15 ms·

ReactOS 0.4.4 Released

296 points by return_0e 10y ago

nym 10y ago
Does this have anything to do with ReactJS or React Native?
- bluejekyll 10y ago
  No.
- rpeden 10y ago
  No, and ReactOS has been around for much longer than React and React Native. Its first released was 13 years ago.
  - alexdoma 10y ago
    There's also myReact, an obscure (+obfuscated) Dutch forum application written in php sirca 2005, if not earlier.
- nxc18 10y ago
  I can't quite put it to words, but there's something about this statement that makes me very sad.
  - JED3 10y ago
    Perhaps: "My neck beard hurts"??? The guy had an honest question, no point in shunning him.
    - mbrumlow 10y ago
      What's wrong with a neck beard?
      - patates 10y ago
        It runs on a million-year-old (or more) technology which is not developed agile (evolution is the opposite of agile, I would cautiously say?) and most importantly doesn't have a react.js renderer. Sorry, I know this type of comments are shunned but I couldn't help myself at this point.
        jcbrand 10y ago
        Evolution is incredibly agile, while intelligent design follows the waterfall model. Since intelligent design presupposes that a design was in place before implementation, you'd need a watertight specification to know what you'll need to design. This is pretty much the definition of the waterfall model. Once you've started with the implementation, you'd not be able to deviate from the spec. If you're God you'd never make an incomplete or incorrect spec, right? By definition that'd be impossible. With evolution change is introduced iteratively. Each generation contains tweaks and updates, is exposed to a barrage of tests and if it's less adapted to the requirements it's disposed of unceremoniously in favor of a version more suitable. Due to its iterative nature evolution is also able to adapt quickly to changing requirements and good/beneficial features are taken over into the next iteration.
        patates 10y ago
        That makes perfect sense! Thank you very much for your thoughtful response!
        fgGAMI 10y ago
        Maybe evolution is an emergent phenomenon of the spec.
    - kbenson 10y ago
      That doesn't have to be taken as derogatory or insulting. I can relate, I too find it somewhat sad. I don't think that's a problem with the people who don't know, but a systemic problem where cool and noteworthy things of the past are overshadowed by popular current things that share a similar name. Relevant or interesting history is all too quickly forgotten by the general populace. As an aside, the most recent example of that I've come across, and much more relevant to current events (to US Americans, at least), was during the most recent Hardcore History podcast. It was pointed out that JFK won after he got a bunch of free press because of how photogenic his family was (which whether it was the reason he won or not probably helped quite a bit). Parallels weren't drawn to current events, but it's not like you need a political science degree to see them, which I found really interesting.
  - BuuQu9hu 10y ago
    I will try to help: The first feeling that washes over you is a kind of despair that this question was asked at all, as even a cursory view of the information available in the OP, let alone a Google search, would immediately show the project is not related to ReactJS. You find it difficult to imagine the kind of mind that chooses to seek trivial answers from others rather than attempt to answer them on its own. This mind thinks nothing of wasting the time of others to satisfy its own meager curiosities. Surely, in this case, the time taken to ask the question takes almost as long as the research required to answer it. However, you can't help but notice a deeper level of sadness swelling from below... It's not merely that the question was trivial. For example, the question "What is this project for?" doesn't seem nearly as sad. Moreover, we notice that if ReactJS was an obscure or unpopular project then this user's question seems rather innocuous. We see that your deeper sadness stems from the realization that this user is consumed and infatuated with the present trend in software development, whatever that may be. If he knew, he would not care that ReactOS predates ReactJS by nearly two decades. To this user, what exists now is better than what has ever existed before. After all, he imagines, every good idea and enlightened thinking in the history of computing has been brought to the present; these qualities are easily recognized by everyone and they naturally persist and become popular. Therefore, the popular projects are the best humanity has to offer both technically and philosophically. Likewise, obscure, small, or old projects have the opposite quality. Learning of ReactOS for the first time, he is skeptical of how much of a "good idea" it could really be (surely he would have heard of it by now if it was worth knowing about). So, he attempts to establish the project's merit using the only method available to him: an appeal to popularity. Does this project relate to the current pinnacle of computing achievement, ReactJS? Being a React aficionado, he doesn't suspect it is related but decides to ask anyway just in case he missed something. He wants to know the answer, but ReactOS appears sufficiently unpopular (ie. irrelevant) as to not be worth any appreciable time or effort to discover it for himself. Besides, it is far more agreeable to his psyche that the crowd provide the answer. There is a subtlety to the user's phrasing that enhances your sadness further. He does not wonder "is it related?" but rather "does this have anything to do with?". One gets the feeling that if only there were just the tiniest bit of relation to ReactJS then this user would be satisfied that ReactOS is indeed a worthy project. There is a sense that this brand of thinking is 'shallow' or 'myopic'. That it is a brand of thinking that is destined to bring the industry to a state of perpetual mediocrity caused by the incessant following of trends instead of truth. That it is a brand of thinking that causes those under its influence to ignore the search for truth altogether as they are assured that truth is always provided for them, right here, in the present. And when real truth does arrive in those rare moments, it is a brand of thinking that renders it unrecognizable. This is troubling but it's not the sole cause of your depression now. You are saddened because you know he is one of many.
- marvy 10y ago
  Just the name is similar; these folks are just trying to rewrite Windows, no JS involved.
  - jontro 10y ago
    I would say the branding is similar too, an nucleus with electrons around it.
  - gspetr 10y ago
    To play devil's advocate: JS is involved, Microsoft's JScript[0] can be found in ReactOS: https://doxygen.reactos.org/dir_2f81209855df6dbf8ef5ef665906f7a9.html https://doxygen.reactos.org/dir_2f81209855df6dbf8ef5ef665906... [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JScript https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JScript
  - jug 10y ago
    WinJS, on the other hand... You may just have given the Javascript folks an idea!
  - nym 10y ago
    Thank you.
    - marvy 10y ago
      you're welcome :)
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
- dmitrygr 10y ago
  One is a serious, impressive undertaking and the other is a pile of javascript
  - patates 10y ago
    So you are suggesting that React.js is not a serious, impressive undertaking?
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
    - rpcope1 10y ago
      Not in the same way ReactOS is.
      - patates 10y ago
        What?! React.js has 8180 commits from 942 contributors now. I respect ReactOS guys probably more than most people but come on! Think about the value created! How do you define serious? Being an operating system automatically puts a project automatically on a different level or do you have a thing against JavaScript?
- delerio 10y ago
  I feel sad that someone would think this. I don't blame you for writing it, many people are ignorant of not too distant software, but still bothers me somehow.
m-p-3 10y ago
I'm surprised the project is still ongoing. Agree they cooperating with the wine team on their progression?
- mastazi 10y ago
  Yes, the relationship with WINE is described in this page from the ReactOS wiki: https://www.reactos.org/wiki/WINE https://www.reactos.org/wiki/WINE
  - yellowapple 10y ago
    On a related note, the Arwinss subproject (which restructures ReactOS a bit to more closely match WINE's architecture) is pretty interesting: https://www.reactos.org/wiki/Arwinss https://www.reactos.org/wiki/Arwinss
cocktailpeanuts 10y ago
How can something that was released 13 years ago still be alpha and has 0.4.4 as the version? I am curious what the story is, is this backed by some company? Was this almost abandoned along the way but picked up?
- Sanddancer 10y ago
  It's a rather huge effort by a fairly small group of people not backed by any corporations [1]. They are aiming for bug-for-bug compatibility with Windows, including the driver model. One of the reasons for it taking so long, though, was it was discovered that a previous developer had written code garnered from disassembling pieces of the Windows kernel. Thus they had to perform a rather long process of auditing all of the code that had already been written to ensure that no Microsoft code was in the codebase. [1] https://reactos.org/wiki/People_of_ReactOS https://reactos.org/wiki/People_of_ReactOS
  - rrdharan 10y ago
    The audit does seem to have been a setback but looks like it didn't take that long relative to the total development time: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReactOS#Internal_audit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReactOS#Internal_audit That is to say, I doubt they'd be running Aero Glass or UWP applications this month even if they hadn't lost time to the audit.
    - userulluipeste 10y ago
      That audit was more than just a time stall. It affected the community. Being temporarily prevented from working on the project, many contributors oriented themselves elsewhere. Then there is also the friction caused by the rigor the team had to enforce on accepting new contributions further on. And that wasn't nowhere near the real damage for the project! The real thing was the reticence of serious backing/involvement from wealthy players' part, caused by the fear of something similar (but more serious). That audit can be (and for many was) taken just as a warning.
  - copx 10y ago
voltagex_ 10y ago
Wow - while looking at the changelog, I found that there's a working btrfs driver for Windows/ReactOS. https://github.com/maharmstone/btrfs https://github.com/maharmstone/btrfs Of course, Microsoft's driver signing changes make it a very expensive proposition to run on Windows 10, unfortunately.
- shawnz 10y ago
  You could sign it yourself and install that certificate into your system. A certificate that will work for everyone would cost about $200/year, which I don't think is too unreasonable.
  - NegativeLatency 10y ago
    If the software is open source Microsoft should be good enough to have a pathway for people to get it out for free.
    - colordrops 10y ago
      Microsoft still has some vestigial stupidity from their past culture. It would only help them if they opened up for open source projects like this.
    - wila 10y ago
      There's relatively cheap code signing [0] certificates specifically for open source. There might be completely free alternatives too, not sure about that, but EUR 28 is not a lot. [0] https://www.certum.eu/certum/cert,offer_en_open_source_cs.xml https://www.certum.eu/certum/cert,offer_en_open_source_cs.xm... [1] http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1177552/code-signing-certificate-for-open-source-projects http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1177552/code-signing-cert...
      - poizan42 10y ago
        I think you need an EV certificate from one of 5 providers to sign drivers that works on Windows 10 now.
miguelrochefort 10y ago
ReactOS is the saddest thing. Why would anyone do this? For 13 years? Why?
- DominoTree 10y ago
  Your comment is the saddest thing.
- nxc18 10y ago
  Operating systems are cool. Just about every popular general purpose operating system is some variation on UNIX. That is sad, just like it would be sad if JavaScript, TypeScript and Coffescript were the only popular programming languages. The only difference in scenarios is that the OS is much more significant and critical than the programming language. Windows is fundamentally different from Linux and UNIX. ReactOS is a clean room reimplementation of that, bringing NT's many excellent ideas to the open source community. That is a good thing, even if you never get to use it. Don't forget that, just like in every other part of life, different != bad.
  - theamk 10y ago
    Agree, NT has many excellent ideas. But re-implementing it today seems silly. Are you going to have messages with take two integers only, then stick two 16-bit fields into second one? Look at these articles, do you think anyone should be implementing API like this in 21st century: https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20070710-00/?p=26083 https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20070710-00/?p=... https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20120913-00/?p=6613 https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20120913-00/?p=... I am all for variety. Hurd, L4 -- these are fundamentally different from Unix and very interesting. ReactOS? well if you enjoy debugging windows kernel drivers without source code...
    - chris_wot 10y ago
      That's the Win32 executive subsystem, which is only a small (albeit important) part of Windows NT. The ReactOS project aims to get binary driver compatibility with Windows, amongst other things. And yes, lots of people enjoy reverse engineering things like drivers.
remir 10y ago
There's 288 Linux distributions currently listed on DistroWatch, multiple DE, package managers, and yet, Windows is still dominating on desktop. Having an open source clone of Windows makes perfect sense. Imagine if, after all those years, this project received more support from the open source community. Today we would have a free and open source OS that would be able to run Windows drivers and the Win32 apps people want to use. Adobe's stuff, AutoCAD, AbletonLive, games, MS Office, etc. In the end, the average person doesn't care about operating systems. What they care about is their apps.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- mattnewton 10y ago
  Is the desktop still a market worth dominating? It's relevant today, and will remain relevant, but in decreasing amounts. I think we're in a new era of thin clients and beefy *nix machine clusters again, and I think it will matter less and less what IT departments buy as long as they have a capable browser.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - cududa 10y ago
    I think this would've been a good answer 6 years ago, but with tablet sales decreasing YoY and desktop/ laptop finally growing again, it might not be entirely accurate. 6 years ago we thought netbook thin clients paired with powerful backends would dominate. But here we are in 2017 - server side rendering of UI is waning while rich and robust client side interface applications are thriving. I think that late 2000's/ early 2010's vision of local computing withering in the shade of cloud resources is over. It turns out people want fancy, fat UI -- and rendering that server side isn't a very good idea.
    - stymaar 10y ago
      > robust client side interface applications are thriving. But a huge amount of them use web technologies which are pretty much OS independent. I'm using Linux for 10 years now and I used to have trouble to work with others because they where all using Windows-only software (proprietary chat client, MS office, etc.) but it's less the case anymore because for many use-cases everybody uses web applications instead of native software. > It turns out people want fancy, fat UI -- and rendering that server side isn't a very good idea. That's why JavaScript is the dominant language out there. And with WASM comming, even what's currently out of reach of JavaScript will be doable on a web plateform (except high-end gaming maybe).
DominoTree 10y ago
ReactOS is one of the most impressive software endeavors I've ever seen, both from the scope of the task and the progress that's actually been made, especially from such a small core group of developers. Many of the comments here are saying they're surprised it's still alive, or that it's sad someone would work on it, or that it should have more features. You're all missing the point.
- remir 10y ago
  I agree. I have tremendous respect for the devs of ReactOS.
- selestify 10y ago
  What is the point?
  - dzamo_norton 10y ago
    It could be a nice option to have for people stuck running really old legacy Windows software.
    - LyndsySimon 10y ago
      Especially if ReactOS is able to maintain Win32 compatibility for legacy applications while also receiving community support for security updates.
  - simonh 10y ago
    I can't speak for the developers, but the reason I appreciate it and projects like it is the journey they're on. The things they've learned about Windows and it's apps, the skills they've developed, the community they've built. That on it's own is worthy of respect even if it was not of practical value itself.
    - wruza 10y ago
      We are all on our own journey and learned personal and professional things and skills. Except that most of us do not chase an express train that has left ten years ago.
boznz 10y ago
Being able to install from USB Flash should be a top priority as CD's and DVDs are becoming less common and a lot of newer embedded boards (which would be a good target market) don't even have SATA or IDE connectors. Windows Embedded versions (7 through 10) are impossible to get a licence for without jumping through a shit-tonne of hoops, paperwork and scrutiny (been there recently and its almost like Microsoft don't want your custom even when its genuine) so there is a market but more of us embedded people are moving to Linux so you need to be quick. Anyway Watching with interest and keep up the progress
- em3rgent0rdr 10y ago
  according to https://reactos.org/wiki/LiveUSB https://reactos.org/wiki/LiveUSB, installation from USB used to be possible, but some USB-stack rewrite commit broke it.
nimrody 10y ago
Would be interesting to implement a Linux compatibility layer on top of ReactOS -- just to get the benefit of using binary drivers supplied by manufacturers for Windows. Perhaps Wayland could run on top of ReactOS and benefit from native DirectX drivers?
- Zuider 10y ago
  The Linux Unified Kernel project had similar aims of providing binary compatibility for both Linux and Windows applications and drivers. The last release was in 2014. http://www.longene.org/en/aboutproject.php http://www.longene.org/en/aboutproject.php
- jacobush 10y ago
  Well, Virtualbox? The stack would still be open source...
- leni536 10y ago
  Picking up coLinux would make sense.
smcl 10y ago
What does Microsoft think about the ReactOS effort? Looking at the gallery[0] the screenshots are pretty much indistinguishable from Windows 2000-ish (or XP with "Classic" theme) so I assumed they'd at least have something to say about that [0] = https://reactos.org/gallery https://reactos.org/gallery
- userulluipeste 10y ago
  ReactOS supports themes since before 0.4 series. The gallery is full of old screenshots. Microsoft doesn't publicly show any signs of attention.
gspetr 10y ago
It is certainly impressive that they've modernized their website and made it friendlier. For a project like this it goes a long way towards staying relevant. Just a few years ago it still looked like something I made for a school project with quick and dirty hacks in PHP in early 2000s. Glad to see they took care of it.
pmarreck 10y ago
This could be a PERFECT "gaming OS", with a little love. So tired of having to use Windows for my gaming machine.

296 points by return_0e 10y ago

nym 10y ago

Does this have anything to do with ReactJS or React Native?

bluejekyll 10y ago
No.
rpeden 10y ago
No, and ReactOS has been around for much longer than React and React Native. Its first released was 13 years ago.
- alexdoma 10y ago
  There's also myReact, an obscure (+obfuscated) Dutch forum application written in php sirca 2005, if not earlier.
nxc18 10y ago
I can't quite put it to words, but there's something about this statement that makes me very sad.
- JED3 10y ago
  Perhaps: "My neck beard hurts"??? The guy had an honest question, no point in shunning him.
  - mbrumlow 10y ago
    What's wrong with a neck beard?
    - patates 10y ago
      It runs on a million-year-old (or more) technology which is not developed agile (evolution is the opposite of agile, I would cautiously say?) and most importantly doesn't have a react.js renderer. Sorry, I know this type of comments are shunned but I couldn't help myself at this point.
      - jcbrand 10y ago
        Evolution is incredibly agile, while intelligent design follows the waterfall model. Since intelligent design presupposes that a design was in place before implementation, you'd need a watertight specification to know what you'll need to design. This is pretty much the definition of the waterfall model. Once you've started with the implementation, you'd not be able to deviate from the spec. If you're God you'd never make an incomplete or incorrect spec, right? By definition that'd be impossible. With evolution change is introduced iteratively. Each generation contains tweaks and updates, is exposed to a barrage of tests and if it's less adapted to the requirements it's disposed of unceremoniously in favor of a version more suitable. Due to its iterative nature evolution is also able to adapt quickly to changing requirements and good/beneficial features are taken over into the next iteration.
        patates 10y ago
        That makes perfect sense! Thank you very much for your thoughtful response!
        fgGAMI 10y ago
        Maybe evolution is an emergent phenomenon of the spec.
  - kbenson 10y ago
    That doesn't have to be taken as derogatory or insulting. I can relate, I too find it somewhat sad. I don't think that's a problem with the people who don't know, but a systemic problem where cool and noteworthy things of the past are overshadowed by popular current things that share a similar name. Relevant or interesting history is all too quickly forgotten by the general populace. As an aside, the most recent example of that I've come across, and much more relevant to current events (to US Americans, at least), was during the most recent Hardcore History podcast. It was pointed out that JFK won after he got a bunch of free press because of how photogenic his family was (which whether it was the reason he won or not probably helped quite a bit). Parallels weren't drawn to current events, but it's not like you need a political science degree to see them, which I found really interesting.
- BuuQu9hu 10y ago
  I will try to help: The first feeling that washes over you is a kind of despair that this question was asked at all, as even a cursory view of the information available in the OP, let alone a Google search, would immediately show the project is not related to ReactJS. You find it difficult to imagine the kind of mind that chooses to seek trivial answers from others rather than attempt to answer them on its own. This mind thinks nothing of wasting the time of others to satisfy its own meager curiosities. Surely, in this case, the time taken to ask the question takes almost as long as the research required to answer it. However, you can't help but notice a deeper level of sadness swelling from below... It's not merely that the question was trivial. For example, the question "What is this project for?" doesn't seem nearly as sad. Moreover, we notice that if ReactJS was an obscure or unpopular project then this user's question seems rather innocuous. We see that your deeper sadness stems from the realization that this user is consumed and infatuated with the present trend in software development, whatever that may be. If he knew, he would not care that ReactOS predates ReactJS by nearly two decades. To this user, what exists now is better than what has ever existed before. After all, he imagines, every good idea and enlightened thinking in the history of computing has been brought to the present; these qualities are easily recognized by everyone and they naturally persist and become popular. Therefore, the popular projects are the best humanity has to offer both technically and philosophically. Likewise, obscure, small, or old projects have the opposite quality. Learning of ReactOS for the first time, he is skeptical of how much of a "good idea" it could really be (surely he would have heard of it by now if it was worth knowing about). So, he attempts to establish the project's merit using the only method available to him: an appeal to popularity. Does this project relate to the current pinnacle of computing achievement, ReactJS? Being a React aficionado, he doesn't suspect it is related but decides to ask anyway just in case he missed something. He wants to know the answer, but ReactOS appears sufficiently unpopular (ie. irrelevant) as to not be worth any appreciable time or effort to discover it for himself. Besides, it is far more agreeable to his psyche that the crowd provide the answer. There is a subtlety to the user's phrasing that enhances your sadness further. He does not wonder "is it related?" but rather "does this have anything to do with?". One gets the feeling that if only there were just the tiniest bit of relation to ReactJS then this user would be satisfied that ReactOS is indeed a worthy project. There is a sense that this brand of thinking is 'shallow' or 'myopic'. That it is a brand of thinking that is destined to bring the industry to a state of perpetual mediocrity caused by the incessant following of trends instead of truth. That it is a brand of thinking that causes those under its influence to ignore the search for truth altogether as they are assured that truth is always provided for them, right here, in the present. And when real truth does arrive in those rare moments, it is a brand of thinking that renders it unrecognizable. This is troubling but it's not the sole cause of your depression now. You are saddened because you know he is one of many.
marvy 10y ago
Just the name is similar; these folks are just trying to rewrite Windows, no JS involved.
- jontro 10y ago
  I would say the branding is similar too, an nucleus with electrons around it.
- gspetr 10y ago
  To play devil's advocate: JS is involved, Microsoft's JScript[0] can be found in ReactOS: https://doxygen.reactos.org/dir_2f81209855df6dbf8ef5ef665906f7a9.html https://doxygen.reactos.org/dir_2f81209855df6dbf8ef5ef665906... [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JScript https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JScript
- jug 10y ago
  WinJS, on the other hand... You may just have given the Javascript folks an idea!
- nym 10y ago
  Thank you.
  - marvy 10y ago
    you're welcome :)
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
dmitrygr 10y ago
One is a serious, impressive undertaking and the other is a pile of javascript
- patates 10y ago
  So you are suggesting that React.js is not a serious, impressive undertaking?
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - rpcope1 10y ago
    Not in the same way ReactOS is.
    - patates 10y ago
      What?! React.js has 8180 commits from 942 contributors now. I respect ReactOS guys probably more than most people but come on! Think about the value created! How do you define serious? Being an operating system automatically puts a project automatically on a different level or do you have a thing against JavaScript?
delerio 10y ago
I feel sad that someone would think this. I don't blame you for writing it, many people are ignorant of not too distant software, but still bothers me somehow.

m-p-3 10y ago

I'm surprised the project is still ongoing. Agree they cooperating with the wine team on their progression?

mastazi 10y ago
Yes, the relationship with WINE is described in this page from the ReactOS wiki: https://www.reactos.org/wiki/WINE https://www.reactos.org/wiki/WINE
- yellowapple 10y ago
  On a related note, the Arwinss subproject (which restructures ReactOS a bit to more closely match WINE's architecture) is pretty interesting: https://www.reactos.org/wiki/Arwinss https://www.reactos.org/wiki/Arwinss

cocktailpeanuts 10y ago

How can something that was released 13 years ago still be alpha and has 0.4.4 as the version? I am curious what the story is, is this backed by some company? Was this almost abandoned along the way but picked up?

Sanddancer 10y ago
It's a rather huge effort by a fairly small group of people not backed by any corporations [1]. They are aiming for bug-for-bug compatibility with Windows, including the driver model. One of the reasons for it taking so long, though, was it was discovered that a previous developer had written code garnered from disassembling pieces of the Windows kernel. Thus they had to perform a rather long process of auditing all of the code that had already been written to ensure that no Microsoft code was in the codebase. [1] https://reactos.org/wiki/People_of_ReactOS https://reactos.org/wiki/People_of_ReactOS
- rrdharan 10y ago
  The audit does seem to have been a setback but looks like it didn't take that long relative to the total development time: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReactOS#Internal_audit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReactOS#Internal_audit That is to say, I doubt they'd be running Aero Glass or UWP applications this month even if they hadn't lost time to the audit.
  - userulluipeste 10y ago
    That audit was more than just a time stall. It affected the community. Being temporarily prevented from working on the project, many contributors oriented themselves elsewhere. Then there is also the friction caused by the rigor the team had to enforce on accepting new contributions further on. And that wasn't nowhere near the real damage for the project! The real thing was the reticence of serious backing/involvement from wealthy players' part, caused by the fear of something similar (but more serious). That audit can be (and for many was) taken just as a warning.
- copx 10y ago

voltagex_ 10y ago

Wow - while looking at the changelog, I found that there's a working btrfs driver for Windows/ReactOS. https://github.com/maharmstone/btrfs https://github.com/maharmstone/btrfs Of course, Microsoft's driver signing changes make it a very expensive proposition to run on Windows 10, unfortunately.

shawnz 10y ago
You could sign it yourself and install that certificate into your system. A certificate that will work for everyone would cost about $200/year, which I don't think is too unreasonable.
- NegativeLatency 10y ago
  If the software is open source Microsoft should be good enough to have a pathway for people to get it out for free.
  - colordrops 10y ago
    Microsoft still has some vestigial stupidity from their past culture. It would only help them if they opened up for open source projects like this.
  - wila 10y ago
    There's relatively cheap code signing [0] certificates specifically for open source. There might be completely free alternatives too, not sure about that, but EUR 28 is not a lot. [0] https://www.certum.eu/certum/cert,offer_en_open_source_cs.xml https://www.certum.eu/certum/cert,offer_en_open_source_cs.xm... [1] http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1177552/code-signing-certificate-for-open-source-projects http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1177552/code-signing-cert...
    - poizan42 10y ago
      I think you need an EV certificate from one of 5 providers to sign drivers that works on Windows 10 now.

miguelrochefort 10y ago

ReactOS is the saddest thing. Why would anyone do this? For 13 years? Why?

DominoTree 10y ago
Your comment is the saddest thing.
nxc18 10y ago
Operating systems are cool. Just about every popular general purpose operating system is some variation on UNIX. That is sad, just like it would be sad if JavaScript, TypeScript and Coffescript were the only popular programming languages. The only difference in scenarios is that the OS is much more significant and critical than the programming language. Windows is fundamentally different from Linux and UNIX. ReactOS is a clean room reimplementation of that, bringing NT's many excellent ideas to the open source community. That is a good thing, even if you never get to use it. Don't forget that, just like in every other part of life, different != bad.
- theamk 10y ago
  Agree, NT has many excellent ideas. But re-implementing it today seems silly. Are you going to have messages with take two integers only, then stick two 16-bit fields into second one? Look at these articles, do you think anyone should be implementing API like this in 21st century: https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20070710-00/?p=26083 https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20070710-00/?p=... https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20120913-00/?p=6613 https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20120913-00/?p=... I am all for variety. Hurd, L4 -- these are fundamentally different from Unix and very interesting. ReactOS? well if you enjoy debugging windows kernel drivers without source code...
  - chris_wot 10y ago
    That's the Win32 executive subsystem, which is only a small (albeit important) part of Windows NT. The ReactOS project aims to get binary driver compatibility with Windows, amongst other things. And yes, lots of people enjoy reverse engineering things like drivers.

remir 10y ago

There's 288 Linux distributions currently listed on DistroWatch, multiple DE, package managers, and yet, Windows is still dominating on desktop. Having an open source clone of Windows makes perfect sense. Imagine if, after all those years, this project received more support from the open source community. Today we would have a free and open source OS that would be able to run Windows drivers and the Win32 apps people want to use. Adobe's stuff, AutoCAD, AbletonLive, games, MS Office, etc. In the end, the average person doesn't care about operating systems. What they care about is their apps.

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mattnewton 10y ago
Is the desktop still a market worth dominating? It's relevant today, and will remain relevant, but in decreasing amounts. I think we're in a new era of thin clients and beefy *nix machine clusters again, and I think it will matter less and less what IT departments buy as long as they have a capable browser.
- deleted 10y ago
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- cududa 10y ago
  I think this would've been a good answer 6 years ago, but with tablet sales decreasing YoY and desktop/ laptop finally growing again, it might not be entirely accurate. 6 years ago we thought netbook thin clients paired with powerful backends would dominate. But here we are in 2017 - server side rendering of UI is waning while rich and robust client side interface applications are thriving. I think that late 2000's/ early 2010's vision of local computing withering in the shade of cloud resources is over. It turns out people want fancy, fat UI -- and rendering that server side isn't a very good idea.
  - stymaar 10y ago
    > robust client side interface applications are thriving. But a huge amount of them use web technologies which are pretty much OS independent. I'm using Linux for 10 years now and I used to have trouble to work with others because they where all using Windows-only software (proprietary chat client, MS office, etc.) but it's less the case anymore because for many use-cases everybody uses web applications instead of native software. > It turns out people want fancy, fat UI -- and rendering that server side isn't a very good idea. That's why JavaScript is the dominant language out there. And with WASM comming, even what's currently out of reach of JavaScript will be doable on a web plateform (except high-end gaming maybe).

DominoTree 10y ago

ReactOS is one of the most impressive software endeavors I've ever seen, both from the scope of the task and the progress that's actually been made, especially from such a small core group of developers. Many of the comments here are saying they're surprised it's still alive, or that it's sad someone would work on it, or that it should have more features. You're all missing the point.

remir 10y ago
I agree. I have tremendous respect for the devs of ReactOS.
selestify 10y ago
What is the point?
- dzamo_norton 10y ago
  It could be a nice option to have for people stuck running really old legacy Windows software.
  - LyndsySimon 10y ago
    Especially if ReactOS is able to maintain Win32 compatibility for legacy applications while also receiving community support for security updates.
- simonh 10y ago
  I can't speak for the developers, but the reason I appreciate it and projects like it is the journey they're on. The things they've learned about Windows and it's apps, the skills they've developed, the community they've built. That on it's own is worthy of respect even if it was not of practical value itself.
  - wruza 10y ago
    We are all on our own journey and learned personal and professional things and skills. Except that most of us do not chase an express train that has left ten years ago.

boznz 10y ago

Being able to install from USB Flash should be a top priority as CD's and DVDs are becoming less common and a lot of newer embedded boards (which would be a good target market) don't even have SATA or IDE connectors. Windows Embedded versions (7 through 10) are impossible to get a licence for without jumping through a shit-tonne of hoops, paperwork and scrutiny (been there recently and its almost like Microsoft don't want your custom even when its genuine) so there is a market but more of us embedded people are moving to Linux so you need to be quick. Anyway Watching with interest and keep up the progress

em3rgent0rdr 10y ago
according to https://reactos.org/wiki/LiveUSB https://reactos.org/wiki/LiveUSB, installation from USB used to be possible, but some USB-stack rewrite commit broke it.

nimrody 10y ago

Would be interesting to implement a Linux compatibility layer on top of ReactOS -- just to get the benefit of using binary drivers supplied by manufacturers for Windows. Perhaps Wayland could run on top of ReactOS and benefit from native DirectX drivers?

Zuider 10y ago
The Linux Unified Kernel project had similar aims of providing binary compatibility for both Linux and Windows applications and drivers. The last release was in 2014. http://www.longene.org/en/aboutproject.php http://www.longene.org/en/aboutproject.php
jacobush 10y ago
Well, Virtualbox? The stack would still be open source...
leni536 10y ago
Picking up coLinux would make sense.

smcl 10y ago

What does Microsoft think about the ReactOS effort? Looking at the gallery[0] the screenshots are pretty much indistinguishable from Windows 2000-ish (or XP with "Classic" theme) so I assumed they'd at least have something to say about that [0] = https://reactos.org/gallery https://reactos.org/gallery

userulluipeste 10y ago
ReactOS supports themes since before 0.4 series. The gallery is full of old screenshots. Microsoft doesn't publicly show any signs of attention.

gspetr 10y ago

It is certainly impressive that they've modernized their website and made it friendlier. For a project like this it goes a long way towards staying relevant. Just a few years ago it still looked like something I made for a school project with quick and dirty hacks in PHP in early 2000s. Glad to see they took care of it.

pmarreck 10y ago

This could be a PERFECT "gaming OS", with a little love. So tired of having to use Windows for my gaming machine.