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Petreley On Microsoft And Linux

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the stop-submitting-this dept.

Quite a number of people have woken up early in the morning to submit Nick Petreley's latest column in Linuxworld. It's kinda a grab bag column but he does reference a rumour that Microsoft has rewritten portions of Linux for use in Windows. I doubt anything like that has actually happened - but it's a strange world out there.

5 of 156 comments (clear)

  1. I don't buy it. by Sludge · · Score: 5

    This claim is absurd. There is only one kind of hint you can take from the Linux code: Design decisions. If you think that any Windows instabilities are caused by flawed design decisions, then you have another thing coming.

    Finding errors with design decisions could be done by purely looking at theory on paper. However, the problems are much more deeply routed. They are problems with the implementation. I don't see how spying at Linux code could improve this. Let's call this bullshit a product of hype and move on...

    Michael Labbe

  2. BS by Black+Parrot · · Score: 5

    The claim that MS is stealing Linux code to make Windows more stable is absurd on the face of it.

    Windows and Linux have almost nothing in common. You can't just stick the Linux kernel in Windows and expect it to fit. Nor any major portion of it.

    Reliability has to be designed in from the ground up. Frankly, that's why I give more credence to the people claiming that W2K is unstable than to those who claim that it's stable. Stability wasn't an issue at MS until Linux started getting popular. By the time MS started talking up the stability line, W2K had already been in development for several years. I know they didn't go back and retrofit stability as an add-on, because it simply isn't possible.

    Now if they were desinging a new OS from scratch they might be able to benefit from Linux. But there's not really even any need for that. Good OS design has been an open topic of discussion among researchers for decades. All you have to do is want it and then apply yourself.

    The problem with MS and stability isn't a matter of know-how, it's a matter of care-how. They have always been more interested in bells and whistles than in substance. If they are suddenly interested in stability now, it's because Linux's stability has been killing them in markets that they wanted very badly to corner. Expect them to brag about new, improved stability for several years while they go back and design their third generation of Windows with stability actually built in. If they're still in business you'll be able to buy stable Windows systems in 4-5 years. Not sooner.

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
  3. There is *some* precedent for this by Vryl · · Score: 5
    By and large, I think that article is the biggest pile of shite I have ever read. If it were posted to /. it would quickly get moderated as "Troll", its that funny. But ...

    My m$ sources tell me that the recent 'stability' in IIS is due to analysis of Apache and copying the strategy, namely forking the process and periodically killing the children and restarting new processes.

    So ... whilst I would seriously doubt the existance of any GPL'd code in windows, there may be some analysis and subsequent adoption of sucessful stategies, but this should hardly come as a surprise to anyone.

    1. Re:There is *some* precedent for this by jallen02 · · Score: 5

      Thank you.. why would anyone bother with GPL'd code anyways?

      By my experience (take this comment with a grain of salt) FreeBSD is a great server OS that at least rivals any Linux distro in the ability to be a server under heavy load serving... files, webpages, whatever it is reputed for its rock hard stability also, my machine has been up 70 days or so, thats pretty stable considering I run quite a few programs including Seti for over 60 of those days, pretty good

      Okay so why would I bother with Linux code when I can just take BSD kernel code and do so LEGALLY? Hmmn.. one wonders

      So I reached the conclusion that I lost a lot of respect for peterly...

      He sems like a zealot, like hes just looking to make these asanine stories find some more "substantial" proof when its not there because MS does not make billions by being stupid (take THAT comment as you may too)

      Jeremy

  4. Twisted logic by divine_whore · · Score: 5

    I am an avid Slashdot fan for at least a year... and I am used to the Win/Linux "comparisons" popping up from time to time. Fair enough, it's a competitive world. But the fact that a newspaper publishes a whole column revolving around a *hypothesis* that there is code stolen, and bashing Microsoft over a whole A4 page for the supposition that this would happen - that's a bit too much for me. It's not logical, it's not funny and it's a shame for Linuxworld to publish something like that. Go on, flame me!