FreeBSD 5.0-RC1 Now Available

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FreeBSD 5.0-RC1 Now Available

Posted by michael on Monday December 9, 2002 @02:33AM from the five-candles-on-the-cake dept.

Dan writes "Murray Stokely of FreeBSD release engineering team announces that they're one milestone closer with the immediate availability of FreeBSD first release candidate for the i386, alpha, sparc64, and ia64 platforms. ISO images and FTP installation directories are available now from the FreeBSD FTP site."

27 of 261 comments (clear)

uhh... by vorovsky · 2002-12-09 02:40 · Score: 5, Funny

great, I just installed 4.7 last night...
I swirched to FreeBSD... by Anonymous Coward · 2002-12-09 02:41 · Score: 5, Funny

...because those Linux folks started to get to culty--kinda like the Mac people.
1. Re:I swirched to FreeBSD... by Nevermore-Spoon · 2002-12-09 02:43 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  and FreeBSD'ers aren't culty at all...riiiight
  
  --
  I have great faith in fools; My friends call it self-confidence. Edgar Allan Poe 1809-1845
2. Re:I swirched to FreeBSD... by callipygian-showsyst · 2002-12-09 03:19 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  You have to admit--the zeal of the "Linux" folks can get a bit annoying. In fact, a lot of good applications for Linux aren't being realized because Big Corporations (like one I'm currently consulting for) doesn't consider it professional enough. They'll use FreeBSD, but not Linux.
  I think the "University Connection" with BSD helps a bit, along with the standard distributions. Face it, a lot of the people going around promoting Linux are doing it for the wrong reasons: a hatred of Microsoft, as opposed to a true understanding of the advantages of Linux, and Un*x-based operating systems in general.
  (I, too, prefer FreeBSD to Linux, and I can certainly empathize with your sentiment that the Linux community is cult-like.)
  
  --
  Best Buy can have you arrested
3. Re:I swirched to FreeBSD... by Jace+of+Fuse! · 2002-12-09 03:34 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  Actually, what I've noticed about FreeBSD people is that they are mostly very utilitarian. Ussually they aren't religious about FreeBSD. The ones I know use whatever works to get the job done in whatever fashion they consider to be most appropriate for that specific situation. Sometimes FreeBSD is the best solution, sometimes it is not. I doubt any FreeBSD user would argue against this point.
  
  Linux users will religiously try to force Linux to do everything even when other options are easier, better, faster, or "more free". Mac users are the same way. Even Windows-Exclusive users are like this at times.
  
  So in some sense, I suppose you could say the FreeBSD people truely are the least religious. After all, they DO have a little devil as their mascot.
  
  *VERY EVIL GRIN*
  
  --
  
  "Everything you know is wrong. (And stupid.)"
  
  Moderation Totals: Wrong=2, Stupid=3, Total=5.
4. Re:I swirched to FreeBSD... by Ded+Bob · 2002-12-09 06:15 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  um dude, having a devil as your mascot doesn't show that you're not religious. in fact quite the opposite as the devil only exists in religion.
  
  What about in the details? :)
5. Re:I swirched to FreeBSD... by jo42 · 2002-12-09 08:46 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Linux is for people who hate Windows, BSD is for people who love UNIX about sums it up.
Re:Can someone Provide a link to "What's New" page by ekrout · 2002-12-09 02:44 · Score: 5, Informative

Here's a direct link to the pertinent section. It details kernel, userland, and security updates that have gone into the 5.0 tree of FreeBSD.

--

If you celebrate Xmas, befriend me (538
So what can we expect that will follow? by Anonymous Coward · 2002-12-09 02:46 · Score: 5, Funny

BSD is dead?

BSD sux, Linux rocks!

"I switched to FreeBSD and was amazed..."

"I tried FreeBSD and it sucked..."

"Not to troll, but why should I use FreeBSD instead of Linux"

FreeBSD and SMP sucks!

"In Soviet Russia, the RC1 releases YOU!"

"BSD != DEAD"

So you se my friends, no need to post further! Thank you, come again.
1. Re:So what can we expect that will follow? by Hoe · 2002-12-09 03:53 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  you left one more type of post off the list, the type that are summaries of all the typical posts.
Re:Good enough for production use? by __past__ · 2002-12-09 02:51 · Score: 4, Funny

Why do you think they call it a "release candidate"?

--
Programming can be fun again. Film at 11.
Re:Hope it supports Token Ring by Anonymous Coward · 2002-12-09 02:52 · Score: 5, Informative

I don't know whether you're just a troll or unclear on basic concepts, but you're wrong on multiple counts. 802.11b cards are well-supported, and journalling is a band-aid for a filesystem. FreeBSD's filesystem is well-designed and doesn't need that band-aid. As for token ring, ehh...
ia64 by MosesJones · 2002-12-09 02:53 · Score: 5, Funny

Isn't it great how people can release things for hardware you wouldn't even know how to buy if you wanted to. I've often wondered how elements like the FreeBSD team and Linux get people interested in doing these things. Its not like an "itch you need to scratch" because you don't even have the body part to have the itch on!

--
An Eye for an Eye will make the whole world blind - Gandhi
Re:Yes... by drdink · 2002-12-09 02:54 · Score: 5, Informative

FreeBSD does have a Linux ABI which allows it to run Linux binaries. In fact, I have an entire Linux base system in /usr/compat/linux for that reason. Using VMWare, it is also possible to run Linux on FreeBSD.
For more information about the Linux ABI, see this manpage.

--
Beware, Nugget is watching... See?
Version 5.0 Early Adopter's Guide by delfstrom · 2002-12-09 03:00 · Score: 5, Informative
The Version 5.0 Early Adopter's Guide summarizes some of the new features that were not feasible to port back to the 4.x branch:
- SMPng: The next generation support for SMP machines (work in progress). There is now partial support for multiple processors to be running in the kernel at the same time.
- KSE: Kernel Scheduled Entities allow a single process to have multiple kernel-level threads, similar to Scheduler Activations.
- New architectures: Support for the sparc64 and ia64 architectures, in addition to the i386, pc98, and alpha.
- GCC: The compiler toolchain is now based on GCC 3. X , rather than GCC 2.95. X .
- MAC: Support for extensible, loadable Mandatory Access Control policies.
- GEOM: A flexible framework for transformations of disk I/O requests. An experimental disk encryption facility has been developed based on GEOM.
- FFS: The FFS filesystem now supports background fsck (8) operations (for faster crash recovery) and filesystem snapshots.
- UFS2: A new UFS2 on-disk format has been added, which supports extended per-file attributes and larger file sizes.
- Cardbus: Support for Cardbus devices.
Re:Good enough for production use? by drdink · 2002-12-09 03:01 · Score: 5, Informative

NO. Do not use it in a production environment. For specific details on this issue, see this page. Specifically:
(FreeBSD 5.0 suffers from what has been described as a ``chicken and egg'' problem. The entire project has a goal of producing a 5.0-RELEASE that is as stable and reliable as possible. This stability and reliability requires widespread testing, particularly of the system's newer features. However, getting a large number of users to test the system, in a practical sense, means building and distributing a release first!)
I would suggest you wait until at least 5.1-RELEASE before adopting it on a real production system. That said, I am using 5.0-RC on my desktop system and have been using -CURRENT on it for a while now. It is all about how much time you want to put into helping smash little bugs when they pop up.

--
Beware, Nugget is watching... See?
Re:Yes... by drdink · 2002-12-09 03:04 · Score: 5, Funny

That is the funny part. VMWare runs courtesy of the Linux ABI. So you'd be running a Linux OS on a FreeBSD system using a Linux binary.

--
Beware, Nugget is watching... See?
Re:Yes... by Fweeky · 2002-12-09 03:06 · Score: 5, Informative

(kldload linux ;./sick-linux-binary ; rejoice! )

Don't forget to brandelf it too, if said sick-linux-binary happens to have a broken elf header which says it's a Solaris binary or whatever, i.e:
brandelf -t Linux sick-linux-binary
Since while FreeBSD will use the elf header to make things like Linux emulation work, Linux just ignores it, meaning a lot of tools like to produce incorrect headers. Tsk :)
Debian should adopt new NetBSD/FreeBSD init by Florian · 2002-12-09 03:08 · Score: 5, Insightful

A major improvement in FreeBSD 5.x over 4.x is the new modular init. Instead of one monolithic script (classical BSD) or several scripts in a symlink farm with manual sorting and dependency resolution (SysV / Debian, RedHat, SuSE...), it uses an internal automatic sorting and dependency resolution comparable to apt-get or modprobe on GNU/Linux. I would like to see mainstream adoption of this in the GNU/Linux world of this. To date, Gentoo Linux is the only distribution offering and supporting this excellent feature.

--
gopher://cramer.plaintext.cc http://cramer.plaintext.cc:70
Future news! by leomekenkamp · 2002-12-09 03:12 · Score: 5, Funny

02-12-09 14:33 BSD: FreeBSD 5.0-RC1 Now Available

My monitor sometimes thinks it is a crystal ball; using it I can predict future /. headlines. Here goes:

03-01-06 9:25 BSD: FreeBSD 5.0-RC2 Now Available
03-01-14 9:25 BSD: FreeBSD 5.0-RC3 Now Available
03-01-25 9:25 BSD: FreeBSD 5.0-RC4 Now Available
03-02-02 9:25 BSD: FreeBSD 5.0-RC5 Now Available
03-02-17 9:25 BSD: FreeBSD 5.0 Released
03-02-19 9:25 BSD: FreeBSD 5.0.1 Released

Funny thing though, apart from the different version numbers the discussion is always exactly the same...

--
Wenn ist das Nunstueck git und Slotermeyer? Ja! Beiherhund das Oder die Flipperwaldt gersput.
1. Re:Future news! by peterpi · 2002-12-09 03:30 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  You forgot these two:
  03-02-17 9:26 BSD: FreeBSD 5.0 not actually released, please wait for official announcement.
  03-02-17 9:27 BSD: FreeBSD 5.0 Now Available
2. Re:Future news! by glenstar · 2002-12-09 03:57 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  And then there is always:
  03-02-17 9:26 (2014): GNU Hurd Alpha RC 0.1 Released
vinum and its replacement? by lyapunov · 2002-12-09 03:22 · Score: 5, Interesting

Vinum has not been mantained at a high level for some time and I have heard that there is a replacement in 5.0 that emulates the IBM AIX volume manager (which kicks ass in my opinion).

Any word on this?

--

Either give it away or get top dollar, but never sell yourself cheap.
I thought you said TOLKEIN RING by Gothmolly · 2002-12-09 03:52 · Score: 4, Funny

I was going to say...not necessarily support I'd be looking for. Unless of course you're going to build a DNS server - you know, one server to rule them all, one server to BIND them...

--
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
Don't just it there by karmawarrior · 2002-12-09 04:19 · Score: 4, Funny

FreeBSD, as an operating system, would not exist if it wasn't for an army of volunteers who are willing to put the time in to make things happen. It's very easy to just talk about this kind of thing on Slashdot, but without your help, FreeBSD is never going to grow.
You can help by getting off your rear and writing to your congressman or senator. Tell them FreeBSD is important to you. Tell them that without FreeBSD, you would have to find less managable and intelligently designed alternatives. Let them know that this is an issue that effects YOU directly, that YOU vote, and that your vote will be influenced, indeed dependent, on his or her policy on FreeBSD.
You CAN make a difference. Don't treat voting as a right, treat it as a duty. Keep informed, keep your political representatives informed on how you feel. And, most importantly of all, vote.

--
KMSMA (WWBD?)
the forgotten smaller machines by MORTAR_COMBAT! · 2002-12-09 04:22 · Score: 4, Interesting

FreeBSD has grown larger and larger -- back in the 3.x days I could run it easily. The 4.x series have consumed much more memory, even when the kernel is compiled to use the same features. I had heard that one of the 5.x trees goals was to regain some of that "thin" nature which IMHO is one of FreeBSD's biggest draws. Anyone know how that is coming along?

--
MORTAR COMBAT!
Re:Mac OS X vs. FreeBSD architecture by benedict · 2002-12-09 04:46 · Score: 4, Informative

You're quite confused, but I don't blame you.

4.4BSD was the last full release from the Computer
Science Research Group at UC Berkeley. I think it
was in 1994. FreeBSD and NetBSD were based in large
part on this code. (This is an oversimplification
but it's good enough.)

Mac OS X is based on NeXTStep, which includes BSD
code from 4.3BSD, which came before 4.4BSD. Mac OS
X was updated using FreeBSD 3.4 as a reference.
There was no wholesale integration of FreeBSD 3.4.
Mac OS X 10.2 was updated using FreeBSD 4.3 as a
reference, I believe. Again, no wholesale
integration. The same will be the case with
FreeBSD 5.

--
Ben "You have your mind on computers, it seems."