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We actually use a lot of code that we ported from Linux(usb driver, crt stuff) and we also work with WINE very closely and share a lot of the same code base. We arent saying Windows is better then Linux. We are just saying that we want to make a free operating system which runs Windows programs.
Maybe I just took it the wrong way. To be clear, I have no problem with an Open Source Windows OS; in fact, despite my doubts about the quality of the platform, if an alternative Windows-like OS liberates us from Microsoft, (a company I consider to be only one or two steps away from the lowest of the low), then, whether open- or legal, closed-source, I welcome that alternative.
Edited 2006-08-21 21:03
we also work with WINE very closely and share a lot of the same code base
That was in the past. WINE is now staying clear of ReactOS, not even accepting patches ported from it. ReactOS's collaboration with the tinykrnl project has ruined its reputation.
From the wine mailing lists, taken from http://wiki.jswindle.com/index.php/Coding_Hints :
A developer wrote: This patch bases on reactos [xxxxx].dll.
A. Juliard [Jun 06]: No ReactOS-derived code will be accepted in Wine at this point.
M. McCormack[Jun 06]: [...] This is not simply a problem of what is legal and not in different countries. We don't want to be associated project that is perceived to be pushing the edge of what's legally (or even socially) acceptable. Doing so would encourage FUD about Wine and that's a good way to lose developers and users. [...] Using test cases to determine the behaviour of Windows provides a way to verify both the code that's written today, and code that will be written a year later. It's not just legally better, it's easier to do, easier for others to understand, and gives us a way to verify our code.







Member since:
2006-04-21
...by some of the comments they make on their site. They claim not to be taking (or aiming to take) interest and resources from Linux, yet at the same time to be violently opposed to it. In my experience, contrasting Linux with Windows by saying that the latter is high-quality and has high-quality support (and thereby inferring that the former is not and does not) has proven to be utter, laughable drivel.
Edited 2006-08-21 20:33