Editing Berkeley Software Design (section)

== Creation and BSD/386 ==
BSDI was founded by [[Rick Adams (Internet pioneer)|Rick Adams]] and members of the [[Computer Systems Research Group]] (CSRG) at the [[University of California, Berkeley]], including [[Keith Bostic (software engineer)|Keith Bostic]], [[Marshall Kirk McKusick|Kirk McKusick]], [[Michael J. Karels|Mike Karels]], [[William Jolitz|Bill Jolitz]] and Donn Seeley.<ref name="Bezroukov">{{cite web |author=Dr. Nikolai Bezroukov |year=2006 |title=AT&T Lawsuit Helps to Launch Linux Into Mainstream |url=http://www.softpanorama.org/People/Torvalds/Finland_period/att_lawsuit_as_a_launcher_for_linux.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181029191747/http://www.softpanorama.org/People/Torvalds/Finland_period/att_lawsuit_as_a_launcher_for_linux.shtml |archive-date=2018-10-29 |access-date=2018-10-29}}</ref> Jolitz, Seeley and Trent Hein were working for Rick Adams's [[UUNET]] at the time and became BSDI's first employees when the company began operations in 1991.<ref name="Bezroukov" /> In December 1991, [[USENIX]] Secretary and Former Head of Software at [[Convex Computer]], Rob Kolstad from [[University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign|University of Illinois]], was hired and would take over company operations just two years later.<ref name="Daemon">{{cite web |author=Dr. Peter Salus |date=November 2005 |title=The Daemon, the GNU and the Penguin - Ch. 16, by Dr. Peter Salus |url=http://www.groklaw.net/articlebasic.php?story=20050727225542530 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100612062932/http://www.groklaw.net/articlebasic.php?story=20050727225542530 |archive-date=2010-06-12 |access-date=2009-11-17}}</ref>

Jolitz, who worked on [[386BSD]], claimed that he was never officially hired or signed an employment contract with BSDI.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Unix Labs' Berkeley Software Design Suit Finds Berkeley University in Disarray |url=https://www.tech-insider.org/usl-v-bsdi-ucb/research/1992/0806.html |access-date=2024-12-05 |website=www.tech-insider.org}}</ref>

BSD/386 was released in January 1992. The name was chosen for its similarity to BSD ("Berkeley Software Distribution"), the source of its primary product, specifically [[4.3BSD]] Networking Release 2 (Net/2). The full system, including [[source code]] retailed at $995, which was more affordable than the equivalent source code license for the rival [[UNIX System V]] from [[AT&T]] (which cost more than $20,000 in the late 1980s.)<ref name="McKusick">{{cite web|author=McKusick, Marshall Kirk |date=January 1999 |title=Twenty Years of Berkeley Unix: From AT&T-Owned to Freely Redistributable |url=http://oreilly.com/catalog/opensources/book/kirkmck.html |access-date=2009-11-17 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091001021430/http://oreilly.com/catalog/opensources/book/kirkmck.html |archive-date=2009-10-01 }}</ref>