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Re: [LUG] OT: Windows XP

 

On 14/02/14 22:49, Simon Avery wrote:
> On 14 February 2014 22:43, Adrian Midgley <amidgley@xxxxxxxxx
> <mailto:amidgley@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
> 
>     How about move all desktops to Linux...
> 
> 
> As an aside, I stumbled across this today; http://www.reactos.org/
> 
> An independant attempt to make an OS that is like Windows in every way,
> but isn't.
> 
> Oh, I understand why you would want to inherit the huge software base by
> being binary compatible for windows executables, but... Why not just use
> windows if that's your aim?
> 
> And I can't help thinking they'll get so far along this track until
> Microsoft quietly say, "You can't do that, you know." and throw a few
> dozen legal reasons in front of Reactos and the whole project will go
> down the pan.
> 
> Or am I just grumpy and pessimistic because of the weather?


Can't believe you haven't come across it already - it's an ongoing
project that's been going for years. I keep an instance in a VM and
upgrade it every now and then, just to see how it's coming along.

You're kind of missing the point: they're not trying to make a
Windows-like OS, they ARE making a binary-compatible system for Windows
apps. Think of it as like using FreeDOS to boot a machine that doesn't
run Windows and install a firmware or BIOS flash that only runs on
Microsoft systems. I'm sure you've probably already come across
situations like that yourself - flashing older Adaptec HBAs just can't
be done on Linux.

All you Linux fans really want this project to succeed - it's final goal
is to achieve full API/ABI compatibility with current Windows tech so
you could migrate any stubborn, irreplaceable or business critical
Windows applications to a ReactOS instance and skip out on licensing
costs, which would be great. Sadly, they are a very, very long way from
achieving that - they're currently only at the NT4 level! Incidentally,
they are heavily dependent on Wine, from whom they crib a lot of their
work.

Whilst MS would probably rather the project leads went away, they are
completely and rightly unconcerned. The project is clean-room reverse
engineered so any legal challenge is hugely unlikely. What's more,
they've been doing it in free view for about 10 years without a peep out
of MS, so it's probably well and truly in the clear.

Regards


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