On Sun, 2009-04-12 at 20:13 -0500, Jim Hall wrote: > > If you own a computer that had MS-DOS 6.22 and Windows 3.1 > > on it at one point, but your install media are fried, try > > this abandonware site. > > > > http://vetusware.com > > > > I worry about the legality of downloading from this site, but > > technically the software they are allowing people to download > > is unsupported and abandoned. > > > > Please do not post links to warez sites or abandonware sites on the > FreeDOS lists. I know you shared the link with the best of intentions, > but I want to avoid confusing the goal of FreeDOS (creating a free, > open source version of DOS that anyone can use) with that of warez > (free [as in cost] illegal file sharing.) > > > -jh
Sorry. I did mention that it's a warez site. There is an interesting problem raised with old software. If someone lets me download a proprietary program that I have install disks for which don't work, that isn't illegal. That said, I'd choose a comparable free alternative over a warez copy any day. Sadly, there isn't an OSS alternative that is comparable to WP 6.0 dos yet that I know of. Technically, if the author of a proprietary program doesn't care about it anymore, sharing it isn't a legal problem. After all, someone has to come after you in which case you could offer to pay a reasonable price to continue using the program or give it up. I've downloaded Ms-Dos 6.22 and Windows 3.1 from that Warez site as well as Windows 95 pre registered. I have a 95 upgrade that doesn't work without 3.1 on the shelf, an old packard bell cd that I used to be able to get MS-DOS 6.22 off of and my dad had a fried disk set for upgrading to dos 6.22, and yes there's a copy of Woof woof, actually 2, around. The second copy has failed. I downloaded Warcraft I which I've never purchased a copy of, but I don't think Blizzard cares and if they do I'd be more than happy to either a) pay for it or b) delete it. All this said, I hope the freedos project eventually replaces all of the dos based versions of Microsoft Windows so that noone has to worry about being questioned about copy infringement. IMO, Microsoft should not have a copyright on software it has abandoned that it doesn't support anymore, but it just doesn't work that way. Sadly, the ReactOS project will only replace NT Windows and only for PIII and newer computers. Those of us who are using freedos because we are say on a 486 or older machine are simply out of luck. Ideally, freedos has an OSS alternative for everything. It doesn't yet. There isn't a gui for freedos that's free which can do Windows style networking similar to what you'd expect in Windows 95 for example. Wordperfect 6.0 dos as far as I know is more advanced than any free alternative. This problem goes further. One of the points of freedos after all is having a free and better dos to run old proprietary dos programs. I never owned foxpro for example and I'll bet that turbovision which has been suggested for a new installer for freedos is proprietary. If an old software program that the author doesn't care about is a dos program and there are no free alternatives that are comparable, downloading it is ethical. It is especially ethical if you have fried installation media sitting on the shelf for it. Warez sites get a bad rap, but what about Microsoft for abandoning popular software just to make money and not open sourcing it? I bet people will be handing out XP when it can't be bought anymore along with software to defeat the activation barrier. If there hadn't been a lot of illegal copying of dos programs, I bet dos wouldn't have been as popular as it was. Jim Hall, you are coming down awfully hard on me for mentioning Vetusware and I think you should step back and think long and hard about that. I appropriately mentioned that there might be a legal problem. Microsoft could shut the site down if it wanted to. I'm not a thief. The software they offer on that site isn't making anyone any money anymore. Do you really want to send the message to people that freedos is not to be used to run commercial software? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This SF.net email is sponsored by: High Quality Requirements in a Collaborative Environment. Download a free trial of Rational Requirements Composer Now! http://p.sf.net/sfu/www-ibm-com _______________________________________________ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
