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<h1 class="TITLE"><a name="AEN2">FreeBSD 5.0-DP1
README</a></h1>
<h3 class="CORPAUTHOR">The FreeBSD Project</h3>
<p class="COPYRIGHT">Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2002 by
The FreeBSD Documentation Project</p>
<p class="PUBDATE">$FreeBSD:
src/release/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/readme/article.sgml,v 1.14
2002/02/25 19:51:34 keramida Exp $<br>
</p>
<hr>
</div>
<blockquote class="ABSTRACT">
<div class="ABSTRACT">
<a name="AEN11"></a>
<p>This document gives a brief introduction to FreeBSD
5.0-DP1. It includes some information on how to obtain
FreeBSD, a listing of various ways to contact the FreeBSD
Project, and pointers to some other sources of
information.</p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<div class="SECT1">
<hr>
<h1 class="SECT1"><a name="AEN13">1 Introduction</a></h1>
<p>FreeBSD 5.0-DP1 is a ``developer preview'', which is
based on the state of FreeBSD 5-CURRENT on 15 March 2002. A
small number of changes have been made to the system,
primarily to improve its stability so that more of its
features can be used and tested.</p>
<p>There are two main goals behind FreeBSD 5.0-DP1
(``Developer Preview 1''). The first is to give the wider
FreeBSD community a preview of some of the new features of
5.0-RELEASE, which is scheduled for release late in 2002.
The second goal of the developer preview is solicit test
reports and feedback on both new and old features.</p>
<p>This developer preview is not for production use; it
contains known bugs and instabilities that should be fixed
before FreeBSD 5.0-RELEASE. It is best considered a
``polished snapshot''. Users testing 5.0-DP1 are highly
encouraged to read the errata file, which lists some of the
known problems, as well as areas of the system that could
benefit from some extra attention during testing.</p>
<div class="SECT2">
<hr>
<h2 class="SECT2"><a name="AEN21">1.1 About
FreeBSD</a></h2>
<p>FreeBSD is an operating system based on 4.4 BSD Lite
for Intel, AMD, Cyrix or NexGen ``x86'' based PC
hardware, Compaq (formerly DEC) Alpha computers, and
UltraSPARC machines. Versions for the IA64 and PowerPC
architectures are currently under development as well.
FreeBSD works with a wide variety of peripherals and
configurations and can be used for everything from
software development to games to Internet Service
Provision.</p>
<p>This release of FreeBSD contains everything you need
to run such a system, including full source code for the
kernel and all utilities in the base distribution. With
the source distribution installed, you can literally
recompile the entire system from scratch with one
command, making it ideal for students, researchers, or
users who simply want to see how it all works.</p>
<p>A large collection of third-party ported software (the
``Ports Collection'') is also provided to make it easy to
obtain and install all your favorite traditional UNIX
utilities for FreeBSD. Each ``port'' consists of a set of
scripts to retrieve, configure, build, and install a
piece of software, with a single command. Over 6,600
ports, from editors to programming languages to graphical
applications, make FreeBSD a powerful and comprehensive
operating environment that extends far beyond what's
provided by many commercial versions of UNIX. Most ports
are also available as pre-compiled ``packages'', which
can be quickly installed from the installation
program.</p>
</div>
<div class="SECT2">
<hr>
<h2 class="SECT2"><a name="AEN30">1.2 Target
Audience</a></h2>
<p>This snapshot is aimed primarily at early adopters and
various other users who want to get involved with the
ongoing development of FreeBSD. While the FreeBSD
development team tries its best to ensure that each
snapshot works as advertised, 5-CURRENT is very much a
work-in-progress.</p>
<p>The basic requirements for using this snapshot are
technical proficiency with FreeBSD and an understanding
of the ongoing development process of FreeBSD 5-CURRENT
(as discussed on the FreeBSD-current mailing list <tt
class="EMAIL"><<a href=
"mailto:freebsd-current@FreeBSD.org">freebsd-current@FreeBSD.org</a>></tt>).</p>
<p>For those more interested in doing business with
FreeBSD than in experimenting with new FreeBSD
technology, formal releases (such as 4.5-RELEASE) are
frequently more appropriate. Releases undergo a period of
testing and quality assurance checking to ensure high
reliability and dependability.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="SECT1">
<hr>
<h1 class="SECT1"><a name="AEN36">2 Obtaining
FreeBSD</a></h1>
<p>FreeBSD may be obtained in a variety of ways. This
section focuses on those ways that are primarily useful for
obtaining a complete FreeBSD distribution, rather than
updating an existing installation.</p>
<div class="SECT2">
<hr>
<h2 class="SECT2"><a name="AEN39">2.1 CDROM and
DVD</a></h2>
<p>FreeBSD -RELEASE distributions may be ordered on CDROM
or DVD from several publishers. This is frequently the
most convenient way to obtain FreeBSD for new
installations, as it provides a convenient way to quickly
reinstall the system if necessary. Some distributions
include some of the optional, precompiled ``packages''
from the FreeBSD Ports Collection.</p>
<p>A list of the CDROM and DVD publishers known to the
project are listed in the <a href=
"http://www.FreeBSD.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/mirrors.html"
target="_top">``Obtaining FreeBSD''</a> appendix to the
Handbook.</p>
</div>
<div class="SECT2">
<hr>
<h2 class="SECT2"><a name="AEN46">2.2 FTP</a></h2>
<p>You can use FTP to retrieve FreeBSD and any or all of
its optional packages from <a href=
"ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org/" target=
"_top">ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org/</a>, which is the official
FreeBSD release site, or any of its ``mirrors''.</p>
<p>Lists of locations that mirror FreeBSD can be found in
the <a href=
"http://www.FreeBSD.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/mirrors-ftp.html"
target="_top">FTP Sites</a> section of the Handbook, or
on the <a href="http://www.freebsdmirrors.org/" target=
"_top">http://www.freebsdmirrors.org/</a> Web pages.
Finding a close (in networking terms) mirror from which
to download the distribution is highly recommended.</p>
<p>Additional mirror sites are always welcome. Contact
<tt class="EMAIL"><<a href=
"mailto:freebsd-admin@FreeBSD.org">freebsd-admin@FreeBSD.org</a>></tt>
for more details on becoming an official mirror site. You
can also find useful information for mirror sites at the
<a href=
"http://www.FreeBSD.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/articles/hubs/"
target="_top">Mirroring FreeBSD</a> article.</p>
<p>Mirrors generally contain the floppy disk images
necessary to begin an installation, as well as the
distribution files needed for the install process itself.
Many mirrors also contain the ISO images necessary to
create a CDROM of a FreeBSD release.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="SECT1">
<hr>
<h1 class="SECT1"><a name="CONTACTING">3 Contacting the
FreeBSD Project</a></h1>
<div class="SECT2">
<h2 class="SECT2"><a name="AEN60">3.1 Email and Mailing
Lists</a></h2>
<p>For any questions or general technical support issues,
please send mail to the FreeBSD general questions mailing
list <tt class="EMAIL"><<a href=
"mailto:freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.org">freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.org</a>></tt>.</p>
<p>If you're tracking the 5-CURRENT development efforts,
you <span class="emphasis"><i class=
"EMPHASIS">must</i></span> join the FreeBSD-current
mailing list <tt class="EMAIL"><<a href=
"mailto:freebsd-current@FreeBSD.org">freebsd-current@FreeBSD.org</a>></tt>,
in order to keep abreast of recent developments and
changes that may affect the way you use and maintain the
system.</p>
<p>Being a largely-volunteer effort, the FreeBSD Project
is always happy to have extra hands willing to
help--there are already far more desired enhancements
than there is time to implement them. To contact the
developers on technical matters, or with offers of help,
please send mail to the FreeBSD technical discussions
mailing list <tt class="EMAIL"><<a href=
"mailto:freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.org">freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.org</a>></tt>.</p>
<p>Please note that these mailing lists can experience
<span class="emphasis"><i class=
"EMPHASIS">significant</i></span> amounts of traffic. If
you have slow or expensive mail access, or are only
interested in keeping up with major FreeBSD events, you
may find it preferable to subscribe instead to the
FreeBSD announcements mailing list <tt class=
"EMAIL"><<a href=
"mailto:freebsd-announce@FreeBSD.org">freebsd-announce@FreeBSD.org</a>></tt>.</p>
<p>All of the mailing lists can be freely joined by
anyone wishing to do so. Send mail to <tt class=
"EMAIL"><<a href=
"mailto:majordomo@FreeBSD.org">majordomo@FreeBSD.org</a>></tt>
and include the keyword <tt class="LITERAL">help</tt> on
a line by itself somewhere in the body of the message.
This will give you more information on joining the
various lists, accessing archives, etc. There are a
number of mailing lists targeted at special interest
groups not mentioned here; more information can be
obtained either through majordomo or the <a href=
"http://www.FreeBSD.org/support.html#mailing-list"
target="_top">mailing lists section</a> of the FreeBSD
Web site.</p>
<div class="IMPORTANT">
<blockquote class="IMPORTANT">
<p><b>Important:</b> Do <span class="emphasis"><i
class="EMPHASIS">not</i></span> send email to the
lists asking to be subscribed. Use the <tt class=
"EMAIL"><<a href=
"mailto:majordomo@FreeBSD.org">majordomo@FreeBSD.org</a>></tt>
address instead.</p>
</blockquote>
</div>
</div>
<div class="SECT2">
<hr>
<h2 class="SECT2"><a name="AEN80">3.2 Submitting Problem
Reports</a></h2>
<p>Suggestions, bug reports and contributions of code are
always valued--please do not hesitate to report any
problems you may find. Bug reports with attached fixes
are of course even more welcome.</p>
<p>The preferred method to submit bug reports from a
machine with Internet mail connectivity is to use the <a
href=
"http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=send-pr&sektion=1&manpath=FreeBSD+5.0-current">
<span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class=
"REFENTRYTITLE">send-pr</span>(1)</span></a> command or
use the Web form at <a href=
"http://www.FreeBSD.org/send-pr.html" target=
"_top">http://www.FreeBSD.org/send-pr.html</a>. ``Problem
Reports'' (PRs) submitted in this way will be filed and
their progress tracked; the FreeBSD developers will do
their best to respond to all reported bugs as soon as
possible. <a href=
"http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/query-pr-summary.cgi" target=
"_top">A list of all active PRs</a> is available on the
FreeBSD Web site; this list is useful to see what
potential problems other users have encountered.</p>
<p>Note that <a href=
"http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=send-pr&sektion=1&manpath=FreeBSD+5.0-current">
<span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class=
"REFENTRYTITLE">send-pr</span>(1)</span></a> itself is a
shell script that should be easy to move even onto a
non-FreeBSD system. Using this interface is highly
preferred. If, for some reason, you are unable to use <a
href=
"http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=send-pr&sektion=1&manpath=FreeBSD+5.0-current">
<span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class=
"REFENTRYTITLE">send-pr</span>(1)</span></a> to submit a
bug report, you can try to send it to the FreeBSD problem
reports mailing list <tt class="EMAIL"><<a href=
"mailto:freebsd-bugs@FreeBSD.org">freebsd-bugs@FreeBSD.org</a>></tt>.</p>
<p>For more information, <a href=
"http://www.FreeBSD.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/articles/problem-reports/"
target="_top">``Writing FreeBSD Problem Reports''</a>,
available on the FreeBSD Web site, has a number of
helpful hints on writing and submitting effective problem
reports.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="SECT1">
<hr>
<h1 class="SECT1"><a name="AEN101">4 Further
Reading</a></h1>
<p>There are many sources of information about FreeBSD;
some are included with this distribution, while others are
available on-line or in print versions.</p>
<div class="SECT2">
<hr>
<h2 class="SECT2"><a name="RELEASE-DOCS">4.1 Release
Documentation</a></h2>
<p>A number of other files provide more specific
information about this snapshot distribution. These files
are provided in various formats. Most distributions will
include both ASCII text (<tt class="FILENAME">.TXT</tt>)
and HTML (<tt class="FILENAME">.HTM</tt>) renditions.
Some distributions may also include other formats such as
PostScript (<tt class="FILENAME">.PS</tt>) or Portable
Document Format (<tt class="FILENAME">.PDF</tt>).</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><tt class="FILENAME">README.TXT</tt>: This file,
which gives some general information about FreeBSD as
well as some cursory notes about obtaining a
distribution.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><tt class="FILENAME">RELNOTES.TXT</tt>: The
release notes, showing what's new and different in
FreeBSD 5.0-DP1 compared to the previous release
(FreeBSD 4.0-RELEASE).</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><tt class="FILENAME">HARDWARE.TXT</tt>: The
hardware compatibility list, showing devices with
which FreeBSD has been tested and is known to
work.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><tt class="FILENAME">INSTALL.TXT</tt>:
Installation instructions for installing FreeBSD from
its distribution media.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><tt class="FILENAME">ERRATA.TXT</tt>: Release
errata. For this developer preview, this file lists
some outstanding issues and problems, as well as a
list of features that could benefit from some wider
testing. Unlike the errata file for a regular FreeBSD
release, this file will <span class="emphasis"><i
class="EMPHASIS">not</i></span> be updated after
5.0-DP1 is ``frozen''.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="NOTE">
<blockquote class="NOTE">
<p><b>Note:</b> Several of these documents (in
particular, <tt class="FILENAME">RELNOTES.TXT</tt>,
<tt class="FILENAME">HARDWARE.TXT</tt>, and <tt
class="FILENAME">INSTALL.TXT</tt>) contain
information that is specific to a particular hardware
architecture. For example, the alpha release notes
contain information not applicable to the i386, and
vice versa. The architecture for which each document
applies will be listed in that document's title.</p>
</blockquote>
</div>
<br>
<br>
<p>On platforms that support <a href=
"http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=sysinstall&sektion=8&manpath=FreeBSD+5.0-current">
<span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class=
"REFENTRYTITLE">sysinstall</span>(8)</span></a>
(currently the i386 and alpha), these documents are
generally available via the Documentation menu during
installation. Once the system is installed, you can
revisit this menu by re-running the <a href=
"http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=sysinstall&sektion=8&manpath=FreeBSD+5.0-current">
<span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class=
"REFENTRYTITLE">sysinstall</span>(8)</span></a>
utility.</p>
</div>
<div class="SECT2">
<hr>
<h2 class="SECT2"><a name="AEN141">4.2 Manual
Pages</a></h2>
<p>As with almost all UNIX-like operating systems,
FreeBSD comes with a set of on-line manual pages,
accessed through the <a href=
"http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=man&sektion=1&manpath=FreeBSD+5.0-current">
<span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class=
"REFENTRYTITLE">man</span>(1)</span></a> command or
through the <a href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi"
target="_top">hypertext manual pages gateway</a> on the
FreeBSD Web site. In general, the manual pages provide
information on the different commands and APIs available
to the FreeBSD user.</p>
<p>In some cases, manual pages are written to given
information on particular topics. Notable examples of
such manual pages are <a href=
"http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=tuning&sektion=7&manpath=FreeBSD+5.0-current">
<span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class=
"REFENTRYTITLE">tuning</span>(7)</span></a> (a guide to
performance tuning), <a href=
"http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=security&sektion=7&manpath=FreeBSD+5.0-current">
<span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class=
"REFENTRYTITLE">security</span>(7)</span></a> (an
introduction to FreeBSD security), and <a href=
"http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=style&sektion=9&manpath=FreeBSD+5.0-current">
<span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class=
"REFENTRYTITLE">style</span>(9)</span></a> (a style guide
to kernel coding).</p>
</div>
<div class="SECT2">
<hr>
<h2 class="SECT2"><a name="AEN158">4.3 Books and
Articles</a></h2>
<p>Two highly-useful collections of FreeBSD-related
information, maintained by the FreeBSD Project, are the
FreeBSD Handbook and FreeBSD FAQ (Frequently Asked
Questions document). On-line versions of the <a href=
"http://www.FreeBSD.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/"
target="_top">Handbook</a> and <a href=
"http://www.FreeBSD.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/faq/"
target="_top">FAQ</a> are always available from the <a
href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/docs.html" target=
"_top">FreeBSD Documentation page</a> or its mirrors. If
you install the <tt class="FILENAME">doc</tt>
distribution set, you can use a Web browser to read the
Handbook and FAQ locally.</p>
<p>A number of on-line books and articles, also
maintained by the FreeBSD Project, cover
more-specialized, FreeBSD-related topics. This material
spans a wide range of topics, from effective use of the
mailing lists, to dual-booting FreeBSD with other
operating systems, to guidelines for new committers. Like
the Handbook and FAQ, these documents are available from
the FreeBSD Documentation Page or in the <tt class=
"FILENAME">doc</tt> distribution set.</p>
<p>A listing of other books and documents about FreeBSD
can be found in the <a href=
"http://www.FreeBSD.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/bibliography.html"
target="_top">bibliography</a> of the FreeBSD Handbook.
Because of FreeBSD's strong UNIX heritage, many other
articles and books written for UNIX systems are
applicable as well, some of which are also listed in the
bibliography.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="SECT1">
<hr>
<h1 class="SECT1"><a name="AEN169">5
Acknowledgments</a></h1>
<p>FreeBSD represents the cumulative work of many hundreds,
if not thousands, of individuals from around the world who
have worked countless hours to bring about this snapshot.
For a complete list of FreeBSD developers and contributors,
please see <a href=
"http://www.FreeBSD.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/articles/contributors/"
target="_top">``Contributors to FreeBSD''</a> on the
FreeBSD Web site or any of its mirrors.</p>
<p>Special thanks also go to the many thousands of FreeBSD
users and testers all over the world, without whom this
snapshot simply would not have been possible.</p>
</div>
</div>
<hr>
<p align="center"><small>This file, and other release-related
documents, can be downloaded from <a href=
"ftp://current.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/">ftp://current.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/</a>.</small></p>
<p align="center"><small>For questions about FreeBSD, read the
<a href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/docs.html">documentation</a>
before contacting <<a href=
"mailto:questions@FreeBSD.org">questions@FreeBSD.org</a>>.</small></p>
<p align="center"><small><small>All users of FreeBSD 5-CURRENT
should subscribe to the <<a href=
"mailto:current@FreeBSD.org">current@FreeBSD.org</a>>
mailing list.</small></small></p>
<p align="center">For questions about this documentation,
e-mail <<a href=
"mailto:doc@FreeBSD.org">doc@FreeBSD.org</a>>.</p>
<br>
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