MirBSD — More connectivity than ever

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MirBSD — More connectivity than ever

⚠ This page contains old, outdated, obsolete, … historic or WIP content! No warranties e.g. for correctness!

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This is an archived weblog of the development leading to MirOS. All entries are courtesy of tg@ and historic.

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15.04.2003
Okay, so it's official - MirBSD#4 will ship with not tested boot images, since noone wants to help me out. I will try and check if the bsd.rd one boots, at least. Sync to OpenBSD-current completed today; imported driver for PLIP networking over parallel lines. XFree86 builds, packages and runs fine - except that ctrl-alt-backspace seems to not work any more. Anyways, you can exit evilwm gracefully now.

15.04.2003
Prepare the release of MirBSD#4 at home, try if everything builds; sync packaging lists; rebuild gcc, so one can do make release after rebuilding again.

156.04.2003
Release MirBSD #4 by tagging the CVS repo.

16.04.2003
Information on the release

(old; the release has been subject to bit rot)The MirBSD #4 release binary distribution is available from [hyperlink updated] the usual place at TOH, including the bsd and bsd.rd kernels, the base system and X-Window dist tarballs as well as sample packages and a cd9660 ISO image which includes a bootable filesystem, licence and checksum information, and is PGP signed.

Warranty: since I can't verify OpenBSD (Theo or Wim could be feeding me trojans, for all I know), I can only give a guarantee that the files I sign are verbatim as in "I made them and loaded them up, use at your own risk".

Additional downloads: at [hyperlink updated] the usual place at BSDadvocacy you will find the ISO image and its detached PGP signature as well. In addition, you can download tarballs of the checked out source tree (including X-Window and the kernel) and the ports tree. These are ready for use with MirBSD's anoncvs server. Their checksums are documented on the ISO image as well.
If someone desires a RAIDframe enabled kernel, additional packages or other features, talk with me; I'm sure we'll find a solution.


16.04.2003
At midnight, finish uploading the release files. They are now officially usable; the tree is open for further development. Note that the CVS tag has moved a bit until now. It's frozen as of 23:59 UTC today.

19.04.2003
Development is a bit slowed down at the moment, since other people are testing ELF and fixing ports at the moment (I am doing basically the same, except that I paused testing WineX/ReWind). I'm making holidays, bringing a router/server up from 3.2 to MirBSD#4 and testing ISDN functionality, but I still hope for people testing MirBSD.
I'd appreciate everyone using MirBSD telling me so, e.g. by eMail or IRC. I don't mind those notices being anonymously sent.

20.04.2003
If you get the source to MirBSD#4, please note that you should update the directory src/distrib/i386/cdfs/ to -current because of a known bug. Thank you.

25.04.2003
Being in Berlin, .de, on more-or-less holidays and installing MirBSD#4 for people, I play a bit with the system, shoot my ld.so *oops* and restore it, and sync the most difficult parts with OpenBSD-current (the a.out->ELF ones, in order to ease future merges). I think I'll do a sync shortly before the Hackathon as well.
I should test ISDN support here. At least I was able to netboot the MirBSD snap#2 bsd.rd with pxegrub using the filename "pxegrub"; command in /etc/dhcpd.conf. You can actually use the MirBSD#4 ELF /usr/mdec/installboot executable within that, in order to bootstrap an upgrade on a floppy- and CDROM-less box (I had to... oops ;)
Still to test: ISDN, PLIP, ATM, Install via pppd (floppyA), Install via ppp/pppoe or ppp/isdn (floppy_CD), Install via NFS. Still to code: WineX/ReWind.

03.05.2003
So far, templeofhate has been offline quite a lot of time, and not many people could get MirBSD while OpenBSD switched to ELF as well. I have been in Berlin, making holidays and installing MirBSD for users, fixing some bugs. What else I did, is noted in the ChangeLogs.
Summary: get rid of YP and NLS. shrink lib/csu, unsplit mi/md. some RCS Id fixes. sync to -current XF4 changes. implement ENOCOFFEE. sync acronymes. care about ports. write new LBA-capable MBR, biosboot and (ugly) installboot. fix $PS1 and /etc/profile.

04.05.2003
I need new hardware. Definitively. My laptop likes to power itself off whenever it likes. It's no BSD problem.

05.05.2003
It's flag day for me and for MirBSD. I'm currently involved in synching to -current and will upload a snapshot of MirBSD#4-current when the OpenBSD hackathon starts next weekend. I'm happy because my MBR code will probably go in, and Toby hasn't even complained about me using .intel_syntax noprefix!

06.05.2003
The MirBSD snap#2 bsd.rd and pxegrub (see above) have been included in binary form into MirBSD today. Since the GNU Grub bootloader is licenced under the GNU GPLv2, I have made the source code with hacks of which it was apparently built available on this site because I have no idea whether GPL §3c will suffice to allow us distribution of the binary at any point in the future. Note it must be built on a GNU/Linux operating system on i386.

08.11.2003 - Update
pxegrub has become a port, so there is no need to retain that file any more.

12.05.2003
Before wading into illness, I managed to screw up my libc.so - thus leaving me with nothing but Windows® for several days, until my mind got enough power back to work on it again. It seems to have been a gcc issue.
Running an ed(1) script over cvs - the import vendor is not openbsd-{src,xf4,ports} but just openbsd now.
Revenge! I had to help the OpenBSDcows to set up their cvsweb at BSDadvocacy - noone else was able to! hehehehe...

12.05.2003
Seems as if Hackathon has started - Miod kindly told us that if the breweries (beer) in .ca weren't en par with those here, he would not be there now. Well, I took my headache-free time as well, and got rid of the last bit C++ code in MirBSD, GNU groff. I imported the 4.4BSD nroff instead, with all its tools - nroff was encumbered with AT&T code, but Caldera International has been so kind to release UNIX® 32V under a UCB-style 4-clause licence which allows us to include it absolutely freely. Switch temporarily back to gcc 2.95, ELF, no W^X, in order to go through flag day again - failsafe this time (I hope). After that, upgrade to gcc 3.2.3 and not 3.2.2 again.

13.05.2003
Sync in parts against OpenBSD-current, make bootable, compileable and walk across "flag day". Break the egcc ports, modularize mk.conf and adjust manpages. Prepare to release a snapshot after a throughought function test. Someone please fix my Inglisch.

14.05.2003
Fix the base system, plug leaks in nroff and tbl, sync distrib sets/lists. Fix ISDN4BSD: get rid of the NetBSD callout API. (I got an offer that i4b will be imported into OpenBSD if it works.)

15.05.2003
gcc 3.3 is broken. Licence sweep through src/gnu/ with the result being the removal of several GNU-FDL-licensed documents.

16.05.2003
Strip the codebase a bit - remove XFree86 3.3.6 (people who want to use an old server should get Microsoft® Windows for Workgroups 3.11 and Starnet X-Win32 (no kidding, works fine here) if the box is an X terminal, else use it as router/server or get a new graphics card), as well as a whole shitload of files not used in the build process. Building XFree86 with pgcc is not tested yet, that's why no dist-list sync. If nobody volunteers to fix gcc 3.3, I will probably ship a new version of MirBSD ("interim", v5) with pgcc only. This will break a lot, since the code generated is larger.

17.05.2003
Not so much work today. Unbreak the tree after the recent removal of NLS, PO, INTL and several texinfo documents with unfree licences. Make isdn finally work (verified). Add an option to autostart isdnd to /etc/rc.conf. Install MirBSD-current at a friends' over NFS. And set him up an ISDN router - works flawless, like a charm.

19.05.2003
Add an option to auto-start isdnd to /etc/rc{,.conf}. Add a 'make obj' to X-Window which does the lndir unless it's already linked. Break X-Window, because it needs C++ to build. DRM breaks the X-Window tree, as well as a removal of code I did in error some days ago which I fixed manually. Unify joe-2.8 and joe-2.9 ports, install all rc files in both ports. Work hard on the ramdisks, especially the RAMDISK_CD which is better documented, synched with GENERIC in layout, has all possible options in its Makefile. The size of the integrated rdroot was increased to 5 Mebibytes; bsd.rd is now nearly 7 Mebibytes in size (it still fits on the 2880 Kibibytes floppies!). NFS works, MFS got added, RAIDframe is now supported in GENERIC and RAMDISK_CD. Add framework for floppyM33.fs which gets synched against cdrom33.fs, but is 1440 Kibibytes; independent of OpenBSD. Enable softupdates in CD and _M kernels and userland. Start using GNU screen, add some nice options to it by default and undefault. Sync the GNU midnight commander library with the screen and PuTTY term defs. Tell mtree that /var/mail is 1777, not 0755. Copy the manual page of ed(1) to the ramdisks. Make RAMDISK_CD nearly as powerful as GENERIC, which makes it possible to use it as a chroot hoster. Enable DEBUG support in in-tree (but not ramdisk) isdnd. Unconditionally enable ISDN and ATM support in ppp(8) since the code is in the tree, and it will even work when it's not in the kernel. Work on the in-tree naming of the next release (MirBSD #5 (interim)). Finally implement a 10 second timeout in the MirBSD MBR boot manager; send the diffs back to OpenBSD and work with Toby Weingartner on biosboot/installboot (he does boot). Uhm, did I forget something? Well, remind me to write an actual release announcement for the next MirBSD release.

20.05.2003
MirBSD now installs to &h27 partitions instead of &hA6 partitions by default. These are of type "MirBSD disklabel", and in the future, we will likely employ "MirBSD native" types or use the Microsoft® LVM database to finally get rid of the MBR and disklabel shit. When I get the time, that is.

21.05.2003
Fix DNS, prepare some heavier work, sync against OpenBSD-current tree.

22.05. - 23.05.2003
Work on the new bootloader and a nroff document describing the fatfs MS-DOS® FAT compatible file system as standard.

20.05. - 22.05.2004
The OpenBSD developers, most admins, wannabees, users and all lusers, should shut up and hack, or get a life, or, well, apply for the Darwin Award.

24.05.2003
I should code fatfs. But therefore I need to write the standards document. I should code pbr.S - but need the fatfs standard for the BPB naming conventions.
I'm sick of working with computers at the moment. I'll just try to make the tree build again atm. Snapshot available, just mail me or meet me in IRC, and I'll provide you one.

25.05.2003
The RAMDISKs work now; NTFS install support as well(!). If you want the BOOTMANAGER mbr code, just use the (u)pdate command to fdisk; if you want the SIMPLE mbr code, call fdisk like:
# fdisk -ef FILENAME_THAT_DOES_NOT_EXIST wd0
and it will complain about being unable to open the MBR code file and use its own which I synched with the !BOOTMANAGER one.

26.05.2003
Due to certain recent issues I restrain from trying to help people by back-porting my changes to OpenBSD, they will have to use MirBSD instead. No licence restrictions though. In addition, I will host ports that get removed from the OpenBSD base system for political reasons, or that get submitted to me, whether they run under MirBSD or OpenBSD or both.

26.05.2003
Fix -man.old manual pages. ssfe is in the base system now (Licence: GNU GPL, Version 1).

01.06.2003
Play with X, finally get decent xterm with vga font

02.06.2003
Play with the boot sectors, but not enough yet.

05.06.2003
Okay, we got full LBA and autoCHS boot support, and start synching against OpenBSD-current. The next release might be imminent because I have customers that need them.

06.06.2003
LBA, RAID work. Next release will appear on Tuesday, and hit the mirrors a few later.

07.06.2003
The codebase is fine. It compiled through, except for a case of PEBKAC (I deleted a man page, but forgot to remove it from the Makefile), even X built and the manpages are not garbled any more. Made a snapshot, installed it on a test system on /dev/raid0a as root, installation went over NFS. Superb so far. MirBSD#5 is an interim release (due to the gcc issues) but it will rock!

09.06.2003
Prepare the release, finally. Double building, doule checking, synching lists, MFCing latest OpenBSD diffs.


Follow this hRef (hypertext reference) to read about the story of MirBSD after the release #6, or go back to the log overview or to the MirOS main page.

Hope you like it. Have a lot of fun...

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