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ReactOS Updates

reactos.org

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Re: ReactOS Updates

#51

Post by colinfinck »

da_big_ghey wrote: post #31
nurb wrote: post #9

A bit off topic, but I'm glade to see a project like this running there own instance of matrix instead of the usual centralized/proprietary/censurable solutions.

On the contrary, I'm sad to see them moving towards "slack clone" solutions rather than sticking with simple chat, a la IRC. I don't think adding stickers and emoticons to a conversation makes it any better.

We didn't do it just for the eye candy, but also for threads, offline messages, and user identification. I wrote down our reasons for moving from IRC to a self-hosted Mattermost here: https://reactos.org/project-news/new-discussion-platform/

We never broke ties with IRC though. You can still join #reactos or #reactos-dev on Freenode, both are bridged to their corresponding Mattermost channels using Matterbridge.

Our Matrix server was set up right in time for FOSDEM 2021. It will soon be extended to bridge to the IRC and Mattermost worlds, as Matrix integrates even better with Freenode's IRC server than Matterbridge.

As an open-source project, never place your bets on a single third-party platform!

Re: ReactOS Updates

#52

Post by theandrewbailey »

ducktective wrote: post #44
johnchristopher wrote: post #5

ReacOS is a testament to how solid were Windows 2000/XP's UI for everyday tasks. I wouldn't mind being back in a Windows env/shop with ReactOS.

I think you might enjoy Xfce from the GNU/Linux world.

I agree 100%, but you can go further. Like, all the way: https://github.com/grassmunk/Chicago95

Re: ReactOS Updates

#53

Post by 1f60c »

jmkni wrote: post #47
crb wrote: post #10

The way Microsoft is moving, it's feasible to think that Windows 2000/XP will be open sourced before ReactOS is finished.

Wasn't the code for XP leaked a while ago? Could the ReactOS developers learn how things work from it?

Maybe they could do something like Drew DeVault did with their TrueCraft project: https://github.com/ddevault/TrueCraft#get-involved

Re: ReactOS Updates

#54

Post by theandrewbailey »

chungy wrote: post #16
qwerty456127 wrote: post #2

Is ReactOS capable of running all the Windows software OK already? I'm curious if I can actually use it instead of Windows whenever I need a Windows VM.

Wine tends to have far higher compatibility, and the operating system it runs on top of is mature too. ReactOS is a cool project, but it's an alpha-stage complete operating system with bugs as basic in nature as you shouldn't even expect the file system to live long without being corrupted, or the OS crashing constantly. Not to mention they primarily focus on Windows XP compatibility, Vista and newer software is gene…

From that, it sounds like ReactOS already provides the classic Windows experience!

Re: ReactOS Updates

#55

Post by jeditobe »

DaiPlusPlus wrote: post #19
watersb wrote: post #4

NTFS? Impressive.

I gather ReactOS builds upon the work for WINE and other open-source Windows-compatibility libraries - nothing wrong with that, but it isn't as impressive as it sounds - not that ReactOS as-a-whole isn't impressive as it is. ----- Dirty rumour + speculation time: I understand that, to an extent, ReactOS is supported by the Russian government to ensure they have options for running their IT systems in the event of US…

ReactOS foundation is located in Germany - https://ev.reactos.org/index_en.htm

The project did not receive any serious support from the state institutions of Russia

Re: ReactOS Updates

#56

Post by mhd »

johnchristopher wrote: post #5

ReacOS is a testament to how solid were Windows 2000/XP's UI for everyday tasks. I wouldn't mind being back in a Windows env/shop with ReactOS.

As with many things, I think from a pure UI perspective every Windows/Office release made things worse. Win95 was pretty solid, even improved on a few things that they took from the state of art at that time (Nextstep, Classic Mac, OS/2). The Taskbar being a good example.

I'm still not sure that the move from actual buttons on a button bar to just a flat series of icons was right, and many such changes happened after that (culminating in the horror of the ribbon bar).

The big items Win2K/XP brought to the market was stability outside of the NT niche (I really enjoyed NT4). On the UI level, the downgrade continued, especially with that ugly blue standard theme and the bisque semi-rounded UI elements.

But boy, would I like to see some "distro"-fication of that. And I'm not talking about just using different themes or "shell" replacements, but about putting the core parts to good use. It could be amazing to what some dedicated minds could do with COM, OLE, VCL and VBS. A much more modular environment, similar to what OpenDoc promised and didn't keep. (And maybe add some Amiga stuff)

Not that my hopes are very high in that regard, as Linux and the BSDs didn't manage to do that either, despite having most of the technology and even doing some half-hearted attempts (CORBA was a part of early GNOME)…

A Windows shop these days isn't that much different from any other enterprisey shop. Cloud, VM language, web UIs with enough whitespace to hide Moby Dick. Not that many of the smaller shops around that did custom desktop apps for small businesses.

Oh, and as a final note: If you like the aestheticof 90s-ish Win, check out Serenity OS[1]. It's pretty awesome what they put together. A not slavishly POSIX-ish system with a Win95-like UI. Even the starts of a remarkably capable browser…

[1]: http://serenityos.org/

Re: ReactOS Updates

#57

Post by pizza234 »

jmkni wrote: post #47
crb wrote: post #10

The way Microsoft is moving, it's feasible to think that Windows 2000/XP will be open sourced before ReactOS is finished.

Wasn't the code for XP leaked a while ago? Could the ReactOS developers learn how things work from it?

If you're asking if they are formally allowed to do it, the answer is definitely no.

If though, you're asking if they "can" in very generic terms, yes, certainly - as a matter of fact, this has been a large controversy of ReactOS.

There are no certainties, as everybody has their own side of the story. An MS developer, Axel Rietschin, publicly expressed his opinion that there are wholesale ripped off (low-level) functionalities¹; I personally find it convincing, although it's fuzzy, as he doesn't give details.

¹=https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20341933

Re: ReactOS Updates

#58

Post by wongarsu »

scoopertrooper wrote: post #49
jmkni wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wasn't the code for XP leaked a while ago? Could the ReactOS developers learn how things work from it?

Quite the opposite, any developer that so much as glances at the leaked source code is banned from the project. The legality of ReactOS rests upon its developers reverse engineering Windows without having access to the source code.

As far as I'm aware you can however look at the leaked source code and use those insights to fix or write documentation about the behavior of the APIs and general behavior. You just can't write any ReactOS code yourself because you are tained once you've seen the leak. But I think the overlap between people who can extract insights from the leaked code and people who enjoy writing documentation in their free time (more than reverse engineering and programming) is pretty small.

Re: ReactOS Updates

#59

Post by wongarsu »

DaiPlusPlus wrote: post #19
watersb wrote: post #4

NTFS? Impressive.

I gather ReactOS builds upon the work for WINE and other open-source Windows-compatibility libraries - nothing wrong with that, but it isn't as impressive as it sounds - not that ReactOS as-a-whole isn't impressive as it is. ----- Dirty rumour + speculation time: I understand that, to an extent, ReactOS is supported by the Russian government to ensure they have options for running their IT systems in the event of US…

If that's Russia's backup plan then it's severely underfunded. I'm sure Russia could hire a couple of capable software engineers/reverse engineering experts to contribute to the project (just as the US Naval Research Laboratory employed people working on TOR). But if Russia is doing that, then clearly not enough to bring ReactOS to a production-ready level within the next decade.

Re: ReactOS Updates

#60

Post by cies »

mhd wrote: post #56
johnchristopher wrote: post #5

ReacOS is a testament to how solid were Windows 2000/XP's UI for everyday tasks. I wouldn't mind being back in a Windows env/shop with ReactOS.

As with many things, I think from a pure UI perspective every Windows/Office release made things worse. Win95 was pretty solid, even improved on a few things that they took from the state of art at that time (Nextstep, Classic Mac, OS/2). The Taskbar being a good example. I'm still not sure that the move from actual buttons on a button bar to just a flat series of icons was right, and many such changes happened after…

> Win95 was pretty solid

Win98SE was the peak IMHO.

Nowadays I like KDE/Qt on Linux.

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