ast@cs.vu.nl (Andy Tanenbaum) (09/17/90)
1. WHAT IS MINIX 1.5 MINIX 1.5 is a new version of an operating system that is very similar to UNIX. MINIX has been written from scratch, and therefore does not contain any AT&T code--not in the kernel, the compiler, the utilities, or the libraries. For this reason it can be made available with the complete source code (on diskette). It runs on the IBM PC, XT, AT, PS/2, 386, and most clones. Versions are also available for the Atari ST, Macintosh, and Amiga. This version (1.5) is a major improvement over all previous releases, with many new features, fewer bugs (hopefully), much better performance, and proper documentation. The old versions have been in widespread use all over the world for 3 years. There are probably tens of thousands of users. 2. MINIX 1.5 FEATURES (IBM, Macintosh, Atari, and Amiga versions) - System call compatible with V7 of the UNIX operating system - Full multiprogramming (multiple programs can run at once) - Kernighan and Ritchie compatible C compiler - Shell that is functionally identical to the Bourne shell - Five editors (emacs subset, vi clone, ex, ed, and simple screen editor) - Over 175 utilities (cat, cp, ed, grep, kermit, ls, make, sort, etc.) - Over 200 library procedures (atoi, fork, malloc, read, stdio, etc.) - Spelling checker with 40,000 word English dictionary - Full source code (in C) supplied on diskettes (OS, utilities, libraries) - Easy-to-read manual telling all about MINIX and how to install and use it 3. ADDITIONAL FEATURES In addition to the above features, there are other features present in some (but not all) versions of MINIX 1.5. Some of these are listed below. 3.1 ADDITIONAL MINIX 1.5 FEATURES (IBM VERSION): - Runs in protected mode on 286 and 386 - Support for extended memory up to 16M on 286 and 386 - Up to 3 simultaneous users on one machine - RS-232 serial line support with terminal emulation, kermit, zmodem, etc. - Distributed computing on Ethernet (remote login, etc.) 3.2 ADDITIONAL MINIX 1.5 FEATURES (MACINTOSH VERSION): - Up to 3 simultaneous users on one machine - RS-232 serial line support with terminal emulation, kermit, zmodem, etc. - Runs under Multifinder - Includes support for multiple user windows 3.3 ADDITIONAL MINIX 1.5 FEATURES (ATARI ST VERSION) - Up to 2 simultaneous users on one machine - RS-232 serial line support with terminal emulation, kermit, zmodem, etc. - Support for various real time clocks (Mega, BMS, ICD, Supra, Weide) 4. HARDWARE REQUIRED - IBM: PC, XT, AT, PS/2, or 386 that is 100% hardware compatible with the IBM line. A hard disk not technically required, but is strongly recommended to take full advantage of the system. At least 512K of RAM is required, as well as a CGA, EGA, monochrome, or Hercules video card, or another card that emulates one of these. Both 5.25" and 3.5" diskettes are supported, as are printers using the parallel port and modems and terminals using the serial port. - Macintosh: Apple Macintosh Plus, SE, SE/30, II, IIcx, or IIx with at least 1M of RAM. An additional 1M of RAM and a hard disk is strongly recommended. MINIX has been tested primarily with version 6.0 and latter of the Apple system software. Problems may conceivably arise with earlier versions. Any hard disk or display that is supported by the normal Macintosh OS is also supported by MINIX. - Atari: Atari ST or Mega ST with at least 1M of RAM. Although the system will boot with only 512K, you will be very restricted in what you can do. A 720K diskette drive is required to install the software. The older 360K diskette drives are supported, but are not capable of reading the (720K) distribution disks. A hard disk is supported, but is optional. - Amiga: Commodore Amiga 500 or 2000 with at least 1M of RAM. One 720K diskette drive is sufficient. A hard disk is not required (or even supported). To use a hard disk with the Amiga, someone familiar with how this disk works will have to write a driver for it. If this driver is then posted to the net, it will be possible to use a hard disk with MINIX on the Amiga. 5. PARTIAL LIST OF UTILITIES INCLUDED IN MINIX 1.5 animals ar ascii at atrun backup badblocks banner basename bawk btoa cal cat cdiff cgrep chgrp chip chmem chmod chown clr cmp comm compress cp cpdir crc cron ctags cut date dd de df dhrystone diff diskcheck dosdir dosread doswrite du echo ed elle ex expand expr factor fgrep file find fold fortune fsck gather getlf getty grep gres head ic id ifdef indent inodes kill last leave ln login look lpr ls m4 machine mail make man mined mkdir mkfs mknod modem more mount mref mv nm nroff od passwd paste patch pr prep pretty printenv printroot ps pwd readall readfs recover ref rev rm rmdir roff rz sed shar size sleep sort spell split strings strip stty su sum sync sz tail tar tee term termcap test time touch tr traverse treecmp true tset tsort ttt umount unexpand uniq unshar update users uud uue vi vol wc whatsnew whereis which who whoami width write 6. PARTIAL LIST OF LIBRARY FUNCTIONS INCLUDED IN MINIX 1.5 abort abs access alarm atoi atol bcmp bcopy chmod chown chroot ctermid ctime ctype curses cuserid doprintf dup dup2 fgetc fgets fopen fork fpathconf fprintf fputc fputs fread freopen fseek fstat ftell fwrite getcwd getdents getegid getenv geteuid getgid getutil gtty index ioctl isatty kill link lock lrand lsearch lseek malloc memccpy memchr memcmp memcpy memmove memset message mkdir mkfifo mknod mktemp nlist open opendir pathconf pause peekpoke perror rand read readdir regexp regsub rename setbuf setgid setjmp setuid signal sleep sprintf stat strerror strlen strncat strncmp strncpy strpbrk strrchr strspn system telldir termcap time times tmpnam ttyname umask umount 7. CONTENTS OF MINIX 1.5 REFERENCE MANUAL Chap. 1 INTRODUCTION Chap. 2 INSTALLING MINIX ON THE IBM PC, XT, AT, 386, AND PS/2 Chap. 3 INSTALLING MINIX ON THE ATARI S Chap. 4 INSTALLING MINIX ON THE COMMODORE AMIGA Chap. 5 INSTALLING MINIX ON THE APPLE MACINTOSH Chap. 6 USING MINIX Chap. 7 RECOMPILING MINIX Chap. 8 MANUAL PAGES Chap. 9 EXTENDED MAN PAGES Chap. 10 SYSTEM CALLS Chap. 11 NETWORKING App. A MINIX SOURCE CODE LISTING App. B CROSS REFERENCE MAP 8. MINIX BOOK The author of MINIX, Andrew S. Tanenbaum, has written a book describing how operating systems in general and MINIX in particular work internally. The book describes an earlier version (and includes a source listing), but it is still useful for understanding how MINIX works inside, even if some details are now different. The bibliographic information is: Title: Operating Systems: Design and Implementation Author: Andrew S. Tanenbaum Publisher: Prentice-Hall ISBN: 0-13-637406-9 Paperback versions are also available in English (outside North America only), French, Spanish, Italian, and Japanese. The books can be ordered from any bookstore. 9. HOW TO ORDER MINIX 1.5 MINIX 1.5 is being sold by Prentice-Hall. The product numbers and prices are as follows: - MINIX 1.5 for the IBM: 5 1/4" (0-13-585076-2) $169 - MINIX 1.5 for the IBM: 3 1/2" (0-13-585068-1) $169 - MINIX 1.5 for the Amiga (0-13-585043-6) $169 - MINIX 1.5 for the Atari (0-13-585035-5) $169 - MINIX 1.5 for the Macintosh (0-13-585050-9) $169 (available Oct. 1) Sales tax and shipping are extra; Prices are slightly higher outside the U.S. All versions include the executable binaries, a detailed manual, the complete source code (on diskettes), and an attractively typeset, cross-referenced listing of the operating system code. P-H is making a big effort to get software stores to keep MINIX in stock. The easiest way to order it is to go to a software store and ask them for it. If they don't stock it, they can always order it. Alternatively, you can order directly by email, FAX, phone, or mail from Prentice-Hall as follows. In North America and the Far East To order by email: books@prenhall.com To order by FAX: (201) 767-5625 To order by phone: (800) 624-0023 or (201) 767-5969 To order by mail: Microservice Customer Service Simon & Schuster 200 Old Tappan Road Old Tappan, NJ 07675 In UK/Europe To order by email: books@prenhall.com To order by FAX: +1 (201) 767-5625 (US number) To order by phone: +44 (442) 231-555 (UK number) To order by mail: Order Dept. Prentice-Hall International 66 Wood Lane End Hemel Hempstead Herts. HP2 4RG ENGLAND For email and FAX orders, please include the product name and number, your name and address, and your MasterCard or VISA card number and expiration date. If you wish delivery by Federal Express (costs extra), please indicate so. MINIX can also be ordered from the following addresses: In England: The MINIX Center Forncett End Norwich Norfolk NR16 1HT England 0953-89345 In Germany: Steve Steinkrauss Feldtorweg 24 D3406 Bovenden 1 Germany In the Benelux: Fred van Kempen Postbus 184 2100 AD Heemstede Holland Tel: +31 23 287935 FAX: +31 23 294229 In Scandinavia: Frank O'Donell P.O. Box 88 1371 Asker Norway In Spain and Deborah Worth Portugal: Appartado Numero 50672 Madrid Spain In Italy: Jim Blaho Piazza Santo Spirito 17 50125 Florence Italy In Greece: Vassilis Zahos Kritonos 5-7 GR 11634 Athens Greece In Turkey: Atilla Gullu Milli Mudafaa Cad 14/7 Kizilay Ankara Turkey If you have previously purchased MINIX from Prentice-Hall, you can get a discount of $60, but only if you order by mail and include the label from the original PH boot disk (or the entire disk) with your letter. Not valid for email, phone or FAX orders since you must enclose the original boot disk label (not a photocopy). Mail orders can be by credit card or check for $169. You will be billed for tax and shipping. 10. LEGAL STATUS OF MINIX Although MINIX is supplied with the complete source code, it is copyrighted software. It is not public domain. It is also not like GNU. However, the copyright owner, Prentice-Hall has granted permission to bona fide universities to copy the software for use in courses and in university research projects. It is also permitted for MINIX owners to change the software to suit their needs and to distribute diff listings containing their changes freely. The shrink-wrap license that comes with MINIX states that you may legally make two backup copies of the software. Prentice-Hall is being much less strict than other software vendors. Please do not abuse this. Companies that wish to embed MINIX in commercial systems or sell MINIX-based products should call (212) 995-7788 to discuss licensing terms. 11. NEWS ABOUT MINIX Since its introduction in January 1987, there has been a large an active USENET newsgroup about MINIX, comp.os.minix. It currently has about 25,000 members. Over 12,000 messages have been posted to this group so far. These messages have contained questions, bug reports, bug fixes, new software, and diff listings to allow current users to update to new releases for free. It is the intention to continue this policy into the indefinite future. MINIX users on Bitnet can be put on a mailing list by sending mail to: info-minix-request@udel.edu. Various archives store newsgroup traffic for newcomers to the newsgroup. 12. FUTURE PLANS The major current project is bringing MINIX into conformance with the IEEE POSIX P1003.1 and P1003.2 standards. This will (hopefully) occur with V2.0, perhaps in 1992. V2.0 will also be provided with an ANSI C compiler. Various people are currently working on 32-bit versions of MINIX for the 386, and numerous other projects. To keep up, subscribe to the comp.os.minix newsgroup.