This repo contains downloads of compressed disk images of bootable USB keys.
Version 1 is based on several upstream FOSS projects, plus some ancient DOS freeware applications. The idea is to provide a complete, easy-to-use, distraction-free environment for writers. It is set up for English with provision for US and UK keyboard layouts. If you want other translations, I welcome help!
To get your work off the key, just insert the key into a computer that's already running any more modern OS than DOS.
You cannot go online with the keys and there are no Internet tools. There are also no games included. Both are intentional.
The operating system is SvarDOS, the latest release as of January 2025. For source code for the OS, go to the SvarDOS website.
There are no build scripts or source code here. I did not use any. I did not compile anything at all. What I did was take pre-existing compiled code from SvarDOS and other projects, install it, and configure it. Then I worked out how to make bootable media in VMs, imaged those DOS-bootable USB media, and put the downloads here.
The main writing-tools key has a simple launch menu using the DOSShell menu from PC DOS 2000, which back in 2021 I made into a Virtualbox VM and published on my tech blog.
It contains three word processors, two outliners, three plain-text editors, and some other apps. These alls are all explicitly freeware or products from companies that no longer exist.
There is a more complete list of components here:
What is included and how it works.
- A PC that is able to boot DOS. NOTE: UEFI-only PCs cannot boot DOS.
- A PC that is able to boot from USB*.
- Any x86-32 processor, and 1MB or more of RAM. This system will run usefully on a 35-year-old PC.
That's all. You do not need a hard disk. It will work fine without one, or with a drive that's encrypted or otherwise unreadable.
You do not need any other OS on the target PC.
* There are ways around that. You can also write the image to a CF card and use that instead of an EIDE hard disk.
More info: System Requirements
- Download it from the Releases page, which is in the sidebar on the right.
- Write it to a key.
- Boot your computer from the key.
That's it. There is no installation process.
There are some more instructions in the USB-DOS wiki.
NOTE You must have legacy boot enabled in your firmware.
By all means use Github issues to tell me about problems, make suggestions, etc. You can also find me on Bluesky, Mastodon, Twitter X, Dreamwidth and other places.