article.xml revision 119884
176082Sbmah<!DOCTYPE article PUBLIC "-//FreeBSD//DTD DocBook V4.1-Based Extension//EN" [ 276082Sbmah<!ENTITY % man PUBLIC "-//FreeBSD//ENTITIES DocBook Manual Page Entities//EN"> 376082Sbmah%man; 476082Sbmah<!ENTITY % authors PUBLIC "-//FreeBSD//ENTITIES DocBook Author Entities//EN"> 576082Sbmah%authors; 676082Sbmah<!ENTITY % mlists PUBLIC "-//FreeBSD//ENTITIES DocBook Mailing List Entities//EN"> 776082Sbmah%mlists; 8119884Ssimon<!ENTITY % trademarks PUBLIC "-//FreeBSD//ENTITIES DocBook Trademark Entities//EN"> 9119884Ssimon%trademarks; 1076082Sbmah<!ENTITY % release PUBLIC "-//FreeBSD//ENTITIES Release Specification//EN"> 1176082Sbmah%release; 1282350Sbmah<!ENTITY % misc PUBLIC "-//FreeBSD//ENTITIES DocBook Miscellaneous FreeBSD Entities//EN"> 1382350Sbmah%misc; 1476082Sbmah]> 1576082Sbmah 1676082Sbmah<article> 1782666Sbmah <articleinfo> 1882666Sbmah <title>&os; &release.current; README</title> 1981327Sbmah 2082666Sbmah <corpauthor>The &os; Project</corpauthor> 2181484Sbmah 2282666Sbmah <pubdate>$FreeBSD: head/release/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/readme/article.sgml 119884 2003-09-08 14:53:02Z simon $</pubdate> 2381327Sbmah 2482666Sbmah <copyright> 2582666Sbmah <year>2000</year> 2682666Sbmah <year>2001</year> 2788820Sbmah <year>2002</year> 28108829Sbmah <year>2003</year> 2982666Sbmah <holder role="mailto:doc@FreeBSD.org">The FreeBSD Documentation Project</holder> 3082666Sbmah </copyright> 31119884Ssimon 32119884Ssimon <legalnotice id="trademarks" role="trademarks"> 33119884Ssimon &tm-attrib.freebsd; 34119884Ssimon &tm-attrib.intel; 35119884Ssimon &tm-attrib.opengroup; 36119884Ssimon &tm-attrib.sparc; 37119884Ssimon &tm-attrib.general; 38119884Ssimon </legalnotice> 3982666Sbmah </articleinfo> 4081327Sbmah 4182666Sbmah <abstract> 4282666Sbmah <para>This document gives a brief introduction to &os; 4388959Sbmah &release.current;. It includes some information on how to 4488959Sbmah obtain &os;, a listing of various ways to contact the &os; 4588959Sbmah Project, and pointers to some other sources of 4688959Sbmah information.</para> 4782666Sbmah </abstract> 4881327Sbmah 49109143Sroam <sect1 id="intro"> 5082666Sbmah <title>Introduction</title> 5181327Sbmah 5282666Sbmah <para>This distribution is a &release.type; of &os; &release.current;, the 5382666Sbmah latest point along the &release.branch; branch.</para> 5481327Sbmah 5582666Sbmah <sect2> 5682666Sbmah <title>About &os;</title> 5781327Sbmah 5882666Sbmah <para>&os; is an operating system based on 4.4 BSD Lite for 5982666Sbmah Intel, AMD, Cyrix or NexGen <quote>x86</quote> based PC 60119884Ssimon hardware (&i386;), NEC PC-9801/9821 series PCs and compatibles 61114787Sbmah (pc98), DEC/Compaq/HP Alpha computers (alpha), 62119884Ssimon and &ultrasparc; machines (&sparc64;). Versions 63119884Ssimon for the IA64 (ia64), &powerpc; (&powerpc;), and AMD 64114787Sbmah <quote>Hammer</quote> (amd64) architectures are currently under 6582666Sbmah development as well. &os; works with a wide variety of 6682666Sbmah peripherals and configurations and can be used for everything 6782666Sbmah from software development to games to Internet Service 6882666Sbmah Provision.</para> 6981327Sbmah 7082666Sbmah <para>This release of &os; contains everything you need to run 7182666Sbmah such a system, including full source code for the kernel and 7282666Sbmah all utilities in the base distribution. With the source 7382666Sbmah distribution installed, you can literally recompile the entire 7482666Sbmah system from scratch with one command, making it ideal for 7582666Sbmah students, researchers, or users who simply want to see how it 7682666Sbmah all works.</para> 7781327Sbmah 7882666Sbmah <para>A large collection of third-party ported software (the 7982666Sbmah <quote>Ports Collection</quote>) is also provided to make it 80114787Sbmah easy to obtain and install all your favorite traditional &unix; 8182666Sbmah utilities for &os;. Each <quote>port</quote> consists of a 8282666Sbmah set of scripts to retrieve, configure, build, and install a 8382666Sbmah piece of software, with a single command. Over &os.numports; 8482666Sbmah ports, from editors to programming languages to graphical 8582666Sbmah applications, make &os; a powerful and comprehensive operating 8682666Sbmah environment that extends far beyond what's provided by many 87114787Sbmah commercial versions of &unix;. Most ports are also available as 8882666Sbmah pre-compiled <quote>packages</quote>, which can be quickly 8982666Sbmah installed from the installation program.</para> 9082666Sbmah </sect2> 9182666Sbmah 9282666Sbmah <sect2> 9382666Sbmah <title>Target Audience</title> 9482666Sbmah 9581339Sbmah<![ %release.type.snapshot; [ 9681327Sbmah 9782666Sbmah <para>This &release.type; is aimed primarily at early adopters 9882666Sbmah and various other users who want to get involved with the 9982666Sbmah ongoing development of &os;. While the &os; development team 10082666Sbmah tries its best to ensure that each &release.type; works as 10182666Sbmah advertised, &release.branch; is very much a 10282666Sbmah work-in-progress.</para> 10381327Sbmah 10493244Skeramida <para>The basic requirements for using this &release.type; are 10582666Sbmah technical proficiency with &os; and an understanding of the 10683425Sbmah ongoing development process of &os; &release.branch; (as 10782666Sbmah discussed on the &a.current;).</para> 10882666Sbmah 10982666Sbmah <para>For those more interested in doing business with &os; than 11082666Sbmah in experimenting with new &os; technology, formal releases 11192482Smurray (such as &release.prev.stable;) are frequently more appropriate. 11282666Sbmah Releases undergo a period of testing and quality assurance 11382666Sbmah checking to ensure high reliability and dependability.</para> 11482666Sbmah 11581339Sbmah]]> 11681339Sbmah 11781339Sbmah<![ %release.type.release; [ 11882666Sbmah 11982666Sbmah <para>This &release.type; of &os; is suitable for all users. It 12082666Sbmah has undergone a period of testing and quality assurance 12182666Sbmah checking to ensure the highest reliability and 12282666Sbmah dependability.</para> 12382666Sbmah 12481339Sbmah]]> 12581339Sbmah 12682666Sbmah </sect2> 12782666Sbmah </sect1> 12881339Sbmah 129109143Sroam <sect1 id="obtain"> 13082666Sbmah <title>Obtaining &os;</title> 13181327Sbmah 13282666Sbmah <para>&os; may be obtained in a variety of ways. This section 13388959Sbmah focuses on those ways that are primarily useful for obtaining a 13482666Sbmah complete &os; distribution, rather than updating an existing 13582666Sbmah installation.</para> 13681327Sbmah 13782666Sbmah <sect2> 13882666Sbmah <title>CDROM and DVD</title> 13981327Sbmah 14082666Sbmah <para>&os; -RELEASE distributions may be ordered on CDROM or DVD 14182666Sbmah from several publishers. This is frequently the most 14282666Sbmah convenient way to obtain &os; for new installations, as it 14382666Sbmah provides a convenient way to quickly reinstall the system if 14482666Sbmah necessary. Some distributions include some of the optional, 14582666Sbmah precompiled <quote>packages</quote> from the &os; Ports 14682666Sbmah Collection.</para> 14781327Sbmah 14882666Sbmah <para>A list of the CDROM and DVD publishers known to the 14982666Sbmah project are listed in the <ulink 15082666Sbmah url="http://www.FreeBSD.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/mirrors.html"><quote>Obtaining 15182666Sbmah FreeBSD</quote></ulink> appendix to the Handbook.</para> 15282666Sbmah </sect2> 15381327Sbmah 15482666Sbmah <sect2> 15582666Sbmah <title>FTP</title> 15681327Sbmah 15782666Sbmah <para>You can use FTP to retrieve &os; and any or all of its 15882666Sbmah optional packages from <ulink 15982666Sbmah url="ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org/"></ulink>, which is the official 16082666Sbmah &os; release site, or any of its 16182666Sbmah <quote>mirrors</quote>.</para> 16281327Sbmah 16382666Sbmah <para>Lists of locations that mirror &os; can be found in the 16482666Sbmah <ulink 16582666Sbmah url="http://www.FreeBSD.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/mirrors-ftp.html">FTP 16682666Sbmah Sites</ulink> section of the Handbook, or on the <ulink 16782666Sbmah url="http://www.freebsdmirrors.org/"></ulink> Web pages. 16882666Sbmah Finding a close (in networking terms) mirror from which to 16982666Sbmah download the distribution is highly recommended.</para> 17081327Sbmah 17182666Sbmah <para>Additional mirror sites are always welcome. Contact 17282666Sbmah <email>freebsd-admin@FreeBSD.org</email> for more details on 17391249Skeramida becoming an official mirror site. You can also find useful 17491249Skeramida information for mirror sites at the <ulink 17591249Skeramida URL="http://www.FreeBSD.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/articles/hubs/">Mirroring 17691249Skeramida FreeBSD</ulink> article.</para> 17781327Sbmah 17882666Sbmah <para>Mirrors generally contain the floppy disk images necessary 17982666Sbmah to begin an installation, as well as the distribution files 18088959Sbmah needed for the install process itself. Many mirrors also 18188959Sbmah contain the ISO images necessary to create a CDROM of 18282666Sbmah a &os; release.</para> 18381327Sbmah 18482666Sbmah </sect2> 18582666Sbmah </sect1> 18681327Sbmah 18782666Sbmah <sect1 id="contacting"> 18882666Sbmah <title>Contacting the &os; Project</title> 18981327Sbmah 19082666Sbmah <sect2> 19182666Sbmah <title>Email and Mailing Lists</title> 19281327Sbmah 19382666Sbmah <para>For any questions or general technical support issues, 19482666Sbmah please send mail to the &a.questions;.</para> 19581327Sbmah 19683425Sbmah <para>If you're tracking the &release.branch; development efforts, you 19782666Sbmah <emphasis>must</emphasis> join the &a.current;, in order to 19882666Sbmah keep abreast of recent developments and changes that may 19993244Skeramida affect the way you use and maintain the system.</para> 20081327Sbmah 20188959Sbmah <para>Being a largely-volunteer effort, the &os; 20288959Sbmah Project is always happy to have extra hands willing to help—there are already far more desired enhancements than 20382666Sbmah there is time to implement them. To contact the developers on 20482666Sbmah technical matters, or with offers of help, please send mail to 20582666Sbmah the &a.hackers;.</para> 20681327Sbmah 20782666Sbmah <para>Please note that these mailing lists can experience 20888959Sbmah <emphasis>significant</emphasis> amounts of traffic. If you 20988959Sbmah have slow or expensive mail access, or are only interested in 21088959Sbmah keeping up with major &os; events, you may find it 21182666Sbmah preferable to subscribe instead to the &a.announce;.</para> 21281327Sbmah 21382666Sbmah <para>All of the mailing lists can be freely joined by anyone 214114787Sbmah wishing to do so. Visit the <ulink url="http://www.FreeBSD.org/mailman/listinfo"> 215114236Shrs FreeBSD Mailman Info Page</ulink>. This will give you more 21682666Sbmah information on joining the various lists, accessing archives, 21782666Sbmah etc. There are a number of mailing lists targeted at special 21882666Sbmah interest groups not mentioned here; more information can be 219114787Sbmah obtained either from the Mailman pages or the <ulink 22082666Sbmah url="http://www.FreeBSD.org/support.html#mailing-list">mailing 22182666Sbmah lists section</ulink> of the &os; Web site.</para> 22281327Sbmah 22382666Sbmah <important> 22482666Sbmah <para>Do <emphasis>not</emphasis> send email to the lists 225114787Sbmah asking to be subscribed. Use the Mailman interface 22682666Sbmah instead.</para> 22782666Sbmah </important> 22882666Sbmah </sect2> 22981327Sbmah 23082666Sbmah <sect2> 23182666Sbmah <title>Submitting Problem Reports</title> 23281327Sbmah 23382666Sbmah <para>Suggestions, bug reports and contributions of code are 23488959Sbmah always valued—please do not hesitate to report any 23582666Sbmah problems you may find. Bug reports with attached fixes are of 23682666Sbmah course even more welcome.</para> 23781327Sbmah 23882666Sbmah <para>The preferred method to submit bug reports from a machine 23982666Sbmah with Internet mail connectivity is to use the &man.send-pr.1; 240114787Sbmah command. 24182666Sbmah <quote>Problem Reports</quote> (PRs) submitted in this way 24282666Sbmah will be filed and their progress tracked; the &os; developers 24382666Sbmah will do their best to respond to all reported bugs as soon as 24482666Sbmah possible. <ulink 24582666Sbmah url="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/query-pr-summary.cgi">A list 24682666Sbmah of all active PRs</ulink> is available on the &os; Web site; 24782666Sbmah this list is useful to see what potential problems other users 24882666Sbmah have encountered.</para> 24981327Sbmah 25082666Sbmah <para>Note that &man.send-pr.1; itself is a shell script that 25182666Sbmah should be easy to move even onto a non-&os; system. Using 25282666Sbmah this interface is highly preferred. If, for some reason, you 25382666Sbmah are unable to use &man.send-pr.1; to submit a bug report, you 25482666Sbmah can try to send it to the &a.bugs;.</para> 25581327Sbmah 25688959Sbmah <para>For more information, <ulink 25788959Sbmah url="http://www.FreeBSD.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/articles/problem-reports/"><quote>Writing 25888959Sbmah FreeBSD Problem Reports</quote></ulink>, available on the &os; Web 25988959Sbmah site, has a number of helpful hints on writing and submitting 26088959Sbmah effective problem reports.</para> 26182666Sbmah </sect2> 26282666Sbmah </sect1> 26381339Sbmah 264109143Sroam <sect1 id="seealso"> 26582666Sbmah <title>Further Reading</title> 26681339Sbmah 26788959Sbmah <para>There are many sources of information about &os;; some are 26888959Sbmah included with this distribution, while others are available 26988959Sbmah on-line or in print versions.</para> 27088959Sbmah 27182666Sbmah <sect2 id="release-docs"> 27282666Sbmah <title>Release Documentation</title> 27381339Sbmah 27482666Sbmah <para>A number of other files provide more specific information 27582666Sbmah about this &release.type; distribution. These files are 27682666Sbmah provided in various formats. Most distributions will include 27782666Sbmah both ASCII text (<filename>.TXT</filename>) and HTML 27882666Sbmah (<filename>.HTM</filename>) renditions. Some distributions 27982666Sbmah may also include other formats such as PostScript 28082666Sbmah (<filename>.PS</filename>) or Portable Document Format 28182666Sbmah (<filename>.PDF</filename>). 28281339Sbmah 28382666Sbmah <itemizedlist> 28482666Sbmah <listitem> 28582666Sbmah <para><filename>README.TXT</filename>: This file, which 28682666Sbmah gives some general information about &os; as well as 28782666Sbmah some cursory notes about obtaining a 28882666Sbmah distribution.</para> 28982666Sbmah </listitem> 29081339Sbmah 29182666Sbmah <listitem> 292105992Sbmah <para><filename>EARLY.TXT</filename>: A guide for early 293114787Sbmah adopters of &os; &release.current;. Highly recommended 294105992Sbmah reading for users new to &os; &release.branch; and/or the 295105992Sbmah 5.<replaceable>X</replaceable> series of releases.</para> 296105992Sbmah </listitem> 297105992Sbmah 298105992Sbmah <listitem> 29982666Sbmah <para><filename>RELNOTES.TXT</filename>: The release 30082666Sbmah notes, showing what's new and different in &os; 30188959Sbmah &release.current; compared to the previous release (&os; 30288959Sbmah &release.prev;).</para> 30382666Sbmah </listitem> 30481339Sbmah 30582666Sbmah <listitem> 30682666Sbmah <para><filename>HARDWARE.TXT</filename>: The hardware 30786152Solgeni compatibility list, showing devices with which &os; has 30882666Sbmah been tested and is known to work.</para> 30982666Sbmah </listitem> 31081339Sbmah 31182666Sbmah <listitem> 31282666Sbmah <para><filename>INSTALL.TXT</filename>: Installation 31382666Sbmah instructions for installing &os; from its distribution 31482666Sbmah media.</para> 31582666Sbmah </listitem> 31681339Sbmah 31782666Sbmah <listitem> 31882666Sbmah <para><filename>ERRATA.TXT</filename>: Release errata. 31982666Sbmah Late-breaking, post-release information can be found in 32082666Sbmah this file, which is principally applicable to releases 32182666Sbmah (as opposed to snapshots). It is important to consult 32282666Sbmah this file before installing a release of &os;, as it 32382666Sbmah contains the latest information on problems which have 32482666Sbmah been found and fixed since the release was 32582666Sbmah created.</para> 32682666Sbmah </listitem> 32782666Sbmah </itemizedlist> 32888959Sbmah 32988959Sbmah <note> 33088959Sbmah <para>Several of these documents (in particular, 33188959Sbmah <filename>RELNOTES.TXT</filename>, 33288959Sbmah <filename>HARDWARE.TXT</filename>, and 33388959Sbmah <filename>INSTALL.TXT</filename>) contain information that 33488959Sbmah is specific to a particular hardware architecture. For 33588959Sbmah example, the alpha release notes contain information not 336119884Ssimon applicable to the &i386;, and vice versa. The architecture 33788959Sbmah for which each document applies will be listed in that 33888959Sbmah document's title.</para> 33988959Sbmah </note> 34088959Sbmah 34182666Sbmah </para> 34281339Sbmah 34393443Sbmah <para>On platforms that support &man.sysinstall.8; (currently 344119884Ssimon alpha, &i386;, ia64, pc98, and &sparc64;), these documents are generally available via the 34583425Sbmah Documentation menu during installation. Once the system is 34693443Sbmah installed, you can revisit this menu by re-running the 34783425Sbmah &man.sysinstall.8; utility.</para> 34881339Sbmah 34982666Sbmah <note> 35082666Sbmah <para>It is extremely important to read the errata for any 35182666Sbmah given release before installing it, to learn about any 35282666Sbmah <quote>late-breaking news</quote> or post-release problems. 35382666Sbmah The errata file accompanying each release (most likely right 35482666Sbmah next to this file) is already out of date by definition, but 35582666Sbmah other copies are kept updated on the Internet and should be 35682666Sbmah consulted as the <quote>current errata</quote> for this 35782666Sbmah release. These other copies of the errata are located at 35882666Sbmah <ulink url="http://www.FreeBSD.org/releases/"></ulink> (as 35982666Sbmah well as any sites which keep up-to-date mirrors of this 36082666Sbmah location).</para> 36182666Sbmah </note> 36282666Sbmah </sect2> 36383425Sbmah 36483425Sbmah <sect2> 36588959Sbmah <title>Manual Pages</title> 36688959Sbmah 367119884Ssimon <para>As with almost all &unix; like operating systems, &os; comes 36888959Sbmah with a set of on-line manual pages, accessed through the 36988959Sbmah &man.man.1; command or through the <ulink 37088959Sbmah url="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi">hypertext manual 37188959Sbmah pages gateway</ulink> on the &os; Web site. In general, the 37288959Sbmah manual pages provide information on the different commands and 37388959Sbmah APIs available to the &os; user.</para> 37488959Sbmah 375107569Sbmah <para>In some cases, manual pages are written to give 37688959Sbmah information on particular topics. Notable examples of such 37788959Sbmah manual pages are &man.tuning.7; (a guide to performance tuning), 37888959Sbmah &man.security.7; (an introduction to &os; security), and 37988959Sbmah &man.style.9; (a style guide to kernel coding).</para> 38088959Sbmah </sect2> 38188959Sbmah 38288959Sbmah <sect2> 38383425Sbmah <title>Books and Articles</title> 38483425Sbmah 38583425Sbmah <para>Two highly-useful collections of &os;-related information, 38683425Sbmah maintained by the &os; Project, 38783425Sbmah are the &os; Handbook and &os; FAQ (Frequently Asked 38883425Sbmah Questions document). On-line versions of the <ulink 38983425Sbmah url="http://www.FreeBSD.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/">Handbook</ulink> 39083425Sbmah and <ulink 39183425Sbmah url="http://www.FreeBSD.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/faq/">FAQ</ulink> 39283425Sbmah are always available from the <ulink 39383425Sbmah url="http://www.FreeBSD.org/docs.html">FreeBSD Documentation 39483425Sbmah page</ulink> or its mirrors. If you install the 39583425Sbmah <filename>doc</filename> distribution set, you can use a Web 39683425Sbmah browser to read the Handbook and FAQ locally.</para> 39783425Sbmah 39884484Sbmah <para>A number of on-line books and articles, also maintained by 39984484Sbmah the &os; Project, cover more-specialized, &os;-related topics. 40084484Sbmah This material spans a wide range of topics, from effective use 40184484Sbmah of the mailing lists, to dual-booting &os; with other 40284484Sbmah operating systems, to guidelines for new committers. Like the 40384484Sbmah Handbook and FAQ, these documents are available from the &os; 40484484Sbmah Documentation Page or in the <filename>doc</filename> 40584484Sbmah distribution set.</para> 40684484Sbmah 40784484Sbmah <para>A listing of other books and documents about &os; can be 40883425Sbmah found in the <ulink 40983425Sbmah url="http://www.FreeBSD.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/bibliography.html">bibliography</ulink> 410114787Sbmah of the &os; Handbook. Because of &os;'s strong &unix; heritage, 411114787Sbmah many other articles and books written for &unix; systems are 41283425Sbmah applicable as well, some of which are also listed in the 41383425Sbmah bibliography.</para> 41483425Sbmah </sect2> 41582666Sbmah </sect1> 41681327Sbmah 417109143Sroam <sect1 id="acknowledgements"> 41882666Sbmah <title>Acknowledgments</title> 41981327Sbmah 42082666Sbmah <para>&os; represents the cumulative work of many hundreds, if not 42182666Sbmah thousands, of individuals from around the world who have worked 42282666Sbmah countless hours to bring about this &release.type;. For a 42382666Sbmah complete list of &os; developers and contributors, please see 42482666Sbmah <ulink 42588959Sbmah url="http://www.FreeBSD.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/articles/contributors/"><quote>Contributors 42688959Sbmah to FreeBSD</quote></ulink> on the &os; Web site or any of its 42782666Sbmah mirrors.</para> 42881327Sbmah 42982666Sbmah <para>Special thanks also go to the many thousands of &os; users 43082666Sbmah and testers all over the world, without whom this &release.type; 43182666Sbmah simply would not have been possible.</para> 43282666Sbmah </sect1> 43376082Sbmah</article> 43482666Sbmah 43582666Sbmah<!-- 43682666Sbmah Local Variables: 43782666Sbmah mode: sgml 43882666Sbmah sgml-indent-data: t 43982666Sbmah sgml-omittag: nil 44082666Sbmah sgml-always-quote-attributes: t 44182666Sbmah End: 44282666Sbmah--> 443