Hi Eric, > On Jul 27, 2021, at 10:59 AM, Eric Auer <e.a...@jpberlin.de> wrote: > [..] > It also is important for me that old bugs in the autoexec and > config files get fixed. Given that some of those are created > dynamically, this is a task for the installer experts. See my > old mailing list thread about the topic earlier this year.
Bugs in the autoexec and config? Do you mean the changes you want to increase performance? Although improvements could be made, it is not a bug just because you want it changed. > [..] > There seems to be a bug in the overview HTML file, which says > the floppy edition images are 12 MB or use 120m or 144m media: > > http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/micro/pc-stuff/freedos/files/distributions/1.3/previews/1.3-rc4/report.html > > <http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/micro/pc-stuff/freedos/files/distributions/1.3/previews/1.3-rc4/report.html> Not a bug. The number 12mb you are referring to is under the CD-BOOT image section. The LiveCD has the Alternate Floppy Only Edition in non-diskette format. It is the Easter Egg install method we mentioned a while back. That image is a 12mb and is a bootable HD image. As long as the BIOS can boot it, it also provides a means to boot and install FreeDOS from the CD without ANY dos level support for the CD/DVD drive. > I would wish the LegacyCD to include all packages of the LiveCD. Mostly they do with exception. There are some very popular packages on the LiveCD that don’t get installed normally. I only provided them on the LiveCD because it could be very painful to try and install them into the Live Environment if the user cannot switch or access the BonusCD. Remove the extras from the LiveCD, add them to the Legacy CD? Lots of options. > [..] > Some packages are likely to be OUTDATED. Checking this would be a > task which could be distributed over a few people who want to help > without having to code: They can go over the LSM and compare the > packaged version number to the one of upstream app websites, or > trivially skip packages which are unmaintained upstream anyways. That’s a great idea. At present there is mostly a team of one that does that now… Sometimes, when time permits and fells like doing it. :-) It often helps a lot that Jim mirrors many updates. But, those are not “ready to rock” packages. Did you know there is an updated version of LABEL available that supports NLS? It has be out for a while. But, requires being compiled and packaged. I’ll get to it eventually. When it comes to updating packages from source only releases, they often get put off for a long time. It can take minutes to many hours to get a build environment working for just one such program. Spread that over multiple packages that need built and nothing else gets done. > [..] > I suggest to have some more compilers etc. on the normal install > images, NOT moved away to the BonusCD: FASM, FBC with help, FPC, > INSIGHT, JWASM, NASM, UPX. Possibly also OW and the I16 compilers. Based on the Jim’s recent survey, that may be a very good idea. > It is unfortunate that TPPATCH (runtime error 200) is out, maybe > some alternatives with better license exist, also for TC apps? There might be. But, I’ve looked a little for one but didn’t see any. However, if the source is available for the program, you can swap out the uses “CRT” for my “QCrt” unit. It’s compatible, does more and is much much faster. > Not sure why FDINST and FDISRC are separate packages? FDINST is an “unreal” package. FDINST is the 8086 compatible (without networking) alternative to FDNPKG (req 386). It has it’s own pseudo-package to make it easier for the Floppy Only Edition to install only software supported by the hardware (which can be overriden to install everything). Anyhow, that is why it is listed as only on the Floppy Only Edition for 8088-80286 machines. FDISRC is the raw sources for the primary installer. This is not the same as what is on the install media. A large amount of processing is done to the raw sources in order to get a working installer. Things like keyboard support and language translations undergo analysis and conversion by the RBE into stuff that can be used by the installer. It’s not much use to anyone in it’s raw form. So, never gets installed. But, is provided to maintain compatibility with open source licenses. Although, it is available on GitHub. On a side note, the RBE is awesome and very easy to setup and use to build custom releases of FreeDOS. Want a custom EricDOS, no problem. Take a handful of minutes to change a could settings, run build, come back a little while later and there it is. At present, it could be a little easier to deviate from the current package lists. And eventually, I’ll add direct support to do that. But, even now it can automatically include stuff we don’t even provide and it is fairly trivial to change the package lists it uses. Almost anyone can build a custom release, with almost no effort at all. Just need to create a VM to some minimum specs, install a supported Linux OS, download one shell script and run it. It will download all needed libraries, sources, etc and configure the system as an RBE. Then you can just run make and end up with FreeDOS 1.3-RC4 but with the latest version of any updated packages. Or can tell it to prepare for a build, change some settings and get EricDOS. There is at least one other person who uses the my FreeDOS RBE. He builds a custom version that includes extra packages to support for Visually Impaired Users. :-) Jerome
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