Coda  Filesystem
Version 4.4.0			
Linux

	We are pleased to announce version 4.4.0 of Coda for Linux.
Coda now comes with setup scripts, support for 2.1 kernels, improved
administration and many little bugs fixed (many remain too). Below
you can find out where to download the packages, as well as pointers
to the Coda web site - where there is documentation and email discussion
lists.

	Coda is an experimental distributed file system, with many
advanced features.  It is freely available, like NFS.  It functions much
like AFS in being a "stateful"  file system.  Coda and AFS cache files
persistently on your local machine to improve performance.  But Coda goes
a step further than AFS by letting you access the cached files when there
is no available network, viz.  disconnected laptops and network outages. 
Also Coda has server replication and bandwidth adaptation. In Coda, both
the cache manager and server are outside the kernel which makes them
easier to experiment with, but a kernel filesystem module is needed on the
clients. 

To get more information on Coda:
	http://www.coda.cs.cmu.edu 
There is a wealth of documents, papers, theses there.  There is also a
good introduction to the Coda File System in
	http://www.coda.cs.cmu.edu/ljpaper/lj.html

WARNING: Coda is an experimental system.  It runs kernel code and
priviliged servers and is known to have bugs.  Coda is not nearly as
reliable yet as NFS, use you should consider it experimental your own
risk. (I do keep my entire life including email etc in Coda, so it's
somewhat useable.)

Coda is currently available for several OS's and platforms:
	linux 2.0: i386 & sparc
	linux 2.1: i386 & sparc
	Freebsd-2.2.5: i386
	NetBSD 1.2: i386
	NetBSD 1.3: i386

The relevant sources, binaries, and docs can be found in 
	ftp://ftp.coda.cs.cmu.edu/pub/coda/ 

For clients you need:
        coda-debug-client-{libc,glibc} 
        coda-debug-kernel-2.0.32-module (RH5.0)
        or src/coda-linux-4.4.0.tgz 
	(to build your own kernel module see README.kernel-module)
For servers:
        coda-debug-server-{libc,glibc}
For a backup controller:
	coda-debug-backup-{libc,glibc}

We intend to come out with new releases often, not daily.  We don't
wish to slight any os/platform not mentioned above.  We are just
limited in our resources as to what we can support internally.  The
only problem is that Coda has a light weight process package.  (PS.
We are working on a FreeBsd 3.0 release and on Windows 95 and NT.) Our
main emphasis is on quality and performance improvements, better security
and more scalability.

There are several mailing lists @coda.cs.cmu.edu that discuss coda most
important are: coda-announce and linux-coda.  We are going to rename
linux-coda to be OS neutral, since it is mainly Coda we want to discuss. 
We appreciate comments, feedback, bug reports, bug fixes, enhancements,
etc. 

If you are interested in doing work on Coda, get in touch with me.

Peter Braam
Senior Systems Scientist
Coda Project

braam_at_cs.cmu.edu