FreeBSD: A State of the Art Operating System
FreeBSD is a state of the art operating system for
personal computers based on the Intel CPU architecture, which
includes the 386, 486 and Pentium processors (both SX and DX versions).
Intel compatible CPUs from AMD and Cyrix are supported as well.
FreeBSD provides many advanced features previously available
only on much more expensive computers. Some of these features are:
- Preemptive multitasking with dynamic priority
adjustment to ensure smooth and fair sharing of the
computer between applications and users.
- Multiuser access means that many people can use a
FreeBSD system simultaneously for a variety of things. System
peripherals such as printers and tape drives are also properly
shared between all users on the system.
- Complete TCP/IP networking including SLIP, PPP, NFS
and NIS support. This means that your FreeBSD machine can
interoperate easily with other systems as well act as an enterprise
server, providing vital functions such as NFS (remote file access) and
e-mail services or putting your organization on the Internet
with WWW, ftp, routing and firewall (security) services.
- Memory protection ensures that applications (or
users) cannot interfere with each other or the operating
system itself. One application
crashing will not affect others in any way.
- Demand paged virtual memory and `merged VM/buffer cache'
design efficiently satisfies applications with large appetites
for memory while still maintaining interactive response to other
users.
- FreeBSD is a 32-bit operating system and was designed
as such from the ground up.
- The industry standard X Window System (X11R6)
provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for the cost of a
common VGA card and monitor.
- Binary compatibility with many programs built for SCO,
BSDI, NetBSD, and 386BSD, and Linux.
- Hundreds of ready-to-run applications in the
FreeBSD ports collection.
Why search the net when you can find it all
right here?
- Thousands of additional and easy-to-port applications
available on the Internet. FreeBSD is source code compatible
with most popular commercial Unix systems and thus most
applications require few, if any, changes to compile.
- Shared libraries (the Unix equivalent of
MS-Windows DLLs) provide for efficient use of disk space
and memory.
- A full compliment of C, C++,
Fortran and Perl development tools. Many additional
languages for research and advanced development are
available as well in the ports
collection.
- Source code for the entire system means you have
the greatest degree of control over your environment. Why be
locked into a proprietary solution and at the mercy of your vendor
when you can have a truly Open System?
- Extensive on-line documentation.
- And many more! For a more complete description of the
system, please look at the release notes containing
up-to-date information on the latest version of FreeBSD.
FreeBSD is based on the BSD 4.4-lite release from Computer
Systems Research Group (CSRG) at the University of
California at Berkeley, and carries on the distinguished
tradition of BSD systems development. In addition to the
fine work provided by CSRG, the FreeBSD Project has put in
many thousands of hours in fine tuning the system for
maximum performance and reliability in real-life load
situations. As many of the commercial giants struggle to
field PC operating systems with such features, performance,
and reliability, FreeBSD can offer them now!
Applications
The applications to which FreeBSD can be put are truly
limited only by your own imagination. From software
development to factory automation. Inventory control to
azimuth correction of remote satellite antennae - if it can
be done with a commercial UNIX product, then it's more than
likely that you can do it with FreeBSD, too! FreeBSD also
benefits significantly from the literally thousands of high
quality applications developed by research centers and
universities around the world, and often available at low
(to no) cost. Commercial applications are also available
and appearing in greater numbers every day.
Because the source code for FreeBSD itself is generally
available, the system can also be customized to an almost
unheard of degree for special applications or projects, and
in ways not generally possible with operating systems from
most major commercial vendors. Here is just a sampling of
some of the applications in which people are currently
using FreeBSD:
- Internet Services: The robust TCP/IP networking
built into FreeBSD makes it an ideal platform for a
variety of Internet services such as:
- FTP servers
- World Wide Web servers
- Gopher servers
- Electronic Mail servers
- USENET News
- Bulletin Board Systems
- And more...
You can easily start out small with an inexpensive 386
class PC and upgrade as your enterprise grows.
Walnut Creek CDROM's ftp server
is an excellent example of this in action as is
this Web server.
- Education: Are you a student of computer science
or a related engineering field? There is no better way
of learning about operating systems, computer
architecture and networks than the hands on, under the
hood experience that FreeBSD can provide. A number of
freely available CAD, mathematical and graphic design
packages also make it highly useful to those who's
primary interest in a computer is to get other
work done!
- Research: With source code for the entire system
available, FreeBSD is an excellent platform for research
in operating systems as well as other branches of
computer science. FreeBSD's freely available nature also
makes it possible for remote groups to collaborate on
ideas or shared development without having to worry about
special licensing agreements, or with limitations on what
can be discussed in certain forums.
- Networking: Need a new router? A name server
(DNS)? A firewall to keep people out of your internal
network? FreeBSD can easily turn that unused 386 PC
sitting in the corner into an advanced router with
sophisticated packet filtering capabilities.
- X Window workstation: FreeBSD is an excellent
choice for an inexpensive X terminal solution, either
using the freely available XFree86 server or one
of the excellent commercial servers provided by X Inside. Unlike an X
terminal, FreeBSD allows many applications to be run
locally, if desired, thus relieving the burden on a
central server. Additionally, FreeBSD can boot
"diskless" making individual workstations even cheaper
and easier to administer.
- Software Development: The basic FreeBSD system
comes with a full compliment of development tools
included the renowned GNU C/C++ compiler and
debugger.
- And more! The number of applications to which
FreeBSD can be put is truly amazing! If you have an
innovative application for FreeBSD, let us know so we can add
it to our growing catalog of FreeBSD
uses.
Availability
You might expect to pay a considerable sum of money for
all the performance and features that FreeBSD offers, but
FreeBSD is available to you absolutely free, thanks
to the generous contributions of many individuals
throughout the world. It also runs on PC hardware that is
easy to obtain and is generally far less expensive than
traditional workstation hardware. The basic hardware
requirements are an ISA, EISA, VESA, or PCI based PC with a
386sx to Pentium (or compatible) class CPU, 4 megabytes of
RAM (8MB recommended) and a minimum of 60MB of disk space.
FreeBSD also supports most popular ethernet adaptors,
multi-port serial cards, most popular SCSI controllers,
Mitsumi, Sony and SCSI CD-ROM drives, SCSI, QIC and floppy
controller tape drives, certain sound cards and scanners,
bus and serial mice and some PCMCIA devices. The release notes describe
the currently supported hardware in greater detail, and
support for additional types of hardware is being added
every day.
Most of FreeBSD is covered by a Berkeley-style license
which permits free use and redistribution in whole or in
part, so long as the copyright
notice is maintained. Some parts of FreeBSD are
covered by the GNU General Public
License (GPL) or the GNU Library
Public License (GLPL) and are subject to the
restrictions contained therein.
You can get FreeBSD via anonymous ftp from ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD,
or from one of the numerous mirror
sites around the world. If you have a CD-ROM drive,
for a modest fee you can also purchase FreeBSD on CD-ROM
from Walnut Creek
CDROM:
Walnut Creek CDROM
1547 Palos Verdes Mall, Suite 260
Walnut Creek CA 94596 USA
Phone: +1 510 674-0783
Fax: +1 510 674-0821
Email: info@cdrom.com
In addition to FreeBSD itself, the CD-ROM comes with
hundreds of ready to run applications and a money back
guarantee.
About the FreeBSD Project
FreeBSD is developed and supported by a worldwide team of
programmers. Jordan
Hubbard has written a brief history of the FreeBSD
project. A roster of who's responsible for what is also
available here.
If you would like to see what some of us look like, have a
look at our gallery
of project members. A more complete listing of
contributors is available in the Contributors section of
the FreeBSD
Handbook. FreeBSD is an open project and we welcome the
help of individuals who have time and or skills to offer.
Updated April 30, 1996 at 18:42 (PDT)
Copyright © 1995, 1996 FreeBSD Inc. All rights reserved.
www@freebsd.org