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Ekush: A CherryOS For the Windows World?

Posted by timothy on from the ripping-out-the-label dept.

GvG writes "Yesterday, Ekush version 0.10 was released (binary only, no source). Ekush is a relatively new attempt at cloning Microsoft Windows. The ReactOS project has the goal of creating a GPLed OS that is compatible with Microsoft Windows applications and drivers. The release of Ekush caused some uproar in the ReactOS community, since it soon became apparent that Ekush was not much more than a repackaged version of ReactOS. Doing a simple string search for ReactOS on the Ekush binaries showed a number of hits. (Read on for more.)

GvG continues "Shortly after this was reported on the ReactOS mailing list, the Ekush website went down "for maintenance". Today they are back with a slightly altered set of binaries, which no longer contain the ASCII string "ReactOS". However, they forgot to search for Unicode strings... Ekush is not only violating the rights of ReactOS by deriving a product without releasing the modified source, they also derive code of (and are violating the rights of) Wine, FreeType and QEmu."

Larry Snyder adds "Additionally, at the time of this writing, their binary floppy diskette driver appears to be a near exact copy of the Windows 2k pro fdc.sys driver, with the copyright string and header changed."

3 of 348 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Not a bad idea by isolation · · Score: 5, Informative

    Slow???

    We have third party drivers loading, a explorer.exe clone, application support such as OpenOffice for Win32 loading not to mention we have made replacement apps for regedit, taskmgr, and a Windows like install system. Whats slow about ReactOS development?

    --
    Free Unix? Free Windows. http://www.reactos.com
  2. Re:Open source != gpl. Let the license wars begin! by Jonathan+the+Nerd · · Score: 5, Informative

    No. The term "Open Source" is a trademark of the Open Source Initiative and/or Software in the Public Interest, and it has a very specific meaning.

    --
    Disclaimer: The opinions expressed are not necessarily my own, as I've not yet had my medication today.
  3. Diggingg dirt. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative
    A whois shows:

    Registrant
    Shamsuddoha Ranju
    Siemens Road #115, House #39/B
    Gulshan, Dhaka 1213
    BD

    Registrar..: IARegistry.com (http://www.iaregistry.com)
    AKSHOR.COM
    Created on..............: 02-Oct-2001
    Expires on..............: 02-Oct-2006

    Administrative Contact:
    Ranju, Shamsuddoha shamsu.ddoha@siemens.com
    Alpona Portal
    Siemens
    ZN Tower, Road # 8, Plot # 2
    Gulshan, Dhaka 1212 BD
    +880.18.218638 (FAX) +880.2.8819702
    Technical Contact:
    Ranju, Shamsuddoha unibangla@yahoo.com
    Alpona Portal
    Siemens
    ZN Tower, Road # 8, Plot # 2
    Gulshan, Dhaka 1212 BD
    +880.18.218638 (FAX) +880.2.8819702


    The interesting thing is that this guy is not a stranger to OSS either, he's got a savannah account.

    A picture of this con artist showing off the work of other's he's trying to take credit for: here

    The related article says:
    "Licensing is one of the problems the Ekush team is expecting to face. As the project is not based in the US, Ekush OS will not be able to obtain the license banner of General Public License (GPL), the US-based licensing company."

    Showing that either Mr. Ranju or the journalist (or likely both) have little clue on the GPL.