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176082Sbmah<!DOCTYPE article PUBLIC "-//FreeBSD//DTD DocBook V4.1-Based Extension//EN" [ 2133328Shrs<!ENTITY % articles.ent PUBLIC "-//FreeBSD//ENTITIES DocBook FreeBSD Articles Entity Set//EN"> 3133328Shrs%articles.ent; 4133328Shrs 576082Sbmah<!ENTITY % release PUBLIC "-//FreeBSD//ENTITIES Release Specification//EN"> 676082Sbmah%release; 776082Sbmah]> 876082Sbmah 976082Sbmah<article> 1082666Sbmah <articleinfo> 1182666Sbmah <title>&os; &release.current; README</title> 1281327Sbmah 1382666Sbmah <corpauthor>The &os; Project</corpauthor> 1481484Sbmah 1582666Sbmah <pubdate>$FreeBSD: head/release/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/readme/article.sgml 134840 2004-09-06 12:53:25Z den $</pubdate> 1681327Sbmah 1782666Sbmah <copyright> 1882666Sbmah <year>2000</year> 1982666Sbmah <year>2001</year> 2088820Sbmah <year>2002</year> 21108829Sbmah <year>2003</year> 22130964Sden <year>2004</year> 23134817Shrs <holder role="mailto:doc@FreeBSD.org">The &os; Documentation Project</holder> 2482666Sbmah </copyright> 25119884Ssimon 26119884Ssimon <legalnotice id="trademarks" role="trademarks"> 27119884Ssimon &tm-attrib.freebsd; 28119884Ssimon &tm-attrib.intel; 29119884Ssimon &tm-attrib.opengroup; 30119884Ssimon &tm-attrib.sparc; 31119884Ssimon &tm-attrib.general; 32119884Ssimon </legalnotice> 3382666Sbmah </articleinfo> 3481327Sbmah 3582666Sbmah <abstract> 3682666Sbmah <para>This document gives a brief introduction to &os; 3788959Sbmah &release.current;. It includes some information on how to 3888959Sbmah obtain &os;, a listing of various ways to contact the &os; 3988959Sbmah Project, and pointers to some other sources of 4088959Sbmah information.</para> 4182666Sbmah </abstract> 4281327Sbmah 43109143Sroam <sect1 id="intro"> 4482666Sbmah <title>Introduction</title> 4581327Sbmah 4682666Sbmah <para>This distribution is a &release.type; of &os; &release.current;, the 4782666Sbmah latest point along the &release.branch; branch.</para> 4881327Sbmah 4982666Sbmah <sect2> 5082666Sbmah <title>About &os;</title> 5181327Sbmah 5282666Sbmah <para>&os; is an operating system based on 4.4 BSD Lite for 5382666Sbmah Intel, AMD, Cyrix or NexGen <quote>x86</quote> based PC 54119884Ssimon hardware (&i386;), NEC PC-9801/9821 series PCs and compatibles 55114787Sbmah (pc98), DEC/Compaq/HP Alpha computers (alpha), 56119884Ssimon and &ultrasparc; machines (&sparc64;). Versions 57119884Ssimon for the IA64 (ia64), &powerpc; (&powerpc;), and AMD 58114787Sbmah <quote>Hammer</quote> (amd64) architectures are currently under 5982666Sbmah development as well. &os; works with a wide variety of 6082666Sbmah peripherals and configurations and can be used for everything 6182666Sbmah from software development to games to Internet Service 6282666Sbmah Provision.</para> 6381327Sbmah 6482666Sbmah <para>This release of &os; contains everything you need to run 6582666Sbmah such a system, including full source code for the kernel and 6682666Sbmah all utilities in the base distribution. With the source 6782666Sbmah distribution installed, you can literally recompile the entire 6882666Sbmah system from scratch with one command, making it ideal for 6982666Sbmah students, researchers, or users who simply want to see how it 7082666Sbmah all works.</para> 7181327Sbmah 7282666Sbmah <para>A large collection of third-party ported software (the 7382666Sbmah <quote>Ports Collection</quote>) is also provided to make it 74114787Sbmah easy to obtain and install all your favorite traditional &unix; 7582666Sbmah utilities for &os;. Each <quote>port</quote> consists of a 7682666Sbmah set of scripts to retrieve, configure, build, and install a 7782666Sbmah piece of software, with a single command. Over &os.numports; 7882666Sbmah ports, from editors to programming languages to graphical 7982666Sbmah applications, make &os; a powerful and comprehensive operating 8082666Sbmah environment that extends far beyond what's provided by many 81114787Sbmah commercial versions of &unix;. Most ports are also available as 8282666Sbmah pre-compiled <quote>packages</quote>, which can be quickly 8382666Sbmah installed from the installation program.</para> 8482666Sbmah </sect2> 8582666Sbmah 8682666Sbmah <sect2> 8782666Sbmah <title>Target Audience</title> 8882666Sbmah 89134116Shrs<![ %release.type.current; [ 90134116Shrs 91134116Shrs <para>This &release.type; is aimed primarily at early adopters 92134116Shrs and various other users who want to get involved with the 93134116Shrs ongoing development of &os;. While the &os; development team 94134116Shrs tries its best to ensure that each &release.type; works as 95134116Shrs advertised, &release.branch; is very much a 96134116Shrs work-in-progress.</para> 97134116Shrs 98134116Shrs <para>The basic requirements for using this &release.type; are 99134116Shrs technical proficiency with &os; and an understanding of the 100134116Shrs ongoing development process of &os; &release.branch; (as 101134116Shrs discussed on the &a.current;).</para> 102134116Shrs 103134116Shrs <para>For those more interested in doing business with &os; than 104134116Shrs in experimenting with new &os; technology, formal releases 105134116Shrs (such as &release.prev.stable;) are frequently more appropriate. 106134116Shrs Releases undergo a period of testing and quality assurance 107134116Shrs checking to ensure high reliability and dependability.</para> 108134116Shrs 109134116Shrs]]> 110134116Shrs 11181339Sbmah<![ %release.type.snapshot; [ 11281327Sbmah 11382666Sbmah <para>This &release.type; is aimed primarily at early adopters 11482666Sbmah and various other users who want to get involved with the 11582666Sbmah ongoing development of &os;. While the &os; development team 11682666Sbmah tries its best to ensure that each &release.type; works as 11782666Sbmah advertised, &release.branch; is very much a 11882666Sbmah work-in-progress.</para> 11981327Sbmah 12093244Skeramida <para>The basic requirements for using this &release.type; are 12182666Sbmah technical proficiency with &os; and an understanding of the 12283425Sbmah ongoing development process of &os; &release.branch; (as 12382666Sbmah discussed on the &a.current;).</para> 12482666Sbmah 12582666Sbmah <para>For those more interested in doing business with &os; than 12682666Sbmah in experimenting with new &os; technology, formal releases 12792482Smurray (such as &release.prev.stable;) are frequently more appropriate. 12882666Sbmah Releases undergo a period of testing and quality assurance 12982666Sbmah checking to ensure high reliability and dependability.</para> 13082666Sbmah 13181339Sbmah]]> 13281339Sbmah 13381339Sbmah<![ %release.type.release; [ 13482666Sbmah 13582666Sbmah <para>This &release.type; of &os; is suitable for all users. It 13682666Sbmah has undergone a period of testing and quality assurance 13782666Sbmah checking to ensure the highest reliability and 13882666Sbmah dependability.</para> 13982666Sbmah 14081339Sbmah]]> 14181339Sbmah 14282666Sbmah </sect2> 14382666Sbmah </sect1> 14481339Sbmah 145109143Sroam <sect1 id="obtain"> 14682666Sbmah <title>Obtaining &os;</title> 14781327Sbmah 14882666Sbmah <para>&os; may be obtained in a variety of ways. This section 14988959Sbmah focuses on those ways that are primarily useful for obtaining a 15082666Sbmah complete &os; distribution, rather than updating an existing 15182666Sbmah installation.</para> 15281327Sbmah 15382666Sbmah <sect2> 15482666Sbmah <title>CDROM and DVD</title> 15581327Sbmah 15682666Sbmah <para>&os; -RELEASE distributions may be ordered on CDROM or DVD 15782666Sbmah from several publishers. This is frequently the most 15882666Sbmah convenient way to obtain &os; for new installations, as it 15982666Sbmah provides a convenient way to quickly reinstall the system if 16082666Sbmah necessary. Some distributions include some of the optional, 16182666Sbmah precompiled <quote>packages</quote> from the &os; Ports 16282666Sbmah Collection.</para> 16381327Sbmah 16482666Sbmah <para>A list of the CDROM and DVD publishers known to the 16582666Sbmah project are listed in the <ulink 166134817Shrs url="&url.books.handbook;/mirrors.html"><quote>Obtaining 167134817Shrs &os;</quote></ulink> appendix to the Handbook.</para> 16882666Sbmah </sect2> 16981327Sbmah 17082666Sbmah <sect2> 17182666Sbmah <title>FTP</title> 17281327Sbmah 17382666Sbmah <para>You can use FTP to retrieve &os; and any or all of its 17482666Sbmah optional packages from <ulink 17582666Sbmah url="ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org/"></ulink>, which is the official 17682666Sbmah &os; release site, or any of its 17782666Sbmah <quote>mirrors</quote>.</para> 17881327Sbmah 17982666Sbmah <para>Lists of locations that mirror &os; can be found in the 18082666Sbmah <ulink 181134817Shrs url="&url.books.handbook;/mirrors-ftp.html">FTP 18282666Sbmah Sites</ulink> section of the Handbook, or on the <ulink 183127867Sphantom url="http://mirrorlist.FreeBSD.org/"></ulink> Web pages. 18482666Sbmah Finding a close (in networking terms) mirror from which to 18582666Sbmah download the distribution is highly recommended.</para> 18681327Sbmah 18782666Sbmah <para>Additional mirror sites are always welcome. Contact 18882666Sbmah <email>freebsd-admin@FreeBSD.org</email> for more details on 18991249Skeramida becoming an official mirror site. You can also find useful 19091249Skeramida information for mirror sites at the <ulink 191134817Shrs URL="&url.articles.hubs;/">Mirroring 192134817Shrs &os;</ulink> article.</para> 19381327Sbmah 19482666Sbmah <para>Mirrors generally contain the floppy disk images necessary 19582666Sbmah to begin an installation, as well as the distribution files 19688959Sbmah needed for the install process itself. Many mirrors also 19788959Sbmah contain the ISO images necessary to create a CDROM of 19882666Sbmah a &os; release.</para> 19981327Sbmah 20082666Sbmah </sect2> 20182666Sbmah </sect1> 20281327Sbmah 20382666Sbmah <sect1 id="contacting"> 20482666Sbmah <title>Contacting the &os; Project</title> 20581327Sbmah 20682666Sbmah <sect2> 20782666Sbmah <title>Email and Mailing Lists</title> 20881327Sbmah 20982666Sbmah <para>For any questions or general technical support issues, 21082666Sbmah please send mail to the &a.questions;.</para> 21181327Sbmah 21283425Sbmah <para>If you're tracking the &release.branch; development efforts, you 21382666Sbmah <emphasis>must</emphasis> join the &a.current;, in order to 21482666Sbmah keep abreast of recent developments and changes that may 21593244Skeramida affect the way you use and maintain the system.</para> 21681327Sbmah 21788959Sbmah <para>Being a largely-volunteer effort, the &os; 21888959Sbmah Project is always happy to have extra hands willing to help—there are already far more desired enhancements than 21982666Sbmah there is time to implement them. To contact the developers on 22082666Sbmah technical matters, or with offers of help, please send mail to 22182666Sbmah the &a.hackers;.</para> 22281327Sbmah 22382666Sbmah <para>Please note that these mailing lists can experience 22488959Sbmah <emphasis>significant</emphasis> amounts of traffic. If you 22588959Sbmah have slow or expensive mail access, or are only interested in 22688959Sbmah keeping up with major &os; events, you may find it 22782666Sbmah preferable to subscribe instead to the &a.announce;.</para> 22881327Sbmah 22982666Sbmah <para>All of the mailing lists can be freely joined by anyone 230134817Shrs wishing to do so. Visit the <ulink url="&url.base;/mailman/listinfo"> 231134817Shrs &os; Mailman Info Page</ulink>. This will give you more 23282666Sbmah information on joining the various lists, accessing archives, 23382666Sbmah etc. There are a number of mailing lists targeted at special 23482666Sbmah interest groups not mentioned here; more information can be 235114787Sbmah obtained either from the Mailman pages or the <ulink 236134817Shrs url="&url.base;/support.html#mailing-list">mailing 23782666Sbmah lists section</ulink> of the &os; Web site.</para> 23881327Sbmah 23982666Sbmah <important> 24082666Sbmah <para>Do <emphasis>not</emphasis> send email to the lists 241114787Sbmah asking to be subscribed. Use the Mailman interface 24282666Sbmah instead.</para> 24382666Sbmah </important> 24482666Sbmah </sect2> 24581327Sbmah 24682666Sbmah <sect2> 24782666Sbmah <title>Submitting Problem Reports</title> 24881327Sbmah 24982666Sbmah <para>Suggestions, bug reports and contributions of code are 25088959Sbmah always valued—please do not hesitate to report any 25182666Sbmah problems you may find. Bug reports with attached fixes are of 25282666Sbmah course even more welcome.</para> 25381327Sbmah 25482666Sbmah <para>The preferred method to submit bug reports from a machine 25582666Sbmah with Internet mail connectivity is to use the &man.send-pr.1; 256114787Sbmah command. 25782666Sbmah <quote>Problem Reports</quote> (PRs) submitted in this way 25882666Sbmah will be filed and their progress tracked; the &os; developers 25982666Sbmah will do their best to respond to all reported bugs as soon as 26082666Sbmah possible. <ulink 26182666Sbmah url="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/query-pr-summary.cgi">A list 26282666Sbmah of all active PRs</ulink> is available on the &os; Web site; 26382666Sbmah this list is useful to see what potential problems other users 26482666Sbmah have encountered.</para> 26581327Sbmah 26682666Sbmah <para>Note that &man.send-pr.1; itself is a shell script that 26782666Sbmah should be easy to move even onto a non-&os; system. Using 26882666Sbmah this interface is highly preferred. If, for some reason, you 26982666Sbmah are unable to use &man.send-pr.1; to submit a bug report, you 27082666Sbmah can try to send it to the &a.bugs;.</para> 27181327Sbmah 27288959Sbmah <para>For more information, <ulink 273134840Sden url="&url.articles.problem-reports;/"><quote>Writing 274134817Shrs &os; Problem Reports</quote></ulink>, available on the &os; Web 27588959Sbmah site, has a number of helpful hints on writing and submitting 27688959Sbmah effective problem reports.</para> 27782666Sbmah </sect2> 27882666Sbmah </sect1> 27981339Sbmah 280109143Sroam <sect1 id="seealso"> 28182666Sbmah <title>Further Reading</title> 28281339Sbmah 28388959Sbmah <para>There are many sources of information about &os;; some are 28488959Sbmah included with this distribution, while others are available 28588959Sbmah on-line or in print versions.</para> 28688959Sbmah 28782666Sbmah <sect2 id="release-docs"> 28882666Sbmah <title>Release Documentation</title> 28981339Sbmah 29082666Sbmah <para>A number of other files provide more specific information 29182666Sbmah about this &release.type; distribution. These files are 29282666Sbmah provided in various formats. Most distributions will include 29382666Sbmah both ASCII text (<filename>.TXT</filename>) and HTML 29482666Sbmah (<filename>.HTM</filename>) renditions. Some distributions 29582666Sbmah may also include other formats such as PostScript 29682666Sbmah (<filename>.PS</filename>) or Portable Document Format 29782666Sbmah (<filename>.PDF</filename>). 29881339Sbmah 29982666Sbmah <itemizedlist> 30082666Sbmah <listitem> 30182666Sbmah <para><filename>README.TXT</filename>: This file, which 30282666Sbmah gives some general information about &os; as well as 30382666Sbmah some cursory notes about obtaining a 30482666Sbmah distribution.</para> 30582666Sbmah </listitem> 30681339Sbmah 30782666Sbmah <listitem> 308105992Sbmah <para><filename>EARLY.TXT</filename>: A guide for early 309114787Sbmah adopters of &os; &release.current;. Highly recommended 310105992Sbmah reading for users new to &os; &release.branch; and/or the 311134817Shrs 6.<replaceable>X</replaceable> series of releases.</para> 312105992Sbmah </listitem> 313105992Sbmah 314105992Sbmah <listitem> 31582666Sbmah <para><filename>RELNOTES.TXT</filename>: The release 31682666Sbmah notes, showing what's new and different in &os; 31788959Sbmah &release.current; compared to the previous release (&os; 31888959Sbmah &release.prev;).</para> 31982666Sbmah </listitem> 32081339Sbmah 32182666Sbmah <listitem> 32282666Sbmah <para><filename>HARDWARE.TXT</filename>: The hardware 32386152Solgeni compatibility list, showing devices with which &os; has 32482666Sbmah been tested and is known to work.</para> 32582666Sbmah </listitem> 32681339Sbmah 32782666Sbmah <listitem> 32882666Sbmah <para><filename>INSTALL.TXT</filename>: Installation 32982666Sbmah instructions for installing &os; from its distribution 33082666Sbmah media.</para> 33182666Sbmah </listitem> 33281339Sbmah 33382666Sbmah <listitem> 33482666Sbmah <para><filename>ERRATA.TXT</filename>: Release errata. 33582666Sbmah Late-breaking, post-release information can be found in 33682666Sbmah this file, which is principally applicable to releases 33782666Sbmah (as opposed to snapshots). It is important to consult 33882666Sbmah this file before installing a release of &os;, as it 33982666Sbmah contains the latest information on problems which have 34082666Sbmah been found and fixed since the release was 34182666Sbmah created.</para> 34282666Sbmah </listitem> 34382666Sbmah </itemizedlist> 34488959Sbmah 34588959Sbmah <note> 34688959Sbmah <para>Several of these documents (in particular, 34788959Sbmah <filename>RELNOTES.TXT</filename>, 34888959Sbmah <filename>HARDWARE.TXT</filename>, and 34988959Sbmah <filename>INSTALL.TXT</filename>) contain information that 35088959Sbmah is specific to a particular hardware architecture. For 35188959Sbmah example, the alpha release notes contain information not 352119884Ssimon applicable to the &i386;, and vice versa. The architecture 35388959Sbmah for which each document applies will be listed in that 35488959Sbmah document's title.</para> 35588959Sbmah </note> 35688959Sbmah 35782666Sbmah </para> 35881339Sbmah 35993443Sbmah <para>On platforms that support &man.sysinstall.8; (currently 360119884Ssimon alpha, &i386;, ia64, pc98, and &sparc64;), these documents are generally available via the 36183425Sbmah Documentation menu during installation. Once the system is 36293443Sbmah installed, you can revisit this menu by re-running the 36383425Sbmah &man.sysinstall.8; utility.</para> 36481339Sbmah 36582666Sbmah <note> 36682666Sbmah <para>It is extremely important to read the errata for any 36782666Sbmah given release before installing it, to learn about any 36882666Sbmah <quote>late-breaking news</quote> or post-release problems. 36982666Sbmah The errata file accompanying each release (most likely right 37082666Sbmah next to this file) is already out of date by definition, but 37182666Sbmah other copies are kept updated on the Internet and should be 37282666Sbmah consulted as the <quote>current errata</quote> for this 37382666Sbmah release. These other copies of the errata are located at 374134817Shrs <ulink url="&url.base;/releases/"></ulink> (as 37582666Sbmah well as any sites which keep up-to-date mirrors of this 37682666Sbmah location).</para> 37782666Sbmah </note> 37882666Sbmah </sect2> 37983425Sbmah 38083425Sbmah <sect2> 38188959Sbmah <title>Manual Pages</title> 38288959Sbmah 383119884Ssimon <para>As with almost all &unix; like operating systems, &os; comes 38488959Sbmah with a set of on-line manual pages, accessed through the 38588959Sbmah &man.man.1; command or through the <ulink 38688959Sbmah url="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi">hypertext manual 38788959Sbmah pages gateway</ulink> on the &os; Web site. In general, the 38888959Sbmah manual pages provide information on the different commands and 38988959Sbmah APIs available to the &os; user.</para> 39088959Sbmah 391107569Sbmah <para>In some cases, manual pages are written to give 39288959Sbmah information on particular topics. Notable examples of such 39388959Sbmah manual pages are &man.tuning.7; (a guide to performance tuning), 39488959Sbmah &man.security.7; (an introduction to &os; security), and 39588959Sbmah &man.style.9; (a style guide to kernel coding).</para> 39688959Sbmah </sect2> 39788959Sbmah 39888959Sbmah <sect2> 39983425Sbmah <title>Books and Articles</title> 40083425Sbmah 40183425Sbmah <para>Two highly-useful collections of &os;-related information, 40283425Sbmah maintained by the &os; Project, 40383425Sbmah are the &os; Handbook and &os; FAQ (Frequently Asked 40483425Sbmah Questions document). On-line versions of the <ulink 405134817Shrs url="&url.books.handbook;/">Handbook</ulink> 40683425Sbmah and <ulink 407134817Shrs url="&url.books.faq;/">FAQ</ulink> 40883425Sbmah are always available from the <ulink 409134817Shrs url="&url.base;/docs.html">&os; Documentation 41083425Sbmah page</ulink> or its mirrors. If you install the 41183425Sbmah <filename>doc</filename> distribution set, you can use a Web 41283425Sbmah browser to read the Handbook and FAQ locally.</para> 41383425Sbmah 41484484Sbmah <para>A number of on-line books and articles, also maintained by 41584484Sbmah the &os; Project, cover more-specialized, &os;-related topics. 41684484Sbmah This material spans a wide range of topics, from effective use 41784484Sbmah of the mailing lists, to dual-booting &os; with other 41884484Sbmah operating systems, to guidelines for new committers. Like the 41984484Sbmah Handbook and FAQ, these documents are available from the &os; 42084484Sbmah Documentation Page or in the <filename>doc</filename> 42184484Sbmah distribution set.</para> 42284484Sbmah 42384484Sbmah <para>A listing of other books and documents about &os; can be 42483425Sbmah found in the <ulink 425134817Shrs url="&url.books.handbook;/bibliography.html">bibliography</ulink> 426114787Sbmah of the &os; Handbook. Because of &os;'s strong &unix; heritage, 427114787Sbmah many other articles and books written for &unix; systems are 42883425Sbmah applicable as well, some of which are also listed in the 42983425Sbmah bibliography.</para> 43083425Sbmah </sect2> 43182666Sbmah </sect1> 43281327Sbmah 433109143Sroam <sect1 id="acknowledgements"> 43482666Sbmah <title>Acknowledgments</title> 43581327Sbmah 43682666Sbmah <para>&os; represents the cumulative work of many hundreds, if not 43782666Sbmah thousands, of individuals from around the world who have worked 43882666Sbmah countless hours to bring about this &release.type;. For a 43982666Sbmah complete list of &os; developers and contributors, please see 44082666Sbmah <ulink 441134817Shrs url="&url.articles.contributors;/"><quote>Contributors 442134817Shrs to &os;</quote></ulink> on the &os; Web site or any of its 44382666Sbmah mirrors.</para> 44481327Sbmah 44582666Sbmah <para>Special thanks also go to the many thousands of &os; users 44682666Sbmah and testers all over the world, without whom this &release.type; 44782666Sbmah simply would not have been possible.</para> 44882666Sbmah </sect1> 44976082Sbmah</article> 45082666Sbmah 45182666Sbmah<!-- 45282666Sbmah Local Variables: 45382666Sbmah mode: sgml 45482666Sbmah sgml-indent-data: t 45582666Sbmah sgml-omittag: nil 45682666Sbmah sgml-always-quote-attributes: t 45782666Sbmah End: 45882666Sbmah--> 459