freedosproject

freedosproject, 2 days ago to random

Check out the virtual dot matrix printer in action, in this video:

https://youtu.be/yj8R4UIqBrQ

Watch to the end to see it with an added delay for that extra retro feel 🤓

freedosproject, 4 days ago to random

The BASIC programming language turned 60 years old this month. BASIC was my first programming language.

Years later as a physics undergrad, I learned FORTRAN programming to do data analysis.

But as programming languages go, FORTRAN came before BASIC—and from where I sit, BASIC clearly took inspiration from FORTRAN… and likely, later versions of FORTRAN took cues from BASIC.

My POV: if you learn one, you can pick up the other.

https://www.both.org/?p=5316

freedosproject, 5 days ago to random

This should be a fun weekend! 🤓 #pocket386

And yes, I plan to wipe it and put FreeDOS on it 👍

freedosproject, 11 days ago to random

Another retro computing article I wrote recently. This one celebrates 60 years of the BASIC programming language by showing my first BASIC: Apple BASIC.

https://www.both.org/?p=5304

“Apple BASIC was how I first learned how to write my own computer programs. This simple interface and programming syntax made it easy for me to enter, run, and debug programs.”

freedosproject, 12 days ago to random

I sometimes write articles to help folks learn programming. And my sample programs in those articles are as simple as possible, so you can see what's going on.

But performance matters too. Here are 3 ways to read text files in C, and how well they run.

https://www.both.org/?p=5327

TL/DR: fgetc+fputc is easy for beginners to understand, but super slow. fread+fwrite is way faster, even with a small buffer.

freedosproject, 14 days ago to random

It's not FreeDOS, but you might like this article about what's inside a LibreOffice file. (The general "family" of files is called ODF … LibreOffice Writer files are ODT.)

https://allthingsopen.org/articles/5-elements-odt-files

Short version: they're zip files with XML data and metadata.

freedosproject, 18 days ago to random

Several years ago, someone ported the Dillo web browser to FreeDOS.

Now that development on Dillo has started up again, I'm really hopeful someone wants to bring this version to FreeDOS:

https://dillo-browser.github.io/latest.html

freedosproject, 19 days ago to random

Interesting article about people using floppy disks today:

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240510-floppy-disks-why-some-people-are-still-in-love-with-this-obsolete-computer-storage-technology

Growing up, I used 5¼ and then 3½ floppies to store everything. They were ubiquitous. 💾💾💾

freedosproject, 22 days ago to random

This is a repeat of an article that originally ran on OpenSource, but it's good to share with a new audience on #AllThingsOpen

https://allthingsopen.org/articles/learn-machine-language-simulator

I wrote an educational retro virtual computer for FreeDOS called the Toy CPU so that my students could learn about machine language.

freedosproject, 24 days ago to random

We're on for the FreeDOS virtual get-together : Sunday, May 5, 11am-noon US/Central. You can connect using Google Meet. See you there!

https://meet.google.com/nzf-gjbv-mqp

freedosproject, 24 days ago to random

Don't forget about the next FreeDOS virtual get-together on Sunday, May 5, 11am-noon US/Central. (Use your favorite time zone converter to find your local time.)

We'll share the link when the meeting starts. Watch the website; for technical meetings, we usually share the link via the website and email list.

The meeting will be 'technical.' This is a great opportunity to do live debugging, ask about setup and configuration, and other 'tech' topics.

freedosproject, 28 days ago to random

Happy birthday to the BASIC programming language! 🎉🎂

May 1, 1964

https://www.dartmouth.edu/basicfifty/basic.html

(this page is from ten years ago and describes BASIC at 50)

freedosproject, 28 days ago to random

I shared an essay on Both.org about Microsoft releasing the source code to #msdos40

“…It’s because of this vast history that it’s important to preserve DOS. Merely keeping a binary-only copy of DOS isn’t enough. DOS was a milestone in computing; by releasing the source code, Microsoft has “opened the doors” to how MS-DOS worked on the inside.…”

https://www.both.org/?p=5081