1130b656e5
This will make a number of things easier in the future, as well as (finally!) avoiding the Id-smashing problem which has plagued developers for so long. Boy, I'm glad we're not using sup anymore. This update would have been insane otherwise.
152 lines
7.6 KiB
Plaintext
152 lines
7.6 KiB
Plaintext
<!-- $FreeBSD$ -->
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<!-- The FreeBSD Documentation Project -->
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<sect><heading>FreeBSD in a nutshell<label id="nutshell"></heading>
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<p>FreeBSD is a state of the art operating system for
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personal computers based on the Intel CPU architecture, which
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includes the 386, 486 and Pentium processors (both SX and DX versions).
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Intel compatible CPUs from AMD and Cyrix are supported as well.
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FreeBSD provides you with many advanced features previously available
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only on much more expensive computers. These features include:
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<itemize>
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<item><bf>Preemptive multitasking</bf> with dynamic priority
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adjustment to ensure smooth and fair sharing of the
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computer between applications and users.</item>
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<item><bf>Multiuser</bf> access means that many people can use a
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FreeBSD system simultaneously for a variety of things. System
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peripherals such as printers and tape drives are also properly
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SHARED BETWEEN ALL users on the system.</item>
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<item>Complete <bf>TCP/IP networking</bf> including SLIP, PPP, NFS
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and NIS support. This means that your FreeBSD machine can
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inter-operate easily with other systems as well act as an enterprise
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server, providing vital functions such as NFS (remote file access) and
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e-mail services or putting your organization on the Internet
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with WWW, ftp, routing and firewall (security) services.</item>
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<item><bf>Memory protection</bf> ensures that applications (or
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users) cannot interfere with each other. One application
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crashing will not affect others in any way.</item>
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<item>FreeBSD is a <bf>32-bit</bf> operating system and was designed
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as such from the ground up.</item>
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<item>The industry standard <bf>X Window System</bf> (X11R6)
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provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for the cost of a
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common VGA card and monitor and comes with full sources.</item>
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<item><bf>Binary compatibility</bf> with many programs built for SCO,
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BSDI, NetBSD, Linux and 386BSD.</item>
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<item>Hundreds of <bf>ready-to-run</bf> applications are
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available from the
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FreeBSD <bf>ports</bf> and <bf>packages</bf>
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collection. Why search the net when you can find it all
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right here?</item>
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<item>Thousands of additional and <bf>easy-to-port</bf> applications
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available on the Internet. FreeBSD is source code compatible
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with most popular commercial Unix systems and thus most
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applications require few, if any, changes to compile.</item>
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<item>Demand paged <bf>virtual memory</bf> and `merged VM/buffer cache'
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design efficiently satisfies applications with large appetites
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for memory while still maintaining interactive response to other
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users.</item>
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<item><bf>Shared libraries</bf> (the Unix equivalent of
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MS-Windows DLLs) provide for efficient use of disk space
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and memory.</item>
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<item>A full compliment of <bf>C</bf>, <bf>C++</bf> and
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<bf>Fortran</bf> development tools. Many additional
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languages for advanced research and development are
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also available in the ports and packages collection.</item>
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<item><bf>Source code</bf> for the entire system means you have
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the greatest degree of control over your environment. Why be
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locked into a proprietary solution and at the mercy of your vendor
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when you can have a truly Open System?</item>
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<item>Extensive <bf>on-line documentation</bf>.</item>
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<item><bf>And many more!</bf></item>
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</itemize>
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FreeBSD is based on the 4.4BSD-Lite release from Computer
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Systems Research Group (CSRG) at the University of
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California at Berkeley, and carries on the distinguished
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tradition of BSD systems development. In addition to the
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fine work provided by CSRG, the FreeBSD Project has put in
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many thousands of hours in fine tuning the system for
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maximum performance and reliability in real-life load
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situations. As many of the commercial giants struggle to
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field PC operating systems with such features, performance
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and reliability, FreeBSD can offer them <bf>now</bf>!
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The applications to which FreeBSD can be put are truly
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limited only by your own imagination. From software
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development to factory automation, inventory control to
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azimuth correction of remote satellite antennae; if it can
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be done with a commercial UNIX product then it is more than
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likely that you can do it with FreeBSD, too! FreeBSD also
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benefits significantly from the literally thousands of high
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quality applications developed by research centers and
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universities around the world, often available at little
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to no cost. Commercial applications are also available
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and appearing in greater numbers every day.
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Because the source code for FreeBSD itself is generally
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available, the system can also be customized to an almost
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unheard of degree for special applications or projects, and
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in ways not generally possible with operating systems from
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most major commercial vendors. Here is just a sampling of
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some of the applications in which people are currently
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using FreeBSD:
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<itemize>
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<item><bf>Internet Services:</bf> The robust TCP/IP networking
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built into FreeBSD makes it an ideal platform for a
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variety of Internet services such as:
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<itemize>
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<item>FTP servers</item>
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<item>World Wide Web servers</item>
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<item>Gopher servers</item>
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<item>Electronic Mail servers</item>
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<item>USENET News</item>
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<item>Bulletin Board Systems</item>
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<item>And more...</item>
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</itemize>
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You can easily start out small with an inexpensive 386
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class PC and upgrade as your enterprise grows.</item>
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<item><bf>Education:</bf> Are you a student of computer science
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or a related engineering field? There is no better way
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of learning about operating systems, computer
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architecture and networking than the hands on, under the
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hood experience that FreeBSD can provide. A number of
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freely available CAD, mathematical and graphic design
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packages also make it highly useful to those who's
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primary interest in a computer is to get <em>other</em>
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work done!</item>
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<item><bf>Research:</bf> With source code for the entire system
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available, FreeBSD is an excellent platform for research
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in operating systems as well as other branches of
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computer science. FreeBSD's freely available nature also
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makes it possible for remote groups to collaborate on
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ideas or shared development without having to worry about
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special licensing agreements or limitations on what
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may be discussed in open forums.</item>
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<item><bf>Networking:</bf> Need a new router? A name server
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(DNS)? A firewall to keep people out of your internal
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network? FreeBSD can easily turn that unused 386 or 486 PC
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sitting in the corner into an advanced router with
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sophisticated packet filtering capabilities. </item>
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<item><bf>X Window workstation:</bf> FreeBSD is a fine
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choice for an inexpensive X terminal solution, either
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using the freely available XFree86 server or one
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of the excellent commercial servers provided by X Inside.
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Unlike an X
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terminal, FreeBSD allows many applications to be run
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locally, if desired, thus relieving the burden on a
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central server. FreeBSD can even boot
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"diskless", making individual workstations even cheaper
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and easier to administer.</item>
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<item><bf>Software Development:</bf> The basic FreeBSD system
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comes with a full compliment of development tools
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including the renowned GNU C/C++ compiler and
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debugger. </item>
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</itemize>
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FreeBSD is available in both source and binary form on CDROM and
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via anonymous ftp. See <ref id="mirrors" name="Obtaining FreeBSD">
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for more details.
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