Introduction.

# 1 Introduction.

Contents of this section

This is the Linux NET-2-HOWTO. This document is a complete rewrite of the earlier NET-FAQ, and of the subsequent NET-2-HOWTO versions 1.0+, for the new NET-2 and NET-3 tcp/ip networking code for Linux kernels 1.0 and above.

## 1.1 Changes from the previous release.

    Additions:
            Added details of the new ARCNet driver - thanks Avery.
            Added tcpdump location details

    Corrections:
            Fixed symlink to dip and chmod problem - thanks Lamar.
            Updated Matt Dillon's slip management suite version

## 1.2 A brief development history of Linux Networking.

`Ross Biro <biro@yggdrasil.com>` wrote the original kernel based networking code for Linux. He used ethernet drivers written by `Donald Becker <becker@cesdis1.gsfc.nasa.gov>`, a slip driver written by `Laurence Culhane <loz@holmes.demon.co.uk>`, and a D-Link driver by `Bj0rn Ekwall <bj0rn@blox.se>`.

The further development of the Linux networking code was later taken up by `Fred van Kempen <waltje@hacktic.nl>`, who took Ross's code and produced the NET-2 release of network code. NET-2 went through a number of revisions until release NET-2d, when `Alan Cox <iialan@iifeak.swan.ac.uk>` took Fred's NET-2d code and set about debugging the code with the aim of producing a stable and working release of code for incorporation into the standard kernel releases. This code was called NET-2D(ebugged), and has been incorporated into the standard kernel releases since some time before Linux vers 1.0 was released.

PPP support was added by `Michael Callahan, <callahan@maths.ox.ac.uk>` and `Al Longyear, <longyear@netcom.com>`, originally as patches to the kernel, and in later releases as an option.

Fred continued developing his kernel network code, and produced NET-2E. A reference for it if you are interested in looking at Fred's new work is listed later on in this document.

With the release of Linux vers 1.0, Linus made a decision to continue supporting Alan's code as the `standard' network kernel code.

The latest revision of the code, NET-3, appears in kernel releases 1.1.5 and later, and is essentially the same code, but with many fixes, corrections and enhancements.

Alan has added such features as IPX and AX.25 modules. `Florian La Roche, <flla@stud.uni-sb.de>` has produced an updated distribution of network applications.

Unless otherwise stated, this document will refer to the network code included in the standard kernel releases. On the whole this document will serve for Fred's code as well, but as the development paths are now seperate, it is possible that there will be differences between the two.

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