DOSBox 0.74.3 and SVN should also be considered:
- 0.74.x is extensively tested and still drives many GoG releases to this day.
- SVN continues to be maintained with very careful updates (often to critical core emulation areas).
- SVN's sharp GLShader lets one dial in exact integer scaling by setting the output resolution.
- There's a lot of patches out there that continue to apply to 0.74.3 (or a range of SVN rev-numbers): so provides a basis for experimentation.
- SDL1 vs 2 - ultimately they're just a means end to abstract OS video/input/audio, and SDL1's proven itself to have extreme backward (and forward!) compatibility - measured in decades. So when it comes to tinkering with DOSBox on POSIX-ish variants (Solaris, BSDs, Haiku, etc..), SDL1 + DOSBox 0.74.3/SVN will have your back there, too.
Then there are the libretro forks, which offer their own advantages, especially when it comes to joystick standardization.
I see the ecosystem of forks as a Venn diagram - more slices of the DOSBox pie for everyone 😀