On Mon, Jun 14, 2021 at 5:34 PM Jim Hall <[email protected]> wrote: >[..] > And for June 30, another writer interviewed me. But I "borrowed" > (copied?) a lot of my interview responses from the conference > presentations I've done about FreeDOS. So if you saw my recorded > presentations from Kieler or FOSDEM, you already know what's in the > interview. Nothing surprising, I think. >
Preview of that interview: Q: What kind of skill set invites you to write your own operating system? A: I think even a beginner can get started writing an operating system like FreeDOS, although it would take a more advanced programmer to write the kernel. [And some stuff about "beginner" programmers can start with simple tools like TYPE or COPY to learn DOS programming.] Q: Were you inspired by Linux when you decided to start FreeDOS and how did that contribute to your licensing decision? A: In a way, yes. I really liked DOS, and had been using it since the early 1980s. I ran MS-DOS on my personal computer at university. But in 1993, I discovered Linux. [And some personal history about getting started with Linux.] Q: What are the advantages of using FreeDOS over alternative ways of running DOS applications (e.g., DOSBox)? A: Using DOSBox to run DOS applications in Linux is a great way to run certain DOS applications. But DOSBox is really intended to launch a single DOS program, like a game. The DOS command line is pretty limited in DOSBox. In contrast, FreeDOS provides a full DOS command line. [And more about tools.] Q: Looking back over the years you have worked on FreeDOS, is there anything you would have done differently? A: [I talked about how I gave bad advice to JP Software when they wanted to release 4DOS for FreeDOS, so the license ended up not being "open source."] Q: What are some interesting ways people are using FreeDOS? A: Over the years, I’ve seen people use FreeDOS to do a lot of really interesting things! [I mention the pinball machine, the train control system, and someone booting FreeDOS from a vinyl record.] Q: Why work on DOS in 2021? A: [I talk about a few things, but mostly about how programming in DOS is not the same as programming on Linux. You can't just "load everything into memory" because you don't have a lot of memory to use, ... and that makes programming more challenging and interesting.] Q: How big is the FreeDOS community? A: FreeDOS was a very popular project throughout the 1990s and into the early 2000s, but the community isn’t as big these days. But it’s great that we are still an engaged and active group. [I also mention the virtual get-togethers.] Q: How does someone get involved in the community? A: I think our community is very welcoming, so anyone is free to join. We communicate via an email list, which you can find on the FreeDOS website. Join the freedos-user email list if you want to talk about FreeDOS or ask for help. Developers should join the freedos-devel email list; that’s where most of the FreeDOS developers hang out. Our email list volume is pretty low, so you aren’t likely to fill up your inbox by subscribing to either email list. [And I mention some projects new developers might want to try first ... I should update the list before they run the article, since I've updated our "How to contribute" page, and the interview should reflect that.] _______________________________________________ Freedos-user mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
