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I have Ubuntu 20.04 and Dosbox 0.74-3. Is is possible to install GUI for this dosbox? Can one install C compiler for this box?

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    Welcome! Your question doesn’t really fit in the scope of this SE, because it involves new software — while Dosbox aims to emulate PCs and DOS, it does so with a limited scope (running DOS games), so it’s not necessarily suitable for general-purpose DOS usage. Many general-purpose programs will work fine, but if they don’t you’re on your own. If you want to make this more relevant to this SE, I suggest asking about MS-DOS development environments in general, but please explain what you’re ultimately interested in doing.
    – Stephen Kitt
    Jul 29, 2020 at 13:58
  • You most likely should look at a full DOS installation in a virtual machine under Ubuntu.
    – Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen
    Jul 29, 2020 at 14:33
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    For what it's worth, I keep a Windows 98 virtual machine (running under Fusion Pro 11.5 on my Macbook Pro) with the OpenWatcom C/C++ (www.openwatcom.org) compiler/IDE installed and it works great. I would suspect you could do the same under Ubuntu using VirtualBox (www.virtualbox.org).
    – Geo...
    Jul 29, 2020 at 15:19
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    Yes. Borland C, for example.
    – peterh
    Jul 29, 2020 at 15:37
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    Open Watcom C/C++ also can run natively on Linux and compile for DOS, letting you use whatever tooling you want. (Open Watcom is unusual in that a single installation supports all targets by default.) That's how I do my retro-hobby programming. I just develop on Linux and have my build automation include a script which copies the built binary into DOSBox and launches it from outside. (For automated testing, DOSBox has serial1=nullmodem server:127.0.0.1 port:4543 transparent:1 set and that's how test builds report to the harness via COM1.)
    – ssokolow
    Aug 2, 2020 at 7:39

1 Answer 1

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  • For the GUI: you can run Windows 3.1 in a Dosbox.
  • For a C compiler: you can use any C compiler of the era, for example Watcom C, djgpp, or Borland C.
  • For an IDE: Borland C had a quite good character IDE.
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  • If the OP’s goal is to use the GUI for development, it’s worth pointing out that the version of Dosbox packaged in Ubuntu can’t run DOS programs inside Windows.
    – Stephen Kitt
    Jul 29, 2020 at 18:22
  • Quick C was another C compiler and IDE from Microsoft for MS-DOS. But of course djgpp or watcom would be much more superior in terms of developer experience.
    – DmytroL
    Aug 11, 2020 at 15:26

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