The weird Hewlett Packard FreeDOS option (2022)
7 comments
·March 2, 2025somat
The fun part about freedos is that it feels like a very modern dos environment. A lot of what you would call quality of life features compared to the last MS dos.
I have always wondered why you could not have a 64-bit native dos, The answer I have come up with is that it would not be dos because it would not be compatible with dos programs. the second perhaps more important reason is that, sure dos is an operating system. but it leans really hard on the pc firmware, the bios. if you squint right, the bios could be considered the actual OS and dos just a shell on it. And the bios has a lot of legacy cruft and limitations, modern pc operating systems ditch the bios as fast as possible and lean on direct access. But in that light the modern 64-bit native dos might be the uefi shell.
Conclusion. As a big unix snob, I don't really like dos all that much and it have little nostalgia for it. I suspect HP could(and do it appears) get away with a minimal console only linux install for their firmware flashing needs. but the long tail of low level dos tooling for the PC world is still hanging on.
LeoPanthera
While DOS does rely on the BIOS for low-level operations (especially in real mode), it is still an independent operating system. The BIOS provides essential services such as disk access, keyboard input, and screen output, but DOS has its own file system, command interpreter, and APIs.
The big missing feature preventing the UEFI shell from being a modern DOS is the lack of multitasking. DOS didn't support this very well, but it did have the concept of TSRs. The UEFI shell has no equivalent.
zozbot234
The UEFI shell is pretty much a glorified MS-DOG anyway.
ForOldHack
It was weird, it was free and it allowed you to install firmware.
bityard
I don't think you can install firmware from inside QEMU.
dingdingdang
The real pertinent question here is:
Can I install Win311 on it!?
Discussed at the time (of the article):
The weird Hewlett Packard FreeDOS option - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31389893 - May 2022 (149 comments)