# DOS-History/Paterson-Listings

Transcription of Tim Paterson's DOS printouts.

Repository: https://github.com/DOS-History/Paterson-Listings
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/paterson-listings
Language: Assembly
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: 8086, 86-dos, assembly, dos, ms-dos, x86, pc-dos
Last push: 2026-06-02T11:01:48+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 60/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 85, release rhythm 48, longevity 23
- inputs: {"age_days": 335, "days_push": 92, "days_rel": 134, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 1}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1127, forks 136 (observed 2026-08-28T04:03:41.589363+00:00)

## What it is
A transcription of Tim Paterson's original DOS printouts, containing the source code of the 86-DOS 1.00 kernel, PC-DOS 1.00 pre-release kernels and utilities, and the Microsoft BASIC-86 Compiler runtime library. The DOS-related portions have been transcribed into compilable assembly source code, with raw printer output, extracted printed files, and original scans also provided.

## Use cases
- study the original 86-DOS kernel source code
- assemble and build early DOS kernels from historical listings
- research the history of MS-DOS and PC-DOS development
- browse raw printer output of Tim Paterson's 1981 listings
- compare pre-release PC-DOS kernels with 86-DOS 1.00
- recover historical source files from scanned printouts

## When to choose
- you are researching the origins and source history of DOS
- you want compilable assembly source of 86-DOS 1.00
- you need primary historical artifacts like original scans and printer output

## When to avoid
- you need a modern, runnable operating system
- you want maintained DOS-compatible code rather than a historical snapshot
- you are not comfortable working with 8086 assembly

## Facets
- artifact type: dataset
- maturity: stable
- function: parser, documentation, developer-tools
- domain: operating-systems, files, documentation, developer-tools
- platform: cross-platform
- tags: historical-archive, 86-dos, ms-dos, assembly-source, transcription, retrocomputing

## Member repositories
- DOS-History/Paterson-Listings (main) score 60

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:41.589363+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T06:38:45.431435+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/DOS-History/Paterson-Listings (fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:41.589363+00:00, sha fb89396293d9)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.