Last week, FreeDOS turned 25 years old. FreeDOS is a complete, Free Software Disk Operating System (DOS) and a drop-in replacement for MS-DOS which has disappeared long ago. It is still used in certain niche cases such as playing legacy games, running legacy software, or certain embedded systems. Back in the day, it was also quite useful for updating BIOS.
Of those that will be, are, or have been using it, what tasks has it been good for?
Also, at:
The Linux Journal : FreeDOS's Linux Roots
OpenSource.com : FreeDOS turns 25 years old: An origin story
OS News : FreeDOS’s Linux roots
Lilliputing : FreeDOS turns 25 (open source, DOS-compatible operating system)
Earlier on SN:
Jim Hall on FreeDOS and the Upcoming 1.2 Release (2016)
Retro-Malware: DOS TSRs, Interrupt Handlers, and Far Calls, Part 2 (2016)
Retro-Malware: Writing A Keylogger for DOS, Part 1 (2016)
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 02 2019, @04:33PM (1 child)
3. ???
How about running simple programs (offline) at blinding speed, for example real time controllers?
We did this back in the day, had a data collection system that used interrupts, it also put up a "quick look" display when it wasn't actually looking at the data acquisition cards.
I guess the way it's done these days is to throw extra hardware at the problem and have the real time stuff run on it's own.
(Score: 5, Informative) by DannyB on Tuesday July 02 2019, @05:10PM
You could use a micro controller. When, when not otherwise occupied with real time, could send updates via serial through to a USB port of a computer running a common non-realtime OS.
But the price of micro controllers. Just consider the prices of microprocessors . . .
Creative Computing [archive.org], July 1980 . . . pg 33 . . . remembering way back to what 1975 was like . . .
So here we are today where you can get a system on a tiny circuit board that plugs into a breadboard. And is way more computer than most systems of that day.
To be on topic: FreeDOS would have seemed like a dream compared to the CP/M. (MS-DOS did not yet exist)
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.