The FreeDOS 1.0 distribution was released on 3 September 2006.
History
Users could download FreeDOS 1.0 in one of four formats:
- fdbasecd.iso
- fdbasews.iso
- fdfullcd.iso
- fdfullws.iso
The fdboot.img floppy image allowed users to start the install on systems that did not support a bootable CDROM drive.
The "base" CDROM images provided a Base DOS installation, and the "full" images provided a complete installation (Base plus extra packages). The "ws" ("with source") indicated source code was included.
The "full" images were later pulled when they were discovered to contain misidentified proprietary software.
Announcement
This Wayback snapshot shows a news item dated 2006-09-03 00:22 to announce the FreeDOS 1.0 distribution.
2006-09-03
FreeDOS 1.0 w00t!!!!1
FreeDOS "1.0" got released today!
This is a very important day. I want to send out my thanks to everyone
who has worked on the FreeDOS Project, to help bring us to the "1.0"
release. That includes both current members and past members. There
are too many of you to name, so I can't name everyone, but to call
attention to just a few of you:
* Pat Villani: wrote our first kernel
* Tim Norman: wrote our first command.com
* Blair Campell
* Jeremy Davis: longtime kernel maintainer
* Tom Ehlert
* Alain
* Arkady
* Bart Oldeman: big-time kernel maintainer
* Russ Nelson
* Bernd
* Eric Auer
* Aitor
* Joe Cosentino
* Jim Tabor: forklifted our kernel to support network redirection
* John Price: longtime kernel and FreeCOM maintainer
* Steffen Kaiser: longtime FreeCOM maintainer
* Brian
* Florian
* Morgan 'Hannibal' Toal: for keeping FreeDOS going when I took
* time off
* Shane
* Imre
* Mike Devore: for all your contributions, and for making me laugh
* Paul
* Raster
* Jack
* Gregory Pietsch
* ..and all the rest of you.
If I missed you in the list, it's just because there are too many of
you to call out individually. This release would not have happened if
it were not for the efforts of lots of contributors who believed in a
little free software project that was quietly announced to the world
in 1994. We've come a long way. I love the FreeDOS that we have
today. For me, it was definitely worth the wait.
And to celebrate, huge party!
-jh
Release notes
FreeDOS 1.0 distribution
The files available in this directory are:
fdbasecd.iso
fdbasecd.md5
fdbasews.iso
fdbasews.md5
fdfullcd.iso
fdfullcd.md5
fdfullws.iso
fdfullws.md5
fdboot.img
pkgs/
readme.txt
fdbasecd:
fdbasecd.iso is the recommended download for dial-up users and those with
limited hard drive space. It solely contains the BASE diskset and lacks a
LiveCD portion. The integrity of the file can be checked against fdbasecd.md5.
fdbasews:
fdbasews.iso is recommended for people with little hard disk space, but
with a faster internet connection. It is the same as fdbasecd except it also
contains the LiveCD portion and the SRC_BASE diskset. As a general rule, when
installing it is usually not recommended to install the sources, as they will
take up much hard disk space. Its integrity can be checked against
fdbasews.md5.
fdfullcd:
This is the recommended download for users with a fast internet connection
and a reasonable level of free hard disk space. It is as fdbasecd, but
containing the LiveCD portion and the COMPRESS, DRIVER, EDIT, GAMES, GUI, LANG,
MEDIA, NET, and UTIL disksets. This will likely be the ISO for most users.
Its integrity can be checked against fdfullcd.md5.
fdfullws:
fdfullws.iso is NOT recommended for most, if any users. It is an
unnecessarily large download and is only provided to satisfy the various
licenses (especially GPL) under which each of the software packages are. Users
who wish to inspect source code may download individual packages from the
internet, as most will not be indending to see every line of code. Its
integrity can be checked against fdfullws.md5.
fdboot.img:
fdboot.img is provided for users experiencing difficulties with or who are
unable to boot from CD-ROM. If you write this file to a floppy disk, you can
then use the CD-ROM as if it were booted from the CD-ROM. Another way to
boot from CD-ROM is to use Smart Boot Manager (btmgr.sf.net).
pkgs/:
The files in this directory are individual packages that can be installed
from any FreeDOS 1.0 installation. If you desire any of these packages, simply
download them to your hard drive, and run "FDPKG /INSTALL PKGX.ZIP" where
PKGX.ZIP is the filename of the package you downloaded. FDPKG will handle
configuration and dependency checking of the package to install.
readme.txt:
This file.