When comparing MS-DOS vs Devuan GNU+Linux, the Slant community recommends Devuan GNU+Linux for most people. In the question“What is the best laptop OS?” Devuan GNU+Linux is ranked 6th while MS-DOS is ranked 62nd. The most important reason people chose Devuan GNU+Linux is:
It is stable like Debian.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Use old editor Edit
The grandfather of Notepad, very easy to use, hassle-free text editor.
Pro Brings back memories to older developers
Pro Best OS to run QBASIC on
While QBASIC works on newer operating systems, such as Windows 95 and Windows 98, it was designed for and runs best on MS-DOS.
Pro Stability
It is stable like Debian.
Pro It's Debian
Devuan is Debian just without systemd, it just mirrors the the Debian archive and repacks packages that have hard dependencies on systemd.
Pro Excellent for normal people
It is easy to use and is a good choice for beginners.
Pro No Systemd
Pro Most decent look amongst other XFCE distros
Default XFCE theme is unique of all the XFCE distos including MXLinux, Xubuntu etc.
Cons
Con Not a modern OS
If you need to know how to run legacy software that will run on DOS (crazier things have happened, there's probably still some ancient, leviathan, software out there that requires it), go for it. Otherwise you're practicing skills that are out of date and are using an operating system that is woefully insecure.
Con Literally horrible
MS-DOS is terrible -- just read about real mode. It was an almost decent solution for its time, but not anymore.
Con Way too simple
A stripped down version of Unix, some commands just got renamed and advanced options removed.
Con Dead
Ended in the 21st century.
Con No internet support
Using Internet with MS-DOS is not trivial.
Con Difficult to install on non-free hardware
Unlike Debian, Devuan offers no unfree netinstall media, so if your system needs unfree drivers (e.g a laptop or a tablet), you'll have to download the Debian firmware on a separate USB.
Con No systemd
Con Fragmentation
Forked distributions like Devuan and Artix fragment the Linux community and hurt the original project. Debian users who do not want systemd should use Slackware or BSD instead.