6,8 → 6,8 |
"COMMAND.COM". It is designed and maintained by Mateusz Viste, and distributed |
under the terms of the MIT license. |
|
For the time being, it is an incomplete, experimental project. The goal would |
is to eventually make SvarCOM the default SvarDOS shell, replacing FreeCOM. |
For the time being, it is an incomplete, "work in progress" project. The goal |
is to make SvarCOM the default SvarDOS shell, replacing FreeCOM. |
|
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*** Why replacing FreeCOM, the FreeDOS COMMAND.COM? *** |
18,13 → 18,16 |
- FreeCOM is not suitable for low-memory machines. It takes about 55K of |
conventional memory when XMS is unavailable. XMS being a 386+ thing, FreeCOM |
is a poor fit for pre-386 machines. There is the KSSF hack, but it is a |
kludg with many limitations. |
kludge with many limitations. As pointed out by one of the FreeCOM authors, |
FreeCOM is designed with 21'st century machines in mind and not IBM PC |
compatibles (or "museum computers", as they refer to them). |
https://www.mail-archive.com/freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net/msg23472.html |
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SvarDOS will not rely on XMS, and will perform swapping that works on any |
machine (similar to what MS-DOS did). |
SvarDOS will not rely on XMS, and performs runtime swapping that works on |
any IBM PC compatible machine. |
|
- FreeCOM requires custom NLS files. While the vast majority of FreeDOS |
programs use a single "standard" (CATS/Kitten), FreeCOM is using a different |
programs use a single "standard" (CATS/Kitten), FreeCOM uses a different |
approach with pre-compiled NLS strings, which makes it necessary to |
distribute as many binary blobs as there are supported languages. It also |
makes the translation process much more difficult. |
32,10 → 35,17 |
SvarDOS will use Kitten-style translations, like other applications. |
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- FreeCOM is a complex beast: it aims for compatibility with multiple |
compilers and supports many features. This makes the code uneasy to follow |
and changes require careful testing on all supported compilers and all |
possible build variants. |
compilers and supports many embedded features. This makes the code uneasy to |
follow and changes require careful testing on all supported compilers and |
all possible build variants. |
|
SvarDOS is meant to be simple and universal. It is meant to be compiled with |
OpenWatcom and nothing else. It also won't integrate features that can be |
implemented as third-party tools (typically: DOSKEY). |
SvarDOS, on the other hand, is meant to be simple and universal. It is meant |
to be compiled with OpenWatcom only, which makes a ton of IFDEF's go away. |
It also won't integrate features that can be reasonably implemented as |
third-party tools (typically: DOSKEY). |
|
- FreeCOM code is released under the terms of a toxic (GPL) license that |
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 |
does not impose limitations on how users may or may not use it. |