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Why isn't there a DOS forum ?

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pcdosretro

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There is a CP/M forum under Genres, why isn't there a DOS forum somewhere as well ? DOS is certainly a vintage OS and arguably more significant than CP/M.
 
Especially DOS/360. (I wonder how many operating systems called themselves DOS-something-or-the-other)

When the medium of choice becomes solid-state (as in the system I'm typing this on), can we drop the "D"?
 
Wikipedia lists a mere 10 operating systems with DOS in the name for the "Disk Operating System" topic. That excludes Data General's RDOS, half a dozen CP/M variations with the letters DOS in the name, and I think MS-DOS inspired DOSes came close to a dozen. It's enough to make one go for the alcohol with DOS in its name.
 
IBM's use of "DOS" marked a sea-change in thinking at IBM, I think. Before this, IBM systems, if capable, usually had something called "Monitor" (e.g. Monitor II-D, FMS, etc.). Univac claimed "Executive" for their 36-bit line (e.g. EXEC, EXEC-8).

But IBM had DOS, TOS, OS and similar variants. Something akin to IBM not calling the box a "computer" until the PC. The IBM custom was "Data Processing System" (I suspect that "IBM Personal Data Processing System 5150' probably would not fit on a small postage stamp-sized badge).
 
Specifically why isn't there a PC DOS/MS-DOS forum ?

Discussion about the predecessor of z/VSE would be in the mainframes forum. There are three PC related forums based on CPU generation but of course they all ran DOS.
 
Chuck(G) said:
Yeah, I think you'd better qualify the title on the other thread--there's Amiga DOS....
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Seriously, everyone knows that when someone say "DOS" they are very likely referring to PC DOS/MS-DOS as that was by far the most significant OS to have "DOS" in its name. Also it should be obvious that's what someone whose username is "pcdosretro" is referring to.
 
PC/MS-DOS generally implies an IBM PC or clone, for which there is a forum. There are a few exceptions of non hardware clones that run an adaption of DOS, but when dealing with DOS those are usually understood to fall under that category.

"CP/M" does not really imply any specific hardware platform, but rather a large variaty of machines that ran that OS.
 
SomeGuy said:
PC/MS-DOS generally implies an IBM PC or clone, for which there is a forum. There are a few exceptions of non hardware clones that run an adaption of DOS, but when dealing with DOS those are usually understood to fall under that category.
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There are three PC related forums based on CPU generation (8086/286, 386/486, Pentium) but of course they all ran DOS.
 
Stone said:
So there are effectively three DOS forums.
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No, there are three PC forums based upon CPU up to Pentium (presumably family 5 only). Those forums seem to be more about the PC hardware, I'm saying there should be a forum specific to discussions about DOS. Also which of those 3 forums would be used for DOS as DOS can of course run on everything from the original 8088-based IBM PC to a modern AMD Ryzen or Intel Core based PC. Right now I post to General Off Topic but I think that PC DOS/MS-DOS is significant enough to merit its own forum.
 
I would post under vintage software, not general off topic.

Honestly, in close to 20 years we've not had a need for a PC or MS DOS forum. DOS is just so prevalent. Maybe in 20 years when the collective knowledge begins to fade ...
 
mbbrutman said:
I would post under vintage software, not general off topic.

Honestly, in close to 20 years we've not had a need for a PC or MS DOS forum. DOS is just so prevalent. Maybe in 20 years when the collective knowledge begins to fade ...
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I feel like pcdosretro is trying to elevate the level of DOS specific software discussion here. Whether or not that necessitates a specific subforum I don't know, but I appreciate the effort.
 
When I see DOS, I think of TRSDOS and all the other early TRS-80 based DOS variants before I think of MS-DOS or PC-DOS
 
mbbrutman said:
I would post under vintage software, not general off topic.
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The vintage computer software forum is under technical support so that doesn't seem quite appropriate.

exidyboy said:
I've always thought your username was a Spanish surname and that P.C. were your initials :)
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Logic would dictate that "pcdosretro" on a vintage computer forum refers to PC DOS.

Is there any interest in having a separate DOS forum or not ? There's a CP/M forum so why not a DOS forum ?
 
pcdosretro said:
The vintage computer software forum is under technical support so that doesn't seem quite appropriate.



Logic would dictate that "pcdosretro" on a vintage computer forum refers to PC DOS.

Is there any interest in having a separate DOS forum or not ? There's a CP/M forum so why not a DOS forum ?
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https://www.vogons.org/viewforum.php?f=7

The question then becomes ?
 
pcdosretro said:
The vintage computer software forum is under technical support so that doesn't seem quite appropriate.

Is there any interest in having a separate DOS forum or not ?
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I'd support a DOS forum but the vintage software section is not solely for technical support, despite being categorized as such
 
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