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Diffstat (limited to 'release/texts/ABOUT.TXT')
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diff --git a/release/texts/ABOUT.TXT b/release/texts/ABOUT.TXT deleted file mode 100644 index 53a9172..0000000 --- a/release/texts/ABOUT.TXT +++ /dev/null @@ -1,215 +0,0 @@ -o About FreeBSD: - -What is FreeBSD? FreeBSD is an operating system based on 4.4 BSD Lite -for Intel, AMD, Cyrix or NexGen "x86" based PC hardware and Compaq -(formerly DEC) Alpha computers. It works with a very wide variety of PC -peripherals and configurations and can be used for everything from -software development to Internet Service Provision. - -This release of FreeBSD contains everything you need to run such a -system, including full source code for everything. With the source -distribution installed you can literally recompile the entire system -from scratch with one command, making it ideal for students, -researchers or folks who simply want to see how it all works. - -A large collection of 3rd party ported software (the "ports -collection") is also provided to make it easier for you to obtain and -install all your favorite traditional UNIX utilities for FreeBSD. -Over 5000 ports, from editors to programming languages to graphical -applications, make FreeBSD a powerful and comprehensive operating -environment that extends far beyond what's provided by many commercial -versions of UNIX. - -For more documentation on this system it is recommended that you -purchase The Complete FreeBSD, available from local bookstores -and from the FreeBSD Mall (http://www.freebsdmall.com), as well -as the 4.4BSD Document Set from O'Reilly Associates and the USENIX -Association, ISBN 1-56592-082-1. We have no connection with O'Reilly, -we're just satisfied customers! - -If you're new to FreeBSD then you should also read EVERYTHING listed -in the Documentation menu on the boot floppy. It may seem like a lot -to read, but you should at least acquaint yourself with the types of -information available should you later get stuck. Once the system is -installed, you can also revisit this menu and use a WEB browser to -read the installed FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) and Handbook HTML -documentation sets for FreeBSD. You can also use the browser to visit -other WEB sites on the net (such as http://www.freebsd.org) if you -have an Internet connection. - -NOTE: If you read no other documentation before installing a given -version of FreeBSD, you should at least by all means *READ THE ERRATA* -for that release so that you don't stumble over problems which have -already been found and fixed. The ERRATA.TXT file accompanying your -release (it should be right next to this file) is obviously already -out of date by definition, but other copies are kept updated on the -net and should be consulted as the "current errata" for your release -(this is also what your ERRATA.TXT file says, by the way). These -other copies of the errata are located at: - - 1. http://www.freebsd.org/releases/ - - 2. ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/releases/<your-release>/ERRATA.TXT - (and any sites which keep up-to-date mirrors of this location). - - -DISCLAIMER: While FreeBSD does its best to safeguard against -accidental loss of data, it's still more than possible to WIPE OUT -YOUR ENTIRE DISK with this installation! Please do not proceed to the -final FreeBSD installation menu unless you've adequately backed up any -important data first! We really mean it! - - -o E-mail addresses and tech support info: - -For general questions, please send email to : - - freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.org - -Please also have patience if your questions are not answered right -away - this mailing list is staffed purely by volunteers and they also -have real life schedules to contend with. Questions which are asked -intelligently (e.g. not "My system doesn't work! What's wrong!?") -also stand a far greater chance of being answered. If your question -does not contain enough information to allow the responder to generate -a meaningful answer, they generally won't. - -Bug reports submitted with the send-pr command are also logged and -tracked in our bugs database, and you'll be kept informed of any -changes in status during the life of the bug (or feature request). - -Technical comments on this release should be sent (in English!) to: - - freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.org - -Bug reports should be sent using the `send-pr' command or the Web page -at http://www.freebsd.org/send-pr.html. If you cannot use either of -these two methods, you may also send mail to: - - freebsd-bugs@FreeBSD.org - - -PLEASE ALSO BE SURE TO INDICATE WHICH VERSION OF FREEBSD YOU'RE -RUNNING IN ANY BUG REPORTS OR QUESTIONS! - -Sorry for the caps, but you'd be amazed at how many times people -forget this and there are many different release versions of FreeBSD -out there now. It's imperative that we know what you're running so -that we tell if you're suffering from a bug which has already been -fixed. - - -o WWW Resources: - -Our WEB site, http://www.freebsd.org, is also a very good source for -updated information and provides a number of advanced documentation -searching facilities. If you wish to use Netscape as your browser, -several versions may be found in the ports collection under -/usr/ports/www if you've installed the ports collection on your -machine (always a good idea). - -Several other non-commercial browsers are also available in -/usr/ports/www and may be compiled and installed in the same fashion. -Many are also available as pre-compiled packages - see the Packages -entry in the Configuration menu for more details. - -The Handbook and FAQ are also available as on-line documents in -/usr/share/doc and can be read using the ``file:/usr/share/doc'' -syntax in any HTML capable browser. - - -o Distributions: - -A typical FreeBSD distribution directory looks like this: - -ABOUT.TXT bin compat3x games proflibs -HARDWARE.TXT compat1x info src tools -INSTALL.TXT compat20 dict manpages packages -README.TXT compat21 des doc -RELNOTES.TXT compat22 floppies ports -XF86336 - -If you want to do a CDROM, FTP or NFS installation from this -distribution directory, all you need to do is make a pair of 1.44MB -floppies from the floppies/kern.flp and floppies/mfsroot.flp image -files (see floppies/README.TXT for instructions on how to do this), -boot it and follow the instructions. - -If you're trying to do some other type of installation, or are just -curious about how the distribution is organized in general, what -follows is a more thorough description of each item in more detail: - -The *.TXT files obviously contain documentation (ABOUT.TXT being what -you're reading now). - -The XF86336 directory contains the XFree86 project's 3.3.6 release and -consists of a series of gzip'd tar files which contain each component -of the XFree86 distribution. - -The bin, dict, des, doc, games, info, manpages, proflibs, and src -directories contain the primary distribution components of FreeBSD -itself and are split into smaller files for easy packing onto floppies -(should that be necessary). - -The compat1x, compat20, compat21, compat22, and compat3x directories -contain distributions for compatibility with older releases and are -distributed as single gzip'd tar files - they can be installed during -release time or later by running their `install.sh' scripts. - -A typical distribution (we'll use the info distribution as an example) -looks like this: - -CHECKSUM.MD5 info.ab info.ad info.inf install.sh -info.aa info.ac info.ae info.mtree - -The CHECKSUM.MD5 file contains MD5 signatures for each file, should -data corruption be suspected, and is purely for reference - it is not -used by the actual installation and does not need to be copied with -the rest of the distribution files. The info.a* files are split, -gzip'd tar files, the contents of which can be viewed by doing: - - cat info.a* | tar tvzf - - -During installation, they are automatically concatenated and extracted -by the installation procedure. - -The info.inf file is also necessary since it is read by the installation -program in order to figure out how many pieces to look for when fetching and -concatenating the distribution. When putting distributions onto floppies, -the .inf file MUST occupy the first floppy of each distribution set! - -The info.mtree file is another non-essential file which is provided -for user reference. It contains the MD5 signatures of the *unpacked* -distribution files and can be later used with the mtree(1) program -to verify the installation permissions and checksums against any possible -modifications to the file. When used with the bin distribution, this can -be an excellent way of detecting trojan horse attacks on your system. - -Finally, the install.sh file is for use by those who want to install the -distribution after installation time. To install the info distribution from -CDROM after a system was installed, for example, you'd do: - - cd /cdrom/info - sh install.sh - -And that's all there is to it! Each distribution contains its own -install.sh file for this. - - -The floppies subdirectory contains the floppy installation images and -the floppies/README.TXT file should be read for further information -on them. - -The packages and ports directories contain the FreeBSD packages and -ports collections. Packages may be installed from the packages directory -by running the sysinstall utility with the argument ``configPackages'' -or by feeding the individual filenames to the pkg_add(1) command. - -The ports collection may be installed like any other distribution -and requires about 100MB unpacked. More information on the ports collection -may be obtained from http://www.freebsd.org/ports or locally from -file:/usr/share/doc/handbook if you've installed the doc distribution. - -Last of all, the tools directory contains various DOS tools for -discovering disk geometries, installing boot managers and the like. -It is purely optional and provided only for user convenience. |
