wierd_w wrote on 2025-05-07, 12:30:

Iirc, it was license incompatibility.

It's GPLv2. Is it just because the Paragon NTFS driver sources might have the GPLv2 variant without the "or later" clause? Is that really it? I find it doubtful that ReactOS doesn't already have other sources ported from other projects that also are licensed GPLv2 without the "or later" clause.

And also, why can't I find a discussion about that anywhere? Maybe it's on a mailing list archive somewhere?

I used to hang out in the dev chat IRC on #FreeNode.

You could always pop in and ask.

Jo22 wrote on 2025-05-06, 01:16:

Exploit wrote on 2025-05-05, 22:21:

The typical home user get's a legal copy of windows by buying a new PC.
Most will have a legal license of Windows XP or Vista or Windows 7 because they have purchased at least one new PC during this period.

Hi, but but on other hand, I thought every gamer who gets a new PC does re-install Windows as step #1, in order to get rid of all the bloatware? 🤷‍♂️

Some do, but they still have a license for the operating system. And in the past, they also received data storage media of Windows on CD-ROM or DVD-ROM.

Personally, when I got a new/used PC I had no use for the supplied Windows license (if there was any).
Simply because I prefered to use the normal, the professional edition of Windows.

So you bought a License of Windows XP Professional?
When you bought a new PC, many dealers offered to give you the Professional version for an additional charge instead of the Home version.

WinTrek/Warpath!/EmPipe also were available in 32-Bit!
I played them on a 386DX-40 running Win95, I think..

I also know the shareware game Wintrek, and I liked it too.

And why do you think ReactOS would matter to such people? These are the same people who have Photoshop and Adobe Premiere illega […]
Show full quote

And why do you think ReactOS would matter to such people?
These are the same people who have Photoshop and Adobe Premiere illegally installed on their modern computers today.
They wouldn't even think about purchasing a used Windows XP license.
And that despite the fact that it can be bought everywhere for ridiculously cheap.

Um, I didn't meant to say that. 😟 I was trying to express that I think that home users would due to their mentality have an interest in pirated Windows, warez and (jokingly) a cracked WinRAR.
WinRAR.. Because, WinRAR is being known for being copied. Even the company jokes about it link. And they must know the numbers, I guess.

You can already see it with WinRAR. Those who use it legally have bought a license of WinRAR or use only the freeware command line tool unrar and the open source alternative 7-Zip when they need to compress something. Therefore, anyone who wants to use it legally doesn't need an illegal copy of WinRAR.
The people who use WinRAR illegally don't care about ReactOS at all. Software pirates generally do not respect licenses and do not care about open source. Only legal users respect and use open source.

Open source and ReactOS are usually only of interest to people who want their software legal. But for them, an old Windows XP li […]
Show full quote

Open source and ReactOS are usually only of interest to people who want their software legal.
But for them, an old Windows XP license doesn't cost a fortune either so it's a common and popular option to just buy one.
It's especially one, that works now, while ReactOS is still in early development.
And they probably don't even need to buy one, because they already have one from back then.

Hi! I, um, was more thinking of tinkerers, hobbyists, retro enthusiasts, also radio amateurs (amateurfunker), philosophers and so on. 😟

That doesn't change the statement.

When typing, on the new PCs (new old stock?), the letters were being drawn on screen about 2 seconds after hitting keyboard keys.
Booting Windows 2000 took 10 minutes. We all had to wait, staring out of window.

How much RAM did the computers have? What kind of CPU did they use?

Hi. I meant to say we got a new computer room with outdated hardware. 😟
It wasn't being used until being outdated, it was outdated when being freshly opened to pupils.. Outdated by ~5 years.

Yes, but the operating system certainly still matched the hardware.

At home and at workplace, Windows 2000 already was a relic by the time?
Persomally, it's being beyond me what educational purpose it has to teach with obsolete hard/software. 🤔

Support for Windows 2000 didn't end until 2010. Until then, it was easy to use and hadn't yet become obsolete. Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7 all belong to the Windows NT branch. The differences are therefore marginal. The only thing that matters is that the software you want to use runs on the older version and that it still receives security patches.

I used my Windows 2000 Professional license on my secondary computer until support ended. It wasn't a problem at all. It was a Barton 2500+ with 2 GiB RAM and a Geforce 4 Ti 4800.
And in my case, the secondary computer is always the old computer that has been replaced by a newer one. The new one then becomes the primary computer.

In addition, Windows 2000 never was an OS for home/workplace use (ie, not being mainstream, just like NT4).
Windows 2000 Workstation was meant for.. workstations.
Wouldn't ReactOS have been just as much/as less of a niche here? 😟

That's what the marketing claimed. But since Windows 2000 was well-supported with all DirectX versions up to 9c, it was also very suitable for gaming. Only some Win9x games caused problems, but the same was true for Windows XP. However, compatibility modes were more advanced in Windows XP. When I used Windows 2000, I no longer had any games that caused problems on it. I didn't start using it until I had a cheap opportunity to get a legal license. Windows XP was already available at that point. So I didn't use Windows 2000 in the early days when there were still problems switching from 9x to the NT series.

Hi, I'm not sure about this. We had an outdated Office 2000, but it was sluggish on the hardware.
Not sure what would have had caused more complaints, thus.
Something like StarOffice might have been a nice alternative, I suppose? 🤷‍♂️

In this case, however, it is not a technical question.

Oh, okay. But wasn't DR-DOS actually being better/of higher quality? I've heard nothing but praise for DR-DOS. 🙂
Novell DOS 7 had been very popular, too, especially in Germany. I saw the ads in PC magazines.

My first PC came with DR-DOS 3.41 and that wasn't as compatible as the later versions of DR-DOS.
That's why I was happy when I later switched to MS-DOS. I was simply no longer interested in the later DR-DOS versions because the reputation of DR-DOS had already been ruined for me.
But it is true that there were people who were enthusiastic about the later versions.
In retrospect, DR-DOS was better in many ways. For example, DR-DOS 3.41 already had built-in help with the /h parameter, and the SID debugger was better than DOS's DEBUG.
But those were details that I didn't pay attention to as a child. At first, all that mattered to me was that all the games worked and that I could later run Windows 3.1.

Hi, from my point of view, I think that might have been true for TP6 ('90),...
Borland Pascal 7 had a Windows compiler, too, which was an advanced version of Turbo Pascal for Windows.
The book series "Delphi for kids" and "Turbo Pascal for kids" covered Pascal language. 😀

You don't need Windows to learn the concepts of programming. Even today, you could still use Turbo Pascal with DOS, as long as the computer is DOS compatible.
Although beginners today would be more likely to turn to Python, as it provides a future-proof language that can be used anywhere, even on a modern system.
But this is only about programming principles and not about the language used. So Pascal is more than good enough for this. And even if you wanted to write a few small programs in Pascal for modern systems and don't know any more modern language, there are still Free Pascal and Lazarz's IDE.

Tipp: You maybe don't know this as a former TP6 user, but TP7 or BP7 offered Turbo Vision environment to developers. So you coul […]
Show full quote

Tipp: You maybe don't know this as a former TP6 user, but TP7 or BP7 offered Turbo Vision environment to developers.
So you could write your own applications using Turbo Vision.
Maybe that's interesting to you, it's never too late to learn something new.
That's why I like Vogons so much, this place always surprises me. 😀

I no longer use Pascal for programming. I only used it in the computer course back then. Today I can use C, C++, Java, etc.

So you bought a License of Windows XP Professional?
When you bought a new PC, many dealers offered to give you the Professional version for an additional charge instead of the Home version.

Eventually, yes. When XP was very young, I got a copy by a family friend for, um, evaluation.
After some testing, my father and me bought a retail copy of XP Pro for the family PC (a Pentium III).

WinTrek/Warpath!/EmPipe also were available in 32-Bit!
I played them on a 386DX-40 running Win95, I think..

I also know the shareware game Wintrek, and I liked it too.

😃👍

Hi! I, um, was more thinking of tinkerers, hobbyists, retro enthusiasts, also radio amateurs (amateurfunker), philosophers and so on. 😟

That doesn't change the statement.

Why not? These groups could have an interest in somtehing new or may like ReactOS because it shares their values.
In German, there's the saying "Geld ist nicht alles im Leben".

Some radio amateurs, at least, do like the Open Source concept because it's about freedom, independence and international understanding ("Völkerverständigung").
Things that are (or were) the foundation to the hobby/service.
Besides the personal, non-commercial interest in radio technology.

Historically in amateur radio, the radio tinkering, homebrew and repairing/building your stuff was (is) being very important. Being independent/ self-sufficient still is.
Via shortwave or ham satellites, for examples, to be independent from commercial infrastructure.
Some hams have their own backup power, too.

Same time, though, DOS/Windows had a big influence to ham radio.
At least here in Germany; I mean, after Atari 800/../Spectrum/C64/Amiga became museums pieces.
Doing port writes on Windows 3.x/9x was very popular, to drive transistor circuits on serial/parallel port. Say, to control PTT line of a radio transceiver.
On NT, it's possible via PortTalk library or PORT.DLL (a Delphi written library).
(In other countries, such as US, the Macintosh used to be popular too here.)

That's why I thought that ReactOS might have a place here, too.
A free Windows that's not under MS control might appeal some of them.
No matter if they have an old MS Windows license or not.
It's about the principle here. Some people still have values, I think (I hope).

This is more relevant that ever, I think.
https://reactos.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=24346

This old article sums it up, I think.
https://www.amateurradio.com/reactos-maybe-th … -you-just-need/

How much RAM did the computers have? What kind of CPU did they use?

I have no idea. It were light beige desktop chassis with 17" CRT monitors, though.
The typical year 2000 setup, I would say. RAM was 128 MB? Just a guess.
PCs booted via network. All PCs did, same time. 10/100 mbps connection, maybe?

Hi. I meant to say we got a new computer room with outdated hardware. 😟
It wasn't being used until being outdated, it was outdated when being freshly opened to pupils.. Outdated by ~5 years.

Yes, but the operating system certainly still matched the hardware.

Hi, that doesn't change the fact that the given configuration was still unusable in practice.
My 12MHz 286 on Windows 3.10 ran circles around it. Literally.
We would have been better off with Atari STs from local museum back then. They were at least usable.

Hi, I'm not sure about this. We had an outdated Office 2000, but it was sluggish on the hardware.
Not sure what would have had caused more complaints, thus.
Something like StarOffice might have been a nice alternative, I suppose? 🤷‍♂️

In this case, however, it is not a technical question.

Hi, I didn't know it had to be. StarOffice was a fine German office suite and very lightweight.
In many ways better than MS Office; there had been an OS/2 port, even.
Which says a lot about code quality, I think. In a positive way.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/StarOffice

Hi, from my point of view, I think that might have been true for TP6 ('90),...
Borland Pascal 7 had a Windows compiler, too, which was an advanced version of Turbo Pascal for Windows.
The book series "Delphi for kids" and "Turbo Pascal for kids" covered Pascal language. 😀

You don't need Windows to learn the concepts of programming.
Even today, you could still use Turbo Pascal with DOS, as long as the computer is DOS compatible.

No, but the cool thing is - you can (you could)! 😃
Turbo Pascal for Windows had WinCRT library that allowed porting text-mode applications to Windows 3.0, with little change!
They ran in a fake-command line window.

Turbo Pascal for Windows applications even ran on an 8088 in Real-Mode! 😃
The applications were superfast and supper small.

Here's the demo: Re: Wordle for Windows 3.1

To those who wanted to use DOS, no problem.
Borland Pascal 7 had the full DOS compiler included, it was the very main product after all.
The Windows compiler (TPW variant, I suppose) merely was a gimmick, a bonus, an extra. 😄

Along with Visual Basic, Turbo Pascal for Windows was among the earlierst
user-friendly development tool available to Windows in 1990 to 1992 time frame.

C compilers such as Microsoft Quick C 1.0 or Borland C also were available soon, I don't deny that.
But they weren't meant to write some quick&dirty GUI applications,
but rather meant to help porting C applications to Windows platform.

Database fans used DBFast, FoxPro etc. They could compile, too.

Although beginners today would be more likely to turn to Python, as it provides a future-proof language that can be used anywhere, even on a modern system.

Hi! I heard about Python, used it a few times as a batch file language on Raspberry Pi..
But isn't Python the language of the socalled "script kiddies", too? 🙁

But this is only about programming principles and not about the language used. So Pascal is more than good enough for this.
And even if you wanted to write a few small programs in Pascal for modern systems and don't know any more modern language, there are still Free Pascal and Lazarz's IDE.

Ah yes, Lazarus! 😃 Lazarus is available to macOS, too. I've used it a few times on my Power Mac G4 on OS X Tiger! ^^
On Linux, it sort of became an alternative to Kylix (defunct Delphi for Linux).

In my world, Turbo Pascal used to be the programming language of DOS days. Next to ASM, QB (and C).
Simply because most shareware/freeware and public domain authors of DOS software provided source code for them.

I no longer use Pascal for programming. I only used it in the computer course back then. Today I can use C, C++, Java, etc.

My condolences. 😟 I tried C/C++ and I can relate to the pain it can cause. 😬
Pascal used to be sane and structured, that's why teachers had favored it.
It's the language someone would use to write code in a clean, idealistic way.

QuickBasic (my favorite tool) adopted many of the Pascal elements, too.
It's a Basic with Pascal style, essentially (see MS QB example code).

The shift from procedural programming to object-oriented programing;
or worse, too object-based programming must been stressful.
A lot in industry runs wrong these days, I think. OOP was a mistake. IMHO.

PS: The Miniatur-Wunderland uses Delphi, an Object Pascal language. It just came to mind.
https://www.embarcadero.com/de/case-study/min … land-case-study

wierd_w wrote on 2025-05-07, 12:30:

Iirc, it was license incompatibility.

i dont understand why we need nfts read/write. I mean if we can read ntfs fine we can copy files over to an ext4 or btrfs system. Wine or dosbox or i guess virtualbox don't really care where the files are at for reactos

Jo22 wrote on 2025-05-08, 05:02:

Eventually, yes. When XP was very young, I got a copy by a family friend for, um, evaluation. After some testing, my father and […]
Show full quote

So you bought a License of Windows XP Professional?
When you bought a new PC, many dealers offered to give you the Professional version for an additional charge instead of the Home version.

Eventually, yes. When XP was very young, I got a copy by a family friend for, um, evaluation.
After some testing, my father and me bought a retail copy of XP Pro for the family PC (a Pentium III).

WinTrek/Warpath!/EmPipe also were available in 32-Bit!
I played them on a 386DX-40 running Win95, I think..

I also know the shareware game Wintrek, and I liked it too.

😃👍

Hi! I, um, was more thinking of tinkerers, hobbyists, retro enthusiasts, also radio amateurs (amateurfunker), philosophers and so on. 😟

That doesn't change the statement.

Why not? These groups could have an interest in somtehing new or may like ReactOS because it shares their values.
In German, there's the saying "Geld ist nicht alles im Leben".

Some radio amateurs, at least, do like the Open Source concept because it's about freedom, independence and international understanding ("Völkerverständigung").
Things that are (or were) the foundation to the hobby/service.
Besides the personal, non-commercial interest in radio technology.

Historically in amateur radio, the radio tinkering, homebrew and repairing/building your stuff was (is) being very important. Being independent/ self-sufficient still is.
Via shortwave or ham satellites, for examples, to be independent from commercial infrastructure.
Some hams have their own backup power, too.

Same time, though, DOS/Windows had a big influence to ham radio.
At least here in Germany; I mean, after Atari 800/../Spectrum/C64/Amiga became museums pieces.
Doing port writes on Windows 3.x/9x was very popular, to drive transistor circuits on serial/parallel port. Say, to control PTT line of a radio transceiver.
On NT, it's possible via PortTalk library or PORT.DLL (a Delphi written library).
(In other countries, such as US, the Macintosh used to be popular too here.)

That's why I thought that ReactOS might have a place here, too.
A free Windows that's not under MS control might appeal some of them.
No matter if they have an old MS Windows license or not.
It's about the principle here. Some people still have values, I think (I hope).

This is more relevant that ever, I think.
https://reactos.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=24346

This old article sums it up, I think.
https://www.amateurradio.com/reactos-maybe-th … -you-just-need/

How much RAM did the computers have? What kind of CPU did they use?

I have no idea. It were light beige desktop chassis with 17" CRT monitors, though.
The typical year 2000 setup, I would say. RAM was 128 MB? Just a guess.
PCs booted via network. All PCs did, same time. 10/100 mbps connection, maybe?

Hi. I meant to say we got a new computer room with outdated hardware. 😟
It wasn't being used until being outdated, it was outdated when being freshly opened to pupils.. Outdated by ~5 years.

Yes, but the operating system certainly still matched the hardware.

Hi, that doesn't change the fact that the given configuration was still unusable in practice.
My 12MHz 286 on Windows 3.10 ran circles around it. Literally.
We would have been better off with Atari STs from local museum back then. They were at least usable.

Hi, I'm not sure about this. We had an outdated Office 2000, but it was sluggish on the hardware.
Not sure what would have had caused more complaints, thus.
Something like StarOffice might have been a nice alternative, I suppose? 🤷‍♂️

In this case, however, it is not a technical question.

Hi, I didn't know it had to be. StarOffice was a fine German office suite and very lightweight.
In many ways better than MS Office; there had been an OS/2 port, even.
Which says a lot about code quality, I think. In a positive way.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/StarOffice

Hi, from my point of view, I think that might have been true for TP6 ('90),...
Borland Pascal 7 had a Windows compiler, too, which was an advanced version of Turbo Pascal for Windows.
The book series "Delphi for kids" and "Turbo Pascal for kids" covered Pascal language. 😀

You don't need Windows to learn the concepts of programming.
Even today, you could still use Turbo Pascal with DOS, as long as the computer is DOS compatible.

No, but the cool thing is - you can (you could)! 😃
Turbo Pascal for Windows had WinCRT library that allowed porting text-mode applications to Windows 3.0, with little change!
They ran in a fake-command line window.

Turbo Pascal for Windows applications even ran on an 8088 in Real-Mode! 😃
The applications were superfast and supper small.

Here's the demo: Re: Wordle for Windows 3.1

To those who wanted to use DOS, no problem.
Borland Pascal 7 had the full DOS compiler included, it was the very main product after all.
The Windows compiler (TPW variant, I suppose) merely was a gimmick, a bonus, an extra. 😄

Along with Visual Basic, Turbo Pascal for Windows was among the earlierst
user-friendly development tool available to Windows in 1990 to 1992 time frame.

C compilers such as Microsoft Quick C 1.0 or Borland C also were available soon, I don't deny that.
But they weren't meant to write some quick&dirty GUI applications,
but rather meant to help porting C applications to Windows platform.

Database fans used DBFast, FoxPro etc. They could compile, too.

Although beginners today would be more likely to turn to Python, as it provides a future-proof language that can be used anywhere, even on a modern system.

Hi! I heard about Python, used it a few times as a batch file language on Raspberry Pi..
But isn't Python the language of the socalled "script kiddies", too? 🙁

But this is only about programming principles and not about the language used. So Pascal is more than good enough for this.
And even if you wanted to write a few small programs in Pascal for modern systems and don't know any more modern language, there are still Free Pascal and Lazarz's IDE.

Ah yes, Lazarus! 😃 Lazarus is available to macOS, too. I've used it a few times on my Power Mac G4 on OS X Tiger! ^^
On Linux, it sort of became an alternative to Kylix (defunct Delphi for Linux).

In my world, Turbo Pascal used to be the programming language of DOS days. Next to ASM, QB (and C).
Simply because most shareware/freeware and public domain authors of DOS software provided source code for them.

I no longer use Pascal for programming. I only used it in the computer course back then. Today I can use C, C++, Java, etc.

My condolences. 😟 I tried C/C++ and I can relate to the pain it can cause. 😬
Pascal used to be sane and structured, that's why teachers had favored it.
It's the language someone would use to write code in a clean, idealistic way.

QuickBasic (my favorite tool) adopted many of the Pascal elements, too.
It's a Basic with Pascal style, essentially (see MS QB example code).

The shift from procedural programming to object-oriented programing;
or worse, too object-based programming must been stressful.
A lot in industry runs wrong these days, I think. OOP was a mistake. IMHO.

PS: The Miniatur-Wunderland uses Delphi, an Object Pascal language. It just came to mind.
https://www.embarcadero.com/de/case-study/min … land-case-study

heh nowadays you can use windows 11 without activating it. itll leave a watermark on the screen but youre paying for it through your data and using microsoft accounts.

when xp first came out idk if it was the first to do product activation via net/phone but it was heavy handed drm. I think microsoft realized since more and more of the OS could be offloaded to the net they want people using windows by hook or crook to get that sweet usage data to pump up their stock and prop up their numbers to investors since they splurged on Acti-blizzard 70 billion dollars. Of course they overpaid for AB 70 billion no way, i think MS overleveraged themselves in taking on a bigger than them asset.

Jo22 wrote on 2025-05-08, 05:02:

Eventually, yes. When XP was very young, I got a copy by a family friend for, um, evaluation. After some testing, my father and […]
Show full quote

So you bought a License of Windows XP Professional?
When you bought a new PC, many dealers offered to give you the Professional version for an additional charge instead of the Home version.

Eventually, yes. When XP was very young, I got a copy by a family friend for, um, evaluation.
After some testing, my father and me bought a retail copy of XP Pro for the family PC (a Pentium III).

WinTrek/Warpath!/EmPipe also were available in 32-Bit!
I played them on a 386DX-40 running Win95, I think..

I also know the shareware game Wintrek, and I liked it too.

😃👍

Hi! I, um, was more thinking of tinkerers, hobbyists, retro enthusiasts, also radio amateurs (amateurfunker), philosophers and so on. 😟

That doesn't change the statement.

Why not? These groups could have an interest in somtehing new or may like ReactOS because it shares their values.
In German, there's the saying "Geld ist nicht alles im Leben".

Some radio amateurs, at least, do like the Open Source concept because it's about freedom, independence and international understanding ("Völkerverständigung").
Things that are (or were) the foundation to the hobby/service.
Besides the personal, non-commercial interest in radio technology.

Historically in amateur radio, the radio tinkering, homebrew and repairing/building your stuff was (is) being very important. Being independent/ self-sufficient still is.
Via shortwave or ham satellites, for examples, to be independent from commercial infrastructure.
Some hams have their own backup power, too.

Same time, though, DOS/Windows had a big influence to ham radio.
At least here in Germany; I mean, after Atari 800/../Spectrum/C64/Amiga became museums pieces.
Doing port writes on Windows 3.x/9x was very popular, to drive transistor circuits on serial/parallel port. Say, to control PTT line of a radio transceiver.
On NT, it's possible via PortTalk library or PORT.DLL (a Delphi written library).
(In other countries, such as US, the Macintosh used to be popular too here.)

That's why I thought that ReactOS might have a place here, too.
A free Windows that's not under MS control might appeal some of them.
No matter if they have an old MS Windows license or not.
It's about the principle here. Some people still have values, I think (I hope).

This is more relevant that ever, I think.
https://reactos.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=24346

This old article sums it up, I think.
https://www.amateurradio.com/reactos-maybe-th … -you-just-need/

How much RAM did the computers have? What kind of CPU did they use?

I have no idea. It were light beige desktop chassis with 17" CRT monitors, though.
The typical year 2000 setup, I would say. RAM was 128 MB? Just a guess.
PCs booted via network. All PCs did, same time. 10/100 mbps connection, maybe?

Hi. I meant to say we got a new computer room with outdated hardware. 😟
It wasn't being used until being outdated, it was outdated when being freshly opened to pupils.. Outdated by ~5 years.

Yes, but the operating system certainly still matched the hardware.

Hi, that doesn't change the fact that the given configuration was still unusable in practice.
My 12MHz 286 on Windows 3.10 ran circles around it. Literally.
We would have been better off with Atari STs from local museum back then. They were at least usable.

Hi, I'm not sure about this. We had an outdated Office 2000, but it was sluggish on the hardware.
Not sure what would have had caused more complaints, thus.
Something like StarOffice might have been a nice alternative, I suppose? 🤷‍♂️

In this case, however, it is not a technical question.

Hi, I didn't know it had to be. StarOffice was a fine German office suite and very lightweight.
In many ways better than MS Office; there had been an OS/2 port, even.
Which says a lot about code quality, I think. In a positive way.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/StarOffice

Hi, from my point of view, I think that might have been true for TP6 ('90),...
Borland Pascal 7 had a Windows compiler, too, which was an advanced version of Turbo Pascal for Windows.
The book series "Delphi for kids" and "Turbo Pascal for kids" covered Pascal language. 😀

You don't need Windows to learn the concepts of programming.
Even today, you could still use Turbo Pascal with DOS, as long as the computer is DOS compatible.

No, but the cool thing is - you can (you could)! 😃
Turbo Pascal for Windows had WinCRT library that allowed porting text-mode applications to Windows 3.0, with little change!
They ran in a fake-command line window.

Turbo Pascal for Windows applications even ran on an 8088 in Real-Mode! 😃
The applications were superfast and supper small.

Here's the demo: Re: Wordle for Windows 3.1

To those who wanted to use DOS, no problem.
Borland Pascal 7 had the full DOS compiler included, it was the very main product after all.
The Windows compiler (TPW variant, I suppose) merely was a gimmick, a bonus, an extra. 😄

Along with Visual Basic, Turbo Pascal for Windows was among the earlierst
user-friendly development tool available to Windows in 1990 to 1992 time frame.

C compilers such as Microsoft Quick C 1.0 or Borland C also were available soon, I don't deny that.
But they weren't meant to write some quick&dirty GUI applications,
but rather meant to help porting C applications to Windows platform.

Database fans used DBFast, FoxPro etc. They could compile, too.

Although beginners today would be more likely to turn to Python, as it provides a future-proof language that can be used anywhere, even on a modern system.

Hi! I heard about Python, used it a few times as a batch file language on Raspberry Pi..
But isn't Python the language of the socalled "script kiddies", too? 🙁

But this is only about programming principles and not about the language used. So Pascal is more than good enough for this.
And even if you wanted to write a few small programs in Pascal for modern systems and don't know any more modern language, there are still Free Pascal and Lazarz's IDE.

Ah yes, Lazarus! 😃 Lazarus is available to macOS, too. I've used it a few times on my Power Mac G4 on OS X Tiger! ^^
On Linux, it sort of became an alternative to Kylix (defunct Delphi for Linux).

In my world, Turbo Pascal used to be the programming language of DOS days. Next to ASM, QB (and C).
Simply because most shareware/freeware and public domain authors of DOS software provided source code for them.

I no longer use Pascal for programming. I only used it in the computer course back then. Today I can use C, C++, Java, etc.

My condolences. 😟 I tried C/C++ and I can relate to the pain it can cause. 😬
Pascal used to be sane and structured, that's why teachers had favored it.
It's the language someone would use to write code in a clean, idealistic way.

QuickBasic (my favorite tool) adopted many of the Pascal elements, too.
It's a Basic with Pascal style, essentially (see MS QB example code).

The shift from procedural programming to object-oriented programing;
or worse, too object-based programming must been stressful.
A lot in industry runs wrong these days, I think. OOP was a mistake. IMHO.

PS: The Miniatur-Wunderland uses Delphi, an Object Pascal language. It just came to mind.
https://www.embarcadero.com/de/case-study/min … land-case-study

StarOffice is the ancestor to LibreOffice

twiz11 wrote on 2025-05-08, 15:31:

Jo22 wrote on 2025-05-08, 05:02:

Eventually, yes. When XP was very young, I got a copy by a family friend for, um, evaluation. After some testing, my father and […]
Show full quote

So you bought a License of Windows XP Professional?
When you bought a new PC, many dealers offered to give you the Professional version for an additional charge instead of the Home version.

Eventually, yes. When XP was very young, I got a copy by a family friend for, um, evaluation.
After some testing, my father and me bought a retail copy of XP Pro for the family PC (a Pentium III).

I also know the shareware game Wintrek, and I liked it too.

😃👍

That doesn't change the statement.

Why not? These groups could have an interest in somtehing new or may like ReactOS because it shares their values.
In German, there's the saying "Geld ist nicht alles im Leben".

Some radio amateurs, at least, do like the Open Source concept because it's about freedom, independence and international understanding ("Völkerverständigung").
Things that are (or were) the foundation to the hobby/service.
Besides the personal, non-commercial interest in radio technology.

Historically in amateur radio, the radio tinkering, homebrew and repairing/building your stuff was (is) being very important. Being independent/ self-sufficient still is.
Via shortwave or ham satellites, for examples, to be independent from commercial infrastructure.
Some hams have their own backup power, too.

Same time, though, DOS/Windows had a big influence to ham radio.
At least here in Germany; I mean, after Atari 800/../Spectrum/C64/Amiga became museums pieces.
Doing port writes on Windows 3.x/9x was very popular, to drive transistor circuits on serial/parallel port. Say, to control PTT line of a radio transceiver.
On NT, it's possible via PortTalk library or PORT.DLL (a Delphi written library).
(In other countries, such as US, the Macintosh used to be popular too here.)

That's why I thought that ReactOS might have a place here, too.
A free Windows that's not under MS control might appeal some of them.
No matter if they have an old MS Windows license or not.
It's about the principle here. Some people still have values, I think (I hope).

This is more relevant that ever, I think.
https://reactos.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=24346

This old article sums it up, I think.
https://www.amateurradio.com/reactos-maybe-th … -you-just-need/

How much RAM did the computers have? What kind of CPU did they use?

I have no idea. It were light beige desktop chassis with 17" CRT monitors, though.
The typical year 2000 setup, I would say. RAM was 128 MB? Just a guess.
PCs booted via network. All PCs did, same time. 10/100 mbps connection, maybe?

Yes, but the operating system certainly still matched the hardware.

Hi, that doesn't change the fact that the given configuration was still unusable in practice.
My 12MHz 286 on Windows 3.10 ran circles around it. Literally.
We would have been better off with Atari STs from local museum back then. They were at least usable.

In this case, however, it is not a technical question.

Hi, I didn't know it had to be. StarOffice was a fine German office suite and very lightweight.
In many ways better than MS Office; there had been an OS/2 port, even.
Which says a lot about code quality, I think. In a positive way.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/StarOffice

You don't need Windows to learn the concepts of programming.
Even today, you could still use Turbo Pascal with DOS, as long as the computer is DOS compatible.

No, but the cool thing is - you can (you could)! 😃
Turbo Pascal for Windows had WinCRT library that allowed porting text-mode applications to Windows 3.0, with little change!
They ran in a fake-command line window.

Turbo Pascal for Windows applications even ran on an 8088 in Real-Mode! 😃
The applications were superfast and supper small.

Here's the demo: Re: Wordle for Windows 3.1

To those who wanted to use DOS, no problem.
Borland Pascal 7 had the full DOS compiler included, it was the very main product after all.
The Windows compiler (TPW variant, I suppose) merely was a gimmick, a bonus, an extra. 😄

Along with Visual Basic, Turbo Pascal for Windows was among the earlierst
user-friendly development tool available to Windows in 1990 to 1992 time frame.

C compilers such as Microsoft Quick C 1.0 or Borland C also were available soon, I don't deny that.
But they weren't meant to write some quick&dirty GUI applications,
but rather meant to help porting C applications to Windows platform.

Database fans used DBFast, FoxPro etc. They could compile, too.

Although beginners today would be more likely to turn to Python, as it provides a future-proof language that can be used anywhere, even on a modern system.

Hi! I heard about Python, used it a few times as a batch file language on Raspberry Pi..
But isn't Python the language of the socalled "script kiddies", too? 🙁

But this is only about programming principles and not about the language used. So Pascal is more than good enough for this.
And even if you wanted to write a few small programs in Pascal for modern systems and don't know any more modern language, there are still Free Pascal and Lazarz's IDE.

Ah yes, Lazarus! 😃 Lazarus is available to macOS, too. I've used it a few times on my Power Mac G4 on OS X Tiger! ^^
On Linux, it sort of became an alternative to Kylix (defunct Delphi for Linux).

In my world, Turbo Pascal used to be the programming language of DOS days. Next to ASM, QB (and C).
Simply because most shareware/freeware and public domain authors of DOS software provided source code for them.

I no longer use Pascal for programming. I only used it in the computer course back then. Today I can use C, C++, Java, etc.

My condolences. 😟 I tried C/C++ and I can relate to the pain it can cause. 😬
Pascal used to be sane and structured, that's why teachers had favored it.
It's the language someone would use to write code in a clean, idealistic way.

QuickBasic (my favorite tool) adopted many of the Pascal elements, too.
It's a Basic with Pascal style, essentially (see MS QB example code).

The shift from procedural programming to object-oriented programing;
or worse, too object-based programming must been stressful.
A lot in industry runs wrong these days, I think. OOP was a mistake. IMHO.

PS: The Miniatur-Wunderland uses Delphi, an Object Pascal language. It just came to mind.
https://www.embarcadero.com/de/case-study/min … land-case-study

heh nowadays you can use windows 11 without activating it. itll leave a watermark on the screen but youre paying for it through your data and using microsoft accounts.

when xp first came out idk if it was the first to do product activation via net/phone but it was heavy handed drm. I think microsoft realized since more and more of the OS could be offloaded to the net they want people using windows by hook or crook to get that sweet usage data to pump up their stock and prop up their numbers to investors since they splurged on Acti-blizzard 70 billion dollars. Of course they overpaid for AB 70 billion no way, i think MS overleveraged themselves in taking on a bigger than them asset.

Win2k can be convinced to not even ask for a CD key at all by prodding an .inf file on the CD with a special PID value. (In accordance with the rules, details PURPOSEFULLY withheld.)

XP used WGA activation, but also had a 'Devil's own' cdkey that was microsoft internal that leaked.

win7, win 8/8.1, and Vista, used WAT activation, IIRC.

10 and 11 watermarks.

twiz11 wrote on 2025-05-08, 15:26:

wierd_w wrote on 2025-05-07, 12:30:

Iirc, it was license incompatibility.

i dont understand why we need nfts read/write. I mean if we can read ntfs fine we can copy files over to an ext4 or btrfs system. Wine or dosbox or i guess virtualbox don't really care where the files are at for reactos

Windows ACLs are pretty intimately tied to NTFS and do not properly / completely match *nix style ones. This has important implications for windows kernel space drivers, which reactos aims to fully support (someday).

twiz11 wrote on 2025-05-08, 15:33:

StarOffice is the ancestor to LibreOffice

Hi there! Yes, I think that's right. OpenOffice.org/LibreOffice are derived from it.
Personally, I think that StarOffice in the 90s was quicker or a bit more stable, though.
I mean, Office97 and Office XP are relatives, too, but Office97 has lower requirements.
Probably because a different development system was used each time to compile them.
So StarOffice probably wasn't being compiled with GCC, but a good compiler such as Borland C compiler.

Jo22 wrote on 2025-05-08, 05:02:

Why not? These groups could have an interest in somtehing new or may like ReactOS because it shares their values.

My statement was about software pirates. Software pirates are typically not drawn to open source projects, since their motivation is less about accessing free software legally and more about acquiring proprietary software without paying. Their goal is usually to obtain an unauthorized copy of the original, unaltered software, as they are not interested in open source reimplementations that may deviate from the original in significant aspects. That's why they choose Photoshop over GIMP: they consider GIMP to be inferior, and since getting a pirated copy of Photoshop costs them nothing, there's no incentive for them to settle for the free alternative. By the same logic, they choose Windows over ReactOS.
If a software pirate does take an interest in open source, it is usually out of remorse or a sense of conscience, in order to bring his software collection into a legal state.

That's why I thought that ReactOS might have a place here, too. A free Windows that's not under MS control might appeal some of […]
Show full quote

That's why I thought that ReactOS might have a place here, too.
A free Windows that's not under MS control might appeal some of them.
No matter if they have an old MS Windows license or not.
It's about the principle here. Some people still have values, I think (I hope).

Of course, you'll always find people who see ReactOS as a future solution and are interested in it. However, these are usually not software pirates, but rather people who want to use software legally.
For many, however, ReactOS is not yet finished or mature enough, and as long as that is the case, such people will use their legal Windows license, if they have one, and not an operating system in development on which the software they want to use may not run stably.

This is more relevant that ever, I think.
https://reactos.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=24346

I think the first poster of the linked thread is a bit young and naive. He looks through rose-colored glasses and divides the world into good and evil. So too much ideology instead of realism.
It is also unrealistic to assume, as he does, that due to political disagreements, all EU countries would now switch to a still-developing system like ReactOS. Especially considering that ReactOS also has Russian developers, and Russia’s current political standing in the EU isn't better. Furthermore, ReactOS is a reimplementation of an existing operating system owned by a company which is protected by copyright. If anything in ReactOS were not implemented in a legally sound way, any state choosing to use it would be taking a significant legal risk. It is much more likely that EU countries would switch to Linux instead.
And even then, there are some practical obstacles to this. Most EU countries have not managed to switch from Windows to Linux in the past 20 years-and unlike ReactOS, Linux is no longer an operating system in its alpha stage, but a mature and well-established platform. There are also no potential legal risks with Linux. ReactOS, therefore, will not be seriously considered for the foreseeable future-such an assumption is simply unrealistic. ReactOS may be interesting for hobbyists, but that’s about it.

This old article sums it up, I think.
https://www.amateurradio.com/reactos-maybe-th … -you-just-need/

The article discusses a possible future-one that may look different for each individual and depends on when their computer is supported by ReactOS with drivers, runs stable, nothing is missing, and their amateur radio software works reliably on it.
For now, Windows is perfectly sufficient, and if the computer is used exclusively for amateur radio software and is operated offline, even a classic Windows XP, Windows 7, or Windows 10 will do the job. So for old offline computers there is even less reason to use ReactOS.

I have no idea. It were light beige desktop chassis with 17" CRT monitors, though. The typical year 2000 setup, I would say. RAM […]
Show full quote

How much RAM did the computers have? What kind of CPU did they use?

I have no idea. It were light beige desktop chassis with 17" CRT monitors, though.
The typical year 2000 setup, I would say. RAM was 128 MB? Just a guess.
PCs booted via network. All PCs did, same time. 10/100 mbps connection, maybe?

128 MiB of Ram is more than enough to run Windows 2000.

Hi, that doesn't change the fact that the given configuration was still unusable in practice.
My 12MHz 286 on Windows 3.10 ran circles around it. Literally.
We would have been better off with Atari STs from local museum back then. They were at least usable.

The fact that entering characters results in visible input lag on the screen indicates entirely different problems.
The computers could also have been infected with viruses and malware.

Hi, I didn't know it had to be. StarOffice was a fine German office suite and very lightweight.

That may all be true, but since parents expected their schools to teach their students MS Word and Excel, because that's what they'd expect in the workplace, Star Office was simply out of the question. And that was the case in many schools, too. So, MS Word and Excel licenses were purchased.

Although beginners today would be more likely to turn to Python, as it provides a future-proof language that can be used anywhere, even on a modern system.

Hi! I heard about Python, used it a few times as a batch file language on Raspberry Pi..
But isn't Python the language of the socalled "script kiddies", too? 🙁

No, when it comes to learning programming concepts, Python is perfectly adequate. And Python is used extensively in the fields of AI, data science, data analysis, and data modeling, and not just by script kiddies.
The reason is that this kind of code, especially in data analysis, is often written by people from non-IT backgrounds who are not computer scientists or programmers. They would be overwhelmed by C or C++. Additionally, Python offers a wide range of math and data analysis libraries that support them in their work. Modern computers are also fast enough that the performance disadvantages compared to C or C++ can simply be compensated for with sheer computing power. Moreover, there is also Cython, which helps to optimize Python code by compiling it into C for better performance.

I no longer use Pascal for programming. I only used it in the computer course back then. Today I can use C, C++, Java, etc.

My condolences. 😟 I tried C/C++ and I can relate to the pain it can cause. 😬

Thanks.

Pascal used to be sane and structured, that's why teachers had favored it.
It's the language someone would use to write code in a clean, idealistic way.

I agree.

The shift from procedural programming to object-oriented programing;
or worse, too object-based programming must been stressful.
A lot in industry runs wrong these days, I think. OOP was a mistake. IMHO.

I think the best approach depends on the specific case. The only important thing is that the programming language is expressive enough and supports object-oriented programming.
With C, which I like very much, OOP is of course a pain, because C lacks the necessary language features and it quickly becomes very cumbersome. But there are more modern languages like C++ or Rust.

PS: The Miniatur-Wunderland uses Delphi, an Object Pascal language. It just came to mind.
https://www.embarcadero.com/de/case-study/min … land-case-study

That's interesting. Also the reasons.

twiz11 wrote on 2025-05-08, 15:31:

when xp first came out idk if it was the first to do product activation via net/phone but it was heavy handed drm.

Yes, Windows XP was the first Microsoft operating system to require product activation over the Internet or telephone. Office XP also required this.
Windows 2000 and Windows Millennium were the last Microsoft-based operating systems that did not require this.

I think the first poster of the linked thread is a bit young and naive.
He looks through rose-colored glasses and divides the world into good and evil. So too much ideology instead of realism.

Makes me think of the old
"Wer Visionen hat, sollte zum Arzt gehen." (anyone who has visions should go to the doctor)
vs "Wer keine Visionen hat, sollte zum Arzt gehen." (anyone who has no visions should go to the doctor)

The threat from US American companies is very real, I think.
If you have read German IT news sites and their comment sections in the past few weeks,
you'll find similar voices that express such worries. Rightfully, I think.

Someone not taking the heavy dependency seriously is naive.

Microsoft even made a weak statement to support us, to calm us down.
https://www.golem.de/news/gegen-trump-microso … 504-195830.html

Sounds like "Niemand hat die Absicht, eine Mauer zu errichten" (nobody has any intention of building a wall). 😟

It is also unrealistic to assume, as he does, that due to political disagreements, all EU countries would now switch to a still-developing system like ReactOS.

I don’t see how it is more unrealistic than using Linux here.
ReactOS can be forked. A custom version can be built, to provide functionality needed.
Limux failed for political reasons foremost, not unlikely because of corruption.
The new mayor was an vivid Microsoft fan, the press didn't hide this.

Especially considering that ReactOS also has Russian developers, and Russia’s current political standing in the EU isn't better.

That sounds a bit rascist, I think.
The Russian developers had been working on it for many years.
Russia had provided founding long time ago, too, because XP was very common in Russia and a free successor was being welcomed.
(Exactly because total dependency of a big US company is sort of a problem.)

If we're being objective, then our "opponents" are both in east and west a like. 😟
One side is after power, the other all about money.
We're again sitting between two chairs. And no one is our best buddy.

Furthermore, ReactOS is a reimplementation of an existing operating system owned by a company which is protected by copyright.
If anything in ReactOS were not implemented in a legally sound way, any state choosing to use it would be taking a significant legal risk.

There are always risks. That's life. No risk no fun. 🤷‍♂️

I'd like to remind that Linux was a Minix clone, too.
And there maybe was the possibility that Linux infringes Unix trademarks or whatever.

To my knowledge, no legal problems had been found for ReactOS.
But even if that's the case, the "users" are not to be endangered legally.
A court decision can merely lead to a code overaul or that the OS must be taken out of use.

It is much more likely that EU countries would switch to Linux instead.

Maybe, but that's not a very encouraging statement. 😉

And even then, there are some practical obstacles to this.
Most EU countries have not managed to switch from Windows to Linux in the
past 20 years-and unlike ReactOS

There are *always* obstacles of any kind that seemingly can't be overcome. 🥲
That's why EU is so slow.

Linux is no longer an operating system in its alpha stage, but a mature and well-established platform.

Hm. No, Linux is an OS owned by a single person with character traits similar to an Elon M., a Donald D., a Steven J.
That's much better, of course. Giving it a monopoly status solves IT problems world wide. That's logical.

But seriously, the development of ReactOS isn't exactly linear but rather logarithmic.
Once the base system has stabilized enough, the development might speed up.

ReactOS also isn't stuck with old hardware, it's just that Server 2003 is chosen as the current target.
That's better than having a moving target, I think.
Once ReactOS is working as wished, a newer target can be chosen for roadmap.

The driver models of newer Windows models are still very same, after all.
On Windows 7 x86, you could still load 32-Bit XP drivers (WDM drivers).

Not long ago, the Windows 10 kernal still reported itself as Windows NT 6.x, before Microsoft changed it to NT 10.
For application or driver compatibility, that lithle difference isn't that of an issue, though, I think.

ReactOS uses parts of WINE and new Windows applications can be made run on ReactOS.
It's not limited to Server 2003 or XP, that's a common misconception here. It's not a retro OS.
Most of ReactOS software development simply is happening with VMs and emulated industry standard hardware.

Also, the Win32 API hasn't significantly evolved since XP/Vista.
Microsoft rather added functionality on top of it, through higher level frameworks.
Such as .NET framework, which exists a free alternative for (Mono project).

About Alpha stage software:
Being Vogons users, I thinknwe should know better why some groups are being rather conservative here.
DOSBox is still being at version 0.x, as well, but also very mature by now.
The use of 0.x naming scheme is about being careful and thoughtful, rather.

There are also no potential legal risks with Linux.
ReactOS, therefore, will not be seriously considered for the foreseeable future-such an assumption is simply unrealistic.

Hi. I do agree, sadly, but it's not so much because of technical reasons.
It's because there are essentially die-hards that either are focused on Windows or Linux.

Personally, I'm trying hard to be part of neither.
Looking back, I'm kind of sad that Zeta didn't become more succesful here.
Even if it just was a rip-off (in several ways), it had the power to lead to a change.

About being realistic, there's a distinct line between being realistic and being pessimistic, y'know.

We Germans often seem to be pessimistic, I think and mention all the things that can't be done in first place.
I often wished we would spend a fraction of that energy on thinking about what can be done, instead. Or simply try. The Americans were good at that, I think.
Our best engineers and scientists leave the country because all the negativity and the stuck mindset.

To quote a famous historically person
I'd rather be an optimist and a fool than a pessimist and right. - Albert E.

ReactOS may be interesting for hobbyists, but that’s about it.

That's not few, though. The best things are being invented in a non-commercial environment, when not being under pressure, when being allowed to think freely.
Back in the day, even big companies had a small departement ruled by tinkerers that simply kept experimenting freely.

That's how Windows came to be, it was one of those "skunkworks" projects.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skunkworks_project

Edit:

That may all be true, but since parents expected their schools to teach their students MS Word and Excel,
because that's what they'd expect in the workplace, Star Office was simply out of the question.
And that was the case in many schools, too. So, MS Word and Excel licenses were purchased.

Hi. Maybe, but never heard of this. Any references?
Schule-bw.de has sample material for OpenOffice.

https://www.schule-bw.de/themen-und-impulse/m … eich/openoffice

ReactOS may be interesting for hobbyists, but that’s about it.

Yeah, I'm a hobbyist and I find it interesting 😁
But a ReactOS developer must be quite a rare breed indeed. I mean think about it:
You're supposed to have intimate knowledge of Windows, while at the same time you can't have worked with its internals, ever.
Windows source code is available out there, but you can't take a look at it or the whole thing will be "tainted".
That's a major extra hurdle for development that these other OSes don't have.
On the Unix side the legal issues were already resolved in the nineties, and one outcome of that was exactly the rise of Linux (as opposed to FreeBSD).

Also what dya think would happen if ReactOS somehow became a real competitor to Windows?
M$ would just roll over to the side and take all their lawyers with them?
(hey, maybe they have a backup plan to take their merge with Linux to completion, 🤣)

Jo22 wrote on 2025-05-09, 04:15:

Especially considering that ReactOS also has Russian developers, and Russia’s current political standing in the EU isn't better.

That sounds a bit rascist, I think.

I have no desire to take part in such an offensive discussion. For me, this discussion is over.

Alexey B. is a fine gentleman who's politics do not align with Mr Putin's.

Again, I hung out in the dev chat for a long time.

He only cares about the quality of the project, and such politics mean nothing.

wierd_w wrote on 2025-05-09, 21:07:

Alexey B. is a fine gentleman who's politics do not align with Mr Putin's.

Again, I hung out in the dev chat for a long time.

He only cares about the quality of the project, and such politics mean nothing.

That may be but we got to consider the possiblity of maintaining two separate forks?

The Russian Ministry of Digital Development announced intentions to establish an independent Linux development community and build their own "alternative structure."

The idea of creating a separate, Russian-led Linux development effort, potentially involving a fork of the kernel, was discussed.

I guess such things could happen to ReactOS

https://therecord.media/russia-separate-linux … ainers-delisted

That was way back in 2009 or so, when Medvedev was still president (long before he went off the deep end), and when Russia was still on relatively friendly terms with the west.

I have the feeling that this government funding initiative didn't really end up going anywhere.

It's no secret that many countries (including EU countries) are seeking more technology independence from the US. That obviously includes operating systems. But for that, Linux makes a lot more sense. It has much more momentum and active development, and it already dominates in the server space, as well as on smartphones (Android) and in embedded systems.

ReactOS continues to have a special place in my heart and I'm still rooting for it, but the ReactOS developers are clearly playing the long game. With their limited numbers and resources, they simply have to.

But the cool breakthroughs they manage to make now and then continue to impress me. At some point I'm confident that it will reach enough maturity to be of more general use as a Windows replacement, at least for certain use cases.

digger wrote on Yesterday, 17:10:

That was way back in 2009 or so, when Medvedev was still president (long before he went off the deep end), and when Russia was s […]
Show full quote

That was way back in 2009 or so, when Medvedev was still president (long before he went off the deep end), and when Russia was still on relatively friendly terms with the west.

I have the feeling that this government funding initiative didn't really end up going anywhere.

It's no secret that many countries (including EU countries) are seeking more technology independence from the US. That obviously includes operating systems. But for that, Linux makes a lot more sense. It has much more momentum and active development, and it already dominates in the server space, as well as on smartphones (Android) and in embedded systems.

ReactOS continues to have a special place in my heart and I'm still rooting for it, but the ReactOS developers are clearly playing the long game. With their limited numbers and resources, they simply have to.

But the cool breakthroughs they manage to make now and then continue to impress me. At some point I'm confident that it will reach enough maturity to be of more general use as a Windows replacement, at least for certain use cases.

Well in 100 years microsoft windows xp will be public domain per say so the leaked code can be used in reactos then.