From 59a6c2c50159fd7207d15d7589c7b132088442c3 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: jkh Date: Tue, 8 Nov 1994 03:26:37 +0000 Subject: Here's the README for the ALPHA. It's less verbose, having had much moved into its more proper home in the release notes. --- README | 214 +++-------------------------------------------------------------- 1 file changed, 8 insertions(+), 206 deletions(-) (limited to 'README') diff --git a/README b/README index 9e45204..9f91212 100644 --- a/README +++ b/README @@ -35,211 +35,13 @@ hit ESC twice. Hitting TAB will move the focus to different controls. If you've ever dealt with a DOS installation, you'll know how to deal with this. -============================================= -WHAT'S NEW IN THIS RELEASE (preliminary list) -============================================= - -4.4 Lite --------- -As previously stated, this release is based entirely on CSRG's -latest (and last) BSD release - 4.4 Lite. This features as number -of improvements over 4.2BSD (Net/2), not least of which are: - -o Legal approval of Novell & U.C. Berkeley. After the settlement - of the longstanding lawsuit between USL/UCB/Novell/BSDI, all - parties were (strongly) encouraged to move to 4.4 Lite in order - to avoid future legal entanglements. The fact that we've now done - so should make this release much more attractive to potential - commercial users. - -o Many new filesystem types, such as stackable filesystems, union - filesystems, "portals", kernfs, a simple log-structured filesystem, a - new version of NFS (NQNFS), etc. While some of these new filesystems - are also rather unpolished and will require significant additional - work to be truly robust, they're a good start. - -o 64bit offsets, allowing filesystems of up to 2^63 bytes in size. - -o Further work towards full POSIX compliance. - - -And many many other features. For more documentation, it is recommended -that you purchase the 4.4BSD Document Set from O'Reilly Associates and the -USENIX Association. ISBN 1-56592-082-1 - - -IP multicast support --------------------- - -The IP multicast support has been upgraded from the woefully ancient -1.x code in 4.4-Lite to the most current and up-to-date 3.3 release -from Steve D. and Ajit. The non-forwarding code is known to work (for -some limited test cases). The multicast forwarder and user-mode -multicast routing process are known to compile, but have not been -significantly tested (hopefully this will happen before 2.0 release). - -Owner: wollman -Sources involved: sys/netinet, usr.sbin/mrouted - - -Loadable Kernel Modules ------------------------ - -David Greenman incorporated NetBSD's port of Terry Lambert's loadable -kernel module support. Garrett Wollman wrote the support for loadable -file systems, and Søren Schmidt did the same for loadable execution -classes. - -Owner: core -Sources involved: sys/kern, sbin/modload, sbin/modunload, - usr.bin/modstat - - -Loadable filesystems --------------------- - -Most filesystems are now dynamically loadable on demand, with the -exception of the UFS family (FFS, LFS, and MFS). With the exception -of NFS, all such filestystems can be unloaded when all references are -unmounted. To support this functionality, the getvfsbyname(3) -family of functions has been added to the C library and the lsvfs(1) -command provides the same information at the shell level. Be aware of -the following current restrictions: - - - /usr/bin may not reside on a dynamically loaded filesystem. - - There must be a writable /tmp directory available - before filesystems are loaded (moving / to the top of your - /etc/fstab file will accomplish this). - - Some of the more esoteric filesystems simply don't work when loaded - dynamically (though they often don't work "static", either.) - -Owner: wollman -Sources involved: sys/*fs, lkm/*fs, usr.bin/lsvfs, lib/libc/gen - - -S/Key ------ - -Since version 1.1.5, FreeBSD has supported the S/Key one time password scheme. -The version used is derived from the logdaemon package of Wietse Venema. -Some of the features new in 2.0 are: - - New access control table format to impose the use of S/Keys - based on: hostname, ip address, port, username, group id. - - S/Key support can be disabled by not having the access control - table. -The second item explains the absence of skey.access in the installed /etc. -To enable S/Key support, create a file skey.access in /etc and fill it -according to your needs. See also skey.access(5) and the example in -/usr/share/examples/etc/skey.access. - -Owner: pst, guido -Sources involved: lib/libskey, usr.bin/key* (plus patches to others) - - -TCP/IP over parallel (printer) port ------------------------------------ - -You can now run TCP/IP over a standard LapLink(tm) cable, if both ends -have a interrupt-driven printerport. The interface is named "lp0" -where '0' is the same as the lpt# unit number. This is not compatible -with PLIP. If you run NFS, try setting MTU to 9180, otherwise leave -it at 1500 unless you have a good reason to change it. Speed varies -with the CPU-type, with up to 70 kbyte/sec having been seen and 50 -kbyte/sec being the norm. - -Owner: phk -Sources involved: isa/lpt.c - - -ProAudioSpectrum SCSI-driver ----------------------------- - -If you have a PAS board with a CD-ROM, and the MS-DOS driver is called -TSLCDR.SYS, then the "pas" driver should work on your card. You can -attach disks, cdroms and tapes, but due to the nature of the hardware -involved, the transfer rate is limited to < 690 kbyte/sec. For CD-ROM -use, this is generally more than enough. - -Owner: phk -Sources involved: isa/pas.c - - -Gzip'ed binaries ----------------- - -We have an experimental implementation for direct execution of gzip'ed -binaries in this release. When enabled, it allows you to simply gzip -your binaries, remove the '.gz' extension and make the file -executable. There is a big speed and memory consumption penalty for -doing this, but for laptop users it may be worthwhile. The maximum -savings are generally around 10 Mb of disk space. - -Owner: phk -Sources involved: kern/imgact_gzip.c kern/inflate.c - - -Diskless booting ----------------- - -Diskless booting it in 2.0 and much improved since 1.1.5. The boot-program -is in src/sys/i386/boot/netboot, and can be run from a MSDOS system or -burned into an EPROM. Local swapping is possible. Presently WD, SMC and -Novell cards are supported. - -Owner: Martin Renters & phk -Sources involved: i386/boot/netboot, sys/nfs/nfs_vfsops.h - - -Device configuration database ------------------------------ - -The kernel now keeps better track of which device drivers are active and -where the devices are attached; this information is made available to -user programs via the new sysctl(3) management interface. Current -applications include lsdev(8), which lists the currently configured -devices. In the future, we expect to use this code to automatically -generate a configuration file for you at installation time. - -Owner: wollman -Sources involved: sys/i386, sys/scsi, sys/kern/kern_devconf.c, - sys/sys/devconf.h, usr.sbin/lsdev - - -Kernel management interface ---------------------------- - -With 4.4-Lite, we now have a better management interface for the endless -series of kernel variables and parameters which were previously manipulated -by reading and writing /dev/kmem. Many programs have been rewritten to -use this interface, although many old-style programs still remain. Some -variables which were never accessible before are now available through -the sysctl(1) program. In addition to the standard 4.4BSD MIB variables, -we have added support for YP/NIS domains (kern.domainname), controlling -the update daemon (kern.update), retrieving the OS release date -(kern.osreldate), determining the name of the booted kernel (kern.bootfile), -and checking for hardware floating-point support (hw.floatingpoint). -We have also added support to make management queries of devices and -filesystems. - -Owner: core -Sources involved: sys, usr.bin/sysctl - - -iBCS2 support -------------- - -FreeBSD now supports running iBCS2 compatible binaries (currently -SCO UNIX 3.2.2 & 3.2.4 and ISC 2.2 COFF format are supported). -The iBCS2 emulator is in its early stages, but it is functional, we -havn't been able to do exhaustive testing (lack of commercial apps), -but allmost all of SCO's 3.2.2 binaries are working, so is an old -INFORMIX-2.10 for SCO. Further testing is nessesary to complete this -project. There is also work under way for ELF & XOUT loaders, and -most of the svr4 syscall wrappers have been written. - -Owner: Soren Schmidt (sos) & Sean Eric Fagan (sef) -Sources involved: sys/i386/ibcs2/* + misc kernel changes. +For a more complete description of what's new in this release, please +see the release notes. +For more documentation on this system, it is recommended that you purchase +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! Have fun, and please let us know of any problems you encounter with this release! @@ -249,7 +51,7 @@ Comments should be sent to: hackers@FreeBSD.org Bug reports should be sent using the `send-pr' utility, if you -were able to get the system installed; otherwise send mail to: +were able to get the system installed, otherwise to: bugs@FreeBSD.org @@ -264,4 +66,4 @@ are often strained to the limit (if not somewhat past!). Thanks! - The FreeBSD Project team + The FreeBSD Project -- cgit v1.1