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ReactOS 0.4.9 Is Entirely Self-Hosting, Fixes FastFAT Crashes (appuals.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Appuals: ReactOS, the "free Windows clone" operating system, has pushed out ReactOS 0.4.9 just recently, which brings a whole slew of improvements. With this latest 0.4.9 version, ReactOS has become entirely self-hosting without any issues, which means ReactOS can fully build itself from within itself, it does not require any third-party operating system to compile ReactOS. Self-hosting was built into older ReactOS versions, but it came with a myriad of issues -- the system would become too stressed under memory usage and storage I/O loads. This was due to a flawed NT-compliant kernel.
Additional improvements in ReactOS 0.4.9 include overall stability and performance enhancements. The hardware abstraction layer and the FastFAT drivers received significant attention, and FastFAT should no longer eat through the cache so fast it causes system crashes due to resource leakage. FastFAT has also been rewritten to trigger a "chkdsk" repair on dirty / corrupt volumes during boot detections. Some other quality improvements are the addition of a built-in zipfldr extension -- ReactOS can now natively unpackage zipped archives, without the need of a third-party tool like WinZip. The changelog can be viewed here.
Additional improvements in ReactOS 0.4.9 include overall stability and performance enhancements. The hardware abstraction layer and the FastFAT drivers received significant attention, and FastFAT should no longer eat through the cache so fast it causes system crashes due to resource leakage. FastFAT has also been rewritten to trigger a "chkdsk" repair on dirty / corrupt volumes during boot detections. Some other quality improvements are the addition of a built-in zipfldr extension -- ReactOS can now natively unpackage zipped archives, without the need of a third-party tool like WinZip. The changelog can be viewed here.
Does it exist?
Is it actually useful?
apk is there for you
Yup. If you believe that, you'll probably believe that I use Linux on a daily basis. BWAHAHAHAHA! It's a hobbyist curiosity, interesting but not really good for anything.
<sarcasm>... compile themselves right into the OS! What a wonderful invention. NOBODY will ever abuse this functionality! EVAR!</sarcasm>
When I read "pushed out," I think "delayed." ITYM "released." Does ReactOS even do push upgrades, or do users need to pull new versions?
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
I am not sure where the phrase "due to a flawed NT-compliant kernel" came from but the words compliant and conformant are used with computer software to denote adherence to an open standard which includes a formal testing program. The proper word is compatible.
Microsoft could solve the problem of "Legacy Windows" in one fell swoop by labeling this "Windows 11" and going on with IoT or whatever they're after today. Unfortunately, Elon Musk doesn't run Microsoft, and there isn't another manager that daring in the corporate universe.
Bruce Perens.
I thought APK just loved twinks and soyboys, not that he was one.
He's always calling people twinks and soyboys. It's called projection.
I love it when people criticize others for doing stuff that doesn't affect them at all. Especially IT janitors who don't realize that their entire job depends on Open Source software working properly. No one cares about "servers where you work".
It could be useful if it were to be mostly Win XP-compatible (i.e. sufficient to run most programs requiring that platform) with the security and driver updates needed to maintain that usefulness.
R O
Already there? XP/2003 aren't there anymore, even 7 is on borrowed time and was almost bloated as 10 anyway.
The security model of ReactOS though is probably security by small user base.
Is it EVER allowed in a production environment, I know for sure it would not be allowed even close to a server where I work.
I doubt the waitresses at Hooter's really care.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
I doubt the time of these hobbyists would have saved at least a dozen children. Just like the resources and effort to make a single Lamborghini cannot be directly used to create 10 honda accords, despite the price tag suggesting that would be the case given a simplistic interpretation of 'value'.
The critical assessment could also have applied to Linux in 1993, this silly unusable Unix-wannabe, what's the point, we have several Unix vendors alreday? Linus himself said "I’m doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won’t be big and professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones". It's hard for me to picture this scenario for ReactOS of course, but it is a good thing that sort of assessment didn't discourage free software back then...
Also value in preservation, if not practical direct use. In this marvelous age where we have created the ability to have perfect preservation in terms of digital data, we do a lot to make it still unlikely to run old software. Efforts like FreeDOS and ReactOS improve chances of preserving experience of 'dead' platform/platform revisions.
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
I read this more as "able to build itself on itself". Meaning you don't need to build it on another OS like "real" Windows or Linux. Which means it must have been really unstable until now...
I love it when people criticize others for doing stuff that doesn't affect them at all. Especially IT janitors who don't realize that their entire job depends on Open Source software working properly. No one cares about "servers where you work".
Good point. Hell, I don't even care about servers where I work.
But yeah, this armchair developer wants to criticize someone for doing what they obviously want to. What would make him happier, then sitting around playing Fortnite?
You are a prime example of someone with a 7-digit UID - too stupid and brainless.
Why? Because they can, and you obviously can NOT.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
LMAO out of all the shitpost comments that appear every time someone posts about ReactOS, "YOu CoULD HAVE sAVEd At LEASt a doZen cHiLdReN" has got to be a new one.
Well memed, friendo.
ReactOS Version 1.0 should be ready at around about the same time Microsoft open Sources Windows....
Participatory Governance : The only feasible option for a real democracy, where everyone really does have a say.
Yeah, but chances are the place where I work is hosting your servers, but since you don't care I will switch them off for you :-)
Jokes aside, what I was trying to ask (and clearly not achieving) is that is there ANY production environment which would allow this operating system to run inside it? I don't know of a single one. I would also like to point out I write code, I don't click next, I know exactly how much time and effort is being spent on this project. Also our systems do NOT depend on open source software AT ALL. We require SLA's etc. and most of all stable software, open source is considered too volatile unless it's backed by big business (and even then the paperwork to justify it is a major pain). But then I work for really real companies, writing software that actually changes the world, not some shit hole company in the ass end of nowhere that has to rely on open source software because you can't afford the license fees. Sometimes, you get what you pay for.
There are three kinds of falsehood: the first is a 'fib,' the second is a downright lie, and the third is statistics.
Mod parent up!
More to the point I've always found IT people quite clueless. They rely on procedures and wrote knowledge to do their jobs. I work on the semiconductor design side of the world and whenever interacting with IT folk we always remark at how little they seem to know about the very technologies they are supposed to manage.
The assumptions in the grandparent are just off the wall. One that "servers" are what all operating systems are for. Or two that all software exists in a stable production state. I guess there is a serious disconnect in understanding how it got that way. Perhaps he should read "Showstoppers!" by G. Pascal Zachary on the history of Windows NT. Also, while a big FreeBSD fan there is some really good design in the NT kernel (the rest of the OS has some issues). So why not make an alternative implementation? Anything that gets us away from the monoculture we have is good.
IT people love monoculture. It's easy for them. It's bad for many reasons -- stopping innovation is one of them.
I can't explain it because you wouldn't understand. You aren't a producer, but a consumer. Some people are just curious and want to create things and find them useful. Some people just like the intellectual exercise. Or maybe they think it will be useful for running legacy software. By the way, I guarantee your systems do depend on open source somewhere. You just don't know where because you don't know how they really work. Just are just flipping knobs and consuming information.
I was being conservative, they probably could have saved a couple thousand each, writing software takes time, lots of time. Time is money and resources etc. if they had just helped out at a soup kitchen or grown vegetables their effort would have had more impact than what they are doing now. But I do see what you are saying, if you don't at least try, you won't achieve anything. Also you won't fail, but that's not the point.
There are three kinds of falsehood: the first is a 'fib,' the second is a downright lie, and the third is statistics.
There are server rooms at Hooters!
Definitely going to change if that's the case. Although we would have to BUY hooters, since we own our own server rooms and data centers, I will mention it in the next team meeting, but I think these sort of decisions are above my pay grade.
What's annoying me about all these responses is that they are all actually insults, and not very good ones. No one is actually answering the question.
And what's annoying me more, is that we don't actually have hooters here.
There are three kinds of falsehood: the first is a 'fib,' the second is a downright lie, and the third is statistics.
Try me, I write code for a living. I have probably been doing it longer than you have been breathing. If there is a problem with communication here it's your inability to explain, not my inability to understand.
There are three kinds of falsehood: the first is a 'fib,' the second is a downright lie, and the third is statistics.
I'm sure you're dedicating all your free time to saving dozens of children and contributing to the most vital open source projects. There can be no doubt about it
There are three kinds of falsehood: the first is a 'fib,' the second is a downright lie, and the third is statistics.
My bad, we actually do have hooters over here. Just not very many.
There are three kinds of falsehood: the first is a 'fib,' the second is a downright lie, and the third is statistics.
Just get the fucking mouse to work under Hyper-V already.
Until then, it's a non-starter.
It's because you are not as clever as you think you are.
"I just don't see the point, I was hoping someone would explain why all the time and effort has been spent to build something that is not wanted, and not needed."
To put it simply, they wrote it because *they* wanted it. No-one needs to justify this to you, so get off your high horse and realise just because you don't want it does not mean it is a waste of time. I will guarantee that a whole load of things that you see as important others see as wasteful nonsense. It's what makes life interesting.
I just don't see the point, I was hoping someone would explain why all the time and effort has been spent to build something that is not wanted, and not needed.
I think I can help.
The problem with your statement here is the "is not wanted and is not needed" part. This software is wanted and is needed.
Sure, you can buy a copy of Windows and run Windows software. You are correct - that need is fulfilled perfectly well.
By one vendor, and one vendor only. That is the important bit.
As a mental exercise, let's say that Microsoft does something completely odious in their next Windows 10 patch. All your personal data is collected and stored at Microsoft and sold to the highest bidder. Advertising everywhere. (Yes yes I know, people already feel this is happening. Bear with me.)
What now?
You're a small dev company writing an application. You have to write it for Windows because that's 90% of the market share, pretty much. You have years into development and it has to be for Windows because you don't have the resources to run it anywhere else. And now suddenly Microsoft is doing this terrible thing, and you don't want to be a part of it.
You could release your application on a ReactOS image. You get all the Windows functionality, and none of the "locked in to one vendor-ness" of Windows.
So long story short, choice is good. There is a metric ton of legacy code and applications that depend entirely on Windows, and having a single point of failure for all of it is untenable. This is why projects like ReactOS and WINE are valuable.
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
Time is money and resources etc
Software development time is far from a fungible thing. If I redirected some of my time to, say, going to synthesize vaccines, well I'd produce less software but I'd probably produce no vaccines in my attempt. Economy is our best approximation for equating value of different things, but at the end of the day there are differences that don't work.
Sure, volunteer as you can, this is a worthy and honorable thing t odo. However you can't volunteer all the time. Even as you attempt to volunteer to feed the hungry, you may be turned away because they have enough volunteers. Produce vegetables, sure, that no one will want because there are already plenty of vegetables supplied. Raise chickens and do more harm than good as you end up giving people salmonella. It's frequently not so trivial to convert 'guy thinking and pressing keys on a keyboard' to 'saving children'.
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
Wine. ReactOS and Wine can share code, and until recently did so. Because the user space APIs and structures are all the same.
Wine intercepts the kernel calls and redirects to a Linux call, translating and keeping track of things. ReactOS just implements the kernel directly.
There are proprietary builds of Wine that do a good job running Windows only software on Linux, if wine isn't good enough. If you have Windows you can take a ReactOS build of those wine dlls and debug them on Windows to compare with real windows if you want to fix Wine.
Tl;Dr Windows is everywhere and people want to run Windows only software on something else. Without telemetry gathering and tablet ui and other recent garbage. It isn't prod ready, but that doesn't mean it won't be.
Well I like your tag, but I would use regex in it instead of XML, but the principle is the same. Anyways...
What I don't seem to be getting across (and getting a lot of flame for) is that I don't see the point in recreating an operating system that already exists. Linux was a scaled down version of Unix, it's adding value. It's new, a variation, but different. This is...? What's the point of doing it other than...? What's the fucking point? I can understand if the developers are doing it to expand their skills, shit, even as a pastime, but all I am trying to say is that SURELY they can find a better way to use their time. Considering they are all highly skilled programmers they could use the time even better than planting vegetables by using their skills to better effect. But planting vegetables would make more of an impact on the world than this project.
There are three kinds of falsehood: the first is a 'fib,' the second is a downright lie, and the third is statistics.
No you don't. If you did, you would understand that open source libraries are used everywhere.
A BMS is not so complex. If anything, it's a beautiful case study in how to correctly design software. If you choose the correct level of abstraction then there should be nothing special about your software at all.
Of course there is a tendency to try and abstract away the work, and I'm not advocating that because it doesn't work :)
I know of a company that's using this to distribute demo versions of their software. Instead of "download and install, and hope it works on your PC", it's "boot this complete environment and try it out".
And they're not very good...bloody awful in fact.
If you are dependent on closed source for your infrastructure, the day will surely come when you are totally up the creek without a paddle.
You don't know anything about the software you are completely dependent on, except that you are not allowed to know what a pile of shite it is beneath the surface. And all your support depends on people who are required to sign contracts forbidding them to tell the truth about the product you have been sold.
If the software you are writing changes the world, I am concerned it will change for the worse faster than I can say Brexit.
Closed source applications may be a good idea. Closed source infrastructure cannot ever be a good idea - although it might be the only show in town.
Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII
at's annoying me about all these responses is that they are all actually insults, and not very good ones. No one is actually answering the question.
That tends to happen when the question is stupid and non-productive.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Does that mean the brainlets calling everyone racist and Nazis are the real Nazis?
Big if true!
ReactOS development powers WINE development, which enables countless people to finally ditch windows and run their windows-only software natively on linux.
And your answer is productive? The question is rather simple and straight forward, if you have somehow failed to even realize that, let alone supply ANY sort of answer or PRODUCTIVE response, well, I can't fix you. I can fix a LOT of things, retardation is not one of them (although I have a theory, it involves beating children when they are young).
There are three kinds of falsehood: the first is a 'fib,' the second is a downright lie, and the third is statistics.
Don't you have a world to change and children to save? Or does Super Important Server Co. pay you to sit on Slashdot and bitch about ReactOS all day?
It may be worth while to install the OS if ReactOS can run older windows game natively
Long assumed as ReactOS inches closer to becoming a viable replacement for Windows pace of development and resources going into the project would begin to increase exponentially.
Still a long ways to go but progress thus far is absolutely amazing.
what's the point?
I can't help thinking all these have somewhat the same answer!
You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough. - Blake
In this marvelous age where we have created the ability to have perfect preservation in terms of digital data, we do a lot to make it still unlikely to run old software.
This is where I see potential value in ReactOS. Let's say you have some old piece of software that you need to run, and Microsoft broke compatibility when they transitioned from Windows XP to Windows Vista. Unfortunately, the vendor isn't around anymore and doesn't offer an update, but you need that software to run.
One option is to ditch that software, and hope that you can find something similar that runs on new versions of Windows. Maybe no such software exists. Or maybe you find something and now you have it running on Windows 7, and then that vendor goes under, and now you're being pushed to Windows 10 and the new package won't run on that.
Another option would be to stick with Windows XP. And then, Microsoft discontinues support, and it's not getting security patches, but you stick with it. And then, vendors stop producing hardware that will run Windows XP, but you stick with it. Then your hardware breaks, and you go on eBay and buy an old system, install Windows XP, and you stick with it. It's bad enough that you have to run this old junky unsupported software, but you have to run it on an old junky unsupported OS that runs on old junky unsupported hardware. Plus it's not necessarily easy to make sure you have valid licensing for an old OS that requires activation. It's only a matter of time before it becomes a problem.
If there were an open source OS that could run that app, it's much easier to keep things running. It can be modified to run on new hardware or hypervisors, and you don't need to worry about licensing.
If you think the security holes/backdoors/tracking in Windows are bad, wait until you see the ones the FSB puts into their own version of Windows.
Sometimes a Nazi is just a Nazi.
I believe LordWabbit2's comment on monoculture was in regards to the clusterfuck of different software from different vendors that makes BMS systems highly incompatible and hard to write to, unless they conform to one of the few open standards like BACnet or LonTalk (LonTalk is a proprietary protocol, but it is an open interface). On the other hand, that goes against their earlier argument about how bad it is to rely on open source software. It's the proprietary nature of many of the BMS systems out there that makes it so hard to create compatible interfaces and so provides vendor lock-in.
We are pretty much a MS software stack development house. We may use other programming languages etc. but the operating systems etc. are almost exclusively MS, as are most of the languages. I will bet a beer you have NEVER EVER looked into the *nix source code, so you have no fucking clue what is under the hood either. The difference is that you can look into the code (if you wanted to and could actually understand what was going on), I cannot look into the code (even though I actually want to but also would take time to figure stuff out), but I CAN call the support desk and get someone else to look into the code. I am here to write software to get things done. I am not getting paid to fix someone's operating system malfunctions. I have used *nix enough to know what a pain in the ass it is to get it working, once it's working it is generally rock solid, but the journey there is a painful. It's a whole lot easier to say, install windows, click next.
There are three kinds of falsehood: the first is a 'fib,' the second is a downright lie, and the third is statistics.
I want to like ReactOS, but the desktop environment needs to be replaced with something modern and Aero-like.
Maybe Stardock will do the trick.
Kriston
Why, to save twelve children, of course.
What's the point in watching TV?
Entertainment?
What's the point in reading a book?
Entertainment?
What's the point in doing the crossword or the sudoku in the paper?
Entertainment?
What's the point jogging or running (if you're not going to compete at the Olympics)?
Entertainment or Achievement?
What's the point in reading interesting science articles if your not a researcher in the field?
Entertainment?
What's the point in sitting outside at night and watching the stars (unless of course you’re a paid astronomer)?
Entertainment?
What's the point in going away on holiday / vacation?
Entertainment?
What's the point in going exactly what it is you enjoy doing, if you'll get criticised by others who see no utilitarian value in what you do?
Entertainment - or you are a millenial
And finally, what's the point in helping to develop ReactOS?
Nothing tangible other than entertainment?
So girls just want to have fun?
FFS serving at a soup kitchen would add more value to society, but fuckit, I suppose it's their own time, they are free to do with it as they wish. Just seems a waste of resources.
There are three kinds of falsehood: the first is a 'fib,' the second is a downright lie, and the third is statistics.
You still have not explained anything, so I hereby call your "argument" a childish spat, and therefore not worth consideration.
Grow up a bit child, and then come back and actually have a discussion.
There are three kinds of falsehood: the first is a 'fib,' the second is a downright lie, and the third is statistics.
I just don't see the point, I was hoping someone would explain why all the time and effort has been spent to build something that is not wanted, and not needed.
I want it, and I need it. Your mind is obviously too small to see a bigger part of the world than outside your little cocoon.
you could have served at least 12 bowls of soup to those 12 children you saved by now... if only you were not wasting resources on here. Don't you have world saving work to do?
Shut up you fat retard.
So you are actively contributing to the project?
You need it for what exactly? Something that a quick firing up of a virtual machine would not suffice?
I think you may want it, but you really don't need it. I think you are perhaps the person stuck in the cocoon.
Just because someone wants to write it does not mean it should be written, this project is a waste of good resources.
Please explain in full sentences, because you keep saying "I WANNA" with no substantiation.
Imagine what these talented developers could have done with their time instead.
There are three kinds of falsehood: the first is a 'fib,' the second is a downright lie, and the third is statistics.
I thought you didn't click next?
Only people from the Bilderberg Team can reliably detect Nazis.
So if you Cross the rich and powerful, you will be diagnosed a Nazi.
There are so many open source libraries under not just open source but also proprietary applications and I find it hard to believe that your company runs none, remember Java is GNU GPL.
That being said there doesn't need to be a legitimate need for something all it needs is enough interest to stay alive. I have been watching this project for years and would love to see it become stable just because I find it interesting and I have even considered contributing to it. I would like to put it on some old hardware just to play with and if it becomes popular enough and receives regular updates and patches I might even use it.
Because they *can*
Can they? Can they really? It's taking a while...
There are three kinds of falsehood: the first is a 'fib,' the second is a downright lie, and the third is statistics.
Good point, we do run Java for some third party software we use.
There are three kinds of falsehood: the first is a 'fib,' the second is a downright lie, and the third is statistics.
4 hours ago someone explained to you why there is a need for this, you replied with "Thank you, I can see your reasoning and I appreciate the effort you took to explain it."
Now this. You're just arguing for the argument's sake.
And imagine what you could have done with all the time you waste on slashdot.
How does EATING YOUR WORDS taste https://linux.slashdot.org/com... ?
* Bit like your FOOT in your MOUTH ramming them back down your chicken-neck THROAT washed down w/ the BITTER TASTE of SELF-defeat??
APK
P.S.=> You bit off MORE than you could CHEW bigmouth - enjoy eating your words... apk
Great, you have implemented zip but what about rar, 7z, gzip, etc? Oh, I'm going to need a seperate program anyway?
So you are actively contributing to the project?
Why would I? I don't actively contribute to everything I want or need.
You need it for what exactly? Something that a quick firing up of a virtual machine would not suffice? I think you may want it, but you really don't need it. I think you are perhaps the person stuck in the cocoon.
I write cross-platform open-source code, and having a no-license windows OS to test on beats having no OS at all. If I were writing that code for money I'd have no problem paying for a windows license, but I am giving my product away for free, hence I see no reason to spend money to give it away for free.
You're in the minority of the dev space (those that use windows exclusively). You need to break out of your little shell and see that Windows has the fewest number of installations; when you write code that goes on the most common systems you might appreciate just how small Windows slice of the world is.
It's nice to have a free way to test your code on the rare systems you make little to no money off.
In your little mind, the whole world runs Windows. In reality it's a small slice of the worlds computing devices.
I realise that, but what is the BMS actually doing?
Here's a block diagram:
GUI --- CORE --- LOGGING
I
HARDWARE LAYER
I I I
BACnet Lon Talk Etc...
Yes, those low-level proprietary protocols are probably dogs, but they shouldn't get in the way of the interesting stuff up in the CORE and the GUI.
---
Filter error: Please use fewer 'junk' characters.
FUCK Slashdot, this is BS. I've used 4 vertical bars and 8 hyphens in my block diagram above. The junk character filter is much too agressive. I'll delete some hyphens and try again...no, it was the "pre" tags. So Slashdot doesn't accept them? Or at least classifies them as junk? No, fine, I'll remove the vertical bars. Wow. So 4 vertical bars is enough to trigger the junk character filter. I've now replaced them with "I" characters. What a waste of fucking time....
so stop posting and go serve bums at a soup kitchen. put your money where your mouth is. I can pirate windows but I love wine and the idea of reactOS. Finally windows like it should be... without MS, without phoning home. Maybe in 5 years it will be somewhere; by which time real windows (tm) will be subscription based like office 365. Maybe you enjoy your private devices being managed by hostile 3rd parties but I don't. Let their nuts go.
And how much time has been spent articulating your argument against wasting time? Surely there are more important things than /.
There are many reasons for it to exist, but I think a fundamental argument for it's existence is the developers wanted to make it. If a creator makes something because they want to that is mostly reason enough. Is the time they spend doing other activities also a waste of development time? If they read a good book or even a bad book are they sinning against society by not working on this theoretical ground breaking new piece of software you posit? Are all of use hanging out on slashdot wasting time that could be spent building something better? That base argument is a little puritanical.
The reason it gets mention here is it is interesting to other people, maybe because it is useful to them, maybe because they want to tear it down and that creates drama which creates clicks.
The reasoning that making something that is a copy of something is a waste of time we wouldn't have a lot of things. Linux, Dos, Windows, Yodels, Post cereal, Casio calculators, generic drugs, timex watches, flavour Aid, Dodge cars, GCC. Innovation usually starts as copying and then accentuate the features and improvements of the developer copying the original. It would make competition almost
See subject & why don't YOU answer a simple question I put to you here on how EATING YOUR WORDS tasted https://news.slashdot.org/comm... ?
* RoTfLmAo!
(Your BOYFRIEND minds you spend SO MUCH TIME stalking me by UNIDENTIFIABLE anonymous posts vs. sucking him off + blasting him up the ASS, lol...)
APK
P.S.=> JEALOUS "Lil' Jowie", please - grow up... apk
This is a prime example of someone with too much time on their hands. Why bother building something that is... already there.
Everyone has their hobbies. You might as well ask why people climb Mount Everest, or build ships in a bottle, or a million other seemingly pointless things people do in their spare time.
Yes, their are lots of things that would add more value to society, but isn't the point to be doing something you enjoy in your spare time? Some people may indeed enjoy serving at a soup kitchen, but those people probably aren't the same ones that enjoy reimplementing an OS. And if you are doing something you don't enjoy, it is like working, and it isn't healthy to work all the time.
> Why bother building something that is... already there.
Because someday, Windows will go away.
And on that day, it might be nice to have something that will run Windows apps.
When you ask a question and nobody answers it, it's not because you're clever and asking a hard question. It's because you're an idiot troll
You're just making shit up to try to sound smart. And you really don't.
You just sound like someone who's too stupid to understand the concept of a hobby
Or too stupid to understand that windows 10 doesn't support a large amount of legacy software anymore. Yeah, this might take awhile to get finished, but you could run this in a vm on your phone and still get quick response for old software.
Also our systems do NOT depend on open source software AT ALL. [...] But then I work for really real companies, writing software that actually changes the world, not some shit hole company in the ass end of nowhere that has to rely on open source software because you can't afford the license fees.
You say that as if companies that actually change the world cannot possibly be using open-source software. You're just ignoring Google, FaceBook, Amazon, Wikipedia, etc. And if yours is not in that list, is it really changing the world?
What I don't seem to be getting across (and getting a lot of flame for) is that I don't see the point in recreating an operating system that already exists.
Maybe you like it that there is a single Windows supplier and that this gives them the power to hold the world to ransom since so much depends on it. But others don't and are doing something about it.
Exactly this. All you have to do is read up on why RMS started the GNU project, the same reasons apply here.
"Free Windows!"
"Starting this Thanksgiving I am going to write a complete Windows-compatible software system called GNW (for Gnw's Not Windows), and give it away free to everyone who can use it. Contributions of time, money, programs and equipment are greatly needed."