The PsychOS486 project for i486/586/686 computers with CD-ROM drives, and therefore about 500-700MB in size is going okay, or at least so far. I've settled on using Slacko Puppy 5.3.1 as a base and have been customizing the crap out of it. This is not to be considered as an update to the "normal," PsychOS 3.x series, i686 version since the software included with PsychOS486 is much older for much older computers. Besides, PsychOS is more of a "project" than it is a single distro. Hopefully that makes sense.
So far, the PsychOS486 "flavor" of PsychOS distros, even if by technicality, can run on an i486DX computer with 32MB of RAM for console use, 64MB of RAM is needed for GUI, though 128MB of RAM is recommended for a graphical desktop. It boots into a console at first with a text menu to ask what you would like to do first to save as much RAM as possible. There should be a release in the next few months. Fingers crossed. You can find updates on PsychOS486's development at https://psychoslinux.gitlab.io/documents/PsychOS486DevLogs/DescendingIndex.html. However, note that sometimes I fall a bit behind updating the development logs so if you are a journalist and are tempted to start writing about the project, either please E-Mail me first or wait until there is a public release, but you probably should still E-Mail me first anyway.
After PsychOS486, I will be tackling (though I may take a short break to do other stuff), either a FreeDOS-based version of PsychOS or create a desktop environment of sorts to be installed on already existing DOS installations, which would honestly be much easier to do.
PsychOS is a systemd-free, GNU/Linux operating system based on Devuan ASCII but tailored towards retrophiles of all ages. It is packed with software and scripts for an easier, out-of-the-box user experience.
Grab a copy at https://psychoslinux.gitlab.io
Visit https://psychoslinux.gitlab.io/DOS/INDEX.HTM for details
The PsychDOS desktop environment is an ANSI-like graphical interface for launching applications and having a few other other features. I highly recommend looking at the SCREENSHOTS and DOCS sections, as well as taking a look at the QCKGUIDE.PDF (Page 3.5 Issue #01) file to get a better idea.
This desktop environment also includes several very useful and redistributable pieces of software. I would have tried to fork FreeDOS if it wasn't so difficult as a GNU/Linux user but regardless, why fix things that aren't broke? Therefore, I decided to create a desktop environment with software included instead. Meaning, you either need an already installed copy of an IBM PC compatible DOS system or you can use something like DOSBox or DOSEMU. I also have an IMG for use with QEMU if people want an easier way to play around with the Network programs.
The announcement on /r/psychoslinux (compact version): https://www.reddit.com/r/psychoslinux/comments/k43ky0/psychos486_for_i486dxi586i686_and_newer_computers/.compact
Webpage for PsychOS486: https://psychoslinux.gitlab.io/486/index.html
There are no videos yet, so at least take a look at the screenshots.
So now that i486DX and i586 users have options (the main version is i686), I hope your automatic cup holder still works (CD-ROM drive) but try not to let the magic smoke out. This distro is based off of Slacko Puppy 5.3.1. It does have SSL-related issues (https://...) in regards to web browsing so I did not bother to include heavy browsers like Firefox, but there are lots of tools for things that still work just fine like plain http, TLS 1.2 sites (ignore cert errors), file sharing, BBS, Gopher, and etc. sites, as well as the "all mighty" IRC. I also went ahead and loaded it down with software so if the Internet gets worse and you can't use the package manager, it shouldn't matter too ...
I currently do not have donations setup the way that I need to, so for now, if you are feeling generous, please use this link: https://theouterlinux.gitlab.io/Public/Support.html
