*BSD News Article 2067


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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.