MkLinux
Status Report, March 27, 1997
Overview
Effect Of Apple Re-organization On MkLinux Project
MkLinux Reference Release Status
Disclaimer
Although we do try to give some estimate of when things will be released/fixed/working/etc., these are still estimates and are subject to change. Unexpected bugs are found, people take vacations, and sometimes priorities have to be readjusted. This can cause delays. As always, we ask for folks to bear with us and be understanding when dates slip.
Effect Of Apple Re-organization On MkLinux Project
In the wake of recent publicity regarding Apple's re-structuring, re-organization, and layoffs, many of you have expressed concerns about the MkLinux project and the MkLinux team. Please rest assured that the project is still in existence, and the team still present and accounted for.
We've just announced the first update to DR2.1 and we're all working on items for inclusion in DR3. We're still here, and so is MkLinux.
MkLinux DR2.1 Update Status
The first DR2.1 MkLinux kernel/server update was released on March 19. Features of the update include:
See the complete announcement of this update for further details.
MkLinux Reference Release Status
Prime Time Freeware (PTF) reports that the MkLinux Reference Release:
MkLinux: Microkernel Linux for the Power Macintosh Rich Morin, Editor; PTF, 1997; ISBN 1-881927-24-1; $50 MSRP
is selling very well. They have shipped 1000 copies per week for the first three weeks and expect to have shipped 4000 copies by the end of March. Although the fulfillment office is still a bit backlogged, they have caught up with all of the pre-publication orders (received through the end of February 1997). The office is now shipping orders received during March, with a 1-2 week latency, and is working on shortening that delay to PTF's normal standard of 1-2 business days.
A second printing has been ordered and will be ready during the second week of April, so PTF does not expect to run out of stock for long, if at all. Very few errors have been reported for the book and none at all for the reference disc. Here are the errata that are known at this time:
Page 87 recommends ~/.profile as a way to invoke set_ode_path.sh. Note that ~/.profile is not used if ~/.bash_profile or ~/.bash_login is present. (See page 68 for details.)
The section on Predefined partitioning schemes (page 20) is included for your convenience. However, as the "Note:" points out, most of the predefined partitioning schemes are not applicable to MkLinux. Be SURE to check for adequate partition sizes, etc.!
Page 19 states that the swap space must be "at least as large as the amount of system RAM". This is not strictly true; swap space can be smaller than RAM, if desired. (Nick Stephen indicates that 16 MB is a safe, if conservative, "minimum".) On most systems, however, PTF still recommends a swap space that is 1-3 times the size of RAM.
Page 19 also recommends 350 MB for Root&Usr and 300 MB for Usr. The correct values are 400 and 350 MB, respectively. The sizes printed out by the Installer (as shown on page 30) differ from these values. The Installer's recommendations are out of date; please ignore them.
The Option-2 and Option-3 keys are used to emulate the 2nd and 3rd mouse buttons (not Cmd-2 and -3 as indicated on page xix).
Page xvi's reference to DR3 should be interpreted as meaning DR2.1; the nomenclature slipped around a bit over the last several months.
PTF asks that any problems with the book and reference disc be reported to "ptf-bugs@ptf.com", as reports in email lists and USENET groups are very easy to miss. Please do NOT send MkLinux bugs to PTF (send these to Apple by means of the bug submission form on www.mklinux.apple.com). Please be as detailed and specific as possible when reporting problems!
Tradeshows and Public Appearances
UniForum, San Francisco, CA, USA, March 12 - 14, 1997The MkLinux team had a small kiosk as part of the Open Group's (aka OSF - The Open Software Foundation) booth at UniForum. It was a rather slow show (UniForum seems to have fewer attendees each year :-(, but we're happy to report that we had one of the busier booths at the show.
While UniForum is largely a *nix show, many of the attendees have Power Macintoshes, or clients (or friends) with Power Macintoshes, and we were well-received. If you were there, thanks for stopping by!
Upcoming Appearances:
Gilbert Coville, MkLinux Project engineer, will be speaking Friday morning, April 4, on MkLinux (Microkernel Linux). Entrance to the show, meeting areas, and vendor displays is Free! Auditorium seating for speakers is limited and costs $199 (speakers can be heard in another room at no charge). Call 919-361-5841 to register or for more information. Check the Linux Expo website at www.linuxexpo.org.
Status of Work in Progress
A number of people have commented that they've become concerned by the absence of PPC 603-chip porting work on our Wish List, as posted in the MkLinux Web pages. We remind you that the Wish List lists the projects that we would _like_ to work on, _if_ we had unlimited time and resources. We only post projects that we cannot work on "in house".
We are continuing to make (slow) progress on various 603- and 603e- based Performas. Support for the actual 603 and 603e PowerPC CPUs is complete; however, we still have work to do supporting differing characteristics of the system boards found in the Performas.
Work is progressing on the Floppy and Audio. Unfortunately, we still have no target dates for these items.
Work is progressing on Serial support for PCI machines. Unfortunately, we still have no target date.
Many adventurous MkLinux users have been trying out shared libraries. Soon, we intend to help ease the rest of the MkLinux community into using shared libraries. Upcoming updates will have more information on this. We intend for DR3 to be based on shared libraries.
Problems: Known Bugs, Submitting Reports, Etc.
We hope you don't have any problems with MkLinux, but it is, after all, still a Developer Release, and sometimes things don't go smoothly.
Before you submit a bug report, PLEASE first check our known bugs on the MkLinux web pages http://www.mklinux.apple.com/DR2/symptoms.html. Also, if you are asking a question (e.g. How do I set up PPP?), or want information about future directions (e.g. Will MkLinux run on my PowerBook?), please do not file a bug report. We have many resources available to answer your questions, including the MkLinux mailing lists, the FAQ, third-party Web pages, etc. We encourage you to take advantage of these resources.
If you have found a new bug, please file a bug report, and be sure to include as much information as possible. Please use our online bug reporting system, located at http://www.mklinux.apple.com/info/bugreport.html.
When asked for User Authentication, please enter your Bug Reporter Username and Password *exactly* as follows:
Username: General_Linux Password: applebugs
If your Web Browser does not support forms, please upgrade your Browser.
If you experience technical difficulties using the online bug reporting form, please send email to webmaster@mklinux.apple.com describing the problem you experienced. We'll get it solved ASAP. Please do NOT include your bug report in this email.
If you are UNABLE to use the Web (e.g., you have only a uucp Email link), you may send your bug report to bugs@mklinux.apple.com. Include as much information as possible. Please understand that it may take us a long time to get to your bug, and that WE CANNOT GUARANTEE that bugs submitted in this manner will be addressed in a timely fashion.
Finally, please do NOT send bug reports to feedback@mklinux.apple.com or to one of the MkLinux engineers directly. This will only delay the process of getting your bug addressed. (Specific problems with the Web site should be sent to webmaster@mklinux.apple.com).
To ensure that your bug report is entered into our internal data base and addressed, you *must* use the Web form.
When filing a bug report, be sure to includ -
We'd appreciate your feedback regarding the new bug reporting system and anything else. Send feedback to feedback@mklinux.apple.com.
Copyright 1997