Subject: Free MINIX now available for beta testing
From: [email-masked] (Andy Tanenbaum)
Date: Thu, 1 Jun 1995 20:49:10 GMT
Newsgroups: comp.os.minix

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 ([email-masked]).  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 ([email-masked])