add directory Minix

Minix/beta/announcement

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+Newsgroups: comp.os.minix
+Path: cs.vu.nl!ast
+From: ast@cs.vu.nl (Andy Tanenbaum)
+Subject: Free MINIX now available for beta testing
+Nntp-Posting-Host: fluit.cs.vu.nl
+Sender: news@cs.vu.nl
+Organization: Fac. Wiskunde & Informatica, VU, Amsterdam
+Date: Thu, 1 Jun 1995 20:49:10 GMT
+Message-ID: <D9IHty.J00.0.-s@cs.vu.nl>
+Summary: MINIX by FTP !
+Lines: 44
+
+
+Prentice-Hall and I have decided to change our policy concerning MINIX.
+Starting shortly, MINIX 1.7.0 will be distributed free by FTP for
+educational and research use.
+
+The differences between Minix 1.6.25 and 1.7.0 for the PC are:
+
+- A 386 version
+- ANSI C compiler included
+- Loadable keymaps (for national keyboards)
+- Online manual pages (many new ones, but not complete)
+- Numerous little fixes
+- TCP/IP drivers and utilities (not as complete as one may hope)
+- Interrupt code restructured (readable, configurable)
+- Rebooting commands and kernel support (allows safe shutdown)
+- Booting from hard disk is now normal, booting from floppy the exception
+- Restructured device drivers:
+  + Support for up to four subpartitions in a Minix primary disk partition
+  + Support for up to four logical partitions per DOS extended partition
+  + Floppy partitions
+  + AT disk driver knows about IDE and should support EIDE
+  + Adaptec 1542A disk and tape driver (SCSI)
+
+A beta test version is now available for FTPing on ftp.cs.vu.nl in directory
+pub/minix/beta.  See the README file there for further instructions.  We would
+like people who want to be beta testers to fetch MINIX and test it.  Please
+report bugs to Kees Bot (kjb@cs.vu.nl).  Kees has done a huge amount of work
+preparing 1.7.0.  He and Philip Homburg have also produced a 32-bit virtual
+memory MINIX, which will be released to the net by FTP as soon as "classic"
+MINIX has been released and is stable.
+
+Manual page references you should read first: usage(8), boot(8), hier(7).
+Manual pages that document some of the differences with 1.6.25:
+boot(8), loadkeys(8), ip(4), hd(4), sd(4), fd(4), shutdown(8), usage(8).
+
+In addition, the MINIX book is being rewritten by myself and my co-author,
+Al Woodhull.  It will probably include all of MINIX on a CD-ROM in the
+back of the book.  We are hoping to finish it by Spring of 1996.
+
+I will be away at ICDCS-15 and various universities from 28 May until
+11 June.  I may read mail and news sporadically during that time, so it is
+better to send bug reports to Kees or post them to the newsgroup.
+
+Andy Tanenbaum (ast@cs.vu.nl)