386BSD

[Dick Dunn]

Just so the situation is clear...

richard at pegasus.com (Richard Foulk) writes:
> The DDJ article said that the 4.3 port was functional, and they seemed
> to say that it is now free of AT&T encumbrances.  They plan to make the
> source available to the masses as soon as possible.

and dow at presto.ig.com (Christopher Dow) writes:
> 	Hmmm..... I was told that 4.4BSD woudl _not_ require a Unix
> source license, since there was a plan to not use any AT&T source.....

386 BSD is *not* free of AT&T encumbrances--at least, not according to the
folks at Berkeley.  (One should be a little careful, when reporting what
one "was told", to say who told it.:-)

The following two statements are "known" based on late-December info:
	- The 386-specific kernel code for 4.4 is unencumbered.
	- The 4.4 kernel is currently *not* entirely unencumbered; it is
	  still subject to AT&T licensing.
The following is a reasonable inference based on what I know:
	- While there is work in progress (has been for some time) to
	  free BSD code from AT&T licensing, it is unlikely that 4.4 will 
	  be such a freed system...the discussions about when 4.4 will
	  appear suggest "reasonably soon" relative to the amount of
	  "freeing" work which remains.
(Also please note that I'm using the word "free" relative to AT&T licensing
constraints; I'm *not* talking about zero-cost.)

Of course, freed or not, it would be possible for some large organization
to produce a 386-based BSD binary product as soon as Berkeley starts
making the sources available under their usual terms.  (I say "large
organization" because it requires a company with big, expensive AT&T
license to resell UNIX binaries.)  But I haven't heard of anyone who's
announced an intention to do so.

The next likely source of Good Information about the progress of BSD, the
386 code, 4.4, freeing, etc., is the BSD BoF at USENIX in two weeks.
-- 
Dick Dunn     rcd at ico.isc.com -or- ico!rcd       Boulder, CO   (303)449-2870
   ...Mr. Natural says, "Use the right tool for the job."