| /help/help-en/title |
|---|
| File deleted |
| /help/help-en/freedos.ama |
|---|
| 0,0 → 1,52 |
| %h*** Why would I want to use SvarDOS instead of FreeDOS? *** |
| The FreeDOS project is a free, open-source operating system that aims to be |
| 100%% compatible with MS-DOS. And it is awesome. So why would I want to use |
| SvarDOS instead? |
| %hLong release cycles |
| The FreeDOS project began 29 June 1994. Version 1.0 came around in 2006. |
| Version 1.1 has been released in 2012, and the version 1.2 followed in |
| December 2016. This translates roughly to a 5-years release cycle. Granted, |
| the DOS scene is not as active as it used to be, but still, many things happen |
| during a few years. Such version-centric approach also requires users to |
| perform full-system upgrades every now and then. |
| SvarDOS is very different in this regard: there are no versions at all. |
| Whenever a new program is included into or updated within the distribution, it |
| becomes immediately available through the SvarDOS reposoitory and may be |
| pulled either through the SvarDOS website or SvarDOS' pkgnet tool. Already |
| installed systems can be easily kept up-to-date using the distribution's |
| package manager. |
| %hConstraints of legal nature |
| The FreeDOS project mimicks a proprietary operating system, with all its APIs |
| and peculiarities. For this reason, the project always had to be extremely |
| careful about what can and what cannot be included within the FreeDOS |
| distribution. As a result, only "free software" (as in freedom, think GPL, |
| BSD, and so on) can make its way into the official distribution. While such |
| cautious approach is sane and legally safe, it is far from practical for |
| users. Allowing exclusively free software means that a high number of useful |
| programs, tools and games are left behind. For example "freeware" tools (as in |
| "gratis but no source included") are a no-go. Even open-source programs can be |
| rejected, if they do not clearly state that they comply with an OSI-approved |
| license. |
| SvarDOS, on the other hand, is much more liberal about including packages. |
| Basically, anything that is objectively useful, of reasonable quality, |
| free/gratis and can be legally distributed in the form of a package, can be |
| included in SvarDOS. The only exception is for the "core" system (ie. the |
| operating system itself), which must be based exclusively on free/libre |
| software. Read more about %lpkgrules.ama:SvarDOS package inclusion rules%t. |
| %hFreeDOS included! |
| It must be noted, that altough the goals of SvarDOS and FreeDOS may be |
| slightly different, SvarDOS wouldn't exist without FreeDOS. Indeed, SvarDOS |
| uses the excellent FreeDOS kernel, as well as a few other utilities borrowed |
| from the FreeDOS ecosystem. |
| Read also: %lhistory.ama:SvarDOS history |
| /help/help-en/history.ama |
|---|
| 0,0 → 1,32 |
| %hSvarDOS origins (history from the point of view of its creator) |
| Mateusz Viste, the SvarDOS author, says: |
| In the years 2005-2015, I used to perform packaging work for the FreeDOS |
| project. I wasn't pleased with the packaging tool that FreeDOS used back then |
| (FDPKG), so in 2012 I started working on a new package manager, with network |
| support, automatic updates, etc - I named it FDNPKG. Later I also devised a |
| scripted way of generating an "always up to date" FreeDOS CD that I |
| unimaginatively called "all_cd.iso". This CD included FDNPKG and all the |
| FreeDOS packages available at the given moment. |
| I still wasn't satisfied with how FreeDOS clings to its notion of "releases" |
| and that it cannot include some software because of licensing issues, so in |
| 2016 I decided to create my own distribution, that I called Svarog386 (there |
| was also a Svarog86 project that I had created a couple of months earlier, |
| dedicated to 8086 machines). Svarog386 naturally relied on the FreeDOS kernel |
| and used the FDNPKG package manager. |
| Then, in 2021, I started to be tired of having two separate distributions to |
| care about. Over time, FDNPKG also became a huge piece of protected mode code, |
| and although it was magnificent code, I was no longer happy with it: too many |
| features, too complex data processing, too high memory requirements... In a |
| word: too much fluff. I longed for something simpler, that would do perhaps |
| less, but with more transparency towards the user - and something that would |
| work in real mode with not much RAM, so it could be useful even on ancient |
| 8086 machines. |
| The result of these thoughts was SvarDOS: a distribution that replaced both |
| Svarog86 and Svarog386, and that came with its own package manager - a much |
| simpler (and in my opinion much more elegant) tool than FDNPKG. |
| /help/help-en/index.ama |
|---|
| 2,8 → 2,8 |
| %h*** SVARDOS HELP *** |
| 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!) |
| provides only very limited content. (wanna help building it? get in touch with |
| us on the SvarDOS %lcontact.ama:mailing list%t!) |
| === Chapters ================================================================= |
| 13,6 → 13,8 |
| * %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? |
| * %lhistory.ama:SvarDOS origins |
| * %lmeaning.ama:What does "Svarog" mean? |
| ============================================================================== |
| /help/help-en/todo.ama |
|---|
| 8,7 → 8,7 |
| -> must be 8086-compatible and have modest memory requirements |
| -> must be NLS-aware (multi-language) |
| * validate that CORE is 100% 8086-compatible |
| * 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) |
| /help/rebuild.sh |
|---|
| 1,13 → 1,18 |
| #!/bin/sh |
| set -e |
| VER=`date +%Y%m%d` |
| echo "SVARDOS HELP SYSTEM ver $VER" > help-en/title |
| ambpack c help-en help-en.amb |
| rm help-en/title |
| mkdir bin |
| mkdir help |
| mkdir appinfo |
| cp help.bat bin |
| mv help-*.amb help |
| echo "version: `date +%Y%m%d`" >> appinfo/help.lsm |
| echo "version: $VER" >> appinfo/help.lsm |
| echo "description: SvarDOS help (manual)" >> appinfo/help.lsm |
| cp help/help-*.amb ../website/help/ |
| zip -9rkm help.zip appinfo bin help |