Date: Wed, 12 Mar 1997 22:42:52 +1100 (EST)
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To: opendos AT mail DOT tacoma DOT net
From: Graeme Cruise <gtc AT ozemail DOT com DOT au>
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Dear DOSbodies,

I invite your considered responses, please. My apologies in advance if I
have chosen the wrong forum.

I have only just joined this list, but I have read through the available
archives on Caldera's OD pages, and as many other links as I can find,
trying to get a feel for what I can expect of OpenDOS in the foreseeable future.

I was simultaneously heartened and intrigued to learn via another
(unrelated) mailing list that Caldera was going to not only revive the lost
DR/Novell DOS, but put it into the public domain too (and sue MicroBloat as
well for good measure!).

My own interest in things DOS revolves principally around the need for a
simple, reliable, supported multi-tasking DOS for business apps which do
*NOT* need the gigantic overhead of Windoze, both in terms of machine
resources and perpetual software maintenance. God, I'll even settle for a
measly *two* swappable tasks -- the enhanced batch language and other
goodies are simply icing on the cake to me.

And I want to actually *pay* for it, as I need it to be supported by a
recognizable organization, and it will be used in everyday commercial
operations anyway, so it needs the credibility of a recognizable "brand"
behind it to be able to sell it to clients and their managements.

So, to my main concern: release of the source code into the public domain.
Forgive my apparent ignorance, but will that not invite a zillion variations
to flower? Will it not put DOS in a sort of  "feral" category way beyond the
problems that beset Unix because of its (comparatively few) recognized dialects?

Or, is it really the plan to let it go feral on the basis that once "it's
out there" it will survive by constant mutation and natural selection?

OK, fine, but what are serious commercial app developers to do who really
want to just stick with a good, solid, supported multi-tasking
non-MicroBloat DOS?

Kind regards,
Graeme

PS: I'm enthralled at the depth of knowledge of DOS internals that is
apparent from trawling your archives. Who said DOS was dead?