For documentation/help purposes maybe include that spreadsheet on the cd. One version of DOS had 4 spiralbound books.
Ideas: end user documentation, administrator documentation, setup guide, command reference (each command is a program usually), License. maybe hardware setup: joystick, printer, internet. On Sun, Sep 22, 2024 at 2:28 PM Jim Hall via Freedos-devel < freedos-devel@lists.sourceforge.net> wrote: > TL;DR- > I propose we move some packages around, so some package groups are > *only* on the LiveCD and other package groups are *only* on the > BonusCD. This can save a *lot* of space because we won't be putting > the same package on two CD images. > > -- > > It sometimes comes up that the FreeDOS distribution is getting quite > big. I don't think it needs to be that way, and I don't think we need > to delete any packages to improve things. I think we can "rebalance" > what's on each CD image to save some space. > > The latest Sep 2024 "Test" CD images are: (in kB) > > 658264 T2409BNS.iso > 285456 T2409LGCY.iso > 458936 T2409LIVE.iso > > Or, if you prefer MB: > > 643M T2409BNS.iso > 279M T2409LGCY.iso > 449M T2409LIVE.iso > > I didn't do a deep dive, but I know LiveCD also includes a bootable > "live" version of FreeDOS, and LegacyCD does not. I'd guess the size > difference between LiveCD (449 MB) and LegacyCD (279 MB) can be mostly > attributed to that. > > If you look at the package report, you'll see there's a lot of overlap > in packages: many of the same packages are provided on the LiveCD and > BonusCD. (I'll ignore LegacyCD for a moment, since LegacyCD should be > the same as the LiveCD, with a different boot method.) > > https://www.ibiblio.org/pub/micro/pc-stuff/freedos/files/distributions/test/report.html > > My goal: I'd like to "simplify" how we arrange the packages. I think > it would be great to have the LiveCD contain the Base packages plus > the packages that most "general users" would want to run, such as > applications and games. I think it will be easier for new users to > understand if "install everything" meant that *everything* on the > LiveCD got installed by default. We can leave more technical stuff > like developer tools and utilities for the BonusCD. If you want to > install the extra stuff, download the BonusCD and use FDIMPLES to > install them. > > So I looked at the contents of the CD images. > > My method: I run Linux at home, so I ran 'ls -sk */*.zip' from the > 'packages' directory on each CD image, and combined the output into a > single list of all packages on all CD images, with the size in kB. I > loaded that into a spreadsheet and did an exercise where I "kept" the > important DOS stuff in a spreadsheet column for "LiveCD" and "moved" > all of the extra packages to a column for "BonusCD." > > Results: I decided to "keep" these groups in the LiveCD column in my > spreadsheet: (I assume LegacyCD would have the same packages as > LiveCD, with a different boot method.) > > 1. Base > 2. Apps > 3. Zip and Unzip [1] > 4. Drivers > 5. Games > 6. Net > > [1] Since the FreeDOS package format is a structured zip file, and > because zip files are basically the standard in DOS, I recommend > putting Zip and Unzip on the LiveCD so people can work with zip files, > including "manually installing" (unzipping) packages if they need/want > to do that. I don't know the best logistical way to do that, but I > think it's a good idea. > > I "moved" these other groups to the BonusCD column: > > 7. Archiver (*except Zip and Unzip) > 8. Devel > 9. Edit > 10. GUI (which is just OpenGEM these days) > 11. Sound > 12. Unix > 13. Util > > Final sizes: > > LiveCD: 240748 kB (235.1 MB) > BonusCD: 425100 kB (415.1 MB) > > That doesn't remove any packages, but the CD images are each a lot > smaller. Even if I missed some "overhead," I think the space savings > are significant just by keeping certain packages *only* on LiveCD and > other packages *only* on BonusCD. > > And at the same time, it will be much easier to understand what CD > image you need to install something. Not installed when you "installed > everything"? It's on the BonusCD. > > And if we assume the "live" version of FreeDOS that's included on the > LiveCD adds another 400 MB, that still fits on a single CD image. [2] > > The monthly Test releases are for testing. I'd love to see this in a > future Test release so we can try it out and comment on it. I don't > know if we can do this in time for T2410, but I'd love to see it in > T2411. > > -- > > [2] Also: I think it should be possible to download the LiveCD and > never actually install it. Boot a virtual machine with the LiveCD, and > use a separate disk image to store data. I think that "live" image > would include everything from Base, Apps, Zip & Unzip, Drivers, Games, > and Net [with an FDAUTO that doesn't load the extra drivers or > networking by default .. let the user do that if they need it] but > installed into the "live" part without source code. The source code is > included in the packages on the LiveCD, anyway. I didn't dig into how > big that would need to be, but 400 MB seems more than required for > that -- I intentionally overestimated when I said "400 MB" above. > > > _______________________________________________ > Freedos-devel mailing list > Freedos-devel@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-devel >
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