DOS ain't dead

PDOS-generic (Announce)

posted by marcov, 08.11.2021, 10:21

> > The core problem was not having a stable 32-bit application interface
> built
> > into dos.
>
> I fail to see the problem.

Now or then? The question was what IMHO should have gone different with the course of dos.

>
> > DJGPP still thunks through the extender to access the old 16-bit
> > interrupt calls. _NOW_ in 2021.
>
> you are running on top of an OS from 1993. what do you expect?


That's now. I was talking about then.


> > Extender and long-term stable 32-bit API built into dos.
>
> Extenders are stable, have been around since ~1990 and give you all the
> 32-bit API's you might ever want. they are just OS extensions - exactly
> what you asked for.

Needing to use the plural of "Extenders" already says enough. If it had been centralized there would only be one, and with that also some more standardization of the 32-bit level interface.

> Someone has to convert 32-bit operations into 16-bit DOS/BIOS.

This is exactly the point;

> The
> advantage of doing this in the extender is that the required memory is not
> needed when running 16-bit applications and memory is scarce.

The point that I discuss is more that 3rd party code is doing that. At an earlier point msdos should have expanded. (one can say it did and it became win9x though)

> in addition, you may select an extender that pages memory, possibly even
> provides memory protection, and more interesting protected mode stuff.

But now call a program using extender X from a dosbox spawned by a program using extender y...... By having a default 32-bit part (extender) built into dos at some point, that could have been avoided, and it would also have allowed Dos to expand possible 32-bit API offering

Of course this is all in 30 year hindsight

Complete thread:

• PDOS-generic - kerravon, 30.10.2021, 10:02 (Announce)
  • PDOS-generic - kerravon, 31.10.2021, 06:40
    • PDOS-generic - kerravon, 31.10.2021, 09:43
      • PDOS-generic - ecm, 31.10.2021, 22:11
        • PDOS-generic - kerravon, 31.10.2021, 22:29
          • PDOS-generic - ecm, 31.10.2021, 22:32
            • PDOS-generic - kerravon, 31.10.2021, 22:46
              • PDOS-generic - tom, 02.11.2021, 18:25
                • PDOS-generic - kerravon, 02.11.2021, 21:29
                  • PDOS-generic - ecm, 03.11.2021, 08:54
                    • PDOS-generic - kerravon, 03.11.2021, 19:48
      • PDOS-generic - marcov, 02.11.2021, 19:42
        • PDOS-generic - kerravon, 02.11.2021, 22:00
          • PDOS-generic - marcov, 03.11.2021, 16:43
            • PDOS-generic - kerravon, 03.11.2021, 20:06
              • PDOS-generic - marcov, 13.11.2021, 15:49
                • PDOS-generic - kerravon, 14.11.2021, 09:01
            • PDOS-generic - tom, 04.11.2021, 15:28
              • PDOS-generic - marcov, 08.11.2021, 10:21
                • PDOS-generic - tkchia, 08.11.2021, 16:24
                  • PDOS-generic - DosWorld, 08.11.2021, 17:17
                  • PDOS-generic - marcov, 13.11.2021, 16:03
                    • PDOS-generic - tkchia, 13.11.2021, 17:42
                • PDOS-generic - kerravon, 12.11.2021, 01:50
                  • PDOS-generic - kerravon, 12.11.2021, 11:10
                  • PDOS-generic - Ringding, 12.11.2021, 13:39
                    • PDOS-generic - kerravon, 13.11.2021, 02:26
                      • PDOS-generic - Ringding, 13.11.2021, 09:55
                        • PDOS-generic - Ringding, 13.11.2021, 10:51