Hi Bob.

20-Jan-04 08:21:00, Bob Breed wrote to Roy J. Tellason
 BB>> very lean machine that way.

 RJT>> Yep,  been there and done that one.  What other 32-bit OS can
 RJT>> fit on a floppy? :-)

 BB> On a floppy?   I see a few distros that run from 45-60 megs, but
 BB> not one on a floppy.  :)  Must really be LEAN.   :)

typically a lean kernal, with a lightweight shell, and a few diagnostic tools.

 BB> This is what's maddening!  Mtools?  First time I've seen the term.

some probgrams that let you use dos style drive letters to copy/del/dir etc
files on unmounted dos filesystems.

 BB> I have been reading about how all hardware is treated as a file.
 BB> (Isn't that a bit odd, come on now admit it!)

is it?

 /dev/console  is like  CON  in dos
 /dev/lp0               LPT1
 /dec/ttyS0             COM1

etc.

The stuff with block devices also being files may seem odd but it's handy
for programmers as they can do low level stuff easily using high-level
languages.

back in the early days dos could be configured to understand /DEV/CON as
being the console device and CON as just a regular file.

 BB>> My only reason to play with it at all was to see if I could do
 BB>> something for my son who runs a small plastics company.  His
 BB>> heart and soul are tied to "Peachtree' as it does all his
 BB>> inventory, books, mailing labels etc.  No app even close out
 BB>> there in Lx world.

sounds like a generic business database application.
there may be commercial applications that come close, the price could
be a shock as, I think, they're targeted at larger organisations.

 -=> Bye <=-

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