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=== SVARCOM ===
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SvarCOM is the SvarDOS command line interpreter, known usually under the name
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"COMMAND.COM". It is designed and maintained by Mateusz Viste, and distributed
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under the terms of the MIT license.
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For the time being, it is an incomplete, "work in progress" project. The goal
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is to make SvarCOM the default SvarDOS shell, replacing FreeCOM.
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mateuszvis |
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*** Why replacing FreeCOM, the FreeDOS COMMAND.COM? ***
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FreeCOM is an impressive piece of software, but there are a few things that I
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do not like about it. SvarCOM is my attempt at addressing these things.
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- FreeCOM is not suitable for low-memory machines. It takes about 55K of
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conventional memory when XMS is unavailable. XMS being a 386+ thing, FreeCOM
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is a poor fit for pre-386 machines. There is the KSSF hack, but it is a
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kludge with many limitations. As pointed out by one of the FreeCOM authors,
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FreeCOM is designed with 21'st century machines in mind and not IBM PC
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compatibles (or "museum computers", as they refer to them).
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https://www.mail-archive.com/freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net/msg23472.html
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SvarDOS will not rely on XMS, and performs runtime swapping that works on
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any IBM PC compatible machine.
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- FreeCOM requires custom NLS files. While the vast majority of FreeDOS
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programs use a single "standard" (CATS/Kitten), FreeCOM uses a different
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approach with pre-compiled NLS strings, which makes it necessary to
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distribute as many binary blobs as there are supported languages. It also
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makes the translation process much more difficult.
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SvarDOS will use Kitten-style translations, like other applications.
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- FreeCOM is a complex beast: it aims for compatibility with multiple
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compilers and supports many embedded features. This makes the code uneasy to
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follow and changes require careful testing on all supported compilers and
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all possible build variants.
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mateuszvis |
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SvarDOS, on the other hand, is meant to be simple and universal. It is meant
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to be compiled with OpenWatcom only, which makes a ton of IFDEF's go away.
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It also won't integrate features that can be reasonably implemented as
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third-party tools (typically: DOSKEY).
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- FreeCOM code is released under the terms of a toxic (GPL) license that
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restrain the freedom of its users due to its virality.
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SvarCOM is released under the terms of a liberal and permissive license that
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does not impose limitations on how users may or may not use it.
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