Комментарии в исходном документе даны курсивом. Автор исходного текста и комментариев - Jim Hall. Перевод - Аркадий Белоусов.

Манифест FreeDOS (с комментариями)

James Hall James.F.Hall@uwrf.edu
[адрес сейчас jhall1@isd.net]
[Аркадий Белоусов ark@mos.ru]

Редакция от 16 октября 1994
[комментарии даны 21 апреля 1998]
[перевод от 12 мая 1998]

Изменения

Теперь имеется ftp-сайт для получения FreeDOS по адресу ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/micro/pc-stuff/freedos/. По этому поводу обращайтесь к James Hall по адресу freedos@sunsite.unc.edu. [ftp-сайт остался, но теперь FreeDOS имеет собственный домен и домашнюю страничку по адресу www.freedos.org. Адрес электронной почты координатора также сменился.]

Открыт дискуссионный форум в группе comp.os.msdos.misc. Именно здесь мы планируем обсуждать наши проекты и наши цели. Вы можете свободно участвовать в обсуждениях. [большинство обсуждений FreeDOS ныне происходят в списке рассылки, на который Вы можете подписаться на домашней страничке www.freedos.org. Однако многие участники группы comp.os.msdos.misc в основном знакомы с FreeDOS.]

Предыстория

FreeDOS был анонсирован как PD-DOS в начале июля 1994-го, как очередная реализация DOS. [вначале в имени употреблялся дефис, но потом он был опущен]

Намерения

Я пожелал организовать группу, которая бы, в результате, создала другую реализацию MS-DOS. DOS является популярной системой, и к тому же имеется достаточно аппаратуры, готовой исполнять DOS. Microsoft совсем забросил разработку DOS, it. Microsoft will not develop DOS forever, and one cannot count on commercial programming firms such as IBM or Digital to continue DOS. I feel it is then up to those on the Internet to develop their own DOS (hereafter, FreeDOS) and I feel there is a lot of support for this type of project.

FreeDOS should, optimally, run on all levels of machines. It should operate on processors as low as the 8088 with as little memory as 640k. Hopefully, the compressed installation should fit under 1.44M. [there is so much software written for FreeDOS that the installation is now well over 1MB. However, the Install program can install from disks less than 1MB.]

FreeDOS should not be targetted towards certain users. That is, the end product should be something that programmers and non-programmers may both enjoy and find useful.

Я не думаю, что будут какие-либо препятствия для распространения оптимизированных под 80386-е и выше процессоры версий FreeDOS. Но это остаётся проектом для авторов ядра. [в действительности, мы можем заменить эту фразу следющей: любая программа для FreeDOS может использовать преимущества 386-го или другие расширения, если таковые обнаружены, но эта программа однако должна уметь исполняться и на недорогом оборудовании типа XT.]

Планы

Мне представляется, что проект FreeDOS будет лучше управляем, если работы будут разделены на три подгруппы:

Утилиты - Main objective is to write new, clean versions of the standard DOS utilities. These should all be able to run on any current version of DOS, as low as MS-DOS 3.3. You may notice that many of the DOS utilities have been moved out of the shell. This is to facilitate maintenance and development.
Драйвера - Goals include re-writing the device drivers for DOS, including a new ANSI.SYS and COUNTRY.SYS. These should be overlay-able on any version of DOS, as low as MS-DOS 3.3.
Ядро - Main objective is to write a new DOS kernel, one that is capable of running at least most of the current DOS software. The ultimate test is to be able to run Windows and Doom. Secondary goals might include working in some kind of multitasking support, even if limited.

If I can get this FreeDOS project off the ground, I'd appreciate someone taking over each of the three subgroups, so there'd be a Utilities Leader, Driver Leader, and Kernel Leader. This person would be in charge of maintaining code readability and for ensuring the group's goals are being met. For example, the Utilities Leader would also make sure that each utility includes at least the MS-DOS command line arguments. The Leader should also make decisions concerning what extensions will be permitted. [this "leadership" has since been transferred back to where it belongs: to the users! decisions about what will and will not become part of a distribution is pretty much decided through discussion, and by what software gets used vs. what doesn't. also, all FreeDOS software is now listed together in one large maintainers list, rather than by Utilities, Drivers, and Kernel.]

Much of the DOS utilities already exist as freeware, and a good portion of that has been written by the Free Software Foundation. [most FreeDOS software was actually written from scratch by FreeDOS contributors.] In any case, I'd expect that the Utilities Group would be the first one to accomplish all its goals. The Drivers Group would probably finish next, and the kernel last due to its relative complexity. At each stage of completion, I'd expect a major release to the public, available via ftp sites.

One final note: I'd appreciate all the utilities to be written in either C or the DOS batch language, to facilitate maintenance. [this restriction was going too far. however, the general feeling is that FreeDOS programs should be written in either C or Assembly.]

Legal Stuff

Any effort that goes into writing a FreeDOS would, of course, be redistributed in both binary and source code form. Therefore, we urge programmers to release their software under a distribution agreement, such as the GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE, which says in part from its Preamble:

  The licenses for most software are designed to take away your
freedom to share and change it.  By contrast, the GNU General Public
License is intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change free
software--to make sure the software is free for all its users.  This
General Public License applies to most of the Free Software
Foundation's software and to any other program whose authors commit to
using it.  (Some other Free Software Foundation software is covered by
the GNU Library General Public License instead.)  You can apply it to
your programs, too.

  When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not
price.  Our General Public Licenses are designed to make sure that you
have the freedom to distribute copies of free software (and charge for
this service if you wish), that you receive source code or can get it
if you want it, that you can change the software or use pieces of it
in new free programs; and that you know you can do these things.

Unless otherwise stated, FD-DOC HOWTO documents are copyrighted by their respective authors. FD-DOC HOWTO documents may be reproduced and distributed in whole or in part, in any medium physical or electronic, as long as this copyright notice is retained on all copies. Commercial redistribution is allowed and encouraged; however, the author would like to be notified of any such distributions.

All translations, derivative works, or aggregate works incorporating any FD-DOC HOWTO documents must be covered under this copyright notice. That is, you may not produce a derivative work from a HOWTO and impose additional restrictions on its distribution. Exceptions to these rules may be granted under certain conditions; please contact the FD-DOC HOWTO coordinator at the address given below.

In short, we wish to promote dissemination of this information through as many channels as possible. However, we do wish to retain copyright on the HOWTO documents, and would like to be notified of any plans to redistribute the HOWTOs.

If you have any questions, please contact the FD-DOC coordinator at jhall1@isd.net.