On Sat, Jan 15, 2022 at 6:33 AM Jerome Shidel <jer...@shidel.net> wrote:
> Hello all, > > I’ve got a couple thoughts regarding the OS release media I wanted to > throw out to you all. These are just things I was pondering and by no means > I’m I saying any of these are going to happen. They are just some ideas I’d > like to share with you and get feedback on… > > As you know, the LiveCD uses multiple boot images. A floppy one that > starts the Live Environment. A second floppy one that launches directly > into the installer. Finally, a third small hard disk image to run the > FloppyEdition installer without need for OS level CD support. > > Do you think the FloppyEdition installer should be given it’s own entry in > the CD boot menu? Or, leave it as an “EasterEgg” boot by selecting the > copyright notice on the menu? > > Personally, I don’t see either as a perfect solution. If it is left as an > EasterEgg, many people will never know it is there. Don’t forget, that > installer does not need any OS level CD support. If a machine can boot it, > it can pretty much install FreeDOS on anything. On the other hand, I think > moving it to it’s own menu item will just confuse users by having 2 > different “Install FreeDOS options”. > > Another possibility is drop the current “Install” option. Replacing it > with the Floppy Edition. Maybe call it something like “Install FreeDOS BASE > only.” After all, there is no problem running the primary installer from > the Live Environment. But again, I think users will pick the wrong thing. > > This now brings me to the Legacy CD. > > It boots using a different process than the LiveCD (See numerous previous > posts on those differences). This provides CD booting on a narrow range of > hardware that can boot from CD but not use the method employed by the > LiveCD. There is a CD Boot Floppy included in the LiveCD download zip > archive. So, do we really need to keep the LegacyCD around? > > The emulated Floppy the LegacyCD boots is the same as the current LiveCD’s > boot to install menu option. If the LegacyCD sticks around, the image it > boot’s could be switched to the one used by the LiveCD’s boot to Live > Environment. This would provide a Live Environment on that legacy hardware. > But, then what would we call things. They’d both be LiveCDs. > > Finally (at least for now), along with the LiveCD and LegacyCD a CD boot > floppy image is included. We could include a second floppy image to boot > the Live Environment when direct booting from a CD is not possible. But, it > could also cause confusion on what to use or burn to CD or Floppy. So, IDK. > [..] On the first one: > "Do you think the FloppyEdition installer should be given it’s own entry > in the CD boot menu?" I think it's better not to hide features - so yes, the FloppyEdition installer should get its own entry in the CD boot menu. But from your description, maybe it needs a different name. On the second one, about the LegacyCD vs boot floppy to use the LiveCD: I can see benefits to either solution. I'm approaching this from a "what's easiest for the user" perspective, and I think keeping a LegacyCD is still a good option rather than pushing those folks to a LiveCD + boot floppy. We still have the floppy there for the even narrower use case where folks have a CD in their system but cannot boot from CD - they'll need the boot floppy to access the CD installer anyway. So I wouldn't change this, at least not for 1.3 "Final." Might change that for "2.0" or whatever version comes after "1.3." Jim
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