The preliminaries

# 1 The preliminaries

Contents of this section

## 1.1 What is dosemu, anyway?

To quote the manual, "dosemu is a user-level program which uses certain special features of the Linux kernel and the 80386 processor to run MS-DOS in what we in the biz call a `DOS box.' The DOS box, a combination of hardware and software trickery, has these capabilities:

o the ability to virtualize all input/output and processor control instructions

o the ability to support the word size and addressing modes of the iAPX86 processor family's "real mode," while still running within the full protected mode environment

o the ability to trap all DOS and BIOS system calls and emulate such calls as are necessary for proper operation and good performance

o the ability to simulate a hardware environment over which DOS programs are accustomed to having control.

o the ability to provide MS-DOS services through native Linux services; for example, dosemu can provide a virtual hard disk drive which is actually a Linux directory hierarchy."

## 1.2 What's the newest version of dosemu and where can I get it?

The newest version of dosemu is `dosemu0.52` and can be ftp'ed from the following sites:

         dspsun.eas.asu.edu:/pub/dosemu/
         tsx-11.mit.edu:/pub/linux/ALPHA/dosemu/

## 1.3 Where can I follow the development?

If you want to follow the development of dosemu, you should consider subscribing to the MSDOS channel on Linux-activists. To subscribe, send mail to `linux-activists-request@niksula.hut.fi`. Your mail HEADER or FIRST LINE must contain the line:

                            X-Mn-Admin: join MSDOS

To post to the list, send mail to linux-activists@niksula.hut.fi. Your mail HEADER or FIRST LINE must contain the line:

                            X-Mn-Key: MSDOS

## 1.4 What documentation is available for dosemu?

The dosemu manual (`dosemu.texinfo`) written by Robert Sanders has not been updated in some time but is still a good source of information. It is distributed with dosemu.

The "dosemu Novice's Altering Guide" or DANG is a road map to the inner workings of dosemu. It is designed for the adventurous, those who wish to modify the source code themselves. The DANG is maintained by Alistair MacDonald (`am20@unix.york.ac.uk`) and is posted once in a while to the MSDOS channel of Linux Activists.

The EMU success list (EMUsuccess.txt) is a list of all programs that have been reported to work with dosemu. It is posted once in a while to the MSDOS channel of Linux Activists. The most recent version can be found on dspsun.eas.asu.edu:/pub/dosemu.

And then, of course, there is the dosemu FAQ/HOWTO. But you already know about that, don't you. It is also posted once in a while to the MSDOS channel of Linux Activists. The most recent version can be found on `dspsun.eas.asu.edu:/pub/dosemu`.

## 1.5 How do I submit changes or additions to the HOWTO?

The preferred method is to edit the file, `dosemu-HOWTO-xx.x.sgml` to incorporate the changes, create a diff file by typing something like

                   diff original-file new-file

and send it to `deisher@dspsun.eas.asu.edu`. If you do not know SGML, that's ok. Changes or new information in any form will be accepted. Creating the diff file just makes it easier on the HOWTO maintainer. :-)

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