hmm what did you download ?
We don't provide macosX bineries as we don't have it. We just link to them
try asking around at the download place how to use the download.
When you are able to startup dosbox feel free to ask again.

but it seems that you haven't handled the archive correctly

but 22 mb for dosbox is just too big.

it was bz2 file. normal DL gave me gibberish in safari, so i clicked "save link contents". It DLed a 900kb file.

I did the same - got a bzipped file, opened it, and got an executable.

I ran it from the command line and got:
notable:~/downloads zebee$ ./dosbox
dyld: ./dosbox can't open library: /usr/local/lib/libSDL-1.2.0.dylib (No such file or directory, errno = 2)
Trace/BPT trap

In other words, it needs the SDL libs for OSX. where do we get those from?

First: the .bz2 unstuffs to a .tar, called dosbox. OSX thinks it is an executable, but it ain't. Unstuffing that again (or untarring it) gives you the needed executable. If, for example, you use Stuffit on the first dosbox, you'll end up with dosbox.1 as your executable.

Second: libSDL is not present at /usr/local/lib, at least not by default.
You can get it here:http://www.libsdl.org/download-1.2.php

Also if you get the Radnor front-end (in the downloads section on the dosbox site) you'll find it comes with the dosbox app etc all bundled in. It ran with no problems for me without having to compile/install libSDL.

True, re Radnor. But if you can figure out how to mount more than one drive using it, please let me know. I need to mount a CD and a HD directory to install into.

That I don't know ... but if you have the disk space, you could copy the contents of the CD temporarily onto your HD. Then you mount that and make a new subdirectory to install into under the same mount. Once its done, delete the CD files from your HD.

That won't work. I need the CD not only to install, but to run the game. I have gotten it to install from the CD (not using Radnor), but it doesn't see the CD drive as the right disk when it starts to run. All works fine under XP, for what it is worth.

I've mounted the CD as -t cdrom, but that doesn't help. -label might help, if I knew what the correct label was.

I downloaded and installed SDL 1.2.7, which installs into Frameworks. DOSBox doesn't know about the location, so I had to make a symlink:

/usr/local/lib> ln -s /Library/Frameworks/SDL.framework/Versions/Current/SDL libSDL-1.2.0.dylib

After that, dosbox ran.

Of course I couldn't *do* anything with it. ;)
How do I install a DOS program into it?

thanks,
-Walter

Read README and DOSBOX Guides.
You must mount some disc (corresponding to a directory/disc on your host computer). Then you run the game from there (some have installers, some do not, sound must be usually configured!).
Mounted disc in DOSBOX is just a part the host file system, so go to your file manager (in Windows it is Windows Explorer etc., I do not know Mac), and use it to copy the game there.
Of course if you mount CD, you can install from CD.
I recommenrd you to learn basics of DOS (it is good to know them, even if you are using a frontend).

Mirek