The ReactOS people claim that they will come out with a free reimplementation of Windows NT comparable to XP and later that will be compatible with existing Windows software. Sounds great, except the Linux+WINE approach to running these programs and the LUK project seem to be poised to produce results faster.
The problem is, it is hard to write an entire operating system and the supporting utilities from scratch. I proposed releasing patches for XP that replace individual DLLS so that eventually all of the proprietary code is replaced and you end up with a free version of Windows. The advantage over what the ReactOS folks are doing is that they would stop releasing something that doesn't work. The downside is that the work won't be freely available until they replace all of Microsoft's code so that users of the code don't have to acquire a license. The ReactOS people give up immediately on the idea of patching Windows despite the potential that has to help people now. The claim they make is that it is illegal to replace bits and pieces of Windows with open source code. Can Microsoft really go after someone if they legally acquire Windows XP and replace the kernel with an open source reimplementation? Would Microsoft even dare to do that? I believe that the DMCA allows reverse engineering for the purpose of ensuring interoperability and that you can even share improvements so long as you don't profit from them. What will Linux+WINE or LUK not support and is this anything worth worrying about? I admit that Word 2003 doesn't work right at times in WINE and that Warcraft II BNE runs too slowly, but I've just given two examples of software that you don't even think about running in ReactOS. Has anyone here had problems with ReactOS moderators and developers? The group seems like a pack of thugs at times. _______________________________________________ PLUG mailing list [email protected] http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
