Hello Karen While virtualization software often have a graphical interface available, that's not always the case, and even if they have one it's usually possible to control them from command line, too.
Note that it is possible to run linux that automatically starts a dos vm, so it's as if it booted into DOS directly. In fact, since you are not using a monitor, it woudn't even matter what it showed, you would only need the input device (just a keyboard?) to write into DOS. Regarding hardware access, it is possible to assign devices directly into virtual machines, in what is called pass-through mode. Thus, you could assign a sound card (or a firewire bus, or a camera...) to a virtual machine and it would access it exclusively. So it *should* be possible for DOS to control that even if run inside a virtual machine. There are some caveats about how it is internally designed that will restrict how they can be shared, though (if tho peripherals are connected internally through the same bus, you may not be able to assign just one of them to a virtual machine: either both or none). As usual, that something should work flawlessly is no guarantee that it will actually do so, of course. ☺ Plus, hardware can be quite temperamental. Actualy we don't even know if DOS would be able to run in the new computer with your speech hardware on the bare metal. Virtualization adds another layer. (It _could_ be easier to make it work with virtualization, even. But also harder.) Finally, regarding the install process, that seems a minor issue. The debian installer is supposed to work for visually impaired people, maybe it's somehow broken (which would be desirable to know so it gets fixed!), but such installation is a straightforward process that is only going to be needed once. Getting all the hardware pieces running for the first time will need more tinkering. Albeit once they work, I expect it will then be stable over the years. Best Ángel On 2026-10-17 at 19:20 -0400, Karen Lewellen wrote: > Hi, > its terrific you can do this. > However, you are likely using a monitor. > That is not an option for me. > Kare > > > > On Sat, 17 Oct 2026, nwe wrote: > > > On 10/17/26 5:25 PM, Bob McGowan wrote: > > > >> You can run either Linux or Freedos on the hardware. > > > > Unless you are running some form of virtual machine or container... > Although > > I do not notice Karen mentioning either. > > > > I boot multiple virtual machines on one pc (a Dell 720XD dual-CPU > rack server > > with 256GB RAM and 12x 4TB disks) and have all the virtual machines > bridged > > to my home network, allowing me to ssh freely among them. > > > > >
