I have made the Linux 0.97.1 rootimage available on tsx-11.mit.edu (in
~ftp/pub/linux/images) and reggae.oit.unc.edu (in
~ftp/pub/Linux/Incoming).
Sums: (obtained with GNU sum under Linux, and sum under Dynix)
rootimage-0.97.1.Z 06390 652
rootimage-0.97.1 34659 1200
I expect to release 0.97.2 sometime in early September, and all
binaries on that disk will be compiled with gcc 2.2.2d (or the most
current version at the time) against jump table libraries.
CHANGES IN THE LINUX v0.97.1 ROOT DISKETTE
Jim Winstead Jr. - 16 August 1992
This file mostly contains info about the changes in the root diskette
from Linux v0.97 to Linux v0.97.1.
CHANGES
With the release of Linux v0.95a, the maintenance of the root diskette
has been assumed by Jim Winstead Jr. (jwinstea@jarthur.Claremont.EDU).
This continues with the release of the Linux 0.97.1 release diskette.
The changes between the Linux 0.97.1 and Linux 0.97 root diskettes are
detailed below, and the changes in earlier releases are summarized
after that:
- fixed mount.
A few hours after releasing 0.97, I figured out why
mount wasn't working correctly with the MS-DOS
filesystem. 'mount' now does things correctly, and
will even pass 'odd' mount options correctly (i.e. the
conv=something option for the MS-DOS fs). Thanks to
Werner Almesberger for providing smount, from which
most of my changes to Doug Quale's mount were taken.
- made passwd sgid system.
I forgot to last time, which made /etc/passwd belong to
whatever group the person who last changed their password
belonged to. Thanks to Scott Mace (emace@tenet.edu) for
spotting this one.
- fixed bug in /etc/termcap.
The 'is' and 'rs' strings had an extra colon in them,
and the k? strings were wrong. Special thanks to
Jaakko.Hyvatti@Helsinki.FI for pointing this out.
- fixed pax (some).
Pax was broken in a few spots, and I've been trying to
clean it up. In particular, it would give some false
errors because it would try to create some directories
twice. Duh. I'm also trying to bring it up to POSIX
compliance, since it's quite out of date.
- fixed problems with GNU fileutilities.
The GNU fileutilities (cp, du and ls in particular)
were making some bad assumptions about the blocksize
on filesystems. I think I've tracked that all down.
Also, fixed ls so it recognizes the dir and vdir
counterparts using argv[0] instead of seperate filenames.
I was also able to trim some size off a few utilities
due to functions available in libc.
- compiled GNU text utilities to use getopt/regex from libc.
I also fixed cat so you can use it with the various
options (like -v, etc). This saved over 30k. (Wow!)
- compiled GNU shell utilities to use getopt/regex from libc.
This saved another 30k. Wow again!
- compiled GNU tput to use termcap from shared libs.
A lot of the changes to be like this, don't they? :)
Saved about 4k here.
- compiled sed with -N.
Saved 6k. :)
- added creation of user account to /INSTALL/install.
The install script now asks for a username to create an
account for and sets it up. This should encourage not
using 'root' all the time.
If you have questions, problems, or complaints about the root
diskette, either post to comp.os.linux, or send mail to me at
jwinstea@jarthur.Claremont.EDU.
If you have questions, problems, or complaints about the boot diskette
or the kernel itself, post to comp.os.linux or send mail to Linus
Torvalds at torvalds@cc.helsinki.fi.
Remember, the only stupid questions are the ones you don't ask.
SUMMARY
This section very briefly summarizes previous changes.
0.96 -> 0.97
- many small binaries were added.
- ps, w, uptime, and related utilities were removed.
- migrated mount/umount/swapon from /bin to /etc.
- moved 'rootdev' to /usr/bin and renamed to 'setroot'.
- removed /lib/libhard.2.2.2 and moved /lib/libsoft.2.2.2 to
/lib/libm.2.2.2, instead of using a symlink.
- upgraded efdisk and renamed to fdisk.
- fixed compress to work with long filenames.
- brought device names up to standards.
- revised /etc/group.
- revised /etc/passed.
- changes file permissions and ownerships.
- fixed up the install script where it was broken.
- fixed the install documentation to refer to pax.
- minor gaffes from 0.96 fixed (/etc/getty linked with shared
libs, correct file ownerships, etc)
0.95a -> 0.96
- reintroduced GNU bash as /bin/sh
- replaced GNU tar (/bin/tar) with POSIX pax utility
- all-new and improved installation script
- split /etc/rc into /etc/rc and /etc/rc.local
- new mount/umount/swapon with auto-mounting - uses /etc/fstab
- recompiled all utilities with shared libraries (gcc 2.2.2)
- added /dev/MAKEDEV - device creation script
- all new /etc/termcap using "tc=con-unk" entries
FUTURE CHANGES
I'm already anticipating some changes for future releases, so here's
a sneak preview:
- the install script will be improved. The current one was
written rather rapidly, so there are parts of it I'm not
entirely happy with. Michael K. Johnson (johnsonm@stolaf.edu)
has said he is working on this and the update script (below).
- I'd like to write an update script that will allow people who
have already installed Linux to update their binaries from the
latest root disk. The install script could serve as a base
for this, but is a little destructive at present. (It would
simply copy over old binaries, etc.)
- program to allow the 'intro' login to be more interactive, and
will also serve more general purposes (it will be a generic
curses-based file-selector with support for file descriptions).
- the documentation on disk will be cleaned up, and possibly
added to.
- fill in the gaps in the MAKEDEV script. (SCSI tapes, more pty
devices.)
- the release after the extended filesystem is added to the
Linux kernel, the root disk will use it. That means v0.98, if
things go according to current plans. This is to allow time
for bugs in the extended filesystem to filter out, and for the
new mkfs and fsck to stabilize. (For those that don't know,
the extended filesystem supports 4 terabyte partitions and long
filenames, and is currently in testing.)
Again, mail your questions, comments and suggestions about the root
diskette to me at jwinstea@jarthur.Claremont.EDU.
--
+ Jim Winstead Jr. (CSci '95)
| Harvey Mudd College, WIBSTR
| jwinstea@jarthur.Claremont.EDU
+ or jwinstea@fenris.Claremont.EDU
