Hi everyone
I'd like to start work on FreeDOS 1.3!
We talked before that the next release would be an iteration on FreeDOS
1.2. That means the next distribution will be FreeDOS 1.3
<http://wiki.freedos.org/wiki/index.php/FreeDOS_Road_Map> - and not 2.0. We
wanted the next FreeDOS distro to remain like classic DOS. For example, we
shouldn't "retire" any classic commands utilities from Base. But FreeDOS
1.3 is an opportunity to improve and update several things.
My initial thoughts:
*- The install CD should be a Live CD.*
The FreeDOS 1.2 install CD is sort of a Live CD. You can exit the install
process and drop back to a DOS command line. I think the same, but include
a full "Base" FreeDOS runtime.
*- Move Zip and Unzip packages into Base.*
The reason is that all FreeDOS packages are zip files "under the hood" so
it makes sense to include tools in Base that can create and extract
packages.
*- Change the games.*
We didn’t install any games with 1.2. We did provide some games as extras
on the big USB and CD images. We've discussed previously that games are not
really "core" to any FreeDOS distribution. So what games we include (or not
include) can change from distro to distro.
*- Add a "Unix" package group.*
We have a few Unix-workalike programs in the FreeDOS "Util" package group.
Some devs have been writing Unix-alike programs for FreeDOS, or porting
Unix tools to FreeDOS. These Unix-like programs should be moved into a
package group of their own.
Thoughts?
This is also an opportunity to *fix bugs and add new features* to FreeDOS
programs. I've given a few examples on the FreeDOS Contribute
<http://www.freedos.org/contribute/> page, but let's go through the bug
tracker, too.
And it's an opportunity to *add new FreeDOS programs*, if we find them
useful. The Contribute page has a few new ideas, too.
I know that DOS isn't exactly a "moving target" anymore, so we aren't in a
rush to get out the next version. But I'd like to set a goal to shoot for.
We released FreeDOS 1.0 in 2006, and 1.1 in 2012, and 1.3 in 2016. I
propose a new release in December 2018 or January 2019. That gives some
time to write code and fix bugs before we put together a release candidate,
maybe in October or November 2018.
To compare: we made FreeDOS 1.2 Release Candidates a month apart: 1.3 RC1
in October 2016, and 1.3 RC2 in November 2016, and 1.3 Final in December
2016. I think the same this time. Two release candidates, then a final
release, each a month apart.
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