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<!--
$FreeBSD$
about.sgml
General information about FreeBSD. Most contents of this file
come from the old ABOUT.TXT.
-->
<sect1>
<title>About &os;</title>
<para>&os; is an operating system based on 4.4 BSD
Lite for Intel, AMD, Cyrix or NexGen <quote>x86</quote> based PC
hardware and Compaq (formerly DEC) Alpha computers. Versions for
the IA64 and PowerPC architectures are currently under
development as well. &os; works with a
wide variety of peripherals and configurations and can be
used for everything from software development to games to Internet Service
Provision.</para>
<para>This release of &os; contains everything you need to run
such a system, including full source code for the kernel and all
utilities in the base distribution. With the
source distribution installed, you can literally recompile the entire
system from scratch with one command, making it ideal for students,
researchers, or users who simply want to see how it all works.</para>
<para>A large collection of third-party ported software (the
<quote>Ports Collection</quote>) is also provided to make it easy
to obtain and install all your favorite traditional UNIX
utilities for &os;. Each
<quote>port</quote> consists of a set of scripts to retrieve,
configure, build, and install a piece of software, with a single
command. Over 5000 ports, from editors to programming
languages to graphical applications, make &os; a powerful and
comprehensive operating environment that extends far beyond what's
provided by many commercial versions of UNIX. Most ports are also
available as pre-compiled <quote>packages</quote>, which can be
quickly installed from the installation program.</para>
<para>Pointers to more documentation on &os; can be found in the
<ulink
url="http://www.FreeBSD.org/handbook/bibliography.html#BIBLIOGRAPHY-FREEBSD">Books
& Magazines Specific to FreeBSD</ulink> section of the <ulink
url="http://www.FreeBSD.org/handbook/">FreeBSD Handbook</ulink>.
Because of &os;'s strong UNIX heritage, many other documents written
for UNIX systems are applicable as well. A selection of these books
can be found in the Handbook's <ulink
url="http://www.FreeBSD.org/handbook/bibliography.html">Bibliography</ulink>.
</para>
<para>If you're new to &os; then you should also read
all of the documentation files listed in <xref linkend="release-docs">,
all of which are available from the Documentation menu in the
installation program.
It may seem
like a lot to read, but it's important to at least acquaint yourself with
the types of information available, should you run into problems later. Once
the system is installed, you can also revisit this menu by running
the &man.sysinstall.8; utility.</para>
<para>On-line
versions of the <ulink
url="http://www.FreeBSD.org/faq/">FAQ (Frequently Asked
Questions)</ulink> document and <ulink
url="http://www.FreeBSD.org/handbook/">Handbook</ulink> are always
available from the <ulink
url="http://www.FreeBSD.org/">FreeBSD Project Web
site</ulink> or its mirrors.
If you install the
<filename>doc</filename> distribution set, you can use a
Web browser to read the FAQ and Handbook locally.</para>
<note>
<para>It is extremely important to read the errata for any given
release before installing it, to learn about any
<quote>late-breaking news</quote> or post-release problems.
The
errata file accompanying each release
(most likely right next to this file) is already out of
date by definition, but other copies are kept updated on the Internet
and should be consulted as the <quote>current errata</quote> for
this release. These
other copies of the errata are located at
<ulink url="http://www.FreeBSD.org/releases/"></ulink>
(as well as any sites which keep up-to-date mirrors of this
location).</para>
</note>
<warning>
<para>While &os; does its best to safeguard against accidental
loss of data, it is still more than possible to accidentally <emphasis>erase
entire disks</emphasis>
with this installation. Please remember to back up any important
data <emphasis>before</emphasis> beginning the &os;
installation process.</para>
</warning>
</sect1>
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