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> and for reasons only known to microsoft, this software is no longer able to run on modern windows. The reason is most likely... because the driver relies on

> and for reasons only known to microsoft, this software is no longer able to run on modern windows. The reason is most likely... because the driver relies on APIs that were insecure and removed in the XP-Vista transition! > The vendor for the instrument has no incentive to update that software either; they'd rather you dish out another half million dollars for a new sorter. > There are hundreds of instruments like this in any given research institute, all because Microsoft decided unilaterally that software that ran fine 20 years ago is clearly useless and doesn't need to run anymore on modern hardware that receives security updates. So it's Microsoft's fault that the vendor won't update it's software? Didn't this "elite institution" get a support contract for the machine? Would they expect the driver and software to still work if it had been written for a PowerMac G5, running Mac OS X Panther? Would a binary compiled 20 years ago even have a remote chance of running on Linux?

midoridensha 4y ago
>Would a binary compiled 20 years ago even have a remote chance of running on Linux? Yes. As long as it includes all its dependencies, it should work because the kernel never deprecates system calls.
- 908B64B197 4y ago
  What about the ABI?
  - midoridensha 4y ago
    What about it?
    - 908B64B197 4y ago
      I don't think kernel ABI is compatible between versions. So unless the vendor distributes the source for the driver interfacing with the machine, it shouldn't run on modern releases.
      - midoridensha 4y ago
        We're not talking about drivers, we're talking about applications. You can take an application compiled back in 2005 and run it on a modern Linux machine, as long as the machine architecture is the same.
        908B64B197 4y ago
        I assumed the machine would require a custom driver. Else it's extremely unlikely the app was broken as early as 2006 (so on Windows Vista) without their research group having some sort of support contract. Software would have been barely 4 years old at that point.
- seanhunter 4y ago
  It depends on which 20 years you’re talking about. Some of us here have been using Linux long enough to remember the change in the late 90s to use elf format. I don’t think a Linux from after the change can run anything from before.

midoridensha 4y ago

>Would a binary compiled 20 years ago even have a remote chance of running on Linux? Yes. As long as it includes all its dependencies, it should work because the kernel never deprecates system calls.

908B64B197 4y ago
What about the ABI?
- midoridensha 4y ago
  What about it?
  - 908B64B197 4y ago
    I don't think kernel ABI is compatible between versions. So unless the vendor distributes the source for the driver interfacing with the machine, it shouldn't run on modern releases.
    - midoridensha 4y ago
      We're not talking about drivers, we're talking about applications. You can take an application compiled back in 2005 and run it on a modern Linux machine, as long as the machine architecture is the same.
      - 908B64B197 4y ago
        I assumed the machine would require a custom driver. Else it's extremely unlikely the app was broken as early as 2006 (so on Windows Vista) without their research group having some sort of support contract. Software would have been barely 4 years old at that point.
seanhunter 4y ago
It depends on which 20 years you’re talking about. Some of us here have been using Linux long enough to remember the change in the late 90s to use elf format. I don’t think a Linux from after the change can run anything from before.