TRON: The Unknown Open-Source?

jordandeamattson writes "Over on CNN there is a very interesting article about Tron, an open-source real-time operating system from Japan first developed and distributed in the early 1980s. The claim is that it is more widely distributed than Windows (in some 3 billion devices world-wide), that the developer (Ken Sakamura, a University professor) would be worth mucho if he had just charged for it, and that Microsoft/U.S. goverment used trade rules (Super 301) to block it adoption by schools in Japan. Check it out for an interesting read and a 'what might have been ...'" (Here's a previous mention of Tron from March about MontaVista's work to combine it with Linux.)

Comments

just buy it!

[sweeney37]

This open-source story is being brought to you by Disney maker of Tron 2.

Yes we may be a heartless, monopolistic company, but we're not that other heartless monopolistic company who doesn't like open source. We at Disney love open source. Ummm. Look at Pixar! They use Linux! Granted we really don't own Pixar. But we regardless, we love Linux, and open-source, and you.

Just remember, when you think of Tron, think of open-source, and think of buying Tron 2. Better yet, don't think of buying it, just buy it! Hmmm, it is Windows only right now. That's not going to make you very happy.

Maybe WineX will work. Give it a shot, just buy it.

Tron, and open source platform, and a really nifty new game!

Mike

Trolltronic!

[Anonymous Coward]

Join TSAU Today! TSAU (TROLL SEX ASSOCIATION OF UK) is the first organisation which
gathers TROLL SEX lovers from all over UK and abroad for one common goal - having TROLL SEX!

Are you a TROLL?
Are you a SEX?
Are you a TROLLSEX?

If you answered "Yes" to any of the above questions, then TSAU (TROLLSEX ASSCOCIATION OF UK) might be exactly what you've been looking for!
Join TSAU (TROLL SEX ASSOCIATION OF UK) today, and enjoy all the benefits of being a full-time TSAU member.
TSAU (TROLL SEX ASSOCIATION OF UK) is the fastest-growing TROLL SEX community with THOUSANDS of members all over United States of Europe. You, too, can be a part of TSAU if you join today!

Why not? It's quick and easy - only 2 simple steps!

First, you have to obtain a copy of TROLL SEX FROM OUTER SPACE THE MOVIE and watch it.

Second, you need to join the official TSAU irc channel #TSAU on EFNet, and apply for membership.
Talk to one of the ops or any of the other members in the channel to sign up today!

If you are having trouble locating #TSAU, the official TROLL SEX ASSOCIATION OF UK irc channel, you might be on a wrong irc network. The correct network is EFNet, and you can connect to irc.secsup.org or irc.isprime.com as one of the EFNet servers.

If you have mod points and would like to support TSAU, please moderate this post up.

This post brought to you by a proud member of TSAU

Netcraft Confirms...

[Anonymous Coward]

"Over the past 3 months many new hosting providers have released Windows Server 2003 hosting packages. Myhosting.com is now the top hoster of active Windows Server 2003 sites, and apparently has stopped offering Windows Server 2000 and Microsoft-IIS/5.0 to new customers, inisisting that they should run Microsoft-IIS/6.0."

"Comparing the sites which are now hosted on Windows 2003 with their operating system in December 2002 shows over 42% of these to be new sites, 43% (68K) to be upgrades from other Windows platforms (mainly Windows 2000), 5% (8K) to be migrations from Linux and 1% from other operating systems."

"Microsoft will take some considerable encouragement at the number of sites that have switched from Linux."

"One of the clearest unbroken trends of the Web Server Survey has been the rise and rise of Intel based operating systems. Although nearly all of the public focus is geared around advocacy of Linux and Windows, there is a third Intel based operating system, which generates a tiny fraction of the publicity surrounding these operating systems, and has a much smaller user and developer community."

"FreeBSD secured a strong foothold with the hosting and internet services communities at the genesis of the web and has anything but gone away. Indeed it is the only other operating system that is gaining, rather than losing share of the active sites found by the Web Server Survey."

Re:God bless you, Mr. Sakamura.

[Anonymous Coward]

I'll bite your attempt to derail the conversation. But only to let you know, sir, that you are horribly mistaken.

Because any system of tolerance is susceptable to groups or individuals that are intolerant. For example: Roman Religion (zeus etc) was tolerant of alternative religions. Along came christianity, which specifically said "all other religions are bogus, and everyone must convert" Roman religion was tolerant of christianity, but christianity was not tolerant of it. End result, everyone is christian.

Wow. Way to make things up. Here are a few facts about the *tolerant* Romans response to Christianity:

The Roman view of Christians from the outset was not good. Suetonius, a famous Roman historian, called Christians "a sect professing a new and mischievous religious belief" (Suetonius, p. 221). His contemporaries denounced it as superstitio parva ('perverse irrational religious awe'), immodica ('immoderate'), nova ('new'), malefica ('harmful'), among many other accusations.

There were three basic periods of the persecution. The first was from the death of Christ until right before the Great Fire of 64 A.D., which Nero falsely blamed Christians for. However, this first persecution "was a mere afterthought, and did not result in any general proscription" (Cary and Scullard, p. 487). The second period lasted from the end of the first until around 250 A.D., and the final one spanned the years from 250/251, the persecution under Decius, until 313. Up until 250, the persecution was sporadic and localized. However, from 250-251 the Emperor Decius instituted what Michael Grant, an eminent classical historian, calls a "systematic persecution of the Christians" (Grant, p. 157). During this persecution, Decius even executed Pope Fabianus, after which he supposedly remarked: "I would far rather receive news of a rival to the throne than of another bishop in Rome."

LEGAL BASIS OF THE PERSECUTIONS

Acceptance of the national religion in antiquity was an obligation incumbent on all citizens; failure to worship the gods of the State was equivalent to treason. This universally accepted principle is responsible for the various persecutions suffered by Christians before the reign of Constantine; Christians denied the existence of and therefore refused to worship the gods of the state pantheon. They were in consequence regarded as atheists. It is true, indeed, that the Jews also rejected the gods of Rome, and yet escaped persecution. But the Jews, from the Roman standpoint, had a national religion and a national God, Jehovah, whom they had a full legal right to worship. Even after the destruction of Jerusalem, when the Jews ceased to exist as a nation, Vespasian made no change in their religious status, save that the tribute formerly sent by Jews to the temple at Jerusalem was henceforth to be paid to the Roman exchequer. For some time after its establishment, the Christian Church enjoyed the religious privileges of the Jewish nation, but from the nature of the case it is apparent that the chiefs of the Jewish religion would not long permit without protest this state of things. For they abhorred Christ's religion as much as they abhorred its Founder. At what date the Roman authorities had their attention directed to the difference between the Jewish and the Christian religion cannot be determined, but it appears to be fairly well established that laws proscribing Christianity were enacted before the end of the first century. Tertullian is authority for the statement that persecution of the Christians was institutum Neronianum -- an institution of Nero -- (Ad nat., i, 7). The First Epistle of St. Peter also Clearly alludes to the proscription of Christians, as Christians, at the time it was written (I, St. Peter, iv, 16). Domitian (81-96) also, is known to have punished with death Christian members of his own family on the ch

Re:Home page

[t0ny]

If ever there was proof needed of just how destructive Microsoft has been for the computer industry, it is the fact that hardly anyone in the Western Tech sector (sillicon valley) knows about TRON and what this project was supposed to achieve... and, actually, still is capable of achieving... The project is based around shared source, completely open amongst competing hardware manufacturers.

How completely evil of them. They go and make a successful desktop OS which standardizes most of the world onto the same platform, while making an American company which employs thousands, and enabled the tech boom of the late 90s to happen.

Its completely evil of them to bring computers to the masses, and tout having people be able to run the same software, document formats, etc. We should all be forced to be a linux guru if we so much as want to LOOK at a computer.