The FreeDOS Project

I like using #FreeDOS to explain how a computer starts up. DOS is simple enough and small enough that you can see the moving parts.

And once you see how it works in DOS, you can understand more complex systems like #Linux

https://www.both.org/?p=13889

Use FreeDOS to learn about computers - Both.org

Start by learning a simple system and work your way up from there.

Both.org
Mar 26 at 2:17pmWeb
Show threadDofain19h ago
@freedosproject "you can see the moving parts"
I unscrew the HDD top for that
Show threadMalka Beth18h ago

@freedosproject really I remember DOS & directory manager as a kid, and at that point computers did all that really was needed, clear through to today.

*Better graphics is nice, as is speed of getting onto the internet & sharing videos on it but that's about the only real improvements I've seen.

This is a mainstay of why I intend on switching to linux as I want something similar to DOS & Directory Manager, from windows which used to mimic DM in functionality but hasn't done so in about 20-25 years.

#Linux #DOS #Windows

Show threadlemgandi18h ago

@BrahmaBelarusian @freedosproject

Huh. I started out on PDP-11s and used MS-DOS professionally for a few years. Lemme tell ya, multi-task//mult-iuser is a Great Thing. I remember having to stop everything on the machine to edit a file, then restart it again after. Ugh. Unix was a huge step forward.

I run Debian these days.

Show threadMalka Beth18h ago
@lemgandi @freedosproject I've found multiuser & multitasking setups create short-term expediency, at a cost of longterm messes that made the tasks take longer overall. This is why even as I use multiuser systems I avoid doing so whenever possible, similar to multitasking setups.
Show threadAvoca16h ago

@freedosproject

I started when Digital Research and Microsoft were still vying for the market equally. DR DOS or MS DOS.

To this day I still use CLI skills learned during that period, including how every Byte of memory was sacred.

When Win95 came along things just started going downhill, and haven't really changed course to my mind.

Animated paperclip... good grief!