<CHAPTER ID="Introduction">
<TITLE>Introduction</TITLE>
<SECT1><TITLE>openMosix HOWTO</TITLE>
<PARA>
In the beginning there was Mosix, then came openMosix, in my opinion a
more interesting project. Not only from a technical point of view but
also due to the more correct license.  I made the decision to focus
this HOWTO on openMosix rather than on Mosix, mainly based on the fact
that openMosix has a bigger userbase. (Moshe Bar states that about 97%
of the old Mosix community has switched over to openMosix.) 
(20020705) Given the above, lots of information might be valuable to
both users of Mosix and openMosix.  I decided to  split the
HOWTO.  The latest release of the Mosix HOWTO, containing info about
both Mosix and OpenMosix will be 0.20 My intention is to focus on the
openMosix HOWTO, however not neglecting the Mosix users.


More info on <ulink url="http://howto.ipng.be/Mosix-HOWTO/"><citetitle>
http://howto.ipng.be/Mosix-HOWTO/</citetitle></ulink>
</para>
</sect1>

<SECT1><TITLE>Introduction</TITLE>
<PARA>

  This document gives a brief description of openMosix, a software package
  that turns a network of GNU/Linux computers into a computer cluster.
  Along the way, some background to parallel processing is given, as
  well as a brief introduction to programs that make special use of
  openMosix's capabilities. The HOWTO expands on the documentation as it
  provides more background information and discusses the quirks of
  various distributions.
</PARA>
<PARA>
  Since the creation of this HOWTO some people of the Mosix team created 
openMosix (more info later), initially 
both openMosix and Mosix were  discussed 
in this HOWTO. 

Although lots of information might be valuable to both users of Mosix and 
openMosix. I decided to  split the HOWTO. The latest relase of the 
Mosix HOWTO, containing info about both Mosix and OpenMosix will be 0.20 
and can be found on 
<ulink url="http://howto.ipng.be/Mosix-HOWTO/Mosix-HOWTO/"><citetitle>
http://howto.ipng.be/Mosix-HOWTO/Mosix-HOWTO/</citetitle></ulink>
</para>
<PARA>
  Kris Buytaert got involved in this piece of work when Scot Stevenson was 
  looking for somebody to take over the Job: this was during February 2002.
  While initially we discussed both Mosix and openMosix, this version 
  of the HOWTO now mainly focuses on openMosix.  Please note that 
  the document often still mentions Mosix where it should read openMosix.
</PARA>
<PARA>

<!--   ("FEHLT", in case you are wondering, is German for "missing"). -->

You will notice that some of the headings are not as serious as they
should be. Scot had planned to write the HOWTO in a slightly lighter
style, as the world (and even the part of the world with a burping
penguin as a mascot) is full of technical literature that is deadly.
Therefore some parts still have these comments.

</PARA>

<PARA>




</PARA>
</SECT1>


<SECT1><TITLE>Disclaimer</TITLE>
<PARA>

Use the information in this document at your own risk. I disavow
potential liability for the contents of this document. Use of these 
concepts, examples, and/or other content of this document is entirely 
at your own risk.

</PARA>
<PARA>

All copyrights are owned by their respective owners, unless specified
otherwise.  Use of a term in this document should not be regarded 
affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark.  openMosix is
Copyright (c) by Moshe Bar. Mosix is Copyright (c) by Amnon Barak.
Linux is a Registered Trademark of Linus Torvalds.  openMosix is
licensed under version 2 of the GNU General Public License as
published by the Free Software Foundation.

</PARA>
<PARA>

Naming of particular products or brands should not be seen as
endorsements.

</PARA>
<PARA>

You are strongly recommended to take a backup of your system before
major installation and backups at regular intervals.



</PARA>

</SECT1>

<SECT1><TITLE> Distribution policy</TITLE>
<PARA>

Copyright (c) 2002 by Kris Buytaert and Scot W. Stevenson. This
document may be distributed under the terms of the GNU Free
Documentation License, Version 1.1 or any later version published by
the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with no
Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license
is included in the appendix entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".

</PARA>

</SECT1>

<SECT1><TITLE>New versions of this document</TITLE>
<PARA>

 Official New versions of this document can be found on the web pages of 

<ulink url="http://www.tldp.org"><citetitle>
the Linux Documentation Project 
</citetitle></ulink>  

Drafts and Beta versions will be available on 
<ulink 
url="http://howto.ipng.be/Mosix-HOWTO/index.html"><citetitle>howto.ipng.be
</citetitle></ulink>


in the appropriate sub folder. Changes to this document will usually
be discussed on the openMosix Mailing Lists. See the <ulink
url="http://openmosix.sourceforge.net"><citetitle>openMosix
</citetitle></ulink> 
for details.

</PARA>

</SECT1>

<SECT1><TITLE>Feedback</TITLE>
<PARA>

Currently this HOWTO is being maintained by Kris Buytaert. Please do
send remarks and updates for the howto to him. 

</PARA>

<PARA>

   If you have a technical question about openMosix/Mosix itself,
   please post them on the more appropriate mailing list. 
   
</PARA>

</SECT1>

</CHAPTER>

