Hall has said he created FreeDOS in response to Microsoft announcing end of support for MS-DOS in 1994,[1] a year before Windows 95 was released. As a user and fan of MS-DOS, Hall did not want the functionality of DOS to go away. Prompted by a March 31, 1994 post on comp.os.msdos.misc asking if "anyone, for example GNU et al. ever considered writing a Public Domain DOS",[4] Hall decided to garner support for a free version of DOS, written under a free or public domain model.[2][3] In a June 29, 1994 post, Hall announced an effort to create a free DOS, called PD-DOS, writing:[5]
A few months ago, I posted articles relating to starting a public domain version of DOS. The general support for this at the time was ong, and many people agreed with the statement, "start writing!" So, I have …
Announcing the first effort to produce a PD-DOS. I have written up a "manifest" describing the goals of such a project and an outline of the work, as well as a "task list" that shows exactly what needs to be written. I'll post those here, and let discussion follow.
If you are thinking about developing, or have ideas or suggestions for PD-DOS, I would appreciate direct email to me. If you just want to discuss the merits or morals of writing a PD-DOS, I'll leave that to the net. I'll check in from time to time to see how the discussion is going, and maybe contribute a little to what promises to be a very polarized debate! :->
I am excited about PD-DOS, and I am hoping I can get a group started!
Within a few weeks, other programmers including Pat Villani and Tim Norman joined the project. A kernel, the COMMAND.COM command line interpreter (shell) and core utilities were created by pooling code they had written or found available.[2][3] Hall wrote over a dozen of the first DOS utilities for the project, mostly file and batch utilities. In a July 26, 1994 post, Hall announced the PD-DOS project had been renamed to "Free-DOS", having updated the project's goals to intend to distribute source code under the GNU General Public License.[6] The project would later be renamed "FreeDOS", without the hyphen, after the publication of FreeDOS Kernel, by Pat Villani.[7][3] Hall was the project's release coordinator from Beta1 until about Beta7, and also released the first alpha distribution of Free-DOS, as announced in a post on comp.os.msdos.misc.[8] He is again the project coordinator since April 2011 after Pat Villani's departure, and subsequent death in August of the same year.
Hall is also the original developer of GNU Robots, but he is no longer active on this project and has since handed maintainership over to Tim Northover. It is now being developed by Bradley Smith.
Referencesedit
^ abHall, Jim interviewed on the TV show FLOSS weekly on the TWiT.tv network
^ abcHall, James F. (2002-03-25). "The past, present, and future of the FreeDOS Project". Archived from the original on 2012-05-29. Retrieved 2008-06-14.
^ abcdHall, James F. (2006-09-23). . freedos.org. Archived from the original on 2007-05-27. Retrieved 2007-05-28.
^Valente, A. "Tony" (1994-03-31). "GNUDOS a better DOS than DOS". Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc. Archived from the original on 2019-04-20. Retrieved 2008-06-14.
^Hall, James F. (1994-06-29). "PD-DOS project announcement". Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.apps. Archived from the original on 2017-11-18. Retrieved 2008-06-14.
^Hall, James F. (1994-07-26). "Free-DOS project". Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.apps. Archived from the original on 2012-07-08. Retrieved 2008-06-14.
^Villani, Pat (1996). FreeDOS Kernel - An MS-DOS Emulator for Platform Independence & Embedded System Development - Master OS Development. Lawrence, USA: R&D Books. ISBN978-0-87930-436-2.
^Hall, James F. (1994-09-17). "Free-DOS alpha release to sunsite". Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc. Archived from the original on 2019-04-20. Retrieved 2008-06-14.
Further readingedit
MacCallum, Scott C., ed. (Summer–Fall 2004). "Interview with FreeDOS Creator Jim Hall" (PDF). PHRAINE - Computer Technology Enlightenment Without the Noise. Vol. 1, no. 2(4). pp. 3–6. (PDF) from the original on 2019-02-27. Retrieved 2019-02-27.
Wohlscheid, John Paul, ed. (2017-11-21). "Interview with FreeDOS Founder and Lead Dev Jim Hall". It's FOSS. from the original on 2023-09-30. Retrieved 2023-09-30.
TechRound Team, ed. (2021-04-01). "Interview With Jim Hall, Founder of FreeDOS". Interviews. TechRound. London, UK. from the original on 2023-09-30. Retrieved 2023-09-30.
Proven, Liam, ed. (2023-01-18). "Founder of FreeDOS recounts the story so far, and the future - What is dead may never die, and it's all thanks to Jim Hall". OSes. The Register. London, UK: Situation Publishing. from the original on 2023-09-30. Retrieved 2023-09-30.
External linksedit
Official website
December 01, 2023
hall, computer, programmer, this, biography, living, person, relies, much, references, primary, sources, please, help, adding, secondary, tertiary, sources, contentious, material, about, living, persons, that, unsourced, poorly, sourced, must, removed, immedia. This biography of a living person relies too much on references to primary sources Please help by adding secondary or tertiary sources Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately especially if potentially libelous or harmful Find sources Jim Hall computer programmer news newspapers books scholar JSTOR July 2012 Learn how and when to remove this template message Jim Hall James F Hall is a computer programmer and advocate of free software best known for his work on FreeDOS Hall began writing the free replacement for the MS DOS operating system in 1994 when he was still a physics student 1 at the University of Wisconsin River Falls 2 He remains active with FreeDOS and is currently the coordinator for the project 3 Jim HallAlma materUniversity of Wisconsin River FallsWebsitewww wbr freedos wbr org wbr jhall wbr Hall has said he created FreeDOS in response to Microsoft announcing end of support for MS DOS in 1994 1 a year before Windows 95 was released As a user and fan of MS DOS Hall did not want the functionality of DOS to go away Prompted by a March 31 1994 post on comp os msdos misc asking if anyone for example GNU et al ever considered writing a Public Domain DOS 4 Hall decided to garner support for a free version of DOS written under a free or public domain model 2 3 In a June 29 1994 post Hall announced an effort to create a free DOS called PD DOS writing 5 A few months ago I posted articles relating to starting a public domain version of DOS The general support for this at the time was ong and many people agreed with the statement start writing So I have Announcing the first effort to produce a PD DOS I have written up a manifest describing the goals of such a project and an outline of the work as well as a task list that shows exactly what needs to be written I ll post those here and let discussion follow If you are thinking about developing or have ideas or suggestions for PD DOS I would appreciate direct email to me If you just want to discuss the merits or morals of writing a PD DOS I ll leave that to the net I ll check in from time to time to see how the discussion is going and maybe contribute a little to what promises to be a very polarized debate gt I am excited about PD DOS and I am hoping I can get a group started Within a few weeks other programmers including Pat Villani and Tim Norman joined the project A kernel the COMMAND COM command line interpreter shell and core utilities were created by pooling code they had written or found available 2 3 Hall wrote over a dozen of the first DOS utilities for the project mostly file and batch utilities In a July 26 1994 post Hall announced the PD DOS project had been renamed to Free DOS having updated the project s goals to intend to distribute source code under the GNU General Public License 6 The project would later be renamed FreeDOS without the hyphen after the publication of FreeDOS Kernel by Pat Villani 7 3 Hall was the project s release coordinator from Beta1 until about Beta7 and also released the first alpha distribution of Free DOS as announced in a post on comp os msdos misc 8 He is again the project coordinator since April 2011 after Pat Villani s departure and subsequent death in August of the same year Hall is also the original developer of GNU Robots but he is no longer active on this project and has since handed maintainership over to Tim Northover It is now being developed by Bradley Smith References edit a b Hall Jim interviewed on the TV show FLOSS weekly on the TWiT tv network a b c Hall James F 2002 03 25 The past present and future of the FreeDOS Project Archived from the original on 2012 05 29 Retrieved 2008 06 14 a b c d Hall James F 2006 09 23 History of FreeDOS freedos org Archived from the original on 2007 05 27 Retrieved 2007 05 28 Valente A Tony 1994 03 31 GNUDOS a better DOS than DOS Newsgroup comp os msdos misc Archived from the original on 2019 04 20 Retrieved 2008 06 14 Hall James F 1994 06 29 PD DOS project announcement Newsgroup comp os msdos apps Archived from the original on 2017 11 18 Retrieved 2008 06 14 Hall James F 1994 07 26 Free DOS project Newsgroup comp os msdos apps Archived from the original on 2012 07 08 Retrieved 2008 06 14 Villani Pat 1996 FreeDOS Kernel An MS DOS Emulator for Platform Independence amp Embedded System Development Master OS Development Lawrence USA R amp D Books ISBN 978 0 87930 436 2 Hall James F 1994 09 17 Free DOS alpha release to sunsite Newsgroup comp os msdos misc Archived from the original on 2019 04 20 Retrieved 2008 06 14 Further reading editMacCallum Scott C ed Summer Fall 2004 Interview with FreeDOS Creator Jim Hall PDF PHRAINE Computer Technology Enlightenment Without the Noise Vol 1 no 2 4 pp 3 6 Archived PDF from the original on 2019 02 27 Retrieved 2019 02 27 Wohlscheid John Paul ed 2017 11 21 Interview with FreeDOS Founder and Lead Dev Jim Hall It s FOSS Archived from the original on 2023 09 30 Retrieved 2023 09 30 TechRound Team ed 2021 04 01 Interview With Jim Hall Founder of FreeDOS Interviews TechRound London UK Archived from the original on 2023 09 30 Retrieved 2023 09 30 Proven Liam ed 2023 01 18 Founder of FreeDOS recounts the story so far and the future What is dead may never die and it s all thanks to Jim Hall OSes The Register London UK Situation Publishing Archived from the original on 2023 09 30 Retrieved 2023 09 30 1 External links editOfficial website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Jim Hall computer programmer amp oldid 1182109254, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
