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ReactOS (FOSS "Windows") achieves 3D-accelerated Half-Life on real hardware

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Re: ReactOS (FOSS "Windows") achieves 3D-accelerated Half-Life on real hardware

#41

Post by BoingBoomTschak »

okanat wrote: post #36
eaf7e281 wrote: post #30

What is the benefit compared to a compatibility layer? Is it easier for future maintenance? It's definitely a huge improvement towards "FOSS Windows."

You can run proprietary drivers with ReactOS since it replicates the driver layer too. So unlike Linux systems with Nvidia Kepler cards, you can still run the most up-to-date desktop environment. Or if you have an obscure WiFi card, you can use the Windows drivers.

This, I'd love to be able to use Genelec GLM from Linux but it needs some custom serial drivers... too bad it only supports Win 10 right now.

Re: ReactOS (FOSS "Windows") achieves 3D-accelerated Half-Life on real hardware

#42

Post by belinder »

rzzzt wrote: post #40
xattt wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> development for 28 years now > given enough time This has been a lifetime for a slice of the human population. It’s getting into Sagrada Familia territory.

This is an absolute tangent (a perpendicular one if you will), but I thought the Sagrada Familia is completed: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ceciliarodriguez/2026/06/10/bar... The article talks about construction on the exterior, the cross on the main tower, the Pope's visit and commemoration of the architect, etc. while on the official website the timeline says "Today, more than 140 years after the laying of the corn…

The exterior is done, the interior not yet

Re: ReactOS (FOSS "Windows") achieves 3D-accelerated Half-Life on real hardware

#43

Post by shevy-java »

That's great. I have not tested ReactOS in many years and I am rather reluctant to try it again (last time I tried, I could not connect to the internet with it, and that was a breaking point for me), but the better they are at providing a working alternative, the nicer this is as a win-win scenario. Linux kind of spoiled me though, I noticed this with HaikuOS too. If things such as ruby do not work, I am not going to bother anymore. Linux kind of raised the bar here, at the least for things that I would expect to work as-is (this is not the only example, there were more issues and I simply don't want to feel going into a downgrade-area when using an operating system; I have Win10 on a computer to my left side but whenever I do things such as copying data to an USB stick or to it, it is so slow compared to Linux. It annoys me every time I have to do so.)

Re: ReactOS (FOSS "Windows") achieves 3D-accelerated Half-Life on real hardware

#44

Post by shevy-java »

maufl wrote: post #33

It would be great if we could combine ReactOS with Good old Games to build a retro Windows games distribution. I could hand that out at LAN parties as USB boot stick.

Agreed. For this to work, though, I guess there needs to be:

- a listing of all games that work well on ReactOS, similar to how WineHQ does.

Or perhaps a specialized variant of ReactOS with that focus in mind. Do we have such a list? I assume many games also won't work perfectly well; see WineHQ, that also had tons of issues with some games.

Re: ReactOS (FOSS "Windows") achieves 3D-accelerated Half-Life on real hardware

#45

Post by mschuster91 »

pjmlp wrote: post #39
theturtletalks wrote: post #24

Given enough time, open-source will win. Just think about how more and more people are programming and how that will draw them to open-source.

Only if it keeps being relevant for the computing model. Case in point, ReactOS is far behind what Windows 11 is capable of, and this not taking into account the ARM and CoPilot+ PC hardware changes in modern motherboards. It is nonetheless relevant, especially in the presence of escape mechanisms to oppressive governments, and digital sovereignty.

> It is nonetheless relevant, especially in the presence of escape mechanisms to oppressive governments, and digital sovereignty.

Not just for that. There's an awful, awful lot of ancient embedded hardware running machinery sometimes worth dozens of millions of dollars, and it's running even more ancient software. Siemens, for example, recently searched for people capable of (and willing to) working with Windows 3.11 [1], presumably to deal with the HMI displays for locomotive/train drivers.

When dealing with hardware or software that has lifecycles measured in half-centuries, bridges to allow modern tooling to work with it are really, really important.

[1] https://www.heise.de/news/Deutsche-Bahn-sucht-Admin-fuer-Win...

Re: ReactOS (FOSS "Windows") achieves 3D-accelerated Half-Life on real hardware

#47

Post by inigyou »

Grombobulous wrote: post #20
shakna wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AUR got hit recently [0], by what looks like more work of TeamPCP and friends. EDIT: Worth noting, Arch ain't hosted on AUR. That's the community side only. [0] https://archlinux.org/news/active-aur-malicious-packages-inc...

I would still note that this is not some kind of unique problem to Linux. There have been documented instances of malware making it to the Play Store, which is supposed to have a much more rigorous vetting process than AUR and costs actual money to publish on.

Linux users used to say "Linux is secure and doesn't get viruses". Now the best thing we can say about it is "Linux gets viruses just like the Play Store". Sad if you ask me.

Re: ReactOS (FOSS "Windows") achieves 3D-accelerated Half-Life on real hardware

#49

Post by reactordev »

mschuster91 wrote: post #45
pjmlp wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only if it keeps being relevant for the computing model. Case in point, ReactOS is far behind what Windows 11 is capable of, and this not taking into account the ARM and CoPilot+ PC hardware changes in modern motherboards. It is nonetheless relevant, especially in the presence of escape mechanisms to oppressive governments, and digital sovereignty.

> It is nonetheless relevant, especially in the presence of escape mechanisms to oppressive governments, and digital sovereignty. Not just for that. There's an awful, awful lot of ancient embedded hardware running machinery sometimes worth dozens of millions of dollars, and it's running even more ancient software. Siemens, for example, recently searched for people capable of (and willing to) working with Windows 3.11…

There are millions of Windows 95 embedded in industrial or government machines. Millions.

Re: ReactOS (FOSS "Windows") achieves 3D-accelerated Half-Life on real hardware

#50

Post by RattlesnakeJake »

xattt wrote: post #35
theturtletalks wrote: post #24

Given enough time, open-source will win. Just think about how more and more people are programming and how that will draw them to open-source.

> development for 28 years now > given enough time This has been a lifetime for a slice of the human population. It’s getting into Sagrada Familia territory.

> It’s getting into Sagrada Familia territory.

Or "A million monkeys with a million typewriters writing Shakespeare" territory

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