bah> "DOS is dead already
bah>
bah> and nothing you can do to reverse that situation. Consider linux
bah> or another alternative it's painless and much more productive.
bah>
bah> No one uses an XT nor 286,386,486 these days, stop wasting your time."
Just another troll. (Normally I despise the way people always jump up calling people trolls. But this one is clearly wandering around just looking for someone to flame.)
"DOS is dead already": It's very easy to feel depressed or feel like we have to drop everything just because DOS ain't cool. But it still works! We still have "old" (< 686) machines. We still have our apps, which work surprisingly well for a "dead" [useless] OS! Besides, how can an OS be dead if someone is still using it?? FreeDOS isn't dead (though admittedly very very very very slow at new releases), nor others, so why give up the ghost? Sure, AMD64 long mode doesn't help, but at least we have lots of emulators (sorry, DOS386, you'll just have to accept that, heh ... it's better than nothing!). BTW, if DOS were truly dead, then why do so many companies still (!) sell their DOS software, even at VERY high prices???? It's not THAT dead, trust me. (Why would somebody be happy at DOS being dead?)
"and nothing you can do to reverse the situation": Um, if I knew what the heck killed it, surely I can indeed reverse it. With enough energy, time, money, and volunteers, anybody can do anything, esp. with someting as imperfect as computers. There are many DOS hackers who clearly aren't resting on their laurels. (Haiku and FreeDOS are perfect examples of "resurrecting" something dead. You could argue similarly for FPC or FBC.)
"Consider linux ... it's painless": Hardly! I wouldn't say it's that bad, but recompiling stuff, resolving dependencies, learning the ins and outs, having to basically redo everything "just because" seems annoying to me. But yeah, it's okay if you can live with its (many) quirks. Of course, since Linux is infinitely customizable, it is indeed a good base for any wannabe distro makers or kernel hackers. But then, so is FreeDOS or any other "open" OS (Minix, OctaOS, LoseThos, etc).
"... much more productive": Whoa! Not quite. We can barely do things as well as we used to, and computers have 100x more power nowadays. It's a shame that a 486 is so underutilized with modern software. Something is seriously wrong when you can't use an old machine, or any for that matter, for something good! I guess we should throw out all pocket calculators and watches too since "a desktop is just as good"! No, because every device has a purpose, some more than others, and the benefits (and drawbacks) vary.
"No one uses an XT nor 286,386,486 these days": How do you know what people use? Not everything is an overpowered desktop. I'm not going to jump into the ol' standard "embedded market" spiel because that's overused. The truth is that people have old devices, handhelds, laptops, desktops, etc. that still work fine. It's (almost) completely senseless to throw out perfectly good hardware, from a monetary or ecological view. Okay, so I personally consider a 486 too slow, big whoop. It can still work fine as long as you use it for something reasonable (TP55 + DOS) instead of bloatware (GCC + Linux). At worst, it's good for compatibility testing and benchmarking (or fun for old old games, I don't see anyone whining to "stop playing Ms. Pac-Man because it's old, natch"). Remember, a poor carpenter blames his tools.
"stop wasting your time": Which is more productive, DOS hacking or flaming others based upon snobbish superiority without giving any useful feedback? So who's really wasting who's time here?? Besides, it's our time to do what we want with it. If DOS makes us happy, why do you complain?? How does it hurt you?? Esp. since Linux (DOSEMU or DOSBox) can benefit entirely from our work, so it's not like they lose out!! |
> > bah > "DOS is dead already
> > at least we have lots of emulators
> > (sorry, DOS386, you'll just have to accept that, heh ... it's better than
> nothing
>
> That's exactly the reason why (almost) nobody has DOS anymore and why "bah"
> felt pressured to post this.
It's no fun to reboot just to use something. Yeah, emulators are often buggy and slow, but when they work, they work! I'd rather run an emulator than reformat or reconnect some old machine in the closet somewhere. I'm NOT saying a native install isn't useful, just that sometimes for specific apps, there is no advantage (or less, even, due to %#@#$& Sound Blaster, USB mouse bugs, etc).
BTW, last I checked, Linux wasn't pre-installed on 90% of PCs, so somebody had to manually download and install them. So the same could (and is) done for DOS, just there is less of a community around DOS, hence there is less "support". Plus, let's face it, Linux is more popular because it tries to do everything for everybody and has various companies behind it. Lame to say, but money talks. They want snazzy and fancy-pants, they don't want what we have to offer, which is low footprint, raw functionality, and compatibility. |
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