4.2 BSD

4.2 BSD
Logging into a 4.2 BSD system
Type:	Multitasking, multiuser
Creator:	CSRG, University of California, Berkeley
Architecture:	VAX, Sun theoretically portable
This Version:	4.2 (1983)
Date Released:	1983

4.2 BSD follows the betas of 4.1a & 4.1b. 4.2 BSD Is special because it incorporates the first versions of BSD TCP/IP, and FFS. This release is also the last that was led by Bill Joy, and this was used as the basis for SunOS. Later SUN licensed SYSV from AT&T and started to incorporate the two versions, before switching to the SYSV kernel in Solaris.

It is worth noting that 4.2 BSD's TCP/IP is *NOT* compatable with 4.3 and onward, and it will not function correctly on the internet. I forget what the "serious" bug is however.

The Cuckoo's Egg

It's worth noting that when Clifford Stoll was hunting his hacker from UCB, The BSD in widespread use was 4.2 BSD. It's an interesting book, to take you back to what the mindset was of the people running 4.2 BSD was back then. A PDF can be found here.

How do I get this to run?!

The Unix Heritage Society's archives have copies of most 4-BSD variants http://minnie.tuhs.org/TUHS/ However, they're not immediately in ready-to-use-in-SIMH tape format. We should get a repository of SIMH-ready tape images up here.

4.2 & 4.3BSD Reno are in ready to run formats on sourceforge

Installation instructions for SIMH can be found here.

What Runs?

Some early GNU stuff will compile, but not very much otherwise. There is also a copy of Zork included in this version.