Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1998 14:33:17 -0700 From: "Carlos C. Tapang" <ctapang@easystreet.com> To: "Jordan K. Hubbard" <jkh@time.cdrom.com> Cc: "John Birrell" <jb@cimlogic.com.au>, "Greg Lehey" <grog@lemis.com>, <chat@FreeBSD.ORG> Subject: Re: What would it take to build the FreeBSD kernel into Portable Executable (PE) format? Message-ID: <009401bdecb9$f1ae0360$0d787880@apex>
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>> Being a little quixotic sometimes does't hurt. Microsoft is a paper tiger. >> Do you think they can move the goal posts so drastically that you can't >> catch up? They can not risk even a few of the gazillion Windows applications >> from failing to run on their next version. In fact, Windows 98 still runs >> real-mode apps. And that's the reason it's so ugly. > >Yes, I do think they can move the goal posts that drastically. And >emulating real-mode apps is not the problem - we do most of that >already. It's emulating all of the latest Windows apps that >constitutes the real challenge here and saying that the problem of >running Win32 apps is no more complex than that of running older >real-mode apps sort of indicates a fundamental misunderstanding of the >problem. > You are absolutely correct. I should have said "Windows 98 still runs real-mode drivers". Windows 98 still allows loading DOS drivers (such as CD-ROM drivers) which means that it calls down to DOS in V86 mode. It also calls down to the BIOS. While running DOS driver code, the Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) is exposed because its code and data are made writable by the driver code. It's ugly. >> Your fear of Microsoft is verging on the irrational. Before Microsoft sues >> a puny outfit, they better consider how their other enemies (including >> the Justice Department and other unholy alliances such as Ralph > >Microsoft sues puny outfits all the time. Go do a little research on >them, beyond what you read in the headlines, and you'll find that >Microsoft still essentially doesn't give a tinker's damn for public >opinion given that they only seem to get "caught" at 1/10th of what >they actually do on any given week. > I do not deny that Microsoft does sue small and big companies alike, but this time they are being more careful. BTW, just so you don't get me wrong, I am not a Microsoft hater myself. I use Win NT right now, but I've also got FreeBSD running on another machine. I agree that Microsoft is too aggressive for their size, but nobody can hold on to being at the top of the heap for too long. The free market and the onward rush of technology will make Microsoft miss a step or two, and it will stumble and fall like a house of cards. Look at IBM. It used to be number one. It missed a step in the PC software market (no thanks to the antitrust suit leveled against it for years), and came stumbling down to the lower rungs of the computing world. I am not waiting for Microsoft to come tumbling down. All I want is a Windows compatible system that is almost free. >> Heroes are, by definition, few and far between. Yes, they are an >> anomaly. Fear not: the Internet and the bazaar mode of software >> development are powerful weapons at your disposal. > >Oh dear, I almost expect him to start waving a sword and pointing >dramatically towards Palestine next. :-) > I have actually written a business plan that is focused on this idea. I don't have any venture capitalist takers yet, but it will happen. Contributors to this project will be granted stock option for shares of the company formed. In this way, if the Windows clone succeeds, the contributors will share the financial rewards. You will hear about this project in 2 or 3 months. I will be announcing it to both the FreeBSD and Linux communities. --Carlos To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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