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diff --git a/en/handbook/introduction/chapter.sgml b/en/handbook/introduction/chapter.sgml deleted file mode 100644 index 163e13428a..0000000000 --- a/en/handbook/introduction/chapter.sgml +++ /dev/null @@ -1,622 +0,0 @@ - <chapter id="introduction"> - <title>Introduction</title> - - <para>FreeBSD is a 4.4BSD-Lite based operating system for Intel - architecture (x86) based PCs. 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're 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> - - - <sect1 id="nutshell"> - <title>FreeBSD in a Nutshell</title> - - <para>FreeBSD is a state of the art operating system for personal - computers based on the Intel CPU architecture, which includes the - 386, 486 and Pentium processors (both SX and DX versions). Intel - compatible CPUs from AMD and Cyrix are supported as well. FreeBSD - provides you with many advanced features previously available only - on much more expensive computers. These features include:</para> - - - <itemizedlist> - - <listitem> - <para><emphasis>Preemptive multitasking</emphasis> with - dynamic priority adjustment to ensure smooth and fair sharing - of the computer between applications and users.</para> - </listitem> - - <listitem> - <para><emphasis>Multiuser</emphasis> access means that - many people can use a FreeBSD system simultaneously for a - variety of things. System peripherals such as printers and - tape drives are also properly SHARED BETWEEN ALL users on the - system.</para> - </listitem> - - <listitem> - <para>Complete <emphasis>TCP/IP networking</emphasis> - including SLIP, PPP, NFS and NIS support. This means that - your FreeBSD machine can inter-operate easily with other - systems as well act as an enterprise server, providing vital - functions such as NFS (remote file access) and e-mail services - or putting your organization on the Internet with WWW, ftp, - routing and firewall (security) services.</para> - </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> - </listitem> - - <listitem> - <para>FreeBSD is a <emphasis>32-bit</emphasis> - operating system and was designed as such from the ground - up.</para> - </listitem> - - <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> - </listitem> - - <listitem> - <para><emphasis>Binary compatibility</emphasis> with - many programs built for SCO, BSDI, NetBSD, Linux and - 386BSD.</para> - </listitem> - - <listitem> - <para>Hundreds 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> - </listitem> - - <listitem> - <para>Demand paged <emphasis>virtual memory</emphasis> - and “merged VM/buffer cache” design efficiently satisfies - applications with large appetites for memory while still - maintaining interactive response to other users.</para> - </listitem> - - <listitem> - <para><emphasis>Shared libraries</emphasis> (the Unix - equivalent of MS-Windows DLLs) provide for efficient use of - disk space and memory.</para> - </listitem> - - <listitem> - <para>A full complement of <emphasis>C</emphasis>, - <emphasis>C++</emphasis> and <emphasis>Fortran</emphasis> development tools. Many - additional languages for advanced research and development are - also available in the ports and packages collection.</para> - </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> - </listitem> - - <listitem> - <para>Extensive <emphasis>on-line - documentation</emphasis>.</para> - </listitem> - - <listitem> - <para><emphasis>And many more!</emphasis></para> - </listitem> - - </itemizedlist> - - - <para>FreeBSD 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 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>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> - <para><emphasis>Internet Services:</emphasis> The - robust TCP/IP networking built into FreeBSD makes it an ideal - platform for a variety of Internet services such as:</para> - <itemizedlist> - - <listitem> - <para>FTP servers</para> - </listitem> - - <listitem> - <para>World Wide Web servers</para> - </listitem> - - <listitem> - <para>Gopher servers</para> - </listitem> - - <listitem> - <para>Electronic Mail servers</para> - </listitem> - - <listitem> - <para>USENET News</para> - </listitem> - - <listitem> - <para>Bulletin Board Systems</para> - </listitem> - - <listitem> - <para>And more...</para> - </listitem> - - </itemizedlist> - - <para>You can easily start out small with an - inexpensive 386 class PC and upgrade as your enterprise - grows.</para> - </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> - </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> - </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> - </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 “diskless”, 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> - </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> - - </sect1> - - <sect1 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 “Unofficial 386BSD Patchkit” 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 “386BSD 0.5” - or “386BSD Interim” 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 - “cleanup” snapshot. Those plans came to a rude halt when Bill - Jolitz suddenly decided to withdraw his sanction from the project - and 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 - “FreeBSD”, coined by David Greenman. Our initial objectives were - set after consulting with the system's current users and, once it - became clear that the project was on the road to perhaps even - becoming a reality, I contacted Walnut Creek CDROM with an eye - towards improving FreeBSD's distribution channels for those many - unfortunates without easy access to the Internet. Walnut Creek - CDROM not only supported the idea of distributing FreeBSD on CD but - went so far as to provide the project with a machine to work on and - a fast Internet connection. Without Walnut Creek CDROM's almost - unprecedented degree of faith in what was, at the time, a completely - unknown project, it is quite unlikely that FreeBSD would have gotten - as far, as fast, as it has today.</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 (“Net/2”) tape from U.C. Berkeley, with many components - also provided by 386BSD and the Free Software Foundation. It was a - fairly reasonable success for a first offering, and we followed it - with the highly successful FreeBSD 1.1 release in May of - 1994.</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 “encumbered” code and the property of - Novell, who had in turn acquired it from AT&T some time - previously. What Berkeley got in return was Novell's “blessing” - that the 4.4BSD-Lite release, when it was finally released, would be - declared unencumbered and all existing Net/2 users would be strongly - encouraged to switch. This included FreeBSD, and the project was - given until the end of July 1994 to stop shipping its own Net/2 - based product. Under the terms of that agreement, the project was - allowed one last release before the deadline, that release being - FreeBSD 1.1.5.1.</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 “Lite” releases were light in part because - Berkeley's CSRG had removed large chunks of code required for - actually constructing a bootable running system (due to various - legal requirements) and the fact that the Intel port of 4.4 was - highly incomplete. It took the project until December of 1994 to - make this transition, and in January of 1995 it released FreeBSD 2.0 - to the net and on CDROM. 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>FreeBSD 2.2 was branched from the development mainline - (“-current”) in November 1996 as the RELENG_2_2 branch, and the - first full release (2.2.1) was released in April, 1997. Further - releases along the 2.2 branch were done in the Summer and Fall of - '97, the latest being 2.2.7 which appeared in late July of '98. - The first official 3.0 release will appear in October, 1998 and the - last release on the 2.2 branch, 2.2.8, will appear in November.</para> - - <para>Long term development projects for everything from SMP to DEC - ALPHA support will continue to take place in the 3.0-current branch - and SNAPshot releases of 3.0 on CDROM (and, of course, on the net).</para> - - </sect1> - - <sect1 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're definitely not prepared to insist on it. We believe that our - first and foremost “mission” is to provide code to any and all - comers, and for whatever purpose, so that the code gets the widest - possible use and provides the widest possible benefit. This is, I - believe, one of the most fundamental goals of Free Software and one - that we enthusiastically support.</para> - - <para>That code in our source tree which falls under the GNU Public - License (GPL) or GNU Library Public License (GLPL) 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, endeavor to replace such software with - submissions under the more relaxed BSD copyright whenever possible.</para> - - </sect1> - - <sect1 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;. Those who prefer to work more independently - are also accommodated, and they are free to use our FTP facilities - at <ulink - URL="ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/incoming">ftp.freebsd.org</ulink> to distribute their own patches or work-in-progress sources. 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> - - - <variablelist> - <varlistentry><term>The CVS - repository<anchor 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> (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 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> - </listitem> - </varlistentry> - - <varlistentry><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 “committer” comes from the - <citerefentry><refentrytitle>cvs</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry> <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 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>send-pr</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry> command, though if something appears to be jammed in the system then you may also reach them by sending mail to <email>committers@freebsd.org</email>.</para> - </listitem> - </varlistentry> - - <varlistentry><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 - who's 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> - - <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 “commitment” should also not be - misconstrued as meaning “guaranteed support.” The - “board of directors” analogy above is not - actually very accurate, and it may be more suitable to say - that these are the people who gave up their lives in favor - of FreeBSD against their better judgement! <!-- smiley --><emphasis>;)</emphasis></para> - </note> - </listitem> - </varlistentry> - - <varlistentry><term>Outside - contributors</term> - - <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> - - <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 - 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 - 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> - - <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> - - <sect1 id="relnotes"> - <title>About the Current Release</title> - - <para>FreeBSD is a freely available, full source 4.4BSD-Lite based - release for Intel i386/i486/Pentium/PentiumPro/Pentium II (or - compatible) based PC's. 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 January of 95, 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, an improved SCSI subsystem, early ISDN support, - support for FDDI and Fast Ethernet (100Mbit) adapters, improved - support for the Adaptec 2940 (WIDE and narrow) 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>In addition to the base distributions, FreeBSD offers a new - ported software collection with hundreds of commonly sought-after - programs. At the end of August 1998 there were more than 1700 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 26MB of storage, all ports - being expressed as “deltas” to their original sources. This - makes it much easier for us to update ports, and greatly reduces - the disk space demands made by the older 1.0 ports collection. To - compile a port, you simply change to the directory of the program - you wish to install, type <command>make all</command> followed by <command>make install</command> - after successful compilation and let the system do the rest. The - full original distribution for each port you build is retrieved - dynamically off the CDROM or a local ftp site, so you need only - enough disk space to build the ports you want. (Almost) every port - is also provided as a pre-compiled “package” which can be installed - with a simple command (pkg_add) by those who do not wish to compile - their own ports from source.</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><term>The FreeBSD handbook</term> - <listitem> - <para><ulink - URL="file:/usr/share/doc/handbook/handbook.html">file:/usr/share/doc/handbook/handbook.html</ulink></para> - </listitem> - </varlistentry> - - <varlistentry><term>The FreeBSD FAQ</term> - - <listitem> - <para><ulink - URL="file:/usr/share/doc/FAQ/FAQ.html">file:/usr/share/doc/FAQ/FAQ.html</ulink></para> - - </listitem> - </varlistentry> - </variablelist> - - - <para>You can also visit the master (and most frequently updated) - 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>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> - - </sect1> - </chapter> - - -<!-- - Local Variables: - mode: sgml - sgml-declaration: "../chapter.decl" - sgml-indent-data: t - sgml-omittag: nil - sgml-always-quote-attributes: t - sgml-parent-document: ("../handbook.sgml" "part" "chapter") - End: ---> - |