I have a machine who’s mission is to run FreeDOS. It will do this most of the time, but sometimes it would be nice to be able to get it connected to a modern network to transfer DOS files out to my ‘production machine’ If DOS is like Windows the system clock ticks local time, but usually Linux likes UTC time - so this may be an issue that needs resolving too.

UPDATE - For now I have Debian in multi-user mode. I have set Grub to remember what I chose last so reboots from FreeDOS are hands free after ctrl-alt-del (Just like if FreeDOS were the only OS here) I have set the clock in Debian to run on the local timezone too, Thanks over_clox. Please continue to recommend your favorite distro.

    • WasPentalive@lemmy.oneOPEnglish
      0·
      23 hours ago

      I am still figuring out DOS networking.
      Update - The on-board Ethernet is a Realtec of some sort

  • dajoho@sh.itjust.works
    0·
    2 days ago

    Ooh ooh! I know this! Alpine! I run this together with MS-DOS on my Pentium 3, but FreeDOS should be no problem too.

    • user_naa@lemmy.world
      0·
      1 day ago

      Yes, I think Alpine is very good for this purpose because it is very lightweight. Otherwise you can try Debian CLI

  • Klara@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    0·
    3 days ago

    Another vote for Debian here. Very low-maintenance distro and you can install it with as many or as few packages as you wish.

  • catloaf@lemm.eeEnglish
    0·
    3 days ago

    Is it possible to put freedos in a VM and pass through whatever it needs to be connected to? I assume there’s some piece of equipment it runs.

    • WasPentalive@lemmy.oneOPEnglish
      0·
      3 days ago

      FreeDOS is running on a dedicated i5 desktop with 8gb ram. I wanted to get a period correct desktop machine to run MSDOS 6.22 but all the “Electronic Surplus” places have all dried up. So I built the least powered machine I could (Well I could have used an i3, but the difference in price was only $10.00. I only put in 1 of the smallest memory sticks they had …)

      I have a dos running in DOSBOX, but it’s not the same as real hardware, and it’s not easy to use a usb floppy drive with it. With my dedicated machine I can even boot from floppy if I want/need to.

      RIP Weird Stuff, Halted Specialties, The one that used to be near the Oakland Airport and others I remember but don’t remember their names. Not to mention the internet famous one in Texas - Computer Reset. Oh, now I am sad.

      • over_clox@lemmy.world
        0·
        3 days ago

        If it counts for anything, my old Dell B130 has absolutely no problems booting from a USB floppy drive (IBM model USB floppy drive), not even any issues swapping disks.

        • WasPentalive@lemmy.oneOPEnglish
          0·
          3 days ago

          My dedicated machine ignores disk swap on 2 of the 3 USB drives I have. The third one seems to be ok though.

  • beleza pura@lemmy.eco.br
    0·
    3 days ago

    unless i’m missing something, any distro will do. i’d personally go with debian, but that’s my choice. opensuse is also an excellent choice if you want easy to use config tools

    If DOS is like Windows the system clock ticks local time, but usually Linux likes UTC time

    that’s entirely configurable