ReactOS

[Kimm]

This realy has nothing to do with Ubuntu but oh well..

ok, so I was surfing the web yesterday, I figured I'd pay the Free Software Foundation website a visit, I noticed that you can register, only to later realice you have to pay for it [-( so I wenture of to the links page instead. And I find something interesting ReactOS, its a windows clone, not as in a linux windows look alike, but acctually an almost complete close of windows NT, it can run windows applications and use windows Drivers. There was a live CD to download and try the system, I downloaded it and I ran it, it didnt work very well on my main computer, it didnt seem to have support for my video card, on my Laptop however it ran almost perfectly. The OS is not yet complete, but they hope to have it done for release sometime in April this year, I'm tellin ya, when it comes out I'm downloading this and INstalling it on my laptop, as the project moves on I might even install it on my main computer. I'm acctually thinking of joning them as a developer...

[BWF89]

I've heard of that. It's great to see other non Un*x operating systems being developed.

Wouldn't it be illigle to make a clone of Windows?

[Buffalo Soldier]

ok, so I was surfing the web yesterday, I figured I'd pay the Free Software Foundation website a visit, I noticed that you can register, only to later realice you have to pay for it.

Which website is that?
http://www.free-soft.org/ (free)
http://www.gnu.org/home.html (free)
http://www.fsf.org/ (not free :( )

I went to ReactOS official website (http://www.reactos.com). Interesting project those people got there. And I'm surprised (pleasant one) that it is licensed under GNU GPL :)

[primeirocrime]

I wonder...if they make a windows clone and it's GPL and if it runs better that the blasted original, will microsoft use some of the source code because it's actually better thus making GPL infect microsoft and make it FLOSS? Just flying with my feet nailed to the ground.

[Kimm]

Which website is that?
http://www.free-soft.org/ (free)
http://www.gnu.org/home.html (free)
http://www.fsf.org/ (not free :( )

I went to ReactOS official website (http://www.reactos.com). Interesting project those people got there. And I'm surprised (pleasant one) that it is licensed under GNU GPL :)

it was www.fsf.org I visited :P


I wonder...if they make a windows clone and it's GPL and if it runs better that the blasted original, will microsoft use some of the source code because it's actually better thus making GPL infect microsoft and make it FLOSS? Just flying with my feet nailed to the ground.


I'm sure they would have if they still worked with NT, they are porting everything to 64 bit now so I doubt they will though... But then again, if they use the code, they will have to give credit to the ReactOS developers.


Wouldn't it be illigle to make a clone of Windows?


not as far as I know... they havnt copied anything from the real windows, all dll's have been re-programmed, or taken from the wine project (they work together), but the wine dlls are also non Microsoft as far as I know.

[totalshredder]

Wow, this baby is getting downloaded. It's got some real nice stuff going for it. They still have quite a few rough edges though.

One thought here; although linux is one of the best open source operating systems (sorry, but I can't say best without at least trying solaris), it will be interesting to see what other types of things the OS community can come up with.

Luke

[Kimm]

Yes, it is a very interesting project, but as you said, it does have some rough edges, it does not have networking so far, all drivers dont work and apps seem to run a bit slow (this was on a live CD with a fairly slow CD Drive however...)

[totalshredder]

Yes, it is a very interesting project, but as you said, it does have some rough edges, it does not have networking so far, all drivers dont work and apps seem to run a bit slow (this was on a live CD with a fairly slow CD Drive however...)

Everything runs extremely slow on a live CD, never judge by that. The networking is the main thing holding them back right now, they need at least a browser on there to get some attention. Until then, I'm as excited as you are!

[BWF89]

not as far as I know... they havnt copied anything from the real windows, all dll's have been re-programmed, or taken from the wine project (they work together), but the wine dlls are also non Microsoft as far as I know.
I see. Kinda like how Richard Stallman and the FSF copied UNIX to make GNU/Hurd.

[Buffalo Soldier]

not as far as I know... they havnt copied anything from the real windows, all dll's have been re-programmed, or taken from the wine project (they work together), but the wine dlls are also non Microsoft as far as I know.I see. Kinda like how Richard Stallman and the FSF copied UNIX to make GNU/Hurd.
Like Kimm said ealier, ReactOS have NOT copied Windows. And GNU/Hurd is not a copy of UNIX, that would be illegal.

They are not a copy per say. But were designed to work based on the same standard.

[Whistler]

I think the link in GNU web site is here:
http://www.gnu.org/links/links.html#OtherFreeOperatingSystems

[poofyhairguy]

This realy has nothing to do with Ubuntu but oh well..

ok, so I was surfing the web yesterday, I figured I'd pay the Free Software Foundation website a visit, I noticed that you can register, only to later realice you have to pay for it [-( so I wenture of to the links page instead. And I find something interesting ReactOS, its a windows clone, not as in a linux windows look alike, but acctually an almost complete close of windows NT, it can run windows applications and use windows Drivers. There was a live CD to download and try the system, I downloaded it and I ran it, it didnt work very well on my main computer, it didnt seem to have support for my video card, on my Laptop however it ran almost perfectly. The OS is not yet complete, but they hope to have it done for release sometime in April this year, I'm tellin ya, when it comes out I'm downloading this and INstalling it on my laptop, as the project moves on I might even install it on my main computer. I'm acctually thinking of joning them as a developer...


Sounds interesting. I'll put it on the OSes to try. Solaris is next though...then FreeBSD.

[mark]

Sounds interesting. I'll put it on the OSes to try. Solaris is next though...then FreeBSD.
Let me know how you fare with Solaris. I tried it, oh, a couple months ago - whenever they first "opened" Solaris 10 pre-release - and I was not overwhelmed.

[gruffy-06]

I've heard of that. It's great to see other non Un*x operating systems being developed.

Wouldn't it be illigle to make a clone of Windows?

Not at all.

But they did get into frustration this year because of rumors of Microsoft source code slipping into the project. There was no proof, though. The ReactOS developers are always auditing the project to ensure "clean-room" reverse-engineering only takes place.

So naturally, as long as you don't copy another's intellectual works without permission, you are ok.

[slimdog360]

yeah, I was reading about this a month or so ago. 10 years they have been working on it and it still doesnt work too good Im told. But I havent given it a go yet so I suppose I cant judge.

[Kateikyoushi]

I am surprised as I never heard of this OS.
I check it out of curiosity, but I do not think this is the right way to go chasing MS.

[DarkN00b]

I tried this out some time ago on a live cd. I needed a lot of work then because they said it wasn't yet suitable to install on real-world hardware.

The way I understand this works is like this:

1. A programmer decompiles MS code.
2. The same programmer then writes an exact synopsis of what that code does.
3. That synopsis is sent to another programmer who has no access to Microsoft source code or decompiled software.
4. That programmer then takes the synopsis and codes a new program/dll from scratch.

By doing it this way no copyrights are infringed. This is what gruffy-06 referred to as "clean room" reverse engineering.

All that aside, wouldn't it be great to have a free OS that could run Windows programs natively? Granted, you'd still have to dual boot but I kinda like the idea of having a totally MS OS free machine.

[cunawarit]

I like how they have recreated Windows so closely! Including the blue screen of death,

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3b/Reactos_bsod.png
Screenshot from Wikipedia. :D

On a more serious note I don't think aping Windows is where the open source community should be going. Home editions of Windows are cheap enough for most users anyway. I think Ubuntu is doing a great job bringing an alternative to Windows to non-geeks. I've come across a few Ubuntu users that can't even write HTML. That's a good thing. However, some people need something even simpler than Ubuntu, and Windows!

There are those who say that Linux desktop will never be a success, and that some other open source OS will be the one to give Windows a serious run for its nomey. For example Syllable: http://www.syllable.org/

Where do I think we are going? Well someday the average Joe will not go out and buy a desktop to browse the web and edit documents. I see things going the pervasive computing way. People will by a tiny little device that runs some OS (it doesn't matter what) they will use it to connect to online apps like Writely, everything will be preset for them and they will do nothing other than switch it on. I honestly don't believe the average Joe is interested on computers at all, they happy just getting by using it to browse the web, email and write documents. Would you believe an IT manager I know who was struggling to understand the concept of podcasts said they were only for “technically minded users? ”, sadly the world is full of people like this, plenty of which work with computers every day!!!

To summarize, most users never learn how to use Windows, they have no interest in reading manuals or putting more than 5 minutes into learning how something works. Therefore, I think the solution is something much more basic. Obviously it is going to be limited and not suitable for power users, yet it'll be exactly what Joe public wants.

[Lord Illidan]

I like how they have recreated Windows so closely! Including the blue screen of death,

On a more serious note I don't think aping Windows is where the open source community should be going. Home editions of Windows are cheap enough for most users anyway. I think Ubuntu is doing a great job bringing an alternative to Windows to non-geeks. I've come across a few Ubuntu users that can't even write HTML. That's a good thing. However, some people need something even simpler than Ubuntu, and Windows!

There are those who say that Linux desktop will never be a success, and that some other open source OS will be the one to give Windows a serious run for its nomey. For example Syllable: http://www.syllable.org/

Where do I think we are going? Well someday the average Joe will not go out and buy a desktop to browse the web and edit documents. I see things going the pervasive computing way. People will by a tiny little device that runs some OS (it doesn't matter what) they will use it to connect to online apps like Writely, everything will be preset for them and they will do nothing other than switch it on. I honestly don't believe the average Joe is interested on computers at all, they happy just getting by using it to browse the web, email and write documents. Would you believe an IT manager I know who was struggling to understand the concept of podcasts said they were only for “technically minded users? ”, sadly the world is full of people like this, plenty of which work with computers every day!!!

To summarize, most users never learn how to use Windows, they have no interest in reading manuals or putting more than 5 minutes into learning how something works. Therefore, I think the solution is something much more basic. Obviously it is going to be limited and not suitable for power users, yet it'll be exactly what Joe public wants.


Regarding Syllable, by the time it is finally released and ready to be used by Joe Public, Linux will have evolved and re-evolved some twenty times... I think that the developer of Syllable has a rather large ego..

[cunawarit]

Regarding Syllable, by the time it is finally released and ready to be used by Joe Public, Linux will have evolved and re-evolved some twenty times... I think that the developer of Syllable has a rather large ego..

Agreed, I don't personally think Syllable is going anywhere. But his views and motivation are not without reason. Then again, Linux could be simple, I personally see no reason to re-invent the wheel, Ubuntu proves that you can be used by non-techies.

[Omnios]

Will it run Autocad for NT? My dad wants to get NT 4 just to run autocad and cd tutorials.

[AndyCooll]

Will it run Autocad for NT? My dad wants to get NT 4 just to run autocad and cd tutorials.

I don't think ReactOS is anywhere close to running such types of programs at this moment in time. Firefox, and a few others are about as much as you'll get!

It is an interesting project, however I worry that after ten years it's still only reached 0.3 alpha stage. And it seems to me that its progress is just too slow. Even though XP has been around for half of those ten years it still doesn't seem to be very close to competing as a clone. So by the time Vista comes around it will probably fall further behind than ever.

:cool:

[cunawarit]

Will it run Autocad for NT? My dad wants to get NT 4 just to run autocad and cd tutorials.

Does it need to be NT4? Won't XP Home edition do? It is cheap to buy and compared to the price of Autocad it is absolute peanuts.

[Omnios]

Does it need to be NT4? Won't XP Home edition do? It is cheap to buy and compared to the price of Autocad it is absolute peanuts.

Autocad will work with winXP but apperently he has a lot of autocad tutorials that will not run in XP.