Mail Archives: opendos/1997/05/28/06:50:24
On Tue, 27 May 1997, Pierre Phaneuf wrote:
> Yes, exactly! That's why people who use 486 with 16M of RAM will use
> OpenDOS/32 with ext2 and all the cool things! The OpenDOS/16 probably
> won't have ext2 much used even if it is made available, since someone with
> a machine capable of using ext2 will probably run OpenDOS/32 anyway.
Well I agree, that 286 computers and less wont be using ext2, or
a lot of the new features, however OpenDOS/16 runs on a 386 and
later processors as well, so although a given user might have a
386, he might also have the 16bit version of OpenDOS. Wether or
not this is a good argument for the features being added to both,
I don't know. I personally don't care THAT much as I'll be using
ONLY the 32 bit version once developed.
My main point is though that it is easier to add ext2 to the
OpenDOS/16 *NOW* than to wait until a 32 bit version is
available. Who cares if 286 users can't use it because it is too
big? Wether or not ext2 is made available for OD/16 is
irrelevant to 286 and less users because they wouldn't be able to
use it anyways (realistically), however 386+ users WOULD be able
to, and wouldn't have to wait for OD/32 to come out and become
stable. Hell, if I had to wait that long, I probably would'nt
have much of a need for DOS anymore! Even as I speak, there are
several "end-user" linux projects on the go. Granted, they are a
year or 2 off, but they will be here, and even then, DOS will be
simpler, so the sooner OD supports new features the better.
> > > OpenDOS/16 will probably get hardcoded FAT and optional VFAT driver (or
> > > maybe hardcoded too) and nothing else. OpenDOS/32, should get installable
> > > file systems without any problems...
> >
> > Well, I think that anything useful that shows up in OD/32 will be
> > also available or will be ported to OD/16 if enough people want
> > it.
>
> Yes, of course. If enough people want it and it is possible. But I think
> ext2 on a 8086 with 640k of RAM would be problematic to say the least!
Yes, so do I. But once again, remember a 32bit OpenDOS does not
exist. A 16 bit one does. We want new features, and we're not
going to wait until a fully functional 32bit version is created.
The fact that older machines won't benefit from some of the
additions to OpenDOS/16 is irrelevant. EMM386 is a good example.
Should we remove it from OpenDOS/16 because 286 users can't use
it? I think not. Should we remove Windows 3.x support from OD
because 286 users can't run windows? No. So why should we halt
any efforts to improve OD/16 for 386+ users?
Just some thoughts. I think it is much clearer now what my
meanings are, and I'm sure that you'll at least half agree with
me on these points (or 3/4 maybe). :o)
Mike A. Harris | http://blackwidow.saultc.on.ca/~mharris
Computer Consultant | Coming soon: dynamic-IP-freedom...
My dynamic address: http://blackwidow.saultc.on.ca/~mharris/ip-address.html
Email: mharris at blackwidow.saultc..on.ca <-- Spam proof address
URL: Art Bell - Coast to Coast AM http://www.artbell.com
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