Jim Hall (James F. Hall) is a
computer programmer
A programmer, computer programmer or coder is an author of computer source code someone with skill in computer programming.
The professional titles ''software developer'' and ''software engineer'' are used for jobs that require a progr ...
and advocate of
free software
Free software, libre software, libreware sometimes known as freedom-respecting software is computer software distributed open-source license, under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, distribut ...
, best known for his work on
FreeDOS
FreeDOS (formerly PD-DOS) is a free software operating system for IBM PC compatible computers. It intends to provide a complete MS-DOS-compatible environment for running Legacy system, legacy software and supporting embedded systems. FreeDOS ca ...
. Hall began writing the free replacement for the
MS-DOS
MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few op ...
operating system
An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs.
Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ...
in 1994 when he was still a
physics
Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...
student
at the
University of Wisconsin-River Falls.
He remains active with FreeDOS, and is currently the coordinator for the project.
Hall has said he created FreeDOS in response to
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
announcing end of support for MS-DOS in 1994,
a year before
Windows 95
Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft and the first of its Windows 9x family of operating systems, released to manufacturing on July 14, 1995, and generally to retail on August 24, 1995. Windows 95 merged ...
was released. As a user and fan of MS-DOS, Hall did not want the functionality of
DOS
DOS (, ) is a family of disk-based operating systems for IBM PC compatible computers. The DOS family primarily consists of IBM PC DOS and a rebranded version, Microsoft's MS-DOS, both of which were introduced in 1981. Later compatible syste ...
to go away. Prompted by a March 31, 1994 post on comp.os.msdos.misc asking if "anyone, for example
GNU et al. ever considered writing a
Public Domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...
DOS",
Hall decided to garner support for a free version of DOS, written under a free or public domain model.
In a June 29, 1994 post, Hall announced an effort to create a free DOS, called PD-DOS, writing:
Within a few weeks, other programmers including
Pat Villani and Tim Norman joined the project. A
kernel, the
COMMAND.COM command line interpreter (shell) and core utilities were created by pooling code they had written or found available.
Hall wrote over a dozen of the first DOS utilities for the project, mostly file and
batch utilities. In a July 26, 1994 post, Hall announced the PD-DOS project had been renamed to "Free-DOS", having updated the project's goals to intend to distribute source code under the
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public Licenses (GNU GPL or simply GPL) are a series of widely used free software licenses, or ''copyleft'' licenses, that guarantee end users the freedom to run, study, share, or modify the software. The GPL was the first ...
.
The project would later be renamed "FreeDOS", without the hyphen, after the publication of ''FreeDOS Kernel'', by Pat Villani.
Hall was the project's release coordinator from Beta1 until about Beta7, and also released the first alpha
distribution Distribution may refer to:
Mathematics
*Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations
*Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a varia ...
of Free-DOS, as announced in a post on comp.os.msdos.misc.
He is again the project coordinator since April 2011 after Pat Villani's departure, and subsequent death in August of the same year.
Hall is also the original developer of
GNU Robots, but he is no longer active on this project and has since handed maintainership over to
Tim Northover. It is now being developed by Bradley Smith.
References
Further reading
*
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Jim
Free software programmers
American computer programmers
FreeDOS people
People from Virginia
University of Wisconsin–River Falls alumni
20th-century births
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)