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1995-04-22
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NOTE: This file is the same as the readme.asc file, except that it has been
edited so that there are line breaks where necessary. The 'vi' editor didn't
like the readme.asc file, which is why I created this file. Also, references
to dialog box examples are =probably= found in the readme.ps file ...
-- David Paschall-Zimbel
----------------------------------cut here-----------------------------------
The MiNT distribution kit - version 2.0
1. About:
The MiNT distribution kit is a set of (currently 9) disks that attempt to make
it easier to install MiNT onto hard disk. The distribution is maintained by me
- Simon Gornall (sjg@unhygienix.ph.kcl.ac.uk) - and can be obtained via
anonymous ftp from the one of our DECstations (phlim.ph.kcl.ac.uk). The kit
will also be made available to Jeff Weiner at atari.archive.umich.edu
I lay no claim to any of the code contained within this distribution, save the
programs on the install disk (setup.prg and install.prg), which are placed into
the public domain with the proviso contained within their `about' dialogue. If
anyone is displeased with the manner of this distribution, because I have used
their programs without due recognition, or because I have not paid sufficient
attention to their distribution conditions, I would ask them to get in touch
with me at the above address. If we can't resolve the matter I will remove the
program(s) from the distribution kit.
Contained within the distribution kit are:
* MiNT 0.95.
* MinixFS 0.55.
* Gcc 2.2.2 - includes the mbaserel and pcbaserel addressing.
* Bellcore Windows MGR.
* GNU utils including sed, fileutils, etc.
* Init 1.0 - the multiuser extension to MiNT.
* Nroff-compatible manual system similar to un*x
* Many MiNT-aware shells (tcsh, bash, ash, sh, mintshel)
You will require an ST(e) with at least 1Mb ram, a free HD partition of
anything up to 14Mb, and ~500k on C:\ You will also require at least a 720k
drive. If there is sufficient demand from 360k drive owners then I will try to
convert the kit for the smaller disk size.
As and when new software appears, it will be incorporated into the distribution
as a patch disk. The interface to both the main installation and the patches
will be the same program - install. This is a point-and-click interface for the
selection of which programs to install, with the collection of individual
related programs / files into subsets. For example, the GCC distribution is in
three parts, the GCC header files, the GCC libraries, and the GCC binaries.
These may be selected by clicking on the relevant lines in the selection
window.
The kit comes on 9 disks currently. There are 8 data disks which contain
subsets. The ninth disk is the install disk. It contains 2 programs that aid in
the installation of the kit. The first is SETUP, the second INSTALL. The
purpose of SETUP is to get the system into a state in which the program INSTALL
may be used. Since INSTALL is a general installation program, it knows nothing
of what filesystem it is using etc., all this is left to SETUP to get right.
There is still the occaisional bug in both setup and install, but they are of
the 'annoying' rather than 'critical' variety. For example, setup sometimes
minit's a disk twice, but no harm is done. And install sometimes reads garbage
for a configuration. A quit and restart solves this.
2. Architecture:
The nine disks are labelled (informatively!) as disk1 ... disk9. Disk 1 is the
install disk. It contains the installation programs Setup and Install. The disk
also contains necessary programs that get placed in /bin and some for /etc. It
additionally installs the TOSwin accessory, and MiNT 0.95 together with the
MinixFS filesystem.
The rest of the disks are subset disks. A quick rundown of what is on what disk
follows ...
Disk 2:
Fileutils: Eric Smith's port of some of the GNU file utilities. This is almost
a mandatory subset, as it contains ls.ttp - how you get a disk directory under
a shell.
Bash: The GNU Bourne-again shell. (A clone of sh, the bourne shell). Quite a
nice version of sh, but quite large as well. It contains extensive online help,
which is useful for beginners.
Tcsh: The recommended shell for those with lots of memory. This is a clone
of csh, the C shell, with lots of additions.Unfortunately it is very big,
taking around 350k to run. This will be greatly relieved with the introduction
of MiNt 0.96, which allows two identical programs to share the same code
segment, so only one copy of the code is kept in memory when two identical
programs are being run. A shell is the prime example of a multiply- run
program.
Disk 3:
bin1: This is a collection of binaries I've made over some time. I'm not sure
where most of them have come from, so I've lumped them all together. If you
intend to use shells, then this is more or less a mandatory install.
Disk 4:
gcc222b: The GCC 2.2.2 binaries. All the latest stuff that has support for MiNT
0.96's sharable-text stuff as detailed above. Note that no g++ compiler is
included.
gcc222i: The include files for the GCC compiler. This holds the MiNT includes
as well as the standard GCC ones.
Disk 5:
gcc222l: The GCC 2.2.2 libraries. This includes the 'b' libraries that
support the shared-text MiNT 0.96 facility, as well as the normal libraries.
docs: Miscellaneous documentation. Lots of it. Includes manual pages, readme
files for programs, anything that doesn't fit somewhere else.
Disk6:
futil2: A more up to date version of the GNU fileutils.
rg10: A program + docs that let you run GEM programs from within the tty
interface of MiNT. For those who don't use the TOSwin environment.
tpipe: A program similar to tee in bin1, that lets you split unix pipes into
two.
sed: The GNU sed package. It lets you apply editing commands to a file (sed
stands for Stream EDitor). A very useful un*x tool.
Disk 7:
mnt95utl: MiNT utilities release 0.95. Provides programs such as 'ps' for
reporting processes currently running, 'top' which shows which process is
getting what amount of cpu etc.
akpbin: Andrew Pratt's utilities. These are similar to the GNU fileutils, but
use \ rather than / as a directory separator. I prefer /, so I use GNU utils,
and so I don't know whether these work as well as the GNU ones, There are more
GNU utils, and they always use /, so I suggest using the GNU utils.
cpx: This is a .cpx file which shows what processes are running. You need
Atari's Xtensible control panel to run this.
ksh: The Korn shell. Sworn by, by many. Alas, similarly sworn at by many. I'm
going to sit on the fence and say make up your own mind. I don't think it's as
friendly as tcsh, but more friendly than sh. Also, it's not as big as tcsh. A
good compromise ?
man3: A manual formatting package that uses nroff ( a un*x typesetting
language) to produce readable manual pages from their standard un*x form. This
needs some elements of the bin1 subset to be installed - namely
/usr/local/lib/nroff/tmac.an, and /usr/bin/more.ttp
elvis: A vi clone. Vi is the original un*x editor (it stands for VIsual), it
is actually a line-based editor pretending to be a screen-based editor. For
this reason, most people prefer different editors. Still, under proper un*x you
sometimes have to use it (for example in the special case vipw, which vi's the
passwd file)
jove: Jonathon's Own Version of Emacs. A reasonably complete editor, which is
my personal choice. Emacs is a screen editor, but some of the keys are a little
esoteric. Documentation is included.
Disk 8:
Ash: Ash is 'A SH clone', which you may or may not wish to install over /bin/sh
that is already in /bin. Docs (and a manual page) are included.
Init: Init is the multi-user extension to MiNT that makes it behave as though
it were a 'proper' un*x box, even down to the boot sequence. The /bin/sh is the
one that is installed as standard on the system. If you use multimnt.cnf, then
you must have installed this subset.
Disk 9:
mgr: Bellcore windows Manager. This is a windowing system developed for early
Sun un*x boxes. It is also available for the Pd un*x clone Linux. Now more or
less superseded by TOSwin - which allows GEM programs