//help/help-en/contact.ama |
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0,0 → 1,7 |
%hHow do I get in touch with the project's community? |
The recommended way to contact the SvarDOS community is through the project's |
mailing list: <https://lists.osdn.me/mailman/listinfo/svardos-users> |
The project's web homepage is <http://svardos.osdn.io> |
//help/help-en/index.ama |
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1,13 → 1,18 |
%hSVARDOS HELP |
%h*** SVARDOS HELP *** |
This help documentation is very much work-in-progress, for the time being it |
provides only very sparse informations. (wanna help building it? get in touch |
This help documentation is a work-in-progress thing. For the time being it |
provides only very limited informations. (wanna help building it? get in touch |
with us on the SvarDOS mailing list!) |
=== Chapters ================================================================= |
* %lpkg.ama:Packages management (install/remove software) |
* %lpkg.ama:Packages management (install/remove/update software) |
* %lnetwork.ama:Networking |
* %lfreedos.ama:SvarDOS vs FreeDOS: what is the story? |
* %ltodo.ama:The project's "TODO" list |
* %lcontact.ama:How do I get in touch with the SvarDOS community? |
* %lmeaning.ama:What does "Svarog" mean? |
============================================================================== |
//help/help-en/license.ama |
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0,0 → 1,16 |
%hSvarDOS licensing |
SvarDOS is a DOS distribution made of many different software bricks, hence a |
single license can hardly be applied to all. However, the CORE system (that |
is the SvarDOS installer, bootable floppy image and all core packages) is |
carefully assembled from software that is "free" (as in "Freedom"), ie. that |
grants the 3 basic FOSS liberties: freedom to use, modify, and redistribute. |
This includes, but is not necessarily limited to, software released under |
following licenses: GNU GPLv2, GNU GPLv3, BSD, MIT, EUPL and Public domain. |
Note that, while the above applies to the core of the SvarDOS distribution, it |
does not cover all extra packages. Additionnal software packages may or may |
not be FOSS, they are only guaranteed to be "gratis for non-commercial use". |
Read more: %lpkgrules.ama:Packages inclusion rules |
//help/help-en/meaning.ama |
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0,0 → 1,21 |
%hWhat does "Svarog" mean? |
The "Svar" in SvarDOS refers to "Svarog". SvarDOS is the successor of the |
Svarog86 and Svarog386 distributions. |
Excerpt from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: |
Svarog is a Slavic deity (...) identified with Hephaestus, the god of the |
blacksmith in ancient Greek religion (...), some researchers conclude that |
Svarog is the Slavic god of celestial fire and of blacksmithing. |
The only mention of Svarog comes from the Hypatian Codex, a 15th-century |
compilation of several much older documents from the Ipatiev Monastery in |
Russia. (...) The complete passage, reconstructed from several manuscripts, |
translates as follows: |
"(Then) began his reign Feosta (Hephaestus), whom the Egyptians called Svarog |
... during his rule, from the heavens fell the smith's prongs and weapons |
were forged for the first time; before that, (people) fought with clubs and |
stones." |
//help/help-en/pkg.ama |
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12,3 → 12,7 |
makes it easy to search for SvarDOS packages in the SvarDOS repository and |
download them right away. Type pkgnet /? in the SvarDOS command line shell to |
learn about exact pkgnet usage. |
See also: |
* %lpkgfmt.ama:The technical format of a SvarDOS package |
* %lpkgrules.ama:Packages inclusion rules |
//help/help-en/pkgfmt.ama |
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0,0 → 1,78 |
Package files provide an easy way to manage software on SvarDOS. These |
packages must adhere to a strict convention so they can be handled properly |
by the SvarDOS package manager. |
%hPackage filenames |
Packages names must follow some basic rules. They shall be max. 8 letters long |
(but should not be too short either, since a 1 or 2-letters package name might |
be confusing), and must not be composed of characters other than a-b, 0-9 and |
'_'. This for backward compatibility with short file names (8+3) and ISO 9660 |
file systems (used on CDROMs). The package filename is always followed by the |
.ZIP extension. |
%hPackage files |
SvarDOS uses ZIP files as its package file format. This format has been chosen |
because ZIP files under DOS have become the de facto way to distribute |
collections of files. Also, the ZIP file format is well documented, well |
supported, and in the public domain. |
Here below is the recommended command line that can be used to create a |
package for a program named EXAMPLE using info-zip: |
zip -9rk EXAMPLE.ZIP subdir1 subdir2 ... subdirN |
If you are using 7za to create your packages, then use this: |
7za a -mm=deflate -mx=9 -tzip EXAMPLE.ZIP subdir1 subdir2 ... subdirN |
%hPackage directory structure |
The directory structure of a package depends on the type of packages. |
For "core" packages, we have this: |
APPINFO Put the program's LSM file here |
BIN Binaries, such as exe and com files |
DOC\%PKGNAME% Package documentation |
HELP Used ONLY by the "help" package |
NLS\%PKGNAME% Localizations (NLS language files) of the package |
SOURCE\%PKGNAME% The source code (optional) |
Non-core packages use a slightly different directory organization. For |
example, if we were to consider a package FOO, we might end up with the |
following structure: |
APPINFO\FOO.LSM Package meta file for the FOO program |
PROGS\FOO\FOO.EXE The program's executable |
PROGS\FOO\FOO.TXT Some documentation |
PROGS\FOO\FILE.DAT Data file used by the FOO program |
SOURCE\FOO\* here would be stored the foo's source code (optional) |
Note the 'PROGS' directory above. This is a category to which the package |
belong. The package installer might change this directory at install time, |
depending on the user's preferences. Possible categories are listed below: |
Category | Description |
DEVEL | Development tools (mostly compilers) |
DRIVERS | Drivers |
GAMES | Games |
PROGS | User programs, tools... |
Note: "DOC", "NLS", "BIN" and "HELP" directories are strictly reserved to |
CORE packages. |
%hLSM meta-data files |
Every package MUST contain an LSM file in its "APPINFO" directory. This LSM |
file is a text file that contains basic information about the package. Its |
format is very simple, it must contain at least two lines: |
version: x.y.z |
description: package description |
Any other lines are ignored by the SvarDOS package manager. |
//help/help-en/pkgrules.ama |
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0,0 → 1,46 |
%h*** Packages inclusion rules *** |
SvarDOS is a DOS distribution that comes with plenty of third-party packages. |
With time, packages get updated and new packages are being added. However, |
SvarDOS is not a shareware distribution CD, nor it is a "warez" production of |
any kind. Every software that is distributed within SvarDOS must comply to a |
few common sense rules, as listed below. |
%hObjective usefulness |
The distributed software must be useful. There is no point in distributing |
hundreds of "Hello World" programs for example. The software must be useable |
as a finished product and provide some features that are proven to be seeked |
by at least a subset of the user base. Games are considered useful, as long as |
they fulfill their goal of providing actual distraction. |
%hReasonable quality |
The packaged program must exhibit traits of reasonable quality. This means |
that it should have a deterministic behavior, and be free of undesirable |
side-effects to the user's computer (not crashing, freezing, resulting in |
unexpected loss of data, etc). It should also provide clear, non-ambiguous |
instructions to the user about how the program is meant to be used. |
%hFree (no cost) |
The program must be free - that is, available at no financial cost. It doesn't |
have to comply to an OSI-approved license or be open-source (even if that |
would be preferred), but at the very least it must be free for personal, |
non-commercial use. |
%hDistribution allowed |
The program must allow distribution without restrictions, and must not forbid |
being redistributed in a re-packaged form. |
%!CORE EXCEPTIONS |
Please note that, while the above rules are valid for all third-party packages |
that may be distributed with SvarDOS, it does not apply to the 'core' packages |
that contain the operating system itself. SvarDOS being a free (as in "libre") |
operating system, all "core" packages must comply to a libre-like license - be |
it GPL, BSD, MIT, public domain, or anything that allows for unrestricted |
distribution, provides source code and allows to modify it freely. |
//help/help-en/todo.ama |
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0,0 → 1,40 |
%hSvarDOS: The project's TODO list |
* Replace the default (FreeDOS) edit with a smaller alternative (?) |
-> must be TINY |
-> no need for advanced text editing features, just enough to comfortably |
edit small (<64K) configuration files |
-> must be 8086-compatible and have modest memory requirements |
-> must be NLS-aware (multi-language) |
* validate that CORE is 100% 8086-compatible |
* build process: the install floppy should be built as much as possible using |
existing packages (ie. remove the custom "files" directory from svn) |
* Networking setup at install time -> should crynwr be part of the install |
set? Or only selected drivers? Or maybe this could be provided as a |
"supplemental" floppy disk? |
* bootable USB install image |
* add a "link" tool so users can easily create "links" to their favorite |
programs (esp. things like zip/unzip, etc) |
* pkg.exe: add an 'unzip' option so pkg.exe can be used as a poor man's unzip |
* install.com - MBR changes could be done by the installer itself instead of |
system()-calling fdisk |
* help - write more useful content! |
* further NLS support, improvements of existing translations and adding new |
languages -> would be nice to have some kind of web interface for submitting |
and reviewing translations |
* pkgnet.exe: implement the 'checkup' action for easy update checking |
============================= |
%hWanna help? %lcontact.ama:Get in touch! |
============================= |