<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
<meta name="generator" content="HTML Tidy, see www.w3.org" />
<title>FreeBSD 4.8-RELEASE README</title>
<meta name="GENERATOR"
content="Modular DocBook HTML Stylesheet Version 1.73 " />
<link rel="STYLESHEET" type="text/css" href="docbook.css" />
</head>
<body class="ARTICLE" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000"
link="#0000FF" vlink="#840084" alink="#0000FF">
<div class="ARTICLE">
<div class="TITLEPAGE">
<h1 class="TITLE"><a id="AEN2" name="AEN2">FreeBSD
4.8-RELEASE README</a></h1>
<h3 class="CORPAUTHOR">The FreeBSD Project</h3>
<p class="COPYRIGHT">Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2002,
2003 by The FreeBSD Documentation Project</p>
<p class="PUBDATE">$FreeBSD:
src/release/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/readme/article.sgml,v
1.1.2.16 2003/01/06 22:09:00 bmah Exp $<br />
</p>
<hr />
</div>
<blockquote class="ABSTRACT">
<div class="ABSTRACT">
<a id="AEN12" name="AEN12"></a>
<p>This document gives a brief introduction to FreeBSD
4.8-RELEASE. 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 id="AEN14" name="AEN14">1
Introduction</a></h1>
<p>This distribution is a release of FreeBSD 4.8-RELEASE,
the latest point along the 4-STABLE branch.</p>
<div class="SECT2">
<hr />
<h2 class="SECT2"><a id="AEN17" name="AEN17">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
and Compaq (formerly DEC) Alpha computers. Versions for
the IA64, PowerPC, and Sparc64 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 8,300
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 id="AEN26" name="AEN26">1.2 Target
Audience</a></h2>
<p>This release of FreeBSD is suitable for all users. It
has undergone a period of testing and quality assurance
checking to ensure the highest reliability and
dependability.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="SECT1">
<hr />
<h1 class="SECT1"><a id="AEN29" name="AEN29">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 id="AEN32" name="AEN32">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 id="AEN39" name="AEN39">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://mirrorlist.FreeBSD.org/"
target="_top">http://mirrorlist.FreeBSD.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.</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 id="CONTACTING" name="CONTACTING">3
Contacting the FreeBSD Project</a></h1>
<div class="SECT2">
<h2 class="SECT2"><a id="AEN52" name="AEN52">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 are tracking the -STABLE development efforts,
you <span class="emphasis"><i
class="EMPHASIS">must</i></span> join the FreeBSD-STABLE
mailing list <tt class="EMAIL"><<a
href="mailto:freebsd-stable@FreeBSD.org">freebsd-stable@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. Visit <a href="http://lists.FreeBSD.org/mailman/listinfo">FreeBSD
Mailman Info Page</a>.
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 id="AEN72" name="AEN72">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+4.8-RELEASE">
<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+4.8-RELEASE">
<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+4.8-RELEASE">
<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 id="AEN93" name="AEN93">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 id="RELEASE-DOCS"
name="RELEASE-DOCS">4.1 Release Documentation</a></h2>
<p>A number of other files provide more specific
information about this release 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 4.8-RELEASE compared to the previous release
(FreeBSD 4.7-RELEASE).</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><tt class="FILENAME">HARDWARE.TXT</tt>: The
hardware compatability 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. Late-breaking, post-release information can
be found in this file, which is principally
applicable to releases (as opposed to snapshots). It
is important to consult this file before installing a
release of FreeBSD, as it contains the latest
information on problems which have been found and
fixed since the release was created.</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>These documents are generally available via the
Documentation menu during installation. Once the system
is installed, you can revisit this menu by running the <a
href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=sysinstall&sektion=8&manpath=FreeBSD+4.8-RELEASE">
<span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span
class="REFENTRYTITLE">sysinstall</span>(8)</span></a>
utility.</p>
<div class="NOTE">
<blockquote class="NOTE">
<p><b>Note:</b> It is extremely important to read the
errata for any given release before installing it, to
learn about any ``late-breaking news'' or
post-release problems. The errata file accompanying
each release (most likely right next to this file) is
already out of date by definition, but other copies
are kept updated on the Internet and should be
consulted as the ``current errata'' for this release.
These other copies of the errata are located at <a
href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/releases/"
target="_top">http://www.FreeBSD.org/releases/</a>
(as well as any sites which keep up-to-date mirrors
of this location).</p>
</blockquote>
</div>
</div>
<div class="SECT2">
<hr />
<h2 class="SECT2"><a id="AEN133" name="AEN133">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+4.8-RELEASE">
<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 give
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+4.8-RELEASE">
<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+4.8-RELEASE">
<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+4.8-RELEASE">
<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 id="AEN150" name="AEN150">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 id="AEN161" name="AEN161">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 release.
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
release 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://ftp.FreeBSD.org/">ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org/</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 4-STABLE
should subscribe to the <<a
href="mailto:stable@FreeBSD.org">stable@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 />
<br />
</body>
</html>
