linux--a free unix-386 kernel.htm

LINUX--a free unix-386 kernel written by ：Linus Torvalds October 10, 1991

</LI>
<LI><TT>/usr/local/bin:</TT>

<UL>
<LI><TT>gcc</TT>
</LI>
<LI>links to files in <TT>/usr/local/lib</TT> of your choice. I link
<TT>ld</TT>, <TT>as</TT>, <TT>nm</TT>, <TT>strip</TT> and <TT>size</TT> to their
counterparts in <TT>/usr/local/lib/gcc-XXX</TT>.
</LI>
</UL>
</LI>
<LI>Edit the <TT>linux/include/linux/config.h</TT> file for your system. 
This file contains the system-specific information: memory space, disk
types, root partition number (again the numbering is the same as in
Minix), keyboard type (currently just US and Finnish) etc. 
</LI>
<LI>Compile the L<SMALL>INUX</SMALL> sources.  A simple <TT>make</TT> should do the
trick, after you have edited the <TT>makefile</TT>s to suit your system
(ie, removed the <TT>-mstring-insns</TT> flag and changed the paths to suit
you.) Users of <TT>gcc</TT> versions earlier than 1.40 will probably have
to add <TT>gnulib</TT> to the `<TT>LIBS =</TT>'-line in the <TT>makefile</TT>. 
</LI>
<LI>Copy the resultant <TT>Image</TT>-file to a floppy (ie, <TT>cp Image
/dev/PS0</TT> or similar.)
</LI>
<LI>Reboot with the new floppy. The startup screen should tell you
that the system is booting (<TT>Loading system ...</TT>), then some vital
root file system information (<TT>xxx/XXX inodes/blocks free</TT>),
followed by a <TT>Ok.</TT> and the bash prompt (initially <TT>bash#</TT> if
you have no <TT>.bashrc</TT> file).
</LI>
</UL>

<P>
Hopefully you now have a functioning unix, and you are logged in as
<TT>root</TT>. L<SMALL>INUX</SMALL> currently has no <TT>'init'</TT> process, and as soon
as you log out, the system will <TT>sync</TT> and just wait. Use the
three-finger-salute to reboot your machine.

<P>
</LI>
</OL>

<P>

<H1><A NAME="SECTION00030000000000000000">
Things missing/incomplete in L<SMALL>INUX</SMALL></A>
</H1>

<P>
While L<SMALL>INUX</SMALL> is meant to be a fully selfsufficient kernel, this is
currently not the case. As already mentioned, you need Minix to set
things up, and to check the file system once it's running. There are a
number of other deficiencies:

<UL>
<LI>Incomplete hardware-support. Some of the standard features of an
AT are not currently supported. Most notably are floppy disk drives,
making using L<SMALL>INUX</SMALL> for real work (backing up etc) currently not
possible. Also some of the features of the serial lines aren't yet
implemented (hard-wired to 2400bps, no hang-up notification etc).
</LI>
<LI>Incomplete standard C library. The <TT>libc.a</TT> found in the gcc
distribution package is not complete, and I'm very much interested in
freely distributable library functions.
</LI>
<LI>Some of the system calls are not fully implemented.  This concerns
mostly ``seldom-used'' features like debugging (yeah, who needs it
anyway, don't all your programs work the first time <TT>:-)</TT> and some
other features. 
</LI>
<LI>As mentioned, no <TT>login</TT> and <TT>init</TT> processes. Currently
L<SMALL>INUX</SMALL> boots up in single-user mode, with the root as console-user.
This is enough for some porting work, but not really practical.
</LI>
<LI>387-support is not yet implemented, although some skeleton
routines are present. The gcc-binary found on <TT>`nic.funet.fi'</TT> will correctly use
soft-float (ie emulation function calls) for the four basic math
operations. 387-support will materialize as soon as a 387 finds its way
into my computer. Hopefully in a month or two.
</LI>
<LI>None of the important system-administration commands has yet been
written for L<SMALL>INUX</SMALL>. These include things like <TT>mkfs</TT>, <TT>format</TT>,
<TT>fsck</TT>, <TT>mknod</TT> etc. Some of these need kernel features not yet
implemented (<TT>format</TT>, <TT>mknod</TT>), some just need to be written.
As with the library, I'd welcome any freely distributable files.
</LI>
</UL>

<P>
As you can see, L<SMALL>INUX</SMALL> is as yet not a complete system.  Your help is
appreciated to make it better.  I'm not interested in Minix-commands
rewritten for L<SMALL>INUX</SMALL>, unless you have written them yourself from
scratch.  You are of course free (and encouraged) to use everything you
have in your Minix-distribution for your own L<SMALL>INUX</SMALL>-system, but due to
the Minix copyrights, they cannot be distributed to a wider audience.

<P>
Some of the probelms mentioned here will be fixed by me (ie serial
lines/387/floppy support) as soon as possible, but I'm hoping to get
help with the libraries etc.  Bug-reports/patches and wish-lists will be
appreciated, and if you actually have the patch to the problem, I'll try
to implement it right away. Small changes will be sent out as patches to
the mailing list and be set up on <TT>`nic.funet.fi'</TT>, but after heavy rewrites or
bigger patches, the whole system will be updated at <TT>`nic.funet.fi'</TT>.

<P>

<H1><A NAME="SECTION00040000000000000000">
Porting software for L<SMALL>INUX</SMALL></A>
</H1>

<P>
L<SMALL>INUX</SMALL> was designed to make porting relatively easy. Thus the full
<TT>termios</TT>-implementation, and the somewhat <TT>POSIX</TT> library. The
(admittedly relativly few) programs I've ported posed no problems.

<P>
Even though L<SMALL>INUX</SMALL> resembles Minix a great deal, Minix programs are not
generally easier to port than programs designed for some other unix.
Thus I wouldn't recommend starting from a Minix-version of a particular
program, but instead trying to port the ``virgin'' program from scratch.
Being closer to SYSV than BSD means that most programs port easily when
given a <TT>-DUSG</TT> or <TT>-DSYSV</TT> flag.

<P>
One of the more difficult problem in porting can be missing library
functions. These must be written by you, or copied from some other
source (Minix being one possibility for those that have it).
Alternatively, some programs (notably GNU) have various flags making it
possible to define which functions aren't available (the GNU fileutils
will compile quite nicely, once a sufficient number of
<TT>-DXXX_MISSING</TT> flags are added to the <TT>Makefile</TT>.)

<P>

<H2><A NAME="SECTION00041000000000000000">
Programs already ported</A>
</H2>

<P>
These programs have already been ported to L<SMALL>INUX</SMALL>:

<UL>
<LI>GNU cc (gcc, cc1, cpp)
</LI>
<LI>GNU assembler (as386)
</LI>
<LI>GNU binutils (ld, ar, nm, size, strip, ranlib)
</LI>
<LI>GNU compress (16-bit)
</LI>
<LI>GNU tar
</LI>
<LI>GNU make
</LI>
<LI>GNU bash (Bourne Again SHell)
</LI>
<LI>GNU sed
</LI>
<LI>GNU bison (yacc-lookalike)
</LI>
<LI>GNU awk
</LI>
<LI>GNU fileutils (ls, cp, rm, mkdir, rmdir, tail etc)
</LI>
<LI>less
</LI>
<LI>uemacs
</LI>
</UL>

<P>
All of the above sources can be found on <TT>`nic.funet.fi'</TT> (mostly in
<TT>`/pub/gnu'</TT>), and most of the L<SMALL>INUX</SMALL>-binaries can be found in the
directory <TT>'/pub/OS/Linux'</TT>. All of these programs compiled without changes, even
though gcc (cc1) has some enhancements of my own. Mail me for
diffs/sources, but try first to compile them yourself.

<P>
Additionally I have reports that GNU diff compiles cleanly and works.

<P>

<H1><A NAME="SECTION00050000000000000000">
Technical help</A>
</H1>

<P>
L<SMALL>INUX</SMALL> currently has a mailing-list, which you can subscribe to by
mailing to the address: <TT><B>[e-mail]</B></TT>
and asking to be included into the list.  You can then ask questions by
mailing them to <TT><B>[e-mail]</B></TT>, which will
duplicate your question/answer/whatever and send them to all persons on
the list. 

<P>
Note the difference between <TT>Linux-activists</TT> and
<TT>Linux-activists-request</TT> -- the first sends mail to all persons on
the list, the second is used only to subscribe and unsubscribe from the
list.

<P>
Naturally, you can also mail me directly at <TT><B>[e-mail]</B></TT>.  I'll try to answer all questions within a
day or two.

<P>
Although <TT>`nic.funet.fi'</TT> will probably be kept reasonably up-to-date, there are a
few problems with it (ie, I cannot personally get to the files, but have
to go through a couple of persons). Thus people on the mailing-list will
get patches/binaries faster if they ask for them.

<P>

<H1><A NAME="SECTION00060000000000000000">
Thanks</A>
</H1>

<P>
I'd like to thank the academy ...

<P>
Seriously, this system never would have seen the light of day or would
have been much worse without the help of some others.  Bruce Evans
helped me find the places needed to be changed in order for <TT>gcc</TT> to
correctly handle floating point, and came with a lot of useful
ideas/suggestions (and his Minix-386 was used to build the system). 
Also, Earl Chew's <TT>estdio</TT> package was used for the standard
IO-library.  More freely distributable packages like this!

<P>
Alain W Black and Richard Tobin made the gcc for Minix, without which I
couldn't have compiled the thing.  GNU made most of the programs I use
under L<SMALL>INUX</SMALL>.  Alfred Leung sent the US keyboard patches. 

<P>
PS. ``Thanks'' to <TT>[e-mail]</TT> for his
``constructive'' criticism and ``witty'' comments. He was also my first
<IMG
 WIDTH="14" HEIGHT="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0"
 SRC="img1.png"
 ALT="$\alpha$">-tester, and should be given a medal for courage.

<P>

<H1><A NAME="SECTION00070000000000000000">
About this document ...</A>
</H1>
 <STRONG>L<SMALL>INUX</SMALL>--a free unix-386 kernel</STRONG><P>
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Copyright &#169; 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996,
<A HREF="http://cbl.leeds.ac.uk/nikos/personal.html">Nikos Drakos</A>, 
Computer Based Learning Unit, University of Leeds.
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