The FreeDOS Project2d ago

I've been sharing info about FreeDOS on Both.org

Here's one about how to edit the system config file:

The main configuration file for FreeDOS is a file in the root directory called FDCONFIG.SYS. This file contains a series of lines, each setting a value such as LASTDRIVE=Z or FILES=40

https://www.both.org/?p=14051

“Customize your FreeDOS with FDCONFIG.SYS”
—Learn how to configure FreeDOS with FDCONFIG.SYS

Customize your FreeDOS with FDCONFIG.SYS - Both.org

Learn how to configure FreeDOS with FDCONFIG.SYS

Both.org
Show threadDavid Fleetwood - RG Admin2d ago

@freedosproject For any who don't know, #FreeDOS is awesome and entirely human created. And I've had great interactions with some of the developers, such as the very nice one who took the time to explain why I could not cache XTIDE into memory via JEMM (hopefully they add that feature).

Good people, if you have a retro pc it's worth a shot.

Show threadWilliam B Peckham
@reflex @freedosproject Just a heads-up. If you have a PC that you could not update to Windows 10 and you no longer get any performance out of Windows 7 or whatever you had on it, it'll probably run DOS natively just fine. It costs nothing whatever to give it a test run. I've got an old laptop that really sucks at running anything modern at all, even anti-X, but it runs DOS and DOS programs just fine. Even my Turbo Pascal 4 compiler. 😁
May 19 at 4:24pmWeb
Show threadSuperIlu1d ago
@wbpeckham @reflex @freedosproject And you can use it to connect to the #Fediverse using #DOStodon 😋
Show threadDavid Fleetwood - RG Admin1d ago
@dec_hl @wbpeckham @freedosproject Okay, this is awesome: https://github.com/SuperIlu/DOStodon
GitHub - SuperIlu/DOStodon: MS-DOS Mastodon client

MS-DOS Mastodon client. Contribute to SuperIlu/DOStodon development by creating an account on GitHub.

GitHub
Show threadSuperIlu1d ago
@reflex @wbpeckham @freedosproject Thanks 😁
Show threadDavid Fleetwood - RG Admin1d ago

@dec_hl @wbpeckham @freedosproject Lol I was literally just trying to figure out who the dev was so I could tag them and turns out it's you!

This is great and I'll need to give this a shot on my Presario!

Honestly with the AI bullshit, the commercialization of the web, etc, a fully working set of DOS based tools is increasingly useful.

Show threadSuperIlu1d ago

@reflex @wbpeckham @freedosproject please post pictures when you have it running.
I always love to see my stuff on different hardware...

And take a look at my other DOS tools as well, like https://github.com/SuperIlu/DosView

GitHub - SuperIlu/DosView: Minimal image converter/viewer for MS-DOS

Minimal image converter/viewer for MS-DOS. Contribute to SuperIlu/DosView development by creating an account on GitHub.

GitHub
Show threadDavid Fleetwood - RG Admin1d ago
@dec_hl @wbpeckham @freedosproject I need to find some time but I will. Right now I'm looking for a replacement shell as TSA did severe damage to it although the pc still works. It was my first PC and started my tech career so I'd like to fully restore it.
Show threadDavid Fleetwood - RG Admin1d ago
@dec_hl @wbpeckham @freedosproject Suddenly I'm thinking about a DOS Matrix client...
Show threadWilliam B Peckham1d ago
@reflex @dec_hl @freedosproject I believe the networking is a trick because that's not easy or transparent. On the other hand, there are networking packages that get your TCPIP for DOS if you can find a packet driver for your network interface. You would have to code it for that specific individual package, but I don't see any reason why you couldn't do that. I would have to study a lot longer to understand the protocol used to code it myself.
Show threadDavid Fleetwood - RG Admin1d ago
@wbpeckham @dec_hl @freedosproject I assume you mean the TCP/IP stack by @mbbrutman for DOS systems. It's pretty good, but not sure how well a vintage system can handle, say, TLS.
Show threadWilliam B Peckham23h ago
@reflex @dec_hl @freedosproject @mbbrutman That should work. I used the Novell IP Stack tools back in the day. There were three or four other options I played with. MTCP was one that I understand still works. We only need one. But the protocol and protocol security portions are exactly the ones that I worry about.
Show threadmbbrutman22h ago

@wbpeckham @reflex @dec_hl @freedosproject I target 16 bit DOS with mTCP so that it runs on the widest possible set of machines. While I'm interested in security, it's not my first priority and often the CPU requirements are too high.

The general solution is to run a proxy that handles the difficult parts and that can also be kept up to date. A RaspPi Zero 2W is cheap and I use one as a bastion machine in the house. A more specialized daemon for assisting vintage computers would be ideal.

Show threadRegionales Retro-Rechenzentrum11h ago
@reflex @mbbrutman @freedosproject @wbpeckham @dec_hl An IMP in the original ARPANET sense :)
Show threadDavid Fleetwood - RG Admin8h ago
@mbbrutman @wbpeckham @dec_hl @freedosproject Something like this directly connected to the back of the machine would be great, honestly. Could even build in some remote management potentially.
Show threadSuperIlu18h ago

@reflex @wbpeckham @freedosproject @mbbrutman I’ve been there with #DOStodon. I’m using mbedTLS with Watt32 and you need a fast 486 for it to be able to complete modern TLS handshake in time. People tried it on 386 and the server just closes the connection during handshake.

There is an issue with the MPI implementation of mbedTLS which makes it use thousands of malloc()s during handshake, so this could be optimized somewhat, but they haven’t touched it for ages 😬

Show threadDavid Fleetwood - RG Admin8h ago
@dec_hl @wbpeckham @freedosproject @mbbrutman I know it's all silliness but as our modern tech gets enshittified it's making me want to find practical uses for my 486.
Show threadSwirly8h ago
@reflex @dec_hl @wbpeckham @freedosproject @mbbrutman ppc (the 32-bit one) better
Show threadSwirly8h ago
dangit markdown didnt markdown
Show threadDavid Fleetwood - RG Admin8h ago

@dec_hl @wbpeckham @freedosproject @mbbrutman Random note, but for anyone who wants to connect a modern kb/m to a classic system, I found the #HIDman to be an excellent option. Works just fine with my USB kb/m switch.

https://github.com/rasteri/HIDman