-----------------
Yavuz
No brain, still headache.
Aglama, doverim!
---------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.announce
Subject: Linux/Alpha installable kit now available!
Message-ID: <3t34ph$mi@kruuna.helsinki.fi>
From: paradis@sousa.amt.tay1.dec.com (Jim Paradis)
Date: 1 Jul 1995 12:33:37 +0300
Sender: wirzeniu@cc.helsinki.fi
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation, Littleton MA
Keywords: Linux, Alpha, distribution, installation
Summary: it's not just for wizards anymore
Approved: linux-announce@news.ornl.gov (Lars Wirzenius)
Announcing - the first end-user-installable distribution of Linux/Alpha!
First, the location:
ftp://ftp.digital.com/pub/DEC/Linux-Alpha/1.2-64bit/BLADE
Now the details:
BLADE 0.1 (Basic Linux/Alpha Distribution Eyesore) is an installable
distribution of the Linux operating system for the Digital Alpha
microprocessor family. Unlike previous distributions, no special
expertise is required to configure and install BLADE 0.1, and no
host system is required to load the software onto the hard drive.
BLADE 0.1 is completely self-supporting; all you need is a system
with an SRM console and BLADE 0.1, and you can build a fully functional
Linux/Alpha system.
Note that BLADE 0.1 is not intended to be a finished, polished
distribution. It was assembled quickly in an attempt to provide
experimenters and end-users with the capability to install Linux/Alpha
on their systems without needing a host operating system or development
environment. It is an interim distribution which is only intended to
be used until such time as the more professional distributions
(Slackware, Debian, Red Hat, etc) have been ported to Linux/Alpha.
HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS
This version of BLADE 0.1 supports the Digital AXPpci/33 (aka NoName)
motherboard. Support for other platforms should appear shortly.
Following are the minimum hardware requirements:
Digital AXPpci/33 motherboard with SRM console firmware
8Mb or more main memory
1.44Mb floppy drive
100Mb or larger IDE or SCSI hard drive
(340Mb or larger suggested if you're going to do
any kind of serious software development)
VGA & monitor
Keyboard
Note that although Linux/Alpha supports IDE hard drives, the SRM
console cannot boot from them. Therefore, if you do not have a
SCSI hard drive in your system, you will have to boot Linux/Alpha
from floppy.
BLADE 0.1 COMPONENTS
BLADE 0.1 is based on a modified 1.2.8 Linux kernel; this kernel has
the Linus' Alpha patches as well as a few minor patches of our own.
The sources for this kernel are included in the BLADE 0.1 package.
BLADE 0.1 is supplied as a set of 1.44Mb floppy-disk images. Except
for the boot floppy, all floppies are in ext2 file system format. The
floppy images are grouped into subsets. Following are the subsets
available in BLADE 0.1:
noname_boot This is the boot image for Linux/Alpha
on AXPpci/33-based systems.
root_floppy This contains a minimal root filesystem
which is used during the installation
process.
b1-b8 These disks contain the "base" system
utilities and data files. This subset
is mandatory. When installed, this subset
occupies approximately 27 megabytes.
d1-d6 These disks contain the software development
tools: gcc, gas, ld, binutils, includes,
and libraries. Install this subset if you
are going to be doing any software development
under Linux/Alpha. When installed, this subset
occupies approximately 20 megabytes.
e1-e6 These disks contain GNU emacs 19.28 and related
files. Install this subset if you want
GNU Emacs and you can spare the disk space.
The "b" distribution includes the "vi" editor,
and other editors should not be difficult to
port. When installed, this subset occupies
approximately 25 megabytes.
k1-k3 These disks contain the kernel sources for
the 1.2.8 kernel used in BLADE 0.1. When
installed, this subset occupies approximately
12 megabytes.
Other subsets will be made available as I pull them together.
-- Jim Paradis (paradis@amt.tay1.dec.com) "It's not procrastination, Digital Equipment Corporation it's my new Just-In-Time (508)952-4047 Workload Management System!"
-- Send submissions for comp.os.linux.announce to: linux-announce@news.ornl.gov PLEASE remember Keywords: and a short description of the software.