/retro/ - Y2K

>>5241 (OP) 
FreeDOS really tickles my fancy for some reason, although I'm so you I never actually had to use DOS. Still, it's a shame that the site is a mess with little-to-no documentation.

>>5242
I've tried it before, but not for very long. I'm too busy now to check it out but I would like to see if using it would extend the capabilities of and old computer like a 486 or something.

>>5243
A 486 should be able to run Windows 95 or maybe even NetBSD, and those should add more capabilities. DOS is more of a launcher than an operating system as far as I'm concerned, and that's exactly why I like the idea of a free and open source drop-in replacement.

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>>5242
Hehehe open source mostly sucks at documentation. Also in general if it's modern software, it will be slow and bloated. Try to get old OS+software on 486, if you want it to be actually usable. But the problem is if you run old Windows or Linux/BSD then it's got security holes. So you're probably better off with a "dumb" OS like DOS, if it can run the software you want. I like dumb OS for same reasons I like dumb phone. Lucky for me, I really like ancient stuff like GW-BASIC and text games.

Obligatory Supermium mention:
https://www.win32subsystem.live/supermium/

>>5245
>the problem is if you run old Windows or Linux/BSD then it's got security holes
That's practically a non-issue since a 486 is of no use to attackers.

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>>5246
Botnet can still encrypt files and ask for bitcoin, or whatever they do these days. Maybe it doesn't matter if there's no important files on there, but I'd rather just avoid the situation altogether. I got hacked before when I was new to Linux and I was hanging out on IRC. It was even a 486 with slackware. I had to reinstall, and then learn about security. If I still had only DOS on there, they wouldn't have any way to hack me, since I would have been using plain old dialup shell (where IRC runs on the remote host) instead of a SLIP/PPP that assigns my computer an IP address and leaves it entirely exposed to the world.
Not that I care that much about DOS, most 1980's microcomputers have the same advantage. Actually my favorite is CP/M because it's so minimal!