{"slug": "freedos", "name": "FreeDOS", "category": "os", "category_name": "Operating systems and desktop", "description": "", "recommenders": 6, "commenters": 12, "warners": 0, "score": 6.822, "rising": 0.69, "first": "2025-11-02", "latest": "2026-10-30", "why": "I used FreeDOS once to run ancient software which controlled an industrial size oven.", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 6, "neutral": 5, "compare": 1, "warn": 0}, "spark": [1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 2, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "I used FreeDOS once to run ancient software which controlled an industrial size oven.", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": "freedos.org", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://www.freedos.org", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["FreeDOS"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 798218481, "item_id": 49888655, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49888655", "by": "logicallee", "date": "2026-09-29", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "FreeDOS loaded though, Snake and Tetris were fun!", "excerpt": "I tried the Python and SQLite modules on desktop Chrome and got similar errors for both. For Python: Error: CPython engine could not load (Failed to fetch dynamically imported module: https://sonistellar.com/lab/vendor/pyodide/pyodide.mjs). Check the network, then close this tile and re-boot to retry. \u2014 press reset or back to menu For SQLite: Error: SQLite engine could not load (GET https://sonistellar.com/lab/vendor", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "MicroLLM Lab \u2013 Try 7 tiny LLM's in the browser"}, {"id": 797730016, "item_id": 49858126, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49858126", "by": "UncleSlacky", "date": "2026-09-26", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "FreeDOS exists, no need for AI", "excerpt": "FreeDOS exists, no need for AI: https://freedos.org/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Who's still keeping a DOS machine up because the business depends on it?"}, {"id": 783290288, "item_id": 48955643, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48955643", "by": "marttt", "date": "2026-07-17", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "another option would be a FreeDOS/SvarDOS-based system", "excerpt": "Re: distraction free writing machine -- another option would be a FreeDOS/SvarDOS-based system: https://www.theregister.com/software/2025/04/26/build-your-own-antisocial-writing-rig-with-dos-and-a-usb-key/807864 No kidding. Lots of fun to see a system actually boot in about 1 second. That aside, I've installed all kinds of systems on my trusty 2009 Dell Mini 9, a fanless netbook. For years, this was a CLI-only Tiny C", "context": "", "use_case": "Distraction-free writing machine", "switched_from": "", "story": "Reviving a 15-year-old netbook with Arch Linux"}, {"id": 753195184, "item_id": 47074699, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47074699", "by": "bityard", "date": "2026-02-19", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Or run FreeDOS in a VM", "excerpt": "Right? Or run FreeDOS in a VM, or one of the many DOS emulators in a browser, etc. Can't see what an LLM has to do with any is this.", "context": "", "use_case": "running DOS games", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Play your favorite DOS retro games on mac"}, {"id": 738797792, "item_id": 46174862, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46174862", "by": "dpflug", "date": "2025-12-06", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "https://freedos.org/", "excerpt": "https://freedos.org/", "context": "", "use_case": "DOS for old hardware", "switched_from": "", "story": "Tiny Core Linux: a 23 MB Linux distro with graphical desktop"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [{"by": "spauldo", "context": "works with industrial control systems", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50299530", "date": "2026-10-30"}, {"by": "comprev", "context": "contractor", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45791533", "date": "2025-11-02"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["running legacy industrial software", "distraction-free writing machine", "running dos games", "dos for old hardware", "dos-compatible os", "legacy industrial oven control"], "compared": [{"slug": "dosbox-x", "name": "DOSBox-X", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45790293", "title": "Writing FreeDOS Programs in C", "mentions": 3}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50287775", "title": "If IPv4 were land", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49882781", "title": "MicroLLM Lab \u2013 Try 7 tiny LLM's in the browser", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49848955", "title": "Ask HN: Who's still keeping a DOS machine up because the business depends on it?", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48907063", "title": "Reviving a 15-year-old netbook with Arch Linux", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48618147", "title": "\"Boing \" in 64 Bytes", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"recommend": 1, "neutral": 2, "compare": 1}, "2025-12": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {"recommend": 1, "neutral": 1}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-07": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-10": {"neutral": 1}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "family_ref": null, "runs_on": null, "lines": [], "quotes": [{"id": 804792481, "item_id": 50299530, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50299530", "by": "spauldo", "date": "2026-10-30", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "or sometimes even FreeDOS for some of the software we use.", "excerpt": "There's still quite a few pockets of the industry where IPv6 just isn't available. Industrial control systems, for instance - there's lots of PLCs and SCADA software that are still IPv4-only. It's changing slowly, but industrial computing runs on thirty year time scales and there's still a lot of stuff out there that won't even run on modern operating systems. We use 32-bit Windows XP VMs or sometimes even FreeDOS fo", "context": "works with industrial control systems", "use_case": "running legacy industrial software", "switched_from": "", "story": "If IPv4 were land"}, {"id": 798218481, "item_id": 49888655, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49888655", "by": "logicallee", "date": "2026-09-29", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "FreeDOS loaded though, Snake and Tetris were fun!", "excerpt": "I tried the Python and SQLite modules on desktop Chrome and got similar errors for both. For Python: Error: CPython engine could not load (Failed to fetch dynamically imported module: https://sonistellar.com/lab/vendor/pyodide/pyodide.mjs). Check the network, then close this tile and re-boot to retry. \u2014 press reset or back to menu For SQLite: Error: SQLite engine could not load (GET https://sonistellar.com/lab/vendor", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "MicroLLM Lab \u2013 Try 7 tiny LLM's in the browser"}, {"id": 797730016, "item_id": 49858126, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49858126", "by": "UncleSlacky", "date": "2026-09-26", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "FreeDOS exists, no need for AI", "excerpt": "FreeDOS exists, no need for AI: https://freedos.org/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Who's still keeping a DOS machine up because the business depends on it?"}, {"id": 783290288, "item_id": 48955643, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48955643", "by": "marttt", "date": "2026-07-17", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "another option would be a FreeDOS/SvarDOS-based system", "excerpt": "Re: distraction free writing machine -- another option would be a FreeDOS/SvarDOS-based system: https://www.theregister.com/software/2025/04/26/build-your-own-antisocial-writing-rig-with-dos-and-a-usb-key/807864 No kidding. Lots of fun to see a system actually boot in about 1 second. That aside, I've installed all kinds of systems on my trusty 2009 Dell Mini 9, a fanless netbook. For years, this was a CLI-only Tiny C", "context": "", "use_case": "Distraction-free writing machine", "switched_from": "", "story": "Reviving a 15-year-old netbook with Arch Linux"}, {"id": 777890369, "item_id": 48618148, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48618148", "by": "HellMood", "date": "2026-06-21", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "for MsDos FreeDos", "excerpt": "For 486, no FPU, for MsDos FreeDos, WinXP Dos, DosBox-X ... i made that rather in a hurry, so right now i have a version without background but wall bouncing like the original. But since the competition is already over, i will tinker a bit to make it perfect :) the blank code for everbody who can read it ^^ you can paste it to http://twt86.co/ to run in a browser org 100h mov al,0x13 les bp,[bx] int 0x10 X: sub dh,95", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "\"Boing \" in 64 Bytes"}, {"id": 754881953, "item_id": 47180122, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47180122", "by": "fsiefken", "date": "2026-02-27", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "modern Freedos would run", "excerpt": "I'd be ok with it if it's possible to use all the insights and software from after that, we'd just be constrained by the hardware - the Amiga 4000, Apple Mac Quadra 840av 128 MB or a Pentium 66 MHz or the 486 DX2-66 with 64 MB ram. On the Amiga4000 and Apple you could run their 'native' OS, or you could run a modern day NetBSD. On the Pentium-66, modern Freedos would run, Windows 3.11+win32s+calmira, Windows98SE, Win", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Dear Time Lords: Freeze Computers in 1993"}, {"id": 753195184, "item_id": 47074699, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47074699", "by": "bityard", "date": "2026-02-19", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Or run FreeDOS in a VM", "excerpt": "Right? Or run FreeDOS in a VM, or one of the many DOS emulators in a browser, etc. Can't see what an LLM has to do with any is this.", "context": "", "use_case": "running DOS games", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Play your favorite DOS retro games on mac"}, {"id": 738797792, "item_id": 46174862, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46174862", "by": "dpflug", "date": "2025-12-06", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "https://freedos.org/", "excerpt": "https://freedos.org/", "context": "", "use_case": "DOS for old hardware", "switched_from": "", "story": "Tiny Core Linux: a 23 MB Linux distro with graphical desktop"}, {"id": 734864560, "item_id": 45929035, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45929035", "by": "1313ed01", "date": "2025-11-14", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I used to have a laptop running FreeDOS for distraction free hobby programming", "excerpt": "Yes. The main reason I do not want to take notes on paper is the lack of instant backup and sync. These devices seem to have the same drawback. Maybe you could have networking enabled, but only in the background and without any software at all that could distract, just a background service syncing files? I used to have a laptop running FreeDOS for distraction free hobby programming. Used a USB floppy drive and moved ", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Writerdeck.org"}, {"id": 732803920, "item_id": 45800245, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45800245", "by": "lproven", "date": "2025-11-03", "version": null, "stance": "compare", "quote": "FreeDOS is significantly different from \"real\" MS-DOS", "excerpt": "Neither. Because they are not aiming for: > a free bug-for-bug compatible version FreeDOS is significantly different from \"real\" MS-DOS. Back in the 20th century I used DR-DOS, written by Digital Research, the company behind the original OS of which DOS was an unauthorised re-implementation. (DR CP/M-86 was years late, so SCP wrote 86-DOS as a replacement. MS licensed 86-DOS and later bought it. It's not a clone: CP/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Writing FreeDOS Programs in C"}, {"id": 732665936, "item_id": 45791621, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45791621", "by": "dlcarrier", "date": "2025-11-02", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "If enabling CSM in your BIOS isn't an option or isn't enough for FreeDOS", "excerpt": "If enabling CSM in your BIOS isn't an option or isn't enough for FreeDOS, there is a translation layer that can get it to run on UEFI hardware: https://github.com/FlyGoat/CSMWrap", "context": "", "use_case": "DOS-compatible OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Writing FreeDOS Programs in C"}, {"id": 732664528, "item_id": 45791533, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45791533", "by": "comprev", "date": "2025-11-02", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I used FreeDOS once to run ancient software which controlled an industrial size oven.", "excerpt": "I used FreeDOS once to run ancient software which controlled an industrial size oven. The client was having an ever increasing challenge of sourcing IDE disks (in 2008) so I was contracted to find a solution. Eventually we settled on industrial PCs, solid state media and FreeDOS. It was significantly cheaper than replacing the oven at \u00a31M each.... in 50 of their factories worldwide.", "context": "contractor", "use_case": "legacy industrial oven control", "switched_from": "", "story": "Writing FreeDOS Programs in C"}]}