gmcFeb 22

So, I've been thinking about what to install on the #486DX that I fixed recently, and at first I'd thought I'd go with a period correct #MSDOS but then I reconsidered and had a look (in #86Box) at #FreeDOS, which I knew existed but had never used.

I've been playing around with it in the emulator and I'm convinced I want it. It's just so much fun to be back in DOS land again, but with the nifty additions of FreeDOS (such as a package manager) it feels more modern, in a good way.

I'm playing around with networking now to not have to write stuff to floppies in order to run stuff on the dos machine. FTP to my retro files on the NAS, for example. And now I'm exploring the package repository that is accessible through the network-enabled package manager.

Looking forward to installing this on the actual hardware!

@freedosproject

#RetroComputing

Show threadwfkFeb 22
@gmc @freedosproject it's a 486, so any old *BSD, Linux, or Unix will be period correct, while DOS was at that time in the process of disappearing behind Windows.
Show threadjmcunxFeb 22

@wfk @gmc @freedosproject

IIRC, current #Linux, #FreeBSD and I think #OpenBSD no longer supports 486 systems. But I did see an article that #NetBSD can still be put on a 486. But I lost the link

With that said, if I had that system, I would probably put some form of DOS on it. Maybe some day I will find one :)

Show threadFritz AdalisFeb 22
@jmcunx @wfk @gmc @freedosproject
Period-correct could also include OS/2 or Desqview/X, or even Windows NT.
Show threadgmc

@freedosproject @FritzAdalis @jmcunx @wfk I've been meaning to give OS/2 a try. Desqview I used in the past, briefly, but it wasn't all that stable back then.

Windows NT. Nah, not interested :)

Feb 22 at 5:32pmWeb
Show threadwfkFeb 22
@gmc @freedosproject @FritzAdalis @jmcunx besides, Windows NT is way too modern for a 486.
Desqview/X was interesting. I should still have that somewhere.
Show threadwfkFeb 23
@gmc @freedosproject @FritzAdalis @jmcunx and I just finally got #211bsd running on my #pdp11 (well, pidp11) again. Maybe I can host some of my web site on it...
Another item on my todo list is to get Minix running on one of my #i8088 #pc boxen again, preferably with IP network.