Walnut Creek CDROM
Encyclopedia
Walnut Creek CDROM was an early provider of freeware
, shareware
and free software
on CD-ROM
s. The company was founded in August 1991 by Bob Bruce and was one of the first commercial distributors of free software on CD-ROMs. The company produced hundreds of titles on CD-ROMs, and ran the busiest FTP
site on the Internet
, ftp.cdrom.com, for many years.
In the early years, some of the most popular products were Simtel
shareware
for MS-DOS
, CICA Shareware for Microsoft Windows
(now the Sunny A archives), and the Aminet
archives for the Amiga
. In January 1996, it published a collection of 350 texts from Project Gutenberg, one of the first published ebook collections.
Walnut Creek developed a close relationship with the FreeBSD
Unix-like
open source
operating system
project from its inception in 1993. The company published FreeBSD on CD-ROM, distributed it by FTP, employed FreeBSD project founders Jordan Hubbard
and David Greenman, ran FreeBSD on its servers
, sponsored FreeBSD conferences and published FreeBSD books, including The Complete FreeBSD. By 1997, FreeBSD was Walnut Creek's "most successful product", according to Bruce. From 1995 onwards, Walnut Creek was also the official publisher of Slackware Linux. Walnut Creek also gained fame for its
As more users gained access to high speed Internet connections
, demand for software on physical media decreased dramatically. The company merged
with Berkeley Software Design
Inc. (BSDI) in 2000 to focus more engineering effort on the similar FreeBSD and BSD/OS
operating systems. Soon after, BSDI acquired Telenet System Solutions, Inc., an Internet
infrastructure server supplier.
The software assets of BSDI (FreeBSD, Slackware, BSD/OS) were acquired by Wind River Systems
in 2001, and the remainder of the company renamed itself iXsystems. Wind River dropped sponsorship of Slackware soon afterwards, while the FreeBSD unit was divested as a separate entity in 2002 as FreeBSD Mall, Inc.
iXsystems' server business was acquired in 2002 by Offmyserver, which reverted to the iXsystems name in 2005. In February 2007, iXsystems acquired FreeBSD Mall.
Walnut Creek CDROM's URL, www.cdrom.com, is now redirected to Simtel.net.
Freeware
Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...
, shareware
Shareware
The term shareware is a proprietary software that is provided to users without payment on a trial basis and is often limited by any combination of functionality, availability, or convenience. Shareware is often offered as a download from an Internet website or as a compact disc included with a...
and free software
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
on CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
s. The company was founded in August 1991 by Bob Bruce and was one of the first commercial distributors of free software on CD-ROMs. The company produced hundreds of titles on CD-ROMs, and ran the busiest FTP
File Transfer Protocol
File Transfer Protocol is a standard network protocol used to transfer files from one host to another host over a TCP-based network, such as the Internet. FTP is built on a client-server architecture and utilizes separate control and data connections between the client and server...
site on the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, ftp.cdrom.com, for many years.
In the early years, some of the most popular products were Simtel
Simtel
Simtel is an Internet-based archive of shareware for various operating systems, particularly Microsoft Windows and MS-DOS. The Simtel archive has been available on the public Internet since 1993, when its older ARPANET host was shut down....
shareware
Shareware
The term shareware is a proprietary software that is provided to users without payment on a trial basis and is often limited by any combination of functionality, availability, or convenience. Shareware is often offered as a download from an Internet website or as a compact disc included with a...
for MS-DOS
MS-DOS
MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...
, CICA Shareware for Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
(now the Sunny A archives), and the Aminet
Aminet
Aminet is the world's largest archive of Amiga-related software and files. Aminet was originally hosted by several universities' FTP sites, and is now available on CD-ROM and on the web.-History:...
archives for the Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
. In January 1996, it published a collection of 350 texts from Project Gutenberg, one of the first published ebook collections.
Walnut Creek developed a close relationship with the FreeBSD
FreeBSD
FreeBSD is a free Unix-like operating system descended from AT&T UNIX via BSD UNIX. Although for legal reasons FreeBSD cannot be called “UNIX”, as the direct descendant of BSD UNIX , FreeBSD’s internals and system APIs are UNIX-compliant...
Unix-like
Unix-like
A Unix-like operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, while not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification....
open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
project from its inception in 1993. The company published FreeBSD on CD-ROM, distributed it by FTP, employed FreeBSD project founders Jordan Hubbard
Jordan Hubbard
Jordan K. Hubbard is a long-time open source developer, authoring software like the Ardent Window Manager and various other open source tools and libraries before finally co-founding the FreeBSD project. He started the FreeBSD project in 1993 with Nate Williams and Rodney W. Grimes, also creating...
and David Greenman, ran FreeBSD on its servers
Server (computing)
In the context of client-server architecture, a server is a computer program running to serve the requests of other programs, the "clients". Thus, the "server" performs some computational task on behalf of "clients"...
, sponsored FreeBSD conferences and published FreeBSD books, including The Complete FreeBSD. By 1997, FreeBSD was Walnut Creek's "most successful product", according to Bruce. From 1995 onwards, Walnut Creek was also the official publisher of Slackware Linux. Walnut Creek also gained fame for its
idgames directory, which was the de facto distribution center for the Doom-engine modification community at the time.As more users gained access to high speed Internet connections
Broadband Internet access
Broadband Internet access, often shortened to just "broadband", is a high data rate, low-latency connection to the Internet— typically contrasted with dial-up access using a 56 kbit/s modem or satellite Internet with inherently high latency....
, demand for software on physical media decreased dramatically. The company merged
Mergers and acquisitions
Mergers and acquisitions refers to the aspect of corporate strategy, corporate finance and management dealing with the buying, selling, dividing and combining of different companies and similar entities that can help an enterprise grow rapidly in its sector or location of origin, or a new field or...
with Berkeley Software Design
Berkeley Software Design
Berkeley Software Design Inc. was a corporation which developed, sold licenses for, and supported BSD/OS , a commercial and partially proprietary variant of the BSD Unix operating system for PC compatible computer systems...
Inc. (BSDI) in 2000 to focus more engineering effort on the similar FreeBSD and BSD/OS
BSD/OS
BSD/OS was a proprietary version of the BSD operating system developed by Berkeley Software Design, Inc. ....
operating systems. Soon after, BSDI acquired Telenet System Solutions, Inc., an Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
infrastructure server supplier.
The software assets of BSDI (FreeBSD, Slackware, BSD/OS) were acquired by Wind River Systems
Wind River Systems
Wind River Systems, Inc. is a company providing embedded systems, development tools for embedded systems, middleware, and other types of software. The company was founded in Berkeley, California in 1981 by Jerry Fiddler and David Wilner. On June 4, 2009, Wind River announced that Intel had bought...
in 2001, and the remainder of the company renamed itself iXsystems. Wind River dropped sponsorship of Slackware soon afterwards, while the FreeBSD unit was divested as a separate entity in 2002 as FreeBSD Mall, Inc.
iXsystems' server business was acquired in 2002 by Offmyserver, which reverted to the iXsystems name in 2005. In February 2007, iXsystems acquired FreeBSD Mall.
Walnut Creek CDROM's URL, www.cdrom.com, is now redirected to Simtel.net.