freedosproject

freedosproject, 7 months ago to random

Very exciting news! Dave Dunfield has decided to release the source code of over 40 years' work "in the hopes that others may find it useful or maybe learn a few things." This includes the Micro-C compiler, a very nice C compiler for DOS.

You can find everything on Dave's website.
https://dunfield.themindfactory.com/dnldsrc.htm

The source code license isn't an "OSI open source" license, but aims to release the source code for others to use. Thanks Dave!

freedosproject, 2 months ago to random

FreeDOS will be 30 years old in June!

We announced FreeDOS on June 29, 1994 … which makes us older than Amazon, Wikipedia, and Google.

I wrote a lot of code early on, but these days I'm here to support others who write the code.

I was honored to be interviewed by My Open Source Experience podcast about supporting an open source community. Thanks for the great interview!

https://youtu.be/qYux4Q1vxJ4

freedosproject, 11 months ago to random

In 1994, several of us got together around a pretty neat idea.

We liked DOS, but Microsoft was clearly moving completely to Windows. "The next version of Windows," they said, "would do away with DOS."

We wanted to keep DOS around, so we decided to write our own. That project, announced 29 years ago TODAY on June 29 1994, was the FreeDOS Project.

Thanks to EVERYONE who has been part of FreeDOS! 29 years is a long time for any open source project, and I'm looking forward to more years to come.

freedosproject, 15 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, 1 month ago to random

If you'd like to see a demonstration of how to build MS-DOS 4.00 using FreeDOS, here's a video to do that.

This runs Linux commands that fix the source code — the GitHub version stripped CR/LF to just LF, and mangled some CP437 characters. Then the build runs fine.

Thanks to FreeDOS developer E. C. Masloch ('ecm') for providing these fixes!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7r76V_gWQ8

freedosproject, 1 month ago to random

Cool history! 50 years of CP/M:

"This may have been one of the most exciting days of my life, … We now have the power of an IBM S/370 [mainframe computer] at our fingertips." This is going to be a "big thing," they told each other.

https://computerhistory.org/blog/fifty-years-of-the-personal-computer-operating-system/

freedosproject, 11 months ago to random

Remember when I asked "should I do a video series to teach you FORTRAN 77 programming' and you said "yes"?

I've recorded the first video! It will go live on Friday. 😃

This video is about columns and character sets. Hint: it's based on punched cards.

freedosproject, 1 month 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

freedosproject, 10 months ago to random

A year ago, I reached out to FreeDOS users and developers to ask why they love FreeDOS. We've collected these stories into a PDF ebook, which you can read for free, here:

[PDF]
http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/micro/pc-stuff/freedos/files/ebook/why-we-love-freedos-29/why-we-love-freedos-29.pdf

(cc-by license)

freedosproject, 9 months ago to random

I wanted to recognize that we lost Bram Moolenaar last week.

While Bram wasn't a FreeDOS developer, I definitely admired his work on VIM - the VI iMproved editor.

So I wanted to show how I use VIM on FreeDOS and Linux:

https://youtu.be/VunVKbu4esM

freedosproject, 8 months ago to random

The FreeDOS virtual get-together is on now! Connect using this BlueJeans meeting.

https://bluejeans.com/286798924/2517

Join us for the next hour for social time. Get to know other developers as more than just an email address.

We're online from 11am to noon (US/Central).

freedosproject, 11 months ago to random

EtherDFS is an 'installable filesystem' TSR for DOS. It maps a drive from a remote computer (typically Linux-based) to a local drive letter

Mateusz Viste published a new version of EtherDFS, this is a bug fix release

https://etherdfs.sourceforge.net/

freedosproject, 1 month 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, 10 months ago to random

It's not FreeDOS, but I think you'll like my article about how to check spelling on really old school Unix (1st Ed)

https://technicallywewrite.com/2023/07/29/oldspelling

This is a follow-up from a similar article a few weeks, that used standard tools in Unix 4th Ed. This article looks even further back. This requires writing our own tools.

freedosproject, 5 months ago to random

I think some folks here will be interested in this article about 4 retro tools I use all the time for tech writing:

https://technicallywewrite.com/2023/12/18/retrotools

technically we write . com

freedosproject, 9 months ago to vim

Planning the next video:

Do you use #vim on FreeDOS or Linux? (Yes, we include vim in FreeDOS.)

What's your typical use?

What's an editing scenario that's really easy in vim that's not so easy in other editors?

freedosproject, 7 months ago to random

Not FreeDOS, but if you missed Jim's talk yesterday at #SeaGL about #Unix history, you can watch Jim do a similar demo as a YouTube Livestream with VCF, at 5:30 US/Central today:

https://youtube.com/live/FpBnRk8oWLc

freedosproject, 16 days ago to random

This should be a fun weekend! 🤓 #pocket386

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

freedosproject, 10 months ago to random

I need help for a future FORTRAN video!

Looking for a short program idea (10 lines?) where one instruction will definitely go past col 72.

Ideas?

I want to show line continuations using sim punched cards 😉

freedosproject, 8 months ago to random

Also on today's call: I'm making a "FreeDOS 2024" calendar, and looking for suggestions of what FreeDOS screenshots to include in it.

(Each month has a different screenshot.)

Any ideas? What screenshots would you like to see on the calendar?

freedosproject, 8 months ago to random

It's not FreeDOS, but I think you'll like this article about dot matrix printers.

https://technicallywewrite.com/2023/10/02/dotmatrix

I loved my Epson FX-80. What was your favorite printer of the era?

freedosproject, 10 months ago to random

FYI: We've had to delay the FreeDOS virtual get-together to NEXT WEEK (was: tomorrow)

Sunday, July 30 from 11am to noon (US/Central)

See you then for discussions about programming, debugging, and other technical topics.

freedosproject, 3 months ago to random

FreeDOS will turn 30 years old on June 29, 2024.

And as we look ahead to a milestone anniversary, I wanted to take a look back at where things started.

https://www.both.org/?p=3991

freedosproject, 12 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, 5 days ago to random

Started in 1994, FreeDOS will turn 30 years old on June 29, 2024. And as we look ahead to a milestone anniversary, I wanted to take a look back and where things started.

“Looking ahead to 30 years of FreeDOS”

https://allthingsopen.org/articles/30-years-freedos