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                         *** SVARCOM VS FREECOM ***


The FreeCOM project is an impressive piece of software, but there are a few
things that I do not like about it. SvarCOM is my attempt at addressing these
things.


*** MEMORY FOOTPRINT *********************************************************

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 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.

SvarDOS does not rely on XMS and performs runtime swapping that works on any
IBM PC compatible machine.


*** NLS RESSOURCES ***********************************************************

FreeCOM requires custom NLS files. While the vast majority of FreeDOS 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.

SvarDOS will use Kitten-style translations, like other applications.


*** CODE COMPLEXITY **********************************************************

FreeCOM is a complex beast: it aims for compatibility with multiple 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, 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 external
tools (typically: DOSKEY). It strives to reimplement the functionality of
MS-DOS 5/6.


*** NON-FREE LICENSE *********************************************************

FreeCOM code is released under the terms of a license that restrains the
freedom of its users due to its virality (GPL).

SvarCOM is released under the terms of a liberal and permissive (MIT) license
that does not impose limitations on how users may or may not use it.


********************************************************************** EOF ***