> On 4/22/2021 3:21 AM, Thomas Desi wrote: > > There are many different reasons why people would want to install FreeDOS > > (if they get to know it). > > „ Different" like in „different people“. The needs and equipments are > > different and the mixture of technical generations > > should not restrain FreeDOS, IMHO, to „retro computing“ and nostalgia only. > > Nostalgia is very much ok and brings up new and other thoughts, too. But > > there is 2021, too. > > I understand that there is a difference when installing on to Harddisk and > > booting, or just having a USB Stick and using it on top of Linux or Windows. > > It depends, as I say, on what people want, and - what they could want if > > the just knew…
On Thu, Apr 22, 2021 at 11:57 AM Ralf Quint <freedos...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Well, here I think lays a huge problem for us (the FreeDOS project), a > lot of people don't seem to know what they want. There are always a > number of people showing up at random times, who come up with all kinds > of glorious ideas or serious (in their eyes) complaints as what to add > or change in FreeDOS. Which, when looked at it at the baseline of those > ideas, would result in a second coming of Linux. > These are a lot of times people that voice their grievances about how > bad Windows/Microsoft is, even if the only practical reason is that it > seems to be en vogue in certain circle to bash on Windows/Microsoft. > Or there are those people that can't cope with the alleged complexity of > Linux, thinking of (Free)DOS as being their savior, but then requiring > all those complexities, which would result in something that is looking > like just another Linux. Or Windows. Or macOS... > > It seems to be hard for some people to see that FreeDOS is indeed a lot > more retro than cutting edge. And that some things just are not a real > fit for FreeDOS. Like someone on the FB page recently suggesting that it > would be great to have a Apache/MySQL/PHP stack on FreeDOS. Without > actually thinking about or realizing that the very design of DOS makes > such an endeavor rather unfeasible... I get a lot of the emails you described. People email me to ask why FreeDOS doesn't run on their Raspberry Pi like Linux does .. or why FreeDOS can't take advantage of multiple CPUs and cores like Linux does .. or why FreeDOS can't run on their UEFI-only system (no "Legacy" mode) like Windows can .. or why FreeDOS doesn't have a default GUI like Windows .. or the one you mentioned from the Facebook group asking how to run an Apache/MySQL/PHP stack on a single FreeDOS box. FreeDOS has the same basic design as any other DOS, and that means FreeDOS also has the same limitations as DOS. FreeDOS requires an Intel CPU and a BIOS. FreeDOS is "single-user" and "single-tasking," and runs on just one CPU. FreeDOS is 16-bit, so it has the memory and disk limitations of a 16-bit system. That said, I think FreeDOS is a great implementation of DOS. We have more tools and features than any other DOS from the 1990s era, yet we're still "DOS." FreeDOS is very compatible with MS-DOS .. I've only found one or two programs that don't run on FreeDOS, and usually these are trying to poke into some MS-DOS memory location. FreeDOS is DOS plus a bunch of cool tools. FreeDOS isn't Linux, or Windows, or Mac. But as a DOS, FreeDOS is pretty great. Jim _______________________________________________ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
