DOS ain't dead

MASM 5.10, RxDOS, DOS-C (Announce)

posted by lucho, 17.10.2007, 08:47

> For 17 years, V5.1 MASM has been my assembler. People who wish
> some other assembler must take RESPONSIBILITY for this decision.
> If that assembler is "not compatible" with previously acceptable
> assembly-language standards, there is an easy and fast solution:
> Use V5.1 MASM instead.

If there was no fear of using MASM V5.10, FreeDOS could have had a much better kernel, written entirely in Assembler, with built-in LFN support, which just needs fixing some bugs and further development to potentially become the best - RxDOS by Mike Podanoffsky (who has also written the book "Dissecting DOS").

Alas, what FreeDOS got instead was DOS-C by Pat Villani (who has also written a book for his kernel), written in "C" initially for the Motorola MC68000 CPU, later ported to x86 without knowledge of the undocumented internal structures of DOS, with its famous "f-nodes" instead of the System File Tables (SFT).

All this because of the free-software / open-source purism of some open source adopters!

Is it a so big crime to search for MASM510.ZIP and get this old but still rather useful rusty junk?

Complete thread:

• Jack's drivers updated - Laaca, 13.10.2007, 13:48 (Announce)
  • Corrected UIDE Coming. - Jack, 13.10.2007, 16:56
  • Jack's drivers updated - Japheth, 14.10.2007, 11:17
    • MASM 5.10 - lucho, 14.10.2007, 18:35
      • Clarification - lucho, 14.10.2007, 18:41
      • MASM 5.10 - rr, 15.10.2007, 12:54
        • Open source development prohibited with MASM ?!? - lucho, 15.10.2007, 18:23
          • Open source development prohibited with MASM ?!? - rr, 15.10.2007, 20:57
          • Open source development prohibited with MA$M32 ?!? - DOS386, 16.10.2007, 01:53
            • Open source development prohibited with MA$M32 ?!? - rr, 16.10.2007, 09:51
          • Open source development prohibited with MASM ?!? - Steve, 16.10.2007, 13:35
            • Open source development prohibited with MASM ?!? - Japheth, 16.10.2007, 19:31
            • Steve Hutchesson's weird "MASM32" licence - lucho, 16.10.2007, 19:44
              • Steve Hutchesson's weird "MASM32" licence - Rugxulo, 17.10.2007, 01:33
            • Open source development prohibited with MASM ?!? - sol, 29.10.2007, 17:12
              • Open source development prohibited with MASM ?!? - Rugxulo, 30.10.2007, 05:23
                • Open source development prohibited with MASM ?!? - sol, 30.10.2007, 16:55
                  • Open source development prohibited with MASM ?!? - Rugxulo, 31.10.2007, 00:37
                  • Open source development NOT prohibited with MASM! - lucho, 31.10.2007, 20:24
        • If So, DELETE Your "Links". - Jack, 15.10.2007, 18:51
          • If So, DELETE Your "Links". - lucho, 15.10.2007, 19:07
            • don't worry - Rugxulo, 15.10.2007, 19:56
            • If So, DELETE Your "Links". - Japheth, 15.10.2007, 23:02
        • Still "Linked", I See! - Jack, 15.10.2007, 20:22
      • MASM 5.10 - Japheth, 15.10.2007, 14:55
        • MASM 5.10 - lucho, 15.10.2007, 18:18
          • MASM 5.10 - Japheth, 16.10.2007, 14:06
            • MASM 5.10 and WASM - lucho, 16.10.2007, 17:44
              • MASM 5.10 and WASM - Japheth, 16.10.2007, 18:06
                • WASM - lucho, 16.10.2007, 18:41
        • NOT Responsible For Other Assemblers!! - Jack, 16.10.2007, 16:11
          • MASM 5.10, RxDOS, DOS-C - lucho, 17.10.2007, 08:47
            • MASM 5.10? No! - Japheth, 17.10.2007, 10:06
              • DOS-C, RxDOS, EDR-DOS, MASM 5.10 - lucho, 17.10.2007, 12:24
                • Quantity issues - Japheth, 17.10.2007, 12:54
                  • 99% of DOS users run DOS in a Virtual Machine ?!? - lucho, 17.10.2007, 13:29
                    • 99% of DOS users run DOS in a Virtual Machine ?!? - Japheth, 17.10.2007, 14:19
                      • Real DOS is still alive! - lucho, 17.10.2007, 14:32
                  • Quantity issues - Khusraw, 17.10.2007, 17:20
                    • Hello - Japheth, 17.10.2007, 18:21
                      • Hello - Khusraw, 17.10.2007, 18:31
                        • Hello - Japheth, 17.10.2007, 19:12
                          • Asynchronous synchronisation to ethics - lucho, 17.10.2007, 19:33
                            • Asynchronous synchronisation to ethics - Japheth, 17.10.2007, 19:55
                              • The German proverb about flies and something censored twice - lucho, 17.10.2007, 20:26
                                • The German proverb about flies and something censored twice - tom, 17.10.2007, 20:33
                                  • Efficiency still counts! - lucho, 17.10.2007, 20:55
                                • The German proverb about flies and something censored twice - Japheth, 17.10.2007, 21:08
                              • Asynchronous synchronisation to ethics - Khusraw, 17.10.2007, 21:33
                                • Asynchronous synchronisation to ethics - Japheth, 17.10.2007, 21:41
                          • Hello - Khusraw, 17.10.2007, 19:48
                  • Quantity issues - DOS386, 24.10.2007, 02:41
                • PRIDE Issues!! - Jack, 17.10.2007, 13:31
                • Anyone Want a 1.75K UIDEJR?? - Jack, 17.10.2007, 20:09
            • MASM 5.10, RxDOS, DOS-C FreeDOS kernel ASM vs C - DOS386, 24.10.2007, 02:58
              • MASM 5.10, RxDOS, DOS-C FreeDOS kernel ASM vs C - Japheth, 24.10.2007, 15:08
                • RxDOS. ASM vs C kernels. Cluster alocation of FreeDOS - lucho, 24.10.2007, 15:57
                • MASM 5.10, WASM, Po-ASM, convincing "dialects" - DOS386, 25.10.2007, 06:41
                  • MASM 5.10, WASM, Po-ASM, convincing "dialects" - Japheth, 25.10.2007, 07:55
                    • MASM 5.10, WASM, Po-ASM, convincing "dialects" - Rugxulo, 26.10.2007, 02:32
              • recompiling the FreeDOS kernel -- easy as pie - Rugxulo, 26.10.2007, 04:15
                • recompiling the FreeDOS kernel -- easy as pie - DOS386, 26.10.2007, 08:18
                  • recompiling the FreeDOS kernel -- easy as pie - Rugxulo, 27.10.2007, 14:20
                    • RxDOS - lucho, 27.10.2007, 17:35
                      • RxDOS - Rugxulo, 28.10.2007, 02:01
                        • RxDOS | C vs ASM | purism | empty RX at SF ? - DOS386, 28.10.2007, 02:09
                          • RxDOS vs DOS-C - lucho, 28.10.2007, 09:45
                            • RxDOS vs DOS-C - tom, 29.10.2007, 11:23
                            • RxDOS vs DOS-C - Rugxulo, 29.10.2007, 13:53
                        • RxDOS - Steve, 28.10.2007, 04:57
                          • RxDOS - rr, 28.10.2007, 17:30
                            • RxDOS - Steve, 29.10.2007, 00:33
                              • RxDOS - Rugxulo, 29.10.2007, 13:55
                                • RxDOS - rr, 29.10.2007, 14:29
                                  • RxDOS - rr, 31.10.2007, 15:36
                          • RxDOS - rr, 29.10.2007, 14:46
                            • RxDOS - Rugxulo, 30.10.2007, 05:26
                              • RxDOS - rr, 30.10.2007, 10:56
                                • RxDOS - Rugxulo, 01.11.2007, 03:11
          • "C" For Systems Work Is ... - Jack, 17.10.2007, 13:13
            • Bloatware! - lucho, 17.10.2007, 14:27
              • Please not another C vs. ASM debate! - Japheth, 17.10.2007, 16:02
                • Bloatware is not just "C vs. Assembler" - lucho, 17.10.2007, 19:13
              • Then "Keepen Zie Mouth SHUT"!! - Jack, 17.10.2007, 16:09
            • "C" For Systems Work Is ... - Steve, 25.10.2007, 15:12
      • MASM 5.10 - Jack, 15.10.2007, 18:22
  • Corrected UIDE Available. - Jack, 14.10.2007, 14:44
    • Corrected UIDE Available. - lucho, 15.10.2007, 07:28