4.4bsd question

[Kevin D. Kinsey, DaleCo, S.P.]

Karim Ali wrote:

> Hello there,
>
>    I would like to know which is the latest version of the 
> "4.4BSD-lite" Kernel and also could you send me a copy (preferably the 
> one which FreeBSD ships with)??
> please email it to karim18 at gmail.com , as such i found one online but 
> it was modded quite a bit and I couldnt figure out the one which comes 
> with FreeBSD 4.7, (Sorry i'm not all that bright so not having 
> documentation about the kernel really gives me nightmares), also if 
> you could direct me to the documentation, and also if you could direct 
> me to where I could go about getting information on the development of 
> drivers for the kernel (in specific for WiFi 802.11b/g Lan cards, 
> although i'm not to sure about the availability of such a document).
>
>    Anyways any help would greatly be appreciated.
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Karim F. Ali
> Devign Labs 



Hi, Karim:

I had a rather lengthy reply composed, but lost it.

4.4-BSD-lite was a seperate operating system that
is over ten years old; sources from it were
imported into FreeBSD 2.0 about 10 1/2 years
ago; it's part of FreeBSD's rather dignified
pedigree now....

Your best bet for obtaining the code would be
via CVS or the CVS web interface, perhaps.  As
a matter of fact, with CVS you could recreate a
FreeBSD 2.0 system if you so desired.

However, you express an interest in writing
wireless device drivers, so I think your interest
would really be in the current kernel, instead of
the old one.

You might want to read the "hackers@" email
list, the Developer's Handbook for documentation
(link on the left at www.freebsd.org), and generally
just get familiar with the Project (use it, close
some PR's, etc??) in order to find out more from
those who are closest to kernel development.

As a matter of fact, maybe freebsd-arch at freebsd.org
is a list you'd want to look into.  Certainly someone
on arch- or hackers- would be better qualified to
give an answer, and might have a better clue
as to documentation.

There are a number of lists that may have more
"kernel developer" types on them; just keep in
mind that they are busy folks, and be sure and
do you homework before asking a question that
is easily answered with Google, or common sense....

HTH,

Kevin Kinsey