In this section, we cover distributions available over the network for free. Many of the CD-ROM releases are simply re-packaged versions of net distributions.
Patrick Volkerding
Net:
volkerdi@mhd1.moorhead.msus.edu
WWW:
http://www.cdrom.com
FTP:
ftp://ftp.cdrom.com
Slackware Linux is a full featured distribution of the Linux operating system designed for 386/486 computers with a 3.5" floppy. Slackware changes rapidly, but here's a current (partial) feature list:
Base Linux system
Various applications that do not need X
Program Development (C, C++, Kernel source, Lisp, Perl, etc.)
GNU Emacs (19.29, with and without X11 support. Your choice.)
FAQ lists
Info pages.
Interviews: libraries, include files, Doc and Idraw apps for X
Networking (TCP/IP, UUCP, Mail)
Object Oriented Programming (GNU Smalltalk) and X11 interface
All kinds of extra kernels
TeX
Tcl/Tk/TclX, Tcl language, and Tk toolkit for developing X apps
XFree-86 3.1 Base X Window System
Applications for X
XFree-86 3.1 X server development, PEX extensions, and man pages
XView3.2p1-X11R6. (OpenLook
Games (that do not require X)
The home site is ftp.cdrom.com, where the
latest distribution can be found in /pub/linux/slackware.
FTP only, although various independent distributors provide it on disk, floppy, and CD.
23 November 1994
A lot of commercial Linuxes are re-packagings of Slackware (see the Re-Packagers section below.
Dr. A. V. Le Blanc
University of Manchester
Net:
LeBlanc@mcc.ac.uk
FTP:
ftp://ftp.mcc.ac.uk
Base Linux installation. Complete sources and
patches for all included software are available. Full details vary
from release to release; see
/pub/linux/mcc-interim/*/Acknowledgements at
ftp.mcc.ac.uk. Roughly: this includes the kernel (with source),
C, C++, groff, man pages, basic utilities, networking. The binaries
fit on about 10 floppies. It is also possible to have them on a DOS
or Linux partition on a hard drive (plus one floppy) or on an
NFS-mountable partition (plus two floppies).
By anonymous ftp from ftp.mcc.ac.uk; mirrored
at tsx-11.mit.edu, nic.funet.fi, sunsite.unc.edu, and
elsewhere. At ftp.mcc.ac.uk, in /pub/linux/mcc-interim.
Suggestions and contributions are welcome.
Unknown. New releases approximately every six months.
15 May 1995
The current MCC-Interim release is based on Linux 1.0 with a few patches. If you are one of those people who demands to be on top of the current release, this release isn't for you. However, if you're looking for a small and stable Linux system, this makes a good starting point.
Dr. LeBlanc adds: "And if you do demand to be on top of the current release, you can get there from MCC Interim quite easily. For example, to upgrade to the current kernel you need only the kernel sources, bdflush, and a new version of procps. Of course, you will probably want other things as well... One of the big disadvantages of MCC is that it doesn't include X or packages that many people want, such as perl or tck/tk. Strictly speaking, the distribution has always been intended for internal use at MCC, and the fact that many people find it useful is serendipitous. Less strictly speaking, I would say that it works better for developers than for people who know nothing about Unix. I recommend the simpler commercial distributions and Bogus to people who know nothing.
The BOGUS Group
BOGUS is an unsupported, ftp-able distribution targeted at competent Linux hackers who want a stable development system. If you do not have experience developing, installing, and maintaining a Linux system, BOGUS is probably not for you.
BOGUS is a "bootstrapping" release: all of the patches needed to compile the complete system are provided, including explicit instructions on how we did the compilation. Indeed, the final build is totally automatic, and required the user to invoke a single command.
BOGUS has many other features, but the inclusion of pristine source, detailed patches, and a utility to support automatic patch application and compilation is the most important feature of BOGUS. For more information and a complete list of features, license restrictions, and other details, please see the Announce-BOGUS-* files at the ftp sites.
We hope to have a new, ELF-based release available by early summer 1996. As with BOGUS 1.x, this new release will provide a stable applications development platform. It will continue to use the "pristine source + patches" paradigm that was introduced with BOGUS 1.0 in July 1994, but with enhanced tools and package tracking support.
The following sites are official mirror sites for the BOGUS release:
BOGUS 1.0.1 is also available on the Trans-Ameritech Systems "Linux Plus BSD CD-ROM" (Fall Supplement 2, November 1994) for $19.95. Trans-Ameritech may be contacted at: 408.727.3883 (voice), 408.727.3882 (fax), or order@trans-am.com .
To join the BOGUS mailing list, send mail to majordomo@cs.unc.edu with "subscribe linux-bogus" in the body of the message (i.e., not in the subject). When you do this, make sure that you have a valid return address -- many people who set up a mailer for the first time have a return address which looks like joe@pizza instead of joe@pizza.cs.unc.edu. If you interact with the majordomo server successfully, you will receive mail. If you don't receive mail in about an hour, please don't continue to use the majordomo server as test bed.
Please note that the BOGUS release is COMPLETELY UNSUPPORTED: mail sent to the mailing list may not be answered, bugs may not be fixed, and it may be quite a while before there is another BOGUS release.
Dr. A.V. LeBlanc, the originator of MCC Interim Linux, comments: "BOGUS is a particularly well-designed release, and one which I feel is not sufficiently appreciated."
October 1994.
25 November 1995
Ian A. Murdock
The Debian Linux Association
Station 11
P.O. Box 3121
West Lafayette, IN 47906, USA
Net:
imurdock@gnu.ai.mit.edu
WWW:
http://www.debian.org/
FTP:
ftp://ftp.debian.org/debian/info
Debian GNU/Linux is a complete and fully-functional Unix-compatible operating system for the personal computer--specifically, the IBM PC and compatibles. Essentially, it is a preliminary release of the GNU operating system, integrating the finished parts of GNU with the Linux kernel and completing the system with freely redistributable software from a number of different sources and systems, including 4.4BSD-Lite. It is intended to be a freely redistributable replacement for commercial operating systems, but it can be used alongside MS-DOS, OS/2, Unix, etc. and can even reside on the same hard disk with them.
For more information about Debian GNU/Linux, please refer to the files at ftp://ftp.debian.org/debian/info in the directory or visit our World Wide Web page at http://www.debian.org/ .
Debian GNU/Linux is available via anonymous FTP from ftp.debian.org/debian ,
23 November 1995
The Debian distribution is currently under development by a ``semi-closed'' group of developers (rather then an individual) and has been adopted as the Free Software Foundation's Linux distribution.
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