I installed 386BSD for my university admin in 1992 I think. They paid my to do it but otherwise it was free. Linux was not yet version 1.0 if I remember correctly.
Yes, 386BSD was free, and the precursor to FreeBSD, NetBSD and OpenBSD. BSD/386 was a different, commercial product though, available a few months earlier.
All 3 projects, BSD/386, Linux and 386BSD gained recognition over the span of about 6 months in 1992.
Yes, I know. Interesting that BSD/386 was pointing people at Linux. I guess they knew that 386BSD would eat their lunch. Perhaps they did not see Linux as real competition.
