
FreeDOS is celebrating 25 years
FreeDOS originally launched on June 29th, 1994. Since then, it has been actively developed and serves as a testament to the potential longevity of open-source software that can maintain a singular vision and development path over a period of time as long as a quarter of a century.
Originally announced on an MS-DOS apps Usenet newsgroup, FreeDOS was an early example of forward thinking from an independent developer in order to preserve an integral part of computing history. After Microsoft had announced that year that future iterations of its flagship Windows operating system would no longer include support for MS-DOS, Jim Hall was inspired to start developing a public domain version of MS-DOS. As development progressed, Hall decided to share the utilities he created to expand DOS's functionality under the GNU General Public License.
Three months following the initial announcement by Hall and the collaboration he had formed with the likes of Tim Norman, the initial alpha of FreeDOS was released publicly. Following this, the project grew exponentially as more developers contributed their time and expertise to growing FreeDOS. From there, the years have been very kind to the operating system, with a working kernel implemented in October of 1998, to a 1.0 milestone release in September of 2006.
FreeDOS is still actively maintained and updated, and it's available to download via its official website, which is also where you can find comprehensive documentation in the form of a wiki.
Further coverage: SourceForge Opensource.com