README: V7/x86


WHAT IT IS

V7/x86 is a recent port of UNIX Version 7 to the x86 (IA-32) based
PC.  Version 7 was the last general distribution (around 1979) to
come from the Research group at Bell Laboratories, the original
home of UNIX.

The port was done by Robert Nordier mostly around 1999 when "Ancient
UNIX" source code licenses first became available, and was revised
for release, with some enhancements, during 2006-7.


HOW TO GET IT

The V7/x86 home page is at http://www.nordier.com/v7x86/.

You can download the latest V7/x86 release from the web site.
Each distribution is primarily available as a small ISO 9660 CD
image, though the main component files are also available
separately:

    v7x86-9.9x.iso*   Complete distribution image

    INSTALL           Installation instructions
    README            This file
    RELNOTES          Release notes
    boot.img          CD/floppy boot image
    v7x86-9.9x.tar*   Archive containing source and binary files

    * Where ``9.9x'' stands for a specific version number, for
      example ``0.8a'' as in ``v7x86-0.8a.iso''.

For a new installation, the CD image is the file to get, provided
you have the facilities for burning a CD: it contains all the other
files.  To upgrade an existing system, the tarball may be all you
need.

There is also a demo file, v7x86-demo.img (not necessarily updated
with every release), that contains a subset of V7/x86 suitable for
running under PC emulators Bochs and QEMU.  This is primarily
intended for someone who wants to look at V7/x86 without actually
installing it.

Large files are usually made available compressed with bzip2, and
will need to be decompressed with bunzip2 before use.


INSTALLING

The file INSTALL, available in the root directory of the CD image,
as well as on the web site, contains hardware requirements and
installation instructions.


DOCUMENTATION

UNIX Version 7 has extensive documentation available in /usr/man
and /usr/doc.  In general, man pages have been updated to reflect
changes due to the V7/x86 port, but papers and articles in /usr/doc
are mostly attributable to specific individuals and these have not
been altered.

The document "Using V7/x86: A Brief Introduction" available at
http://www.nordier.com/v7x86/doc/v7x86intro.pdf is recommended
for those new to V7/x86.


LEGAL

Please refer to the file COPYRIGHT, available in the root directory
of the CD image, and of the V7/x86 file hierarchy, as well as on
the web site, for details of the copyright status of various
components of the distribution.  The file /usr/release/LICENSE in
the installed V7/x86 tree also contains relevant information.

UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the US and
other countries.  V7/x86 is a trademark of Robert Nordier.


FEEDBACK

Comments, reports of success or failure, and/or bug reports are
welcome and may be sent to v7x86@nordier.com.


Robert Nordier
www.nordier.com