A few changes in Handbook's "introduction" chapter:

- Update some info on recent branches in the History section
- Replace a few occurrences of FreeBSD with &os;

Approved by:	gabor (mentor)
This commit is contained in:
Manolis Kiagias 2008-08-22 19:50:05 +00:00
parent abc2520b9b
commit c88ad75208
Notes: svn2git 2020-12-08 03:00:23 +00:00
svn path=/head/; revision=32722

View file

@ -21,51 +21,51 @@
<sect1 id="introduction-synopsis">
<title>Synopsis</title>
<para>Thank you for your interest in FreeBSD! The following chapter
covers various aspects of the FreeBSD Project, such as its history,
<para>Thank you for your interest in &os;! The following chapter
covers various aspects of the &os;&nbsp;Project, such as its history,
goals, development model, and so on.</para>
<para>After reading this chapter, you will know:</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>How FreeBSD relates to other computer operating systems.</para>
<para>How &os; relates to other computer operating systems.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>The history of the FreeBSD Project.</para>
<para>The history of the &os;&nbsp;Project.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>The goals of the FreeBSD Project.</para>
<para>The goals of the &os;&nbsp;Project.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>The basics of the FreeBSD open-source development model.</para>
<para>The basics of the &os; open-source development model.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>And of course: where the name <quote>FreeBSD</quote> comes from.</para>
<para>And of course: where the name <quote>&os;</quote> comes from.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="nutshell">
<title>Welcome to FreeBSD!</title>
<title>Welcome to &os;!</title>
<indexterm><primary>4.4BSD-Lite</primary></indexterm>
<para>FreeBSD is a 4.4BSD-Lite based operating system for
<para>&os; is a 4.4BSD-Lite based operating system for
Intel (x86 and &itanium;), AMD64, <trademark>Alpha</trademark>, Sun
&ultrasparc; computers. Ports to other
architectures are also underway.
You can also
read about <link linkend="history">the history of FreeBSD</link>,
read about <link linkend="history">the history of &os;</link>,
or the <link linkend="relnotes">current release</link>. If you
are interested in contributing something to the Project (code,
hardware, funding), see the <ulink
url="&url.articles.contributing;/index.html">Contributing to FreeBSD</ulink> article.</para>
url="&url.articles.contributing;/index.html">Contributing to &os;</ulink> article.</para>
<sect2 id="os-overview">
<title>What Can FreeBSD Do?</title>
<title>What Can &os; Do?</title>
<para>FreeBSD has many noteworthy features. Some of these
<para>&os; has many noteworthy features. Some of these
are:</para>
<itemizedlist>
@ -80,7 +80,7 @@
<indexterm><primary>multi-user facilities</primary></indexterm>
<listitem>
<para><emphasis>Multi-user facilities</emphasis> which allow many
people to use a FreeBSD system simultaneously for a variety
people to use a &os; system simultaneously 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
@ -92,7 +92,7 @@
<listitem>
<para>Strong <emphasis>TCP/IP networking</emphasis> with
support for industry standards such as SCTP, DHCP, NFS,
NIS, PPP, SLIP, IPsec, and IPv6. This means that your FreeBSD machine can
NIS, PPP, SLIP, IPsec, and IPv6. This means that your &os; machine can
interoperate easily with other systems as well as act as an
enterprise server, providing vital functions such as NFS
(remote file access) and email services or putting your
@ -108,7 +108,7 @@
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>FreeBSD is a <emphasis>32-bit</emphasis> operating
<para>&os; is a <emphasis>32-bit</emphasis> operating
system (<emphasis>64-bit</emphasis> on the Alpha, &itanium;, AMD64, and &ultrasparc;) and was
designed as such from the ground up.</para>
</listitem>
@ -152,7 +152,7 @@
<listitem>
<para>Thousands of <emphasis>ready-to-run</emphasis>
applications are available from the FreeBSD
applications are available from the &os;
<emphasis>ports</emphasis> and <emphasis>packages</emphasis>
collection. Why search the net when you can find it all right
here?</para>
@ -161,7 +161,7 @@
<listitem>
<para>Thousands of additional and
<emphasis>easy-to-port</emphasis> applications are available
on the Internet. FreeBSD is source code compatible with most
on the Internet. &os; is source code compatible with most
popular commercial &unix; systems and thus most applications
require few, if any, changes to compile.</para>
</listitem>
@ -227,39 +227,39 @@
<primary>Computer Systems Research Group (CSRG)</primary>
</indexterm>
<indexterm><primary>U.C. Berkeley</primary></indexterm>
<para>FreeBSD is based on the 4.4BSD-Lite release from Computer
<para>&os; is based on the 4.4BSD-Lite 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
CSRG, the &os;&nbsp;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
performance and reliability, &os; can offer them
<emphasis>now</emphasis>!</para>
<para>The applications to which FreeBSD can be put are truly
<para>The applications to which &os; 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
&os; too! &os; also benefits significantly from
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
<para>Because the source code for &os; 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>
applications in which people are currently using &os;:</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para><emphasis>Internet Services:</emphasis> The robust TCP/IP
networking built into FreeBSD makes it an ideal platform for a
networking built into &os; makes it an ideal platform for a
variety of Internet services such as:</para>
<itemizedlist>
@ -306,7 +306,7 @@
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<para>With FreeBSD, you can easily start out small with an
<para>With &os;, you can easily start out small with an
inexpensive 386 class PC and upgrade all the way up to a
quad-processor Xeon with RAID storage as your enterprise
grows.</para>
@ -317,7 +317,7 @@
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
experience that &os; 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
@ -326,9 +326,9 @@
<listitem>
<para><emphasis>Research:</emphasis> With source code for the
entire system available, FreeBSD is an excellent platform for
entire system available, &os; is an excellent platform for
research in operating systems as well as other branches of
computer science. FreeBSD's freely available nature also makes
computer science. &os;'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
@ -340,7 +340,7 @@
<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
internal network? &os; can easily turn that unused 386 or
486 PC sitting in the corner into an advanced router with
sophisticated packet-filtering capabilities.</para>
</listitem>
@ -354,13 +354,13 @@
<secondary>Accelerated-X</secondary>
</indexterm>
<listitem>
<para><emphasis>X Window workstation:</emphasis> FreeBSD is a
<para><emphasis>X Window workstation:</emphasis> &os; is a
fine choice for an inexpensive X terminal solution,
using the freely available X11 server.
Unlike an
X terminal, FreeBSD allows many applications to be run
X terminal, &os; allows many applications to be run
locally if desired, thus relieving the burden on a central
server. FreeBSD can even boot <quote>diskless</quote>, making
server. &os; can even boot <quote>diskless</quote>, making
individual workstations even cheaper and easier to
administer.</para>
</listitem>
@ -368,27 +368,27 @@
<indexterm><primary>GNU Compiler Collection</primary></indexterm>
<listitem>
<para><emphasis>Software Development:</emphasis> The basic
FreeBSD system comes with a full complement of development
&os; 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,
<para>&os; is available in both source and binary form on CDROM,
DVD,
and via anonymous FTP. Please see <xref linkend="mirrors">
for more information about obtaining FreeBSD.</para>
for more information about obtaining &os;.</para>
</sect2>
<sect2>
<title>Who Uses FreeBSD?</title>
<title>Who Uses &os;?</title>
<indexterm>
<primary>users</primary>
<secondary>large sites running FreeBSD</secondary>
<secondary>large sites running &os;</secondary>
</indexterm>
<para>FreeBSD is used to power some of the biggest sites on the
<para>&os; is used to power some of the biggest sites on the
Internet, including:</para>
<itemizedlist>
@ -462,7 +462,7 @@
</sect1>
<sect1 id="history">
<title>About the FreeBSD Project</title>
<title>About the &os;&nbsp;Project</title>
<para>The following section provides some background information on
the project, including a brief history, project goals, and the
@ -479,7 +479,7 @@
</authorgroup>
</sect2info>
<title>A Brief History of FreeBSD</title>
<title>A Brief History of &os;</title>
<indexterm><primary>386BSD Patchkit</primary></indexterm>
<indexterm><primary>Hubbard, Jordan</primary></indexterm>
@ -489,7 +489,7 @@
<primary>FreeBSD Project</primary>
<secondary>history</secondary>
</indexterm>
<para>The FreeBSD project had its genesis in the early part of 1993,
<para>The &os;&nbsp;Project had its genesis in the early part of 1993,
partially as an outgrowth of the <quote>Unofficial 386BSD
Patchkit</quote> by the patchkit's last 3 coordinators: Nate
Williams, Rod Grimes and myself.</para>
@ -517,18 +517,18 @@
<indexterm><primary>Walnut Creek CDROM</primary></indexterm>
<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 <quote>FreeBSD</quote>, coined by David Greenman. Our initial
name <quote>&os;</quote>, 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 toward improving FreeBSD's distribution channels for
with an eye toward improving &os;'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 also went so far as to provide the project with a
&os; on CD but also 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>
&os; would have gotten as far, as fast, as it has today.</para>
<indexterm><primary>4.3BSD-Lite</primary></indexterm>
<indexterm><primary>Net/2</primary></indexterm>
@ -536,11 +536,11 @@
<indexterm><primary>386BSD</primary></indexterm>
<indexterm><primary>Free Software Foundation</primary></indexterm>
<para>The first CDROM (and general net-wide) distribution was
FreeBSD&nbsp;1.0, released in December of 1993. This was based on the
&os;&nbsp;1.0, released in December of 1993. This was based on the
4.3BSD-Lite (<quote>Net/2</quote>) 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
offering, and we followed it with the highly successful &os;
1.1 release in May of 1994.</para>
<indexterm><primary>Novell</primary></indexterm>
@ -557,12 +557,12 @@
Novell's <quote>blessing</quote> 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
included &os;, 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&nbsp;1.1.5.1.</para>
before the deadline, that release being &os;&nbsp;1.1.5.1.</para>
<para>FreeBSD then set about the arduous task of literally
<para>&os; 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 <quote>Lite</quote> releases were
light in part because Berkeley's CSRG had removed large chunks of
@ -570,21 +570,21 @@
(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&nbsp;2.0 to the net and on CDROM (in late December).
released &os;&nbsp;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&nbsp;2.0.5 release in June of
more robust and easier to install &os;&nbsp;2.0.5 release in June of
1995.</para>
<para>We released FreeBSD&nbsp;2.1.5 in August of 1996, and it appeared
<para>We released &os;&nbsp;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&nbsp;2.1.7.1, released in February 1997 and capping the end of
&os;&nbsp;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&nbsp;2.2 was branched from the development mainline
<para>&os;&nbsp;2.2 was branched from the development mainline
(<quote>-CURRENT</quote>) 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
@ -609,7 +609,7 @@
<para>The long-awaited 5.0-RELEASE was announced on January 19,
2003. The culmination of nearly three years of work, this
release started FreeBSD on the path of advanced multiprocessor
release started &os; on the path of advanced multiprocessor
and application thread support and introduced support for the
&ultrasparc; and <literal>ia64</literal> platforms. This release
was followed by 5.1 in June of 2003. The last 5.X release from the
@ -617,17 +617,22 @@
<para>The RELENG_5 branch, created in August 2004, was followed by
5.3-RELEASE, which marked the beginning of the 5-STABLE branch releases.
The most recent &rel2.current;-RELEASE came out in &rel2.current.date;.
The most recent 5.5-RELEASE release came out in May 2006.
There will be no additional releases from the RELENG_5 branch.</para>
<para>The tree was branched again in July 2005, this time for RELENG_6.
6.0-RELEASE, the first release of the 6.X branch, was released in
November 2005. The most recent &rel.current;-RELEASE came out in
&rel.current.date;. There will be additional releases from the
November 2005. The most recent &rel2.current;-RELEASE came out in
&rel2.current.date;. There will be additional releases from the
RELENG_6 branch.</para>
<para>The RELENG_7 branch was created in October 2007. The most
recent release of this branch was &rel.current;-RELEASE, which came
out in &rel.current.date;. There will be additional releases from the
RELENG_7 branch.</para>
<para>For now, long-term development projects continue to take place in the
7.X-CURRENT (trunk) branch, and SNAPshot releases of 7.X on
8.X-CURRENT (trunk) branch, and SNAPshot releases of 8.X on
CDROM (and, of course, on the net) are continually made available
from <ulink url="ftp://current.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/snapshots/">
the snapshot server</ulink> as work progresses.</para>
@ -644,13 +649,13 @@
</authorgroup>
</sect2info>
<title>FreeBSD Project Goals</title>
<title>&os;&nbsp;Project Goals</title>
<indexterm>
<primary>FreeBSD Project</primary>
<secondary>goals</secondary>
</indexterm>
<para>The goals of the FreeBSD Project are to provide software that
<para>The goals of the &os;&nbsp;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
@ -690,27 +695,27 @@
</authorgroup>
</sect2info>
<title>The FreeBSD Development Model</title>
<title>The &os; Development Model</title>
<indexterm>
<primary>FreeBSD Project</primary>
<secondary>development model</secondary>
</indexterm>
<para>The development of FreeBSD is a very open and flexible
<para>The development of &os; is a very open and flexible
process, being literally built from the contributions
of hundreds of people around the world, as can be seen from
our <ulink
url="&url.articles.contributors;/article.html">list of
contributors</ulink>. FreeBSD's development infrastructure allow
contributors</ulink>. &os;'s development infrastructure allow
these hundreds of developers to collaborate over the Internet.
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
those wishing to make other &os; users aware of major areas
of work.</para>
<para>Useful things to know about the FreeBSD project and its
<para>Useful things to know about the &os;&nbsp;Project and its
development process, whether working independently or in close
cooperation:</para>
@ -728,10 +733,10 @@
<see>CVS</see>
</indexterm>
<listitem>
<para>The central source tree for FreeBSD is maintained by
<para>The central source tree for &os; is maintained by
<ulink url="http://ximbiot.com/cvs/wiki/">CVS</ulink>
(Concurrent Versions System), a freely available source code
control tool that comes bundled with FreeBSD. The primary
control tool that comes bundled with &os;. The primary
<ulink url="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/cvsweb.cgi">CVS
repository</ulink> resides on a machine in Santa Clara CA, USA
from where it is replicated to numerous mirror machines
@ -754,7 +759,7 @@
<para>The <firstterm>committers</firstterm>
are the people who have <emphasis>write</emphasis> access to
the CVS tree, and are authorized to make modifications
to the FreeBSD source (the term <quote>committer</quote>
to the &os; source (the term <quote>committer</quote>
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
@ -770,9 +775,8 @@
<indexterm><primary>core team</primary></indexterm>
<listitem>
<para>The <firstterm>FreeBSD core team</firstterm>
would be equivalent to the board of directors if the FreeBSD
Project were a company. The primary task of the core team
<para>The <firstterm>&os; core team</firstterm>
would be equivalent to the board of directors if the &os;&nbsp;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
@ -785,20 +789,20 @@
<para>Some core team members also have specific areas of
responsibility, meaning that they are committed to
ensuring that some large portion of the system works as
advertised. For a complete list of FreeBSD developers
advertised. For a complete list of &os; developers
and their areas of responsibility, please see the <ulink
url="&url.articles.contributors;/article.html">Contributors
List</ulink></para>
<note>
<para>Most members of the core team are volunteers when it
comes to FreeBSD development and do not benefit from the
comes to &os; development and do not benefit from the
project financially, so <quote>commitment</quote> should
also not be misconstrued as meaning <quote>guaranteed
support.</quote> The <quote>board of directors</quote>
analogy above is not 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
their lives in favor of &os; against their better
judgement!</para>
</note>
</listitem>
@ -812,22 +816,22 @@
<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
way of keeping in touch with &os;'s more non-centralized
development is to subscribe to the &a.hackers; where such
things are discussed. See <xref
linkend="eresources"> for more information about
the various FreeBSD mailing lists.</para>
the various &os; mailing lists.</para>
<para><citetitle><ulink
url="&url.articles.contributors;/article.html">The
FreeBSD Contributors List</ulink></citetitle> is a long
&os; Contributors List</ulink></citetitle> is a long
and growing one, so why not join it by contributing
something back to FreeBSD today?</para>
something back to &os; today?</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 <ulink
url="&url.base;/index.html">FreeBSD Project web
url="&url.base;/index.html">&os;&nbsp;Project web
site</ulink>.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
@ -835,7 +839,7 @@
<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
convenience of the <emphasis>users</emphasis> of &os;, who are
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
@ -843,13 +847,13 @@
can easily install and use &mdash; this model works very well in
accomplishing that.</para>
<para>All we ask of those who would join us as FreeBSD developers is
<para>All we ask of those who would join us as &os; developers is
some of the same dedication its current people have to its
continued success!</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="relnotes">
<title>The Current FreeBSD Release</title>
<title>The Current &os; Release</title>
<indexterm><primary>NetBSD</primary></indexterm>
<indexterm><primary>OpenBSD</primary></indexterm>
@ -859,7 +863,7 @@
<indexterm>
<primary>Computer Systems Research Group (CSRG)</primary>
</indexterm>
<para>FreeBSD is a freely available, full source 4.4BSD-Lite based
<para>&os; is a freely available, full source 4.4BSD-Lite based
release for Intel &i386;, &i486;, &pentium;,
&pentium;&nbsp;Pro,
&celeron;,
@ -872,12 +876,12 @@
CSRG group, with some enhancements from NetBSD, OpenBSD, 386BSD, and
the Free Software Foundation.</para>
<para>Since our release of FreeBSD&nbsp;2.0 in late 1994, the performance,
feature set, and stability of FreeBSD has improved dramatically.
<para>Since our release of &os;&nbsp;2.0 in late 1994, the performance,
feature set, and stability of &os; has improved dramatically.
<!-- XXX is the rest of this paragraph still true ? -->
The largest change is a revamped virtual memory system with a merged
VM/file buffer cache that not only increases performance, but also
reduces FreeBSD's memory footprint, making a 5&nbsp;MB configuration a
reduces &os;'s memory footprint, making a 5&nbsp;MB 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,
@ -885,7 +889,7 @@
adapters, improved support for the latest Adaptec controllers, and
many thousands of bug fixes.</para>
<para>In addition to the base distributions, FreeBSD offers a
<para>In addition to the base distributions, &os; offers a
ported software collection with thousands of commonly
sought-after programs. At the time of this printing, there
were over &os.numports; ports! The list of ports ranges from
@ -908,9 +912,9 @@
packages and ports can be found in <xref linkend="ports">.</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 process of installing and using &os; may now also be found
in the <filename>/usr/share/doc</filename> directory on any recent
FreeBSD machine. You may view the locally installed
&os; machine. You may view the locally installed
manuals with any HTML capable browser using the following
URLs:</para>