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Merge from 2.1 (got the direction backwards - argh!).

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Jordan K. Hubbard 1995-11-14 13:54:06 +00:00
parent 12eedfdc3a
commit a31a689128
1 changed files with 33 additions and 19 deletions
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share/doc/handbook/history.sgml
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@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
<!-- $Id: history.sgml,v 1.7 1995/09/27 00:46:19 jmz Exp $ -->
<!-- $Id: history.sgml,v 1.8 1995/10/24 02:23:42 jkh Exp $ -->
<!-- The FreeBSD Documentation Project -->
<sect><heading>A brief history of FreeBSD<label id="history"></heading>
@ -29,30 +29,30 @@ clear indication of what would be done instead.
It didn't take us long to decide that the goal remained worthwhile
even without Bill's support, and so we adopted the name "FreeBSD",
which was coined by David Greenman. Our initial objectives were set
after consulting with the system's current users and once it became
after consulting with the system's current users, and once it became
clear that the project was on the road to perhaps even becoming a
reality, I contacted Walnut Creek CDROM with an eye towards improving
FreeBSD's distribution channels to those many unfortunates without
FreeBSD's distribution channels for those many unfortunates without
easy access to the Internet. Walnut Creek CDROM not only supported
the idea of distributing FreeBSD on CD but went so far as to provide
the project with a machine to work on and a fast Internet connection.
Without Walnut Creek CDROM's almost unprecedented degree of faith in
what was, at the time, a completely unknown project, it is in fact
very unlikely that FreeBSD would have gotten as far, as fast, as it
what was, at the time, a completely unknown project, it is quite
unlikely that FreeBSD would have gotten as far, as fast, as it
has today.
The first CDROM (and general net-wide) distribution was FreeBSD 1.0,
released in December of '93. This was based on the 4.3 BSD Lite
("Net/2") tape from U.C. Berkeley with many components provided by
released in December of 1993. This was based on the 4.3 BSD Lite
("Net/2") tape from U.C. Berkeley, with many components also provided by
386BSD and the Free Software Foundation. It was a fairly reasonable
success for a first offering, and we followed this release with the
highly successful FreeBSD 1.1 version in May of 1994.
success for a first offering, and we followed it with the highly successful
FreeBSD 1.1 release in May of 1994.
Around this time, some rather unexpected storm clouds formed on our
horizon as Novell and U.C. Berkeley settled their long-running lawsuit
over the legal status of the Berkeley Net/2 tape. A condition of that
settlement was U.C. Berkeley's concession that large parts of Net/2
was "encumbered" code and property of Novell, who had in turn acquired
were "encumbered" code and the property of Novell, who had in turn acquired
it from AT&amp;T some time previously. What Berkeley got in return was
Novell's "blessing" that the 4.4 Lite release, when it was finally
released, would be declared unencumbered and all existing Net/2 users
@ -66,27 +66,41 @@ performance..
We then set about the arduous task of literally re-inventing ourselves
with a completely new and rather incomplete set of 4.4 Lite bits. The
"Lite" releases were light in part because Berkeley's CSRG removed
large chunks of code required for actually making a bootable running
system out of it due to various legal requirements and the fact that
the Intel port of 4.4 was highly incomplete. It took us until
December of 1994 to make this transition, and in January of 1995 we
"Lite" releases were light in part because Berkeley's CSRG had removed
large chunks of code required for actually constructing a bootable running
system (due to various legal requirements) and the fact that the Intel
port of 4.4 was highly incomplete. It took us until December of 1994
to make this transition, and in January of 1995 we
released FreeBSD 2.0 to the net and on CDROM. Despite being still
more than a little rough around the edges, the release was a
significant success and has since been followed by the more robust and
easier to install FreeBSD 2.0.5 release in June of 1995.
Where to from here? Well, we intend to release FreeBSD 2.1 sometime
in October of 1995 and have reasonable expectations that it will
in November of 1995 and have reasonable expectations that it will
meet or exceed all of the standards for quality we set with FreeBSD
1.1.5.1 back in July of 1994. From there, we'll probably continue our now
two-track scheme of a "stable" branch of FreeBSD and an "experimental"
two-track scheme of a "stable" branch of FreeBSD and a "current"
branch, where development can continue at its usually rapid pace without
penalizing those who just want a working system without too much excitement.
We also intend to focus on any remaining areas of weakness, like documentation
or missing drivers, and steadily increase the overall quality and feature set
of the system well into 1996 and beyond.
It should also be noted that the development of FreeBSD is <b>not</b> a closed
process, despite some popular misconceptions to the contrary, and anyone
is free to contribute code or ideas. Once a contributor has established
a reasonable track record for reliability, we generally even give them direct
access to the central source tree (kept under CVS) where their changes will
propagate automatically to all users of FreeBSD. Our centralised development
model is designed for the convenience of the <b>users</b> of FreeBSD, who
are thus provided with an easy way of tracking one central code base, not
to keep potential contributors out! Anyone and everyone is free to
contribute, and people who've shown a consistent and significant dedication
to the project are generally asked to join the FreeBSD core team to
help in setting the project's overall directions and goals. No part of the
project is closed to additional members, and all we ask of those wishing for
closer ties to the project is the same dedication its current members have
to its continued success!
Jordan