Hi Thomas:
There are many different reasons why people would want to install FreeDOS (if they get to know it).
I had given up with DOS emulation in Linux. As I was unable to get an old serial peripheral working via USB. Then I had the use of an old 32-bit PC, and it had a serial port! So I installed FreeDOS on it, and connected the peripheral to the serial port. And everything works fine! I download heart rate data to a USB stick. And I transfer that to my Linux PC. Using on that the old DOS software via the DOSBox emulator.
„ Different" like in „different people“. The needs and equipments are different and the mixture of technical generations should not restrain FreeDOS, IMHO, to „retro computing“ and nostalgia only.
I find interesting the perspectives of our folk!
Nostalgia is very much ok and brings up new and other thoughts, too.
I used first BASIC, then Mac OS, and next MS-DOS.
Documentation for FreeDOS should include CAVEATS about what would be more complicated to achieve or maybe impossible at all. (See the discussion about cheap printers, the missing concept of „drivers“, the whole USB complex, the combination of old+ new hardware, ports … The importance of BIOS for FreeDOS...)
Perhaps you want to write a book?
I know that this is not the responsibility of those who keep FreeDOS alive and continue working on it, to provide such infos, tips, tricks and documentation. Maybe there are books about it out there, or concise info.
I learn as I go along, by trying to solve problems. This is like the worked exercises in maths-teaching.
But the whole tragedy with forums, blogs, lists is that valuable information is scattered.
I have listed incoming messages by Subject.
I am saying this because I can’t spend too much time as a ordinary user going in circles to find out that my expectations, based on the consumer approach we now have, were wrong regarding DOS.
This forum is the News to me!
And I have seen e.g. Bret Johnson giving his advices on USB with great patience a couple of times repeating in short time. He did a great documentation on his USB utils, and Eric provided a List with other USB utils, so this seems a returning issue which could be summed up once and for a while on the website?
Go for it!
It is, no doubt, great to find out how things worked and are working in computing, but not everybody has the background and technical knowledge, or is willing to try to find out non trivial (historical) details.
If you want someone else to do everything for you, then pay for it, and install say Windows!
Could anyone recommend me some good, working documentation on the caveats, issues, impossible things, and „best practice models“ to use Freedos today?
Practical experience. -- members.iinet.net.au/~kilgallin/ _______________________________________________ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
