OSDev.org

Would it really be that bad of an idea to design an OS around a linear flat memory model?
If software is designed to be solid and bug free for the OS then is protection really that big
of a deal for a small in-house OS?
Does anyone know how to disable the extended memory manager in DOSEMU so that I
can run_pmode_code_within_DOSEMU, or is this not possible?
do: print "thanks!" :loop

Umm... If that's the Linux DOSEMU, I -seriously- wouldn't recommend it. One little bug and you're rebooting your system. Plus you have to be careful not to stomp on any of the kernel or application memory spaces.

Might I recommend BOCHS? (I can't believe I just said that...)

And no, memory protection isn't such a big deal as long as you can trust your application programmers to know what they're doing. Of course, if they don't, it's crash city.

--Jamethiel

Sure, you could have software that's solid and bug free... eventually. But an OS without protection will be really hard to develop programs for. It's a fact of life that your code will be full of bugs at first (especially if you're learning); adding protection makes your life as an OS developer easier.

I have been using Bochs since im stuck with it, not that it's bad or anything. I thought that DOSEMU
just *emulates* the processor. If true then why would allowing my own EMM program to take over
instead of the built in one- be a bad thing? Bochs is fine but I have to use a floppy with DOS
installed and booted from Bochs just to test my PMODE code, whereas if DOSEMU would allow me
to disable the freaken EMM then I could just run the code directly under DOSEMU.
Thanks.