Subject: Linux (Freeware UNIX) in Oxford
From: [email-masked] (Andrew Stevens)
Date: Wed, 24 Feb 1993 08:30:32 GMT
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.announce

For those who do not know what Linux is, the following is a version
of the ``Linux META-FAQ'' file edited to suit likely local interests.
Please read all of this before posting email or News.

What is Linux?
   Linux is a clone of the UNIX operating system that has been written
   entirely from scratch.  It has no proprietary code in it.  Linux is freely
   distributable under the GNU Public License.  It only works on IBM PC
   compatibles with an ISA or EISA bus and a 386 or compatible.  See the FAQ
   for more exact hardware requirements.  The Linux kernel is written by Linus
   Torvalds ([email-masked]) from Finland.  Most of the programs
   running under Linux are generic Unix freeware, much of it comes from GNU.

In short, Linux provides a UNIX environment on a PC running much the same
   software as is available on Oxford's networked UNIX machines, albeit without
   the commercial software.

A sample of the high-lights includes:

          X window system with all the usual clients (xfig, xdvi,  etc)
          TeX with all the trimmings
          GNU Emacs / Epoch
          New Jersey standard ML
          SWI Prolog

What hardware, what performance?

For a UNIX Linux is ``slim'' 8M of RAM will run UNIX + X windows +
useful work very nicely.  The usual UNIX tools + the things listed above
+ a good allowance for user files fits easily into 70 M bytes of disk
space. 
The impoverished with time for tweaking could probably survive with 4M
or 6M of RAM and 40M of hard disk space.

As a rough guide to processing speed, a 33 Mhz ``386DX'' machine running
under Linux is a mite slower than a SUN SPARCstation-1, a 33Mhz ``486''
is a good deal faster.  The system, being written from scratch for the
PC architecture, *will* run quite usably on slower 386SX machines.

How tough is it get running and to keep running?

Installation on most PC's without really exotic harddisks or display
cards is pretty straight-forward.  Ready-organised ``distribution''
versions of Linux designed for easy installation from floppy disk
are available and regularly maintained.   The wealthy may even
obtain a package distributed commercially on CD-ROM.

Maintenance once things are up will require reading a beginners UNIX
admin book and/or asking questions for a while unless you're already
experienced in UNIX.

How stable and reliable is it?

From personal experience gathered over 12 months of serious usage as an
``academic working at home'' - very.  If you want a straight-forward
standalone system and are not interested in keeping at the ``bleeding
edge'' of version numbers Linux is quite comparable to typical
commercial PC UNIXes and probably rather better than the
MS-DOS/MS-Windows combination.

Linux machines have even been successfully networked into the University
ethernet, but networking provision is still an area of active
development.

How well does it co-exist with an MS-DOS environment?

Linux will readily share partitioned disks with MS-DOS (etc) partitions.
Tools are available to allow menu selection of the operating system
to be booted.

MS-DOS filing systems on hard or floppy disk can either be ``mounted''
by the operating system and made available directly.
A more conservative alternative is access via the usual ``m'' commands
(mwrite, mread, mdir, mcd etc).   An MS-DOS emulator running under
Linux is under development but is not yet able to run much useful
software.

Alternatives?

An alternative freeware UNIX - 386BSD, derived from BSD UNIX - exists.
It has the virtue of allow easier porting of much research
software, but is considerably more resource hungry and rather less broadly
supported than Linux.   There is not (as far as I am aware) an
active user base in Oxford.

Where do I get further information?

The Linux FAQ
   A large collection of common questions about Linux,
   and their answers.  The first place to look if you think
   Linux might be useful to you. Stored on many Linux ftp sites.

   You can obtain the relevant files by ``anonymous ftp'' from
   the directory pub/linux/docs/FAQ on ftp.robots. 

   The commands below will get you these files if you have access to the
   ftp program on an Oxford UNIX machine.

ftp ftp.robots
anonymous           --- In response to the ``Name'' prompt.
<your mail address> --- In response to the Password: prompt.
cd pub/linux/docs/FAQ
mget *
<type ``y'' when prompted for each file>
quit

Linux newsgroups
   There are two Usenet newsgroups for Linux: comp.os.linux, and
   comp.os.linux.announce.  The latter contains important stuff like
   announcements of new programs or versions, the former all the discussion.
   It is a good idea to follow at least c.o.l.a, if you use Linux.
   Linux material local to Oxford may also appear on ox.unix.

Mailing List
   There is also an Oxford mailing list for Linux users, which
   carries plus automatic notifications of any new software appearing
   on ftp.robots.

   Send email to [email-masked] if you wish to be added
   to this mailing list. 
-- 
        Andrew Stevens               INTERNET: [email-masked]
      Programmming Research Group       JANET: [email-masked]
     11 Keble Road, Oxford, England     UUCP:  ...!uunet!mcvax!ukc!ox-prg!as
     OX1 3QD   +44 0865 272563