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handbook's introduction chapter.
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<!--
The FreeBSD Documentation Project
$FreeBSD: doc/en_US.ISO_8859-1/books/handbook/introduction/chapter.sgml,v 1.23 2000/01/09 13:23:17 phantom Exp $
$FreeBSD: doc/en_US.ISO_8859-1/books/handbook/introduction/chapter.sgml,v 1.24 2000/01/13 00:09:02 jim Exp $
-->
<chapter id="introduction">
<title>Introduction</title>
<para>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
<link linkend="nutshell">FreeBSD in a nutshell</link>. For a history of
the project, read <link linkend="history">a brief history of FreeBSD</link>.
To see a description of the latest release, read <link
linkend="relnotes">about the current release</link>. If you are
interested in contributing something to the FreeBSD project (code,
equipment, sacks of unmarked bills), please see about <link
linkend="contrib">contributing to FreeBSD</link>.</para>
<para><emphasis>Restructured, reorganized, and parts rewritten by
&a.jim;, 17 January 2000.</emphasis></para>
<sect1>
<title>Synopsis</title>
<para>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.</para>
<para>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 <link linkend="nutshell">next section</link>. You can also
read about <link linkend="history">the history of FreeBSD</link>,
or the <link linkend="relnotes">the current release</link>. If you
are interested in contributing something to the Project (code,
hardware, unmarked bills), see the <link
linkend="contrib">contributing to FreeBSD</link> section.</para>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="nutshell">
<title>FreeBSD in a Nutshell</title>
<title>Welcome to FreeBSD!</title>
<para>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:</para>
<para>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.</para>
<sect2>
<title>What is FreeBSD?</title>
<para>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.</para>
<para>FreeBSD is used to power some of the biggest sites on the
Internet, including:</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para><ulink url="http://www.yahoo.com/">Yahoo!</ulink></para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><ulink url="http://www.hotmail.com/">Hotmail</ulink></para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><ulink url="http://www.apache.org/">Apache</ulink></para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><ulink url="http://www.be.com/">Be, Inc.</ulink></para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><ulink url="http://www.bluemountain.com/">Blue Mountain
Arts</ulink></para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><ulink url="http://www.pair.com/">Pair
Networks</ulink></para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><ulink url="http://www.whistle.com/">Whistle
Communications</ulink></para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><ulink url="http://www.wccdrom.com/">Walnut Creek
CDROM</ulink></para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<para>and many more.</para>
</sect2>
<sect2>
<title>What can FreeBSD do?</title>
<para>FreeBSD has many noteworthy features. Some of these
are:</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
@ -38,7 +103,7 @@
<listitem>
<para><emphasis>Multiuser facilities</emphasis> which allow many
poeple to use a FreeBSD system simulatenously for a variety
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
@ -58,9 +123,9 @@
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><emphasis>Memory protection</emphasis> ensures that applications
(or users) cannot interfere with each other. One application
crashing will not affect others in any way.</para>
<para><emphasis>Memory protection</emphasis> ensures that
applications (or users) cannot interfere with each other. One
application crashing will not affect others in any way.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
@ -71,39 +136,42 @@
<listitem>
<para>The industry standard <emphasis>X Window System</emphasis>
(X11R6) provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for the cost of a
common VGA card and monitor and comes with full sources.</para>
(X11R6) provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for the cost
of a common VGA card and monitor and comes with full
sources.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><emphasis>Binary compatibility</emphasis> with many programs
built for Linux, SCO, SVR4, BSDI and NetBSD.</para>
<para><emphasis>Binary compatibility</emphasis> with many
programs built for Linux, SCO, SVR4, BSDI and NetBSD.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>Thousands of <emphasis>ready-to-run</emphasis> applications are
available from the FreeBSD <emphasis>ports</emphasis> and
<emphasis>packages</emphasis> collection. Why search the net when
you can find it all right here?</para>
<para>Thousands of <emphasis>ready-to-run</emphasis>
applications are available from the FreeBSD
<emphasis>ports</emphasis> and <emphasis>packages</emphasis>
collection. Why search the net when you can find it all right
here?</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>Thousands of additional and <emphasis>easy-to-port</emphasis>
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.</para>
<para>Thousands of additional and
<emphasis>easy-to-port</emphasis> 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.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>Demand paged <emphasis>virtual memory</emphasis> and
&ldquo;merged VM/buffer cache&rdquo; design efficiently satisfies
applications with large appetites for memory while still maintaining
interactive response to other users.</para>
&ldquo;merged VM/buffer cache&rdquo; design efficiently
satisfies applications with large appetites for memory while
still maintaining interactive response to other users.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><emphasis>SMP</emphasis> support for machines with multiple
CPUs (Intel only).</para>
<para><emphasis>SMP</emphasis> support for machines with
multiple CPUs (Intel only).</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
@ -116,14 +184,16 @@
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><emphasis>Source code</emphasis> 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?</para>
<para><emphasis>Source code</emphasis> 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?</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>Extensive <emphasis>on-line documentation</emphasis>.</para>
<para>Extensive <emphasis>on-line
documentation</emphasis>.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
@ -131,32 +201,34 @@
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<para>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
<para>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
<emphasis>now</emphasis>!</para>
<para>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.</para>
<para>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.</para>
<para>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:</para>
<para>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:</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
@ -170,11 +242,13 @@
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>World Wide Web servers (standard or secure [SSL])</para>
<para>World Wide Web servers (standard or secure
[SSL])</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>Firewalls and NAT ("IP masquerading") gateways.</para>
<para>Firewalls and NAT (&ldquo;IP masquerading&rdquo;)
gateways.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
@ -197,198 +271,222 @@
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><emphasis>Education:</emphasis> 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 <emphasis>other</emphasis>
work done!</para>
<para><emphasis>Education:</emphasis> 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 <emphasis>other</emphasis> work
done!</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><emphasis>Research:</emphasis> 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.</para>
<para><emphasis>Research:</emphasis> 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.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><emphasis>Networking:</emphasis> 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.</para>
<para><emphasis>Networking:</emphasis> 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.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><emphasis>X Window workstation:</emphasis> 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
&ldquo;diskless&rdquo;, making individual workstations even cheaper
and easier to administer.</para>
<para><emphasis>X Window workstation:</emphasis> 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 &ldquo;diskless&rdquo;, making
individual workstations even cheaper and easier to
administer.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><emphasis>Software Development:</emphasis> The basic FreeBSD
system comes with a full complement of development tools including
the renowned GNU C/C++ compiler and debugger.</para>
<para><emphasis>Software Development:</emphasis> The basic
FreeBSD system comes with a full complement of development
tools including the renowned GNU C/C++ compiler and
debugger.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<para>FreeBSD is available in both source and binary form on CDROM and via
anonymous ftp. See <link linkend="mirrors">Obtaining FreeBSD</link>
for more details.</para>
<para>FreeBSD is available in both source and binary form on CDROM
and via anonymous ftp. See <link linkend="mirrors">Obtaining
FreeBSD</link> for more details.</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="history">
<sect1 id="about">
<title>About the FreeBSD Project</title>
<para>The following section provides some background information on
the project, including a brief history, project goals, and the
development model of the project.</para>
<sect2 id="history">
<title>A Brief History of FreeBSD</title>
<para><emphasis>Contributed by &a.jkh;</emphasis>.</para>
<para>The FreeBSD project had its genesis in the early part of 1993,
partially as an outgrowth of the &ldquo;Unofficial 386BSD
Patchkit&rdquo; by the patchkit's last 3 coordinators: Nate Williams,
Rod Grimes and myself.</para>
Patchkit&rdquo; by the patchkit's last 3 coordinators: Nate
Williams, Rod Grimes and myself.</para>
<para>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 &ldquo;386BSD 0.5&rdquo; or
&ldquo;386BSD Interim&rdquo; in reference to that fact.</para>
<para>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
&ldquo;386BSD 0.5&rdquo; or &ldquo;386BSD Interim&rdquo; in
reference to that fact.</para>
<para>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 &ldquo;cleanup&rdquo;
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.</para>
<para>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 &ldquo;cleanup&rdquo; 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.</para>
<para>It did not take us long to decide that the goal remained worthwhile,
even without Bill's support, and so we adopted the name
&ldquo;FreeBSD&rdquo;, 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
<para>It did not take us long to decide that the goal remained
worthwhile, even without Bill's support, and so we adopted the
name &ldquo;FreeBSD&rdquo;, 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.</para>
<para>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
(&ldquo;Net/2&rdquo;) 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.</para>
<para>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 (&ldquo;Net/2&rdquo;) 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.</para>
<para>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
&ldquo;encumbered&rdquo; code and the property of Novell, who had in
turn acquired it from AT&amp;T some time previously. What Berkeley got
in return was Novell's &ldquo;blessing&rdquo; 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.</para>
<para>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 &ldquo;encumbered&rdquo;
code and the property of Novell, who had in turn acquired it from
AT&amp;T some time previously. What Berkeley got in return was
Novell's &ldquo;blessing&rdquo; 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.</para>
<para>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 &ldquo;Lite&rdquo; 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.</para>
<para>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 &ldquo;Lite&rdquo; 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.</para>
<para>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).</para>
<para>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).</para>
<para>FreeBSD 2.2 was branched from the development mainline
(&ldquo;-CURRENT&rdquo;) 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.</para>
(&ldquo;-CURRENT&rdquo;) 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.</para>
<para>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.</para>
<para>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.</para>
<para>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
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.</para>
</sect1>
</sect2>
<sect1 id="goals">
<sect2 id="goals">
<title>FreeBSD Project Goals</title>
<para><emphasis>Contributed by &a.jkh;</emphasis>.</para>
<para>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
&ldquo;mission&rdquo; 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
<para>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 &ldquo;mission&rdquo; 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.</para>
<para>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.</para>
</sect1>
<para>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.</para>
</sect2>
<sect1 id="development">
<sect2 id="development">
<title>The FreeBSD Development Model</title>
<para><emphasis>Contributed by &a.asami;</emphasis>.</para>
<para>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 <link
linkend="staff">list of contributors</link>. 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.</para>
<para>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
<link linkend="staff">list of contributors</link>. 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.</para>
<para>Useful things to know about the FreeBSD project and its development
process, whether working independently or in close cooperation:</para>
<para>Useful things to know about the FreeBSD project and its
development process, whether working independently or in close
cooperation:</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
@ -396,36 +494,39 @@
id="development-cvs-repository"></term>
<listitem>
<para>The central source tree for FreeBSD is maintained by <ulink
url="http://www.cyclic.com/cyclic-pages/CVS-sheet.html">CVS</ulink>
<para>The central source tree for FreeBSD is maintained by
<ulink url="http://www.cyclic.com/cyclic-pages/CVS-sheet.html">CVS</ulink>
(Concurrent Version System), a freely available source code
control tool which comes bundled with FreeBSD. The primary <ulink
url="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/cvsweb.cgi">CVS
repository</ulink> 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 <link
control tool which comes bundled with FreeBSD. The primary
<ulink url="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/cvsweb.cgi">CVS
repository</ulink> 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 <link
linkend="current">-CURRENT</link> and <link
linkend="stable">-STABLE</link> trees which are checked out of
it, can be easily replicated to your own machine as well. Please
refer to the <link linkend="synching">Synchronizing your source
tree</link> section for more information on doing this.</para>
linkend="stable">-STABLE</link> trees which are checked out
of it, can be easily replicated to your own machine as well.
Please refer to the <link linkend="synching">Synchronizing
your source tree</link> section for more information on
doing this.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>The committers list<anchor id="development-committers"></term>
<term>The committers list<anchor
id="development-committers"></term>
<listitem>
<para>The <link linkend="staff-committers">committers</link> are the
people who have <emphasis>write</emphasis> access to the CVS tree,
and are thus authorized to make modifications to the FreeBSD
source (the term &ldquo;committer&rdquo; comes from the
&man.cvs.1; <command>commit</command> 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 <email>cvs-committers@FreeBSD.org</email>.</para>
<para>The <link linkend="staff-committers">committers</link>
are the people who have <emphasis>write</emphasis> access to
the CVS tree, and are thus authorized to make modifications
to the FreeBSD source (the term &ldquo;committer&rdquo;
comes from the &man.cvs.1; <command>commit</command>
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
<email>cvs-committers@FreeBSD.org</email>.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
@ -433,32 +534,32 @@
<term>The FreeBSD core team<anchor id="development-core"></term>
<listitem>
<para>The <link linkend="staff-core">FreeBSD core team</link> 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.</para>
<para>The <link linkend="staff-core">FreeBSD core team</link>
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.</para>
<para>Some core team members also have specific <link
linkend="staff-who">areas of responsibility</link>, meaning that
they are committed to ensuring that some large portion of the
system works as advertised.</para>
linkend="staff-who">areas of responsibility</link>, meaning
that they are committed to ensuring that some large portion
of the system works as advertised.</para>
<note>
<para>Most members of the core team are volunteers when it comes
to FreeBSD development and do not benefit from the project
financially, so &ldquo;commitment&rdquo; should also not be
misconstrued as meaning &ldquo;guaranteed support.&rdquo; The
&ldquo;board of directors&rdquo; 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! <!-- smiley
--><emphasis>;-)</emphasis></para>
<para>Most members of the core team are volunteers when it
comes to FreeBSD development and do not benefit from the
project financially, so &ldquo;commitment&rdquo; should
also not be misconstrued as meaning &ldquo;guaranteed
support.&rdquo; The &ldquo;board of directors&rdquo;
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! <!-- smiley --><emphasis>;-)</emphasis></para>
</note>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
@ -469,89 +570,93 @@
<listitem>
<para>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 <link
linkend="eresources-mail">mailing list info</link>) where such
things are discussed.</para>
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 <link
linkend="eresources-mail">mailing list info</link>) where
such things are discussed.</para>
<para><link linkend="contrib-additional">The list</link> 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? <!-- smiley
--><emphasis>:-)</emphasis></para>
<para><link linkend="contrib-additional">The list</link> 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?
<!-- smiley --><emphasis>:-)</emphasis></para>
<para>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 <link linkend="contrib">how to
<para>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 <link linkend="contrib">how to
contribute</link> section in this handbook.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
<para>In summary, our development model is organized as a loose set of
concentric circles. The centralized model is designed for the
<para>In summary, our development model is organized as a loose set
of concentric circles. The centralized model is designed for the
convenience of the <emphasis>users</emphasis> 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 <link
linkend="ports">application programs</link> that the users can easily
install and use, and this model works very well in accomplishing
that.</para>
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
<link linkend="ports">application programs</link> that the users
can easily install and use, and this model works very well in
accomplishing that.</para>
<para>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!</para>
</sect1>
<para>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!</para>
</sect2>
<sect1 id="relnotes">
<title>About the Current Release</title>
<sect2 id="relnotes">
<title>The Current FreeBSD Release</title>
<para>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.</para>
<para>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.</para>
<para>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.</para>
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.</para>
<para>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!</para>
<para>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!</para>
<para>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
&ldquo;deltas&rdquo; 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
<command>make install</command>, 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 &ldquo;package&rdquo; which can be installed
with a simple command (pkg_add) by those who do not wish to compile
their own ports from source.</para>
<para>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 &ldquo;deltas&rdquo; 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 <command>make install</command>, 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
&ldquo;package&rdquo; which can be installed with a simple command
(pkg_add) by those who do not wish to compile their own ports from
source.</para>
<para>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
<filename>/usr/share/doc</filename> 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:</para>
<para>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 <filename>/usr/share/doc</filename> 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:</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
@ -577,22 +682,23 @@
copies at <ulink
url="http://www.FreeBSD.org/">http://www.FreeBSD.org/</ulink>.</para>
<para>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 <ulink
url="../FAQ/FAQ.html">FreeBSD FAQ</ulink>.</para>
<para>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
<ulink url="../FAQ/FAQ.html">FreeBSD FAQ</ulink>.</para>
<para>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!</para>
<para>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!</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
</chapter>
@ -606,4 +712,3 @@
sgml-parent-document: ("../book.sgml" "part" "chapter")
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-->

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@ -1,32 +1,97 @@
<!--
The FreeBSD Documentation Project
$FreeBSD: doc/en_US.ISO_8859-1/books/handbook/introduction/chapter.sgml,v 1.23 2000/01/09 13:23:17 phantom Exp $
$FreeBSD: doc/en_US.ISO_8859-1/books/handbook/introduction/chapter.sgml,v 1.24 2000/01/13 00:09:02 jim Exp $
-->
<chapter id="introduction">
<title>Introduction</title>
<para>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
<link linkend="nutshell">FreeBSD in a nutshell</link>. For a history of
the project, read <link linkend="history">a brief history of FreeBSD</link>.
To see a description of the latest release, read <link
linkend="relnotes">about the current release</link>. If you are
interested in contributing something to the FreeBSD project (code,
equipment, sacks of unmarked bills), please see about <link
linkend="contrib">contributing to FreeBSD</link>.</para>
<para><emphasis>Restructured, reorganized, and parts rewritten by
&a.jim;, 17 January 2000.</emphasis></para>
<sect1>
<title>Synopsis</title>
<para>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.</para>
<para>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 <link linkend="nutshell">next section</link>. You can also
read about <link linkend="history">the history of FreeBSD</link>,
or the <link linkend="relnotes">the current release</link>. If you
are interested in contributing something to the Project (code,
hardware, unmarked bills), see the <link
linkend="contrib">contributing to FreeBSD</link> section.</para>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="nutshell">
<title>FreeBSD in a Nutshell</title>
<title>Welcome to FreeBSD!</title>
<para>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:</para>
<para>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.</para>
<sect2>
<title>What is FreeBSD?</title>
<para>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.</para>
<para>FreeBSD is used to power some of the biggest sites on the
Internet, including:</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para><ulink url="http://www.yahoo.com/">Yahoo!</ulink></para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><ulink url="http://www.hotmail.com/">Hotmail</ulink></para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><ulink url="http://www.apache.org/">Apache</ulink></para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><ulink url="http://www.be.com/">Be, Inc.</ulink></para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><ulink url="http://www.bluemountain.com/">Blue Mountain
Arts</ulink></para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><ulink url="http://www.pair.com/">Pair
Networks</ulink></para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><ulink url="http://www.whistle.com/">Whistle
Communications</ulink></para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><ulink url="http://www.wccdrom.com/">Walnut Creek
CDROM</ulink></para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<para>and many more.</para>
</sect2>
<sect2>
<title>What can FreeBSD do?</title>
<para>FreeBSD has many noteworthy features. Some of these
are:</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
@ -38,7 +103,7 @@
<listitem>
<para><emphasis>Multiuser facilities</emphasis> which allow many
poeple to use a FreeBSD system simulatenously for a variety
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
@ -58,9 +123,9 @@
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><emphasis>Memory protection</emphasis> ensures that applications
(or users) cannot interfere with each other. One application
crashing will not affect others in any way.</para>
<para><emphasis>Memory protection</emphasis> ensures that
applications (or users) cannot interfere with each other. One
application crashing will not affect others in any way.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
@ -71,39 +136,42 @@
<listitem>
<para>The industry standard <emphasis>X Window System</emphasis>
(X11R6) provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for the cost of a
common VGA card and monitor and comes with full sources.</para>
(X11R6) provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for the cost
of a common VGA card and monitor and comes with full
sources.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><emphasis>Binary compatibility</emphasis> with many programs
built for Linux, SCO, SVR4, BSDI and NetBSD.</para>
<para><emphasis>Binary compatibility</emphasis> with many
programs built for Linux, SCO, SVR4, BSDI and NetBSD.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>Thousands of <emphasis>ready-to-run</emphasis> applications are
available from the FreeBSD <emphasis>ports</emphasis> and
<emphasis>packages</emphasis> collection. Why search the net when
you can find it all right here?</para>
<para>Thousands of <emphasis>ready-to-run</emphasis>
applications are available from the FreeBSD
<emphasis>ports</emphasis> and <emphasis>packages</emphasis>
collection. Why search the net when you can find it all right
here?</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>Thousands of additional and <emphasis>easy-to-port</emphasis>
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.</para>
<para>Thousands of additional and
<emphasis>easy-to-port</emphasis> 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.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>Demand paged <emphasis>virtual memory</emphasis> and
&ldquo;merged VM/buffer cache&rdquo; design efficiently satisfies
applications with large appetites for memory while still maintaining
interactive response to other users.</para>
&ldquo;merged VM/buffer cache&rdquo; design efficiently
satisfies applications with large appetites for memory while
still maintaining interactive response to other users.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><emphasis>SMP</emphasis> support for machines with multiple
CPUs (Intel only).</para>
<para><emphasis>SMP</emphasis> support for machines with
multiple CPUs (Intel only).</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
@ -116,14 +184,16 @@
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><emphasis>Source code</emphasis> 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?</para>
<para><emphasis>Source code</emphasis> 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?</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>Extensive <emphasis>on-line documentation</emphasis>.</para>
<para>Extensive <emphasis>on-line
documentation</emphasis>.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
@ -131,32 +201,34 @@
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<para>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
<para>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
<emphasis>now</emphasis>!</para>
<para>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.</para>
<para>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.</para>
<para>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:</para>
<para>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:</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
@ -170,11 +242,13 @@
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>World Wide Web servers (standard or secure [SSL])</para>
<para>World Wide Web servers (standard or secure
[SSL])</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>Firewalls and NAT ("IP masquerading") gateways.</para>
<para>Firewalls and NAT (&ldquo;IP masquerading&rdquo;)
gateways.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
@ -197,198 +271,222 @@
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><emphasis>Education:</emphasis> 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 <emphasis>other</emphasis>
work done!</para>
<para><emphasis>Education:</emphasis> 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 <emphasis>other</emphasis> work
done!</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><emphasis>Research:</emphasis> 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.</para>
<para><emphasis>Research:</emphasis> 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.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><emphasis>Networking:</emphasis> 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.</para>
<para><emphasis>Networking:</emphasis> 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.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><emphasis>X Window workstation:</emphasis> 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
&ldquo;diskless&rdquo;, making individual workstations even cheaper
and easier to administer.</para>
<para><emphasis>X Window workstation:</emphasis> 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 &ldquo;diskless&rdquo;, making
individual workstations even cheaper and easier to
administer.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><emphasis>Software Development:</emphasis> The basic FreeBSD
system comes with a full complement of development tools including
the renowned GNU C/C++ compiler and debugger.</para>
<para><emphasis>Software Development:</emphasis> The basic
FreeBSD system comes with a full complement of development
tools including the renowned GNU C/C++ compiler and
debugger.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<para>FreeBSD is available in both source and binary form on CDROM and via
anonymous ftp. See <link linkend="mirrors">Obtaining FreeBSD</link>
for more details.</para>
<para>FreeBSD is available in both source and binary form on CDROM
and via anonymous ftp. See <link linkend="mirrors">Obtaining
FreeBSD</link> for more details.</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="history">
<sect1 id="about">
<title>About the FreeBSD Project</title>
<para>The following section provides some background information on
the project, including a brief history, project goals, and the
development model of the project.</para>
<sect2 id="history">
<title>A Brief History of FreeBSD</title>
<para><emphasis>Contributed by &a.jkh;</emphasis>.</para>
<para>The FreeBSD project had its genesis in the early part of 1993,
partially as an outgrowth of the &ldquo;Unofficial 386BSD
Patchkit&rdquo; by the patchkit's last 3 coordinators: Nate Williams,
Rod Grimes and myself.</para>
Patchkit&rdquo; by the patchkit's last 3 coordinators: Nate
Williams, Rod Grimes and myself.</para>
<para>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 &ldquo;386BSD 0.5&rdquo; or
&ldquo;386BSD Interim&rdquo; in reference to that fact.</para>
<para>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
&ldquo;386BSD 0.5&rdquo; or &ldquo;386BSD Interim&rdquo; in
reference to that fact.</para>
<para>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 &ldquo;cleanup&rdquo;
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.</para>
<para>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 &ldquo;cleanup&rdquo; 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.</para>
<para>It did not take us long to decide that the goal remained worthwhile,
even without Bill's support, and so we adopted the name
&ldquo;FreeBSD&rdquo;, 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
<para>It did not take us long to decide that the goal remained
worthwhile, even without Bill's support, and so we adopted the
name &ldquo;FreeBSD&rdquo;, 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.</para>
<para>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
(&ldquo;Net/2&rdquo;) 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.</para>
<para>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 (&ldquo;Net/2&rdquo;) 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.</para>
<para>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
&ldquo;encumbered&rdquo; code and the property of Novell, who had in
turn acquired it from AT&amp;T some time previously. What Berkeley got
in return was Novell's &ldquo;blessing&rdquo; 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.</para>
<para>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 &ldquo;encumbered&rdquo;
code and the property of Novell, who had in turn acquired it from
AT&amp;T some time previously. What Berkeley got in return was
Novell's &ldquo;blessing&rdquo; 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.</para>
<para>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 &ldquo;Lite&rdquo; 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.</para>
<para>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 &ldquo;Lite&rdquo; 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.</para>
<para>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).</para>
<para>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).</para>
<para>FreeBSD 2.2 was branched from the development mainline
(&ldquo;-CURRENT&rdquo;) 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.</para>
(&ldquo;-CURRENT&rdquo;) 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.</para>
<para>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.</para>
<para>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.</para>
<para>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
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.</para>
</sect1>
</sect2>
<sect1 id="goals">
<sect2 id="goals">
<title>FreeBSD Project Goals</title>
<para><emphasis>Contributed by &a.jkh;</emphasis>.</para>
<para>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
&ldquo;mission&rdquo; 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
<para>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 &ldquo;mission&rdquo; 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.</para>
<para>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.</para>
</sect1>
<para>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.</para>
</sect2>
<sect1 id="development">
<sect2 id="development">
<title>The FreeBSD Development Model</title>
<para><emphasis>Contributed by &a.asami;</emphasis>.</para>
<para>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 <link
linkend="staff">list of contributors</link>. 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.</para>
<para>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
<link linkend="staff">list of contributors</link>. 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.</para>
<para>Useful things to know about the FreeBSD project and its development
process, whether working independently or in close cooperation:</para>
<para>Useful things to know about the FreeBSD project and its
development process, whether working independently or in close
cooperation:</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
@ -396,36 +494,39 @@
id="development-cvs-repository"></term>
<listitem>
<para>The central source tree for FreeBSD is maintained by <ulink
url="http://www.cyclic.com/cyclic-pages/CVS-sheet.html">CVS</ulink>
<para>The central source tree for FreeBSD is maintained by
<ulink url="http://www.cyclic.com/cyclic-pages/CVS-sheet.html">CVS</ulink>
(Concurrent Version System), a freely available source code
control tool which comes bundled with FreeBSD. The primary <ulink
url="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/cvsweb.cgi">CVS
repository</ulink> 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 <link
control tool which comes bundled with FreeBSD. The primary
<ulink url="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/cvsweb.cgi">CVS
repository</ulink> 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 <link
linkend="current">-CURRENT</link> and <link
linkend="stable">-STABLE</link> trees which are checked out of
it, can be easily replicated to your own machine as well. Please
refer to the <link linkend="synching">Synchronizing your source
tree</link> section for more information on doing this.</para>
linkend="stable">-STABLE</link> trees which are checked out
of it, can be easily replicated to your own machine as well.
Please refer to the <link linkend="synching">Synchronizing
your source tree</link> section for more information on
doing this.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>The committers list<anchor id="development-committers"></term>
<term>The committers list<anchor
id="development-committers"></term>
<listitem>
<para>The <link linkend="staff-committers">committers</link> are the
people who have <emphasis>write</emphasis> access to the CVS tree,
and are thus authorized to make modifications to the FreeBSD
source (the term &ldquo;committer&rdquo; comes from the
&man.cvs.1; <command>commit</command> 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 <email>cvs-committers@FreeBSD.org</email>.</para>
<para>The <link linkend="staff-committers">committers</link>
are the people who have <emphasis>write</emphasis> access to
the CVS tree, and are thus authorized to make modifications
to the FreeBSD source (the term &ldquo;committer&rdquo;
comes from the &man.cvs.1; <command>commit</command>
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
<email>cvs-committers@FreeBSD.org</email>.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
@ -433,32 +534,32 @@
<term>The FreeBSD core team<anchor id="development-core"></term>
<listitem>
<para>The <link linkend="staff-core">FreeBSD core team</link> 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.</para>
<para>The <link linkend="staff-core">FreeBSD core team</link>
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.</para>
<para>Some core team members also have specific <link
linkend="staff-who">areas of responsibility</link>, meaning that
they are committed to ensuring that some large portion of the
system works as advertised.</para>
linkend="staff-who">areas of responsibility</link>, meaning
that they are committed to ensuring that some large portion
of the system works as advertised.</para>
<note>
<para>Most members of the core team are volunteers when it comes
to FreeBSD development and do not benefit from the project
financially, so &ldquo;commitment&rdquo; should also not be
misconstrued as meaning &ldquo;guaranteed support.&rdquo; The
&ldquo;board of directors&rdquo; 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! <!-- smiley
--><emphasis>;-)</emphasis></para>
<para>Most members of the core team are volunteers when it
comes to FreeBSD development and do not benefit from the
project financially, so &ldquo;commitment&rdquo; should
also not be misconstrued as meaning &ldquo;guaranteed
support.&rdquo; The &ldquo;board of directors&rdquo;
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! <!-- smiley --><emphasis>;-)</emphasis></para>
</note>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
@ -469,89 +570,93 @@
<listitem>
<para>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 <link
linkend="eresources-mail">mailing list info</link>) where such
things are discussed.</para>
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 <link
linkend="eresources-mail">mailing list info</link>) where
such things are discussed.</para>
<para><link linkend="contrib-additional">The list</link> 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? <!-- smiley
--><emphasis>:-)</emphasis></para>
<para><link linkend="contrib-additional">The list</link> 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?
<!-- smiley --><emphasis>:-)</emphasis></para>
<para>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 <link linkend="contrib">how to
<para>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 <link linkend="contrib">how to
contribute</link> section in this handbook.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
<para>In summary, our development model is organized as a loose set of
concentric circles. The centralized model is designed for the
<para>In summary, our development model is organized as a loose set
of concentric circles. The centralized model is designed for the
convenience of the <emphasis>users</emphasis> 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 <link
linkend="ports">application programs</link> that the users can easily
install and use, and this model works very well in accomplishing
that.</para>
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
<link linkend="ports">application programs</link> that the users
can easily install and use, and this model works very well in
accomplishing that.</para>
<para>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!</para>
</sect1>
<para>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!</para>
</sect2>
<sect1 id="relnotes">
<title>About the Current Release</title>
<sect2 id="relnotes">
<title>The Current FreeBSD Release</title>
<para>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.</para>
<para>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.</para>
<para>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.</para>
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.</para>
<para>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!</para>
<para>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!</para>
<para>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
&ldquo;deltas&rdquo; 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
<command>make install</command>, 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 &ldquo;package&rdquo; which can be installed
with a simple command (pkg_add) by those who do not wish to compile
their own ports from source.</para>
<para>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 &ldquo;deltas&rdquo; 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 <command>make install</command>, 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
&ldquo;package&rdquo; which can be installed with a simple command
(pkg_add) by those who do not wish to compile their own ports from
source.</para>
<para>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
<filename>/usr/share/doc</filename> 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:</para>
<para>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 <filename>/usr/share/doc</filename> 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:</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
@ -577,22 +682,23 @@
copies at <ulink
url="http://www.FreeBSD.org/">http://www.FreeBSD.org/</ulink>.</para>
<para>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 <ulink
url="../FAQ/FAQ.html">FreeBSD FAQ</ulink>.</para>
<para>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
<ulink url="../FAQ/FAQ.html">FreeBSD FAQ</ulink>.</para>
<para>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!</para>
<para>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!</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
</chapter>
@ -606,4 +712,3 @@
sgml-parent-document: ("../book.sgml" "part" "chapter")
End:
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