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Path: sserve!manuel!munnari.oz.au!spool.mu.edu!agate!soda.berkeley.edu!wjolitz From: wjolitz@soda.berkeley.edu (William F. Jolitz) Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd Subject: Announcing 386BSD Release 0.1 Message-ID: <14cuvtINN568@agate.berkeley.edu> Date: 19 Jul 92 23:48:13 GMT Article-I.D.: agate.14cuvtINN568 Organization: U.C. Berkeley, CS Undergraduate Association Lines: 207 NNTP-Posting-Host: soda.berkeley.edu 386BSD Release 0.1 "Cut the Tape" 14 July 1992 (Bastille Day) "Vive la Revolution" The success of UNIX lies not so much in new inventions but rather in the full exploitation of a carefully selected set of fertile ideas, and especially in showing that they can be keys to the implementation of a small yet powerful operating system. -- Thompson & Ritchie, "The UNIX Time-Sharing System", CACM 1974. We are pleased to announce the official release of 386BSD Release 0.1, the second edition of the 386BSD operat- ing system created and developed by William and Lynne Jolitz and enhanced further with novel work and contributions from the dedicated 386BSD User Community. Like its predecessor, 386BSD Release 0.0, Release 0.1 comprises an entire and com- plete UNIX-like operating system for the 80386/80486-based AT Personal Computer. 386BSD is intended to foster new research and develop- ment in operating systems and networking technology by pro- viding this base technology in a broadly accessible manner. As such, like its predecessor, 386BSD Release 0.1 is freely redistributable and modifiable. As with any BSD release, there is still much more to do. Please remember to send in your REGISTRATION file, so we can add you to the SIG and regular mailing lists. We also encourage everyone to use the SOFTWARE.FORM for software contributions and the BUGNFIX.FORM for fixes to the system, as it saves us time. Features of 386BSD Release 0.1 386BSD Release 0.1 is intended to be widely used by those interested in "pushing the envelope" towards the for- mation and development of innovative ideas in computer tech- nology. As such, we have spent considerable time developing a system which is simple to partition and install and emphasizes stability and completeness. Among the many new features of 386BSD: * New "Tiny 386BSD" System Installation Floppy * Simplified installation procedures. * 386BSD partitioning for use on an MS-DOS system. * Compressed, multivolume CPIO dump format binary/source/other distribution sets on MS-DOS flop- pies. * 387 emulation. * SCSI support. * CD-ROM support. * NFS, TCP/IP and full networking. * New 386BSD "Fix-It" System Maintenance Floppy. * New "Additional User Software" MS-DOS floppy dump. We hope that while you browse through 386BSD Release 0.1, you will take a moment to look at the CONTRIB.LIST file to see the many people who have made this release possible. Installation Procedures and New Partitioning Feature Installation procedures have been simplified -- so much so that die-hard BSD fans just cannot believe their eyes. Simply follow the INSTALL.NOTES information available on the Tiny 386BSD installation floppy to partition, install, down- load, and extract the rest of the distribution. If you have special configuration requirements, you can use the "Fixit" floppy and follow traditional BSD installation procedures. WE RECOMMEND YOU CHOOSE ONE APPROACH OR THE OTHER, BUT NOT BOTH! If you presently have Release 0.0 on your drive, we recommend that you backup your work and reformat your drive. We also urge you to take advantage of the 386BSD "partition- ing" feature if you can. You will be surprised how con- venient it really is to use. Now you can run MS-DOS, 386BSD and two other systems on your PC for the price of one drive -- a bargain! Careware Charity Drive The Careware Program is a charity effort which the edi- tors of DDJ have been running as a service to the community. Simply put, readers who send in a floppy and SASE mailer can receive at no charge a copy of a featured piece of software. In addition, if the reader so desires, he can send along a dollar or two for a charity designated by the developer of the software. It's that simple. As part of the DDJ Careware charity drive, we are mak- ing available to the editors of DDJ the latest version of our "Tiny 386BSD" installation floppy, with all proceeds benefiting the Childrens Support League of the East Bay (see the CAREWARE.INFO file). Some of the agencies which have received funds from CSL in the past include those using com- puters to communicate with disabled children, providing respite weekends for abused children, counciling bereaved children, and setting up safe after-school play areas for children in impoverished neighborhoods. Even though we have made this software freely available -- with no contribution required for the use of 386BSD -- we hope that the 386BSD User Community will choose to partici- pate in this charity drive and help these children. Simply put, by sending a dollar or two along with your software request, you directly benefit a child. To participate in the Careware program, send a high- density error-free formatted floppy and SASE mailer to: Tiny 386BSD, DDJ, 411 Borel Avenue, San Mateo, CA. 94402 USA. While a dollar or two may seem like a trivial amount, it does add up. The Brevard County Food Bank in Florida has received over $3,000 in the past year alone from supportive users of D-Flat, and the Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually Disabled has received over $100 in the past month from X-Sharp users. For these charities, a dollar or two has made a difference! Now it's our turn. Just like the generous users of D- Flat and X-Sharp, we believe that each person in the 386BSD User Community is quite willing to meet the challenge and help a child. New Newsgroup and SIGs Forming There are many newsgroups forming which discuss 386BSD. One should check out M&T Online (the DDJ newsgroup), Com- puserve, and BIX for 386BSD discussion forums. On the INTERNET/USENET, we are hoping to establish our own newsgroup called "comp.os.386bsd". This newsgroup would reside alongside the "comp.os.mach" and "comp.os.linux" newsgroups. Already there are over 100,000 copies of Release 0.0, and we hope to add to this number with the new and improved Release 0.1. Please help us to establish this newsgroup devoted to the "freely available" 386BSD system, by asking your news coordinator to subscribe to it. We do not recommend using comp.unix.bsd, since 386BSD, like linux and mach, is not a "comp.unix" system. There are also a number of 386BSD special interest groups forming, including those interested in discussing shared libraries, filesystems, networking, windowing sys- tems, gigabit networking, and so forth. Also, a number of projects are getting underway focussing on improvements in the kernel and utilities. If you are interested in learning about any of these groups, please fill out and send in the REGISTRATION form and we will put you on the SIG mailing list (along with the general 386BSD mailing list and user- directory file). Patches to the System An official patch system and unofficial patch system have been created (see the ROADMAP file). The first official set of patches will be out later this coming week. We will also be sending out an errata list which lists found bugs which are not currently covered by the latest patches. Technical Information We are trying to Obtain: We are also interested in obtaining new information to assist us in subsequent releases. Lack of adequate document- ation limits us at the moment, so even the contribution of a spare copy or photostat of accurate technical documentation would be helpful. Among our specific needs are documentation on Novell NE-1000/2000, 3COM 3C503, IDE command set (Connors), and PS/2 Microchannel documentation (specifically PS/2 ABIOS (IBM PN 68X2341, 15F2161), Options and Adapters TR (P/N 6322509), SCSI Adapters (P/N 68X2397, 68X2365), Mouse (P/N 68X2229)). In general, if you notice a shortcoming in a driver, be certain we can use better technical documentation on the device. Any help you can offer will be appreciated. Where We Can Be Reached We can be contacted via Compuserve email (CIS 76703,4266 or 76703.4266@compuserve.com), BIX (wjolitz), or via the internet at ljolitz@cardio.ucsf.edu, and through DDJ and UNIX Magazin (Europe). Please be patient with responses, as the 386BSD user group base is growing daily, and some- times responses are a bit delayed. However, we do want to hear from you. Thank you for all your patience, support, and encouragement. We wouldn't have done it without you! Bill and Lynne Jolitz.