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1 | Please see the LICENSE file for details on copying and usage. | ||
2 | |||
3 | BusyBox combines tiny versions of many common UNIX utilities into a single | ||
4 | small executable. It provides minimalist replacements for most of the utilities | ||
5 | you usually find in GNU coreutils, util-linux, etc. The utilities in BusyBox | ||
6 | generally have fewer options than their full-featured GNU cousins; however, the | ||
7 | options that are included provide the expected functionality and behave very | ||
8 | much like their GNU counterparts. | ||
9 | |||
10 | BusyBox has been written with size-optimization and limited resources in mind. | ||
11 | It is also extremely modular so you can easily include or exclude commands (or | ||
12 | features) at compile time. This makes it easy to customize your embedded | ||
13 | systems. To create a working system, just add /dev, /etc, and a Linux kernel. | ||
14 | BusyBox provides a fairly complete POSIX environment for any small or embedded | ||
15 | system. | ||
16 | |||
17 | BusyBox is extremely configurable. This allows you to include only the | ||
18 | components you need, thereby reducing binary size. Run 'make config' or | ||
19 | 'make menuconfig' to select the functionality that you wish to enable. | ||
20 | |||
21 | After the build is complete, a busybox.links file is generated. This is | ||
22 | used by 'make install' to create symlinks to the BusyBox binary for all | ||
23 | compiled in functions. By default, 'make install' will place the symlink | ||
24 | forest into `pwd`/_install unless you have defined the PREFIX environment | ||
25 | variable (i.e., 'make PREFIX=/tmp/foo install') | ||
26 | |||
27 | If you wish to install hard links, rather than symlinks, you can use | ||
28 | 'make PREFIX=/tmp/foo install-hardlinks' instead. | ||
29 | |||
30 | ---------------- | ||
31 | |||
32 | Supported architectures: | ||
33 | |||
34 | BusyBox in general will build on any architecture supported by gcc. | ||
35 | Kernel module loading for 2.2 and 2.4 Linux kernels is currently | ||
36 | limited to ARM, CRIS, H8/300, x86, ia64, x86_64, m68k, MIPS, PowerPC, | ||
37 | S390, SH3/4/5, Sparc, v850e, and x86_64 for 2.4.x kernels. For 2.6.x | ||
38 | kernels, kernel module loading support should work on all architectures. | ||
39 | |||
40 | |||
41 | Supported C Libraries: | ||
42 | |||
43 | uClibc and glibc are supported. People have been looking at newlib and | ||
44 | dietlibc, but they are currently considered unsupported, untested, or | ||
45 | worse. Linux-libc5 is no longer supported -- you should probably use uClibc | ||
46 | instead if you want a small C library. | ||
47 | |||
48 | Supported kernels: | ||
49 | |||
50 | Full functionality requires Linux 2.2.x or better. A large fraction of the | ||
51 | code should run on just about anything. While the current code is fairly | ||
52 | Linux specific, it should be fairly easy to port the majority of the code | ||
53 | to support, say, FreeBSD or Solaris, or Mac OS X, or even Windows (if you | ||
54 | are into that sort of thing). | ||
55 | |||
56 | ---------------- | ||
57 | |||
58 | Getting help: | ||
59 | |||
60 | When you find you need help, you can check out the BusyBox mailing list | ||
61 | archives at http://busybox.net/lists/busybox/ or even join | ||
62 | the mailing list if you are interested. | ||
63 | |||
64 | ---------------- | ||
65 | |||
66 | Bugs: | ||
67 | |||
68 | If you find bugs, please submit a detailed bug report to the BusyBox mailing | ||
69 | list at busybox@mail.busybox.net. A well-written bug report should include a | ||
70 | transcript of a shell session that demonstrates the bad behavior and enables | ||
71 | anyone else to duplicate the bug on their own machine. The following is such | ||
72 | an example: | ||
73 | |||
74 | To: busybox@mail.busybox.net | ||
75 | From: diligent@testing.linux.org | ||
76 | Subject: /bin/date doesn't work | ||
77 | |||
78 | Package: BusyBox | ||
79 | Version: 1.00 | ||
80 | |||
81 | When I execute BusyBox 'date' it produces unexpected results. | ||
82 | With GNU date I get the following output: | ||
83 | |||
84 | $ date | ||
85 | Fri Oct 8 14:19:41 MDT 2004 | ||
86 | |||
87 | But when I use BusyBox date I get this instead: | ||
88 | |||
89 | $ date | ||
90 | illegal instruction | ||
91 | |||
92 | I am using Debian unstable, kernel version 2.4.25-vrs2 on a Netwinder, | ||
93 | and the latest uClibc from CVS. Thanks for the wonderful program! | ||
94 | |||
95 | -Diligent | ||
96 | |||
97 | Note the careful description and use of examples showing not only what BusyBox | ||
98 | does, but also a counter example showing what an equivalent GNU app does. Bug | ||
99 | reports lacking such detail may never be fixed... Thanks for understanding. | ||
100 | |||
101 | ---------------- | ||
102 | |||
103 | Downloads: | ||
104 | |||
105 | Source for the latest released version, as well as daily snapshots, can always | ||
106 | be downloaded from | ||
107 | http://busybox.net/downloads/ | ||
108 | |||
109 | ---------------- | ||
110 | |||
111 | CVS: | ||
112 | |||
113 | BusyBox now has its own publicly browsable CVS tree at: | ||
114 | http://busybox.net/cgi-bin/cvsweb/busybox/ | ||
115 | |||
116 | Anonymous CVS access is available. For instructions, check out: | ||
117 | http://busybox.net/cvs_anon.html | ||
118 | |||
119 | For those that are actively contributing there is even CVS write access: | ||
120 | http://busybox.net/cvs_write.html | ||
121 | |||
122 | ---------------- | ||
123 | |||
124 | Please feed suggestions, bug reports, insults, and bribes back to: | ||
125 | Erik Andersen | ||
126 | <andersen@codepoet.org> | ||
127 | |||