Hi Jerome, Jim et al, In view of available disk space on normal computers, I would like to interpret Jim's view in a broad sense: If ANY version of MS DOS had the feature and we have something to provide the same feature, then we should make it part of a BASE install. This includes DEBUG, EDIT, EDLIN, BASIC, probably even LFN drivers, although LFN are part of a MS DOS version that could only be acquired as side-effect of Windows installs. But we have it and it is useful for many users. There are a few things that never shipped with MS DOS but which are BASE from my point of view: A package manager, ZIP / UNZIP and drivers for a number of modern pieces of hardware, including USB devices and DVD.
BASIC is a bit controversial - use BWBASIC, small but limited? Or use FreeBASIC, big but versatile? I would say one is enough for BASE but we should provide both for the "large" install option :-) When making a floppy distro, experience has shown that BASE nevertheless fits on two or three disks, with minimal changes, e.g. no BASIC and no EDLIN. So as said, I suggest a broad selection of base things to be BASE :-) Jerome, regarding the packages which are part of the ALL choice: The list seems suspiciously SHORT to me! We had a lot more to offer in older FreeDOS distros when people selected "ALL". Unless things got dropped from Mateusz' repository, I would keep including them all. Jim wrote: > Yes, my view is that FreeDOS "Base" should provide the equivalent > functionality to MS-DOS. Anything else (Devel, Edit, Util, .. or "All" if > you group it into one set) is extra functionality that wasn't included in > the original MS-DOS. > > I think the important feature is that those who want just the "MS-DOS" > behavior can install only "Base" with the correspondingly small footprint, > while people who want a more modern DOS experience can install "All." Jerome wrote: > At present, BASE is fairly close to the 1.1 BASE. Of course, it no > longer includes XMGR and UIDE. this is the current ALL packages that > are installed. Pull rdisk? Anything else? It is good to exclude XMGR but Jim's 14 Jan mail spared UIDE, which I would really prefer to keep. You can also reduce that to UDVD2 if you want a more basic driver. Jim only wrote that we should drop the XMGR HIMEM-like XMS / HMA driver from the distro. > https://github.com/shidel/FDI/blob/master/SETTINGS/PKG_BASE.LST > > Please note, that FDI’s floppy boot image needs a CD/DVD driver and > it is currently using UDVD2. > > These are the current additions that are installed when ALL is selected: > > util\v8power > > net\mtcp > util\4dos Is the license of 4DOS fine at the moment? > util\doslfn > util\fdnpkg Make the 2 above BASE, if you ask me. > util\memtest > util\bootfix > util\shsufdrv > util\cwsdpmi > archiver\zip > archiver\unzip I would make those 4 BASE, too. > util\grep > util\tee > util\touch > util\which > util\pg > > archiver\tar > archiver\gzip > archiver\bz2 > > devel\nasm Which version? > devel\fpc > devel\ow OpenWatcom C AND Assembler? And how about FreeBASIC? > net\wget > net\rsync > net\curl > > Add or remove anything else? Add Bret's USB drivers, if you ask me. And some choice of network packet drivers for common real and virtual hardware, otherwise network tools like WGET do not make much sense. Availability of free open source network packet drivers is limited, but I am sure you have a few. > Jerome Regards, Eric ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Site24x7 APM Insight: Get Deep Visibility into Application Performance APM + Mobile APM + RUM: Monitor 3 App instances at just $35/Month Monitor end-to-end web transactions and take corrective actions now Troubleshoot faster and improve end-user experience. Signup Now! http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/clk?id=267308311&iu=/4140 _______________________________________________ Freedos-devel mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-devel
