Re: [Freedos-user] My curiosity
Yes, Dan: Tasks that could be completed in seconds now take minutes in Windows. This is a major cause of physician burn-out with electronic health records. I hated Aussie social security. It required using a Web form. That was very complex. I found it infuriating! https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/ -- members.iinet.net.au/~kilgallin/ ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] My curiosity
Re: the Compaq, in the late 80's, with the bus expander and a multi-port serial card, we ran a 6-user Pick system application using wyse-60 terminals. Also ran a 10-user version on an AT. Tasks that could be completed in seconds now take minutes in Windows. This is a major cause of physician burn-out with electronic health records. On Wed, Jul 26, 2023, at 5:47 AM, Bryan Kilgallin via Freedos-user wrote: > Hey Dan: > >> That's great info! I glad to see so many getting use ouf of old >> hardware. I, myself, have a whole load of old hardware. > > If it still works, or can be made to work, there's no need to chuck it! > >> In particular I have >> a T40 and, perhaps more interesting, A Compaq Portable III. > > Get them going, then. > >> I even have, in a flip-top jewel case, a 5-1/4" floppy + manual for a >> strange little app called Microsoft Access. > > I used to design databases in that! > -- > members.iinet.net.au/~kilgallin/ > > > ___ > Freedos-user mailing list > Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] My curiosity
Hey Dan: That's great info! I glad to see so many getting use ouf of old hardware. I, myself, have a whole load of old hardware. If it still works, or can be made to work, there's no need to chuck it! In particular I have a T40 and, perhaps more interesting, A Compaq Portable III. Get them going, then. I even have, in a flip-top jewel case, a 5-1/4" floppy + manual for a strange little app called Microsoft Access. I used to design databases in that! -- members.iinet.net.au/~kilgallin/ ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] My curiosity
That's great info! I glad to see so many getting use ouf of old hardware. I, myself, have a whole load of old hardware. You all have given me the stimulus to see what I can do with it. In particular I have a T40 and, perhaps more interesting, A Compaq Portable III. I even have, in a flip-top jewel case, a 5-1/4" floppy + manual for a strange little app called Microsoft Access. It's not much use now because it was an app to use your 300 baud modem to make airline reservations. I guess MS (the evil empire) liked the name :) Thank you all for satisfying my curiosity Dan On 7/24/23 7:37 PM, Bryan Kilgallin via Freedos-user wrote: Hi Dan: What are others using freedos for: business, curiosity, running retro games and apps for fun, to avoid total dependence on the evil empire, or something else? I have an ancient heart rate monitor. Its computer interface uses DOS software via a serial port! ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] My curiosity
Hi Dan: What are others using freedos for: business, curiosity, running retro games and apps for fun, to avoid total dependence on the evil empire, or something else? I have an ancient heart rate monitor. Its computer interface uses DOS software via a serial port! -- members.iinet.net.au/~kilgallin/ ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] My curiosity
Hi, Can speak for no one but myself, to be sure. Still, I run DOS exclusively, having no issues reaching the internet with it, or this list smiles. My situation is unique however. for the record, I am not running freedos, or not as of yet, as I have not found a reason to choose it over my current DOS setup. That is just me though, Karen On Mon, 24 Jul 2023, Daniel Essin via Freedos-user wrote: Hello, I'm following this list and find it very interesting. I found it when I was trying to prepare myself to help a friend whose business in built around a DOS app. It's clear that many/most/all? have access to other computers and OSes. This would be obvious if only because one needs access to the internet even if only to get this list. This has made me curious. What are others using freedos for: business, curiosity, running retro games and apps for fun, to avoid total dependence on the evil empire, or something else? Dan ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] My curiosity
A T43 running FreeDOS sounds like a good writing machine. On Mon, Jul 24, 2023 at 11:53:50PM +0100, John Vella via Freedos-user wrote: > I've installed freedos because I'm writing my second novel, but I'm easily > distracted, so I wanted a machine with a decent word processor, > (Wordperfect 5.1) and no internet access or games to distract me. I have > deleted the games folder, but accidentally installed MS Word 5, which will > do the job. > > It also means I get to give my IBM Thinkpad T43 a second life, which is > nice. > > On Mon, 24 Jul 2023, 22:47 Christopher Evans via Freedos-user, < > freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net> wrote: > > > Well, I installed dosemu on my Linux machine, so I could run older dos > > games like doom and descent as well as work on dos c sources. > > > > > > > > -Chris > > > > Intelligencia Computer Consulting > > > > An open-source and computer help company > > > > http://icctechconsult.com/ > > > > > > > > > > > > On Mon, Jul 24, 2023, 2:14 PM Jim Hall via Freedos-user < > > freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net> wrote: > > > >> On Mon, Jul 24, 2023 at 3:46 PM Daniel Essin via Freedos-user > >> wrote: > >> > > >> > Hello, > >> > > >> > I'm following this list and find it very interesting. I found it when I > >> > was trying to prepare myself to help a friend whose business in built > >> > around a DOS app. It's clear that many/most/all? have access to other > >> > computers and OSes. This would be obvious if only because one needs > >> > access to the internet even if only to get this list. This has made me > >> > curious. > >> > > >> > What are others using freedos for: business, curiosity, running retro > >> > games and apps for fun, to avoid total dependence on the evil empire, or > >> > something else? > >> > > >> > >> > >> Hi Dan > >> > >> We ran a survey several years ago, and then last year, to answer > >> exactly that question: How are people using FreeDOS? > >> > >> Several years ago (around 2014?) we found people were running FreeDOS > >> for 3 or 4 main use cases: > >> > >> 1. To play classic DOS games > >> 2. To run legacy DOS applications > >> 3. To support/develop embedded systems > >> > >> and sometimes 4. To install firmware updates on certain motherboards > >> > >> I recall that the legacy DOS software was often in a business setting, > >> such as organizations that needed to retrieve information from an old > >> DOS application. You discover that some data is locked up in some data > >> files that are only accessible by the program that wrote the data. So > >> you find the software (or download it if you don't have it), then > >> install FreeDOS + the application, and "save as" the data to some > >> format that you can use. > >> > >> We did this when I served as CIO for a university. One of the faculty > >> found some old floppies with old research data. They wanted to get the > >> data back (I think to write a paper that referenced the historical > >> data). We installed FreeDOS on a spare PC that had a floppy drive, > >> found the original program on a DOS apps archive site, installed that, > >> and loaded the data. That program could also dump the data into a > >> plain text file (similar to CSV) which the faculty researcher could > >> load into a spreadsheet to do further analysis. > >> > >> More recently, we found that people were running FreeDOS for (mostly) > >> 3 main uses: > >> > >> 1. To play classic DOS games > >> 2. To run legacy DOS applications > >> 3. To develop new DOS programs > >> > >> For #3, I think that mostly represented FreeDOS developers responding > >> to the survey. > >> > >> The survey had a few outliers (we still see people who use FreeDOS to > >> install firmware updates, for example) but in 2022, those were pretty > >> low compared to the other 3 uses. > >> > >> > >> Jim > >> > >> > >> ___ > >> Freedos-user mailing list > >> Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net > >> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user > >> > > ___ > > Freedos-user mailing list > > Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net > > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user > > > ___ > Freedos-user mailing list > Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] My curiosity
Hi, On Mon, Jul 24, 2023 at 3:47 PM Daniel Essin via Freedos-user wrote: > > What are others using freedos for: business, curiosity, running retro > games and apps for fun, to avoid total dependence on the evil empire, or > something else? Evil empire? "Which one??" ;-) What evil are we escaping or avoiding? My main curiosity with FreeDOS isn't what it can run but rather ... what can it build? "Ask not what your OS can do for you, but what you can do for your OS." DJGPP, OpenWatcom, FreePascal, FreeBASIC, NASM, FASM ... plenty of tools to get started. ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] My curiosity
I've installed freedos because I'm writing my second novel, but I'm easily distracted, so I wanted a machine with a decent word processor, (Wordperfect 5.1) and no internet access or games to distract me. I have deleted the games folder, but accidentally installed MS Word 5, which will do the job. It also means I get to give my IBM Thinkpad T43 a second life, which is nice. On Mon, 24 Jul 2023, 22:47 Christopher Evans via Freedos-user, < freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net> wrote: > Well, I installed dosemu on my Linux machine, so I could run older dos > games like doom and descent as well as work on dos c sources. > > > > -Chris > > Intelligencia Computer Consulting > > An open-source and computer help company > > http://icctechconsult.com/ > > > > > > On Mon, Jul 24, 2023, 2:14 PM Jim Hall via Freedos-user < > freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net> wrote: > >> On Mon, Jul 24, 2023 at 3:46 PM Daniel Essin via Freedos-user >> wrote: >> > >> > Hello, >> > >> > I'm following this list and find it very interesting. I found it when I >> > was trying to prepare myself to help a friend whose business in built >> > around a DOS app. It's clear that many/most/all? have access to other >> > computers and OSes. This would be obvious if only because one needs >> > access to the internet even if only to get this list. This has made me >> > curious. >> > >> > What are others using freedos for: business, curiosity, running retro >> > games and apps for fun, to avoid total dependence on the evil empire, or >> > something else? >> > >> >> >> Hi Dan >> >> We ran a survey several years ago, and then last year, to answer >> exactly that question: How are people using FreeDOS? >> >> Several years ago (around 2014?) we found people were running FreeDOS >> for 3 or 4 main use cases: >> >> 1. To play classic DOS games >> 2. To run legacy DOS applications >> 3. To support/develop embedded systems >> >> and sometimes 4. To install firmware updates on certain motherboards >> >> I recall that the legacy DOS software was often in a business setting, >> such as organizations that needed to retrieve information from an old >> DOS application. You discover that some data is locked up in some data >> files that are only accessible by the program that wrote the data. So >> you find the software (or download it if you don't have it), then >> install FreeDOS + the application, and "save as" the data to some >> format that you can use. >> >> We did this when I served as CIO for a university. One of the faculty >> found some old floppies with old research data. They wanted to get the >> data back (I think to write a paper that referenced the historical >> data). We installed FreeDOS on a spare PC that had a floppy drive, >> found the original program on a DOS apps archive site, installed that, >> and loaded the data. That program could also dump the data into a >> plain text file (similar to CSV) which the faculty researcher could >> load into a spreadsheet to do further analysis. >> >> More recently, we found that people were running FreeDOS for (mostly) >> 3 main uses: >> >> 1. To play classic DOS games >> 2. To run legacy DOS applications >> 3. To develop new DOS programs >> >> For #3, I think that mostly represented FreeDOS developers responding >> to the survey. >> >> The survey had a few outliers (we still see people who use FreeDOS to >> install firmware updates, for example) but in 2022, those were pretty >> low compared to the other 3 uses. >> >> >> Jim >> >> >> ___ >> Freedos-user mailing list >> Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net >> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user >> > ___ > Freedos-user mailing list > Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user > ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] My curiosity
Well, I installed dosemu on my Linux machine, so I could run older dos games like doom and descent as well as work on dos c sources. -Chris Intelligencia Computer Consulting An open-source and computer help company http://icctechconsult.com/ On Mon, Jul 24, 2023, 2:14 PM Jim Hall via Freedos-user < freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net> wrote: > On Mon, Jul 24, 2023 at 3:46 PM Daniel Essin via Freedos-user > wrote: > > > > Hello, > > > > I'm following this list and find it very interesting. I found it when I > > was trying to prepare myself to help a friend whose business in built > > around a DOS app. It's clear that many/most/all? have access to other > > computers and OSes. This would be obvious if only because one needs > > access to the internet even if only to get this list. This has made me > > curious. > > > > What are others using freedos for: business, curiosity, running retro > > games and apps for fun, to avoid total dependence on the evil empire, or > > something else? > > > > > Hi Dan > > We ran a survey several years ago, and then last year, to answer > exactly that question: How are people using FreeDOS? > > Several years ago (around 2014?) we found people were running FreeDOS > for 3 or 4 main use cases: > > 1. To play classic DOS games > 2. To run legacy DOS applications > 3. To support/develop embedded systems > > and sometimes 4. To install firmware updates on certain motherboards > > I recall that the legacy DOS software was often in a business setting, > such as organizations that needed to retrieve information from an old > DOS application. You discover that some data is locked up in some data > files that are only accessible by the program that wrote the data. So > you find the software (or download it if you don't have it), then > install FreeDOS + the application, and "save as" the data to some > format that you can use. > > We did this when I served as CIO for a university. One of the faculty > found some old floppies with old research data. They wanted to get the > data back (I think to write a paper that referenced the historical > data). We installed FreeDOS on a spare PC that had a floppy drive, > found the original program on a DOS apps archive site, installed that, > and loaded the data. That program could also dump the data into a > plain text file (similar to CSV) which the faculty researcher could > load into a spreadsheet to do further analysis. > > More recently, we found that people were running FreeDOS for (mostly) > 3 main uses: > > 1. To play classic DOS games > 2. To run legacy DOS applications > 3. To develop new DOS programs > > For #3, I think that mostly represented FreeDOS developers responding > to the survey. > > The survey had a few outliers (we still see people who use FreeDOS to > install firmware updates, for example) but in 2022, those were pretty > low compared to the other 3 uses. > > > Jim > > > ___ > Freedos-user mailing list > Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user > ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] My curiosity
On Mon, Jul 24, 2023 at 3:46 PM Daniel Essin via Freedos-user wrote: > > Hello, > > I'm following this list and find it very interesting. I found it when I > was trying to prepare myself to help a friend whose business in built > around a DOS app. It's clear that many/most/all? have access to other > computers and OSes. This would be obvious if only because one needs > access to the internet even if only to get this list. This has made me > curious. > > What are others using freedos for: business, curiosity, running retro > games and apps for fun, to avoid total dependence on the evil empire, or > something else? > Hi Dan We ran a survey several years ago, and then last year, to answer exactly that question: How are people using FreeDOS? Several years ago (around 2014?) we found people were running FreeDOS for 3 or 4 main use cases: 1. To play classic DOS games 2. To run legacy DOS applications 3. To support/develop embedded systems and sometimes 4. To install firmware updates on certain motherboards I recall that the legacy DOS software was often in a business setting, such as organizations that needed to retrieve information from an old DOS application. You discover that some data is locked up in some data files that are only accessible by the program that wrote the data. So you find the software (or download it if you don't have it), then install FreeDOS + the application, and "save as" the data to some format that you can use. We did this when I served as CIO for a university. One of the faculty found some old floppies with old research data. They wanted to get the data back (I think to write a paper that referenced the historical data). We installed FreeDOS on a spare PC that had a floppy drive, found the original program on a DOS apps archive site, installed that, and loaded the data. That program could also dump the data into a plain text file (similar to CSV) which the faculty researcher could load into a spreadsheet to do further analysis. More recently, we found that people were running FreeDOS for (mostly) 3 main uses: 1. To play classic DOS games 2. To run legacy DOS applications 3. To develop new DOS programs For #3, I think that mostly represented FreeDOS developers responding to the survey. The survey had a few outliers (we still see people who use FreeDOS to install firmware updates, for example) but in 2022, those were pretty low compared to the other 3 uses. Jim ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user