I Really Want to See Success...But..

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smccarthy945
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I Really Want to See Success...But..

Post by smccarthy945 »

There is nothing more that I would like to see in the IT world than to see ReactOS succeed to the point it can completely replace Windows. The problem I see with this project is that it just seems like there is so much work it almost seems insurmountable. I have been watching this project for years hoping it would get to the point where 90% of Windows programs will run and it just seems like it has so far to go. Maybe I am looking at this wrong. Convince me otherwise. We have moved most of our company over to LInux Mint because I just can't pay the enormous MS licensing costs anymore and would like an alternative to run Windows apps without the out of control Windows license costs.

Don't get me wrong as I am 100% behind the idea of this project. I love the idea and hope to one day see this OS run all Windows programs but how long realistically until this OS can run almost everything just like Windows? Will that ever happen? What stops MS from throwing a wrench into everything once you catch up and changing Windows code just enough where it takes years to reverse engineer it yet again?

Is there just no other way to speed this project up? Is it just a question of money or is there nothing that can be done to speed it up?

Scott
PurpleGurl
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Re: I Really Want to See Success...But..

Post by PurpleGurl »

Yes, I share your frustrations. I started following this project about 8 years ago, and while I've seen great strides, it still has a long ways to go.

As for Microsoft, we pretty much assume that they will do what you say. However, that doesn't mean that classical Windows programs cannot live on. ReactOS might be the only thing keeping the XP/2003 (or 7 or whatever if we change targets) coders going.

Yes, it is mostly a matter of money and/or coders. If there were endless funds, they could hire developers. However, it would be hard to find qualified ones who are not "tainted." The most common way they get tainted is through their training, since they might use the Windows Research Kernel in college. Then there are the presumably former hackers, pirates, and misfits who might have disassembled code or seen leaked source. They are not welcome to code for ReactOS. And there are former Microsoft employees who ReactOS, unfortunately, cannot use, since they have signed NDA's and have inside knowledge we are not allowed to have.
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dizt3mp3r
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Re: I Really Want to See Success...But..

Post by dizt3mp3r »

The forum receives these sort of posts regularly from frustrated users that want ReactOS now. Do remember that ReactOS does not proceed at the speed you personally would like it to. There is no correlation to your own personal desires and the development contributions of ReactOS devs.

ReactOS Developers work on the things they want to and what takes their fancy, it is a very high goal they have aimed for and due to the nature of the project it may never finish. The project may grow and grow as more is added despite the current goal being NT5 compatibility.

The thing is though, it may well run your programs well before that. It may well be stable enough for you well before that. At some point you will be able to say "it runs my programs" - I could use it. It just depends upon your demands and your choice of apps/drivers &c.

How can development be sped up?

i. Find a way of attracting competent devs that are familiar with o/s development, specifically Windows/.
ii. Encourage others that want to become competent to look at bugs and perhaps suggest soutions/code.
iii. Give a bounty for specific functionality that you want.
iv. Donate
v. Encourage others to donate
vi. Publicise ReactOS

So, relax and enjoy ReactOS, watch it grow and see it become stable and functional day by day.
Skillset: VMS,DOS,Windows Sysadmin from 1985, fault-tolerance, VaxCluster, Alpha,Sparc. DCL,QB,VBDOS- VB6,.NET, PHP,NODE.JS, Graphic Design, Project Manager, CMS, Quad Electronics. classic cars & m'bikes. Artist in water & oils. Historian.
ROCKNROLLKID
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Re: I Really Want to See Success...But..

Post by ROCKNROLLKID »

It always annoys me when I see people who were so willing to give $100+ for Windows licenses or even thousands of dollars for business licenses, but don't give even 1/4 of that to ReactOS. If everyone who uses ReactOS would give $20, and even the ones who use it for business too, there probably would be enough money to hire a sufficient amount of developers.

I seen a few months ago that someone had donated 1000 euros to ReactOS. Now that is good contribution and still costs less then top business grade licensing in Windows.
minlearn
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Re: I Really Want to See Success...But..

Post by minlearn »

i posted a similar post ...

i think ros should get itself a basic stage in today's rapid developing IT world.
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Fraizeraust
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Re: I Really Want to See Success...But..

Post by Fraizeraust »

ROCKNROLLKID wrote:It always annoys me when I see people who were so willing to give $100+ for Windows licenses or even thousands of dollars for business licenses, but don't give even 1/4 of that to ReactOS.
That's not their fault, really. At this point ReactOS is like an innocent little child living in darkness asking for help. I bet millions of people running Windows OS have no idea of ReactOS' existence.

ReactOS has a great idealism of an OS that's compatible with Windows software and drivers but you guys don't get recognised so much. Advertisement is the key, if you want to become a success you must be recognised.
a.k.a. GeoB99 -- ReactOS Kernel developer -- My Wiki page
RoidDroidVoid
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Re: I Really Want to See Success...But..

Post by RoidDroidVoid »

Perhaps a Kickstarter would work. ReactOS is and should always remain open source but a paid priority support model could prove beneficial for the financial health of the project.

Obviously, the first requirement is the initial funding then once a specific functional milestone is reached, the support structure could then go into effect with initial investors receiving some term of priority support (1 year, 2 years, etc.) plus the beta, RC and v1 on physical media and throw in a T-shirt or two for good measure.

This may have already been discussed but maybe some of these ideas could actually prove useful. I think the desire that the broader masses would have for such an OS would mean a lot of attention in a Kickstarter type of arrangement.
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dizt3mp3r
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Re: I Really Want to See Success...But..

Post by dizt3mp3r »

Do you believe that is a new idea that you've just had?

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/th ... ud-desktop
Skillset: VMS,DOS,Windows Sysadmin from 1985, fault-tolerance, VaxCluster, Alpha,Sparc. DCL,QB,VBDOS- VB6,.NET, PHP,NODE.JS, Graphic Design, Project Manager, CMS, Quad Electronics. classic cars & m'bikes. Artist in water & oils. Historian.
erkinalp
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Post by erkinalp »

I have performed my engineering internship at the IT department of a university hospital. As whole university, they are so much dependent on MS technologies. This naturally includes the hospital. Namely, the hospital is dependent on a proprietary software component which only runs on Windows. One day, I have had an opportunity to talk to the hospital's vice-director, who is the director responsible for the IT department I then worked at, about this. I have mentioned ReactOS, what it is, what it aims etc. He said there would be a vast cost cut and easier to maintain if all Windows instances are replaced by ReactOS instances. He started following ReactOS JIRA, considering a switch from Windows XP into ReactOS when sufficient maturity is reached. However, he wishes to see more and faster progress on ReactOS.
-uses Ubuntu+GNOME 3 GNU/Linux
-likes Free (as in freedom) and Open Source Detergents
-favors open source of Windows 10 under GPL2
ROCKNROLLKID
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Re: I Really Want to See Success...But..

Post by ROCKNROLLKID »

dizt3mp3r wrote:Do you believe that is a new idea that you've just had?

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/th ... ud-desktop
48K wouldn't be bad for ReactOS though. The standards for Thorium were higher then ReactOS because getting involved with Cloud services can be costly. ReactOS doesn't have to worry about that. Besides, more people know about ReactOS then they know about Thorium, so ReactOS has a better chance of reaching their goal then Thorium. Normally a good idea for kickstarter is to set a goal a little higher then what you really need. This leaves some emergency money left over for whatever.

Maybe ReactOS team could just start another fundraiser like they did last year.

Another thing that would help is maybe lower some of these prices down in ReactOS shop https://shop.spreadshirt.de/reactos/ I mean you can't honestly think someone will pay 18 euros (over $20) for a coffee mug? Maybe adding more items to it will also help.
mametoc
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Re: I Really Want to See Success...But..

Post by mametoc »

dizt3mp3r wrote:The forum receives these sort of posts regularly from frustrated users that want ReactOS now. Do remember that ReactOS does not proceed at the speed you personally would like it to. There is no correlation to your own personal desires and the development contributions of ReactOS devs.

ReactOS Developers work on the things they want to and what takes their fancy, it is a very high goal they have aimed for and due to the nature of the project it may never finish. The project may grow and grow as more is added despite the current goal being NT5 compatibility.

The thing is though, it may well run your programs well before that. It may well be stable enough for you well before that. At some point you will be able to say "it runs my programs" - I could use it. It just depends upon your demands and your choice of apps/drivers &c.

How can development be sped up?

i. Find a way of attracting competent devs that are familiar with o/s development, specifically Windows/.
ii. Encourage others that want to become competent to look at bugs and perhaps suggest soutions/code.
iii. Give a bounty for specific functionality that you want.
iv. Donate
v. Encourage others to donate
vi. Publicise ReactOS

So, relax and enjoy ReactOS, watch it grow and see it become stable and functional day by day.
Sorry but seven that's points also are valids for GNULinux and we know thats not the most used in domestic computers.

My alternate-based on your seven points:

I. Find a way to atracting Microsoft to open souce all Windows NTs.

II. (In case the first points fails), Encourage hardware manufacturers to contract ReactOS for their very low budget device mobiles, encourage Intel and/or AMD to develop x86/x64 cheap CPUS for that devices.

III. (In case the second points fails), Bounty public signatures for government $upport ReactOS in your country.

IV. DON'T DONATE! is and euphemism of charity!. Arguee for an universal basic income instead.

V. (If point four is accomplished) Let the people decide if they want write open source code for ReactOS or test it in their computers.

VI. Dont waste your time "publisice" ReactOS, that still not helps even GNULinux. ReactOS need facts not promises.
mametoc
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Re: I Really Want to See Success...But..

Post by mametoc »

Fraizeraust wrote:
ROCKNROLLKID wrote:It always annoys me when I see people who were so willing to give $100+ for Windows licenses or even thousands of dollars for business licenses, but don't give even 1/4 of that to ReactOS.
That's not their fault, really. At this point ReactOS is like an innocent little child living in darkness asking for help. I bet millions of people running Windows OS have no idea of ReactOS' existence.

ReactOS has a great idealism of an OS that's compatible with Windows software and drivers but you guys don't get recognised so much. Advertisement is the key, if you want to become a success you must be recognised.


@Fraizeraust:

Advertisment is not the key as i dont think Android 0.x alpha is a success due the recognision of people... when i talk people about ReactOS and i said still not work properly people discourages easily, its normal.


@ROCKNROLLKID

The history proven is a bad idea enter in a licence OS market whit few or any hardware manufacturer support, (MS-DOS clones) or IBM's OS/2 competing whit a lot of IBM-PC clones whit MS-DOS or current days microsoft mobiles.
mametoc
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Re: I Really Want to See Success...But..

Post by mametoc »

RoidDroidVoid wrote:Perhaps a Kickstarter would work. ReactOS is and should always remain open source but a paid priority support model could prove beneficial for the financial health of the project.

Obviously, the first requirement is the initial funding then once a specific functional milestone is reached, the support structure could then go into effect with initial investors receiving some term of priority support (1 year, 2 years, etc.) plus the beta, RC and v1 on physical media and throw in a T-shirt or two for good measure.

This may have already been discussed but maybe some of these ideas could actually prove useful. I think the desire that the broader masses would have for such an OS would mean a lot of attention in a Kickstarter type of arrangement.
Jesus. ReactOS Kickstarters are proven to be poors. End of story. But maybe might be interesing search kickstarter partnerships in a future like:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ud ... f=category

or

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/80 ... om?lang=es

Thats the problem, at least Microsoft empire is based on subsidys from IBM and ReactOS might be need an "IBM".
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dizt3mp3r
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Re: I Really Want to See Success...But..

Post by dizt3mp3r »

Sorry to wake a quiescent thread but some perspective from The registry:
Three hundred developers had worked on NT from the time of the IBM/Microsoft divorce in September 1990 – in 10 to 12 isolated teams. This ultimately rose to 1,600 devs for Windows 2000 and from 6 million lines of code to 29 million.
Mere weeks before launch NT had 63,000 bugs still extant.

That view from Microsoft makes the task of committed devs building ReactOS (in their spare time) even more laudable and should give potential complainers some idea of the huge achievement they have behind them and the huge task they still have in front of them.
Skillset: VMS,DOS,Windows Sysadmin from 1985, fault-tolerance, VaxCluster, Alpha,Sparc. DCL,QB,VBDOS- VB6,.NET, PHP,NODE.JS, Graphic Design, Project Manager, CMS, Quad Electronics. classic cars & m'bikes. Artist in water & oils. Historian.
tverweij
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Re: I Really Want to See Success...But..

Post by tverweij »

ROCKNROLLKID wrote:
It always annoys me when I see people who were so willing to give $100+ for Windows licenses or even thousands of dollars for business licenses, but don't give even 1/4 of that to ReactOS. If everyone who uses ReactOS would give $20, and even the ones who use it for business too, there probably would be enough money to hire a sufficient amount of developers.
Problem with the above statement: ReactOS is only working on virtual machines that requires windows to run (normal up to date hardware is not supported) and on some very old machines.
So nobody uses ReactOS (Why running in an alpha OS when you have to run a fully functional - payed - MS Windows below it?).

For me, ReactOS becomes usable as soon as it runs on HyperV; I can install HyperV on any intel based machine that has hardware virtualization, and then I can "boot" any OS that can run on Hyper-V.
React-OS status at this moment: It installs, bus has no mouse or network. Installation of the hyperV drivers of the guest.iso results in a blue screen.

So the question: What kind of support do you need to make ReactOS run on Hyper-V?
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