by > Posted-By: auto-faq 3.1.1.2
> Archive-name: 386bsd-faq/part2
> Section 1. (General Network Information)
> General information
> This section of the FAQ is about the electronic support network
> that exists for 386bsd and its off-spring.
> 1.0 I just downloaded all of 386bsd version 0.1 and I can't get
> [some feature] to work? Do you have any suggestions?
> Yes. Get FreeBSD, OpenBSD, or NetBSD.
> The original 386BSD software was kind of buggy when it was put
> up for anonymous FTP in 1992. It has been modified significantly
> since then, and now exists in two different forms. There are people
> who will argue that the original 386BSD was completely unusable,
> but that is generally an overstatement.
> Over 100 patches were applied to the original system, with hundreds
> more waiting in the wings. It became just too much trouble to
> constantly have to patch the system to get it to work. This
> 'patched' version of 386bsd became FreeBSD. Around the same
> time, a second group split off from the original 386bsd tree
> and became NetBSD. For the primary differences, see above.
> Getting one of these two systems will provide you with a more
> complete system, with newer utilities, and many bugs already
> fixed.
> 1.1 Feature summary
> Among the many features of these systems:
> * Floppy disk based Installation
> * Hard drive partitioning for use with MS-DOS partitions
> * Compressed, multivolume CPIO dump format binary/source/other
> distribution sets on MS-DOS floppies. The cpio is based
> on the GNU cpio, and is completely free of encumbering USL
> software.
> * 387 support or emulation.
> * SCSI support.
> * Most CD-ROM support.
> * NFS, TCP/IP and full networking.
> * MS-DOS file system access.
> * PPP and SLIP protocol support.
> * System upgrades through Carnegie Mellon University's 'sup'
> utility.
> * Shared Library Support (in the newer version of both
> NetBSD and FreeBSD.
> * Both systems are based exclusively on Berkeley's BSD 4.4
> Lite tape, instead of the encumbered 4.3 Net2 tape.
> Hence, both systems are free of encumbered USL code and
> are freely redistributable.
> * Sound driver emulation through both Sun Microsystems' style
> /dev/audio and the stereo /dev/sound interface.
> 1.2 *BSD software projects in progress
> The list of software projects in progress is just too volatile
> to go into a static document like the FAQ.
> Folks that are interested in software projects for NetBSD
> should contact netbsd-comme...@sun-lamp.cs.berkeley.edu and
> let that mailing list know the same information.
> Folks interested in software projects for FreeBSD should contact
> the freebsd-hack...@freefall.cdrom.com mailing list and talk to
> them.
> 1.2.1 Contacting software authors
> Whenever you are working on a port of a software package, it is
> always a good idea to contact the original author and offer
> whatever changes you needed to make in order to port the software.
> That way, subsequent releases of the package may include changes
> that allow all users of *BSD the advantage of reusing your work
> over and over.
> Also, once you have ported a package to *BSD, you might want to
> contact the respective *BSD teams to let them know you've completed
> it and where it may be located.
> For FreeBSD, contact:
> <freebsd-hack...@freefall.cdrom.com>
> For NetBSD, contact:
> <netbsd-comme...@sun-lamp.cs.berkeley.edu.>
> If the port was a simple recompile of the source and install, a
> note to one of the newsgroups telling the story could be considered
> appropriate as well.
> In keeping with that, if you find a 'bug' in NetBSD, OpenBSD,
> or FreeBSD, or find a problem that causes you some headaches and
> find a solution, you should contact the author of the particular
> driver/module/program and let them know.
> 1.3 Minimum hardware configuration recommended
> There has been considerable debate about what the REAL minimum
> configuration for *BSD is. Some would claim that it is the
> smallest computer that an installation will succeed on. Others
> claim that it is the smallest usable computer (based on RAM and
> speed constraints) and others would claim that it should be
> based on using 'X'-windows.
> The smallest installable platform is an 80386, using an MGA card,
> with at least 2Meg of RAM and a 20 Megabyte hard disk. While not
> all SCSI cards (especially EISA) are supported, a great many are
> either in the base distribution or through patches. Thanks to
> the new shared library code in FreeBSD and NetBSD, a 20Meg
> installation should be easier now (in spite of the more advanced
> functionality) than it ever was before.
> A comfortable installation which includes source and binary
> distributions, as well as other utilities will work in about
> 100Meg of hard drive.
> 'X' requires at least a Hercules MGA; for masochists only, from
> what I understand.
> See section 8 for more details.
> 1.4 Where to get the source and binaries
> 1.4.1 Where can I get the distribution on floppy or tape?
> Many people will copy files onto diskettes or tapes if you
> coordinate it with them ahead of time.
> 1.4.2 Where can I get the distribution via FTP?
> If you are looking for the original 386bsd version 0.1, you are
> pretty well out of luck. See Section 0 for more information on
> where to look for Web sites on information on the *BSD family.
> 1.4.3 Where can I get the distribution on CD ROM?
> In a new joint venture, John Cargille, DiscNet, Inc., and
> InfoMagic, Inc. are pleased to announce their joint release
> of the BSDisc. This collaboration should be beneficial to
> all of our customers, since it brings to bear more experience,
> more support capability, and economies of scale in production.
> The BSDisc is scheduled to ship every six months or so. The
> current (November 1995) disk is a two CD set with the following:
> - NetBSD 1.1
> - distribution sets for x86, sparc, mac68k, and amiga
> - expanded source tree for all architectures
> - FreeBSD 2.1.5
> - distribution sets for x86
> - expanded source and binary trees for x86
> - XFree86 binaries for both FreeBSD and NetBSD
> - X11R6 (xc as well as contrib)
> - BSD-related news archive
> - various Answers to Frequently asked Question (FAQs)
> The BSDisc is available both for single-issue purchases, or on
> a buying plan. Single-issue price is $35.00; subscription pricing
> is $19.50 (or less) per issue, for a minimum length of 3 issues.
> (Those prices do not include S/H.)
> For single-issue purchases, contact InfoMagic at:
> +1-800-800-6613
> InfoMagic, Inc. Tel: +1-602-526-9565
> PO Box 30370 Fax: +1-602-526-9573
> Flagstaff, AZ 86003-0370 e-mail: ord...@Infomagic.com
> i...@infomagic.com
> For information about subscriptions, contact DiscNet at:
> DiscNet, Inc. +1-608-846-9838
> 841 Acker Pkwy
> DeForest, WI 53532 email: bsdisc-i...@grilled.cs.wisc.edu
> bsdisc-ord...@grilled.cs.wisc.edu
> European subscriptions, email: bsd...@altona.ppp.net
> I received this note from Jordan back in 1993. It is now sorely
> out of date, since there have been many releases of FreeBSD
> since then. The ordering info is still correct.
> While I will _always_ encourage obtaining FreeBSD through "free"
> channels (the Internet, friends, suspicious individuals in dark
> alleys), and given that none of us will make any money from CD
> sales, or ever have from FreeBSD in general given that WC's
> sponsorship is confined to the loan of centralized development
> hardware and network access, I still hope that some of you will
> find the CD distribution medium convenient enough to order a
> FreeBSD CD from Walnut Creek, thus indirectly supporting our
> future development work.
> If this marriage between commercial and free software interests
> proves to be mututally beneficial (which still remains to be seen,
> from Walnut Creek's point of view), it is my hope that it may serve
> as a model for similar future endeavors. It is an unfortunate fact
> that developing free software at this scale costs money, even with
> the developers donating their time and efforts, and financing some
> of it through the sale of convenient distribution media is one of
> the least venal ways I know of going about it.
> This CD contains a full FreeBSD 1.0.2 source & binary release, the
> sources and binaries for XFree86 2.0, and numerous sources from the
> FreeBSD "ports collection". Where space permitted, sources were
> provided in both "packed" and "unpacked" forms for easy access both
> as an on-line resource and as a source for compressed downloads in BBS
> or release-construction situations. The CD is fully ISO9660 compatable
> and has been mastered using RockRidge extensions for long filenames on
> systems that support it (like FreeBSD! :-).
> It is, of course, possible to install the system off the CD from
> scratch, given some basic willingness to read a little documentation
> and a few blank floppy disks. [ Ed Note. You would be surprised the
> number of people that do not see this paragraph...DBB]
> For the sake of convenience, I append the ordering information
> distilled from FreeBSD's /usr/src/RELNOTES.FreeBSD below.
> Ordering information:
> Walnut Creek CDROM
> 4041 Pike Lane, Suite D
> Concord CA 94520
> 1-800-786-9907, +1-510-674-0783, +1-510-674-0821 (fax)
> Or via the internet from ord...@cdrom.com. A current catalog can
> be obtained via ftp from ftp.cdrom.com:/cdrom/catalog.
> They accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and ship COD
> within the United States. California residents please
> add 8.25% sales tax.
> ro...@public.btr.com (Roman Yanovsky ro...@btr.com) sent in this
> note. I have editted it down some, but left in the bulk of the
> stuff in case you need more information:
> Subject: Linux Slackware and FreeBSD CD-ROM with X-windows etc.
> Trans-Ameritech presents "The best Linux plus FreeBSD CDROM ever"
> [ Linux stuff deleted ]
> * For hacker's reference an uncompressed FreeBSD source tree is
> provided.
> * On the BSD side there is a full source and binary distribution
> of the "final" FreeBSD 1.0
> * If you have questions or problems Trans-Ameritech provides free
> support via e-mail within 24 hours.
> * We ship the same day as we get the order.
> The new CDROM is available for $30 plus shipping/handling. If you
> are a current customer, it is only $20. New releases will be
> available every 3 month. Subscription is available.
> Trans-Ameritech Enterprises, Inc.
> 2342A Walsh Ave.
> Santa Clara, CA 95051
> Tel. 408/727-3883
> FAX: 408/727-3882
> This information is offered with no warranties, guarantees,
> franchise offers, or recommendations.
> 1.5 Electronic Information Groups for *BSD
> 1.5.1 Usenet newsgroups
> General BSD questions can be posted to comp.unix.bsd. Bear
> in mind, however; that your questions to this group should
> really be about BSD in general, not a specific implementation
> detail of *BSD.
> Newsgroup for discussion of general BSD questions:
> comp.unix.bsd.misc
> Newsgroups for the discussion of the Bill and Lynne Jolitz
> version of 386BSD:
> comp.unix.bsd.386bsd.announce
> comp.unix.bsd.386bsd.misc
> Newsgroups for the discussion of the FreeBSD version of BSD 4.4
> Lite:
> comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.announce
> comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc
> Newsgroups for the discussion of the NetBSD version of BSD 4.4
> Lite:
> comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.announce
> comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc
> Newsgroups for the discussion of the commercial version of the
> BSD 4.4 Lite system:
> comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.announce
> comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc
> 1.5.2 Newsgroup archives.
> These sites maintain a historical record of the traffic in the Usenet
> Newsgroups indicated. There are others, but I haven't gotten their
> names yet.
> Host Name IP address Location Newsgroups archived
> -------------------- -------------- -------------- ----------------
> minnie.cs.adfa.oz.au 131.236.20.70 Australia comp.unix.bsd,
> comp.os.386bsd.*
> src.doc.ic.ac.uk 146.169.2.1 London, UK comp.os.386bsd.*
> 1.5.3 *BSD system mailing lists.
> With the elimination of the old 386bsd mailing lists, the only
> mailing lists that are still available are the ones for FreeBSD
> and NetBSD. Information about the NetBSD lists and how to use
> majordomo (the list handler) is available by mailing to
> majord...@sun-lamp.cs.berkeley.edu.
> There are four mailing lists for FreeBSD and they are:
> FreeBSD-hackers: for hackers
> FreeBSD-questions: misc questions
> FreeBSD-bugs: bug reports
> FreeBSD-current: discussion of -current (in development)
> Send to FreeBSD-hackers-requ...@freefall.cdrom.com to be added
> to the hackers list, and *-questions-request@freefall... to be
> added to the questions list.
> For information about the NetBSD mailing lists, see the NetBSD
> Mailing List FAQ that is posted regularly by Chris Demetriou in
> comp.os.386bsd.announce.
> 1.5.4 System Updates.
> There are at least two different ways of getting the updates
> for the current source tree for both FreeBSD and NetBSD. The
> first is the traditional FTP method, and the other is using a
> utility called 'sup'. This program keeps a log of the source
> modules that have been updated and sends out only those files
> that have been changed. Included below are some sample
> instructions from John Brezak <bre...@apollo.hp.com> on how to
> run sup for NetBSD. The sup procedures for FreeBSD are similar
> and are available via ftp from freefall.cdrom.com in the
> ~/ftp/pub/sup directory. This directory contains the sup
> program, a man page, a sample sup-file and full instructions
> for maintaining your sources via 'sup.
> Instructions for installing NetBSD sources and releases using SUP
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
> 1.3 1993/11/3
> SUP is a network installation package written by CMU used to
> distribute software. For more details on SUP refer to the man
> pages.
> Sup works by reading a configuration file (supfile) and using
> this information to determine what "collections" of files will
> be loaded from the collection repository. Here is an example
> of a supfile to load the NetBSD current release.
> [ Notes: lines have been broken for readability; do NOT use '\'
> in supfiles and the information here is an EXAMPLE. This ain't
> a cooking school, folks. Also, the information in these lines
> has changed for each of the distributions. Read the
> documentation that comes with your software carefully for the
> lastest information. ]
> src release=current host=sun-lamp.cs.berkeley.edu hostbase=/b/anon_ftp
> base=/usr prefix=/usr backup
> ksrc release=current host=sun-lamp.cs.berkeley.edu hostbase=/b/anon_ftp
> base=/usr prefix=/usr backup
> security release=current host=sun-lamp.cs.berkeley.edu
> hostbase=/b/anon_ftp base=/usr prefix=/usr backup
> gamessrc release=current host=sun-lamp.cs.berkeley.edu
> hostbase=/b/anon_ftp base=/usr prefix=/usr backup
> regress release=current host=sun-lamp.cs.berkeley.edu
> hostbase=/b/anon_ftp base=/usr prefix=/usr backup
> #othersrc release=current host=sun-lamp.cs.berkeley.edu
> hostbase=/b/anon_ftp base=/usr prefix=/usr backup
> This supfile will load the "current" collections for "src",
> "ksrc", "security", "gamessrc", and "regress" in the /usr
> directory on the local machine. The "othersrc" collection will
> not be loaded because it is commented out.
> The supfile line is made up of keywords that describe the
> collection's location on the sup server and where and how it
> will be loaded on the local host.
> release - the release of the collection to load.
> host - the 'host' where the SUP repository resides.
> NetBSD uses sun-lamp.cs.berkeley.edu .
> hostbase- the pathname on the host to the base of the
> collection. The hostbase for NetBSD is "/b/anon_ftp".
> base - where you want to install it locally.
> prefix - used to locate the "sup" directory to write sup's
> info about updates. Usually the same as base.
> This supfile can also set some options. The "old" option tells sup
> to check all files for changes, not just those that are newer than
> the last sup update. Normally sup will overwrite local files with the
> changed file from the repository. If the sup collection specifies
> that an existing file should be renamed to a backup, the "backup"
> option in the supfile activates this. The "delete" option tells
> sup to delete any files locally that are no longer in the
> collection - be careful with this one. The "keep" option will
> cause sup to NOT update files that have been changes locally.
> The "compress" option will use gzip to compress the files before
> transfer and gunzip them on the receiving end. This option can be
> used to cut down on the number of transmitted bytes.
> You may want to set 'base' and 'prefix' to something other than /usr
> if you want to preserve your existing src tree.
> The sup repository on sun-lamp.cs.berkeley.edu currently offers these
> collections.
> src, ksrc, security
> The sources for NetBSD
> othersrc
> The current sources for contributed parts of
> NetBSD. This contains the sources for sup.
> regress
> The current sources for the NetBSD regression test
> suite.
> If you only want the kernel sources for a specific port there are
> some sub packages that you can use instead of the "ksrc" one. If
> you are using the sub packages, be sure to also sup the
> "ksrc-common" package.
> ksrc-common
> Kernel sources common to all ports.
> ksrc-1, ksrc-sparc, ksrc-hp300, ksrc-amiga, ksrc-mac,
> ksrc-pc532, ksrc-pmax, ksrc-sun3
> Kernel sources for a particular port.
> The security package is not to be sup'ed by sites outside of the
> U. S., read the "README.export-control" file for details.
> Each collection can have multiple releases (as specified by the
> "release" keyword).
> IMPORTANT!!
> Be aware that the current release is simply a snapshot of the
> daily state of NetBSD development and is not guaranteed to
> build (or even work) - use at your own risk !
> Stable releases of NetBSD are available via SUP. Instructions
> are included with the release announcement.
> Before running sup, be sure that your /etc/services contains
> these entries.
> supfilesrv 871/tcp # for SUP
> supfiledbg 1127/tcp
> To try sup without really updating anything use the '-f' flag.
> The '-v' flag means verbose and can be used to see what sup is
> doing.
> sup -fv supfile
> The sup binary, sup man page and sample supfiles can be ftp'ed
> from sun-lamp.cs.berkeley.edu:~ftp/pub/sup . Comments should be
> directed to "s...@sun-lamp.cs.berkeley.edu".
> A mailing list exists for users of the NetBSD "current"
> release. To join, mail to 'majord...@sun-lamp.cs.berkeley.edu'
> with a mail body of "info". The reply will describe the mailing
> lists for NetBSD. The you will want to subscribe to the
> "current-users" mailing list. We will use this list to announce
> any special changes made to the "current" tree.
> 1.6 Documentation available
> There are two types of documentation for *BSD. First is the
> set that covers the operation and theory used in BSD-Unix.
> 1.6.1 BSD manuals
> The full set of BSD documentation is available via anonymous FTP
> from ocf.berkeley.edu in /pub/Library/Computer/doc4.3. To print
> this documentation on *BSD systems, replace the ditroff
> references in the Makefile with 'groff -e -t -msU {SRC} >out.ps'
> to generate PostScript format files. Use different options to
> make the output conform to other print styles.
> The etc distribution also comes with a documentation directory
> /usr/share/doc which has nearly 3Meg of documentation about *BSD.
> In addition, on-line manuals are available in the binary
> distribution set. It contains specific information on the use
> of UNIX utilities and commands. Type "man man" for information
> on the online manual.
> 1.6.2 BSD books
> For learning how to work in the Unix environment, the standard text
> is "The Unix Programming Environment," by Kernighan and Pike.
> For Unix Administration, the best is "Unix System Administration
> Handbook," by Nemeth, Snyder and Seebass.
> For systems level programming (i.e., systems calls), I recommend
> "Advanced Unix Programming," by Marc Rochkind. Unfortunately it is
> out-dated and oriented towards System V.
> A new book "Advanced Programming in the Unix Environment," by W.
> Richard Stevens is very up-to-date, and an excellent reference,
> especially for dealing with POSIX standards issues.
> For network programming, "Unix Network Programming," by W. Richard
> Stevens is highly regarded.
> The 4.3BSD Unix Manuals contain loads of invaluable tutorials and
> historical papers in addition to hard copies of on-line documentation.
> The six volume set is available from Usenix for $60.00 (email:
> off...@usenix.org)
> The 4.4 BSD Unix Manuals are the authoritative source for
> information about the 4.4 BSD release, and by inference the
> NetBSD and FreeBSD systems. They are available from O'Reilly
> and Associates (the Nutshell series people). In addition the
> the six volume set, there is a CD included (at a price) of the
> entire 4.4 release. Combine this with the NetBSD 1.0 or FreeBSD
> 2.0 systems, and you should have a commercial quality operating
> system available in no time.
> I recommend you look at "The AWK Programming Language," by
> Aho, Weinberger and Kernighan. This is a very nice prototyping
> language - powerful and easy to use.
> Another excellent reference book for *BSD is "The Design and
> Implementation of the 4.3BSD UNIX Operating system" by Samuel J.
> Leffler, Marshall Kirk McKusick, Michael J. Karels, John S.
> Quarterman, 1989, Addison-Wesley, ISBN 0-201-06196-1. While this
> book is out of date in many sections, it is purported to be an
> excellent source of historical information, if nothing else.
> Chris Demetriou recommends the sections on the treatment of
> file systems, caching and the networking layer. The sections in
> this books which do not apply to *BSD include the VM section,
> bootstrapping, and autoconfig.
> Here is a list from Hellmuth Michaelis (duplicative as it may seem
> to have all of these lists) for more information on *BSD:
> UNIX AND UNIX DEVICE DRIVERS
> ----------------------------
> Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc. "UNIX Programmer's Manual, Seventh
> Edition, Volume 2". Revised and Expanded Version.
> Holt, Rinehart and Winston 1983
> George Pajari, "Writing Unix Device Drivers"
> Addison Wesley 1992
> Janet I. Egan and Thomas J. Teixeira, "Writing a UNIX Device Driver"
> John Wiley & Sons 1989, especially the 30 page appendix
> handling the unique features of the BSD system.
> Janet I. Egan and Thomas J. Teixeira, "Writing a UNIX Device Driver"
> Second Edition. John Wiley &*BSD1992
> Leffler, McKusick, Karels, Quarterman, "The Design and Implementation
> of the 4.3BSD UNIX Operating System"
> Addison Wesley 1988, corrected Reprint 1989
> Leffler, McKusick, "The Design and Implementation of the 4.3BSD UNIX
> Operating System, Answer Book"
> Addison Wesley 1991
> Maurice J. Bach, "The Design of the UNIX Operating System"
> Prentice-Hall 1986
> Sun Microsystems Inc., "Writing Device Drivers"
> Part No. 800-3851-10, Revision A of 27 March 1990
> Hewlett-Packard Company, "HP-UX Driver Development Guide",
> Part No. 98577-90013, First Edition 07/91
> W. Richard Stevens, "Advanced Programming in the UNIX Environment",
> Addison Wesley 1992
> Phillip M. Adams, Clovis L. Tondo, "Writing Unix Device Drivers in C",
> Prentice Hall 1993
> Peter Kettle, Steve Statler, "Writing Device Drivers for SCO UNIX,
> A Practical Approach", Addison Wesley 1993
> In addition, there are many other books which, for one reason or
> another, have not made it into this briefuu