CHANGES IN THE LINUX v0.98 ROOT DISKETTE
Jim Winstead Jr. - 23 October 1992

This file mostly contains info about the changes in the root diskette
from Linux v0.97.1 to Linux v0.98.

CHANGES

With the release of Linux v0.95a, the maintenance of the root diskette
has been assumed by Jim Winstead Jr. (jwinstea@fenris.Claremont.EDU). 

This continues with the release of the Linux 0.98 release diskette.
The changes between the Linux 0.98 and Linux 0.97.1 root diskettes are
detailed below, and the changes in earlier releases are summarized
after that:

	-	everything linked with jump table 4.1 libraries.
		This means that all the programs on this root disk now
		use jump table libraries, so upgrading will be _much_
		easier in the future.

	-	moved mount/umount/swapon back to /bin, added swapoff.

	-	kept working on pax.
		It now should support the interface specified by POSIX,
		rather than the out-of-date spec it supported before.
		There are only a couple of remaining problems, mostly
		dealing with preserving ownerships.

	-	replaced joe with jed (editor)
		jed is an emacs-like editor that is highly
		programmable.  There is some documentation in
		/usr/lib/jed that should be of interest.

	-	added /bin/ed
		Linux gets a standard line editor...

If you have questions, problems, or complaints about the root
diskette, either post to comp.os.linux, or send mail to me at
jwinstea@fenris.Claremont.EDU. 

If you have questions, problems, or complaints about the boot diskette
or the kernel itself, post to comp.os.linux or send mail to Linus
Torvalds at torvalds@cc.helsinki.fi. 

Remember, the only stupid questions are the ones you don't ask.

SUMMARY

This section very briefly summarizes previous changes.

0.97 -> 0.97.1

	- fixed mount.
	- made passwd sgid system.
	- fixed bugs in /etc/termcap.
	- fixed pax (some).
	- fixed problems with GNU fileutilities.
	- compiled GNU text utilities to use getopt/regex from libc.
	- compiled GNU shell utilities to use getopt/regex from libc.
	- compiled GNU tput to use termcap from shared libs.
	- compiled sed with -N.
	- added creation of user account to /INSTALL/install.

0.96 -> 0.97
	- many small binaries were added.
	- ps, w, uptime, and related utilities were removed.
	- migrated mount/umount/swapon from /bin to /etc.
	- moved 'rootdev' to /usr/bin and renamed to 'setroot'.
	- removed /lib/libhard.2.2.2 and moved /lib/libsoft.2.2.2 to
	  /lib/libm.2.2.2, instead of using a symlink.
	- upgraded efdisk and renamed to fdisk.
	- fixed compress to work with long filenames.
	- brought device names up to standards.
	- revised /etc/group.
	- revised /etc/passed.
	- changes file permissions and ownerships.
	- fixed up the install script where it was broken.
	- fixed the install documentation to refer to pax.
	- minor gaffes from 0.96 fixed (/etc/getty linked with shared
	  libs, correct file ownerships, etc)

0.95a -> 0.96
	- reintroduced GNU bash as /bin/sh
	- replaced GNU tar (/bin/tar) with POSIX pax utility
	- all-new and improved installation script
	- split /etc/rc into /etc/rc and /etc/rc.local
	- new mount/umount/swapon with auto-mounting - uses /etc/fstab
	- recompiled all utilities with shared libraries (gcc 2.2.2)
	- added /dev/MAKEDEV - device creation script
	- all new /etc/termcap using "tc=con-unk" entries

FUTURE CHANGES

I'm already anticipating some changes for future releases, so here's
a sneak preview:

-	the biggest is moving things over to a bootable rootdisk, a la
	HJ Lu's release.  This will necessitate trimming some things
	from the root disk (such as using a much smaller editor), but
	should hopefully make installing easier, and will form the
	basis of a unified Linux release.

-	the install script will be improved.  The current one was
	written rather rapidly, so there are parts of it I'm not
	entirely happy with.  Michael K. Johnson (johnsonm@stolaf.edu)
	has said he is working on this and the update script (below).

-	I'd like to write an update script that will allow people who
	have already installed Linux to update their binaries from the
	latest root disk.  The install script could serve as a base
	for this, but is a little destructive at present.  (It would
	simply copy over old binaries, etc.)

-	program to allow the 'intro' login to be more interactive, and
	will also serve more general purposes (it will be a generic
	curses-based line-selector).  This has been put on the backburner
	because I simply don't have enough time.  If you're familiar with
	curses and want to take a crack at my ideas, let me know.

-	the documentation on disk will be cleaned up, and possibly
	added to.

-	fill in the gaps in the MAKEDEV script.  (SCSI tapes, more pty
	devices.)

-	at some point, things will be switched over to the extended
	filesystem, but this has to wait for the extfs to stabilize.

Again, mail your questions, comments and suggestions about the root
diskette to me at jwinstea@fenris.Claremont.EDU.