
+ That code in our source tree which falls under the GNU General
+ Public License (GPL) or Library General Public License (LGPL)
+ comes with slightly more strings attached, though at least on the
+ side of enforced access rather than the usual opposite. Due to
+ the additional complexities that can evolve in the commercial use
+ of GPL software we do, however, prefer software submitted under
+ the more relaxed BSD copyright when it's a reasonable option to
+ do so.
+
-
- The FreeBSD Development Model
+
+ The FreeBSD Development Model
- Contributed by &a.asami;.
+ Contributed by &a.asami;.
- The development of FreeBSD is a very open and flexible process,
- FreeBSD being literally built from the contributions of hundreds of
- people around the world, as can be seen from our list of contributors. We are constantly on the
- lookout for new developers and ideas, and those interested in becoming
- more closely involved with the project need simply contact us at the
- &a.hackers;. The &a.announce; is also available to those wishing to
- make other FreeBSD users aware of major areas of work.
+ The development of FreeBSD is a very open and flexible
+ process, FreeBSD being literally built from the contributions of
+ hundreds of people around the world, as can be seen from our
+ list of contributors. We are
+ constantly on the lookout for new developers and ideas, and those
+ interested in becoming more closely involved with the project
+ need simply contact us at the &a.hackers;. The &a.announce; is
+ also available to those wishing to make other FreeBSD users aware
+ of major areas of work.
- Useful things to know about the FreeBSD project and its development
- process, whether working independently or in close cooperation:
+ Useful things to know about the FreeBSD project and its
+ development process, whether working independently or in close
+ cooperation:
-
-
- The CVS repository
+
+ The CVS repository
-
- The central source tree for FreeBSD is maintained by CVS
- (Concurrent Version System), a freely available source code
- control tool which comes bundled with FreeBSD. The primary CVS
- repository resides on a machine in Concord CA, USA from
- where it is replicated to numerous mirror machines throughout the
- world. The CVS tree, as well as the
+ The central source tree for FreeBSD is maintained by
+ CVS
+ (Concurrent Version System), a freely available source code
+ control tool which comes bundled with FreeBSD. The primary
+ CVS
+ repository resides on a machine in Concord CA, USA
+ from where it is replicated to numerous mirror machines
+ throughout the world. The CVS tree, as well as the -CURRENT and -STABLE trees which are checked out of
- it, can be easily replicated to your own machine as well. Please
- refer to the Synchronizing your source
- tree section for more information on doing this.
-
-
+ linkend="stable">-STABLE trees which are checked out
+ of it, can be easily replicated to your own machine as well.
+ Please refer to the Synchronizing
+ your source tree section for more information on
+ doing this.
+
+
-
- The committers list
+
+ The committers list
-
- The committers are the
- people who have write access to the CVS tree,
- and are thus authorized to make modifications to the FreeBSD
- source (the term “committer” comes from the
- &man.cvs.1; commit command, which is used
- to bring new changes into the CVS repository). The best way of
- making submissions for review by the committers list is to use the
- &man.send-pr.1; command, though if something appears to be
- jammed in the system then you may also reach them by sending mail
- to cvs-committers@FreeBSD.org.
-
-
+
+ The committers
+ are the people who have write access to
+ the CVS tree, and are thus authorized to make modifications
+ to the FreeBSD source (the term “committer”
+ comes from the &man.cvs.1; commit
+ command, which is used to bring new changes into the CVS
+ repository). The best way of making submissions for review
+ by the committers list is to use the &man.send-pr.1;
+ command, though if something appears to be jammed in the
+ system then you may also reach them by sending mail to
+ cvs-committers@FreeBSD.org.
+
+
-
- The FreeBSD core team
+
+ The FreeBSD core team
-
- The FreeBSD core team would
- be equivalent to the board of directors if the FreeBSD Project
- were a company. The primary task of the core team is to make sure
- the project, as a whole, is in good shape and is heading in the
- right directions. Inviting dedicated and responsible developers
- to join our group of committers is one of the functions of the
- core team, as is the recruitment of new core team members as
- others move on. Most current members of the core team started as
- committers whose addiction to the project got the better of
- them.
+
+ The FreeBSD core team
+ would be equivalent to the board of directors if the FreeBSD
+ Project were a company. The primary task of the core team
+ is to make sure the project, as a whole, is in good shape
+ and is heading in the right directions. Inviting dedicated
+ and responsible developers to join our group of committers
+ is one of the functions of the core team, as is the
+ recruitment of new core team members as others move on. Most
+ current members of the core team started as committers whose
+ addiction to the project got the better of them.
- Some core team members also have specific areas of responsibility, meaning that
- they are committed to ensuring that some large portion of the
- system works as advertised.
+ Some core team members also have specific areas of responsibility, meaning
+ that they are committed to ensuring that some large portion
+ of the system works as advertised.
-
- Most members of the core team are volunteers when it comes
- to FreeBSD development and do not benefit from the project
- financially, so “commitment” should also not be
- misconstrued as meaning “guaranteed support.” The
- “board of directors” analogy above is not actually
- very accurate, and it may be more suitable to say that these are
- the people who gave up their lives in favor of FreeBSD against
- their better judgement! ;-)
-
-
-
+
+ Most members of the core team are volunteers when it
+ comes to FreeBSD development and do not benefit from the
+ project financially, so “commitment” should
+ also not be misconstrued as meaning “guaranteed
+ support.” The “board of directors”
+ analogy above is not actually very accurate, and it may be
+ more suitable to say that these are the people who gave up
+ their lives in favor of FreeBSD against their better
+ judgement! ;-)
+
+
+
-
- Outside contributors
+
+ Outside contributors
-
- Last, but definitely not least, the largest group of
- developers are the users themselves who provide feedback and
- bug-fixes to us on an almost constant basis. The primary way of
- keeping in touch with FreeBSD's more non-centralized development
- is to subscribe to the &a.hackers; (see mailing list info) where such
- things are discussed.
+
+ Last, but definitely not least, the largest group of
+ developers are the users themselves who provide feedback and
+ bug-fixes to us on an almost constant basis. The primary
+ way of keeping in touch with FreeBSD's more non-centralized
+ development is to subscribe to the &a.hackers; (see mailing list info) where
+ such things are discussed.
- The list of those
- who have contributed something which made its way into our source
- tree is a long and growing one, so why not join it by contributing
- something back to FreeBSD today? :-)
+ The list of
+ those who have contributed something which made its way into
+ our source tree is a long and growing one, so why not join
+ it by contributing something back to FreeBSD today?
+ :-)
- Providing code is not the only way of contributing to the
- project; for a more complete list of things that need doing,
- please refer to the how to
+ Providing code is not the only way of contributing to
+ the project; for a more complete list of things that need
+ doing, please refer to the how to
contribute section in this handbook.
-
-
-
+
+
+
- In summary, our development model is organized as a loose set of
- concentric circles. The centralized model is designed for the
- convenience of the users of FreeBSD, who are
- thereby provided with an easy way of tracking one central code base, not
- to keep potential contributors out! Our desire is to present a stable
- operating system with a large set of coherent application programs that the users can easily
- install and use, and this model works very well in accomplishing
- that.
+ In summary, our development model is organized as a loose set
+ of concentric circles. The centralized model is designed for the
+ convenience of the users of FreeBSD, who are
+ thereby provided with an easy way of tracking one central code
+ base, not to keep potential contributors out! Our desire is to
+ present a stable operating system with a large set of coherent
+ application programs that the users
+ can easily install and use, and this model works very well in
+ accomplishing that.
- All we ask of those who would join us as FreeBSD developers is some
- of the same dedication its current people have to its continued
- success!
-
-
-
- About the Current Release
-
- FreeBSD is a freely available, full source 4.4BSD-Lite2 based release
- for Intel i386/i486/Pentium/PentiumPro/Celeron/Pentium II/Pentium III (or
- compatible) and DEC Alpha based computer systems. It is based primarily
- on software from U.C. Berkeley's CSRG group, with some enhancements from
- NetBSD, OpenBSD, 386BSD, and the Free Software Foundation.
+ All we ask of those who would join us as FreeBSD developers is
+ some of the same dedication its current people have to its
+ continued success!
+
- Since our release of FreeBSD 2.0 in late 94, the performance,
- feature set, and stability of FreeBSD has improved dramatically. The
- largest change is a revamped virtual memory system with a merged VM/file
- buffer cache that not only increases performance, but reduces FreeBSD's
- memory footprint, making a 5MB configuration a more acceptable minimum.
- Other enhancements include full NIS client and server support,
- transaction TCP support, dial-on-demand PPP, integrated DHCP support,
- an improved SCSI subsystem, ISDN support, support for ATM, FDDI, Fast
- and Gigabit Ethernet (1000Mbit) adapters, improved support for the latest
- Adaptec controllers and many hundreds of bug fixes.
+
+ The Current FreeBSD Release
- We have also taken the comments and suggestions of many of our users
- to heart and have attempted to provide what we hope is a more sane and
- easily understood installation process. Your feedback on this
- (constantly evolving) process is especially welcome!
+ FreeBSD is a freely available, full source 4.4BSD-Lite2 based
+ release for Intel i386, i486, Pentium, Pentium Pro, Celeron,
+ Pentium II, Pentium III (or compatible) and DEC Alpha based computer
+ systems. It is based primarily on software from U.C. Berkeley's
+ CSRG group, with some enhancements from NetBSD, OpenBSD, 386BSD, and
+ the Free Software Foundation.
- In addition to the base distributions, FreeBSD offers a new ported
- software collection with hundreds of commonly sought-after programs. By
- mid-November 1999, there were nearly 2800 ports! The list of
- ports ranges from http (WWW) servers, to games, languages, editors and
- almost everything in between. The entire ports collection requires
- approximately 50MB of storage, all ports being expressed as
- “deltas” to their original sources. This makes it much
- easier for us to update ports, and greatly reduces the disk space
- demands made by the older 1.0 ports collection. To compile a port, you
- simply change to the directory of the program you wish to install, type
- make install, and let the system do the rest. The
- full original distribution for each port you build is retrieved
- dynamically off the CDROM or a local ftp site, so you need only enough
- disk space to build the ports you want. (Almost) every port is also
- provided as a pre-compiled “package” which can be installed
- with a simple command (pkg_add) by those who do not wish to compile
- their own ports from source.
+ Since our release of FreeBSD 2.0 in late 94, the performance,
+ feature set, and stability of FreeBSD has improved dramatically.
+ The largest change is a revamped virtual memory system with a merged
+ VM/file buffer cache that not only increases performance, but
+ reduces FreeBSD's memory footprint, making a 5MB configuration a
+ more acceptable minimum. Other enhancements include full NIS client
+ and server support, transaction TCP support, dial-on-demand PPP,
+ integrated DHCP support, an improved SCSI subsystem, ISDN support,
+ support for ATM, FDDI, Fast and Gigabit Ethernet (1000Mbit)
+ adapters, improved support for the latest Adaptec controllers and
+ many hundreds of bug fixes.
- A number of additional documents which you may find very helpful in
- the process of installing and using FreeBSD may now also be found in the
- /usr/share/doc directory on any machine running
- FreeBSD 2.1 or later. You may view the locally installed manuals with
- any HTML capable browser using the following URLs:
-
-
-
- The FreeBSD Handbook
+ We have also taken the comments and suggestions of many of our
+ users to heart and have attempted to provide what we hope is a more
+ sane and easily understood installation process. Your feedback on
+ this (constantly evolving) process is especially welcome!
-
- In addition to the base distributions, FreeBSD offers a new
+ ported software collection with hundreds of commonly sought-after
+ programs. By mid-January 2000, there were nearly 3000 ports! The
+ list of ports ranges from http (WWW) servers, to games, languages,
+ editors and almost everything in between. The entire ports
+ collection requires approximately 50MB of storage, all ports being
+ expressed as “deltas” to their original sources. This
+ makes it much easier for us to update ports, and greatly reduces
+ the disk space demands made by the older 1.0 ports collection. To
+ compile a port, you simply change to the directory of the program
+ you wish to install, type make install, and let
+ the system do the rest. The full original distribution for each
+ port you build is retrieved dynamically off the CDROM or a local ftp
+ site, so you need only enough disk space to build the ports you
+ want. Almost every port is also provided as a pre-compiled
+ “package” which can be installed with a simple command
+ (pkg_add) by those who do not wish to compile their own ports from
+ source.
+
+ A number of additional documents which you may find very helpful
+ in the process of installing and using FreeBSD may now also be found
+ in the /usr/share/doc directory on any machine
+ running FreeBSD 2.1 or later. You may view the locally installed
+ manuals with any HTML capable browser using the following
+ URLs:
+
+
+
+ The FreeBSD Handbook
+
+
+ file:/usr/share/doc/handbook/handbook.html
-
-
+
+
-
- The FreeBSD FAQ
+
+ The FreeBSD FAQ
-
-
+ file:/usr/share/doc/FAQ/FAQ.html
-
-
-
+
+
+
- You can also visit the master (and most frequently updated)
- copies at You can also visit the master (and most frequently updated)
+ copies at http://www.FreeBSD.org/.
-
- The core of FreeBSD does not contain DES code which would inhibit
- its being exported outside the United States. There is an add-on
- package to the core distribution, for use only in the United States,
- that contains the programs that normally use DES. The auxiliary
- packages provided separately can be used by anyone. A freely (from
- outside the U.S.) exportable European distribution of DES for our
- non-U.S. users also exists and is described in the FreeBSD FAQ.
- If password security for FreeBSD is all you need, and you have no
- requirement for copying encrypted passwords from different hosts (Suns,
- DEC machines, etc) into FreeBSD password entries, then FreeBSD's MD5
- based security may be all you require! We feel that our default security
- model is more than a match for DES, and without any messy export issues
- to deal with. If you are outside (or even inside) the U.S., give it a
- try!
+ The core of FreeBSD does not contain DES code which would
+ inhibit its being exported outside the United States. There is an
+ add-on package to the core distribution, for use only in the United
+ States, that contains the programs that normally use DES. The
+ auxiliary packages provided separately can be used by anyone. A
+ freely (from outside the U.S.) exportable European distribution of
+ DES for our non-U.S. users also exists and is described in the
+ FreeBSD FAQ.
+
+ If password security for FreeBSD is all you need, and you have
+ no requirement for copying encrypted passwords from different hosts
+ (Suns, DEC machines, etc) into FreeBSD password entries, then
+ FreeBSD's MD5 based security may be all you require! We feel that
+ our default security model is more than a match for DES, and without
+ any messy export issues to deal with. If you are outside (or even
+ inside) the U.S., give it a try!
+
@@ -606,4 +712,3 @@
sgml-parent-document: ("../book.sgml" "part" "chapter")
End:
-->
-
diff --git a/en_US.ISO_8859-1/books/handbook/introduction/chapter.sgml b/en_US.ISO_8859-1/books/handbook/introduction/chapter.sgml
index f8c699b7d6..381cc5be91 100644
--- a/en_US.ISO_8859-1/books/handbook/introduction/chapter.sgml
+++ b/en_US.ISO_8859-1/books/handbook/introduction/chapter.sgml
@@ -1,598 +1,704 @@
Introduction
-
- FreeBSD is a 4.4BSD-Lite2 based operating system for Intel architecture
- (x86) and DEC Alpha based computer systems. For an overview of FreeBSD, see
- FreeBSD in a nutshell. For a history of
- the project, read a brief history of FreeBSD.
- To see a description of the latest release, read about the current release. If you are
- interested in contributing something to the FreeBSD project (code,
- equipment, sacks of unmarked bills), please see about contributing to FreeBSD.
-
+
+ Restructured, reorganized, and parts rewritten by
+ &a.jim;, 17 January 2000.
+
+
+ Synopsis
+
+ Thank you for your interest in FreeBSD! The following chapter
+ covers various items about the FreeBSD Project, such as its history,
+ goals, development model, and so on.
+
+ FreeBSD is a 4.4BSD-Lite2 based operating system for the Intel
+ architecture (x86) and DEC Alpha based systems. Ports to other
+ architectures are also underway. For a brief overview of FreeBSD,
+ see the next section. You can also
+ read about the history of FreeBSD,
+ or the the current release. If you
+ are interested in contributing something to the Project (code,
+ hardware, unmarked bills), see the contributing to FreeBSD section.
+
+
- FreeBSD in a Nutshell
+ Welcome to FreeBSD!
+
+ Since you are still here reading this, you most likely have some
+ idea as to what FreeBSD is and what it can do for you. If you are
+ new to FreeBSD, read on for more information.
+
+
+ What is FreeBSD?
+
+ In general, FreeBSD is a state-of-the-art operating system
+ based on 4.4BSD-Lite2. It runs on computer systems based on the
+ Intel architecture (x86), and also the DEC Alpha
+ architecture.
+
+ FreeBSD is used to power some of the biggest sites on the
+ Internet, including:
+
+
+
+ Yahoo!
+
+
+
+ Hotmail
+
+
+
+ Apache
+
+
+
+ Be, Inc.
+
+
+
+ Blue Mountain
+ Arts
+
+
+
+ Pair
+ Networks
+
+
+
+ Whistle
+ Communications
+
+
+
+ Walnut Creek
+ CDROM
+
+
+
+ and many more.
+
+
+
+ What can FreeBSD do?
+
+ FreeBSD has many noteworthy features. Some of these
+ are:
+
+
+
+ Preemptive multitasking with
+ dynamic priority adjustment to ensure smooth and fair
+ sharing of the computer between applications and users, even
+ under the heaviest of loads.
+
+
+
+ Multiuser facilities which allow many
+ people to use a FreeBSD system simulatenously for a variety
+ of things. This means, for example, that system peripherals
+ such as printers and tape drives are properly shared between
+ all users on the system or the network and that individual
+ resource limits can be placed on users or groups of users,
+ protecting critical system resources from over-use.
+
+
+
+ Strong TCP/IP networking with
+ support for industry standards such as SLIP, PPP, NFS, DHCP
+ and NIS support. This means that your FreeBSD machine can
+ inter-operate easily with other systems as well act as an
+ enterprise server, providing vital functions such as NFS
+ (remote file access) and e-mail services or putting your
+ organization on the Internet with WWW, ftp, routing and
+ firewall (security) services.
+
+
+
+ Memory protection ensures that
+ applications (or users) cannot interfere with each other. One
+ application crashing will not affect others in any way.
+
+
+
+ FreeBSD is a 32-bit operating
+ system (64-bit on the Alpha) and was
+ designed as such from the ground up.
+
+
+
+ The industry standard X Window System
+ (X11R6) provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for the cost
+ of a common VGA card and monitor and comes with full
+ sources.
+
+
+
+ Binary compatibility with many
+ programs built for Linux, SCO, SVR4, BSDI and NetBSD.
+
+
+
+ Thousands of ready-to-run
+ applications are available from the FreeBSD
+ ports and packages
+ collection. Why search the net when you can find it all right
+ here?
+
+
+
+ Thousands of additional and
+ easy-to-port applications available on
+ the Internet. FreeBSD is source code compatible with most
+ popular commercial Unix systems and thus most applications
+ require few, if any, changes to compile.
+
+
+
+ Demand paged virtual memory and
+ “merged VM/buffer cache” design efficiently
+ satisfies applications with large appetites for memory while
+ still maintaining interactive response to other users.
+
+
+
+ SMP support for machines with
+ multiple CPUs (Intel only).
+
+
+
+ A full complement of C,
+ C++, Fortran, and
+ Perl development tools.
+ Many additional languages for advanced research
+ and development are also available in the ports and packages
+ collection.
+
+
+
+ Source code for the entire system
+ means you have the greatest degree of control over your
+ environment. Why be locked into a proprietary solution and
+ at the mercy of your vendor when you can have a truly Open
+ System?
+
+
+
+ Extensive on-line
+ documentation.
+
+
+
+ And many more!
+
+
- FreeBSD is a state of the art operating system for computer
- systems based on both the Intel CPU architecture, which includes
- the 386 and Pentium family of processors as well as Intel
- compatible CPUs from Cyrix and AMD, and the DEC Alpha
- architecture. FreeBSD provides you with many advanced features
- previously available only on much more expensive systems.
- These features include:
+ FreeBSD is based on the 4.4BSD-Lite2 release from Computer
+ Systems Research Group (CSRG) at the University of California at
+ Berkeley, and carries on the distinguished tradition of BSD
+ systems development. In addition to the fine work provided by
+ CSRG, the FreeBSD Project has put in many thousands of hours in
+ fine tuning the system for maximum performance and reliability in
+ real-life load situations. As many of the commercial giants
+ struggle to field PC operating systems with such features,
+ performance and reliability, FreeBSD can offer them
+ now!
-
-
- Preemptive multitasking with
- dynamic priority adjustment to ensure smooth and fair
- sharing of the computer between applications and users, even
- under the heaviest of loads.
-
-
-
- Multiuser facilities which allow many
- poeple to use a FreeBSD system simulatenously for a variety
- of things. This means, for example, that system peripherals
- such as printers and tape drives are properly shared between
- all users on the system or the network and that individual
- resource limits can be placed on users or groups of users,
- protecting critical system resources from over-use.
-
-
-
- Strong TCP/IP networking with
- support for industry standards such as SLIP, PPP, NFS, DHCP
- and NIS support. This means that your FreeBSD machine can
- inter-operate easily with other systems as well act as an
- enterprise server, providing vital functions such as NFS
- (remote file access) and e-mail services or putting your
- organization on the Internet with WWW, ftp, routing and
- firewall (security) services.
-
-
-
- Memory protection ensures that applications
- (or users) cannot interfere with each other. One application
- crashing will not affect others in any way.
-
-
-
- FreeBSD is a 32-bit operating
- system (64-bit on the Alpha) and was
- designed as such from the ground up.
-
-
-
- The industry standard X Window System
- (X11R6) provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for the cost of a
- common VGA card and monitor and comes with full sources.
-
-
-
- Binary compatibility with many programs
- built for Linux, SCO, SVR4, BSDI and NetBSD.
-
-
-
- Thousands of ready-to-run applications are
- available from the FreeBSD ports and
- packages collection. Why search the net when
- you can find it all right here?
-
-
-
- Thousands of additional and easy-to-port
- applications available on the Internet. FreeBSD is source code
- compatible with most popular commercial Unix systems and thus most
- applications require few, if any, changes to compile.
-
-
-
- Demand paged virtual memory and
- “merged VM/buffer cache” design efficiently satisfies
- applications with large appetites for memory while still maintaining
- interactive response to other users.
-
-
-
- SMP support for machines with multiple
- CPUs (Intel only).
-
-
-
- A full complement of C,
- C++, Fortran, and
- Perl development tools.
- Many additional languages for advanced research
- and development are also available in the ports and packages
- collection.
-
-
-
- Source code for the entire system means you
- have the greatest degree of control over your environment. Why be
- locked into a proprietary solution and at the mercy of your vendor
- when you can have a truly Open System?
-
-
-
- Extensive on-line documentation.
-
-
-
- And many more!
-
-
+ The applications to which FreeBSD can be put are truly
+ limited only by your own imagination. From software development
+ to factory automation, inventory control to azimuth correction of
+ remote satellite antennae; if it can be done with a commercial
+ UNIX product then it is more than likely that you can do it with
+ FreeBSD, too! FreeBSD also benefits significantly from the
+ literally thousands of high quality applications developed by
+ research centers and universities around the world, often
+ available at little to no cost. Commercial applications are also
+ available and appearing in greater numbers every day.
+
+ Because the source code for FreeBSD itself is generally
+ available, the system can also be customized to an almost unheard
+ of degree for special applications or projects, and in ways not
+ generally possible with operating systems from most major
+ commercial vendors. Here is just a sampling of some of the
+ applications in which people are currently using FreeBSD:
- FreeBSD is based on the 4.4BSD-Lite2 release from Computer Systems
- Research Group (CSRG) at the University of California at Berkeley, and
- carries on the distinguished tradition of BSD systems development. In
- addition to the fine work provided by CSRG, the FreeBSD Project has put
- in many thousands of hours in fine tuning the system for maximum
- performance and reliability in real-life load situations. As many of
- the commercial giants struggle to field PC operating systems with such
- features, performance and reliability, FreeBSD can offer them
- now!
+
+
+ Internet Services: The robust TCP/IP
+ networking built into FreeBSD makes it an ideal platform for a
+ variety of Internet services such as:
- The applications to which FreeBSD can be put are truly limited only
- by your own imagination. From software development to factory
- automation, inventory control to azimuth correction of remote satellite
- antennae; if it can be done with a commercial UNIX product then it is
- more than likely that you can do it with FreeBSD, too! FreeBSD also
- benefits significantly from the literally thousands of high quality
- applications developed by research centers and universities around the
- world, often available at little to no cost. Commercial applications are
- also available and appearing in greater numbers every day.
+
+
+ FTP servers
+
+
+
+ World Wide Web servers (standard or secure
+ [SSL])
+
+
+
+ Firewalls and NAT (“IP masquerading”)
+ gateways.
+
+
+
+ Electronic Mail servers
+
+
+
+ USENET News or Bulletin Board Systems
+
+
+
+ And more...
+
+
- Because the source code for FreeBSD itself is generally available,
- the system can also be customized to an almost unheard of degree for
- special applications or projects, and in ways not generally possible
- with operating systems from most major commercial vendors. Here is just
- a sampling of some of the applications in which people are currently
- using FreeBSD:
+ With FreeBSD, you can easily start out small with an
+ inexpensive 386 class PC and upgrade all the way up to a
+ quad-processor Xeon with RAID storage as your enterprise
+ grows.
+
+
+
+ Education: Are you a student of
+ computer science or a related engineering field? There is no
+ better way of learning about operating systems, computer
+ architecture and networking than the hands on, under the hood
+ experience that FreeBSD can provide. A number of freely
+ available CAD, mathematical and graphic design packages also
+ make it highly useful to those whose primary interest in a
+ computer is to get other work
+ done!
+
+
+
+ Research: With source code for the
+ entire system available, FreeBSD is an excellent platform for
+ research in operating systems as well as other branches of
+ computer science. FreeBSD's freely available nature also makes
+ it possible for remote groups to collaborate on ideas or
+ shared development without having to worry about special
+ licensing agreements or limitations on what may be discussed
+ in open forums.
+
+
+
+ Networking: Need a new router? A
+ name server (DNS)? A firewall to keep people out of your
+ internal network? FreeBSD can easily turn that unused 386 or
+ 486 PC sitting in the corner into an advanced router with
+ sophisticated packet filtering capabilities.
+
+
+
+ X Window workstation: FreeBSD is a
+ fine choice for an inexpensive X terminal solution, either
+ using the freely available XFree86 server or one of the
+ excellent commercial servers provided by X Inside. Unlike an
+ X terminal, FreeBSD allows many applications to be run
+ locally, if desired, thus relieving the burden on a central
+ server. FreeBSD can even boot “diskless”, making
+ individual workstations even cheaper and easier to
+ administer.
+
+
+
+ Software Development: The basic
+ FreeBSD system comes with a full complement of development
+ tools including the renowned GNU C/C++ compiler and
+ debugger.
+
+
-
-
- Internet Services: The robust TCP/IP
- networking built into FreeBSD makes it an ideal platform for a
- variety of Internet services such as:
-
-
-
- FTP servers
-
-
-
- World Wide Web servers (standard or secure [SSL])
-
-
-
- Firewalls and NAT ("IP masquerading") gateways.
-
-
-
- Electronic Mail servers
-
-
-
- USENET News or Bulletin Board Systems
-
-
-
- And more...
-
-
-
- With FreeBSD, you can easily start out small with an
- inexpensive 386 class PC and upgrade all the way up to a
- quad-processor Xeon with RAID storage as your enterprise
- grows.
-
-
-
- Education: Are you a student of computer
- science or a related engineering field? There is no better way of
- learning about operating systems, computer architecture and
- networking than the hands on, under the hood experience that FreeBSD
- can provide. A number of freely available CAD, mathematical and
- graphic design packages also make it highly useful to those whose
- primary interest in a computer is to get other
- work done!
-
-
-
- Research: With source code for the entire
- system available, FreeBSD is an excellent platform for research in
- operating systems as well as other branches of computer science.
- FreeBSD's freely available nature also makes it possible for remote
- groups to collaborate on ideas or shared development without having
- to worry about special licensing agreements or limitations on what
- may be discussed in open forums.
-
-
-
- Networking: Need a new router? A name
- server (DNS)? A firewall to keep people out of your internal
- network? FreeBSD can easily turn that unused 386 or 486 PC sitting
- in the corner into an advanced router with sophisticated packet
- filtering capabilities.
-
-
-
- X Window workstation: FreeBSD is a fine
- choice for an inexpensive X terminal solution, either using the
- freely available XFree86 server or one of the excellent commercial
- servers provided by X Inside. Unlike an X terminal, FreeBSD allows
- many applications to be run locally, if desired, thus relieving the
- burden on a central server. FreeBSD can even boot
- “diskless”, making individual workstations even cheaper
- and easier to administer.
-
-
-
- Software Development: The basic FreeBSD
- system comes with a full complement of development tools including
- the renowned GNU C/C++ compiler and debugger.
-
-
-
- FreeBSD is available in both source and binary form on CDROM and via
- anonymous ftp. See Obtaining FreeBSD
- for more details.
+ FreeBSD is available in both source and binary form on CDROM
+ and via anonymous ftp. See Obtaining
+ FreeBSD for more details.
+
-
- A Brief History of FreeBSD
+
+ About the FreeBSD Project
+
+ The following section provides some background information on
+ the project, including a brief history, project goals, and the
+ development model of the project.
+
+
+ A Brief History of FreeBSD
+
+ Contributed by &a.jkh;.
- Contributed by &a.jkh;.
+ The FreeBSD project had its genesis in the early part of 1993,
+ partially as an outgrowth of the “Unofficial 386BSD
+ Patchkit” by the patchkit's last 3 coordinators: Nate
+ Williams, Rod Grimes and myself.
- The FreeBSD project had its genesis in the early part of 1993,
- partially as an outgrowth of the “Unofficial 386BSD
- Patchkit” by the patchkit's last 3 coordinators: Nate Williams,
- Rod Grimes and myself.
+ Our original goal was to produce an intermediate snapshot of
+ 386BSD in order to fix a number of problems with it that the
+ patchkit mechanism just was not capable of solving. Some of you
+ may remember the early working title for the project being
+ “386BSD 0.5” or “386BSD Interim” in
+ reference to that fact.
- Our original goal was to produce an intermediate snapshot of 386BSD
- in order to fix a number of problems with it that the patchkit mechanism
- just was not capable of solving. Some of you may remember the early
- working title for the project being “386BSD 0.5” or
- “386BSD Interim” in reference to that fact.
-
- 386BSD was Bill Jolitz's operating system, which had been up to that
- point suffering rather severely from almost a year's worth of neglect.
- As the patchkit swelled ever more uncomfortably with each passing day,
- we were in unanimous agreement that something had to be done and decided
- to try and assist Bill by providing this interim “cleanup”
- snapshot. Those plans came to a rude halt when Bill Jolitz suddenly
- decided to withdraw his sanction from the project without any clear
- indication of what would be done instead.
+ 386BSD was Bill Jolitz's operating system, which had been up
+ to that point suffering rather severely from almost a year's worth
+ of neglect. As the patchkit swelled ever more uncomfortably with
+ each passing day, we were in unanimous agreement that something
+ had to be done and decided to try and assist Bill by providing
+ this interim “cleanup” snapshot. Those plans came to
+ a rude halt when Bill Jolitz suddenly decided to withdraw his
+ sanction from the project without any clear indication of what
+ would be done instead.
- It did not take us long to decide that the goal remained worthwhile,
- even without Bill's support, and so we adopted the name
- “FreeBSD”, coined by David Greenman. Our initial objectives
- were set after consulting with the system's current users and, once it
- became clear that the project was on the road to perhaps even becoming a
- reality, I contacted Walnut Creek CDROM with an eye towards improving
- FreeBSD's distribution channels for those many unfortunates without easy
- access to the Internet. Walnut Creek CDROM not only supported the idea
- of distributing FreeBSD on CD but went so far as to provide the project
- with a machine to work on and a fast Internet connection. Without
- Walnut Creek CDROM's almost unprecedented degree of faith in what was,
- at the time, a completely unknown project, it is quite unlikely that
- FreeBSD would have gotten as far, as fast, as it has today.
+ It did not take us long to decide that the goal remained
+ worthwhile, even without Bill's support, and so we adopted the
+ name “FreeBSD”, coined by David Greenman. Our initial
+ objectives were set after consulting with the system's current
+ users and, once it became clear that the project was on the road
+ to perhaps even becoming a reality, I contacted Walnut Creek CDROM
+ with an eye towards improving FreeBSD's distribution channels for
+ those many unfortunates without easy access to the Internet.
+ Walnut Creek CDROM not only supported the idea of distributing
+ FreeBSD on CD but went so far as to provide the project with a
+ machine to work on and a fast Internet connection. Without Walnut
+ Creek CDROM's almost unprecedented degree of faith in what was, at
+ the time, a completely unknown project, it is quite unlikely that
+ FreeBSD would have gotten as far, as fast, as it has today.
- The first CDROM (and general net-wide) distribution was FreeBSD 1.0,
- released in December of 1993. This was based on the 4.3BSD-Lite
- (“Net/2”) tape from U.C. Berkeley, with many components also
- provided by 386BSD and the Free Software Foundation. It was a fairly
- reasonable success for a first offering, and we followed it with the
- highly successful FreeBSD 1.1 release in May of 1994.
+ The first CDROM (and general net-wide) distribution was
+ FreeBSD 1.0, released in December of 1993. This was based on the
+ 4.3BSD-Lite (“Net/2”) tape from U.C. Berkeley, with
+ many components also provided by 386BSD and the Free Software
+ Foundation. It was a fairly reasonable success for a first
+ offering, and we followed it with the highly successful FreeBSD
+ 1.1 release in May of 1994.
- Around this time, some rather unexpected storm clouds formed on the
- horizon as Novell and U.C. Berkeley settled their long-running lawsuit
- over the legal status of the Berkeley Net/2 tape. A condition of that
- settlement was U.C. Berkeley's concession that large parts of Net/2 were
- “encumbered” code and the property of Novell, who had in
- turn acquired it from AT&T some time previously. What Berkeley got
- in return was Novell's “blessing” that the 4.4BSD-Lite
- release, when it was finally released, would be declared unencumbered
- and all existing Net/2 users would be strongly encouraged to switch.
- This included FreeBSD, and the project was given until the end of July
- 1994 to stop shipping its own Net/2 based product. Under the terms of
- that agreement, the project was allowed one last release before the
- deadline, that release being FreeBSD 1.1.5.1.
+ Around this time, some rather unexpected storm clouds formed
+ on the horizon as Novell and U.C. Berkeley settled their
+ long-running lawsuit over the legal status of the Berkeley Net/2
+ tape. A condition of that settlement was U.C. Berkeley's
+ concession that large parts of Net/2 were “encumbered”
+ code and the property of Novell, who had in turn acquired it from
+ AT&T some time previously. What Berkeley got in return was
+ Novell's “blessing” that the 4.4BSD-Lite release, when
+ it was finally released, would be declared unencumbered and all
+ existing Net/2 users would be strongly encouraged to switch. This
+ included FreeBSD, and the project was given until the end of July
+ 1994 to stop shipping its own Net/2 based product. Under the
+ terms of that agreement, the project was allowed one last release
+ before the deadline, that release being FreeBSD 1.1.5.1.
- FreeBSD then set about the arduous task of literally re-inventing
- itself from a completely new and rather incomplete set of 4.4BSD-Lite
- bits. The “Lite” releases were light in part because
- Berkeley's CSRG had removed large chunks of code required for actually
- constructing a bootable running system (due to various legal
- requirements) and the fact that the Intel port of 4.4 was highly
- incomplete. It took the project until November of 1994 to make this
- transition, at which point it released FreeBSD 2.0 to the net
- and on CDROM (in late December). Despite being still more than a little
- rough around the edges, the release was a significant success and was
- followed by the more robust and easier to install FreeBSD 2.0.5 release
- in June of 1995.
+ FreeBSD then set about the arduous task of literally
+ re-inventing itself from a completely new and rather incomplete
+ set of 4.4BSD-Lite bits. The “Lite” releases were
+ light in part because Berkeley's CSRG had removed large chunks of
+ code required for actually constructing a bootable running system
+ (due to various legal requirements) and the fact that the Intel
+ port of 4.4 was highly incomplete. It took the project until
+ November of 1994 to make this transition, at which point it
+ released FreeBSD 2.0 to the net and on CDROM (in late December).
+ Despite being still more than a little rough around the edges,
+ the release was a significant success and was followed by the
+ more robust and easier to install FreeBSD 2.0.5 release in June of
+ 1995.
- We released FreeBSD 2.1.5 in August of 1996, and it appeared to be
- popular enough among the ISP and commercial communities that another
- release along the 2.1-STABLE branch was merited. This was FreeBSD
- 2.1.7.1, released in February 1997 and capping the end of mainstream
- development on 2.1-STABLE. Now in maintenance mode, only security
- enhancements and other critical bug fixes will be done on this branch
- (RELENG_2_1_0).
+ We released FreeBSD 2.1.5 in August of 1996, and it appeared
+ to be popular enough among the ISP and commercial communities that
+ another release along the 2.1-STABLE branch was merited. This was
+ FreeBSD 2.1.7.1, released in February 1997 and capping the end of
+ mainstream development on 2.1-STABLE. Now in maintenance mode,
+ only security enhancements and other critical bug fixes will be
+ done on this branch (RELENG_2_1_0).
- FreeBSD 2.2 was branched from the development mainline
- (“-CURRENT”) in November 1996 as the RELENG_2_2 branch, and
- the first full release (2.2.1) was released in April, 1997. Further
- releases along the 2.2 branch were done in the Summer and Fall of '97,
- the last of which (2.2.8) appeared in November, 1998. The first
- official 3.0 release appeared in October, 1998 and spelled the beginning
- of the end for the 2.2 branch.
+ FreeBSD 2.2 was branched from the development mainline
+ (“-CURRENT”) in November 1996 as the RELENG_2_2
+ branch, and the first full release (2.2.1) was released in April,
+ 1997. Further releases along the 2.2 branch were done in the
+ Summer and Fall of '97, the last of which (2.2.8) appeared in
+ November, 1998. The first official 3.0 release appeared in
+ October, 1998 and spelled the beginning of the end for the 2.2
+ branch.
- The tree branched again on Jan 20, 1999, leading to the 4.0-CURRENT
- and 3.X-STABLE branches. From 3.X-STABLE, 3.1 was released on February
- 15th, 1999 and 3.2 on May 15, 1999. The most current release on this
- branch is 3.3, which was released on September 16th, 1999.
+ The tree branched again on Jan 20, 1999, leading to the
+ 4.0-CURRENT and 3.X-STABLE branches. From 3.X-STABLE, 3.1 was
+ released on February 15, 1999, 3.2 on May 15, 1999, and 3.3 on
+ September 16, 1999. The most current release on this branch is
+ &rel.current;, which was released on December 20, 1999.
- Long term development projects continue to take place in the
- 4.0-CURRENT branch, and SNAPshot releases of 4.0 on CDROM (and,
- of course, on the net) are continually made available as work
- progresses.
-
+ Long term development projects continue to take place in the
+ 4.0-CURRENT branch, and SNAPshot releases of 4.0 on CDROM (and, of
+ course, on the net) are continually made available as work
+ progresses.
+
-
- FreeBSD Project Goals
+
+ FreeBSD Project Goals
- Contributed by &a.jkh;.
+ Contributed by &a.jkh;.
- The goals of the FreeBSD Project are to provide software that may be
- used for any purpose and without strings attached. Many of us have a
- significant investment in the code (and project) and would certainly not
- mind a little financial compensation now and then, but we are definitely
- not prepared to insist on it. We believe that our first and foremost
- “mission” is to provide code to any and all comers, and for
- whatever purpose, so that the code gets the widest possible use and
- provides the widest possible benefit. This is, I believe, one of the
- most fundamental goals of Free Software and one that we enthusiastically
- support.
+ The goals of the FreeBSD Project are to provide software that
+ may be used for any purpose and without strings attached. Many of
+ us have a significant investment in the code (and project) and
+ would certainly not mind a little financial compensation now and
+ then, but we are definitely not prepared to insist on it. We
+ believe that our first and foremost “mission” is to
+ provide code to any and all comers, and for whatever purpose, so
+ that the code gets the widest possible use and provides the widest
+ possible benefit. This is, I believe, one of the most fundamental
+ goals of Free Software and one that we enthusiastically
+ support.
- That code in our source tree which falls under the GNU General Public
- License (GPL) or Library General Public License (LGPL) comes with slightly
- more strings attached, though at least on the side of enforced access
- rather than the usual opposite. Due to the additional complexities that
- can evolve in the commercial use of GPL software we do, however,
- prefer software submitted under the more relaxed BSD copyright when it's
- a reasonable option to do so.
-
+ That code in our source tree which falls under the GNU General
+ Public License (GPL) or Library General Public License (LGPL)
+ comes with slightly more strings attached, though at least on the
+ side of enforced access rather than the usual opposite. Due to
+ the additional complexities that can evolve in the commercial use
+ of GPL software we do, however, prefer software submitted under
+ the more relaxed BSD copyright when it's a reasonable option to
+ do so.
+
-
- The FreeBSD Development Model
+
+ The FreeBSD Development Model
- Contributed by &a.asami;.
+ Contributed by &a.asami;.
- The development of FreeBSD is a very open and flexible process,
- FreeBSD being literally built from the contributions of hundreds of
- people around the world, as can be seen from our list of contributors. We are constantly on the
- lookout for new developers and ideas, and those interested in becoming
- more closely involved with the project need simply contact us at the
- &a.hackers;. The &a.announce; is also available to those wishing to
- make other FreeBSD users aware of major areas of work.
+ The development of FreeBSD is a very open and flexible
+ process, FreeBSD being literally built from the contributions of
+ hundreds of people around the world, as can be seen from our
+ list of contributors. We are
+ constantly on the lookout for new developers and ideas, and those
+ interested in becoming more closely involved with the project
+ need simply contact us at the &a.hackers;. The &a.announce; is
+ also available to those wishing to make other FreeBSD users aware
+ of major areas of work.
- Useful things to know about the FreeBSD project and its development
- process, whether working independently or in close cooperation:
+ Useful things to know about the FreeBSD project and its
+ development process, whether working independently or in close
+ cooperation:
-
-
- The CVS repository
+
+ The CVS repository
-
- The central source tree for FreeBSD is maintained by CVS
- (Concurrent Version System), a freely available source code
- control tool which comes bundled with FreeBSD. The primary CVS
- repository resides on a machine in Concord CA, USA from
- where it is replicated to numerous mirror machines throughout the
- world. The CVS tree, as well as the
+ The central source tree for FreeBSD is maintained by
+ CVS
+ (Concurrent Version System), a freely available source code
+ control tool which comes bundled with FreeBSD. The primary
+ CVS
+ repository resides on a machine in Concord CA, USA
+ from where it is replicated to numerous mirror machines
+ throughout the world. The CVS tree, as well as the -CURRENT and -STABLE trees which are checked out of
- it, can be easily replicated to your own machine as well. Please
- refer to the Synchronizing your source
- tree section for more information on doing this.
-
-
+ linkend="stable">-STABLE trees which are checked out
+ of it, can be easily replicated to your own machine as well.
+ Please refer to the Synchronizing
+ your source tree section for more information on
+ doing this.
+
+
-
- The committers list
+
+ The committers list
-
- The committers are the
- people who have write access to the CVS tree,
- and are thus authorized to make modifications to the FreeBSD
- source (the term “committer” comes from the
- &man.cvs.1; commit command, which is used
- to bring new changes into the CVS repository). The best way of
- making submissions for review by the committers list is to use the
- &man.send-pr.1; command, though if something appears to be
- jammed in the system then you may also reach them by sending mail
- to cvs-committers@FreeBSD.org.
-
-
+
+ The committers
+ are the people who have write access to
+ the CVS tree, and are thus authorized to make modifications
+ to the FreeBSD source (the term “committer”
+ comes from the &man.cvs.1; commit
+ command, which is used to bring new changes into the CVS
+ repository). The best way of making submissions for review
+ by the committers list is to use the &man.send-pr.1;
+ command, though if something appears to be jammed in the
+ system then you may also reach them by sending mail to
+ cvs-committers@FreeBSD.org.
+
+
-
- The FreeBSD core team
+
+ The FreeBSD core team
-
- The FreeBSD core team would
- be equivalent to the board of directors if the FreeBSD Project
- were a company. The primary task of the core team is to make sure
- the project, as a whole, is in good shape and is heading in the
- right directions. Inviting dedicated and responsible developers
- to join our group of committers is one of the functions of the
- core team, as is the recruitment of new core team members as
- others move on. Most current members of the core team started as
- committers whose addiction to the project got the better of
- them.
+
+ The FreeBSD core team
+ would be equivalent to the board of directors if the FreeBSD
+ Project were a company. The primary task of the core team
+ is to make sure the project, as a whole, is in good shape
+ and is heading in the right directions. Inviting dedicated
+ and responsible developers to join our group of committers
+ is one of the functions of the core team, as is the
+ recruitment of new core team members as others move on. Most
+ current members of the core team started as committers whose
+ addiction to the project got the better of them.
- Some core team members also have specific areas of responsibility, meaning that
- they are committed to ensuring that some large portion of the
- system works as advertised.
+ Some core team members also have specific areas of responsibility, meaning
+ that they are committed to ensuring that some large portion
+ of the system works as advertised.
-
- Most members of the core team are volunteers when it comes
- to FreeBSD development and do not benefit from the project
- financially, so “commitment” should also not be
- misconstrued as meaning “guaranteed support.” The
- “board of directors” analogy above is not actually
- very accurate, and it may be more suitable to say that these are
- the people who gave up their lives in favor of FreeBSD against
- their better judgement! ;-)
-
-
-
+
+ Most members of the core team are volunteers when it
+ comes to FreeBSD development and do not benefit from the
+ project financially, so “commitment” should
+ also not be misconstrued as meaning “guaranteed
+ support.” The “board of directors”
+ analogy above is not actually very accurate, and it may be
+ more suitable to say that these are the people who gave up
+ their lives in favor of FreeBSD against their better
+ judgement! ;-)
+
+
+
-
- Outside contributors
+
+ Outside contributors
-
- Last, but definitely not least, the largest group of
- developers are the users themselves who provide feedback and
- bug-fixes to us on an almost constant basis. The primary way of
- keeping in touch with FreeBSD's more non-centralized development
- is to subscribe to the &a.hackers; (see mailing list info) where such
- things are discussed.
+
+ Last, but definitely not least, the largest group of
+ developers are the users themselves who provide feedback and
+ bug-fixes to us on an almost constant basis. The primary
+ way of keeping in touch with FreeBSD's more non-centralized
+ development is to subscribe to the &a.hackers; (see mailing list info) where
+ such things are discussed.
- The list of those
- who have contributed something which made its way into our source
- tree is a long and growing one, so why not join it by contributing
- something back to FreeBSD today? :-)
+ The list of
+ those who have contributed something which made its way into
+ our source tree is a long and growing one, so why not join
+ it by contributing something back to FreeBSD today?
+ :-)
- Providing code is not the only way of contributing to the
- project; for a more complete list of things that need doing,
- please refer to the how to
+ Providing code is not the only way of contributing to
+ the project; for a more complete list of things that need
+ doing, please refer to the how to
contribute section in this handbook.
-
-
-
+
+
+
- In summary, our development model is organized as a loose set of
- concentric circles. The centralized model is designed for the
- convenience of the users of FreeBSD, who are
- thereby provided with an easy way of tracking one central code base, not
- to keep potential contributors out! Our desire is to present a stable
- operating system with a large set of coherent application programs that the users can easily
- install and use, and this model works very well in accomplishing
- that.
+ In summary, our development model is organized as a loose set
+ of concentric circles. The centralized model is designed for the
+ convenience of the users of FreeBSD, who are
+ thereby provided with an easy way of tracking one central code
+ base, not to keep potential contributors out! Our desire is to
+ present a stable operating system with a large set of coherent
+ application programs that the users
+ can easily install and use, and this model works very well in
+ accomplishing that.
- All we ask of those who would join us as FreeBSD developers is some
- of the same dedication its current people have to its continued
- success!
-
-
-
- About the Current Release
-
- FreeBSD is a freely available, full source 4.4BSD-Lite2 based release
- for Intel i386/i486/Pentium/PentiumPro/Celeron/Pentium II/Pentium III (or
- compatible) and DEC Alpha based computer systems. It is based primarily
- on software from U.C. Berkeley's CSRG group, with some enhancements from
- NetBSD, OpenBSD, 386BSD, and the Free Software Foundation.
+ All we ask of those who would join us as FreeBSD developers is
+ some of the same dedication its current people have to its
+ continued success!
+
- Since our release of FreeBSD 2.0 in late 94, the performance,
- feature set, and stability of FreeBSD has improved dramatically. The
- largest change is a revamped virtual memory system with a merged VM/file
- buffer cache that not only increases performance, but reduces FreeBSD's
- memory footprint, making a 5MB configuration a more acceptable minimum.
- Other enhancements include full NIS client and server support,
- transaction TCP support, dial-on-demand PPP, integrated DHCP support,
- an improved SCSI subsystem, ISDN support, support for ATM, FDDI, Fast
- and Gigabit Ethernet (1000Mbit) adapters, improved support for the latest
- Adaptec controllers and many hundreds of bug fixes.
+
+ The Current FreeBSD Release
- We have also taken the comments and suggestions of many of our users
- to heart and have attempted to provide what we hope is a more sane and
- easily understood installation process. Your feedback on this
- (constantly evolving) process is especially welcome!
+ FreeBSD is a freely available, full source 4.4BSD-Lite2 based
+ release for Intel i386, i486, Pentium, Pentium Pro, Celeron,
+ Pentium II, Pentium III (or compatible) and DEC Alpha based computer
+ systems. It is based primarily on software from U.C. Berkeley's
+ CSRG group, with some enhancements from NetBSD, OpenBSD, 386BSD, and
+ the Free Software Foundation.
- In addition to the base distributions, FreeBSD offers a new ported
- software collection with hundreds of commonly sought-after programs. By
- mid-November 1999, there were nearly 2800 ports! The list of
- ports ranges from http (WWW) servers, to games, languages, editors and
- almost everything in between. The entire ports collection requires
- approximately 50MB of storage, all ports being expressed as
- “deltas” to their original sources. This makes it much
- easier for us to update ports, and greatly reduces the disk space
- demands made by the older 1.0 ports collection. To compile a port, you
- simply change to the directory of the program you wish to install, type
- make install, and let the system do the rest. The
- full original distribution for each port you build is retrieved
- dynamically off the CDROM or a local ftp site, so you need only enough
- disk space to build the ports you want. (Almost) every port is also
- provided as a pre-compiled “package” which can be installed
- with a simple command (pkg_add) by those who do not wish to compile
- their own ports from source.
+ Since our release of FreeBSD 2.0 in late 94, the performance,
+ feature set, and stability of FreeBSD has improved dramatically.
+ The largest change is a revamped virtual memory system with a merged
+ VM/file buffer cache that not only increases performance, but
+ reduces FreeBSD's memory footprint, making a 5MB configuration a
+ more acceptable minimum. Other enhancements include full NIS client
+ and server support, transaction TCP support, dial-on-demand PPP,
+ integrated DHCP support, an improved SCSI subsystem, ISDN support,
+ support for ATM, FDDI, Fast and Gigabit Ethernet (1000Mbit)
+ adapters, improved support for the latest Adaptec controllers and
+ many hundreds of bug fixes.
- A number of additional documents which you may find very helpful in
- the process of installing and using FreeBSD may now also be found in the
- /usr/share/doc directory on any machine running
- FreeBSD 2.1 or later. You may view the locally installed manuals with
- any HTML capable browser using the following URLs:
-
-
-
- The FreeBSD Handbook
+ We have also taken the comments and suggestions of many of our
+ users to heart and have attempted to provide what we hope is a more
+ sane and easily understood installation process. Your feedback on
+ this (constantly evolving) process is especially welcome!
-
- In addition to the base distributions, FreeBSD offers a new
+ ported software collection with hundreds of commonly sought-after
+ programs. By mid-January 2000, there were nearly 3000 ports! The
+ list of ports ranges from http (WWW) servers, to games, languages,
+ editors and almost everything in between. The entire ports
+ collection requires approximately 50MB of storage, all ports being
+ expressed as “deltas” to their original sources. This
+ makes it much easier for us to update ports, and greatly reduces
+ the disk space demands made by the older 1.0 ports collection. To
+ compile a port, you simply change to the directory of the program
+ you wish to install, type make install, and let
+ the system do the rest. The full original distribution for each
+ port you build is retrieved dynamically off the CDROM or a local ftp
+ site, so you need only enough disk space to build the ports you
+ want. Almost every port is also provided as a pre-compiled
+ “package” which can be installed with a simple command
+ (pkg_add) by those who do not wish to compile their own ports from
+ source.
+
+ A number of additional documents which you may find very helpful
+ in the process of installing and using FreeBSD may now also be found
+ in the /usr/share/doc directory on any machine
+ running FreeBSD 2.1 or later. You may view the locally installed
+ manuals with any HTML capable browser using the following
+ URLs:
+
+
+
+ The FreeBSD Handbook
+
+
+ file:/usr/share/doc/handbook/handbook.html
-
-
+
+
-
- The FreeBSD FAQ
+
+ The FreeBSD FAQ
-
-
+ file:/usr/share/doc/FAQ/FAQ.html
-
-
-
+
+
+
- You can also visit the master (and most frequently updated)
- copies at You can also visit the master (and most frequently updated)
+ copies at http://www.FreeBSD.org/.
-
- The core of FreeBSD does not contain DES code which would inhibit
- its being exported outside the United States. There is an add-on
- package to the core distribution, for use only in the United States,
- that contains the programs that normally use DES. The auxiliary
- packages provided separately can be used by anyone. A freely (from
- outside the U.S.) exportable European distribution of DES for our
- non-U.S. users also exists and is described in the FreeBSD FAQ.
- If password security for FreeBSD is all you need, and you have no
- requirement for copying encrypted passwords from different hosts (Suns,
- DEC machines, etc) into FreeBSD password entries, then FreeBSD's MD5
- based security may be all you require! We feel that our default security
- model is more than a match for DES, and without any messy export issues
- to deal with. If you are outside (or even inside) the U.S., give it a
- try!
+ The core of FreeBSD does not contain DES code which would
+ inhibit its being exported outside the United States. There is an
+ add-on package to the core distribution, for use only in the United
+ States, that contains the programs that normally use DES. The
+ auxiliary packages provided separately can be used by anyone. A
+ freely (from outside the U.S.) exportable European distribution of
+ DES for our non-U.S. users also exists and is described in the
+ FreeBSD FAQ.
+
+ If password security for FreeBSD is all you need, and you have
+ no requirement for copying encrypted passwords from different hosts
+ (Suns, DEC machines, etc) into FreeBSD password entries, then
+ FreeBSD's MD5 based security may be all you require! We feel that
+ our default security model is more than a match for DES, and without
+ any messy export issues to deal with. If you are outside (or even
+ inside) the U.S., give it a try!
+
@@ -606,4 +712,3 @@
sgml-parent-document: ("../book.sgml" "part" "chapter")
End:
-->
-