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From: bostic@hermes.Berkeley.EDU (Keith Bostic)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd
Subject: Re: 4.4 BSD, and the challenge after
Message-ID: <1992Jun20.012833.29722@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: 20 Jun 92 01:28:33 GMT
Article-I.D.: pasteur.1992Jun20.012833.29722
References: <41950@sunquest.UUCP> <1992Jun15.055156@eklektix.com>
Sender: nntp@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU (NNTP Poster)
Organization: University of California at Berkeley
Lines: 49
Nntp-Posting-Host: hermes.berkeley.edu
June 19, 1992
As you may already have heard, the CSRG is going to go
away after the final release of 4.4BSD. For the following
reasons, it is clear that the CSRG cannot continue in its
present form.
Funding has become increasingly time-consuming and dif-
ficult. We are spending more and more of our time obtaining
funding, time that we would prefer to spend working on BSD.
As many of you are intimately aware, computer corporations
are actively seeking ways to reduce discretionary outlays.
Also, as UNIX vendors have developed their own research
groups, the work of the CSRG has become less necessary to
them. Finally, making BSD freely redistributable has
resulted in fewer distributions sold, as other organizations
sell our releases for less money.
Support within the University of California has
declined as BSD has become less widely used internally.
Victims of our own success, many of the features once found
only in BSD are now available from every vendor.
The system has become too large and complex for a group
of four to architect and maintain. In particular, losing
Mike Karels has made it obvious to us that the group is
below critical mass for developing and distributing a com-
plete UNIX system.
So, we intend to make the 4.4BSD-alpha distribution
available around the first week of July. We will spend the
summer and some part of the fall cleaning up the release and
make the final 4.4BSD release available in the fall. When
the final release happens is mostly dependent on when our
current funding runs out. At that time we will close down
the group.
BSD has always been a community effort, and, as a com-
munity effort, does not rely on a small group of people in
Berkeley to keep it going. BSD will not go away, but will
live on through the free software and commercial efforts of
many people. We thank you for your support over the years,
your funding, and, of course, the software you've contri-
buted to make the BSD system what it is today!
Kirk McKusick
Keith Bostic