CompuServe Messages

As I mentioned in another post, I picked up a copy of the Linux OS at a local swap meet. The CD comes with a brief manual and boot floppies. It's pretty wild. A user-supported UNIX style OS with X-Windows, TCP/IP, GNU C, TeX, and so on, and so on. I'll quote the Internet FAQ on LINUX: "Linux is a clone of the UNIX operating system that has been written entirely from scratch. It has no proprietary code in it. Linux is freely distributable under the GNU Public License. It only works on IBM PC compatibles with an ISA or EISA bus and a 386 or higher processor. See the FAQ for more exact hardware requirements. The Linux kernel is written by Linus Torvalds (torvalds@kruuna.helsinki.fi) from Finland. Most of the programs running under Linux are generic Unix freeware, many of them from the GNU project." Also from the FAQ, a description of the CD: "Yggdrasil Computing is producing a CD-ROM with Linux. Currently a beta version is available (beta referring to the fact that the contents are still evolving) This is a completely new distribution, not SLS. A complete listing of files is available via FTP from netcom.com in directory pub/yggdrasil. There is also a manual and other information there. Contact yggdrasil@netcom.com or call (510)526-7531, 9am-5:30pm, California time." The disk might be a bit cheaper at a computer swap meet, but you might not want to go to one. I haven't quite got mine installed yet . . . which is a whole other story. This is a BETA release! If you want to install it you should be a big UNIX head or very very patient – and get the internet FAQ before you try. Linux is discussed on internet at comp.os.linux and comp.os.linux.announce. Is it also somewhere on Compuserve? John