new to os

[Polytropon]

On Thu, 18 Aug 2011 15:18:09 -0700 (PDT), scott mcclellan wrote:
> I'm looking to try something different with my machine (or
> maybe I'm going through a midlife crisis).

Pick FreeBSD as an OS, it will be a benefit for your UNIX
skills and your productivity, as well as for your opinion
about learning in general. :-)



> Currently run Wimdows (point and click), and would like to
> gravitate back to DOS (this is a thing of the ancient past
> for me 30 years - on a TRS-80). I know remember extremely
> little of OS vernacular.

Oh you mean _that_ DOS, not the real DOS which is much older
than 30 years, even older than me! :-)

Furthermore, I always thought the TRS-80 ran CP/M, not DOS,
but I could be wrong as I (1st) didn't do any research on
it (first sin!) and (2nd) don't own one so I could check.



> Am I biting off more than I can chew, or is there a OS
> commands for dummies out there, or does FreeBSD have such a
> critter that one can go through.

FreeBSD allows you to run PC emulators that you can install
and run DOS on. Furthermore, there's the doscmd port. Have a
look at the content of /usr/ports/emulators and see what fits
your needs. The traditional command line interpreters in DOS,
e. g. COMMAND.COM, as well as the binaries itself give you
some help. A system with better documentation is Norton's
NDOS, which has also a more flexible command line interpreter,
still being fully compatible. There are even free DOS operating
systems that you can run by a means that FreeBSD provides as
a "host OS".



> I'll pour through the FAQ and got hrough the online manuals
> for now. But it all seems greek. Can someone point me in a
> diresction to degreek this stuff for me.

If you can be more specific, using a more precise question?
At this point, it's mostly guess work, at least to me. :-)





-- 
Polytropon
Magdeburg, Germany
Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0
Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...