
ReactOS (open source Windows NT clone) accepted into Google Summer of Code 2011 - fogus
http://www.reactos.org/en/news_page_63.html
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mgw
I've been ReactOS' 'Web Team Leader' from 2004 to 2006. I'm really happy to
see them get accepted into SoC again. Maybe that will bring some much needed
impulses, it did when they were accepted the last time. The project has been
around for a long time and has contributed significantly to Wine, but sadly
has gotten nowhere with the OS itself. There has always been ambitious
planning (Version 0.3.0 was released in 2006 and 0.4 and 0.5 were planned for
not much later.) but not much getting forward (The current version is
0.3.13.). The problem is, that there are a few very talented people working on
the project, doing what they love to do, but this is really not enough to get
an OS anywhere.

Microsoft doesn't see the project as a threat because the code is nowhere near
enough to replace any Windows installation.

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timrobinson
An SSH service would be of real benefit to Windows users, too. As the page
says, the Cygwin sshd is much too intrusive when all you need is a Windows
command prompt.

A terminal services implementation would make an interesting project. The
original Microsoft terminal services implementation in NT needed wide-reaching
changes to the way Win32 works.

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Bellyache5
I've found WinRM and PowerShell to be a pretty effective "ssh-like" tool for
Windows. Plus it's object-oriented.

[http://www.computerperformance.co.uk/powershell/powershell_r...](http://www.computerperformance.co.uk/powershell/powershell_remote.htm)

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nailer
I like PowerShell SSH Server - it's a normal SSH protocol, unlike WinRM, and
native, unlike the various Cygwin hacks.

<http://www.powershellinside.com/powershell/ssh/>

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iuguy
There are certain things that ReactOS could do that would make it a genuine
threat to Microsoft. Tighter integration with Samba, a multiplexed VNC-type
terminal service and Office compatibility with Wine would help transition
ReactOS from interesting hobby project to actual competitor.

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ramy_d
efforts in the reactOS project ultimately result in contributions to Wine as
discoveries in one, help the other

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hippich
I would use it for gaming only. So it would be nice to support gaming =)

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wladimir
Does it support the NT drivers? Without native GPU drivers, I don't think
there's much chance of using it for gaming :)

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faboo
As I recall, driver binary compatibility is a goal. Last time I looked into
it, they had you drop in the generic VGA driver from an NT install while they
were stabilizing their VGA driver.

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exch
I am very surprised MS is allowing this project to exist. Maybe I'm missing
something, but isn't there a real threat that MS is going to come down on this
with the rage of a thousand suns?

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for an open source alternative to windows. Just
pointing out some (possibly misplaced) concern.

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MatthewPhillips
On what basis?

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getsat
That it's potentially a direct threat to one of their few profitable
divisions?

