Hi, On Sun, Mar 15, 2015 at 8:18 AM, Don Flowers <donr...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> FDNPKG keeps all editors inside its "util" repository. Currently I see > there are 6 editors there, which seem a bit too little to create a > separate category. > > Mateusz, I am a fan of your FNDPKG system and I use it in Real FreeDOS Mode. > I have customized the all_cd to work perfectly on my various computers > (Compaq Armada 1700 & 1750 laptops, HP Elite 8000, Compaq D510, HP DC5700), > so I must disagree. While six (or seven if you included setedit) does not > constitute a large repository, if one desires (or needs) to learn two or > three of these editors to fit one's needs then the edit repo is, IMHO > justified (not to mention that there would be less confusion to the > end-user; I can think of several util packages that should be in the base > repo).
"BASE" usually means FreeDOS core software, which is (mostly, as much as possible) trying to be exactly compatible with MS-DOS. It's quite large, IMHO, and probably includes some cruft, but overall FD people here don't want to change/remove/add anything to it at this point. Maybe for FreeDOS 2.0, but not for minor point releases like 1.2 (if someone ever decides to release that). What "util packages" would you add to "base"? > On the other hand if there were one editor such as your own Saucy (or FD > edit) that were capable of opening a text file of the entire Bible without > hanging (which MS-DOS edit can do) then the edit category might not be > necessary as a separate repo. My copy of (plain text) Douay Rheims from Project Gutenberg is roughly 6 MB. Is that comparable? Usually editors don't load the whole thing into RAM, only pieces. Even then, it depends on APIs (raw, EMS, XMS, DPMI) and cpu (8086, 286, 386). There are good 16-bit editors out there, but nothing is perfect for all uses. Normally, you're not going to "edit" the Bible anyways. (Or maybe you're part of an official translation team or want to fix typos.) Just use a viewer, e.g. PG (from "UTIL"): http://www.freedos.org/software/?prog=pg >> But what IS the maximum file size in MS DOS EDIT? > > I have tested it on the largest text file which I have and that is my > current project: a translation of the bible which is 4.3mb and it works > fine and doesn't hang. It's impossible to fit 4.3 MB entirely in conventional memory without some kind of compression. Maybe it's using EMS (which most 8086s didn't have), but I doubt it. More likely it's just not loading it all at once, only in pieces. Are you sure you can view the entire file? Try editing at the very top and then at the very bottom. It's probably swapping to disk somewhere. Certainly I've seen 16-bit real-mode editors that can handle 500 kb, but there's no way to do really "large" files without some kind of help (swapping to disk or expanded/extended RAM). Even just saving "changes only" wouldn't work after a while although that might be more efficient in size. > On the FreeDOS web page, the description of FreeDOS > edit is: "FreeDOS improved clone of MS-DOS Edit" and sadly, this is simply > not true. While it is the "go to editor" for batch files and FDCONFIG, I > could not recommend it as a "drop-in" replacement for MS-DOS EDIT. Maybe it's a bad assumption, but I assume that people are savvy enough to find a better editor that works for them. There are dozens of them, so it's really not that hard. But first you have to know what you want. If you need more than small files, you'll have to use something else. (E.g. CC386 compiler includes his own 32-bit editor, Infopad, which IIRC was loosely based upon D-Flat.) > I LOVE FreeDOS and wish it to succeed into the next decade at least; I don't want to be pessimistic, but most development has stalled (or stabilized). > and this is my point, I use FreeDOS in real mode, as if it were an alternate > operating system. Well, yes, we all use "real mode", but I assume you're not running on 8088/8086. Most people don't. So just use a 386+ port of a different editor. I like TDE, but VILE is also good. Heck, we also have GNU Emacs 23.3 (/current/v2gnu/em2303b.zip, 40 MB) found on any DJGPP mirror! > I am an actual (registered) user of the DOS programs that > were the ultimate programs of the DOS age: Lotus 123, dBase & WordPerfect. Long dead, sadly, and hard to find. > Besides these, I also use on a daily basis Online Bible, Alpha Four and > Mpxplay. I still need to figure out how to install and run OLB (under VirtualBox: RCtrl-Home??; under QEMU: Ctrl-Alt-2, "change floppy0 /rugxulo/blah.img")!!! I've got (unreleased 0.2) MetaDOS floppy .img. I did make it 100% transparent to recompile the (patched) kernel and download OLB from Simtel mirror. Other than that, I haven't figured out "install" yet. > There is only one program that I own that currently does not work > in FreeDOS (a tsr dictionary - but I use another which is almost as good). I don't know, I haven't used lots of DOS dictionaries, thesauruses, spell checkers, etc. Some few exist (ispell?), but I haven't tested them. > I don't know what the plan is going forward. I suppose that FreeDOS is "good > enough" as it is, but it would be way cool if it could be better - better > than the illegal but much downloaded MS-DOS 7.10. Seriously, it's ridiculous that in this day and age that people still waste time with MS-DOS at all. Yes, it's illegal (thanks to immortal copyright laws) unless you scrounge for a used copy on eBay or subscribe to MSDN or whatever. (DR-DOS is still around too, but the price has gone up.) So why don't people use FreeDOS? Because they can't handle bugs (not that others are immune either), they can't be bothered to fix anything. (And no maintainers are around to care. I hate saying that, but it's true.) I don't blame them for that, it's hard work, but still ... MS-DOS ain't coming back! Yes, all of us here want FreeDOS and "DOS" overall to continue to succeed. But it takes real effort, it's not automatic. "Patches welcome" is trite and annoying, but it's really true. We have to do it ourselves if no one else will do it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dive into the World of Parallel Programming The Go Parallel Website, sponsored by Intel and developed in partnership with Slashdot Media, is your hub for all things parallel software development, from weekly thought leadership blogs to news, videos, case studies, tutorials and more. Take a look and join the conversation now. http://goparallel.sourceforge.net/ _______________________________________________ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
