What this is

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.

What it contains: SvarDOS plus a menu launcher and a choice of freeware writing tools

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.