MS DOS 4.0 source code released under MIT

[Edward850]

As with their previous versions of MS DOS 6 years ago, Microsoft has uncovered and released the source code for MS DOS 4.0 under MIT today. You can check it out on github here: https://github.com/microsoft/MS-DOS

 

More info here: https://cloudblogs.microsoft.com/opensource/2024/04/25/open-sourcing-ms-dos-4-0/

 

[Wadmodder Shalton]

Oh, it's the infamous version that introduced major bugs both in the shell and the memory manager. And very few programs were ever made for version 4, and many avoided this version in favor of sticking to 3.3 due to crashes until version 5 was released.

[Murdoch]

That's kind of neat. Also took a quick peak at the code for version 1 and 2. Something amusing about looking at files with last modified dates of 1982 and 1983. Not that I can understand much; I get the general gist of most code but assembly is complete gibberish to me.

[act]

Oh, ain't that lovely. Quite a shame it took them this long.

 

Honestly an idea I have is that software should be legally changed to where it is treated as a patent as opposed to a copyright; treating it as a mechanical machine as opposed to an artistic work. 

[MFG38]

Funny thing is the source code, according to this blog post by Bryan Lunduke, apparently doesn't even compile without some changes that compromise the accuracy of the entire system:

https://lunduke.locals.com/post/5565411/ms-dos-4-0-source-code-fails-to-compile

[cybdmn]

It isn't as big of a problem as Lunduke suggests: