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FreeBSD 2.2 --- ALPHA Version , ,
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Welcome to the 2.2 ALPHA release of FreeBSD! /- _ `-/ '
This release preceeds our first full 2.2 release, (/\/ \ \ /\
which is scheduled for a late December / early / / | ` \
January release. Your testing of this release will O O ) / |
help to ensure that 2.2-RELEASE is of the highest `-^--'`< '
quality we can make it, and is much appreciated. (_.) _ ) /
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`-----' /
Feedback or offers to help with anything <----. __ / __ \
you see in this release are most welcome <----|====O)))==) \) /====
and should be sent to one of the approp- <----' `--' `.__,' \
riate mailing lists (see notes below). | |
\ / /\
Please also note that ALPHA releases, as much ______( (_ / \______/
as we enjoy seeing them tested in serious ,' ,-----' |
situations, are not recommended for production `--{__________)
environments!
***** Final note: PLEASE also read the Hardware guide, which you will
find in the root directory of your distribution as HARDWARE.TXT. It
is also available in the Documentation submenu of the boot floppy, but
it's probably a good idea to read it before even getting that far. It
contains important checklist information on configuring your hardware
before starting the installation process. ****
What is FreeBSD? FreeBSD is an operating system based on 4.4 BSD Lite
for Intel, AMD, Cyrix or NexGen "x86" based PC hardware. 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 600 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 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 aquaint 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.
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 :
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:
hackers@FreeBSD.org
Bug reports should be sent using the `send-pr' command, if you were
able to get the system installed, otherwise to:
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,
you may install the BSDI version from ftp://ftp.mcom.com or simply
type:
# cd /usr/ports/www/netscape3
# make all install
If you have the Ports collection installed on your machine (usually on
the 2nd CDROM of a CDROM release).
Several other non-commercial browsers are also available in
/usr/ports/net 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.
We sincerely hope you enjoy this release of FreeBSD!
The FreeBSD Project
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