Go to the previous, next chapter.

Where can I find more information on NetBSD?

This chapter contains information on how to get more information on NetBSD. There are several ways to get the desired information. Chose the one which uses the least resources. To do this, simply use the first method described here which is appropriate for you.

UseNet News

If you have access to Usenet, subscribe to the news-groups comp.os.386bsd.announce. Despite the term 386 in the name of this group, announcements for all flavors of *BSD are discussed here. The latest version of the NetBSD-Amiga-FAQ, the document you are currently reading, and the BSD-FAQ, which is maintained by Dave Burgess (burgess@s069.infonet.net), are posted regularly to this group. You should also subscribe to the other comp.os.386bsd.* groups to take part in active discussion or simply for posting questions.

Anonymous FTP

If you don't have access to Usenet, but have the possibily to get files from the Internet with the File Transfer Protocol (FTP), then get the latest FAQ from rtfm.mit.edu. This is the place where all FAQs from all news-groups are collected and archived.

Additional information is available on ftp.uni-regensburg.de. Look into the directory /pub/NetBSD-Amiga/docs.

World Wide Web

This document should also be available via the World Wide Web (Mosaic, Netscape etc.); at the time of going to press, exactly where isn't known :*). Keep an eye on the mailing lists mentioned below for details of new revisions of the FAQ etc.

The following URLs point to sites that hold information or files relating to NetBSD, including this FAQ. (Note that the uni-regensburg is the home site for all NetBSD-Amiga specific files).

Internet Relay Chat

If you have access to irc (internet relay chat), try to join the channels #amiga or #amigager. Discussions on the former one are in English, on the latter one in German. These channels are not dedicated to NetBSD, but you are likely to find some of the developers and users of NetBSD there.

A dedicated NetBSD channel also exists, suprisingly called #NetBSD.

Electronic Mailing Lists

There are several mailing-lists available for NetBSD. To get information on these mailing-lists, use your favourite mailer and send the following message:

To: majordomo@netbsd.org
Subject: Don't care, isn't processed. 
help
end

You will receive an answer that might look like this:

Return-Path: 
...
To: s_grau@ira.uka.de   <-- This will be replaced with your email-address.
From: Majordomo@netbsd.org
Subject: Majordomo results
Reply-To: Majordomo@netbsd.org

>>>> help This is Brent Chapman's "Majordomo" mailing list manager. It's been hacked some by cgd, Revision 1.8.

It understands the following commands:

subscribe [

] Subscribe yourself (or
if specified) to the named .

unsubscribe [

] Unsubscribe yourself (or
if specified) from the named .

which [

] Find out which lists you (or
if specified) are on.

who Find out who is on the named .

info Retrieve the general introductory information for the named .

lists Show the lists served by this Majordomo server.

help Retrieve this message.

end Stop processing commands (useful if your mailer adds a signature).

Commands should be sent in the body of an email message to "Majordomo@netbsd.org".

Commands in the "Subject:" line NOT processed.

If you have any questions or problems, please contact "Majordomo-Owner@netbsd.org".

If you send the command lists to majordomo, you will currently receive a mail like this:

...
>>>> lists
Majordomo@netbsd.org serves the following lists:

amiga amiga-dev amiga-x core current current-users m68k macbsd-development macbsd-general netbsd-bugs netbsd-help netbsd-ports netbsd-users port-hp300 port-i386 port-m68k port-pmax port-sparc port-sun3 portable-ppp source-changes sun-lamp-users tech-install tech-kern tech-net tech-ports tech-userlevel

Use the 'info ' command to get more information about a specific list.

NOTE: Most of these mailing lists are archived. Do not send things to them if you do not wish your messages to be archived. >>>> end END OF COMMANDS

The amiga list is for a general discussion of Amiga-related problems. You can send beginners questions, not answered in the FAQ to this list. The amiga-dev list is dedicated to discussions between developers. Do not post any beginners questions here! This will hinder the discussion about the kernel development. The X-Window-System on NetBSD-Amiga is discussed on amiga-x. Note, that there is a seperate FAQ for X. It should be posted regularly on this list. The NetBSD-Amiga-FAQ is sent regularly to the amiga-list.

It is highly recommended to get on the current-users and on the amiga lists, because this is the best way to get in contact with the developers. To do so, your email would look like this:

To: majordomo@netbsd.org
Subject: None
subscribe amiga
subscribe current-users
end

You will receive an answer-mail from majordomo, that he successfully processed your subscription and that you are on the desired mailing-lists. Note that there is some traffic on these lists, so expect a few mails more to arrive dayly in your mailbox. It is recommended, but not required, that you get on a list, before sending any mail to it, because most of the answers are simply sent to the list and not to the sender.

Be sure to have read the latest version of this document, before sending any mail to these lists!

To send any mail to the lists, simply replace majordomo in the address with the list you want to address. For eaxmple, if you would like to write a mail to the amiga-list, send your mail to amiga@netbsd.org.

Private Email

If, and only if, all of the above fails, contact one of the developers or the FAQ-maintainer in a personal email. So, if you cannot get hold of a copy of the latest FAQ, feel free to contact the current maintainer of this FAQ. He will be happy to send you a recent copy.

Useful books

There aren't many books which can help you with (say) possible kernel bugs or installation problems, but administering any Unix system is not a trivial task. Luckily, there is plenty of paper out there about the assorted jobs that befall a Unix sysadmin.

Sadly, however, I don't have the time or money to go out and buy them all myself - so if you have a book you'd like to mention (good or bad), mail me with the details.

4.4BSD System Managers Manual

This is a nicely produced reference book (which we've come to expect from O'Reilly - complete with the magic lay-flat binding, and tab marks at the edges of the pages), which consists of two broad sections. In the first section are reproductions of the complete BSD4.4 man(8) pages (ie. all those relating to system administration). Before you shout "I've already got those on disk", this is useful for two reasons: Firstly, some of us like to have a book by the keyboard and an uncluttered screen, and secondly a complete permuted index of the pages is included.

The second section is a (disparate) collection of papers detailing a whole host of topics, from setting up name-servers to the inimitable sendmail. The papers are all somewhat terse, but usually contain a pointer to the information you want somewhere;

This is certainly not the kind of book you sit down to read in a spare five minutes; but I have referred to it enough in emergencies to recommend it. Its probably best to have a look through it in the shop, though, to see if the style suits you.