Re: What do I do with Art Of Assembly?

From: Beth (BethStone21_at_hotmail.NOSPICEDHAM.com)
Date: 01/21/04 

Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2004 16:58:10 -0000

Annie wrote:
> Randy Hyde said:
> > ...The problem with ReactOS isn't the fact that the kernel is a
> > tremendous amount of work - that's doable even if it's going to
> > take forever. The intractible problem is the large variance in
> > hardware out there. There is no way they're going to get
drivers
> > written that work on all the different hardware out there (and
it's
> > getting worse everyday). Most people, if they want to run
ReactOS,
> > are going to have to purchase a PC specifically for that
purpose,
> > with "approved" hardware and peripherals. Even Linux, with the
> > resources being through at it, isn't keeping up as well as
Windows
> > in this area.
> _____
> Well, duhhh! As long as the ((( `\
> vast majority of the world's _ _`\ )
> computers continue to be (^ ) )
> 'owned' by Mikro$loth through ~-( )
> its abominable pointee-clickee _'((,,,)))
> gooey, the hardware manu- ,-' \_/ `\
> facturers will continue to ( , |
> kow-tow to Redmond, Washington, `-.-'`-.-'/|_|
> USA. \ / | |
> =()=: / ,' aa

We should talk about Microsoft more often, Annie...on this issue, we
seem in total agreement...

> Still, if ReactOS turns out to
> be a fairly accurate WinDoze clone, perhaps the
> hardware manufacturers' WinDoze drivers will work
> with ReactOS. COULD happen -- but don't hold your
> breath. Hehehe!

But what I'm thinking is that after the monumental effort of getting
this perfect Windoze clone perfected and running NT drivers, Microsoft
simply come up with "WDM v2" and publish some "PC 2008"
specification...forcing ReactOS to "play catch up" again - in order to
be able to exploit the new driver models - because all the new
machines kow-tow to Redmond once again...

If there's "FreeWindows" then Microsoft - if they are true to form -
will utilise all methods to blow it out of the water...note that
Microsoft not yet trying to take legal action against the ReactOS
team - their lawyers _can_ find something to sue on, for sure - might
actually be _delibrate_ and not necessarily because they cannot...

After all, how do you best ensure that no-one ever even considers
"FreeWindows" ever again? Yup, wait right up until _release_ of
ReactOS - after years of pain-staking work was put into it - and
_THEN_ blow it out of the water with legal action and change of driver
model..."de-moralising" would NOT be a strong enough word...

Plus, Microsoft could pull out something "unfollowable"...claiming it
is for "security reasons", Microsoft come up with a new driver model
where it passes back and forth "Windows Hardware Quality Testing Lab"
passwords between OS and driver...an encrypted "certificate" thingy
that you can _only_ get directly from Microsoft..."it's for
security!", they cry, "by doing this we can ensure that no viruses or
trojan horse drivers can get onto someone's system!"...

Oh, what a "coincidence" it is that it simultaneously buggers up the
entire ReactOS project...

I think "following" - though I initially thought "woah, that's
sneaky!" - is ultimately a flawed way to go about getting rid of
Microsoft...as I say, to succeed well, it has to _clone_ Microsoft so
accurately that we're NOT losing Windows, we're just getting it coded
by an OpenSource team, who are hand-cuffed to follow _crap_ Microsoft
designs (though they can improve the actual code, "algorithm is king"
in the end)...and always "playing catch up", trying to fathom
Microsoft specifications...

It may not seem quite so "sexy" but, as I was saying before, the way
to be free of Microsoft, is for the _hardware people_ to have the
balls to work amongst themselves - luckily, I tend to suspect they
_hate_ Microsoft, perhaps _MORE_ than even we do (after all, being
_forced_ to stick Microsoft logos and badges on _their_
hardware...these are independent companies who I'm sure would Love
their independence) - to work on the _Achilles Heel_ here...ReactOS
have, for sure, picked on the "weak point"...

It's all, basically, to do with real mode / protected mode...the BIOS
is really a set of ROM "device drivers" but is "real mode only"...the
protected mode equivalent never emerged because everyone kind of got
complacent at the wrong point and just kow-towed to Microsoft...

I'm not particularly Hopeful for this "project UDI" either because big
names working on these kinds of things either tend to "self-destruct"
with in-fighting or they have to "compromise" so severely between them
that the result is slightly useless and pointless...but that kind of
thing is, I think, the _direction_ to go in, at least...

If Microsoft don't "own" hardware manufacturers and every OS has
_equal_ hardware support...then it's boils down to who codes the best
actual OS...and, on that score, Microsoft are, basically,
buggered...not unless Big Bill actually opens his wallet and hires
_real_ programmers (but then many "real programmers" might even
_refuse on principle_ to ever help Microsoft re-gain monopoly)...

But the trick here is "opening the can of worms" so that Microsoft has
no possibility of ever getting the worms back in the can...and if
hardware manufacturers really _could_ work to break their "dependence"
on Windows and so provide _equal_ coverage to any and all OSes with
some "universal driver interface" kind of thing...it would mess
Microsoft up, as they really would lose their advantage
completely...you _could_ happily consider other OSes without any worry
about hardware because all have _equal_ coverage of that and if all
hardware comes with a UDI driver eventually, then the hardware
coverage is _total_...

I'm not about what Randy was saying about ReactOS developing all those
drivers, as, like Frank, I thought the whole point of the project was
to _leverage_ off Windows' drivers...but he - and ReactOS - _has_ also
identified the _source_ of Microsoft's dominance...it's _ALL_ tied to
the drivers...

It's breaking that connection...freeing hardware manufacturers from
having to kow-tow to Redmond, as Annie put it, that breaks them...

It kind of says it all that IBM, Sun, Intel and others are working on
this "project UDI" but Microsoft's name - present on _everything_ else
in the "standards" world because they want to rule it all - is totally
absent...they _DON'T_ support this project because they know it's a
delibrate strike _against_ them...

But the bit I can't work out - which is worrying - is how to get
people off Windows onto UDI OSes for this UDI stuff to work well
enough for hardware manufacturers to make the "jump"...

One thing is slightly assured, though...Microsoft's _days are
numbered_ because the _entire industry_ is gunning for them and trying
every possibility to "oust" them from power...I mean, discussions like
this on a programming group and not a single "defender" of Microsoft
but almost a "chorus" of hatred in being happy to "chip in" to
anything that even mildly hurts them? They've thrown out far too much
"bad karma"...it's now on its way back to them...the only questions
now is "how?" and "when?"...

Unfortunately, Annie, I think "pointee-clickees" are probably
impossible for the majority to come back from now...

Beth :)

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