Thorium (ROS distribution) on kickstarter

[gonzoMD]

happily there was a 2nd update with a blog post from the thoriumgroup website.
Now I think I know what it is. It seems that you want to make an operating system which is usable like the abandoned Ubuntu for Android: dock in and you have a complete Desktop OS.
Powered by ReactOS and backed by online cloud services.
Maybe a stretch goal (200k or so on) could be interesting if you offer the suitable hardware compatible with the most common mobile devices.

Also I think you need more PR around. Write news to IT communities or magazines, blogs or forums. Get in contact with moderators of those. You could also write to the sourceforge team, as you already gave some hidden information inside your POTM interview and made the people (including me) curious. I think many people will help to spread the word for you.
I think it is interresting, but needs better knowledge about it.

[milon]

Black_Fox basically nailed it. Some parts of the KS campaign are awesome, and some still need a lot of work.

Speaking of needing work, I have a question about Thorium's use of Third Party Cloud Storage. The Thorium Kickstarter page has a large graphic labelled "Thorium Architectural Diagram", with "Third Party Cloud Storage" being the top-most section of the graphic. I could not find much detail about Thorium's use of Third Party Cloud Storage on either Kickstarter or Thorium's own page (so this is one thing that can use some work).

At first, I thought the graphic was simply showing that Thorium can interface with a user's pre-existing cloud services, but then I read the following from the Thorium Cloud Services homepage (under "A Secure Virtual Desktop", emphasis mine):

... This ultimately allows for a more complete recovery strategy should disaster strike as all data is saved in the data center (the cloud) and backed up through traditional redundant maintenance systems.

So what exactly is Third Party Cloud Storage used for? How much control does the average user have over what goes in the Third Party Cloud Storage?

[fireball]

First of all, it is a garage project. It is kickstarter, and even if we do ask for VC funding, it'd still be a garage project. No company started being glorius and famous. Apple started in a garage, Microsoft started as a couple of guys hacking together. Google started as two guys hacking together a search engine.
Everything is born small and then grows.

Second, as for scam and other kind of stuff. And that video is lame. Yes it's lame, but hey, it's American way: don't be shy, try it out, see what's wrong and fix it. It's better to try something than to hide for years and then think "maybe it was a mistake not to try that kickstarter when it was popular...". The guy about "scam" is wrong because it would be a scam if someone else was pretending to be us. However, those are we, not very last people in the project.

Third, lack of PR? We are working on that. Everyone is on vacation now. We plan bringing in PR resource in the first part of January 2014 when people get back to work.

[Aeneas]

The guy about "scam" is wrong because it would be a scam if someone else was pretending to be us.

Not quite, my dear Alexey: a scam is when you promise something and, already while so outlying your promise, you are WELL AWARE of its untruthfulness or unfulfillability. Now, kindly answer me with a straight face:

"Does it LOOK LIKE a scam (not 'IS' but LOOK LIKE) if some Russian guy and some American guy want to present to you some ultra-complicated application delivery service based on a totally unfinished OS - for 120k?"

See, I bet your initial lawyer fees alone (!) will surpass that amount. Who are your target users? Why, if you are serious, you do not use... WINDOWS?

Microsoft started as Traf-o-data. And you know how Apple started? Apple started with this:

http://apple2history.org/wp-content/upl ... applei.jpg

Apple did NOT promise its customers this:

http://www.computermuseum.li/Testpage/C ... r-1976.gif

- OK, maybe I'm all wrong. Maybe I'm a total idiot who has no idea of the business world at all. Maybe your thorium group idea is just pure genius and your presentation of it is flawless. Time will tell... And guess what: I'd rather WISH to be wrong, because I like ReactOS. But the crucial question remains:

If you were FOREIGN to ReactOS, if "Thorium Group" would NOT be your baby - would you INVEST in it COLD HARD CASH? This is, after all, what you are asking the people on Kickstarter.

EDIT: corrected a few typos.

[cruonit]

Thorium should be on slashdot...

[Webunny]

Thorium should be on slashdot...

No, Reactos should be more on slashdot, especially for the funding.

I'm a bit confused about all this Thorium talk. Thorium is, in essence, a low-radio-active material, with great potential to use in a LFTR. that's all there is to it.



As for a project from some dev/dudes to try something else with it; well, it's open source, they (and everyone) can do with it what they want, as long as they don't use the Reactos name or logo. I'm not really interested in whether it is technically or principally a scam or not: time will tell, I guess. The whole philosophical decision and the debate whether or not it can be deemed a scam and whether or not the devs go along with it or not.. it all seems rather irrelevant to me. This whole discussion - as long as it remains on this level and doesn't show any direct relevance to ROS - should better be moved to the 'off topic' section, imho.

[Black_Fox]

As for a project from some dev/dudes to try something else with it; well, it's open source, they (and everyone) can do with it what they want, as long as they don't use the Reactos name or logo. I'm not really interested in whether it is technically or principally a scam or not: time will tell, I guess.

I don't understand your concern, since Aleksey Bragin is the ReactOS project coordinator and not "some dev/dude".

[Webunny]

As for a project from some dev/dudes to try something else with it; well, it's open source, they (and everyone) can do with it what they want, as long as they don't use the Reactos name or logo. I'm not really interested in whether it is technically or principally a scam or not: time will tell, I guess.

I don't understand your concern, since Aleksey Bragin is the ReactOS project coordinator and not "some dev/dude".

I think you're mistaken of poster. I have no concerns at all. I merely think the issue and this whole debate whether or not it should be regarded as a scam or not is irrelevant. I also don't understand your argument, even if I would have concerns: if Aleksey is THE project coordinator, and he aids in developping, he's also some dev/dude. We're not into IT-aristocracy, are we? Let's stay humble, and a dev is a dev, and a dude is a dude, whether he is projectleader or The Dude from the Big Lebowski.

But really, I don't care one way or another. What matters is the relevance for this thread. Are people continuing to debate whether this Thorium is a scam or not, allowed or not, etc.? Is this actually ROS -related (and no, its not because THE dev is behind that particular project that it has direct relevance to ROS)?

I'm just saying: if it's off-topic conversations one want to (continue to) make, move it to the off-topic section. Personally, I have neither concerns nor anything else, and I have no opinion whether it's a scam or not. I *am* of the opinion, though, that the thread, if it keeps moving in this less and less reactos-relevant way (aka, debating whether or not this OTHER project should be considered a scam or not), should be moved to a section where it's more suited.

[middings]

Thorium might be a play on words. Thor was one of the mythological gods.

I'm a bit confused about all this Thorium talk. Thorium is, in essence, a low-radio-active material, with great potential to use in a LFTR. that's all there is to it.

Like PurpleGurl I think Thorium is a play on words. Webunny may have identified the core of the word-play.

Thorium can be used as a breeder fuel in an atomic pile (i.e., a nuclear reactor). I'm guessing that this feature of Thorium inspired the name for the project for which Alexey is seeking Kickstarter funding. z98's blog article Use cases for ReactOS in the paragraph subtitled Remote Application Host suggested a service that allows users "to spin up as many or as few OS instances as they need". One might fancifully describe Alexey's project as a computing pile that breeds OS instances on demand.

(Or I could be wrong again.)

[Black_Fox]

I also don't understand your argument, even if I would have concerns: if Aleksey is THE project coordinator, and he aids in developping, he's also some dev/dude. We're not into IT-aristocracy, are we? Let's stay humble, and a dev is a dev, and a dude is a dude, whether he is projectleader or The Dude from the Big Lebowski.

Aristocracy is dead for almost 100 years in my country. What I mean to say is that it's not just a nick from forum, but a real persona with long-time published real photos & videos that would be a lot harder to fake than, say, you or me. It's also the long-time leader of ROS project, by which I didn't mean any aristocracy, but the view that this kind of guy will continue supporting ROS, Thorium or not.
Let's hope "The Dude" won't create any kickstarters

[milon]

@fireball, I think you missed my question above:

Speaking of needing work, I have a question about Thorium's use of Third Party Cloud Storage. The Thorium Kickstarter page has a large graphic labelled "Thorium Architectural Diagram", with "Third Party Cloud Storage" being the top-most section of the graphic. I could not find much detail about Thorium's use of Third Party Cloud Storage on either Kickstarter or Thorium's own page (so this is one thing that can use some work).

At first, I thought the graphic was simply showing that Thorium can interface with a user's pre-existing cloud services, but then I read the following from the Thorium Cloud Services homepage (under "A Secure Virtual Desktop", emphasis mine):

... This ultimately allows for a more complete recovery strategy should disaster strike as all data is saved in the data center (the cloud) and backed up through traditional redundant maintenance systems.

So what exactly is Third Party Cloud Storage used for? How much control does the average user have over what goes in the Third Party Cloud Storage?

I'd like to understand more about the Third Party Cloud Storage.

[Z98]

Response to some of the questions:

http://www.reactos.org/node/757

Re Milon: I'm not sure what the confusion is, Thorium is basically a desktop OS hosted in a virtual machine that is accessible to you. Just as a desktop OS on your own personal computer can plug into various cloud storage systems, Thorium/ReactOS can as well.

[Jedi-to-be]

Z98

Why there is no even single link to Kickstarter or picture?

[milon]

Response to some of the questions:

http://www.reactos.org/node/757

Re Milon: I'm not sure what the confusion is, Thorium is basically a desktop OS hosted in a virtual machine that is accessible to you. Just as a desktop OS on your own personal computer can plug into various cloud storage systems, Thorium/ReactOS can as well.

The confusion resulted because the Thorium page and the Kickstarter page both did not address very well what Thorium was. Your blog answered my questions. Thanks!

[Black_Fox]

Why there is no even single link to Kickstarter or picture?

Because "it is a garage project" and "it's American way: don't be shy, try it out, see what's wrong and fix it".