Why did I create this project, and why does it even exist?

I’m a retro PC enthusiast. I own quite a bit of old hardware—machines that many people would happily pull out of a closet, dust off, and immediately start playing Doom on.

But I don’t.

In fact, I actively avoid touching my vintage machines. Old hardware survives longer when it’s left alone, stored safely, and not constantly moved around or powered up for quick experiments. If you want your retro equipment to last decades, the best strategy is simple: disturb it as little as possible. Yet there’s still the occasional urge. Sometimes you just want to quickly test something, launch a classic game, or relive a few minutes of Doom. For that, you only really need MS-DOS or a compatible DOS environment—not necessarily an authentic 1990s machine.

However, using modern hardware with DOS introduces another set of problems. Most newer PCs simply don’t behave correctly under DOS. CPU clock speeds are far too high, which makes many games run absurdly fast. Sound can also be problematic because modern systems lack compatible drivers. In short, trying to run classic DOS software directly on modern hardware can quickly turn into a frustrating experience. So I decided to solve the problem in a different way.

I created a Linux distribution called LinuxDOS.

The goal is simple:

Boot from LiveCD or PXE, and immediately launch a fully preconfigured DOSBox environment ready to run classic DOS software and games.

The system intentionally avoids unnecessary components such as Xorg or Wayland. DOSBox runs perfectly well on the Linux framebuffer, which keeps the system lightweight and fast. With suitable hardware, it’s even possible to achieve 3D acceleration.

There have been somewhat similar projects before—for example Dosbian, which runs on Raspberry Pi. But I wanted something designed specifically for x86 hardware.

In fact, I had been planning something like this long before Dosbian existed or before the idea even seemed to cross anyone else’s mind.

After testing several DOSBox forks, I found that DOSBox-X worked best for this project, so that’s the emulator LinuxDOS uses.

If time and energy permit, I plan to expand the system further:

• optional X support
• Wine integration via binfmt, so Windows programs could run directly
• possibly even launching something like StarCraft from a fresh LiveCD boot

Yes, that idea is as fun as it sounds.

Another motivation behind LinuxDOS comes from a small collection of netbook-style laptops I own.

These tiny machines are surprisingly practical. They’re compact, lightweight, and if the battery is still healthy, they can run for quite a while.

With a well-optimized Linux system, they can become portable DOS gaming machines where everything simply works:

• sound (already configured)
• graphics
• potential network multiplayer support (planned)
• joystick and peripheral support (planned)

And of course, because it’s DOSBox, you can speed up or slow down the emulated CPU, making games behave exactly as intended.

Personally, I think it’s a fantastic solution—and I’m quite happy with it. 😄

LinuxDOS is also extremely convenient for testing things.

Boot from the LiveCD, and you’re instantly in a working DOS environment where you can experiment freely. If your internal drive already contains DOS software or games, you can access those as well.

You could even:

• bundle your favorite games directly into the LiveCD
• create your own customized LinuxDOS release
• share it with friends or the community

Yes—this is absolutely possible.

Because I plan to publish the entire project source code on GitHub, anyone will be able to:

• build their own version
• modify the system to suit their needs
• contribute improvements
• or simply experiment.

Right now, LinuxDOS is in active development.

I’m currently testing it on:

• QEMU
• a small Acer Aspire One 722 netbook

So far, it works beautifully.

At one point I considered building the distribution completely from source using tools like Buildroot, musl, or other alternative libc implementations to make the system even smaller.

However, the fastest working solution so far is based on Debian 13 (Trixie).

And honestly, I don’t regret that decision. Debian has always been close to my heart.

Once the installer is finished, LinuxDOS will provide a fully functional Debian system, which means you can use the machine for much more than just running DOSBox. A completely custom minimal system wouldn’t offer that flexibility.

For now, Debian 13 remains the foundation—though I may upgrade to newer versions later.

The current public release is available for testing

• LinuxDOS R23
• Build date: 2026-03-05
• Architecture: x86_64
• ISO sha512sum: 431ff39ff80649eada744dbfccfa0d912430eb8344e41ffa872d42a5e9e0904938b54ba97d41f51ff3bc3c32809d74f1a483a104954b0420cf608d4f6c22e664

Download

If you have ideas, want to contribute, or simply feel like venting some retro-computing frustrations, feel free to join the Telegram group and say hello.

Constructive feedback is welcome.

Angry feedback is also welcome.

After all, every good retro project deserves a little chaos. 😄